Stone House Farm August 2020
John Roland Powers (1891-1992) & Alice Neal (1889-1973) Roly and Alice married in 1917. Their first farm together was Stone House Farm, Allesley and it was here that my father, Robin Sydney Powers (Rob), his sister Annie Mary (Mary) and two brothers John Frederick William (Jack) and George Donald (Don) were all born. This is the story of how we tracked down its location and discovered we were distantly related to the foremost Australian politician in history!
A Dead-End Back in Baginton! Our search was not straightforward however and one avenue of research, ultimately a dead end, took us to Baginton where dad himself farmed, and a property there named Stone House currently owned by a young lady called Kirsty and her partner Paul. We exchanged messages with Kirsty and did uncover some interesting history about Stone House, Baginton and the Greenway family that lived there in the mid 1800s. Their But back to the search for Stone House Farm, Allesley. Mum had a picture of it and we used that to search around the Allesley area for any houses that resembled it. We found a couple of Stone House Farms in the area some 3 miles North-West of Allesley, but neither looked remotely like the picture that we had - were we mistaken that our picture really was the right house?
Found It! Stone House Farm Located! We then had a brainwave! We got in touch with a lovely lady called Amanda who was the editor of the Allesley Parish magazine. We had met her previously when she wrote the story of George Powers, dad's uncle, who had been killed in the First World War. We sent her a picture of Stone House Farm on the outside chance of her recognising it and failing that whether she could show it in the magazine. But that wasn't necessary - this is her reply.
Stone House 2009
Faulconbridge Family Outside Stone House Farm 1940's
Stonehouse Farm on Google Maps 2019 Our Relations - The Faulconbridges Amanda was not to know but we were aware that we were related to the Faulconbridge Family. Granny Powers (Alice Neal) had an older sister Temperance who married a Faulconbridge. With further help from Amanda we pulled together the family tree. The family pictured outside Stone House Farm were Alfred (b 1893) his wife Mary and children Alfred, Margaret, Luke and Herbert - though better known as Paddy, Joan, Bill and Tim!  Click to see full size family tree then click again to enlarge. Press "Back" to return to this Page Previous Occupants of Stone House Farm In addition, Amanda suppliied a copy of the 1911 census for Stonehouse Farm showing it being occupied by a William Dowell and his wife Elizabeth. Previous censuses show William's father Thomas Dowell at the farm, along with William, from 1891. Prior to that the Dowells were from Bubbenhall. The Dowells were thus the occupants of Stone House Farm for some 25 years prior to Roly and Alice moving there.
Click to see full size document then click again to enlarge. Press "Back" to return to this Page
On Monday September 21st 2020 Lynette and I visited Stone House with mum and met with the current owner, Peter Evans, and also the owner of the middle house - Fratton House, David Hamman. Both Peter and David could not have been more welcoming and both helped fill in gaps in the history of the property over the last 50 years.
Here's a brief video of our visit to both Stone House Farm and the Church.
Recap
Stone House is over 500 years old - there are records of it being in existence in 1430. Roly Powers, born April19th 1891, lived with his parents at Pickford Green Farm (or Pickford Brook Farm - in any case it's now called Home Farm) (Location Map) until his marraige to Alice Neal in 1917. Around the time of his marraige Roly had a small-holding in Oak Lane and by 1918 Roly and Alice moved up the road to Stone House Farm. The house and land were owned by the Sir Thomas White Charity and had been for many years. Prior to Roly's move the farm had been occupied by the Dowell family for over a quarter of a century. Location Map
The Hurst had 200 acres and was therefore larger than Stone House, they rented it from Mr Hollick. He was from a family of solicitors but farmed at Styvechale Grange. He bought Hurst Farm and the farm on Gibbet Hill which has since been built on by Warwick University from the Stoneleigh Abbey estate. The farmhouse there is now the Dean’s house. Roly and sons Donald and Robin would go on to purchase the Hurst in the 1960's and sell it in the 70's, having farmed there for some forty years. Location Map. After Roly and Alice moved to the Hurst, Alfred Falconbridge, wife Mary and children Paddy and Joan moved into Stone House Farm. Their two younger children, Bill and Tim, were born there. The family went on to farm Stone House Farm until the 1970's when the house was sold off and the land merged with Alton Hall Farm which in 2020 Afred's grandson Martin is still farming with his mother Margaret (Bill's wife) sharing the house. Meanwhile Stone House and its buildings were sold in 1971 to a Mr Rice - a local surgeon. He lived there for some 25 years before Stone House was sold to Peter Evans and his wife and the buildings to a developer who turned them into two lovely houses. The middle house, later called Fratton House, was sold to David Hamman in the mid 1990's. Peter Evans added the windows in the roof in the mid 2000's, providing a total Roly went on to live until 1992 and the age of 101. He was still driving a car at the age of 100 around the lanes of Warwickshire and got himself into the Guinness Book Of Records as the oldest driver in the UK at that time. One of his more memorable quotes being, "Don't worry, no one's hurt but I just knocked a young lad of seventy off his push-bike!"
And Finally !! We found out we are, through the Faulconbridges, related to arguably the foremost ever Australian politician, Sir Henry Parkes! Which is gratifying as most of the other family members who emigrated to Australia in those days went out in the convict ships! :)
Acknowledgements Clearly this is simple. Pretty much all of the work here in uncovering the facts about Stone House Farm was done by Amanda but thanks also to my cousin Jo for getting more information from her dad, my Uncle Don. Huge thanks also to Becky Faulconbridge, Tim's wife, for filling in much of the background information and talking to Tim's Uncle Paddy who settled the question of when the Faulconbridges moved into Stone House Farm. Thanks also to my mum for nagging me to find out just where Stone House Farm is! And finally, thanks for the very kind hospitality shown by David and Peter - our hosts at Stone House Farm. Links Stone House Sales Brochure Full Descendant Tree for William Neal and Annie Browning Roly & Alice Descendants with Pictures Pictures of Roly and Alice Other Powers related Documents and Photos The Story of Uncle George Henry Parkes tree for Jack's great grandchildren in Australia
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So, to summarise what we know:
Roly and Alice had their first child in 1918, Annie Mary. Three sons were to follow, the youngest being Robin who was born in late 1928 and three months later in early 1929 the family moved four miles due south to the Hurst Farm in Westwood Heath. (There's some debate whether the move was in 1928 or 1929 but Robin was born in December 1928 and his 
