Category Archives: Wars

Tyrell’s Poultry Farm

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A poultry farm that was in Gorringe Park.

According to Eric Montague, writing about St Barnabas church in his Mitcham Histories : 2 North Mitcham, page, 109:

During preparation of the site for the new church what remained of Gorringe Park stables, then known as Tyrell’s Farm, was demolished.

He also said that a clock, removed from one of the old farm buildings, was installed in the church tower through the generosity of Joseph Wilson and his wife, who were living at Gorringe Park House at the same time as the church was built.

The 1904 street directory describes Gorringe Park Avenue as walked from the London Road:

…. here is Bruce Road
Charles FROST (Gorringe Park Lodge)

Christ Church Church Room

Christleib T. LIPSHYTZ (Gorringe Park House)

The Surrey & Sussex Poultry Farm Limited

Arnold & Arnold, veterinary surgeons (Gorringe Park)

The spelling of the surname differs in the 1910 electoral register, which shows William TYRRELL at Poultry farm, Gorringe park. Henry TYRELL is shown at 5 Thirsk Road.

The 1911 street directory, also described from west to east, now shows William Tyrell poultry farm:

…. here is Bruce Road
St Barnabas District Mission Church

St Barnabas’ Men’s Club (W.G. WOODWARD, hon. sec.)

Reverend Christleib T. LIPSHYTZ (Gorringe Park House)

William TYRELL poultry farm

Arnald & Arnald, veterinary surgeons (Gorringe Park)

This can be compared to the 1911 OS map:

1911 OS map

The assumption then is that field numbers 574 and/or 575 were the locations of the poultry farm, with 571 being the vets.

The path that is shown between Gorringe Park House and the poultry farm is followed today by the course of Edenvale Road, as shown on the georeferenced OS map on the NLS website:

During World War 1, three members of the Tyrell family were called up and went to the Military Service Tribunal to ask for exemption. Reports of the tribunals in local newspapers have been summarised by the Merton Historical Society

3rd March 1916

“My business, run under agreement, cannot be run without my supervision,” wrote Mr. Albert Tyrell, aged 31 years, keeping a poultry farm at Mitcham, and who is a pig breeder and butcher at Streatham.
Claim for exemption was disallowed.

Leonard Tyrell, 28, a poultry farm keeper and pig breeder, whose mother is dependent on him, claimed total exemption but was only given a month.

8th September 1916

John William Tyrell, 23, a pig and poultry dealer, was quite unable to get anyone to carry on his business if he went. This was his fourth Tribunal appearance. His father, aged 58, suffered from a strained heart, and had been medically certified as unfit for heavy manual labour. The Chairman thought there was no reason why he should not turn to and do what he could; we were all now doing things that once we had given up doing. One more month, to be final.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Framfield Road

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Framfield Road is off the west side of Streatham Road opposite The Driftway. It leads into St James’s Road. The reason for the name is unknown, however next to it is Uckfield Grove, and the town of Uckfield in Sussex has a town of Framfield two miles to the east of it.

Possibly built around 1928 as in that year mortgages were provided by the Mitcham Urban District Council, under the Small Dwellings Acquisitions Act, for houses valued at £625 each.

As approached from the Streatham Road end, the houses on the left are arranged in blocks of six, numbered odd from 1 to 107. On the right side the houses are numbered even from 2 to 88. Extra houses were built on plots near the St James’s Road end that had garages. A number of houses have since been divided into flats.

The Royal Mail website says that there three postcodes in use in this road, namely CR4 2AL, 2AU and 2AW.

News Items

From the Manchester Evening News – Monday 11th January 1943, via the British Newspaper Archive

Home Guard Fell in River At Night

While two Home Guards were patrolling on the Thames quayside at Wandsworth, one of them, William Edward Field (41), of Framfield Road, Mitcham, fell into the river in the darkness and was drowned.

At the Battersea inquest to-day the Coroner (Mr. Hervey Wyatt) recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said that Field’s companion, Ernest William Horsman, who climbed down a wire and made two unsuccessful rescue attempts, had every reason to congratulate himself on his fine effort to help his friend.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry for W.E. FIELD, he was in the 52nd County of London (Wandsworth Gas Co.) Battalion of the Home Guard. He was the son of Edward and Daisy Field, of Mitcham and husband of Elsie Catherine Field, of Mitcham. Although his grave is in the London Road Cemetery, it is not in the ‘War Graves’ section that has the graves of the local Home Guard that died in 1941. It is in plot 9, which is near the Victoria Road entrance.

Edward Pullen gets MBE in 1961 but missed DCM in 1916