The Farrow Family at Rainford probably early in 1903

The hope expressed in the other pages that a descendant of William and Annie Farrow would see these pages and contact the Society took nearly 10 years to materialise. Then a message was received from a great grandson of William Farrow (from the family line of his eldest daughter Jane) via which a link with Jane’s son was established. In June 2005 Mr Alan Draper (aged 66) of Irlam near Manchester subsequently paid his first visit to Hanslope and saw his grandfather’s grave.

Previously he had no serious inclination to find out about his grandfather or the circumstances surrounding his death. During his teenage years he became aware that his maternal grandfather had died during a terrible tragedy somewhere in Buckinghamshire when his mother was twelve or thirteen years old. He had murdered his employer before taking his own life. The matter was not discussed at length again.

Annie Farrow in later life

It was not until much later when family documents were studied that clues to the tragedy were found. Farrow was born in Carlton , Suffolk in 1871 and it is thought, went to Lancashire in the 1880’s. He was recruited in Dorset to work as an apprentice game keeper for Lord Latham at Latham Park (about eight miles from Wigan ). He married Annie Bullen in 1899. They lived in a gamekeeper's cottage on the Rainford Estate of Lord Derby and had three daughters: Jane, Annie and Cicily.

The gamekeeper's cottage at Rainford, (left) enlargement of William Farrow, leaving with shotgun

The residents of Rainford were equally shocked by the news of the Tragedy, as they had known Farrow for many years and regarded him as a respected member of the community as well as a good gamekeeper.

Annie Farrow and her three daughters suffered hardship when they returned to Lancashire from Hanslope. With the help of family members and friends, they survived. The three daughters married but all have died.

Cicily, Jane and Annie Farrow, (left) as children, (right) in 1963