William Saunders & Bethia Janes

William Saunders was born in 1851, the son of William & Louisa Saunders, see William Saunders, born 1815 & Louisa, nee Lacey.

Bethia Janes was born in 1854, the eldest daughter of Henry Janes & Mary Janes, a widow.

1871 Census. William Jnr. was working for his father who was renting Speen Farm

1877 circa, William Saunders purchased two plots of land from Josephine Irving, mortgagee of the land of John Cheshire.   One was at the bottom on the north-west side of a track, made to access this field and also the other which was straight ahead at the end of the track.  The second was a large field later known as ‘Hillocks’.   The track years later became ‘Goodacres Lane’.

Note. The only house on the Goodacres Lane track, right at the entrance to it, was a bakehouse, built by Henry Janes. Interestingly, about the time he purchased the above fields William married Henry's daughter Bethia.

MARRIAGE

In 1877 William married Bethia Janes, daughter of Henry Janes, the baker, whose premises were on the Main Road at the top of the track mentioned above.

CENSUS

1881 Lacey Green, renting a property near his fields.

1891 renting New House Farm, Denner Hill.

1893 renting Smalldean Farm.

1911 renting Smalldean Farm. For more on Smalldean Farm click Small Dean Farm, Bradenham & Lacey Green

CHILDREN. William and Bethia had 7 children

1879 Mary Bethia Saunders (Bessie) born at the Rose and Crown. Married Sidney Ing.

1880 Emma Caroline Saunders married 1905 Fred Floyd, son of Peter and Ann Floyd

1883 Ethel Saunders married 1912 Ralph Dell.

1885 Louisa Saunders married 1918 William George Wilkins, soldier

1887 Alice Saunders married Philip Sidney Pitcher, farmer. When their farm failed they moved into Hillcrest.

1889 Harry Saunders. The only son married Pamela Saunders (no relation) from Bradenham

1893 Annie Daisy Saunders married Ernest Smith from Walters Ash

PURCHASE. STOCKEN FARM

September 1911.   Conveyance.   William Saunders purchased Stocken Farm, now including Graham Cottages, for £3,400, from the executors of John Forrest.

P.S.(Ed. In 1878 John Forrest had paid £8,250 for Stocken Farm, added 2 houses, and sold losing £4850, 33 yrs later)

LAND ADDED

William Saunders already owned the two fields in Lacey Green, which he had bought about 1877, from Josephine Irving, mortgagee of George Cheshire land, part of the old Common of Princes Risborough. They were at the bottom of Goodacres Lane on the north west side, later known as Hillcrest Field, and straight ahead to a field called ‘Hillocks’.   From 1911 these fields became part of Stocken Farm.   In 1934 the smaller one was sold off to George Hawes. of Woodbyne Farm

THE FOLLOWING REPORT is from Miles Marshall

"WILLIAM SAUNDERS MY FATHER" as told by DAISY SMITH, HIS DAUGHTER to Miles Marshall in 1983

William Saunders, Mrs Smith's father, was the son of another William, of Speen Farm, now the Home of Rest for Horses, whilst he was still working there for his father, young William demonstrated his initiative by driving a team of horses to London with a wagonload of hay which he quickly sold to the occupant of one of the large private houses which then stood in Piccadilly.   It was good quality hay at a fair price so that he soon developed a lucrative trade with the London gentry.

SET ON BY FOOTPADS

When he was first married he took over the Rose and Crown public house at Saunderton for a short while before moving to Small Dean Farm in 1894, on his own account.   Meanwhile he continued to develop his London hay trade and would make regular monthly trips by train to collect his accounts which were mostly settled in golden sovereigns in those days.   This was before Saunderton station was built so that he had a lonely walk back to the Rose and Crown from Risborough station and on one such evening he was set upon by two footpads and robbed.

PROBLEM SOLVED

After this experience, as his train approached the back garden of the Rose and Crown, which extended down to the track, he would open the carriage window and hurl his bag of gold into the garden.   As his wife heard the train approaching she quickly ran down the garden to secure the money.   He was not robbed again.

WILLIAM AND HIS FARM HANDS

It was not unknown, however, despite the amity which existed between the Saunders family and the families of the farm hands, for George Maunder, the hasty tempered carter, to have a tiff with his boss who could at times be equally short.   On more than one occasion George was off to the Michaelmas Fair, with the traditional twist of whipcord in his buttonhole, denoting his trade, and fixed himself up with a new master.   But when all the family’s chattels had been loaded onto a wagon for departure to the new home, master and man would make up their differences and it all had to be unloaded again.   On one notable occasion though, they did leave and worked a whole year at Wardrobes.  But Mrs Saunders, the peacemaker, went over there at the end of his contract and brought them back again to Small Dean where they stayed for many years.

A HANSOM CAB IN THE HEDGE

And can anyone remember the old London hansom cab which William Saunders parked up in ‘Double Hedge’ so that in wet weather he could sit up there and shoot rabbits?

WILLIAM SAUNDERS TAKES AN OPPORTUNITY click 1911 Visit of an airman

WILLIAM SAUNDERS IN  COURT 1914.   Report in the South Bucks Free Press March 25th 1914. click William Pleads Guilty

WILLIAM SAUNDERS 1924 click 1924 William's easy pickings

HILLCREST HOUSE

William built a large house known as ‘Hillcrest House’ in the field down the track to Hillocks field.   It was said to be for his daughter Caroline.  She married Fred Floyd in 1905, had a child Harry, in 1906.   She died in 1908 at Pound Farm, Saunderton Lee, which her father William farmed. Harry lived with his grandparents William and Bethia from then on, while they were at Smalldean Farm to begin with.

Other rumour said that he built Hillcrest House to retire to, but he died at Stocken Farm, aged 83.

A BARN

William had a barn built in the field behind Hillcrest House.   When he died, this field with the barn was purchased by George Hawes of Woodbyne Farm.

Report by Joan West of a Conversation with Mabel Janes.

William Saunders was very much the boss of his family, with a very loud voice.   She could hear him sometimes from Sunnybank, her home in Highwood Bottom.

SHOUTED TO SAUNDERTON LEE

William also farmed Pound Farm at Saunderton Lee.   When he needed extra workers he would shout from the end of Lacey Green where they could hear him at Pound Farm.

EASY PICKINGS

He had built a barn in the back corner of Hillcrest Field and kept young horses there.   It grew a lot of mushrooms, and he kept a little trap for a pony or his donkey and would rush across in it to stop the people taking the mushrooms and take what mushrooms they had got.

THE FAMILY

Berthia his wife, was ladylike, a short, stout, gentle woman, a good wife and mother.   They had 7 children and also brought up Harry Floyd their grandchild, after his mother died.

ILLITERATE

William couldn’t read or write, but Bethia Janes, his wife could.   She would go to market with him to do any writing or reading required.   He dealt in horses, cattle and sheep, often buying and selling them on, without bringing them back to the farm.

TRADING IN LONDON

His own horses he bought from John Baillie of Theobalds Road, London.   He sold hay and straw in London.  There were numerous small dairy farms in London.   They would have up to six cows each, and were always kept inside.   He brought back manure to put on his fields.   There were also thousands of horses.   Not only horses and ponies kept for working but also for riding.

WILLIAM STRANDED with HORSES TAKEN. Click on 1916 Horses taken by the Army

HATES

William couldn’t stand flies, and Mabel Janes said that she could ‘see’ him swotting them, when she thought of him.

"FOOLS TIME"

Relatives reported being invited to Sunday lunch and frequently finding they had arrived at the wrong time.   The reason being that they had forgotten that he did not believe in changing the clocks for ‘Summer Time’.   He called it “Fools Time” and would not allow it

DEATH

Both William and Bethia died in 1934.