Farmer Nichol. 1930 - 1943 - an enquiry resolved

First they tried the Tourist Information Centre in Dawlish

The Tourist Information Centre referred them to Starcross Parish Council

Starcross Parish Council referred them to Starcross History

Starcross History posted their enquiry on Starcross News on Facebook

and the rest, as they say, is history


"We are trying to trace a farm in or near Starcross which we used to visit annually very many years ago.  We don't know the name of the farm, but the owner/tenant farmer was NICHOL(L)S.   Period:  1930 - 1943.
Any information you can give will be gratefully received."

The enquirer then said that the farm was definitely towards Dawlish, rather than towards Exeter.

This message was also posted on Starcross News on Facebook.  and there's been a reply already,  which states that there was a Nicholls who farmed near Dawlish Warren, and gives his forenames.

"Ive found records relating to a Mr William Hudson Nicholls from Eastdon Farm. Sound familiar?"

Here's a picture of Eastdon Farm, from geograph. Copyright Nigel Chadwick. This photograph has been made available to all under a Creative Commons Licence

http://www.yourlocalweb.co.uk/devon/eastdon/pictures/popup-1250442-eastdon-farm/

Could this be the farm they seek?

Here's more information about the Nicholls farming family:

Nicholls certificates

Marriage 25 November 1916 at Register Office, Newton Abbot, by licence before registrars Will E

Horner (Registrar), F Horner (Superintendent Registrar)

William Hudson Nicholls, aged 29, bachelor, farmer, Eastdon Farm, Dawlish West, father John

Jeffry Nicholls, farmer

Mabel Lena Holbrook, aged 22, spinster, 17 Abbotsbury Road, Newton Abbot, father George

Holbrook (deceased), accountant

Solemnised between us: William Hudson Nicholls, Mabel Lena Holbrook

Witnesses: Violet A Nicholls, Leslie J Bassett

Birth 2 January 1928 at Eastdon Farm, Dawlish West

Lena Ann Nicholls, daughter of William Hudson Nicholls, farmer, and Mabel Lena Nicholls

formerly Holbrook,

Informed by W H Nicholls, Eastdon Farm, farmer, on 16 February 1928

Registrar William John Male

Nick Rossiter.org.uk 

HERE'S 's the poignant story, from the Dawlish Local History Group, of the death of the farmer's son,  John Jeffery Nicholls, on 12th October 1918. Private Nicholls  was 9 days short of his 27^th birthday. It was one month from the end of the war.

More information from Starcross News on Facebook

Dawlish Warren farmer Richard Weeks has more information about the Eastdon farming family. Could it be the right farm? 

Here's some more info from the enquirers

"I wonder.  Would Eastdon Farm have been part of what is now the Eastdon Estate, which mentions woods and private paths to the beach at Dawlish Warren?   We remember walking through the warren (complete with rabbit droppings!) and a tunnel, which led to the beach;  given our ages, I don't think it could have been a very long walk.   "

and more about the Nicholl family at The Warren

"I believe farmer Nicholls used to farm the marsh land at Dawlish warren after the Second World War. during the summer he had a very basic campsite I imagine this is were your people would have stayed. The marsh land is now hazel wood park and various other holiday camps on that area."

Result!   It's been proved conclusively that the farm concerned is Eastdon Farm and my brother and I are planning our first return since the war.  Grateful thanks to those who responded via Starcross Facebook.    Shirley Marshall

 

Invitations to 2 FREE history days in Exeter on 20th April, and Colyton 13th May.

Starcross History has today received 2 invitations to 2 FREE OF CHARGE EVENTS. The 1st is a belated invitation for its members to attend a day dedicated to Devon in the First World War. This event is THIS MONDAY, 20th April, and the details are published below.

Brian Carpenter, Devon County Council's Community Learning Officer, has apologised for the short notice, but writes that the Devon Heritage Centre 'will be happy to see any of your members here if they wish to attend'.

Brian Carpenter

Community Learning Officer

Devon Archives and Local Studies Service

Devon Heritage Centre

Great Moor House

Bittern Road

Sowton

Exeter

Devon

EX2 7NL

01392 380573

Email: brian.carpenter@devon.gov.uk

www.devon.gov.uk/record_office

www.swheritage.org.uk

DEVON REMEMBERS THE FIRST WORLD WAR 

Devon Heritage Centre, Monday 20th April 2015 

10.00:  Arrival and Coffee 

10.30:  Welcome and Introduction: Janet Tall, Head of Archives and Local Studies, South West Heritage Trust 

Heidi Watson-Jones, Project Co-Ordinator, Devon Remembers 

10.45:  Paula Clarke, Community Engagement Officer, Castle Drogo:  Castle Drogo Building Work: Inspiring a New Approach to Learning 

11.20:  Peter Mason, The Lustleigh Society, Dartmoor Life in the First World War 

Peter will talk about the research and development of the Dartmoor Life in the First World War exhibition which is running until September at the Dartmoor National Park Visitor Centre in Princetown. 

  

12.00:  Comfort Break 

12.10:  Dr.David Parker Devon and the First World War and Exeter: Remembering 1914-18 

David will talk about the research which led to the development of the arguments in his two books about the impact upon Devon of the war. 

12.50:  James Wallis, First World War Research Co-ordinator for the South West, University of Hertfordshire First World War Engagement Centre:  The Food and Farming in Wartime Devon Project 

1.00:  LUNCH 

There is a café in Great Moor House and a larger one, the Fresha café, about five minutes’ walk away.  There is also a pub, the Barn Owl, on the other side of the Honiton Road.  However, it may be preferable to bring your own lunch.  

2.00:   Jo Loosemore, BBC Radio Devon: World War One at Home 

Jo will talk about how the First World War affected local people and places, and how the BBC told their stories on radio, TV and online. 

3.00:  Close 

SPEAKERS: 

Paula Clarke is the Community Engagement Officer for the National Trust at Castle Drogo. Her role is funded by the major restoration work currently underway where she is working to achieve the aim of ‘making Drogo a much loved local place’. Her work involves outreach, project based activities with local groups and exploring learning opportunities. Paula has been at Castle Drogo for nine years in a variety of roles including Volunteer Co-ordinator until taking on her current role in November 2012. 

Peter F. Mason has curated the current exhibition about life on Dartmoor during WW1 for the Dartmoor Trust and the Dartmoor National Park which is on show until September at the Princetown Visitors’ Centre.  He is Chairman of the Lustleigh Society which manages the Lustleigh Community Archive and a former national committee member of the Community Archives and Heritage Group.  He is the compiler of a series of features for the Dartmoor Magazine on Dartmoor Life in Old Photographs. 

David Parker is a retired Headteacher.  He has written and researched extensively on 20th century British social history, and his books include The People of Devon in the First World War, which was Devon Book of the Year in 2014, and Exeter: Remembering 1914-18. 

James Wallis is currently completing his doctoral research at the University of Exeter as part of an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded collaborative partnership with Imperial War Museums London. This is examining key permanent and temporary First World War exhibitions held within the museum over a fifty year timeframe.  

In November 2014, he was appointed Associate Research Fellow at the University's History Department. Focusing specifically on the South West, this research co-ordinator post feeds into the University of Hertfordshire's AHRC-funded First World War Engagement Centre, 'Everyday Lives in War'. This aims to connect academic and community research on particular themes relating to the conflict, as part of its centenary commemorations. 

Jo Loosemore produces World War One at Home (in partnership with Imperial War Museums) and the Listening Project (in partnership with the British Library and BBC Radio 4) for BBC Radio Devon.  She previously worked as Education Projects Manager for the Theatre Royal Plymouth and Community History Officer for Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. 

If you wish to attend, please let Brian Carpenter (brian.carpenter@devon.gov.uk) know by Monday 13th April.  Numbers are limited to 50 people. 

The 2nd invitation is to a regional meeting of the Devon History Forum, which will be in Colyton Town Hall, on Wednesday 13th May. (dunnawurry - there will be time enough for you to get back for our evening meeting in the Starcross pavilion at 7:30pm)

The building on the right is the Heritage Centre containing:

• Family History Research Room
• Colyton family records, Colyton photos and archives
• Literature, gifts and mementoes
• Exhibitions

The building on the left houses the Merchant's Tea Rooms and Tea Garden. The Merchant's Tea rooms are an independant organisation located next to the Heritage Centre building.

 There will be presentations from 3 local history groups. Who knows what an Ottregian is? Read on... 

In the afternoon, there's a conducted walk around Colyton and its Heritage Centre.

DEVON HISTORY FORUM REGIONAL MEETING 

Colyton Town Hall, Wednesday 13th May 2015 

10:00:  Arrival and Coffee 

10:20:  Welcome and Introduction:  Brian Carpenter, Community Learning Officer, South West Heritage Trust 

10:30:  Trevor Hitchcock:  Honiton Yesterday and Today 

Trevor Hitchcock is the author of Honiton Inns and Honiton Yesterday and Today (Allhallows Museum Society, Honiton).  He will talk about Honiton, past and present.  

11:15:  Nigel Sadler, Sands of Time Consultancy and Ottery St.Mary Heritage Society:  Ottregians and the Great War – the Research 

Nigel Sadler is the author of First World War: The Postcard Collection (Amberley Publishing) and was involved in the research for the Ottery St.Mary Heritage Society exhibition Ottregians and the Great War.  He will talk about the research and preparation which went into the exhibition and what was discovered about the contribution of Ottery St.Mary to the Great War.   

12:00:  John Addie, Colyton Parish History Society:  The Colyton Heritage Centre   

John Addie is a long-standing member of the Colyton Parish History Society.  He will talk about the Colyton Heritage Centre project, which culminated in the opening of the centre in April 2014. 

12:45:  LUNCH 

There is a range of places which serve lunch in Colyton, including the Merchant’s Tea Room, which is next door to the Heritage Centre, and the Kingfisher Inn in Dolphin Street. 

2:00:  Town Walks and Tours of the Heritage Centre 

After lunch there will be the opportunity to go on a guided walk around Colyton and also to visit the Heritage Centre. 

3:30:  CLOSE 

There is a public pay and display car park in Dolphin Street, which is within a few minutes’ walk of both the Town Hall and the Heritage Centre. 

If you wish to attend, please let Brian Carpenter (brian.carpenter@devon.gov.uk) know by Friday 8th May.