Rectory Farm later Glebe Farm
The Blundells at Rectory Farm
Richard Blundell (1817-1896) 9JNM-5SD was born in Halsall to mother Ellen and father Richard Blundell, a shoemaker. Richard junior worked as a labourer for Reverend Richard Leigh at the Rectory, which is where he met his first wife, Mary Ann Middleton MF58-TKD who was a housemaid. They married on 2nd February 1853 and had two children, Joseph in 1855 and Harriet in 1857. Unfortunately, Mary Ann died a year later and was buried at Halsall in 1858 – she was only 35 years old.
When the 1861 census was taken on 7th April 1861, Richard was a gardener (possibly still at the Rectory), and living with him was his sister Ellen Blundell, a house servant. Joseph, his 6-year-old son attended the school and Harriet was only 3 years old at this point. However, just 3 months later, Richard married farmer’s daughter Jane Hankin Ackers from Barton 9JN9-S1F – the happy event taking place on 14th July 1861 at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Halsall. They had one daughter together who they named Elizabeth, after Jane’s mother.
The couple continued to live in the village for most of their lives, only leaving when they retired to Haskayne. Whilst living at Rectory Farm Richard’s occupation is recorded as Farm Bailiff and Jane’s occupation is that of dairymaid. A farm bailiff is another name for a farm manager. He would have been employed by the land owner to oversee the tenant farmers – ensuring the farms were being well looked after and that the farmers were paying any rent due. A farm bailiff also had the power to evict those tenants who were not up to scratch.
All their children had left home by 1881 but their grandson, Bertram Blundell (son of Joseph) is living with them, aged just 1 year old, in fact, Bertram is still living with his grandfather and step-grandmother in 1891 and attending the local school. Harriet was back living with her parents in 1891 and had qualified as a schoolmistress.
Five years later on 22nd June 1896 Richard Blundell died and was buried on 24th June at Halsall. Probate was granted on 2nd October 1896 to Harriet Blundell and Elizabeth Blundell, his two daughters.
His effects totalled £98 10s. No mention is made of his son, Joseph or grandson Bertram – clues as to why this might have been the case will follow in the remainder of this article.
Richard’s second wife, Jane passed away in March 1901 and was also buried at St. Cuthbert’s on 20th March 1901.
Richard Blundell’s family
Joseph Blundell KJL5-R9D was born in 1855 to Richard and Mary Ann Blundell. He was baptised by Reverend Leigh on 15th April 1855 at Halsall Church. At 15 years of age he was an apprentice wheelwright for Miles Kenyon at Scarisbrick, although he must have had a change of heart because when he married Ellen Makinson KJGG-J79 on 10th January 1879, his occupation was noted as being that of a joiner.
Joseph and Ellen had their first baby, Bertram in September 1879 but it seems that Ellen died in childbirth as she was buried on 11th September 1879 at St. Cuthbert’s, the funeral service taken by Reverend Thomas Blundell Hollinshead Blundell.
When the 1881 census was taken Joseph was still a joiner and boarding with Martha Knight at 15 Upper Aughton Road, Birkdale while his son, Bertram was living with Joseph’s father at Rectory Farm, Halsall. Two years further on, Joseph married his second wife, Kate Smith Gough at Fulham, Middlesex and they lived in various parts of the country (including Berkshire, Horwich and Southport) over the next few decades – they had a son together but Joseph’s first son Bertram was trying to make his own way in life without the support of his father.
In 1928, Joseph passed away, his death being registered at Ormskirk. (Read on to find out what happened to Bertram after the death of his beloved grandfather Richard Blundell).
Bertram Blundell KJGG-JQR was born on 6th September 1879 to Ellen and Joseph Blundell. As mentioned previously, Ellen died in childbirth so her husband Joseph had Bertram baptised on 11th September 1879 – the same day as Ellen’s funeral. Bertram lived with his grandfather Richard Blundell at Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm until approximately 1896 when his grandfather passed away. With his father Joseph re-married and travelling around the country working as a joiner, Bertram was left to his own devices once he had left school.
In 1899, he is listed as being a military deserter from Warrington and next appears in the census in 1901 in Huntingdon (the town famous for being the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell). He was 21 years old by this point and working as a yardman on a farm.
In 1907, he emigrated to Canada where he worked as a farmer and married May Evelyn Bullen L5P7-4GV in 1911. They had one son, David. Bertram Blundell died in 1952 and is buried at Deer Creek Holy Trinity Cemetery, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Harriet Blundell 9JNM-5M2 was born on 25th May 1857 in Halsall to Mary Ann and Richard Blundell. She was baptised at St. Cuthbert’s church on 12th July 1857. As previously stated her mother died in 1858 and Harriet was brought up by her father, auntie Ellen and then her step-mother Jane. As a young woman she attended the Female Training College for Schoolmistresses in Warrington and became a qualified teacher.
At the time of the 1881 census, she was living with Henry Lea, a fellow teacher and his parents in Parr, St. Helens, Lancashire. She was 23 and her occupation was recorded as school mistress. However, Harriet returned to Halsall, initially living with her father at Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm and then moving to live in the schoolhouse at Haskayne. She was the longest-serving headmistress at Haskayne school – 35 years in fact – from 1885 until 1920. She then retired to live in Birkdale, Southport – she didn’t marry or have any children.
Harriet Blundell died in 1945 aged 88, just a few months after her half-sister Elizabeth. Probate stated her effects totalled £1688 18s 1d.
Elizabeth Blundell 9JN9-SY3 was the daughter of Jane Hankin Ackers and Richard Blundell. She was born on 17th February 1862 and baptised on 16th March of the same year at St. Cuthbert’s, Halsall. She was the half-sister to Joseph and Harriet, Richard’s other children.
She lived at Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm with her family until approximately 1880 when she went to study at the Female Training College for School Mistresses in Warrington. After qualifying, she taught in Knowsley and, like her half-sister, Harriet, became a head teacher.
On retirement, she went to live in Whiston with her long-term teacher friend, Kate McCoy. Coincidentally, like Harriet, she never married or had children. Elizabeth Blundell died in 1945 at the age of 83 – the same year as her half-sister. She was buried on 9th March 1945 in Ford Cemetery, Liverpool.
Read on to learn about the next family to live and work at Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm……
The Oswalds
When Richard Blundell retired his family were required to vacate Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm and so they moved to Haskayne. Therefore, a new Farm Bailiff needed to be found – this person happened to be David Oswald, not born and bred in Halsall like his predecessor but from bonny Scotland – Dunbartonshire to be precise.
David Oswald GKJF-X3D was born on 17th June 1859 in Luss, Dunbarton to Helen McLeod and William Oswald, an agricultural labourer. Luss is a village on the west bank of Loch Lomond surrounded by Ben Lomond and the Luss Hills.
The family moved around the area depending on the nature of the work of William, David’s father – addresses in Spittal and East Kilbride in particular. When he was 21, David was working as a farm servant for the Montgomeries, farmers in Meikle Dumfin, Dunbarton.
He married Mary McFadyen GKJF-8BV from the Isle of Islay, Argyle circa 1884, and by the time the 1891 census was taken, they had had their first three children – all girls – Catherine, Helen, and Mary.
In addition, David had changed his employment – he was now a foreman at the Auchendennan Stables on the Auchendennan Estate, Bonhill, Dunbarton.
However, only 5 years later a chance of promotion came his way when he applied for the post of Farm Bailiff at Rectory Farm, Halsall. It must have been quite a wrench for the family when they left Scotland behind to come to the flat, open landscape of South West Lancashire. But that is what they did and the following pages will outline what became of David, Catherine and all the Oswald children.
David, Mary and their young family came to Halsall around 1895-6. Sadly, their middle daughter, Helen died aged nine in January 1896, not long after they had arrived from Scotland. She was buried at St. Cuthbert’s graveyard on 25th January 1896. Only two months later, they were blessed with another daughter who they named Helen McLeod Oswald. By 1901 when they were still at Rectory Farm/Glebe Farm they also had three boys – William, David and John.
David Oswald senior continued to work for Cuthbert Blundell of Halsall House (who owned the property – not to be confused with the previous tenants) for approximately 40 years as a farm bailiff/estate manager. He passed away in 1936. Mary, his wife, died in 1927.
The Oswald children
Catherine Oswald GKJF-4G1 was born in Glasgow on 1st September 1884, the first child of David and Mary Oswald. She lived with her parents at Glebe Farm and then as a young woman she attended agricultural college. In 1911 she was boarding in Preston and her occupation was recorded as agricultural student. She was attending the Lancashire County Institute of Agriculture – later to become the County Council Farm at Hutton and eventually Myerscough College, whose website mentions ‘In the years up to the turn of the century, dairy production continued to be taught at Hutton, with a steady stream of mainly female students…’ More information regarding the history of the County Council farm at Hutton can be found here:
https://www.myerscough.ac.uk/news/myerscough-college-at-125-a-brief-history-part-one/
At the Royal Lancashire Show in 1911 she won 2nd prize for the Oswald’s Dairy at Glebe Farm in the following category ‘Working Dairy – for the best and largest quantity made in the cleanest and most approved style’. The following year she won a prize for her butter making skills – again at the Royal Lancashire Show.
In 1925 Catherine married John T. Metcalfe, the marriage being registered in Preston. They farmed Brook Close Farm in Garstang, Lancashire. Catherine died in 1970.
Helen Oswald GLSR-YD8 was born in 1887 also in Scotland. As mentioned above she died as a young girl – only 9 years old and was buried on 25th January 1896 at Halsall.
Mary Oswald GKJF-NTM was the third daughter of David and Mary. She was born on 23rd May 1888 in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire. She lived at Glebe Farm for most of her life, worked as a dairy farmer, didn’t marry or have children. Just like her older sister Catherine, she died in 1970 when she was 81 years old.
William Oswald GKJF-2M3 was the first son of David and Mary. He was born on 12th October 1891 in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire.
He was a clerk initially and then a dairy farmer – being head of the household in 1939 after his father died.
William married Gladys Meakin GLW8- 59M in 1942 and they had a son. He farmed at Glebe Farm for 50 years.
William Oswald passed away in 1965, at age 74. His obituary is taken from the Liverpool Echo, 29th November 1965.
David Oswald GKJF-N4J was the second son of David and Mary. Born in Bonhill in 1894, he was also an agricultural student like his sister Catherine.
However, he joined the army in November 1914 and had a narrow escape in March 1915 when he was shot through his cap.
He became a Lance Corporal in the 10th Battalion of the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and was sadly killed in action on 9th August 1916 during WW1. He was buried at Thiepval, Picardie, France.
He is also remembered on the Halsall War Memorial outside St. Cuthbert’s church alongside 22 other men who perished in the first World War.
More information is available about the War Memorial and Halsall service men and women in WW1 and WW2.
Helen McLeod Oswald GKJF-Z1L was the fourth daughter of David and Mary and the first of their children to be born in Halsall. She was born on 21st March 1896 only two months after her older sister, also called Helen, passed away at the age of 9. Helen McLeod Oswald lived at Glebe Farm until 1924, when according to the 1921 census, she performed ‘home duties’, but no doubt worked in the dairy as well.
She married Thomas Taylor GLW8-52R in October 1924 and they had a daughter, Helen Oswald Taylor born on 8th March 1925. However, the marriage was short-lived as according to the 1939 Register for England and Wales (which was taken on 29th September of that year) Helen McLeod Oswald was a widow. She was now living back at Glebe Farm (with her daughter) and her 3 siblings John, Mary and older brother William.
Helen McLeod Oswald died in February 1996 at the grand age of 99!
Before her death she made a visit to Glebe Farm to reminisce about her life there – how they used to sell butter, cream, eggs and milk from the little side window. She fondly remembered the dairy and chatted away about the good times they had there.
When the Oswalds vacated Glebe Farm, it ceased to be a dairy and was farmed by the Sephton family and then the Heaton family who were the last people to live there. Although the dairy was converted into stables for horses and even Alpacas, evidence such as tiled walls, remnants of animal stalls and ridges in the floor to channel liquids away can still be seen in what was the old dairy. Glebe Farm was sold by the Church Commissioners (the owners by this time) in August 2020 and will no doubt be a private home, sadly no longer a working farm……
