On 29th September 1939, just after the start of the second world war, the UK population was required to complete a register. During the war the register was used to administer ration coupons and manage conscription. It is the only surviving record of the population between 1921 and 1951, the 1931 census having been destroyed by fire and the 1941 not taking place.
The register shows that by 1939 Daniel Durber and his family had left Ladymoor Gate Farm and were living in nearby Barage Fields, Crowborough and that the Poyser family were now in residence.
The register entry gives no information about the farm itself, but records that William T Poyser, a dairy farmer was the occupaant together with his wife Florie and son William T Poyser, jnr who worked as a railway waggon examiner.
Genealogy records indicate that William senior was William Thomas Poyser, born in Waterfall, Staffordshire and who in 1921 had been living at Butterton Moor, Butterton, working as a farmer. His wife was Florrie Ratcliffe, born in Ipstones and with them in 1921 were their daughter Jessie (born about 1917) and their son William Thomas jnr (born about 1919, both in Butterton.
Census records suggest that William Thomas Poyser snr's family moved from Waterfall, where he was born in 1892, to Butterton sometime between his birth and the birth of his brother Arthur who was born there in about 1896. In 1901 William was a 9 year old school boy living with this parents Reuben U and Eliza Poyser and his siblings Reuben aged10, Arthur aged 5 and Harriet Elizabeth aged 2.
By 1901, the Durbar family(in some spellings Doorbar) was occupying Ladymoor Gate as tenants. They were the sitting tenants when the property was sold by Richard Harrison's executors to James Goodwin who in turn sold it to George Mellor in 1906 and they were still there in 1911. William Durbar had been born in Norton in the Moors, son of Daniel and Lucy Durbar and he was christened on 29th Feb 1864.
George Mellor, of Clay Lake, their landlord, mortgaged the property to Elizabeth Venables, a widow of Park Lane, Congleton, Cheshire on 2nd October 1906 for £1,000 at 3.75% interest and redemed it on 27th April 1908. (View 1906 Mortgage Deed)
By 1881 the Harrison family was occupying Ladymoor Gate Farm and a 1906 indenture between multiple parties sets out the following time line of actions and refers to a series of indentures dating from 1872:
Richard Harrison, a farmer from Crowborough, effectively mortgaged the property for £1,600 (at 4% interest per annum) to William Tatton a silk manufacturer from Leek on 38th March 1872. Although I have not (yet) found concrete evidence, the extent of the mortaged property is likely to have been the 46 acres mentioned on the 1881 census. (View 1906 Deed of Conveyance - see 1st Recital)
The Shufflebotham family were living at Ladymoor Gate at the time of the 1851 and 1861 censuses. Richard Shufflebotham was a farmer of 92 acres, presumably the size of Ladymoor Gate farm. Parish records indicate that Richard was the son in law of John and Hannah Stonier by marriage to two of their daughters. Poll registers also suggest that Richard was a tennant farmer and did not become owner of the freehold, so it is reasonable to assume that the freehold remained with John Stonier.
Hannah Stonier, daughter of John had married Richard Shufflebotham on 2nd February 1837 at St John's church, Burslem.
The Stonier family were living at Ladymoor Gate at the time of the first census in1841 but were they tenants or did they own it? Did they build the house and/or the outbuildings? How long had they lived here and what type of farm did they run?
A Google search for "Ladymoor Gate Stonier" revealed the following from the Doicese of Lichfield, Consitory Court Calendar of Wills, which indicates that John Stonier, the occupant in 1841, inherited the farm (directly or indirectly) from his father William who had died in July 1810 when John would have been about 24 years old.
Our immediate predecessors at Ladymoor Gate Farm lived here only for a short time. Their hobby was rennovating old houses and then selling them on. We know that before them the family of our original neighbour had lived here for many years and seen significant changes, such as the arrival of mains water. We also know that over the years the land had been sold off and the size of the farm reduced, until today it is a small holding approximately 2.8 hectares. So who lived here in the 19th century?
From census entries we know the the Stoniers, the Shufflebothams, the Harrisons and the Durbars have all lived here at some time.
In 1841 the property was occupied by the Stonier family and their servants, 13 people in all. It must have been somewhat crowded, at least by modern standards. Although the census information does not give the size of the farm it is likely to have been at least 92 acres, its size in 1851. All the occupants are likely to have worked on the farm.
By 1851 the Stonier family had moved out, all apart from Samuel who appears to have stayed on as an agricultural labourer working for Richard Shufflebotham, aged 36, the new farmer. The farm extends to 92 acres. It is unlikely that the farm would have changed much in the ten years, but the 1851 - Shufflebotham family including its two servants numbered only 8 people and so they would have been much less crowded. Read more about Horton in 1851 (from GENUKI) and Horton Parish (From British History on-line)
Richard Shufflebotham and his family still farmed at Ladymoor Gate in 1861, but had reduced the size of their holding by 5 acres. Richard now employed two people, but had no servants living in his house. The household now numbered only six.
By 1871 the size of the holding had halved to 46 acres and it was now farmed by Roger Shufflebotham, son of Richard. The household size had increased again and now included three servants.
The Shufflebothams were replaced by the Harrisons who were here by the time of the 1881 census. By 1881 the size of the holding had been reduced again to 30 acres. The Harrisons remained for some time and were still here in 1891 but by 1901 had been replaced by the Durbars.