MEMORIES OF HANSLOPE PARK AND THE TRAGEDY - 1

In September 2001, the Society was contacted by Susan Ringsell, the great-granddaughter of the Lily Green who lived at the gatehouse lodge at Hanslope Park at the time of the tragedy and who was first on the scene of the murder. Apparently, her grandmother Winifred, the fifth of George & Lily Green's seven children, told her many stories of life in the gatehouse lodge, of the tragedy and of Hanslope Park, and her own mother had been brought up there. This was some years ago, and like all things in family memory some details survive, some are lost, and some get revived by other details and stories.

(left) Mary Fearn & Susan Ringsell

On Sunday December 9th 2001, Susan and her mother Mary Fearn came to Hanslope. Don Hellings, the Chairman of the Society, was able to arrange for them to visit the gatehouse lodge, and permission was even granted by Hanslope Park authorities for the group to walk to the mansion and see the exterior of that building, along with the former coach house where George Green had spent much of his working life.

Afterwards, during tea at Don's house, Mary and Susan spoke of some of their recollections. Below is a summary of some of the details which they were able to recall. They have also promised to do their best to provide the Society with whatever photographs they can find to illustrate some of these events.

George, their grandfather/great grandfather, was short in stature, and had been a jockey in his younger years. This familiarity with horses made him a very suitable person to be a coachman at Hanslope Park. As well as his duties as coachman, he would also assist with shooting parties. A double-barrelled shotgun was often propped up at the entrance doorway to the lodge, and a pair of spaniels from the Park spent many hours down there too.

George Green spent a lot of time with Edward French, the Squire's nephew and godson, who passed much of his childhood at Hanslope Park. As well as going riding, the two would go round the estate - George would point out trees and flowers and Edward would tell him the Latin names.

Mary was asked what happened with the Green children in the hour immediately following the murder: Lily Green was going to get help from Manor Farm, William was off to get the doctor, the police and his father who was in Hanslope - who was going to look after the children, with a potential murderer still on the loose? The answer was: the children were locked in the lodge for their safety.

For his bravery in being the first person prepared to enter the North Spinney after the shooting, George Green was presented with a plaque and a gold watch, both of which passed down the family via his eldest child William. We hope to carry a photo of the watch on this page in due course.

The Green family were allowed to live at the gatehouse lodge, rent free, until the 1950's - this despite the Park changing hands from the Watts to the Poore-Watts, to the Heskeths and finally to the Government.

Mary Fearn recalls that her mother seemed to indicate that the Farrows were not in fact very well off. The children always seemed slightly grubby, and on some occasions the Greens gave them food. It will be remembered (refer to the map on the Inquest page) that along with the residents of Bullington End Farm and the Beasleys at Manor Farm, the Farrows were the Greens' nearest neighbours. It seems that the Green children and the Farrow children may have attended school together for a while. (This is being followed up via the records of Hanslope Primary School.)

Susan had some interesting light to shed on a couple of details concerning William Farrow. Her grandmother told her that apparently George Green went into the stables one day and found William Farrow ill-treating one of the horses or ponies. He warned him that if it happened again he would report him - understandably so, when one considers that as coachman, he was responsible for the care of the horses.

In the book by Edward French, the Squire's nephew, it is stated that the final straw for the Squire - and the reason William Farrow was sacked - was the death of Mrs Watts's favourite dog while she and the Squire were away on holiday and the dog was under William Farrow's care. Susan Ringsell recalls that her grandmother told her that George Green also discovered the dog in the stables; it was in a bad state with a wound to its side. He cleaned the wound up but it became infected and the dog never recovered.

The Society would like to record its grateful thanks firstly to Mary Fearn and Susan Ringsell for getting in touch, giving up the time to talk about the stories passed down the family, and allowing the Society to use their photos; secondly to Vera Barnes, Mary's cousin, who provided further pictures of Lily & George Green, and finally to the authorities at Hanslope Park for allowing the visit to the Park and in particular to the old gatehouse lodge.

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