Introduction
Horace Leon Samuel Budden’s life combined scholarship, farming and religion. A gifted scholarship boy who topped the rural candidates of the county, he might have followed a professional path. Instead, he returned to farming, inherited a constrained tenancy under trust, and within five years of his father’s death held a dispersal sale. He followed his father in Nonconformist religion, though in early adulthood he moved from Methodism to the Baptist tradition of his wife. The surviving record is uneven, yet it suggests a life shaped by both economic limitation and religious commitment.
Childhood
Leon, as it was usually known, was born on 8 March 1917 at Manor Farm, Cranborne, the younger of two children born to Horace John Budden and his wife, Elizabeth.[1] His sister, Marion Chamberlin Budden, had been born in 1912.
Leon attended the Three Cross Undemoninational School until 1927, when he won a county scholarship, coming top among all the rural candidates of Dorset—a remarkable achievement for a farmer’s son. He then proceeded to Poole Grammar School, which could have opened the way to a professional career. Instead, he returned to assist his father on the farm. In 1934, Leon accompanied his family when they moved to Kingswood Farm, Hardington.[2]
Leon was also influenced by his father in matters of religion. Horace had attended Congregational chapels in Dorset and later became an active member of Hardington’s United Methodist chapel, often taking services.[3]
Middle years
Horace John Budden died on 17 March 1943, leaving an estate valued at £1,546 15s 6d. By his will, the estate was left on trust for the use of Elizabeth during her lifetime, with the capital to pass equally to Leon and Marion thereafter. The children were required to pay their mother a fair rate of interest of at least three per cent. The arrangement meant that Leon did not inherit capital outright at the point when responsibility for the farm fell to him.
On 22 September 1944, the freehold of Kingswood Farm was offered for sale by auction. It was described as a dairy farm of 159.5 acres with a substantial old-world farmhouse and ample premises, “at present let at £240 p.a.” [4]The seller’s identity is not specified, though it may have been the Hoskyns estate. A farm of that size would likely have realised several thousand pounds, a sum beyond the reach of a tenant without substantial capital. There is no indication that Leon was in a position to purchase it, and the trust’s constraints may have limited his ability to do so.
In October 1944, Marion married Philip George Oxenbury of White Vine Farm, Hardington. The following year, Leon married Elizabeth Grace Savage of Crewkerne. In 1946, their daughter, Sally Margaret, was born at Crewkerne Hospital.[5]
Elizabeth was the daughter of Rev. Francis George Savage, the Baptist minister of Crewkerne, and had grown up in a succession of manses, including Dorking, Clare, Naunton and Cheddar. Nothing in her earlier life had prepared her directly for the demands of a tenant dairy farm.[6]
On 17 March 1948, Leon held a farm sale at Kingswood Farm. The stock included 48 Short-horn and cross-bred cattle, 25 laying hens and two geese, two Fordson tractors, and other machinery.[7] Five years after his father’s death, the Budden tenancy at Hardington had come to an end.
Later life
Little is known about Leon’s later life. When, in March 1981, he arrived at Beckington Baptist Chapel to conduct a service, he was surprised to be presented with a card signed by the chapelgoers who had discovered it was his birthday. In reporting the incident, a local newspaper mentioned that he was a farmer from Shrewton and a lay preacher of the Wilts and East Somerset Baptist Association.[8]
Leon died in the Devizes area in 1995 at the age of 78, and Elizabeth died in the Swindon area in 1997 at the age of 77.
Conclusion
It is impossible to gain a proper perspective on Leon’s life as a whole until more is known about the years after 1948. For the moment, the most enduring themes are his farming practice and religious commitment. This article will be updated when more information becomes available.
References
[1] Birth certificate of Horace Leon Samuel Budden.
[2] Western Gazette, 30 November 1934, p.14.
[3] Western Gazette, 24 November 1905, p.3; information provided by Margaret Danes.
[4] Western Gazette, 15 September 1944, 1.
[5] Western Gazette, 8 November 1946, p.10.
[6] Gloucestershire Echo, 21 February 1948, p.3.
[7] Western Gazette, 27 February 1948, p.1; Western Gazette, 26 March 1948, p.3.
[8] Shepton Mallet Journal, 26 March 1981, p.28.