Histon Manor, Church Lane, Histon

History of Histon Manor

The Peeds lived in the house from 1877 to 1897.

1891 Manor House

William Peed, 49, solicitor, b Whittlesey

Harriet. 53, b Whittlesey

Samuel W, 22, law solicitor’s articled clerk, b Impington

Catherine, 21, b Impington

Emma R A Savage, 34, cook, b Suffolk

Lucy Coleman, 28, housemaid, b Cambridge

After William’s brother died in 1882. William succeeded him as secretary of the Cambridge Waterworks Company. However, on 28th September 1897 he absconded leaving his wife and children and large amount of debt. He had also been secretary to the Gasworks Company and the Trowbridge waterworks Company.

Saffron Walden Weekly News – Friday 19th November 1897: At the bankruptcy court. “Call William Peed” said the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, to the court crier, and that worthy from the top of the Guildhall stairs, lifted up his voice and called again and again upon the absent one to present himself. No expected a reply to the invitation and no one was disappointed. “I must apply for an adjournment sine die” said the Official Receiver, and the registrar accepted.

Cambridge daily News – Wednesday 24th November 1897: In Bankruptcy Histon Manor near Cambridge … under the bankruptcy of William Peed.

In the Police Gazette of 10th June 1898: Cambridge – woodcut portrait and description of William PEED, a solicitor whose apprehension is sort for forging two transfers of stock of the value of £1,250, embezzling £5,000 and stealing £111 10s 6d. Age about 62, height 5ft 7ins complexion rather florid, hair, whiskers and moustache (cut close) lightish brown (turning grey), round shouldered, looks downward when walking. He is believed to have in his possession a quantity of old coins, including Spanish and American gold coins of the reign of James I, Charles I, Anne, George II, III and IV and Louis XVII. He left Cambridge on 27th September last. May endeavour to leave the country. Warrant issues. Information to Chief Constable Holland, Cambridge.

1901

Walter A H Harding, 30, living on own means, b Yorks

Ethel A, 28, b Yorks

Rosamond, 2, b Doddington

William H Lucy, visitor, 22, living on own means, b Yorks

Alma H Hart, 31, cook, b Northants

Elizabeth Wells, 23, nurse, b Beds

Susan Raymont, 19, parlourmaid, b Royston

Edith J Geatty, 24, housemaid, b Ireland

1911

Walter Ambrose Heath Harding, 41, private means zoological research

Ethel Adela Harding

Thomas Edward John Harding, 4, b Histon

Rosamond Evelyn Mary Harding, 12

Mary Butler Stephens, 12, cousin, b Doddington

Frances Mary Thornhill Ashton, 31, governess, b Cheshire

Eliza Simmons, 32, parlourmaid, b Gloucs

Annie May Bennett, 25, housemaid, b Hunts

Hilda Emily Hulyer, 18, kitchenmaid, b Cambridge

Winifred Florence Parker, 18, housemaid, b Histon

The following notes about the family come from Michael Coles’s article about Rosamond Harding:

1898: Rosamond Harding was born at the rather forbidding Victorian manor house in Doddington, near March, Cambridgeshire, the first child of Ambrose and Adela Harding. Her father Ambrose owned most of the village and, as the only son of Colonel T. Walter Harding, was heir to a large fortune. Colonel Harding was a wealthy industrialist and Lord Mayor of Leeds, Yorkshire. His only son Ambrose did not continue the family business tradition but lived the easy life of an academically inclined country gentleman, never in robust health.

1899: Rosamond was just one year old when the family left Doddington and moved to Histon Manor, two miles north of Cambridge. Here in acres of private grounds with a high wall around, Rosamond passed her formative years, effectively isolated from the village community. However, her father’s hobbies included a private zoo of exotic animals, particularly lemurs and tropical birds, which must have been fascinating for a child.

1906 Her only sibling, Thomas Harding, was born when Rosamond was seven. He was handicapped but the precise nature of his disability is not known. It was quickly recognised that he would not be able to manage his own affairs, so he was not considered for the family inheritance. Rosamond meanwhile attended several boarding schools, but was always unhappy, so when her parents heard of her tears she was allowed to come home, usually after only one or two terms. Their hopes to give her an education such as her brother would have had, were disappointed. Consequently she was largely educated by her father. He taught her how to make technical illustrations, with pen and ink, which became such a feature of her piano book. This was a skill he had acquired himself for illustrating his zoology papers for the Linnaean Society.

1917 Rosamond’s only experience of the world of work was at the local Chiver’s Jam Factory, packing supplies for soldiers at the front during the first World War.

1914 Destitute Belgian families were house at Histon Manor

For more information about the history of Histon Manor, visit:

https://www.histonmanor.com/history