The Trower Family of Redhill

1) The Trower family of Redhill had its origins in Sussex.  John Trower (1747-1817) is believed to have lived at Barkfold Manor in Kirdford near Wisborough Green in Sussex  He married Hannah Bourne (1753-1815) and they had one son James Trower (1777-1848) who was brought up at Barkfold. 

2) James married Mary Main (1778-1853) and was a Sussex farmer.  By 1841 he was farming Bowfold Farm near Billingshurst where he gave employment as an agricultural labourer to one Daniel Gumbrell who, according to his obituary published in 1912 went to work at Bowfold when he was only 8 years old. Daniel Gumbrell continued to work for the Trowers for the rest of his life, over 80 years, firstly with James’ son Richard and then with Richard’s sons Henry and Arthur at Wiggie House in Redhill.

3) James and Mary Trower had eight children: Elizabeth, James, Mary Ann, Ann, John, Richard, Thomas and Henry all of whom were born in Sussex.

4) Elizabeth Trower was born in 1802 and eventually married a Baptist minister, John Omer Squier and moved out of the area.

5) James Trower was born in 1804, married Elizabeth Elliott in 1844 and died in 1857.  They lived in Marylebone in London and had four children.

6) Mary Ann Trower was born in 1806 and married William Underwood in 1830.  They lived at Merstham in Surrey where their eight children were born.

7) Ann Trower was born in 1806 and married John Symonds in 1836.  John was a farmer in Reigate Foreign (became Redhill) where they had 8 children.  She died in 1858.

8) John Trower was born in 1810 and married Jane Ford in 1840. In 1841 they were living at Wiggey (sic) where John and his brother Richard were farmers.  They had six children, all bar one born in Reigate,  but sadly three of their daughters died in infancy.   Later he farmed near Guildford. He died in Reigate in 1887. Two of their daughters were Ellen Elizabeth (1852-1929) and Emily (1864-1912) who for 26 years ran a successful school in Woodlands Road, Redhill.  Their other surviving daughter Jane was born in 1844 and died in 1883 – she lived in Station Road, Redhill with her sisters as housekeeper.

9) Richard Trower ^{note 1b} was born in 1811 and married Ann Luck in 1846.  By 1841 he was already living with his brother John at Wiggy Farm where he lived for the rest of his life, dying there in 1880. Richard and Ann had 8 children all born at Wiggy: Mary Ann (1848-1913), Henry (1849-1924), James Main (1851-19270, Fanny Elizabeth (1852-1921), Arthur (1853-1937), Kate (1856-1938), Richard (1858-1937) and Edward (1860-1915).  Henry and Arthur lived at Wiggy all their lives and were in business together as successful corn merchants in Redhill.  It was Arthur who made Wiggy famous by creating and amazing garden and writing about it in his book “Our Homestead and its Old World Garden” published in 1910.  James Main also lived at Wiggy for a while as did Richard.  Richard married Hannah Tredgett and they had five children.  They later moved to Holmethorpe, another farm nearby, and later to Battlebridge Farm in Merstham.

10) Thomas Trower was born in 1815 and married Mary Ann Streater in 1844.  They had four children.  He farmed at Bowfold, the family farm near Billingshurst.  He died in 1862.

11) Henry Trower was born in 1817 and married Clara Golds in 1847.  He farmed in Sussex until he died in 1872.  They had eight children one of whom was Frank Harry Trower (1857-1925) who married Mary Elizabeth Woolnough (1863-1930).  Frank Harry and Mary Elizabeth were Steve Bacon's great grandparents.

.... This map shows the built up area of Redhill in 1861 with Red Hill railway station lower centre and the London to Brighton railway line running just east of north towards London. Gatton and the parish of Nutfield form northern and eastern boundaries. The name of Wiggie does not appear, the whole being in the Foreign of Reigate and the petty borough of Linkfield.
....The fields outlined in orange are those rented and farmed by Richard Trower. Most are to the east of the line but he also has other isolated ones to the west of it. The railway was built through the area in the late 1830s and opened in 1841 so it probably split his farm in two.
....The land was rented from Lord Monson, William Curruthers, Henry Hunt, Felix Ladbrooke, Mordaunt Momro, Mr Pope and Earl Somers.
....But a small puzzle rises here as in Richard Trower's son Arthur's book, 'Our Homestead' written in 1910, there is mention of a cup awarded in 1858 by the Merstham Agricultural Association to his father for the best kept cultivated farm in the district. Arthur goes on to say' 'At that time in addition to his own land he rented some fields from the then Lord Monson', but throughout the terrier associated with the map there is no note of ownership of agricultural land by Richard Trower at all.
...This is not to say that he did not own anything as the items marked in blue were owned by Richard Trower and were a house and garden in Ladbroke Road. The house is marked as unoccupied. Could it be that this is where he first lived before setting up the farm?

(The map used here is part of the Plan of the Parish of Reigate, Surrey 1860-61 by William Eve. Information comes from the terrier associated with the map)

...... The buildings at Wiggy at the time of the 1871 census with the orchards and gardens. Presumably the building shown in pink close to the map centre was the main house. The other pink shaded building was probably a labourer's cottage referred to in Arthur Trower's book 'Our Homestead', and which was derelict at the time of writing in 1910.

A splendid aerial photo of Foxboro-Yoxall's premises that were built on the Wiggie estate. The photo was taken about a hundred years after the date of the above map and a much altered Wiggie House can be seen at the very bottom centre of the picture. Foxboro used it as a training centre and built a new wing onto it. Later a brand new facility was built behind the house. The two railway lines can be seen on either side of the estate. The allotments in the bottom left corner are partly where the daffodil gardens once were and stand between the railway and the public footpath through Wiggie.

(Photo courtesy Derek Flanagan)

Redhill FC was formed in 1894. Henry Trower liked his sport and as a result Redhill FC played at Wiggie for a number of years.  One notable game on this ground was against the West London club of Queens Park Rangers in the 1895/6 season, which Redhill won 2-0 in the rain in front of a not unusual crowd of 200.  Players were Batten, half back (scored);  C.P.Murray, back; Rowlinson, another defender; Peskett in goal; Purkis, left half; W.P.Brown, right half; Power, outside right; Donaldson, outside left; Gilford, midfield, (scored); plus Stafford and Evans, forwards.
      The Wiggie ground was not ideal so on 23rd June, 1896, the Redhill Sports Ground and Athletics Co. Ltd was formed with Henry Trower chairman.  Its main asset was nine acres fronting London Road, with tenants’ and grazing rights either expired or bought up, although the company did not own the land outright.  Its object was to promote the ideals of football and other sporting activities.
     The nine acres comprised rough ground described as little more than a swamp.  Two streams through it had to be culverted, with trees cut and grubbed and the timber sold.  A hedge on the London Road boundary was replaced by a park pale oak fence.  The north boundary to land of Mrs Green was agreed, an entrance from Ladbroke Road was granted by Mr Trower, and a pavilion was to be erected.  Cost of all works came to £3,500 raised in shares of £1. The work was completed within a year, only the proposed pavilion containing a cricket score box, a pavilion room, two dressing rooms and a store had still to be built. While this work was in progress Redhill FC continued to play at Wiggie but with the possibility of transferring to the new ground.
     There was an official opening of the Sports Ground in 1897 as part of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebrations in the town, when the public was admitted to a sports meeting.  The public was also admitted to subsequent football matches played there but the ground remained officially private. 
      After WW1 there were moves made to create lasting memorial to the memory of the fallen. Among those was the creation of a memorial sports ground in the Borough of Reigate. It was to take a few years but in the early 1920s the nine acres fronting London Road, Redhill, were chosen and negotiations were in hand with the freeholder of the land, Lord Monson, and the leaseholder, Mr Henry Trower. The conveyance of the site from these two gentlemen was completed in 1923 with twenty years still to run on the lease and turned the ground from a private one into a public one, but with the provision that Redhill Football Club be allowed to continue to play there on Saturdays and Wednesdays and collect gate money. The money paid to Lord Monson was £1,200, money raised by the War Memorial Committee.
     The deeds were handed over and it became the Memorial Sports Ground, left in trust for the people of the town and for the senior football club.  Matches drew large Saturday afternoon crowds sometimes numbered in the thousands.  It was not uncommon for the entrance queue to stretch back to the centre of the town, and when the game ended the crowd would spill out onto the main street, sometimes stopping the traffic between the ground and the Market Hall.  Henry Trower did not live to see see that largest recorded attendance of 7,000 for the 1955 FA cup game against Hastings.
      Eventually Redhill FC had to leave the ground under controversial circumstances. Perhaps If Henry Trower had been around then Redhill FC would still be playing at the Memorial Sports Ground in the centre of the town.

This photo of bowlers is an Illustration.from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', written by Arthur Trower in 1910, so pre-dates the Redhill Bowling Club days when it was situated at Gloucester Road, Redhill. From a local historian's point of view it would be wonderful to know who each of these gentlemen were. Is one Arthur Trower himself? The man second from right in the back row looks like Mr Sanders, the saddler, of Station Road Redhill.

Rear l-r: Alderman H.H.Pierce (president of R.B.C.) - W.M.Grice (skip) W.R. - R.Elmsley (skip) R.B.C. - A.Donaldson W.R. - G.Linter W.R. - J.H.Marsh W.R. - W.Wells R.B.C. - E.J.Funnell R.B.C.
Middlel-r: A.A.Rose (skip) W.R. - J.H.Matthews R.B.C. - H.Potter W.R. - A.Trower W.R. - G.F.MacKriell (skip) R.B.C. - G.J.Wallis R.B.C. - E.Dawson R.B.C.
Seated in front l-r: W.J.Chard W.R. - C.Welsh R.B.C..

(Photo courtesy Redhill Bowling Club)

	The photo (right) shows a tree being planted close to the eastern boundary of the Wiggie estate. St Anne's can be seen in the background. (Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910)

    Three Redhill men were on the board of governors at Streatham. They were Robert Field of Oxford Road, Redhill, who would be Mayor of the Borough of Reigate 1881-4, Walter B. Waterlow of High Trees, on the borders of Redhill and Reigate, who had been Mayor 1870-72, and Francis Wright Costar, of Woodlands, off London Road, Redhill. They obtained land north of Red Hill Junction railway station from Mr Webb of Redstone Manor and Messrs Trower at a cost of £3,500, and a tender was accepted in the sum of £335,743 for a school for about 400 children to be built complete with chapel on that land.. Mr Field performed a ceremonial turning of the first sod on the site in 1881. The Prince and Princess of Wales laid the foundation stone of the chapel in July 1884.

The 1896 map above shows the proximity of St Anne's to Wiggie. It also shows that the alterations to the house had been made by this time.

A photo of the Redhill Memorial Sports Ground showing how St Anne's, built on ground once a part of Wiggie Farm, was such a feature of the town.

The Redhill Club was a balconied building that had been a Conservative club that stood at the end of a short track from the bottom of Redstone Hill. It became an annex to the Redhill Technical College and School that had been built next to it. Millers Yard was possibly their warehouse at Earlswood. Why the Redhill shop was not mentioned is unknown, perhaps it had been held on leasehold only, or maybe sold earlier.

............... Wiggie House (photo courtesy Derek Flanagan)

..... The contents of the house were sold room by room and in the catalogue were listed as such, so we can get a little information on the style and layout of the house.

Upper floor(s)
Small bedroom
..... Everything appears to have been sold, even the linoleum from the floor. There was a 3ft bedstead, a feather bed, a marble top washstand, an electric fire, a four-tier rosewood whatnot, a barometer, a picnic basket, two leather hat boxes and an occasional chair. The whole lot realised £1.15s.
Small bedroom (near billiard room)
..... Similar items realised another £3.19s.
Bedroom No.3
..... A much larger room as it had a 14ft square carpet and five rugs on the floor. and much more furniture that fetched over £20.
Bedroom No.4 and Bedroom No.5
.... These were at left front and right front respectively. Contents of both realised over £10 each
Billiard Room
.... A full size billiard table and associated furniture and effects sold for over £25. Included were other sporting items - bowls, croquet mallets and balls - and a stuffed puma (was this the 'enormous stuffed tiger' referred to in Stella Barnes letter above?)
Landing and stairs
...The usual carpets and linoleum were sold along with several pieces of furniture and paintings. Some of the paintings are of particular interest. One was of Wiggie and signed G.Willis-Price 1891. Two more were water colour drawings by E.Bass Smith in gilt frames. (These must be the ones in the possession of Stella Barnes in 1984 -see letter above). There were also two oil paintings referred to as 'garden' and 'Lodge' - could they also have been of Wiggie? It would be nice to be able to see all of these. There were a number of other various paintings, none seeming to be local.

Ground Floor
Hall
.... This must have been a reasonable size as it contained a 4ft hall stand, a 3ft 6in. oak table, two oak chairs, another oak table and a grandfather clock. Two stuffed pheasants, a stuffed grouse and a stuffed eagle were in cases or stood on one of the tables and two deer's heads with antlers were on one wall.
Drawing Room
.... 4ft table, armchair and couch, settee, occasional chairs, piano, vases, jardinieres, three fire screens, clock and other items.
Dining Room
.... Three curtain poles made this another large room that contained a 4ft x 8ft table, chairs, sideboard, armchair, couch, writing desk, other tables, vases and another grandfather clock. There were also more paintings including another of Wiggie House by W.Caffin1893.
Museum
This room contained a great deal of furniture. An antique drop leaf mahogany table plus five other tables, a bureau, a coffer chest, a Queen Anne chest with two drawers, five chairs, a roll top desk, a wireless, another grandfather clock, three tea cadies and three writing cases were the main items. Other items included a brass bell, a blunderbuss, letter scales and weights and a fireproof safe. Perhaps the room could also have been called a library as there were 20 volumes of Shakespeare's works dated 1788, a @Gardener's Dictionary dated 1768, 55 volumes of 'Cooke's Novels', 6 bound volumes of the Spectator, 35 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and 'The Book of the Martyrs'. Additionally there were several lots of sundry other books.
... Finally there were 'stuffed birds and nest in glass case' and two more paintings of Wiggie, tthis time by S.Emma Cheyney.
Kitchen
... A 4ft drop leaf table, a 3ft deal table, a painted chest, coal box, windsor arm chair and three small chairs were among items that make the kitchen look fairly large. There was also the usual cook ware as well as 65 pieces of brown and white dinner ware. A parrot cage -no mention of an inhabitant - was among the items.
Scullery
... A mangle and a hand-wringer, a 3ft 6in table, a galvanised bath and wicker basket, an old iron grate, a deck quoits board and quoits.
Misc Items
... The linen was sold separately as was the glass, silver and plate items. Among the latter were nine presentation cups, although it was not stated whether they were engraved. A cigarette box, sugar tongs, fifty different spoons, five salts, sugar basin and sifters, all in silver, were listed. Plated items included an 18 carat watch described as a Benson repeater, plus a quantity of fish, fruit and table knives and forks.
Outside
... A large collection of items befitting a large garden were for sale. Four motor mowers, two rollers, several garden seats, numerous non-garden tools, ladders, work benches, a water barrow, tip cart, garden tools and frames. One odd item was an aeroplane propellor. Slightly surprisingly there were a large number of plants for sale, including 5 dozen Cinerarias, a dozen Aram Lilies, a dozen azaleas, 10 dozen polyanthus, 10 dozen forget-me-nots, a quantity of geranium cuttings and a quantity of dahlia tubers. This suggests that with two elderly gentlemen living in the large house life was going on as normal, at least as far as the garden was concerned, right up to the end.

Several paintings of Wiggie are mentioned in the sale. Perhaps this illustration from the book 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910, is one of them. It is entitled 'An old familiar scene' and must have been painted when the farm was still operational in the late 1800s.
(Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910)

.. It was not just the house contents that were for sale in 1938, the whole 56 acre Wiggie estate went on the market. Reigate Corporation had resolved to buy it for £20,000 so a planned auction was cancelled. At the last minute the Corporation pulled out but the trustees of the late owner, Arthur Trower, received an alternative private offer for the estate plus premises in the town. (see explanation of this at end of this page).
 .. Later in the year a proposal for a housing estate there was abandoned.  Whose the proposal was is uncertain but around the same time land was acquired at Colesmead for a housing estate.
.. In 1957 FoxboroYoxall bought 52 acres at Wiggie and built a 126,000 sq. ft. factory upon it for the production of industrial instruments. The new site was formally opened by the Mayor of Reigate & Redhill in 1958. The factory and office floor area was almost doubled in 1963. A new Research and Development and Flowmeter Calibration facility were added and, in 1967, the old Wiggie Manor, on the perimeter of the Foxboro-Yoxall site and with links back to the 16th century, was acquired and converted for use by the Training Centre. In 1969 work began on a new office wing and, when opened in 1970, the Training Centre moved to occupy half of its ground floor. The total building floor area ended up at 250,000 sq. ft. by 1971 with around 1,500 people employed.
. . The question that comes to mind is what was the estate and house used for from 1938 to 1957? Information is that the house was demolished in 1977.

* His obituary below records the number as 120, still a remarkable number.

Herbert Bignall carrying the torch through Redhill

	Photo right Mrs Trower ready to go for a ride. Presumably the photo was taken outside Wiggie house. Whether or not that is Arthur Trower at the reigns is unknown but from the text we might assume that it is. (Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910)

....Another very pertinent fact that comes to light is that on the death of both his parents the farm had to be sold. Why this was we are not told but it is revealed that in addition to land of his own Arthur's father rented land from Lord Monson. By this time all the children had left the family home. Arthur and his elder brother Henry had prospered in their business and were able to buy the house and 'some fifty acres of land'. We know from the 1861 census that there were originally 200 acres but do not know the division of owned and rented land.
...Ten years before the brothers acquired the property it been in great need of repair at their father's death and in order to make it more comfortable for their widowed mother it was decided to make alterations to the front. After their mother's death
and once in their hands Arthur and Henry went about further altering, developing and improving the property. They removed the more unsightly farm buildings but left undisturbed old walls and one old building that had been a farm labourer's cottage. They also turned the manure yard into a flower garden. Two photos of the house are provided in the book in a way that would seem to be 'before and after' photos. The difference between the two is so great, however, as to make it difficult to see exactly what was done.

(Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910)

Arthur and a robin that would feed from his hand. (Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910)

Arthur and an unnamed person deep in conversation. (Illus. from 'Our Homestead and its Old World Garden', Arthur Trower 1910),

.....There were a few visitors who fell into two sightly different categories, both minorities. There were those who rather than giving a gratuity were looking to extract a subscription for a charity. Recognising these became an art as they would usually start off with praise either for the garden or the gardener before coming to the point. When donations were given they were usually small - 'more sympathetic than metallic' Arthur writes.
......The second group were those to whom the concept of gardening for pleasure was an alien one. Athur is pleased to say in the book that these were a rapidly diminishing group.
......One visitor, an amateur achaeologist, afterwards wrote that the garden was undoubtedly made on ancient ground as he had found a Norman arch and a ruin that could have been a chapel. Whether Arthur ever corrected him in person is not revealed but he corrects him in the book by explaining that what he had seen where old Victorian walls that he himself had got a jobbing bricklayer to make doorways and windows infor convenience and had the roofless tops rounded to appear better on the eye.
.... Having already mentioned that children from St Anne's would visit the garden, crocodiling their way from their large Victorian institution to do so, it should also be mentioned that 1,500 children from London came annually.

Right - There is one visitor who we can identify, however. In the book he is referred to as 'My friend the Doctor'. He is The Rev. Dr Perry, St Anne's Boys' School Head 1896-1919. More can be read about him in the 'St Anne's' web page, also on this website.

. . . . . . . . In Feb 1941, after 10 months of internment it was my turn to go to a second tribunal in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. It was done by coach loads. They stamped my registration book. I was to be released to return to St. Albans where there was a 'Hashomer Hatzair' (Young Guard) hostel. I had obtained their address through Bloomsbury House and contacted them, as soon as the second tribunals started. My youth movement and Hashomer Hatzair had amalgamated and they had agreed to accept me. On 18th February, 1941, I arrived already when it was dark at St. Albans bus station and had to make my own way (no reception committee!) while the sirens sounded loudly an 'All Clear' with only a torch to find my way to 55 London Road.
..... Well, I managed. It was a completely different way of life I started from then on. The place was sparsely furnished, just essentials, but the girls had tried to make things homely with pictures, vases, rugs etc. There were about twenty of us, mostly girls, as some of the boys were still interned in Canada and Australia. Some worked on farms but more in factories where they made uniforms. They had to work hard doing piece work, meaning they only got paid for the amount they produced.
.... Two people worked in the house. I was supposed to cook for them all. Luckily a third girl who had previously worked in a kitchen was on sick leave and she showed me the ropes. Especially I had not had anything to do with ration books before. It came quite easily to me, the shopping and cooking. The food was quite filling and nourishing, stews with the meat mostly to make it go further. The thorn in my eye was six puppies and the mother who belonged to Rita. They dirtied the plain wooden kitchen floor and I had to scrub it every second day. It took her quite some time to sell the dogs but I put my foot down and quite a few of the others were on my side to get rid of them quickly as they slept in a big cardboard box in the kitchen. There was a garden, just lawn; at least one could hang the washing out there. My other partner to clean the house and share doing the laundry was a boy, Ulli. He was Ruth's husband. She worked in a factory. They were a bit older and were supposed to be in charge of us. They looked after the finances, as all earnings were pooled and each received only pocket money, as all expenses for goods, cosmetics etc, were paid from the budget. It was run on the lines of a kibbutz, after all that was the idea to get us accustomed to that way of life.
.... Our movements were restricted like all other alien's. We were not allowed to travel further than five miles without reporting to the police, who stamped our book with the destination. Any change of address or work had to be reported. You always had to have the book with you, as well as the identity card with which every citizen was issued at the outbreak of war. St. Albans was lucky we did not have many alerts, though one could hear the droning of bombers going over to Germany and bombs falling in the distance. One actually fell on the farm, where Shoscha worked, but luckily she was not there at the time.
... I had two nice girls in my room, one from Breslau, who had only lived round the corner from me then, Alhm and Hannnah, who I met again when I visited Kibbutz Harnaupil with Rosi and Anshi for the day as it was their old Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz where they had lived many years. Our social life consisted mostly of having political discussions. Hashomer Hatzair was very left wing at the time, supporting Russia until the pact with Hitler. We used to hitch-hike everywhere (in those days it was quite safe) as we had no money for fares, mainly to week-end seminars at other Hachsharah centres. I especially remember Tring. I hitchhiked with Hannah, there was a terrible thunderstorm and downpour, we saw a tree being struck by lightning so the driver stopped the car and we made for the nearest house. The lady there saw us drenched to the skin, we had no jackets and brought towels and hot cocoa and we waited till the rain stopped. Later on we had to change cars, thumb another lift to Tring; by the time we arrived there we were bone dry.
..... Another trip was to Moorhouse farm, Shropshire. There I saw Dad for the first time making a speech in connection with working arrangements. He struck me as a rebel then, dissatisfied with the way things were run. We learned there that his group was to go down South. Our hostel was going to be dissolved and we all eventually ended up together at Wiggie House, Wiggie Lane, Redhill, Surrey. That was October 1941.

At Wiggie

At Wiggie House everything was run as on a kibbutz. There was total communal organisation. We worked for the Surrey War Agricultural Committee (SWAC). This was set up as soon as the war started to supply mobile labour, as all the regular farm workers were in the army. At the same time the land army girls were founded with whom we worked together on occasions. Every Friday we found two sets of clothes on our bed - one for work, one for leisure. One big room was the 'Machsan' (storeroom) where all the clothes were put onto shelves. We did not often get our own clothes we brought from home but there was a big variety.
.... One girl was in charge of two to four others who did all the laundry and mending. Imagine washing 70-100 pairs of dirty socks by hand on a washing board. We had a gas boiler for the work clothes and a rinsing machine and mangle. I worked later on in the 'Machsan' so I know first hand what hard work it was - and all the darning of socks, un-known today. Two worked in the house cleaning, all wooden floorboards with various rugs and linoleum in the very big dining room, which also served all other activities. Two worked in the kitchen, one girl, Dita, was Austrian and a very good inventive cook, able to provide a variety of meals with the rationed food. Washing up was done by rota by all members, as were the Shabat (Saturday) and Sunday duties, even preparing the supper. Heating was by coke stoves and wood as well. We never saw our wages. They were paid weekly by an officer of the War Agricultural Committee (W.A.C) to our treasurer who was in charge of the various budgets. We had no need to buy barely a thing, as everything was provided, all cosmetics, as everything was bought wholesale through the Houndsditch warehouse in London where we had a trade card. All we received was the princely sum of 1 shilling 7 pence pocket money. The boys earned between £3 and £5, the girls 25-30 shillings in old money plus overtime. The money was 12 pence to 1 shilling (20 shillings to the pound). The pictures (cinema) cost 1 shilling.
.... The SWAC supplied us with bicycles and we had to cycle to the farms, some were quite a distance away (five miles), sometimes we had to get off and push them as Surrey is a hilly county. We worked mostly in groups of two to five for the general field work, sometimes together with some old farm hands who were too old for the army. We met some characters. Some of the boys worked with the animals. We used to get up at 6 am and be home by about 5.30 - 6pm. Most of us had never done any physical work and it came quite hard to us at first.
.... Then at week-ends we had to work on our own 1.5 acre vegetable garden, which was behind the house. The thankless task to organise this fell to Dad. At that time he was just one of the many boys from Moorhouse Farm who amalgamated with us from St. Albans. Every Friday he put up a sheet of paper on the information board in the hall with the names of who had to do what on our plot and make sure on Saturday, nobody dodged and overlooked the work, which was done Saturday morning. He had quite a battle sometimes to round everybody up.
.... How did I get into closer contact with him? Though a splinter, which I managed to get under one of my fingernails in the course of some work I did (can't remember what, probably stacking logs). After unsuccessful attempts by others to remove it, he finally did. that's how we got talking, and so it went on from there. He was known as one of the best workers of the group and was soon noticed by the framers he worked for, so they applied to the SWAC to be allowed to keep him for special jobs. That way he first worked with cows, as he had had experience at Moorhouse. He learned to drive a tractor and use all the implements and he stayed with farmer Smith in Godstone for the rest of the time.
.... All this was in 1942. Redhill was in the flight path of the bombers that came over from Germany to London and went out there. There was this forever droning noise, which one got used to. Though there were no important targets in the vicinity we seemed to get the bombs being unloaded on the way home. We all had to do a rota of fire fighting duty; were shown how to use a stirrup pump to put out incendiary bombs. We were very lucky, as in spite of being right next to the railway line we never had any bombing near us, though we could hear plenty coming down, overlooking the miles of open fields behind the house. We had dug out a big shelter in the grounds, but not big enough for everybody. Most of us, except during very bad air-raids, stayed in their beds, or one could take shelter in the workshop, which used to be a garage.
.... In spite of the disturbed nights and very hard work, life went on fairly smoothly and we had many laughs in the course of the work and at socials. To go to the pictures (cinema) was the weekly treat and to queue for an hour and a half was pretty usual. Once every two months one could go up to London to the theatre. We saw some excellent plays and films, the latter of a kind not made any more today. Though we were nearly all born townies we loved the countryside and for a courting couple it could be very romantic - long beautiful walks, lying in the hay etc. One of my dearest memories is when Dad and I missed the last bus one Saturday and we had to walk home five miles in the dark on a lovely, balmy evening. He often used to work overtime all Saturday. I used to go out to him in the afternoon. I used to ride round with him on the side of the tractor, not strictly permitted but farmer Smith turned a blind eye. Those were the days!
.... Being a 'Hashomer Hatzair' (Young Guard) kibbutz it was very left wing orientated. We had many political discussions in the evening mostly on current topics. We had lecturers, who were sent from the British Council, which was an organisation looking after the educational needs of immigrants. Another big event was the open day. We had stalls of every kind in the extensive grounds, all home-made goods to sell. Dad made his special metal objects, bowls, ashtrays, brooches and candlesticks out of brass or copper (can't recall where the metal sheets came from). Before his immigration he had attended a training course in wood and metal work and electrical repairs, so his work looked nearly professional and sold well. He took great pride in it.
... The kibbutz always looked for ways of making extra money, as our budgets were very tight. In our grounds grew masses of daffodils. We were kept busy during the season making up bunches and sold them from the house. This became known to the population of Redhill and we had abundant customers. In 1942 there were several couples by then and as we had no proper accommodation for them as usually 3-5 slept in a room. It was decided to buy sturdy big chicken houses, which Leew, our born handyman, mounted on a cement foundation, which he laid with some other boys. We were the first couple after we married in 1943 to move into one of these. We were married at Reigate Register Office on Saturday morning March 20th 1943. Thea, one of Dad's stepsisters, with whom I corresponded, came from Birmingham, she was one of the witnesses, and one girl, Ruth, from the kibbutz. After the ceremony we all went to lunch at a lovely old time cafe' and restaurant and afterwards to the pictures (cinema) to see Random Harvest with Ronald Colman who was a popular star at the time. There was no celebration or wedding cake in the kibbutz. Their and our philosophy at the time, did not attach any importance to these bourgeois rites.
.. We stayed in Redhill till 1947. In the meantime 20 certificates for emigration to the then still Palestine arrived and there began a big selection. They went to the most active and committed members. We knew we stood no chance. That was the first batch that left. Thereafter most of them left by illegal Alijah emigration. For this you were examined by an Alijah doctor. I had some serious kidney trouble at the time. As it was expected that some boats would be intercepted and the immigrants placed into internment camps, people were expected to be fit. That was the reason we were left behind in England, as I did not pass the examination. And true enough most of our group spent months and years in such a camp till they finally reached Palestine. A new group from 'Habonim', another youth group, moved into Wiggie House . We moved into an adjacent cottage above the workshop, which consisted of a bedroom, living room and a toilet near the entrance. We made it very cosy there, though it was very primitive. We had a coal range to cook on and bake but later acquired an electric boiling ring. Our tin bath was put in front of the fire and filled with hot water from a big urn, which heated on the coal range. But believe me they were our happiest days. Life was so simple, one had no big demands and never looked over one's shoulder to see what others had. Nobody had much anyway.

.lse's husband, Georg Jacoby, at the wheel of a Surrey War Agricultural lorry. One of the jobs he had to do was to drive German prisoners about, and he found it hard not to reveal that he too was German, by laughing at their jokes!..

The war had ended, that was the great satisfaction, no more blackout and fewer restrictions. All during the war were wondering what had happened to our parents. There was no way of direct communication. Occasionally I heard from the relations in Buenos Aires. They had been sent to Terezin and were working in the camp. Terezin was supposed to be the best one. It was used by the Nazis (National Socialist Party) to demonstrate to the outside world their good will towards the inmates. It was an example of a 'Labour Camp'. My mother had a cousin in Berlin, who was married to a gentile lady - Gretl and Willy - and after the end of the war they sent me a pack of Camp postcards. My parents had sent them to acknowledge their food parcels and report about themselves. They are in my possession. Naturally they are written in German. In the meantime we learnt the truths about the horrific events in the camps as they were gradually liberated by the Allied Forces. They were shown finally in the picture houses (cinema) in the news reels. Though I could barely bring myself to look at them, one hoped to maybe recognise someone. I like most others, made inquiries through the Arolsen Search Service. Eventually I received the Red Cross form giving the details of my father's deportation to Auschwitz in October 1944; As they were together I don't doubt that my mother met the same fate. To think that only seven months later the war ended it was hard to bear. After Anni's death (Note 1) I suffered for quite some time with terrible nightmares. We also received the same notification about Dad's mother. It took a very long time to come to terms with their destiny and one never really has accepted it subconsciously. I still dream about my parents even now.
... Came the time that the Habonim group left; the house was empty but we were still there. One day we received a letter from the landlord that we had a month to leave as he wanted the building and site. We finally left in November 1948. Wiggie House became an AGFA photographic laboratory and factory later on, as we found out when we visited old English neighbours with whom we had become friendly. Their cottage was at the end of Wiggie Lane next to the steps to mount to get across the bridge over the railway line. Now we made up our mind to move to London as it was impossible to find accommodation in Redhill. Also we felt completely isolated from our friends. Two of these friends I had made while I was in a Jewish convalescent home in Epsom to which I had been sent at separate occasions, while in the kibbutz.

Above information compiled by Alan Moore and printed for Steve Bacon 9th January 2014