In about 1890 a railway line was planned if not actually built, to run from Hull to Barnsley, and this went through the Wrangbrook farms, with sidings and workmen`s cottages a couple of hundred yards away. Perhaps this was partly the cause of both Harry and Joe deciding to move away, though Henry Norrison (Joe`s son) always said that the encroachment of coal mining had a major influence on the move. In addition farming everywhere was depressed and they may have felt that there could be a little more profit elsewhere.
Their father (Thomas Norrison) was in Scarborough and it seems possible that he had a hand in selecting their new farms (though from a comment in a letter to Joe, quoted earlier, that suggestion seems less plausible), Harry at West Flotmanby Hall, a few miles to the west of Filey, and Joe at Park House Farm, Hunmanby. On 29th April 1890 the brothers held a joint sale, of “13 beasts, 9 pigs, 100 head of poultry, 5 shaft wagons, a PA cart on 4 wheels, 3 broad wheeled carts, a wood plough and trees, iron earthing plough, chisel harrow, 3 wood single harrows, 2 pairs wood seed harrows, 3 iron zigzag harrows, pair 6 bound harrows, iron seed harrows, chain harrows, 3 iron scufflers, 2 H Cambridge roller and 3 H ditto, 2 x 3 rowed land presser and drill, a 2 row ditto, 4 rowed turnip drill, 2 horse rakes, 2 reapers by Mattison, reaper by May, ditto by Samuelson, self binder reaper by Hornsby, 2 potato dressing machines, potato washer, cake mill, 2 clipping benches, sheep troughs and a shepherd`s hut on wheels. Also 3 fat cows, 4 fat heifers, a heifer in calf, 5 pork pigs, 4 gilts in pig, 20 tons of Regent potatoes and 12 tons Magnum potatoes”. I don`t understand all of these items, but have tried to transcribe the Bill of Sale accurately.
It would be easy to misread the significance of the selling of these items, but it suggests change to another kind of farming. My mother said they had a train to transport the rest of their property, so what was sold might just have been old and unwanted.
On 5th June 1890 a valuation required the landlord (and the lord of the manor) of North Elmsall, Sir Charles Strickland, to pay Harry £800, presumably for improvements made to fix installations during his tenancy.
West Flotmanby Hall Farm covered 600 acres, (according to a later newspaper cutting, although Jo Waide Marr (DWG – Harry Marr’s 1st family) claimed it was 750 in his newspaper letter). It included Duck Close in the Hert Valley, where there were all manner of birds, mallard, pochard, teal and widgeon, to be shot in winter when much low lying land was underwater. In the New Hertford River were pike, trout and roach. Mr Dodgson was always there on 5th November for shooting every year. The house was burnt down in October 1986, a year before we tried to see it. It had grey walls and red pantiles, had been listed Grade II and was to be rebuilt. Scaffolding was round the shell in 1987.
At Flotmanby, Harry was churchwarden at Folkton church, to which he donated the bible, in spite of his mother and father`s addiction to Methodism (and Ada`s upbringing), and to which he himself had adhered at Wrangbrook, for he was on the committee which conceived and gave birth to new South Elmsall chapel, now known as Trinity Methodist church.
My mother was very happy growing up at Flotmanby. She had to look after her younger sister and brothers, but preferred to be a tomboy. Muriel was alleged to be frail, and may have inclined to more feminine pursuits. At that time little Muriel worshipped a groom Oscar, who went with them on their next move to Barton (Cambridgeshire) in 1903/4, and who finally emigrated to Australia, at about the same time as Alec. I don`t know that they went together; Alec`s letters make no mention of him en route.
Alec and Douglas went to the village school at Folkton, Alec driving the trap. As far as I know the girls did not attend that school, but had a governess, Miss Watkinson (nicknamed Watma by Horace), whose father had been Lord Mayor of York. She had a brother farming in Canada, to whom Horace went for a short time, in 1914, returning because of WW1. At a later stage Kitty and Muriel went to school in Filey, later still to Bridlington, where they were weekly boarders with Mrs Watkinson. On one occasion the hamper of clean clothes sent from the farm included a chicken, intended for Jane Marr, their great aunt, but they got into trouble because they gave it to Mrs Watkinson. On another, Muriel was fed up with school and ran home, to be pursued by the mistress in a carriage. Muriel became very friendly with the Rowntree family at Folkton Manor and was ‘recalled’ from Barton to help with Esther Rowntree, then age 2, in 1908.
We are supposed to still be in the 1890s, so back to Joe and Park House Farm. In 1923 the farm was occupied by S and J Southwell, and it then consisted of 374 acres, of which 334 were arable. (There was a Southwell of Hunmanby who married a member of the Green family).Henry Norrison went to Bridlington Grammar School while Joe and Polly were at Hunmanby.
In 1894 TNM snr was inspecting a barley field on Tom`s farm at Thornton-le-Dale, when the trap carrying him caught a wheel against a stump, overturning it, throwing everyone out and splintering one of his ribs. The doctor was called by Tom, and they got him home to bed in Scarborough. Sally may have been staying with Tom for she wrote to report ‘my dear brother’ (Harry) on 13th July. He died in Scarborough on 18th July 1894, and was buried in Ellerburn churchyard, just north of Thornton-le-Dale, alongside Abigail. It is curious that although they have spent the inside of a decade at Kingthorpe they seem to regard that as the centre of their spiritual being, and Jo Waide Marr appears to have referred to Kingthorpe as the family farm. There are no censuses available for the public before 1841, so that method of checking previous tenants is denied us. From 1801-1831 censuses were taken in a different way, simply counting numbers perhaps. My attempt to find Kingthorpe in 1841 census was a failure but it was the first I ever looked at and perhaps I missed the entry. There must be a Tithe Map of the district which would help to identify his actual farm, if he had arrived by the time of its preparation, which would have been about 1840, but one must be in Yorkshire to see a copy, and I have not tapped this source.
TNM`s Will drawn up in February 1894 describes him as formerly of Wrangbrook ‘in the township of North Elmsall, in the parish of South Kirkby, but now of Scarborough’. John Hinchcliffe of South Elmsall, Lime Merchant, Joseph Shillito of Garforth farmer (son-in-law), and his 3 sons were executors and trustees. To his daughter Sallie he bequeathed all his plate, linen, china, glass, books, pictures, prints, furniture and other household effects, plus 2 freehold cottages at Upton (Wrangbrook). He valued these houses at £230. His trustees were able to sell property as necessary to be able to set aside £3,750 which was to be invested and the income paid half yearly to his daughter Esther (Ettie). The remainder of his assets were to be divided in two. One part was to have deducted from it the value of Sallie`s houses and also the £1400 which he had lent to her. The smaller of the two parts was to go to Sallie and the larger to Tom. One assumes that Thomas Norrison had already made settlements on Harry and Joe for they were left nothing in the Will.
Accompanying the Will is a list of investments held by him when he died. It makes interesting reading. There were 9 mortgages on houses: in Skipsea 3 just described as Hull: Beverley: Hotham St., Hull: and St. George`s Rd., Hull: and one in Castleford. 2 are for £1,000 which was a great deal of money then, one of these being at Cottingham. There is a note regarding the Cottingham property ‘that Mr Marr had expended a considerable sum in completing the erection of it and as he was in possession of the amount maybe more or it maybe less’. Others range from £55 to £550. There are promissory notes, one for £600 from J. Shillito, M. Shillito and R J Dower, another for the same amount from R J Dower alone and one for £750 from John Hinchcliffe. There are also 800 shares in Blackman Ventilating Co. Ltd (in North London), in which I am sure, Michael Shillito was a partner. He also had shares in London Midland Bank, a founder`s share and 20 ordinary shares in the Leeds and Bradford Boiler Company Ltd.
Let`s go back to Tom (TNM jnr). Details of the family are given in a later section. After his first wife had died in 1885 (DWG- Mary) it is alleged he drank and womanised, and that he married a drab from Scarborough, that they had children, who died early because of drink. I have no evidence for any of this. It was generally believed he had the mill at Thornton-le-Dale as well as the farm, which became known as Hall Farm instead of Farnamby, (which is in fact the parish name). But the mill was in the hands of John Boyes from before 1887 until his death in 1896, when Herbert, Tom`s son took it into partnership with his father, who was then described in the directory as of ‘Chestnut Farm’.
Tom died 22nd July 1900 and is buried in Ellerburn churchyard. It is believed that he shot himself, an allegation I have not attempted to check. Before and after his death there were sales of houses in Hull and elsewhere. They were in connection with the estate of Thomas Norrison Marr, and until I came to sort out this story I had assumed that they were a hangover from TNM snr`s Will, and that the trustees were revising invested assets. As I write I am having to revise my understanding. Houses at Hotham St., Hull went for £900 on 13th September 1899, others at Cottingham sold for £1,130 on 13th November 1899 and 2 houses at Beverley had already been sold for £380 by 14th September that same year. So unless Tom`s death date is wrong my first belief may still be correct: I am confident that I have quoted accurately from Tom`s tombstone. As Harry and Jo were contemplating moving out of Yorkshire, as they were trustees for Ettie`s funds from TNM`s Will it is possible that they decided to liquidate these assets before going. However that hypothesis does not really hold water, because Ettie`s trust was based on £3,750 invested to provide income for her, and as I will reveal in a moment that sum remained static until her death. Moreover more houses were sold on 28th June 1900 “to close the trust set up by Mr T Marr”, of which details were available from Mr Joseph Shillito at 17 Park St., Hull. It is all very cloudy, and no doubt quite immaterial, but I cannot help thinking that this was all property inherited by Tom as his share, and who, getting into financial difficulties, decided to sell assets. Perhaps he decided he could not meet his liabilities so shot himself. The houses correspond closely with TNM mortgages, and the remainder of TNM`s estate had been divided between Sallie and Tom. So it is also possible that this property was taken by Sallie; Joseph Shillito`s name, mentioned as a source of details, suggest that they might have been the sellers!
In the last paragraph I promised comment on Ettie`s portion. It makes lighter reading. I quote from a letter sent by Jo Waide Marr to Muriel and others after Ettie`s death regarding the clearing of TNM`s trust for her. This is dated 28th March 1936……”grandfather Marr left her £3,750 and fortunately father and I changed several of the investments and strangely enough today`s prices just works out at £3,750 quoted by Yorkshire Post of yesterday”. (The total then has to be divided into 4 and these quarters split into portions, then her personal estate has to be divided amongst 30 beneficiaries: I paraphrase). ‘I have been very doubtful about both lots, because aunt Ettie`s own solicitor Turnbull of Scarborough is doing time 5 years. Then grandfather`s solicitor was uncle Raper. Then Routledge who was no good, then Poppleton who has just been sent to prison for 4 years’!
I intend to deal with the other families under separate headings regardless of time bands, both for simplicity and because in general I know so little about them.
