Maurice Clarke, who went to Welton School and then Daventry Grammar School, wants people to remember Welton Cricket Club.
His father, Stanley Clarke, of Monksmoor Farm, was club president in the 1950s. He had many Goode family uncles, aunts and cousins ââin Welton.
Maurice told The Gusher: âMany of Goode’s men were playing cricket for the village which had a playground in The Park which was part of the Welton Estate.
âMy father was elected president on December 11, 1953. John Cox was a good hitter and every game he was aiming to kick a ball into the lake, which he often did.
He said the cows roamed the park freely and often watched cricket games.
The Goode family lived in Well Cottage in Well Lane, which still stands today. The Well Cottage had two bedrooms. A farm owned by the Snelson family stood above the cottage which operated land believed to be part of the Welton estate.
John William Goode (1872-1946) married Sarah Elizabeth Bradshaw (1877-1949) in 1894. John worked as a lumberjack on the Welton estate.
The Goode’s children were John (Jack) who operated a farm in Crick, had married and had a daughter; Florence (Flo) who married Harry Cox and had two children Beryl and John who both married and had three children each and have lived in Welton most of their lives. John and Harry both worked on the Monksmoor farm. Albert (George) Goode married and lived in Station Road, Welton, working on a local farm. They had three sons, David, John and Timothy (Tim). Edward (Ted) Goode was a farm manager in Kilsby and had a son Edward.
Rosalind (May) Goode married Stanley (Stan) Pearson Clarke and they had a son Maurice Stanley, who married Mary Margaret Colby and they had four children, Jennifer (Jenny), Michael (Mike), Peter and Mark.
Sarah (Louise) Elizabeth Goode married William George Edward (Bill) Garrard and they had two children – Joan Beryl who married Jack Freeman and had three children and Ronald (Ron) WGE Garrard, who married and lived in Corby and had three children.
Maurice told the Daventry Express: âI would love to hear from anyone who knows more about the Welton estate which to my knowledge comprised up to 1,000 acres of land around the village which in the early 1920s was dismantled. and sold.
“My father Stanley came to Welton from Leicestershire and bought the Monksmoor farm on Welton Road near Daventry. We sold it in the 1970s and it is now under construction.”
He said there was a Lang farm owned by the Dawkins which is now being built.
“I don’t know if it was part of the Welton estate,” added Maurice, who now lives in Rugby.
“The Clarkes had been in the village for many centuries but were not related to me, but maybe some readers have memories or pictures they could share with me.”
Maurice added: “The Clarke link was from Arnesby, Leicestershire, despite a Clarke link to the village. The Clarkes bought Dairy Farm in Welton in the early 1900s and carried milk on horseback and cart to the Braunston station.
âThen they bought the Monksmoor farm on Welton Road, which was part of Welton’s estate, and built a house there in 1926. Stan had a sister Lilian (Lil) who married a farmer, Henry Butlin, d ‘Ashby St Ledgers. They had no children and eventually Lil, a widow at the time, built a bungalow called Monkside by the roadside of Monksmoor Farm. “
The Welton Place estate of some 711 acres was auctioned on November 22, 1915 in 11 lots, by James, Styles and Whitlock of Rugby (now part of Cluttons), and research continues as to the value and names of the buyers, but Monksmoor and Lang Farm were included.
Do you have any memories to share with Maurice? Call him on 07758 205858 or / and email [email protected]
Many thanks to Dan White for contributing to this article. Its website is www.watfordvillage.weebly.com or Watford Village History Page on Facebook.