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William Farish

Merton House

History of Merton House

Royal Commission Survey of Cambridge 1959: built by Professor the Rev William Farish, vicar of St Giles, and, on stylistic grounds, early in the 19th cent. Though said to have been built in 1790, it does not appear on the Inclosure Award map of 1804.

The Garden Wall is a listed building.

1800

Rev William Farish, vicar of St Giles and Professor of Chemistry 1794-1813.

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1851

Thomas Smith, landed proprietor, b Derbyshire

Harriet

son, 2

daughter, 1

nurse, 33, b Kent

nursemaid, 21, b Ickelton

cook, 35, b Staffs

housemaid, 27, b London

guest, b Asborne

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1861

Ephraim Wayman, 28, attorney and solicitor

Caroline A, 24,

Lavinia Hanchett, 11, visitor, b Ickleton

Harriet Dealtry,

Susan Jules, 24, servant, b Cambridge

John Garwood, 14, servant, b Cambridge

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1881

Ephraim Wayman, 48, solicitor, b Girton

Caroline, 43, b Ickleton

Harriet Dealtry, 45, servant, b Cambridge

Alice Norman, 28, cook, b Isleham

Mary A Skinner, 23, servant, b Fen Ditton

In 1888 Ephraim was responsible a major criminal financial scandal that lead to at least one suicide and the ruin of many families in the Cambridge area. Both he and his wife fled the UK.

Ephraim Wayman 1888

LP sent this note in 2024:

There is some evidence, as my Phypers was a friend of the nearby workhouse, that some of the funds tied up for the purpose of supporting out of work farmers and families was held in a trust embezzled by Wayman.  The Phypers mortgage was squandered by his gambling and remortgaging practices, but Wayman got away with £100,000 (which was millions of pounds then).  I can imagine the local workhouse suffered as a result of the loss of Trust funds.  The Workhouse was at Chesterton then – I’ve yet to research this even further, but have found employees there and ‘inmates’ of the time – mostly old couples or farmers into their old age that had fallen upon difficult times.  It seems also that Wayman’s actions cast many more in that direction following the significant financial losses they nearly all suffered. When the law caught up with Wayman, he had covered his tracks and was never found – he’d stolen a friend’s luggage with their initials on and snuck out of the country via London with the false lettering on his cases.  The Courts sold off the contents of his home, including “I Am The Light Of The World” which is now at the V&A I think.  Ironic to have owned it, given the fact his wife was left behind to carry the disgrace. 

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1913

Rev. Frederick Robert Tennant

1939 vacant

1962

Charles Henry Wilson

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