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CHAUFFEURS COTTAGE,
LITTLE EVERDON
Photograph and description kindly
donated by Neil Hudson whose grandparents were Mr & Mrs Brown
The first
house in Little Everdon, as you go over the hill, was a tied cottage of Everdon
Hall and was once the residence of the chauffeur to the owners of the Hall,
the Hawkins family. Up to the 1940s water was only available from a well and
pump in the back garden. In the age of the horse and carriage servants of the
aristocracy who visited the Hall could meet at the cottage to buy a pint of
beer or ale, the barrels of which were kept on a raised brick shelf in the back
passage. From 1933 the house was home to the family of Albert Brown (the chauffeur),
his wife Selina and daughter Olive. When Mrs Dorothy Hawkins went on her frequent
visits to Switzerland for medical treatment she was driven of course by Albert.
Whilst they were away on these visits Mrs Brown and Olive had to stay in the
Hall for security reasons. After the death of Mr Brown it was expected that
his widow should work at the Hall in order to keep the cottage. Mrs Brown worked
at the Hall as cook and housekeeper and a working day from 7 a.m. till 10 p.m.
was not unusual. All the cottages in Little Everdon were, I believe, tied to
Everdon Hall and housed staff, i.e. butler, chauffeur, cow man, farm manager,
gardener, groom etc. The cottage shown in the picture was known as "Chauffeur's
Cottage" and was one of three in an L shaped block but now all three cottages
have been knocked into one. I think the picture was taken in the 1920s. Albert
Brown (1884-1951) Selina Mary Brown (1897-1986) Olive Lena Brown (now Olive
Hudson) (born 1928)