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Our grandparents the dairy farmers
THE 1900s photograph of Browns Dairy Farm at Wood Hall, Campton that was published in Memory Lane on January 13, 2012 brought in some unexpected feedback considering its age from two surviving grandchildren.
The first, Edward (Ted) Wells of Langford kindly wrote in to say that the original picture of the group, standing outside barns, shows his grandfather Wilfred Ambrose aka ‘Twitter’ Brown, and his grandmother whose maiden name was Metherell. She was from a milling merchant’s family that worked on the River Exe in Devon.
The couple had five children, who all appear in the photo. Edward explains: “The girls are Florrie, Ethel, Doll and my mother Constance. The boy is Edwin who married a Parrish.
“My grandfather’s brother farmed at Dixies Farm as well. There are four of us surviving grandchildren.”
Another of those grandchildren is Dudley Brown, now living in Letchworth who also contacted us to say: “I am the grandson of Wilfred and Sarah-Ann Brown who are standing at the top left of the group in the photograph. My father is Edwin, the young boy shown in the front row wearing a boater hat. He was the youngest of their children and only son. There were four daughters.
“Wilfred worked the farm up until about 1930 when my father took over following his marriage to my mother Edna. Edna was the daughter of John (Jack) and Emily Parrish who lived and farmed at Stanford Bury, Shefford. It was my mother, therefore, who was originally one of the local Parrish family and not, as stated in your article, my paternal grandmother Sarah-Ann Metherell who came from Chudleigh in Devon.
“Wilfred died in 1947 aged 84 and Sarah-Ann died in 1948 aged 86. My father farmed Wood Hall Farm and another farm at Meppershall until the early 1940’s when he decided to sell up. He then went to work for the Ministry of Agriculture. He died in 1963.”
Dudley recalls Ted’s mother, who married a Wells, as Auntie Con.
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Weather for Biggleswade
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
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