Following the recent death of Sue Cole, who lived at Laburnum Villa, 45 Bretforton Road, for over 30 years, her son, John, has donated the house deeds to the Society. Laburnum Villa is a detached red-brick house on the corner of Bretforton Road and Birmingham Road. We know from the name and date plaque on the house that it was built in 1897. However, the earliest deeds date back to 1798, a century before the house was built, and help to add to our knowledge about the house and land on which it was built. Using the deeds to add to the information we already knew from other documentary sources, this is the history of this piece of land.
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Ownership by the Darrill and Wilson families
The earliest deed is dated 28th March 1798 and records John Wilson, gentleman, of Badsey being the current owner and referred to the fact that he had bought the land a few years earlier from John Darrill. According to a document at Birmingham City Archives (362800), John Darrill (or Dorrell as the name sometimes appeared) had bought 3 acres of land at Netherfield Close in 1781 for £150, as a result of the sale of land which had previously belonged to Robert Mason:
And whereas John Dorrell hath contracted to buy a close or inclosed ground in Badsey called Netherfield Close, a parcel of the premises comprised in the said recited Indentures of Lease and Release at the price of £150, All that close or inclosed ground of pasture land called or known by the name of Netherfield Close situate lying and being in the parish of Badsey in the county of Worcester containing by estimation 3 acres be the same more or less and now in the occupation of the said John Dorrell. The premises hereby granted and released or so intended were conveyed to Robert Mason deceased, uncle of the before named Robert Mason.
The Darrills were linked by marriage to the Wilsons who were Lords of the Manor of Badsey. John Darrill’s daughter, Mary, had married Edward Wilson (1748-1797) as his second wife. John Wilson (1774-1798) was Edward’s son by his first wife, thus Mary’s step-son.
John Darrill died in 1794 and it was soon after this that John Wilson bought Netherfield Close. John Wilson (1774-1798), was very briefly Lord of the Lord of the Manor of Badsey following the death of his father, Edward, in 1797. He was the eldest surviving son by Edward’s first marriage, and inherited the bulk of the manorial estate.
John Wilson died in July 1798, aged only 24. On 5th July, just a few days before his death, he made his will in which John Ballard of Badsey, farmer, described as a good friend, was one of the executors of his will and William Ballard was one of the witnesses.
Ownership by the Ballard family
Just a few months before John Wilson died, he sold Netherfield Close for £150 to the tenant, William Ballard, who was also related to John Darrill by marriage (William’s brother, Edmund, married John Darrill’s daughter, Phoebe, in 1796).
The sale was a two-step process with a lease for a year of a close at Badsey, dated 28th March 1798, followed by a deed of lease and release dated the very next day. This two-step process was a legal method of transferring property ownership and was the most popular and widespread way to record simple sales of property from the 17th century up to 1845. It was particularly favoured because it allowed property transactions to avoid the requirements of the Statue of Enrolments, which mandated that property transfers be recorded in a public registry. By using a lease followed by a release, parties could effectively transfer property without public disclosure.
William Ballard (1759-1803) was originally from South Littleton but moved to Badsey on marriage. He lived in a house on Old Post Office Lane with his second wife, Elizabeth, and their three children.
William died in 1803. In March 1813, Elizabeth Ballard and her son, William (1791-1864), bought the neighbouring strip of land comprising 3a 2r 10p from Joseph Jones for £315. In November 1814 they took out a mortgage for £400 with William Law Phelps of Evesham, gentleman. In April 1815, this was assigned to Timothy Care of Westmancote.
The Badsey Enclosure Awards were signed by the commissioners on 1st July 1815. As her husband was dead, it was Elizabeth Ballard’s name that appeared in the Enclosure Schedules of 1815. Elizabeth was recorded as owning three old enclosures: her house on Old Post Office Lane with an acreage of 0a 3r 13p and the two adjoining strips of land known as Netherfield, comprising a total of about 6½ acres.
In April 1822, the mortgage was assigned to the Rev Henry Portmore Cooper of Evesham, Clerk. We know from a document (359335) at Birmingham City Archives that William Ballard Junior and his mother then sold the closes to Rev Cooper in April 1826, which were described as follows:
All that close, piece or parcel of pasture ground called or known by the name of the Netherfield Close containing 2a 2r 0p being formerly the estate of the said William Ballard deceased and also all that other close, piece or parcel of arable land also called Netherfield Close adjoining the said last mentioned close containing 3a 2r 11p and formerly bought and purchased by the said William Ballard from the said Joseph Jones which said two closes, pieces or parcels of land were formerly divided and are now in one close situate in Badsey and in the respective occupation of James Harris and John Allchurch as tenants bounded on the east side by land belonging to Mr Edward Wilson and on the west side by a lane leading from Badsey to South Littleton and Offenham.
Ownership by the Cooper family
Henry Portmore Cooper (1775-1827) was Vicar of All Saints with St Lawrence, Evesham. If the Badsey Curate was unavailable, he occasionally preached or officiated at baptisms, marriages or burials at St James’ Church. He had married Margaret Hudson Scott at Willersey in 1810; they had one son, Henry (1813-1879).
Reverend Cooper died at Evesham on 18th August 1827. As Henry was his only son, it was he who inherited the land at Netherfield Close. He married Felicia Sawyer at Wickhamford on 1st June 1835. In the same year, it is thought that a building was erected on part of Netherfield Close, which became The Royal Oak Inn (now known as The Round of Gras). Certainly, by December 1835, Richard Ingles was taking over the leasehold and became the publican.
Henry and Felicia’s first two children were baptised at Badsey in March 1836 and May 1837. By 1841, Henry Cooper had been ordained and was Rector of Willersey, where he lived with his wife and growing family. On the 1843-44 Electoral Roll for Badsey, Reverend Cooper was listed as being able to vote in parliamentary elections. He still lived in Willersey, but his qualification was because he owned a freehold house and land in Badsey, occupied by Richard Ingles.
On 9th July 1847, the Reverend Henry Cooper sold his property at Badsey to Richard Ingles, the tenant. It was described as follows:
All that messuage or dwelling house and inn called and known as “The Royal Oak” together with the newly-erected barn, stable, pigsty, garden and premises thereto belonging and also all those two closes or pieces or parcels of arable land called or known by the name of “The Netherfield Closes” containing together by admeasurement 6a 3r 10p, and which said closes of land were formerly one close and are bounded on the east by land belonging to Mr Wilson, on the west by a lane leading from Badsey to South Littleton, on the south and south-east by the turnpike road leading from Evesham to Campden and on the north and north-east by a brook called Aldington Brook, all which said premises are now in the occupation of Richard Ingles.
Previously the land had been used for pasture, but now it was described as arable land.
Ownership by the Ingles and Sherwood families
Richard Ingles (1806-1862) was born at Chipping Campden. He had married Sarah Wilkins at Willersey in 1827. They had two daughters – Mary Ann and Sarah Maria – both born at Willersey and baptised there in 1828 and 1833 respectively.
Richard Ingles moved to Badsey at the end of 1835 to be the publican at The Royal Oak. From a notice in the Worcestershire Chronicle of September 1861, when Richard was applying for a spirit licence, it stated that he had been there for 25 years:
LICENSING MEETING – Richard Ingles of Badsey, keeper of the Royal Oak beerhouse, applied for a spirit licence, Mr Kettle being for applicant. It appeared that Mr Ingles, the churchwarden of the parish, had kept his house as a beerhouse for 25 years without any complaint, and he produced a memorial in his favour signed by most of the principal paymasters of the parish. The Rev Mr Hunt opposed the application, which however was granted.
The exact date was 12th December 1835, as recorded on an Inland Revenue form of 1888, which was when Richard Ingles took over the leasehold. At the same time, he also took out a mortgage for five small cottages he had bought at Willersey for renting out.
In 1847, Richard Ingles took the opportunity to purchase for £749 The Royal Oak and land from the Reverend Henry Cooper, and took out a mortgage for £600 with William and George Warner of Willersey. This was then assigned to Richard Townsend, gentleman, of Broadway, on 20th March 1848.
Richard Ingles remained at The Royal Oak for the rest of his life. He died there on 25th June 1862. His widow, Sarah, died on 28th September 1870. Initially, Joseph Taylor, who had married Richard and Sarah’s younger daughter, Sarah Maria, took over the running of the beerhouse for a short time but, by 1873, John Poole was the licensed victualler.
The Royal Oak and Netherfield Close passed by inheritance to Richard’s eldest daughter, Mary Ann, who had married Charles Sherwood in 1857. However, Richard wrongly described her as “my daughter, Ann Sherwood”, rather than use her full name of Mary Ann, so this had to be resolved with the Inland Revenue.
Ann Sherwood died at Bretforton on 24th January 1893. Shortly afterwards, Netherfield Closes and The Royal Oak were sold to the tenant, John Poole.
Ownership by the Poole and Kerr families
John Poole had been running The Royal Oak for at least 20 years. When he married in December 1873, his occupation was given as licensed victualler living in Badsey. The 1881 census shows him living at the inn with his wife, Joyce, his step-son, Alfred George Kerr (Joyce’s son from a previous marriage), and a servant.
Following the death of Ann Sherwood in January 1893, John Poole took the opportunity to buy Netherfield Closes and The Royal Oak. On 28th June 1893 he took out a mortgage for £800 with the Misses Mary Louisa Lowe, Fanny Caroline Lowe, Clara Crowther Lowe and Louisa Anne Lowe of Evesham.
Added to the original document was a Reconveyance dated 28th September 1897 in which John Poole repaid part of the mortgage. This was followed two days later by a new mortgage agreement with the Misses Lowe for £800. This contained the crucial information that a house (this was Laburnum Villa) with outbuildings had recently been erected, The Royal Oak Inn had been sold to Messrs Sladden & Collier Ltd, brewers, and 656 square yards had been sold to Henry Geden (upon which land Geden had a house built, known today as West View, Birmingham Road). The Netherfield Closes now comprised 6a 21p.
As a result of selling The Royal Oak, at a meeting of the County Sessions in October 1897, the licence was transferred to William Mustoe. John Poole also had a butcher’s business at 63 Bridge Street, Evesham, so ceasing to be the landlord of The Royal Oak meant that he had more time to devote to being a butcher. He advertised regularly in both The Evesham Standard and the new Badsey parish magazine.
At the time of the 1901 census, John and Joyce Poole had their two grandsons, ten-year-old John Poole Kerr and seven-year-old Alfred Poole Kerr, living with them at Laburnum Villa. The boys’ mother, Annie, had died the year before and their father, Alfred George Kerr, was living at 63 Bridge Street, Evesham, and managing the butchery business.
In October 1904, John Poole transferred his butcher’s business to his step-son, Alfred George Kerr, who, for a long time, had had the management of the business. John Poole had been ill for the past year with Bright’s disease, and died at Laburnum Villa on 24th October 1904. A report of his death appeared in The Evesham Standard. Joyce Poole died in March 1909 and was buried alongside her husband in Waterside Cemetery, Evesham.
It was probably after his mother’s death that Alfred George Kerr moved into Laburnum Villa. He had married again in 1902, to Edith Alice Baylis, and they had a son, Arthur George Kerr, who was born at Evesham in 1906; Arthur became a pupil at Badsey Council School in 1911. The 1911 census records the occupants of Laburnum Villa being Alfred and Edith Kerr, Alfred (one of his sons by his first wife), Arthur (Alfred and Edith’s son) and two servants.
At the time of the nationwide valuation survey, Laburnum Villa and the surrounding land which amounted to 6a 1r 0p, was inspected on 19th February 1913 and was described as follows:
Brick and tile detached house, 1897, good repair: entrance hall, 2 front sitting-rooms, dairy and kitchen, cellars, 2 bedrooms with bay and side windows and back bedrooms, back kitchen, kitchen and sink, hot and cold, 2 ash closets and office. Slaughter house and cow sheds with loft.
Alfred George Kerr died on 8th December 1917, aged 49; his obituary appeared in the January 1918 parish magazine. On 27th April 1918, a deed of covenant was made between Edith Kerr and the Misses Lowe. Following the death of firstly John Poole in 1904, Joyce Poole (his wife) in 1909, Alfred George Kerr (his step-son) in 1917, Edith Alice Kerr (widow of Alfred) was now the mortgagor.
By 1921, widow Edith Kerr, was described as a market gardener and her step-son, Alfred, was assisting Edith in general market garden work. Arthur, aged 15, was described as whole time in education - he was now a pupil at Prince Henry's Grammar School, Evesham. Edith employed one servant.
On 9th August 1938 by a deed of dedication, Edith Kerr gave two small strips of land containing 346 square yards and forming part of the frontage of the property to Worcestershire County Council to form part of the highway. On 18th January 1940, Edith sold to His Majesty’s Postmaster General a piece of land with a frontage of 25 feet to the public road leading from Badsey to Littleton. This was for the building of a telephone exchange. During this period, Edith Kerr proceeded to pay off some of the mortgage. The mortgagee was now Thomas Tricker Lowe, brother of the four Lowe sisters who had died by this time.
Edith Kerr outlived her husband by many years. She remained living at Laburnum Villa until her death on 9th January 1953 at the age of 87. Her obituary appeared in The Evesham Standard. Her son, Arthur, never married, and also remained at Laburnum Villa until his death in 1982 – thus continuous residence for 85 years by just one family.
Ownership by the Cole and Sodeau families
In 1988, Sue Cole, together with her two young sons, and her parents, Fred and Lilian Sodeau, moved to Badsey and took up residence in Laburnum Villa. They quickly became involved with the local community. Fred, who was an active member of the Scouting movement for over 60 years and was the oldest member of Evesham District Scouts, was given the highest achievement award, the Silver Wolf, in April 2010. Sue was also a member of the Scouting and Guiding movement. She started a Beaver pack in Badsey and, for many years was a much-loved Brownie leader.
Sue originally trained as a primary school teacher and, on moving to Badsey, did supply teaching at a number of schools in the area. She was a Churchwarden at Badsey for many years, and trained as a reader in 2006.
Lilian Sodeau died in 2005 and Fred in 2019. Sue remained at Laburnum Villa until ill-health forced her to move into a Care Home. She died at Cavendish Park Care Home, Evesham, on 7th January 2026, aged 75.
The future
In 2025, Laburnum Villa was sold by the Cole family. In April 2026, the house will be entering a new phase in its history when it opens as Poppins Day Nursery.
Maureen Spinks, March 2026
Acknowledgements
- With thanks to John Cole for the donation of house deeds for Laburnum Villa.