Introduction
Alfred Henry Pitt’s life was closely intertwined with that of his father and brothers during the early years of the twentieth century. For nearly two decades, he farmed Cowcroft Farm at Hardington—first on behalf of his father and later in his own right. After his father’s death in 1929 and the subsequent division of his estate, Alfred briefly owned Petvin’s Farm at Haselbury before moving to Dorset, where he lived for the remainder of his life.
Childhood at Haselbury
Alfred Henry Pitt was born at Haselbury on 8 August 1889, the seventh of eleven children born to Henry Thomas Follett Pitt and his wife Lucy Ann, although one sibling died in infancy.[1]
His father, known as Thomas, ran a bakery business in North Street, while his mother was the daughter of a smallholder.[2] When Alfred was about four, Thomas switched to running a blacksmith’s forge, the trade he had learned from his own father in his youth.[3] He probably identified a gap in the market, as his father was then in his seventies and his uncle, also a blacksmith in the village, was in his sixties.[4] The transition proved beneficial: by 1911, he had begun farming, and in 1917, he became the tenant of Petvin’s Farm.[5] He later purchased the 87-acre holding in the Portman estate sale of 1924.[6]
Family enterprise
Around 1908, Thomas began to organise his business like a family enterprise, bringing in his sons who were still living at home. While Charles and Robert helped run the farm, Tom assisted with the blacksmithing business.[7] At the same time, Thomas took on the tenancy of Cowcroft Farm at Hardington, with his son, William, and assigned William and Alfred to manage it.[8]
During the 1910s, this arrangement was disrupted, first by a domestic crisis and then by World War I. In about 1912, William absconded to avoid marrying a local girl who was expecting his child, leaving Alfred, then in his early twenties, to run the farm.[9] William later served with the Hampshire Regiment during the war and survived, while his brother, Tom, was killed in action in May 1917 while serving with the Somerset Light Infantry in France.[10]
Marriage and ownership
In late 1917 or early 1918, Alfred married Lily Lambert, whose father, Edmund Lambert, was the tenant of Lodge Farm, Doulting.[11] Lily joined Alfred at Cowcroft Farm, and they had a daughter, Hilda, later that year, who died in infancy.[12] They went on to have four more children: Hilda Doris May, Kathleen Olive, Alfred Ernest, and Freda May.[13]
In the estate sale of October 1920, Thomas Pitt purchased Cowcroft Farm as the sitting tenant. The farm included the farmhouse, 92½ acres of land and various outbuildings including stalling for fifteen cows, three piggeries and a stable.[14]
Thomas Pitt died on 6 April 1929, leaving an estate valued at £4,388 14s 6d. He bequeathed £500 and Mount House in Haselbury to his son, Charles, while the remainder of the estate was placed in trust, with the income payable to his widow, Lucy, during her lifetime and the capital to be divided equally among the children after her death.[15] By then, nine children were alive, so, assuming Mount House was worth about £300, the remaining estate would eventually have yielded roughly £400 for each child before costs.
Cowcroft Farm was offered for sale by auction on 5 July 1929.[16] However, the auctioneers withdrew the property and later offered it for sale by private treaty.[17] Alfred appears to have purchased the farm around that time.
Five years later, Alfred decided to rent the farm out and sold his livestock and equipment at an auction held on 30 October 1934.[18] This included 15 Shorthorn and Crossbred dairy cows, 26 heifers, two horses, poultry, farm implements and two ricks of hay.[19]
Move to Petvin’s Farm
Alfred’s next move took him back to Petvin’s Farm, which his father had acquired shortly before his death. After Thomas Pitt’s death, his widow remained at the farm, which was then run by Charles.[20] Following her death on 23 November 1936, the land and buildings were sold on 10 August 1937, and the livestock and equipment were sold in the following October.[21] Alfred purchased the farm but retained it for only three years.[22] His sale of livestock and equipment took place on 11 March 1940.[23]
Later years
Little is known about Alfred’s life after 1940. By 1947, the family lived at Vale View, Holwell, Dorset.[24] They later moved to the Malthouse, Hazelbury Bryan, where Lily died in October 1958 at the age of 66.[25] Alfred died twenty years later on 16 July 1978 at the age of 88, leaving an estate valued at £7,421.[26]
Conclusion
Alfred Pitt’s career illustrates the difficulties faced by farmers during the inter-war years. Although he managed to acquire both Cowcroft Farm and, later, his father’s farm at Haselbury, he held each for only a short period before moving on. The division of his father’s estate among nine children and the uncertain conditions of British agriculture during the 1920s and 1930s limited his opportunities.
References
[1] Civil registration birth index; Haselbury baptism register; RG12, Haselbury, ED7, piece 1895, folio 81; 1939 Register; family reconstitution.
[2] RG12, Haselbury, ED7, piece 1895, folio 81; RG10, Chiselborough, ED5, piece 2413, folio 20, p.4.
[3] Haselbury baptism register; RG10, Haselbury, ED8, piece 2411, folio 25, p.3
[4] RG12, Haselbury, ED8, piece 1895, folio 92, p.5.RG12, Haselbury, ED8, piece 1895 folio 90, p.2.
[5] RG14, Haselbury, ED6, piece 14383. Thomas Pitt succeeded Richard Wills, who died on 5 December 1916 (National Probate Calendar. In February 1915, he advertised for a farm labourer to work at Petvin’s Farm (Western Gazette, 22 February 1918, p.4)
[6][6] Western Chronicle, 26 September 1924, p.7.
[7] RG14, Haselbury, ED6, piece 14383. The 1911 census recorded another son, Henry James, living at home, but the space for his occupation was left blank. He later became a motor engineer and ran a repair garage at Haselbury.
[8] Hardington Guardian valuations; RG14, Hardington Mandeville, ED4, piece 14381
[9] Western Times, 6 August 1915, p.15.
[10] Hordle baptism register; Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919.
[11] Civil registration marriage index; RG14, Doulting, ED4, piece 14492.
[12] Civil registration birth index; Civil registration death index.
[13] Civil registration birth index.
[14] Copy of the estate sale catalogue in the author’s possession.
[15] The will of Henry Thomas Follett Pitt, dated 31 May 1928, proved in London on 12 July 1929.
[16] Western Gazette 14 June 1929 p. 1.
[17] Western Gazette 12 July 1929 p. 2.
[18] Western Gazette 5 October 1934 p. 2.
[19] Western Gazette 12 October 1934 p. 1.
[20] Western Gazette, 15 October 1937, p.15.
[21] Haselbury memorial inscriptions; civil registration death index; Western Gazette, 6 August 1937, p.1; 1 October 1937, p.1; 15 October 1937, p.15.
[22] Western Gazette, 15 March 1940, p.9.
[23] Western Gazette, 15 March 1940, p.9.
[24] Western Gazette, 30 May 1947, p.2.
[25] Hazelbury Bryan burial register; civil registration death index.
[26] National Probate Calendar; civil registration death index.