Imagine my excitement! I have just seen a photograph of my ancestors on your website!
It features ‘Women in Front of Cottages’, in the village of Combrook. I have this photograph somewhere which came from my grandmother, whose own mother lived in one of the cottages until she moved to Newport Pagnell. I cannot recall which of the women are my Great, Great Aunts! I would love to have a copy because it is so much clearer than my own.
Family Name of Tarver
The family name was Tarver and several relatives are buried in the churchyard. It is my understanding that Richard and Hannah Tarver died within ten days of each other after contracting typhoid along with two sons which we did not know about at the time (no Ancestry websites) until we saw their headstones in the churchyard. That was a revelation when I visited, albeit a long time ago, and I need to go back to Combrook.
From what the family understands, is that one of the sisters brought the typhoid fever back to the village as she had been away working somewhere, could have been London, although I am not sure. Oh dear! My great, great grandmother was only about nine years old when they died; she subsequently lived with her sister, Harriet, in one of those cottages.
Working as a cook
I think one of those ladies is Harriet Tarver or her married name would be Tandy. I think Harriet worked as a cook at Compton Wynyates but I cannot verify this. I would love to know if Compton Wynyates has any records regarding their servants.
Comments
Hi Lesley, thanks for the article, it’s great we’ve made someone’s day! if you want a high resolution copy of the photo with your relatives, the County Record Office ought to be able to do a digital copy for you. They’d want you to fill in this form and return it to them, and how to pay is detailed on the form itself
Hello, Lesley, my wife’s relations also lived in one these cottages! We are looking out our family records, so will write more later. My wife’s relations were named Usher, and they worked at Compton Verney. Hoping this may be encouraging news? By the way, the estate is Compton Verney and not Compton Wynyates.
Alan and Janet Savage
Warwick
Hello ! Apologies for my tardiness in replying but I have only just come back onto the site. How interesting that your relatives lived there too. This summer I intend to re-visit Combrooke and go into the churchyard and look at the names again. I am so intrigued if the Compton Estate has any records of their staff. I didn’t realise that I had the wrong name . Thank you for correcting me. Kind regards
Lesley Howe
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