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The Baker Line
BAK00001
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Margaret
Louisa Baker (Peggy) (1901 to 1996) (see more detail at BAK00002)
Born Born
on 24 February 1901 at Audlem, Cheshire. Lived See
BAK00002. Married Alfred Farndale, bachelor, farmer aged
29 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 Mar 1928. Lived See Alfred Farndale FAR00683 including their
journey to and from Canada and thereafter. Died Peggy
Farndale died in Wensleydale in 1996
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https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2018/06/333-baker-of-highfields.html |
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Arthur
Baker (1860 to 29 April 1916)
Born Arthur
was born at Audlem, Near Nantwich, Cheshire in the first quarter of 1860. He
was baptised on 12 February 1860. Lived 1861
census – 13 Midway Heath, Buerton, Audlem, Cheshire William
Baker, 43, head, landed proprietor Henrietta
Baker, his wife 36 John
B Baker, 10 Arthur
Baker, 1 Elizabeth
Daniels, 18, unmarried, governess Three
servants 1871
census – High Fields, Buerton, Audlem, Cheshire William
Baker, 54, head, land owner Henrietta
Baker, his wife 46 Henrietta
Baker, 22 John
Bellyse Baker, 20 Richard
D Baker, 14 Arthur
Baker, 11 Charity
Baker, 8 Charlotte
L Baker, 4 Emily
J Baker, 2 Two
visitors, including John Percy, their agent Three
servants 1881
census – High Fields, Buerton, Audlem, Cheshire John
Bellyse Baker, 30, gentleman Henrietta
Baker, 32 Richard
D Baker, 24, solicitor’s general clerk Arthur
Baker, 21 Charlotte
L Baker, 14 Emily
J Baker, 12 Two
others 1901
census – Swanbach Villa, Audlem Arthur
Baker, 41, living on own means Marianne
Baker, 31, his wife Hilda
Marian Baker, 1 Margaret
Louisa Baker, 1 month Maude
Whiston, their servant 1911
Census – Swanbach Villa, Audlem, Chshire Arthur
Baker, 51, private means Marianne
Baker, 38 Hilda
Marian Baker, 11 Margaret
Louisa Baker, 10 Geoffrey
Richard Baker, 6 Mary
Alice Baker, 38, housekeeper Two
servants Married
Family Hilda
Marianne Baker (2 July 1899 to *). Hilda Baker later lived in Sussex. Margaret
Louisa Baker (Peggy) (24 February 1901 to 1996) Geoffrey
Richard Baker (1904 to 1974). Geoffrey Baker married Joyce Wright and their
children were Jennifer Baker who married William (Bill) Skelton and
Jacqueline Baker who married HSN Sheardown? Lived Extracted
from a booklet about Audlem Audlem
cricket had its hour of glory. At the end of the last century Market Drayton
held an Annual Cricket Week, when a number of Lancaster County men stayed
with their then captain, AN Hornby, and played for the town, matches being
arranged with the local towns and villages, including Audlem The
captain of Audlem at this time was Arthur Baker of Hillside, youngest son of
William Baker of Highfields. Some idea of the quality of the Audlem side may
be gathered from the fact that the captain’s 13 years old nephew Bellyse, on
holiday from school, was brought in to complete the team. Indeed, the main
purpose of the game, a single innings match, was to allow the spectators to
watch the great Lancashire stars in action. Audlem, however, possessed a fast
bowler. He was one of the Shuker brothers, the local blacksmiths, whose
cannon ball deliveries were only exceeded in speed by their usual inaccuracy. Audlem
went in first and were dismissed, with little difficulty, for 13 runs. The
spectators settled down to watch the great men perform. Shuker opened the
bowling, and with his lighting delivery removed the batsman’s middle stump.
This success inspired him to hitherto unknown heights, and helped no doubt by
the un-Old Trafford like ground, he dismissed Market Drayton for 11 runs. The
captain then came over to Arthur Baker and said, “Well, Arthur, it’s been
great fun. I suppose we’d better make it a two innings match?” “We’ll
both go in again by all means,” was the reply, “but as far as the match is
concerned, it’s all over and we’ve won.” “If
that’s Audlem’s idea of good sportsmanship”, said their captain, “Market
Drayton will never play them again.” And for all I know to the contrary they
never did until the middle of the 1960s, when the club revised after a lapse
of twenty five years.
Audlem
Garden Party in 1910 with the message on the back of the postcard. I am still
to identify who Annie is. Miss Lynham must be the daughter of Skipper Lynham
(Charles Cotterill Lynam), Founder headmaster of the Dragon School, at
Oxford. See the Hall Line. Buerton
12 July 1910. Very pleased to receive your PC. Did Sir Robert’s photo come
out? We have had heaps of tennis, played on the Congleton tournament last
week only reserved 1st day. Glad to hear you are coming in august.
How many do you recognise in the photo!! Love from Annie.
This
was kept in Marianne Baker’s photo album.
Hillside
and Kynsal (from Marianne Baker’s phot album)
Properties
not yet identified (from Marianne Baker’s photo album)
Miss
Baker (I’ve not worked out who this is) and the Boatman (from Marianne
Baker’s photo album) Geoffrey
Baker’s Family who still farm at Little Ponton:
(Grantham
Journal, 2 May 1958) Died Marianne
Baker (nee Hall) died on 16 May 1908 at Swanbach Villa, Audlem
Arthur
Baker died on 29 April 1916. Probate: Baker
Arthur, of Hillside Audlem Cheshire gentleman died 29 Aril 1916 Probate
Chester 25 May to Arthur John Hall esquire a lieutenant colonel in His
Majesty’s Army. Effects £10587 15s 3d.
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William
Baker The Younger (3 September 1816 to 19 May 1876) Born William
was born at Buerton, Cheshire on 3 September 1816 and baptised on 5 December
1816 at Audlem. His father was William Baker and his mother was Ann nee
Hough. Lived Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: William's
eldest son, another William Baker (1816-76), inherited Highfields from his
father, and seems to have been a conventional country gentleman, interested
in field sports and farming; indeed, he may have been primarily interested in
field sports since he was Master of the Albrighton Foxhounds in 1856. By his
second wife, Henrietta Louisa, the daughter of Dr. John Bellyse of Nantwich,
surgeon, he produced nine children. When
he died he was succeeded by his eldest son, John Bellyse Baker (1850-1932).
It was the time of the great agricultural depression, and there are signs
that his father may have handed over the estate in fairly poor condition. At
all events, after a few years John came to the conclusion that he could not
continue to live and farm at Highfields, and the estate was sold in 1884 to a
Liverpool ship-broker, Charles Walford Kellock (d. 1897), who 'restored' and
modernised the house. John and his family then emigrated to New Zealand where
he became a sheep farmer and grazier, but for reasons which are unclear this
was not a success. By 1890 he was back in England and after a few years
working as a farm bailiff in Lancashire, he had recovered sufficient capital
to purchase a boarding house at St Anne's-on-Sea, on the Lancashire coast,
which he and his wife ran for many years. Socially, it was aeons away from
the life to which he had been brought up, but it does seem to have provided a
reasonable living. His sons were able to go to Christ's Hospital School
although they did not attend a University. His elder son, Bellyse Baker
(1886-1947) joined the cotton manufacturing industry as a clerk before the
First World War, and war service, worked his way up the business to be its
sales director. The fruits of this career enabled him to repurchase
Highfields when it came on the market at the end of the Second World War, but
he died shortly afterwards, and it was left to his son, John Bellyse Baker
(1915-2010) to restore and reoccupy the house. Although the family had sold a
good deal of the contents of Highfields when they went abroad in 1884, they
had retained many of the more personal family items, and it was possible to
return these to the house when they reacquired it. John Bellyse Baker
developed a deep personal interest in the house and his family, and when
Highfields was opened to the public in the 1980s, he wrote a guidebook for
visitors. The house is no longer open to the public, but remains the home of
the present John Bellyse Baker (b. 1956) and his family. In
1839, there is a record that William Baker built Kynsal Lodge, the architect
being William’s younger brother, Thomas. On
13 March 1849, when their first daughter Henrietta was born, they were living
at Craven Street, Westminster. 1851
Census – Woodhouse Lane, Buerton, Nantwich, Cheshire William
Baker, 34, born 1817, fund holder Henrietta
Louisa Baker, 26, born 1825 Henrietta
Baker, 2, born 1849 John
Bellyse Baker, 0, born 1851 Margaret
Green, 28, nurse Ann
Maria Austin, 19, nurse In
1856, William was Master of Fox Hounds on the Albrighton Hunt. In
1859, William was a JP for Cheshire. 1861
census – Kinsey Heath, Buerton, Audlem, Cheshire William
Baker, 43, head, landed proprietor Henrietta
Baker, his wife 36 John
Bellyse Baker, 10 Arthur
Baker, 1 Elizabeth
Daniels, 18, unmarried, governess Three
servants On
29 October 1863, the family were still living at Kynsal, Audlem. 1871
census – High Fields, Buerton, Audlem, Cheshire William
Baker, 54, head, land owner Henrietta
Baker, his wife 46 Henrietta
Baker, 22 John
Bellyse Baker, 20 Richard
Dod Baker, 14 Arthur
Baker, 11 Charity
Baker, 8 Charlotte
L Baker, 4 Emily
J Baker, 2 Two
visitors, including John Percy, their agent Three
servants Married
1 William, a Batchelor married Prudence
Cliff, a widow (1813 to 1840) at St Nicholas Church, Liverpool on 18 June 1838.
Married 2 William married Henrietta Louisa
Bellyse on 8 February 1849 at St James’, Westminster. Henrietta’s father,
John Bellyse, was a surgeon. St James’s Piccadilly is also
known as St James’s Church, Westminster and St James in the Fields and is in
Piccadilly, designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. From a booklet on Audlem from the
late twentieth century There have been Bellyses of Audlem
for nearly two hundred years. Dr Richard Bellyse’s grandfather, Dr John
Bellyse, king of Cheshire’s cock fighting fraternity, was born in 1738 and
lived to be ninety. His home was the 16th century house now known
as the Lymes. Family Henrietta
Louisa Baker, 9 February 1849 to 1935 John
Bellyse Baker (Jack), 1850 to 1932 Mary
Louisa Baker 1852 to 1860 Jane
Ellen Baker 1853 to 1865 Richard
Dod Baker, 1856 to 1902 Arthur
Baker, 1860 to 1916 Charity
Baker, 1862 to 1881 Charlotte
Louisa Baker (Tottie), 29 July 1866 to 1918 Emily
Jane Baker, 7 October 1868 to 1941 Extract
from a pamphlet about Audlem William
Baker’s second son, Richard Dod Baker, was rather unusual for his day and
age, insomuch that not only did he take no interest in field sports, but took
great delight in making fun of those who did. In
the early 1870s the Cheshire Hounds met regularly in Audlem Square, under the
mastership of HR Corbet, father of the late Reggie Corbet of Adderley, a meet
which Richard’s father and eldest brother Jack always attended. Unknown to
them there was an occasion when he ‘borrowed’ a top hat, pink coat and white
breeches, also a penny farthing bicycle from Mt Moseley in the village. When
the meet assembled below the church at eleven, he duly arrived in full hunting
kit, riding the penny farthing and raising his hat to the mounted company.
Finally, when performing a specially deep bow to the master, he fell off at
the feet of that gentleman’s horse. There
is also a birthday book held by the Noble family which has signatures by
Emily Baker, 7 October; Henrietta Baker, 9 February and Tottie Baker, 29
July. S I take from this that these are the dates of their birthdays. Died William
Baker died on 19 May 1876 at Highfields. He was buried on 24 May 1876 at St
James the Great, Audlem, Cheshire. He was aged 59. Probate:
BAKER William Esq. Effects under £1500. 21 July. The Will of William Baker
late of Highfields in the Parish of Audlem in the County of Chester Esquire
who died 19 May 1876 at Highfields was proved at Chester by Herietta Louisa
Baker Widow the Relict and John Bellyse Baker Gentleman the Son both of
Highfields two of the executors.
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William
Baker The Elder (1787 to 8 July 1863)
William
Baker of Highfields, from a photograph on glass taken about 1860 Born William
was born in 1787 at Leominster, Herefordshire and baptised on 17 January
1789. His mother’s surname was Hassall. Lived He
was educated at Shrewsbury School. Married William
Baker married Ann Hough (1793 to 1854) at St James the Great, Audlem,
Cheshire on 9 August 1813. Family Richard
Dod Baker, 1815 to 1843. William
Baker 1816 to 1876 Sarah
Baker 1817 to 1907 Ann
Baker 1819 - ? John
Hough Baker 1821 to 1842 Mary
(or May) Baker 1823 to ? Jane
Baker 1825 to 1914. She married her first cousin Joseph Haywood Bellyse, the
third son of Sir John Bellyse. George
Baker 1827 to 1877. He married Jane Allman of Audlem. Their children were
Richard Dod, May (married Arthur Schutt) and Anne. Thomas
Dod Baker 1830 to 1880 Charlotte
Baker 1832 to ? Charity
Baker 1834 to ? Richard
Dod Baker of Highfields (1784 to 1807)
Richard
Dod Baker William’s
brother was Richard Dod Baker. Richard was the heir to Highfields and after
he died in 1807, his brother William inherited it. Richard
entered Brasenose College, Oxford in October 1801. He was commissioned into
the 17th Regiment in 1804. He sailed with his Regiment to India in
July 1804 on board the Worcester. He died on his way home on 12 August 1806. Lived Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: William
Baker (1787-1863), was a pupil at Shrewsbury School. He too seems to have
used his mother's maiden name from time to time, and when he was married in
1813 he was called William Baker alias Hassall. He is not known to have
followed his father and grandfather into architectural practice or surveying,
but one of his five sons, Thomas Dod Baker (1830-80) took up the profession
again and became Borough Architect of Kidderminster; several of the others
became lawyers. In
1815, when his first son Richard was born, he was a gentleman. In
1839, he was a JP for Cheshire. 1851
Census – Highfields, Woodhouse Lane, Buerton, Nantwich, Cheshire William
Baker, 63, head, magistrate esquire Ann
Baker,57 Ann
Baker, 30 Mary
Baker, 27 Jane
Baker, 25 George
Baker, 23 Thomas
Dod Baker, 21 Charlotte
Baker, 19 Charity
Baker, 17 4
servants Waggoner 1861
Census – Kinsey Heath, Nantwich William
Baker, widower, 73, County Magistrate An
Baker, 38 Jane
Baker, 30 George
Baker, 28, solicitor Charlotte
Baker, 25 Henrietta
Baker, 11 Jane
E Baker, 6 Richard
D Baker, 4 Land
Agent, Groom and three servants Died William
the Elder died at Highfields on 8 July 1863. He was buried on 13 July 1863 at
St James the Great, Audlem, Cheshire.
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Richard Baker Bellyse 1809 to 1877 There is an inscription in the square at Audlem which reads “In memory of Richard Baker Bellyse, who practised as a surgeon in this town for 40 years. Born 17th May 1809. Died 11th January 1877. In appreciation of a life spent in relieving the sufferings of his fellow creatures. A man he was to all the country dear. By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize the doctor too.” |
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Richard
Dod (“Dick”) Baker (alias Hassall) (1743 to 7 May 1823) The Surveyor Richard
Baker (1743–1803), continued William Baker’s practice after his father's
death in 1771. Richard seems to have practised mainly as a building surveyor,
and there are few buildings that he designed. Born Richard
was born in 1743 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, later of Stratford upon Avon,
Leominster and ‘Highfields’, Audlem. He was christened on 20 July 1743 at St
Mary’s Bridgnorth. Lived Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: When
William Baker, his father died, Richard Dod Baker continued in practice until
his death, when his elder son, Richard Baker (1743-1803) was assisting him.
Richard is, by contrast with his father, a shadowy figure. He was educated at
Repton School but did not attend a University and became assistant to his
father in his architectural and surveying practice. After he succeeded to the
business in 1771, its architectural output more or less ceased: he probably
did not inherit his father's creative gifts and he certainly did not share
his practical experience of building. He seems to have spent some of his
early years in Leominster, and it may be that his wife came from that town,
as he is said to have used her maiden surname (Hassall) while living there.
After
his mother died in 1783 he moved to Highfields, and he was probably
responsible for the modernisation of the house which took place around that
time. When he died at the relatively young of sixty in 1803
[this seems to be wrong as he died in 1823 – see below?], he described
himself in his will as 'architect' rather than 'gentleman'. He had left
marriage and children rather late in life and his heir was a teenage son,
William Baker (1787-1863), who was a pupil at Shrewsbury School. He too seems
to have used his mother's maiden name from time to time, and when he was
married in 1813 he was called William Baker alias Hassall. He is not known to
have followed his father and grandfather into architectural practice or
surveying, but one of his five sons, Thomas Dod Baker (1830-80) took up the
profession again and became Borough Architect of Kidderminster; several of
the others became lawyers. He
was educated at Repton, Derbyshire. On
29 October 1771 he inherited Highfields from his father. In
1801 the Oxford University Alumni showed he was a gentleman living at
Leominster, Herefordshire. He
was also an architect and surveyor and practised as an architect at Stratford
upon Avon. Married He
married Hannah Hassall (1760 to 1826) Family Richard
Dod Baker 1784 to 1807 (unmarried) Hannah
Mary Baker 1785 to 23 August 1851 William
Baker 1787 to 1863 Jane
Baker 1790 to 1849 Mary
Baker 1791 to ? James
Baker 1792 to 1818 Died He
died on 7 May 1823 at Stratford upon Avon. He is buried at St George’s at
Stratford upon Avon.
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William
Baker (1705 to 1771) The Architect
William
Baker of Audlem (1705–1771) was an architect, surveyor and building
contractor, working in Shropshire and the adjacent counties in the middle
years of the 18th century. He
was the son of Richard Baker, who had moved from London to Ludlow. In 1737 he
married Jane Dod of Audlem and for a time lived at Bridgnorth. In the 1740s
his wife inherited Highfields House and they moved to Audlem. Baker
was employed by the noted architect Francis Smith of Warwick in the 1730s.
His account book for the years 1748–1759 survives, which provides information
about his architectural and surveying practice. The house in which he lived
at Highfields was the subject of an article in Country Life, where a portrait
of the architect survives. Baker
was well grounded in the fashionable architecture of the early 18th century,
having first worked for Francis Smith of Warwick. He is mentioned as working
as a carpenter for Smith at Ditchley in Oxfordshire in 1727. He set up his
own practice around 1740 and also acted as a building contractor and
surveyor. Initially he developed the practice in eastern Shropshire and
Staffordshire and continued to work for many of clients of Francis Smith
after Smith's death in 1738. Houses by Smith which Baker continued to work on
included Mawley Hall in Shropshire, Swynerton Hall in Derbyshire and
Wingerworth Hall in Derbyshire. He always had a close relationship with the
innovative Shrewsbury architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard. In 1743 at Ludlow,
both Prichard and Baker put forward plans for the Buttercross, but it was
Baker who was selected to do the work. In 1746 Baker was paid for the plans
and work at the Royal Shrewsbury Infirmary, but the plans are signed by
Thomas Farnolls Pritchard. It is likely that Pritchard was working under
Baker on this project. Again for the building of St John's Church,
Wolverhampton it is likely that Pritchard was the supervising architect
working under Baker. In 1775–1775, after Baker's death, Pritchard continued
Baker's survey work at Powis Castle. Most
notably Baker gained the patronage of Henry Arthur Herbert (1703–72), who
became Earl of Powis in 1748. Baker
would have known Henry Herbert from his Ludlow connections. Herbert was the
Whig Member of Parliament and a member of Ludlow Town Council when Baker was
awarded the contract to build the Ludlow Buttercross. Also in 1743 Henry
Herbert relinquished his position as Member of Parliament when he inherited
Powis Castle and became Lord Herbert of Chirbury. In 1735 he had been
appointed Custos Rotulorum of Montgomeryshire and Lord-Lieutenant of
Shropshire. and this now provided him with a power base to dispense patronage
in both Montgomeryshire and Shropshire. Baker's design of the Buttercross
(which housed the Ludlow Council Chamber) is based on James Gibbs "A
Book of Architecture" (1728). Clearly the Buttercross impressed him. Between
1748 and 1758 he got Baker to alter his house at Oakly Park at Bromfield,
just outside Ludlow. Then, between 1748 and 1754 Baker undertook repairs at
Powis Castle, possibly in preparation for Herbert to move into the castle.
Also in 1748, Herbert got William Baker to design and build Montgomery Town
Hall. The new Town Hall was intended to accommodate the Court of Great
Sessions when it met at Montgomery and over which Herbert presided as Custos
Rotulorum. At Bishops Castle Baker submitted designs for a new Town Hall to
Herbert in 1745, but it was slightly later that the Town Hall was built and
to modified designs. Born William
Baker was born in 1705 at St Brides, London, later of Bridgnorth, Shropshire
and then of ‘Highfields’, Audlem, Cheshire. He was christened on 14 October
1705 at St Bride, Fleet Street, London. Lived After
1714, he had a kiln at Highfields, and solid bricks. In
1727, he was a joiner, working on the instruction of Ditchley Park in
Oxfordshire under the direction of Francis Smith of Warwick, the most
successful architect, mason and contractor in the Midlands. Highfields
Highfields
in about 1900 Highfields
is a small country house in the civil parish of Buerton, Cheshire, England.
It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated
Grade I listed building. The
house is dated 1615. It was built for the Dod family and additions were made
in 1750 by William Baker, and again in 1897. It is timber-framed on an ashlar
plinth with rendered infill and a plain tiled roof. The house consists of two
storeys with an attic. The front elevation has five bays which are
symmetrically disposed with projecting gabled wings on both sides. Both
floors have close-studded walling with a middle rail. The first floor is
jettied, as are the gables of the two lateral wings. Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: A
fine and symmetrical but much altered timber-framed house, built for William Dod,
with cross-wings either side of a central hall block. The date of the house
is unclear. In 1553 William Dod I acquired a pasture known as 'Highefelds',
on which no house yet stood. His son, William Dod II, is recorded as 'of
Highfields' in 1568, and so presumably a house had been built by then. But
was it this house? A chimneypiece in the Best Parlour in the south wing is
dated 1615 and has the initials of William Dod III (1577-1647), and the whole
fabric of the house could be of this date (a bedroom on the first floor has
another original overmantel with the initials of his wife). Indeed, I would
argue strongly for the later date if it was certain that the symmetry of the
front was original, but the central porch and the gable above it seem to be
19th century, and the present arrangement by which the single-storey hall is
entered in the centre seems to be 18th century, with some internal evidence
that there was at one time a conventional hall and screens passage
arrangement. In the absence of any dendro-chronological evidence, however,
the date of the original building must remain a matter for speculation. In
the late 17th century, staircases with twisted balusters were inserted into
both the cross-wings; that in the south range has balusters consisting of two
detached strands twisted together, while that in the north range has clusters
of balusters forming newels. There may have been other changes at the same
time, including perhaps the addition of the drawing room between the wings on
the garden front. Traditionally, this addition is said to have been made by
the architect, William Baker, after he married Jane Dod and gained possession
of the house, but it seems unlikely he would have built in timber when he was
operating a brickworks on the estate, and it is more likely to be a 17th
century addition. Baker, or his son and successor at Highfields, Richard Dod
Baker (1743-1803) was, however, probably responsible for making a central
doorway on the entrance front, and for the dado-height panelling in the hall.
Richard was presumably responsible for inserting the sash windows with thin
glazing bars and two tripartite windows recorded the earliest photograph of
the house c.1860. The same view also shows that the house was then stuccoed
and this too is likely to have been Richard's work. After
John Bellyse Baker sold the house in 1884 to Charles Walford Kellock, it was
given a rather heavy-handed restoration. He stripped off the stucco to reveal
the timber-frame beneath, replaced the Georgian sashes with leaded casements,
added a new front porch, a timber-framed service wing on the north side, and
tall chimneys of bright red Ruabon brick, which gave the house a more
picturesque and irregular silhouette. In the north range an inglenook
fireplace was created, with a late 19th century Gothic chimneypiece, and
several other timber overmantels were brought in from elsewhere or fabricated
from old carved work that may originally have adorned an overmantel or a bed
or a cupboard. One such piece, labelled 'John Gwyn 1674', was installed in
the drawing room, and there is another in the hall. Also apparently of the
1880s is the large half-timbered single-storey lodge on Woodhouse Lane. In
the 1940s, the Bellyse Baker family bought the house back and were happily
able to return many of the family pictures and other contents which had been
removed from it in 1884. Married
1 On
5 July 1729 William married Elizabeth Eykyn (1708 to 1736) at St Mary,
Blymill, Staffordshire. Family Mary
Baker, 1730 to 1730 William
Baker, 1731 to 1736 Married
2 On
17 January 1736 or 1737 he married Jane Dod at St Mary’s, Bridgnorth,
Shropshire Family Judith
Baker 1738 to 1738 Charity
Baker 1739 to 1817 Mary
Baker 1741 to 1809 Richard
Dod Baker 1743 to 1823 William
Baker 1744 to 25 November 1784. William Baker of Fenton, Culvert,
Staffordshire. He was Lord of the Manor, a partner with Baker & Bagnall
of Fenton, potters from 1769.In 1767, he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas
Bagnall of Fenton, Lord of the Manor of Skelton, Staffordshire. Their
children were William (Lord of the Manor) 1771 to 1833 who married Mary
Bourne in 1794 and Richard, Jeremiah, Charity, Mary and Jane. Lived Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: After
his baptism, he first appears in the historical record as a joiner working on
the construction of Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire in 1727 under the direction
of Francis Smith of Warwick, the most successful architect, mason and
contractor in the Midlands. Although Smith put together teams of workmen for
each new project he worked on rather than employing the same men
continuously, he used consistently used a small pool of trusted specialist
craftsmen - masons, bricklayers, joiners, carpenters, plasterers, painters,
plumbers, ironworkers and so on. In the late 1720s and 1730s William Baker
was one of this team, and is recorded working on half a dozen of Smith's
commissions, including some of his most prestigious jobs, such as Ditchley
Hall, Mawley Hall and Wingerworth Hall. By the later 1730s he was not only a
craftsmen but also working as a site foreman, co-ordinating the work of the
different building trades. His circumstances altered greatly with his second
marriage, early in 1737, to Jane Dod, the heiress of a cadet branch of the
Cheshire gentry family of that name. They made their home in the prosperous
little town of Bridgnorth (Shropshire), where their four children (although
as not below, William may not have been their biological father) were all
born, and it was probably soon afterwards that William began to work on his
own account, and to design buildings as well as constructing them. The death
of Francis Smith in 1738 may also have been a factor in his change of role,
although Smith's firm continued under his son. A full list of his known works
in architecture can be found in Sir Howard Colvin's Biographical Dictionary. In
1744, Jane Baker inherited her family seat of Highfields at Audlem
(Cheshire), and by 1748 she and William had relocated there. William
continued to work as an architect, surveyor and occasional contractor, but he
combined this with the role of a gentleman farmer, as his surviving payments
book for 1746-59 makes clear. He also operated a small brickworks on the
Highfields estate. In 1767 he bought the manor of Fenton Culvert in
Stoke-on-Trent for his younger son, and established a pottery there which was
run in partnership between the two men until William's death. We know less
about his architectural output after 1759. On
20 August 1741, he was an architect. Between
1743 and 1744, he built the Market Cross at Buttermarket at Ludlow,
Shropshire.
In
about 1744, he settled at Highfields, Audlem. In
1745, he designed and had built the two coaching inns (the Crown and the
Phoenix) in the Square at Audlem. In
1748 he worked at Morville Hall, near Bridgnorth In
1749 he was High Constable In
1767 he purchased the estate and manor of Fenton Culvert in Staffordshire. He
also purchased pottery works for his younger son, William. List
of architectural works Public
building and monuments ·
Royal Shropshire Infirmary. 1747 ·
Bishops Castle, Shropshire. Town
Hall 1745–1750 ·
Ludlow, Shropshire, The Butter
Cross 1743–1744. The design is derived from James Gibb's 'Book of
Architecture', 1728. Faced with Grinshill stone with a low pedimented portico
and a semi-circular or lunette window above. The parapet has heavy
balustrading, capped with ball pinnacles. ·
Shrewsbury. Royal Shropshire
Infirmary 1747. The plans are signed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, but Baker
was commissioned and paid for the work. ·
Montgomery, The Town Hall
1748–1751, ·
Hereford, College of the Vicars
Choral.1750. Repairs and alterations Churches ·
The Church of St. John in the
Square, Wolverhampton. Baker was the main contractor1756-9. ·
St Peter's Church, Congleton,
Cheshire. A church here since the 15th century (The Higher Chapel). The
present church was built by William Baker in 1740–1742 for £2,000. ·
Stone, Staffordshire, Gothic
revival 1754–1758 designed by William Robinson, Clerk to the Board of Works,
who produced the first designs for Strawberry Hill for Horace Walpole ·
St John's Church, Wolverhampton,
1756–1759. A very grand ashlar faced church which is based on James Gibbs' St
Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Built as a chapel of St Peter's Collegiate
Church, Wolverhampton by a private Act of Parliament in 1755. There is some
uncertainty as to whom the architect was, but there is no doubt that the main
contractor was William Baker, who was helped by the local builder and
architect, Roger Eykyn. Traditionally the design of the church has been
credited to the Shrewsbury architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, but it could
be that he supervised the construction for Baker. ·
Seighford, Staffordshire. Tower
and Nave rebuilt. Metal framed gothic windows. Brick pilasters with ?mock
artillery slits, which also appear on the crenellations of the tower; which
is surmounted by four corner pinnacles. Looks like a very early attempt to
re-create German Brick Gothic ·
Acton church (west view),
Cheshire. Rebuilt by Baker 1758 ·
Ellenhall, Staffordshire 1757.
£1023 estimated for the repair of the Church. ·
St Mary's Church, Acton, near
Nantwich, Cheshire. Upper part of the tower was blown into Nave, March 1757.
Sandstone. The church must have been extensively re-built and the Medieval
entrance has been altered and embellished. Remarkable ornamented west gable
to Chancel. Ornamentation to tower below parapet, which has ‘gun slits’ in
the crenulations (cf Seigford). Four crocketed corner pinnacles with lower
mid-ball pinnacles on tower. Sundial surmounted with Baker's typical ball
pinnacle. ·
St Chad's Church, Wybunbury,
Cheshire. Tower leaning as the result of subsidence. Baker appears to have
solved the problem, but the Nave and Chancel had to be demolished in 1970. ·
Plans for a Kirk in Gothic style
at Kenmore Perthshire 1760. ·
Upper Penn church, nr
Wolverhampton.1765. Baker cased the tower in brickwork. Crenulations to the
parapet of tower with four crocketed corner pinnacles. Ornamented gothic
tower window. Houses Most
of these are recorded architectural drawings and surveys, and it is not clear
to what extent Baker's work was carried out. ·
Ludlow 52 Broad Street ·
Wolverhampton Penn Hall ·
North Claines, Worcestershire.
Bevere House 1748–1749 ·
Morville Hall, Shropshire.
Addition of two wings. ·
Liverpool. Houses in Hanover
Street.1748. Demolished. ·
Mawley Hall, Shropshire. Possible
work to stables 1748. ·
Ranton Abbey Staffordshire.
Surveyed 1748–1742. Gutted c1940. ·
Powis Castle Montgomeryshire
Unspecified work 1748–1754 ·
Oakly Park, Bromfield.
Alterations 1748–1758 ·
Wingerworth Hall. Work undertaken
by Baker in 1753–1754. ·
Enville Staffordshire,"Lady
Dorothy's Cottage" For the Earl of Stamford 1748-50 ·
Morville, Aldenham House,
Shropshire. Stable Block 1750–1751 ·
Tixall Hall Staffordshire.
1750–1751. Demolished c. 1925. ·
Darlaston Hall, Staffordshire.
Plans for a house. Demolished 1953. ·
Acton Burnell Hall, Shropshire
1753–1758 ·
Wood Eaton, Staffordshire The
Hall Farmhouse. 1753–1756. ·
Wingerworth Hall, Derbyshire.
Work undertaken 1753–1754. Demolished c.1930. ·
Stoke on Tern, Shropshire,
Woodhouse Farm, 1754–1758. An example of Baker's smaller brick houses, with central
chimney stack. Each face of the house has a forward central bay, with doorway
with a castellated or crenelated, pediment or parapet.<ref`>Mercer E
"English Architecture to 1900: The Shropshire Experience" Logaston
Press, 2003.201</ref> ·
Swynnerton Hall, Staffordshire.
Outbuildings. 1754. ·
Patshull House, Staffordshire.
1754–1758. Baker completed the work of James Gibbs, who died in 1754. This
included the flanking pavilions, and forecourt, with gateway and stables. ·
Hankelow Hall, Cheshire
Alterations. 1755–1757. ·
Egginton Hall, Derbyshire.
Alterations. 1755–1757. ·
Terrick Hall, Whitchurch. Plan
1756. ·
Whitmore Hall, Staffordshire.
Survey 1765. ·
Astbury Rectory, Astbury,
Cheshire Possibly refronted by Baker 1757-9. ·
Brand Hall, Norton in Hales,
Shropshire 1756. Minor Alterations. ·
Hanmer Hall, Wrexham. Additional
building. 1756. ·
Astbury Rectory, Cheshire.
Alterations 1757–1759. Typical ball pinnacles on parapet. ·
Keele Hall, Staffordshire.
Alterations 1757–1759. ·
Dorfold Hall, Cheshire. Alterations
1757–1759. ·
Woodhouse or Wodehouse nr
Wombourne, Staffordshire. Stable block. 1758–1759. ·
Sidway Hall near Maer,
Staffordshire. Altered or rebuilt 1758–1759. ·
Teddesley Hall, Penkridge,
Staffordshire. Possible wings, c1759, demolished 1954. Houses
attributed on stylistic grounds. ·
Burnhill Green Farm Patshull ·
Woore The Swan Hotel ·
Sibdon Carwood, Shropshire.
Sibdon Castle From
an old booklet on Audlem: There
is a unique link between the Phoenix and the Crown at Audlem, for they were
the architecture of William Baker in 1745 and were identically alike in
exterior and interior design. William Baker, who did a great deal of
important architectural work in Shropshire, Staffordshire and adjacent
counties in the mid 18th century, was the son of Richard Baker of
London and Leominster. He was born in 1705 and died in 1771. For
more than half his life William Baker lived at Highfields, a small estate
near Audlem, inherited by his wife, Jane Dod whom he married in 1736. She was
the only surviving daughter and heiress of George Dod of Highfields, a
Jacobean manor house built in 1615 on the site of an earlier structure of the
same name. It still contains much original panelling, a staircase with
‘double twist’ banisters and several carved oak fireplaces. One of the
latter, in the ‘best parlour’, is said by some to be the finest of its period
in the country. A
Highfields William Baker combined the profession and surveyor with that of
farer and small landowner. He also had a small kiln on the estate in which he
made bricks used during the course of his professional work. He was often in
the saddle, riding from one job to another, for his practice took him all
over the North West Midlands and occasionally into Wales. Perhaps
Baker’s most important work was the Town Hall in Montgomery, the contract for
which was doubtless gained through his friendship and business contacts with
the Earl of Powis. Audlem is fortunate to have two of is buildings in the
Square. The
Crown was known as the Bakers Tenement from 1745 to 1808. There
is a record of an exchange between John Capper and Joby Buckley at the Crown: A
shoot was held at Highfields, and Mr Baker asked Joby if he would take a brace
of hares to Mr Cartlich at Woore. On arrival he knocked on the door which was
opened by Mr Cartlich. “Mr
Baker’s sent thee these ‘ere ‘ares” Joby said. “That’s
not the way you bring a present from ne gentleman to another”, was the reply,
“you setp aside and I’ll show you how it should be dne.” Mr
Cartlich kocked and Joby thereupon opeed the door. “With
Mr Baker’s compliments and will Mr Cartlich kindly accept these hares.” Joby,
quick thinking and not to be outdone, “Oh yes, come inside and sit yersel
down, ‘ave something to eat and drink, and ‘eres two ‘alf crowns for thee”. Died William died at Highfields on 29 October 1771. He was buried on 1 November 1771 at St James the Great, Audlem.
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Richard
Baker (24 May 1676 to 24 May 1749) The Surgeon
Born Richard
Baker was born on 24 May 1676 at Stepney, later of St Brides, London and then
Leominster, Herefordshire. He was christened on 28 May 1676 at St Dunstan,
Stepney. Married On
9 October 1698 he married Mary Smith (? To 1719) at St Bride, Fleet Street,
London. Family Mary
Baker, 1699 to 1790 Elizabeth
Baker 1701 to ? Richard
Baker, 1702 to 1750 William
Baker, 1705 to 1771 James
Baker 1708 to 1744 Anne
Baker 1710 to ? Susanna
Baker 1714 to ? Henry
Baker Lived Research
by Nicholas Kingsley: Richard
Baker (1676-1749), was a surgeon who moved from London to Leominster in
Herefordshire. Burke's Landed Gentry says that his father was John Baker, the
younger son of Sampson Baker of Norwich and London, merchant, who was
'believed to be a younger son of Sir Richard Baker MP of Middle Aston, Oxon
and St Bride's, London, the historian... who died in Fleet debtors' prison 18
February 1644/5'. As far as the connection with Sir Richard Baker (and thus
with the Bakers of Sissinghurst) is concerned, this seems to be a specious
fantasy (Sir Richard did not marry until c.1621, and his children are all
accounted for), and it is far from clear how much reliance should be put on
the rest. [Note
– this seems right that Sir Richard Baker MP was not in this direct family
line – see below.] Richard
Baker was baptised at Stepney (Middx) in 1676, his parents were John and
Margaret, as Burke's suggests. But no marriage of a John Baker and Margaret
Leighton is to be found, and nor is a baptism for a John, son of Sampson
Baker. It may, however, be relevant to note that Burke's gives John a
brother, Sampson Baker, gent., of Market Bosworth (Leics) and Rugby (Warks),
born about 1643, and it is possible to find baptisms for both 'Samson', son
of William & Susanna Baker in 1637 and his brother John in 1642 in the
parish registers of Market Bosworth. William Baker of Market Bosworth was
born in 1608 and was in turn the son of Sampson Baker of Market Bosworth and
his wife Millicent Gooddale, who were married in 1605. It seems very possible
that they are the true antecedents of this family. Very
little is known about Richard Baker (1675-1749) of Leominster, surgeon. He
married at St Bride, Fleet St., London, in 1698, and his older children were
born there. He appears to have moved to Leominster between 1705 and 1708 and
he was still described as 'of Leominster' when his will was proved in 1750.
His eldest surviving son and executor was William Baker (1705-71), about whom
much more is known. On
6 August 1699, he was a gilder and lived at King’s Road Court, London. On
20 March 1700 or 1701 he was a gilder and lived at Maiden Road, King’s Road
Court House, London. On
20 February 1702 or 1703 he was a button maker in Dorset. On
14 September 1705 he was a surgeon at Wheatsheaf, ? On
26 December 1705 he lived at Leominster, Herefordshire. On
21 September 1736, he was a churchwarden at St James the Great, Audlem,
Cheshire. Died Richard
Baker died on 24 May 1749 Probate,
7 August 1750.
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John
Baker (1643 to 1685) Born John
Baker was born after 1643. Married He
married Margaret Claiton in 1670. Family Richard
Baker 1676 to 1749 Lived On
28 May 1676, he was a wine cooper at Ratcliff, London. He
was the youngest son, and a merchant in London. Died He
died in 1685 and was buried on or about 26 October 1685 at St Bride’s,
London.
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Sampson
Baker (1614 to 1668) Born Sampson
Baker was born at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. He was baptised on 16
October 1614 there. Married
1 He
married unknown before 1643. Family John
Baker 1643 to 1685 Sampson
Baker 1643 to ? Married
2 He
married Abigail (? To 1668) Family Sampson
Baker 1653 to 1659 Elizabeth
Baker 1655 to 1656 William
Baker 1661 to 1665 William
Baker 1666 to ? Lived He
was a merchant of Norwich and London. On
16 October 1659, he was a surgeon living at Ratcliff, London. On
20 April 1666 he was a surgeon, living at White Horse Street, London. Died He
died after 1668 at Stepney, London.
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Sampson
Baker (1581 to 1647) Born Sampson
was born in Coventry in 1581, later of Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. He
was christened at Holy Trinity, Coventry on 29 November 1581. Married
1 He
married Millicent Gooddale (? to 1634) in 1604 or 1605 in Leicestershire. Family George
Baker 1606 to 1606 William
Baker 1608 to 1671 Dorothy
Baker 1610 to ? Thomas
Baker 1611 to ? Sampson
Baker 1614 to 1668 Elizabeth
Baker 1617 to 1638 George
Baker 1619 to 1619 Walter
Baker 1620 to 1645 John
Baker 1622 to ? Nicholas
Baker 1624 to 1645 Millicent
Baker 1628 to 1645 Lived In
1638, he was a Woolman of Baxterley, Warwickshire. Married
2 On
9 October 1641 he married Esther Martin at St Michael, Lichfield,
Staffordshire. Died Sampson
died before October 1647, of Baxterley, Warwickshire. Probate
14 October 1647, London. Proved by his sons William and Thomas Baker.
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William
Baker (? to 1615) of Coventry Born William
was born on an unknown date in Coventry. Married
1 On
an unknown date he married Margery ? (? to 1588) Family Child
Baker 1577 to 1577 Ane
Baker 1579 to ? Sampson
Baker 1581 to 1647 Susanna
Baker 1583 to ? Married
2 On
29 September 1588 he married Isabel Bond (? to 1613) at All Saints, Allesley,
Warwickshire. Family Joan
Baker 1592 to ? William
Baker 1594 to ? Lived Before
1615 he was a mercer. Died William
died at Coventry in 1615 and was buried on 11 November 1615 at Holy Trinity,
Coventry. |
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