Margaret Louisa (“Peggy”) Baker, later Farndale

The Story of Peggy Farndale

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The Free Spirit of Audlem

Margaret Louisa Baker was born in Audlem in Cheshire on 24 February 1901. Her father was Arthur Baker (1860 to 1916) who was 41 when Margaret was born. Her mother was Marianne (nee Hall) Baker (1869 to 1908), who was 31 when she was born. Her grandson, Nigel Farndale, many years later remembered that Peggy would say “I was born on St Matthias’ Day, you know” and then add with a mischievous grin and a roll of the eye, “Haven’t a clue who St Matthias was though!”

Margaret had an older sister, Hilda Marianne Baker, who was born in 1899, so was nearly two years older. Her younger brother, Geoffrey Richard Farndale was born in 1904.

In the year that Margaret was born, the census recorded that the family were living at Swanbach Villa, Audlem, Cheshire. Arthur Baker was head of the family, aged 41, living on his own means, with his wife Marianne, aged 31. Living with them were Hilda Marianne Baker aged 1, Margaret Louisa Baker aged 1 month, and Maude Whiston, a servant.

Margaret Baker with Hilda in about 1905 Arthur Baker with Hilda and Margaret in about 1905 Hilda And Margaret Baker in about 1906 Arthur and Marianne Baker with Margaret and Hilda about 1906

Margaret Baker

We have an early letter to Margaret from her mother, Marianne, which must have been in about 1907 or 1908. Nordrach House at Charterhouse on Mendip was a former tuberculosis hospital, so she must have been ill when she wrote.

Marianne, died on 16 May 1908 at Swanbach Villa, when Margaret was only seven years old. What a shock it must have been for the young family to lose their mother so soon.

Nevertheless, by 1910, there were garden parties and heaps of tennis going on, as recorded in a card to Kit Lynham, Margaret’s cousin, though Margaret was still only nine then.

By the 1911 census, the family were still living at Swanbach Villa, Audlem, Cheshire. Arthur Baker was head of the family, 51, living on his own means, a widower. Living with him were Hilda Marian Baker (1899 to 1979), who was 11, Margaret Louisa Baker, aged 10, Geoffrey Richard Baker (1904 to 1974) aged 6, with Mary Alice Baker, aged 27, and also a housekeeper and two servants.

Swanbach Villa, Green Lane, Audlem (an early seventeenth century farmhouse, with nineteenth century additions)

The family later lived at Hillside, Audlem.

Hillside, Audlem and Peggy re-visiting in about 1990

We have a letter to Margaret and Hilda from her father in perhaps about 1915.

Margaret and the girl guides Annotated “Margaret Baker – you do look ‘ripping’ ahem! – I sent one to a friend of yours.”

Margaret Baker went to school in Southampton, leaving there in about 1916.

Tragically, Margaret’s father, Arthur Baker, died in his sleep in 1916, aged only 57, and was discovered by Margaret’s brother Geoffrey. Margaret had been to early communion at church with their housekeeper, Miss Healing. So Margaret, her sister Hilda and younger brother Geoff, had lost both their parents by that young age. Margaret was only 15 when her father died.

Nigel Farndale, her grandson later reflected that She must have had a sad childhood, marked by the early deaths of her parents. Yet, for all her formal upbringing in Cheshire, under the severe gaze of those she referred to only as “The Aunts”, she developed a spirit of rebellion, independence, and cheerfulness that was to characterise her life.

“The Aunts”

The rather eccentric Aunts were known as the “Miss Bakers” and comprised Henrietta (known, for some reason, as Aunt Poppie), Charlotte (Aunt Tottie) and Aunt Emily. They were all Arthur Baker’s sisters and they lived together at the Cedars, with Peggy’s equally eccentric Uncle Dick, a local solicitor, known for his flamboyant fun making of the local hunt. On the Hall side of her family, there was also Aunt Catherine (Lynham).

By 1918, despite the challenges of the last few years, Margaret was a prefect. Her Aunt Charlotte (“Tottie”) wrote to her on her seventeenth birthday, You do seem to have plenty of fun what with the games and the Guides. You are an important lady now being a prefect! It sounds as if it must have something to do with Rome. Well done getting first in class.

Margaret Baker, head girl at school (centre right)

Margaret Baker soon became known, almost always, as ‘Peggy” or “Peggie”. Her second name was Louisa, a widely used Baker name passing down from Henrietta Louisa Bellyse, the wife of William Baker the Younger, but she preferred Louise, so when she referred to her middle name, that is what she used.

Heaps of tennis

A pioneer in a new age of self expression by women

Peggy at about 18, perhaps in about 1919

Peggy went to a girls’ training college at Southport and we know that she was there by 1919, and in 1921. We think that it was here that she qualified as a physical training and English teacher.

She had the support of the vicar of Audlem:

We have this letter to Margaret when she was at training college in Southport from her grandfather, James Hall in 1919.

She was the physical culture mistress at Wintersthorpe, Birkdale from September 1920 to December 1921.

She was a temporary gymnastics and games mistress at West Bank School, Bideford in March 1923. The West Bank School, a private school for girls, opened in Lansdowne Terrace, Bideford, in 1896. The school moved to Enderleigh, Abbotsham Road in 1898 and four years later, moved into West Bank, a newly built house on Belvoir Road.

Peggy in the 1920s

Peggy with Geoff Baker

We know that Peggy then went to teach at Malvern Girl’s College (“MGC”) in Malvern. There is also a suggestion that she went to Monmouth Girl’s College for a time, but this might have been a reference to Malvern which is relatively close to Monmouth. We are pretty sure that she was teaching at the college from about 1924 to 1926, but it may have been for a shorter time. MGC was founded in 1893 by Miss Greenslade and Miss Poulton, and was first located in College Road. In 1919 they acquired the Imperial Hotel and in 1934, a major extension including an assembly hall was built. Barbara Cartland (1901-2000), the novelist, is an alumni of Malvern Girl’s College, but as she was the same age as Peggy, they probably did not quite overlap.

These photographs are labelled “SPTC” and “SPTC Interior” and may have been somewhere where Peggy taught. The third photograph is obviously of a gym, perhaps where Peggy taught physical education. The middle photograph may have been the common room.

It was while she was at Malvern that she became friendly with Grace Farndale, who was a matron. They used to travel a lot together and Peggy had a car, which was quite something at the time.

The photo of four girls balancing is marked “Bakerloo” on the back

A postcard from Peggy’s collection

Peggy’s grandson, Nigel Farndale later admired her trend setting spirit. She was, after all, the first of her peers to have her hair cut short in the flapper style; and the first to buy a car which she said she never learned to drive properly because, with no other traffic on the road, there was no need.

Peggy’s car, bought in Darlington in about 1926, with Grace Farndale in the back seat.

One of “The Aunts”, Catherine (nee Hall) Lynham wrote in a letter to Peggy in 1927 and commented how you young people rush about in cars astonishes me.

Peggy was a pioneer in a new age of self expression by women. Her grandchildren are in awe at some photographs of their trend setting Granny, caddying for golf sometime in the 1920s.

She travelled widely with Grace.

A trip to Scotland

Skiing

We know that Peggy did not like the Headmistress at Malvern. Grace and Peggy got so fed up that they decided to go to Yorkshire and start a chicken farm near to where Grace’s elder sister, Lynn (nee Farndale) Barker lived, at Scorton, near Richmond.

The poultry farm at Scorton.

After moving to Yorkshire, Peggy met Grace’s younger brother Alfred Farndale.

Peggy Baker became engaged to Alfred Farndale in 1927.

“The Aunts” felt protective of Peggy and Catherine (nee Hall) Lynham wrote in a letter to Peggy in 1927. I was glad to get your letter and to hear something about Alfred Farndale. Of course I am very pleased to know that you are happy, but I wish some of us knew the young man. I hope he is really good enough for you in every way. For you know I think a lot of you and it is a big thing to get engaged. However I do hope you have acted wisely. You ought to be able to know your own mind. I am sure you have my hearty congratulations and I shall look forward to seeing your Alfred. Kit is rather funny about it; she likes the name Alfred about as much as Edgar or Cyril.

And, in a rather more endearing note from her Aunt Poppie on the Baker side (one of the eccentric ‘Miss Bakers”), I am a very poor one to make pretty speeches, but I can only say dear old Peggy that if you are as happy as I wish you to be, you will indeed be so, without any more words about it! Knowing what you say about Alfred (excuse me being so familiar), he sounds very nice and as you are such a cheeky little woman you will make up for it, if he is, as you say, rather shy, won’t you? How quickly the years do pass, to be sure; it only seems the other day since you were a wee child and now you are engaged to be married. My word it makes one realise what an old woman I must be.

Peggy’s uncle, Colonel Arthur John Hall also wrote to congratulate her on her engagement, a little more formally, though he quickly turned the subject to the shooting season.

But Aunt Catherine need not have worried, and Aunt Poppie was rather nearer to the mark, for the marriage which would then last sixty years until Alfred died, provided the happy and solid foundation for the large family which grew from their union. Nigel Farndale later commented, the story of how she married her war hero and went on to live the pioneer life in the prairies could have come straight out of a romantic adventure novel.

A House on the Prairie

Alfred Farndale, aged 29, the son of Martin Farndale (deceased), married Margaret Louise Baker, spinster of Leeming Bar daughter of Arthur Baker JP (deceased) at Bedale Parish Church, on 16 March 1928.

Alfred and Peggy Baker at their wedding in March 1928. Bedale Church, December 1986

Bedale Church in December 1986 Bedale Church interior in 2023

Almost immediately from their wedding, Peggy and Alfred left for Western Canada, to join Alfred’s elder brothers and they took a farm about a hundred miles north of Calgary.

Peggy on the voyage to Canada shortly after they were married in 1928.

A telegram from Peggy’s siblings Hilda Baker and Geoff Baker

Her son Martin later recalled that Alfred rented a section and a half near Huxley some 10 miles north of Trochu and built a house there. The farm was almost entirely devoted to wheat but with some cattle. I grew up at the farm and my first memories are of playing on the prairie and around the slews (a kind of duck pond) near the farm. I remember all the horses used for farm work, the box waggons with racks, threshing in the fields and the hot summers. The winters were cold - well below zero, and I remember the horse drawn sleighs and the bright sun on the snow. I remember the village of Huxley, the annual sports day, the Legion parade and buying sweets at Miss Hibbs’ store. I remember visits to the neighbours, the Hoggs, the Saggers, the Morris’, the Wagstaffs, the Millers and I remember the postman, Mr Hibbs whistling in his buggy as he came up the road to what is still today called Farndale’s corner. But above all I remember the family. Uncle Martin and Aunt Ruth lived near Trochu and he spoiled me a lot. Uncle George was a bachelor, remote and living alone near Three Hills. Aunt Kate was strict and austere, but kind and she lived between Trochu and Three Hills with her husband Bill Kinsey and their children George, Alfred and Dorothy. I remember evening parties and sitting waiting while the grown ups played bridge. I remember being well looked after by our nannie, Gladys Grist who later married Aubrey, the son of our nearest neighbour, Ralph Hogg.

Alfred and Peggy had four children, Martin Baker Farndale was born in Trochu, Alberta on 6 January 1929. Marianne Catherine Farndale (later Shepherd) was born on 30 October 1930 in Trochu. Alfred Geoffrey Farndale, born in Trochu on 10 April 1932 and Margaret Lindsey (“Margot”) Farndale (later Atkinson) was born after the family had returned from Canada at Thornton-le-moor, North Yorkshire on 8 October 1937.

Peggy in Huxley, Alberta, Canada The house at Huxley, Alberta

Holidays in the Rockies and Sylvan lake in about 1934

Alfred and Margaret Farndale, after emigrating to Canada in March 1928, remained there until 1935. The slump of the late twenties and early thirties was crippling and the family was forced to return to England in 1935. Martin Farndale later recalled But things were not well on the farm. Prices were bad in the slump years of the early 30s and the weather was unkind so that my father, along with many others, soon lost all his savings, and in 1935, he decided to return to England. I remember well the excitement of the farm sale by our white house with a black roof, on the hill overlooking Huxley. It was early April and it was cold with snow still on the ground. We spent our last few days in Alberta with Aunt Grace and Uncle Howard at their Ranch near Huxley and finally caught the train at Huxley for Edmonton on 9 April 1935.

The return from Canada

The Matriarch of Gale Bank

On their return to England Alfred farmed first at Middleton-One-Row, near Darlington, then at Thornton-le-Moor until 1940. They then lived in Northallerton until 1943.

Martin later recalled My parents both worked very hard and times were not easy. My mother looked after us wonderfully well and set very high standards. She taught us all how to behave, how to talk, to dress and conduct ourselves in company.

My father was working very hard indeed at this time. It was hard physical graft and very long hours, but there was plenty of work as farmers grew all they could. Sometimes I went with him and I learnt how to plough on his Massy-Harris tractor. We once ploughed in one of the fields from our old farm at Thornton-Le-Moor where I remembered doing some ploughing with a pair of horses some year before. Frequently on Thursdays I would cycle out to an agreed point and await my father with his threshing crew to bring the men their wages. But all this time my father was trying to get another farm. He went to many, was short listed for some, and turned others down. I went to some with him at weekends and I remember sharing is hopes and disappointments. It was a difficult but exhilarating time. There was not much money, and a lot of hard work. We had always had a car at this time. We had a 1937 Morris 12 which, in 1942, my father exchanged for a Standard 12 which he got from our doctor, Doctor Milne.

The 1939 Register recorded the family living at Sycamore Lodge, Thirsk. Alfred Farndale, born 5 July 1897, was a farmer (mixed); Margaret Louisa Farndale, born 24 February 1901; Martin, Ann, Geoff and Margot, and Lerna E Gerrard (later married Hutchinson), single, born 6 February 1918, paid domestic duties.

Peggy was the heart of a happy family. Martin later recalled about the early days of the Second World War: About this time there was much going on that I didn’t understand. My mother would come and sit with me as I went to sleep at night and these moments became highlights of those days. I adored her, she seemed to understand everything and she never failed to set my mind at rest whatever my problems. I owe her a great deal indeed. She ensured that we grew up with balance and understanding of other people.

Peggy with her four children

Alfred then took the tenancy at Gale Bank Farm, Wensley. Martin recalled Towards the end of 1942, I came home from school one day to be told by mother that it looked as if we had got a farm near Wensley in Wensleydale.

We moved to Gale Bank on 28 January 1943. I remember it all very well. The furniture van came and everything was packed up. The rest of us went in our heavily overloaded Standard 12. I remember it over heating just outside Bedale and my father going into a farm and helping himself to a bucket of water! I remember our arrival well, the house, and the buildings were quite empty and we children raced throughout the empty house. There were strange smells everywhere, particularly that of smoked bacon, which our predecessors had done for years. We raced through all the farm buildings which were big and extensive compared to anything we had known before. It must have been cold in January and apart from a fire in the drawing room and kitchen in daytime only there was o heat. But I don’t remember it being cold. With great excitement e all chose our bedrooms and then the furniture van arrived and we all helped move our things into the house. The beds were made – the same ones we had got out of that morning in Crosby Road, and we were ready for bed in our new house. Little did we know what a major step in our lives this day was to be for us all. Gale Bank was to become our home, and a firm base for us all, for many years to come.

Throughout the Second World War, Alfred served as a Special Constable.

We have a record of Peggy’s holiday in Italy in 1963, with her sister in law, Mary.

We left Darlington about 2 pm for London on Saturday 15th June. The train was packed and it was very hot, but we managed to get into a compartment and had it to ourselves ‘til we reached London at 6:40 pm. We got a room at the Great Northern. It was rather expensive, but we took it as by the time we had gone round by taxi seeking something cheaper, it might have cost us a lot more. We had a very comfortable night and after breakfast had to get our luggage to Victoria. It was a bit of a scramble with our cases on the Underground, but we eventually got there by 11.20. We then went for a bus ride around London, had our lunch, and back to Victoria and met Umberto Skinymo at 2.00 pm. The train didn't leave for Folkestone ‘til 3.45. We arrived at Folkestone about 6.00 pm and left by steamer about 7.00 pm and arrived at Boulogne at 8.30. It was very breezy, but we had a good crossing and felt quite OK.

At Boulogne we boarded the train for a long journey. We shared a compartment with a young lady who was going alone to Italy for holidays. We got a bit of sleep and next morning there were hundreds of people lined up waiting for breakfast. We were longing for a cup of tea and eventually we got in for a Swiss breakfast of coffee, rolls and butter and marmalade, very nicely served and well worth waiting for. We arrived at our hotel in Milan at 2.00 pm, had a wash and change which we needed after a night on the train, had lunch and then went sightseeing round Milan in the luxury coach, which was to take us around Italy. We went into the cathedral, which was very bright, and beautiful. Milan is a very big place, noted for its grand buildings. We went early to bed that night after dinner to get some rest.

On Tuesday we were up at 6:30 am and went out for a walk in Milan before breakfast. We left at 7.30 in the coach and the first stop was Lake Garda, the largest lake in the world. We had coffee there and took snaps, after which we left again for Verona, which is a very old place. We passed by the castle where Mussolini had his son-in-law put to death. We had lunch at Verona, then went round the shops. It looked most colourful with all the brightly painted little tables and chairs and umbrellas. We left Verona and went on to a little place just outside Venice, where we had dinner and stayed the night. In the evening we went for a musical gondola ride on the canals, which we all enjoyed very much. Around Venice the main crops are wheat and grapes. The corn is a rich golden brown and is being harvested with oxen doing the work of horses. They have 4 oxen in the harness. They are all a kind of roan in colour and all to be seen everywhere. I haven't seen any tractors. On Wednesday we went for a general look around Venice. I saw them making Venetian glass. In the afternoon. Mary and I sat on the Lido eating ice cream and watching the parade. It was very hot. There are tea gardens everywhere, but the Italians don't know how to make a good cup of tea.

On Thursday we left. Pavoda, on the outskirts and Venice, and went on to Loretta where we had dinner and stayed the night. The cornfields are very rich golden brown now and they are harvesting everywhere. The women all will work out in the fields. They wore great big straw hats and their skins are as brown as the corn. This is a great fruit district too. The farm houses are all pink in colour against the rich colours of the corn. They make a pretty picture.

On Friday we arrived in Rome about 6.30 pm. We were all very tired as it had been a long journey, and went to bed about 10.00 pm. On Saturday we had breakfast at 8.00 am and then Umberto told us he was taking us to see the Pope. We went to the museum first and it was a site never to be forgotten as we walked through those great halls. The tapestries and paintings are indescribable, but we had an Italian guide with us who talked too much. It was impossible for anyone to remember all he was saying and we got rather bored. We all felt we would have got through quicker without him, but at last we were there. We then went out into the square in front of the Pope's residence, a very plain looking building, and after a while he appeared at a window in his white robes. There were crowds of people in the square waiting to see him. We continued our sightseeing around Rome ‘til lunchtime and after lunch went out again in the coach round the city. It is all so big. It was impossible to see it any other way. There are great squares everywhere with fountains. The police are very smart, dressed all in white, but there are no lines of traffic as in England and no speed limit. They just pop about everywhere. There are a lot of very elegant shops and we were told they were very expensive. On Sunday, Mary and I went out in the morning. In the afternoon we went to the dark catacombs where we got cooled down as if in the Underground. As we went along mud lanes in the dark, except for torches carried by the guides, finally we came to some stone steps which led up into a beautiful little church and out again into the street. We got back to the hotel for dinner. Some of our party went to the opera but we didn't go as it was so warm.

On Monday we left Rome after breakfast for Naples, which was about 3 hours run. We went again through a great corn and fruit district, oranges growing by the roadside. We arrived at Naples in time for lunch, after which we went on again to Sorento. What a lovely little place. We went round the shops, then had dinner at a restaurant high up overlooking the Bay, A nice plant place to spend a holiday. We then rejoined the coach and back to Naples for the night. On Tuesday we left Naples at 7.30 am. I got the steamer at 8.30 for the Isle of Capri. It was a very hot day and we enjoyed the sea trip and arrived at Capri at 10.00 am. It is very beautiful and very romantic here. It has to be seen to be believed. We left again at. 6.00 pm back to Rome for the night. It had been one of the best days of our tour. On Wednesday, we left Rome at 7.30 am and arrived at Florence at 6.00 pm after stopping at various places on the way. We stayed the night at Florence in a hotel which had 2,000 bedrooms and it was full up. We went round next morning and visited the straw and leather markets. After that we went on again and arrived at Genoa in time for dinner. We stayed the night there and I left again at 7.30 next morning for Milan, where we arrived about 12 noon. In Milan we were to see the wonderful painting of The Last Supper after lunch.

We went to the station and that was the end of the coach trip. We got the train about 2.30 and were in the train until we arrived back at Boulogne next morning at 9.00 am. We had breakfast on the steamer at 10.00 am which was the best meal we had had since leaving home as it was all English food. We arrived at Folkestone at 12.00, then had to go through customs, which took some time. At last we got the train and arrived at Victoria at 3.45 pm. We got a taxi to Kings Cross and got a train at 5.40 which brought us to Saltburn at midnight without changing trains. It was the end of a very interesting trip which had covered 7,500 miles.

In 1965, she travelled back to Canada. I left England on the 25th May 1965 on the Empress of Canada and arrived in Canada on the 1st June. Had a good crossing apart from a little seasickness. Started the long train journey next day at 1:30. And arrived at Calgary on the 4th June in lovely summer weather. After two weeks with Grace in Calgary, we went up to Three Hills to see Kate and from there we all went to. Grace’s Cottage at Sylvan Lake until the end of August. Went on a trip to British Columbia in September with Grace. Had lovely weather. Spent most of the time in Victoria. Wonderful journey back to Calgary. Through the Rogers Pass. Lovely scenery.

In the following year, 1966, she travelled to the United States. On 9 February 1966, we left Calgary at 6.30 am on the Greyhound coach. It was a beautiful morning, dark of course. There was a lot of snow for a few miles. We arrived at Lethbridge at 9.30, our first stop, and had a cup of tea and ham sandwich. By now we were getting away from the snow and the fields were almost bare. Roads clean and have all the way been very straight for miles. At 11.30 am we arrived at a place called Sweet Grass and had to pass the customs before crossing the border into the United States and were told that I could not enter the United States without a visa, which we had both overlooked. However, after we told the officials that I was visiting a brother, a former senator of Nevada, and who is ill, they phoned Washington and I was allowed through. At first they told me that the only thing to do was to return to Calgary and get a visa, which was going to be a great disappointment. However, everything ended happily and we went on our way.

We got into a lot of snow again going through Montana and went through a lot of desolate Prairie country, Not a bit pretty. We arrived at. Butte at 7.00 pm and got a room at the Grand Hotel. Grace forgot to get her case off the bus and it was gone on to Las Vegas. On Thursday we got up at 10.00 am after a good night's rest. We went out and had breakfast and a good look around Butte, which is a very nice town noted for copper mining. We left Butte at 12.30 and went through a lot of very rugged country down through Montana. A lot of snow all the way and mountains each side of the road. At about 3.30, we were into Idaho, the state. We are getting out of the mountains. Still a lot of snow, but bright sunshine. We had to wear our sunglasses in the coach. A lot of Hereford cattle all the way running out into the snow and being fed with hay, hundreds of them.

On Friday, 11th February, we had a good night's rest at Salt Lake City, where we arrived midnight last night. Got up at 7.00 am, had breakfast. We got a glimpse of the beautiful Mormon temple, but you are not allowed inside unless you are a Mormon. We hadn’t time to go in anyway. We left at 8.00 am for Las Vegas, which was still more than 400 miles away. We still have mountains on either side of the road and the ground covered with snow still. Hoping to get out of the snow at Las Vegas.

The diary ends here.

Alfred farmed at Gale Bank very successfully until they retired in 1972.

Peggy and Alfred (back and Anne and Geoff (front) Margot, Anne and Peggy

Peggy and Alfred retired in 1972 to Leyburn, where they lived at Highfields, named after the Baker family home of Highfields at Audlem.

A visit to Highfields – Peggy and family

Peggy and Alfred’s Golden Wedding, 16 March 1978 - Back row, Geoff, Anne and Martin, sitting Peggy, Margot and Alfred

Alfred died in 1987 aged 89.

Peggy with her great grandchildren, Nick and Phil Carlisle in 1991

Peggy’s ninetieth birthday, 24 February 1991 Margot Atkinson, Geoff Farndale, Peggy Farndale, Martin Farndale and Anne Shepherd

Peggy Farndale died in Wensleydale on 17 November 1996.

Martin Farndale, her son later reflected that she is remembered with great love by her family, relatives and friends as a kind very fair person who took the greatest interest in people and love children, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. They in return loved her for she was always so very approachable to them all. Throughout her life she was the focal point of the family and kept them all informed about each other without any favour. She gave firm advice but weas always there to listen, and once a decision was made whether she agreed or not, she always supported those she loved. She played a significant part in local affairs in Leyburn, and in the Women’s Institute and Luncheon Clubs. She was a very good organiser. Amongst other things, she was responsible for the street lights of Wensley. She was one of the first women drivers and started with a Bull Nose Ford in 1922. She taught each member of her family to drive, including her husband.

She will be sadly missed by all who knew her, but she will never be forgotten, because she devoted her life to the good of those who she knew and had much influence on them all.

Nigel Farndale, her grandson later reflected that she lived a wonderfully full, dignified and distinguished life that spanned, almost exactly, the turbulent twentieth century.

I suppose any life is the sum of its disparate elements, and those that capture the essence of Peggy for me are watching her catch falling leaves in the autumn at Gale Bank ‘for luck’; of her weeping when she played Mahler and Beethoven recordings when Gran was out round the stock; of her standing somewhat eccentrically in the smoke of a bonfire because “that’s what we used to do to keep the mosquitoes of in Canada”; of her ability to recite Shakespeare, Keats and Sheley from memory; and of her passion for Desert Orchid, the racehorse. The detail we will probably all remember her for most, though, is her warm chuckle and the fact that she was never happier than when catching up on, or disseminating news and gossip about, her children and grandchildren.

Right to the end she retained her sense of humour. When asked by the welfare inspector if she was happy at Wensleydale House she said “The nurses are helpful. The food is good. The beds are comfortable.” Then she turned to Dad and said “There wasn’t anything else I was supposed to say was there?”

Darlington and Stockton Times, 7 December 1996

Photographs from the Twenties which are still to be identified:

OVK and Mary S

“Rossites”

“Up and Down”, Madge and “Just a wee Trio”

“D.A.D” and “Coll or Co II”

Hockey Groups and Buster

“Mary, Nan et Moi”, “Miss A”, “Billy”, “Nan” and “Moi”

Hope, Buster and Bunny, SPTC

Homer (and her puppies?)

Could this be Kit Lynham wedding to Francis Marshall, a parson?

Peggy’s photos probably in the early 20s:

Annotated on the reverse: “Geof, Captain Feldon’s Groom, Captain Feldon. Hydraulic won Meyrells Hunt, Farmer’s Race, 1929.”

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