The Grove front

John Tilson of Watlington Park near Oxford is the earliest owner of The Grove (including 20 acres of land) recorded in the Manor Court Rolls by 1776. His son John Henry inherited it in October 1786 and sold it to Thomas Rice of Richmond in November 1792.

The Grove Riverside

Twelve months later Rice sold the house (as now, with only roughly an acre of land) to Samuel Lapidge of Hampton Court. Richard Steele had a house called “The Hovel” in the grounds.

Thus started the long-standing ownership of The Grove by the Lapidge family.

Lapidge Family Ownership

The chart on the left shows, the inheritance passed from Samuel to his eldest son Edward who in turn passed it on to his first son – also Edward. Since Edward the younger’s death in 1891 occurred around the same time as the death of his remaining two brothers, the inheritance passed to his unmarried sisters and finally to their cousin Macdonald Henry Lapidge, grandson and last surviving descendant of the original Samuel Lapidge. The Grove had passed through a remarkable 150 years of ownership in just three generations.

Prior to the establishment of a consistent house naming or numbering system, a property would be identified in the Court Rolls by the names of its current (and former) residents and those of its neighbours. From 1830 onwards we also had available Poor Rates Account Books and the Electoral Register. From these sources,  all the residents of The Grove from its earliest existence were traced.

Residents of the Grove up to 1948

These are displayed in the chart opposite. Interestingly, the only owner occupiers were Samuel Lapidge and his son Edward.

The house had at least six bedrooms (in addition to the servants’ quarters), large drawing room and a dedicated billiard room, making it an ideal family home. Both Samuel and Sarah Lapidge with their seven children, as well as Thomas and Jemima Nelson with their eight would have taken full advantage the available space. For the rest, the residents were either singletons or couples whose families had left home by the time they moved into The Grove.

Overall, the residents provide a fascinating patchwork of life over 200 years.