Re: Intriguing reference by William Cobbett
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:28 am
Alan P5age wrote:" Here I had a view of what had long been going on in the country as a whole. The farm, which belonged to Christ's Hospital, had been held by a man by the name of Charrington, in whose family the lease had been a great number of years. The house was hidden by trees. It stood in the weald of Surrey, close by the River Mole, which here was a mere rivulet, though just below this house the rivulet supplied the prettiest flour mill I ever saw." From "The Progress of a PloughBoy to Member of Parliament.
Cobbett dates this around 1825- 30, did the school own farms then?
Just did some googling around "Charrington" "farm" "C.H" and it has turned up some interesting references to Horley being owned by the School Board, and a farm there was leased by them to the Charrington family in the 17th century. Apparently the school is still "lord of the manor" there.
Very interesting.....
I know Cobbett had strong links to Farnham in Surrey, where I lived for the first 11 years of my life.
However, reference to the River Mole, (which runs through my home town of Dorking), and a farm belonging to CH bamboozles me.
Just out of interest, the name of 'Charrington' has very strong links going back years in this area, so possibly this is a reference is to somewhere near me ??