Genealogy Chat

Hi there

I work in a grand old house in Newbury, Berkshire and would love to be able to find out who used to live there.

Any idea where I would be best to start?

Thanks

Paula Church

You can do an address search on 1881 census or put the address on here and see if someone can find it for you?

It is called Greenham House and it is in Greenham Park (not to be confused with New Greenham Park where the USAF base was !) I am not sure if it is on Greenham Road (current postal address) or Winchcombe Road (on some maps).

Unless you have researched the house back over the last 100 hundred years it is really pointless to check on any census. It could have been renamed or the street renamed etc.

Right I have found it in 1881 it was occupied by Lloyd Maxendale, a partner in Pickford Removal Co.

If you pm me with you e-mail add I'll send you the image

Jennifer

Actually it is Baxendale:

Lloyd Baxendale
Age: 59
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1822
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Ellen
Gender: Male
Where born: Eccles, Lancashire, England

Civil Parish: Greenham
County/Island: Berkshire
Country: England

Street address: Greenham House
Condition as to marriage: Married
Education:

Employment status: View Image
Occupation: J P, Partner In Pickford & Co Carriers

Registration district: Newbury
Sub registration district: Thatcham
ED, institution, or vessel: 10
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Ellen Bailey 20
C.M. Baxendale 27
Ellen Baxendale 50
Lloyd Baxendale 59
Lloyd H.J. Baxendale 23
Salisbury Baxendale 24
Joseph Beverley 26
Mary Bone 27
Cuthbert 36
William Darling 18
Jane Day 19
Henry Haines 21
Martha Holder 18
Lucy Porter 41
Elizabeth Povey 21
Julia Styles 25
Alice Theobald 32
Julia Theobald 24
C. Thornhill 29
R. Thornhill 21
Richard Williams 22

By 1891 Ellen Baxendale is a widow but still living at Greenham

I have just found that according to Peerage.com he actually bought and lived in Greenham Lodge Estate which is a couple of miles away near Crookham Golf Course.

I think there was another building with a similar name (ARGH) !!

The building has been rebuilt larger and is linked to a local school and available for weddings. It is stunning !!

Rutland Belle has been amazing!!

She has found that Greenham House was occupied by the Somerset family in around 1881. He was involved in the brewing business.

How can I find out when the building was built?

Paula,

If you work there can you not ask someone? In any case there must be a local history for sale in a nearby bookshop. Or go to the public library. Or the county record office. Or try googling.

Peter

I found this after'googling'

A survivor from an earlier era is Greenham House; although in the parish of Greenham, it is far from the Common and is now engulfed by modern Newbury.

The house dates from about 1845 and is typical of a gentleman's villa of that period. However, the building seems to have been used as a school from the beginning. A "Greenham School" had been founded by a Baptist minister James Bicheno at the end of the 18th Century, possibly in an earlier house on the same site, and his successor, James Legge, ran the school from the present Greenham House.
Greenham House, Newbury


Greenham Park At some point it reverted to a private residence, a directory of 1904 listing Mrs. Somerset as the occupant. By 1909, the new owner, James Buchanan, was intending to convert the house into an hotel, but his plans came to nothing and in 1920 the house was bought by the Corporation of Newbury. The overgrown grounds were cleared and became Greenham Park. The house was converted to a children's clinic and was also occupied by the Girls Friendly Society during the 1920s; it survived into the 21st century, much altered, and is now operated by the charity NCH as a family centre.

Jennifer

Jennifer you have got further than I ever have - THANK YOU !!

I have looked on other search engines and got nothing !!

I will go with this info and see if it make anyone remember anything.

THANK YOU again !!

Paula

You could try the local museum. I googled "Newbury archives" and came up with the following:

The Wharf
Newbury
RG14 5AS
England

Tel: 01635 30511
Fax: 01635 519562
Website: http://www.westberks.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=862&contactid=1505

I knoew our local archives have provided me with all the info for my house and your workplace is a lot grander than my little cottage.