John Sainsbury at Parham Farm

We recently showed a picture of the Sainsbury family at Parham farm in the Fiddington area. The photo was taken in the 1880s and John Sainsbury, the farmer, was not in the photo. Today we’ll make good that omission by showing a photo, probably taken on the same day, of John with cows, at the farm.

John Sainsbury at Parham Farm in the 1880s

This farm fell foul of the new railway line when it was built at the end of the nineteenth century. It no longer exists. We believe the photo dates from the 1880s John was born in about 1847.

Sainsbury has been a very common name locally and of course, John is also common. We can’t be certain which John this is but it could be that his parents were James and Harriett who lived in Easterton which was, then, a part of the parish of Market Lavington. As a teenager, John may have been a servant working for a family in Imber. We think John married Elizabeth Giddings in 1868 and that he died in 1909.

Maybe somebody out there can tell us more.

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Cows and Kandy

Cows and Kandy may sound an odd combination, but that’s what we have in this photo of the bottom of White Street in Easterton.

Cows being driven past Kandy Cottage in Easterton in about 1920

These few cows are being driven along the main road in Easterton. We are looking along it, towards Fiddington and Market Lavington.

The end house was once the last house at the bottom of White Street. It was called Kandy Cottage – named after residents Ken and Yvonne. The little row of cottages also incorporated a bakery. The whole lot were swept away to improve the road between Market Lavington and Easterton. The present course of the road runs right through the cottage and the area where the cows are walking is now a wide grassy verge in front of Easterton Manor.

We believe the cows were a part of the milking herd of the Williams family who owned the manor. The person with the cows is Gwendoline Williams who was born in about 1896. She looks to be quite a young lady in the picture so perhaps it dates from around 1920.

It’s not as sharp as some pictures but nonetheless it’s a grand image and another reminder of times past. We are so lucky to have such a  wealth of photos at the museum. We must continue to thank all those who make their images available for all to see.