Ralph Herbert Lord

27 Union Lane / Union Road, Aldham House

History of Aldham House, Union Lane, Chesterton

1891

House conveyed to Ralph Herbert Lord. Ralph established Aldham House Dairy. At some point Charles Alder and/or Stetchworth Dairy took over the business.

Ralph Lord was a very successful photographer with a business at 13 Market Street. He had previously lived at 101 Chesterton Road. But he also set up a dairy business. The web site Fading Images says this about him:

Ralph was clearly a man of ambition and drive with a good sense of business. He became a District Councillor in Cambridge from 1894. His home at Aldham House would have been at the edge of the built part of Chesterton, surrounded by countryside. Ralph set up an additional business there as a dairy farmer. According to what has become family folklore, Ralph was the first person to import Jersey cows into England and they provided the milk and butter for Aldham house dairy. Jersey cows are known for the high quality of their milk, The Jersey Cattle Society claim that Jersey cows existed on the UK mainland since 1741, so the claim that Ralph was their first importer may need some qualification. The Aldham House dairy supplied a number of the Cambridge Colleges with butter in yard square trays, one inch thick, divided into 1 inch squares. This butter was only from the milk of Jersey cows. Dairy produce was also available from Ralph’s business at 19/20 Market Street. 

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1911

Charles Richard Alder, 46

Lucy Aveline, 43

Lucy Dorothy Braybrooke, 17

Emily Florence Savill, 34, servant

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1913

Charles R Alder

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1916

Charles Alder was the manager of Stetchworth Dairy which had several offices in Cambridge

At some point between 1911 and 1917 Charles Alder took on the Leys Farm and Laundry.

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24 November 1922
The first dairy in this part of the country to obtain a Ministry of Health licence is the Stetchworth Dairies Certified Grade A Dairy Farm, Union Lane, Chesterton, which claims to be the largest private retailer in the Eastern Counties. The herd consists of 12 cows, six of them being pedigree Guernseys. The cows are accommodated in large, airy sheds, without stalls or partitions of any kind. Our representative was shown several bottles of milk which had been bottled for eight days. One of these was opened and the contents found to be only just beginning to “turn”; certified milk will keep perfectly fresh for four or five days

Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge Chesterton Scrapbook, reference 1922 11 24.