On the 25th October, 1920, Great Ellingham farmer, William Edward Victor Dove purchased three dwellings in Long Street, Great Ellingham. He also bought a nearby acre and a half of land.
The sellers were the executors of the late James Houchen, who had died in Great Ellingham on the 29th December, 1916.
The three dwellings comprise of a pair of semi-detached cottages and a detached house. The dwellings are at the northern end of Long Street.
From left, the double cottage and the detached house which William Dove purchased in 1920
Photograph taken 100 years later in April 2020!
William Dove
William Dove was born and bred in Hinderclay, Suffolk on the 2nd December, 1889. However by 1901, William and his family were in Rockland St Peter.
The 1901 census captures 11 year old William Dove with his parents and two younger siblings at the Magpie Inn, Rockland St Peter. William’s 43 year old father, Albert E Dove, is the landlord, but he is also a farmer.
By 1911, the Dove family moved to Great Ellingham.
The 1911 census finds 53 year old farmer Ellis Albert Dove with his wife Mary Ann and two of their five children, 21 year old William and 15 year old Dorothy, at the 8-roomed property, Penhill Farm. Both children are working on the farm, albeit that Dorothy is doing dairy work.
The Electoral Registers for 1914 and 1915 lists William as a lodger and the occupier of a first floor room at Penhill Farm. His landlord is his father, E.A. Dove.
In 1914, William marries Caston born Edith M Banham. The couple may well have made their home in Great Ellingham as their son, Horace, was born the following year. Evelyn followed in 1916 with Alec in 1918. Later, Evelyn married local man, Raymond F Neave.
1921 census
The national head-count of 1921 finds 31 year old William Dove with his 26 year old wife Edith and their three children living in Long Street.
Given that William Dove purchased the Long Street properties in 1920, it follows that the family lived in one of these properties – perhaps, more likely, the detached house. Much later, this detached house became known as ‘White Wings”. The census describes William Dove as a small holder and general dealer.
At this time, William’s parents, Ellis and Mary Ann Dove, are still living at Penhill Farm.
1933 Change of Ownership
By May 1933, William’s father, had retired from farming. His mother, Mary Ann, having died in 1928.
It may have been around this time that William moved to Penhill Farm, with his widowed father moving to the detached house (later ‘White Wings’) in Long Street.
On the 18th May, 1933, William conveyed the ‘two messuages (in three dwellings)’ and the piece of land to his father, Ellis Albert Dove.
The Conveyance Deed confirms that Ellis Dove had provided the purchase money when William bought the properties in 1920 and, in effect, William had held the properties as a trustee for his father.
The 1939 Register for England & Wales (providing a snapshot of the civilian population at that time), lists retired farmer and widower 82 year old Ellis A Dove still living in Long Street. With him is his housekeeper, 64 year old widow Julia Long.
Approaching the age of 50, William Dove is at Penhill Farm along with his wife Edith and sons Horace (now 24) and Alec 21. Horace is working as a horseman (presumably for his father) and Alec is a mill manager and salesman.
William Dove’s household at Penhill Farm also includes two brothers – 12 year old Arthur S and 10 year old Ronald D Farmer. Given that the village took in a number of evacuees during WWII, it follows that Arthur and Ronald were evacuee children. However it seems that the boys had left the Dove household by the time the village Invasion Committee Records were complied in 1942.
1942 Invasion Committee Records
The Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records list ‘Mr W Dove 52, Mrs E Dove 48 and Mr H Dove’ in Penhill Road – I assume at Penhill Farm. This is, of course, William and Edith Dove and their son Horace. Horace Dove has been assigned ‘Casualty Service’ duties and his father, William, ‘General Utility’ duties.
Listed in Long Street (presumably at the detached property later ‘White Wings”), is ‘Mr Dove, Mr A Dove and Mrs Dove’.
I assume this is William’s elderly father, Ellis Albert Dove, and William’s son Alec Dove and his wife Dorothy nèe Haylock, whom Alec married in 1941. At 24, Alec Dove is listed as a ‘Food Controller’ with his wife ‘Food Assistance’ and his grandfather (Ellis Albert) a ‘Food Distribution Assistant’.
Not long after, Alec George W Dove served as a Corporal with the 6th Bn. of Royal Norfolk Regiment during WWII. He was a Prisoner of War in the Far East and sadly died on the 6th December 1943. His home had been at Whitehall Farm, Rocklands.
Death of Ellis Albert Dove
William’s father, Ellis Albert Dove, died on the 15th March, 1949. He had already moved out of the Long Street property. However, William Dove is still at Penhill Farm.
Conveyance of the Three Dwellinghouses
On the 26th June, 1949, William Dove bought back the three dwellinghouses (the double cottage and the detached house) from his late father’s estate.
At that time, the detached house (later ‘White Wings’) was unoccupied and the two dwellings (comprising the double cottage), were occupied by Helen Steward and Cecil Kettle.
Kettle
Cecil Edward Kettle married Kate Palgrave between October and December 1929. Since at least 1939, the couple occupied one of the semi-detached cottages owned by the Dove family.
The 1939 Register lists the couple as builder’s carpenter Edward C Kittle and Kate Kittle in Long Street.
The Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Record of 1942 lists ‘Mr C Kettle, Mrs K Kettle 33, child’ in Long Street. Cecil Kettle is a member of the Home Guard and his wife has been assigned ‘general utility’ duties. The ‘child’ is likely to be their daughter, who was born in January 1939.
Steward
‘Helen Steward’ as referred to in the title deeds, is most probably Ellen Steward who appears in the Burial Register for St James Great Ellingham. Aged 73, Ellen Steward of Long Street, Great Ellingham was buried in the churchyard on the 7th September, 1950.
Sale of the Semi-detached Cottage
On the 6th October, 1950, William Dove sold the semi-detached cottages with outbuildings and garden However, he retained ownership of the detached dwelling as well as the nearby piece of land.
Sale of Ebenezar House
William Dove continued to own the detached dwelling until he sold it to Frederick and Nettie Basted in 1961. The year before, William Dove sold the nearby piece of land to Doris Rix.
At the time that William Dove sold the detached dwelling to the Basteds, he is living in Long Street. Quite possibly at the detached property which was then known as ‘Ebenezar House’.
‘Rosedene’ and ‘White Wings’
By the time that Frederick and Nettie Basted sold the property to Cyril Hockett in 1965, the detached dwelling became known as ‘Rosedene’.
It was later renamed to ‘White Wings’.
Sources:
Private Deeds Collection. Christine Wood
William Victor Edward Dove, Norfolk England Register of Electors, 1832-1915. Ancestry.com. Norfolk, England, Register of Electors, 1832-1915 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Original data: England, Norfolk Register of Electors, 1844-1952. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.
GRO Index. Also available FreeBMD website
Alec George William Dove. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills & Administration), 1858-1995. Principal Probate Registry; London, England; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in EnglandAncestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 & 1939-1947. Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Author: Peter Singlehurst; Series Title: British Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918; Archive Name: London, United Kingdom Ancestry.com. UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: British Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918. London, England: Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
UK World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; WO 361 Casualities and Missing Personnel 1939-1945; Reference Number: WO 361/2053
Ancestry.com. UK, World War II Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: AIR 40: Rolls of POWs 1939-1945, WO 392: POW lists 1943-1945, WO 361: Casualties and Missing Personnel 1939-1945, WO 345: Japanese Index cards of Allied POWs 1942-1947, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England. The National Archives give no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for the purpose of the information provided. Images may be used only for purposes of research, private study or education. Applications for any other use should be made to The National Archives Image Library, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU, Tel: 020 8392 5225. Fax: 020 8392 5266.
1921 census. RG15/9790 ED5, Sch.96. Available FindMyPast and Ancestry Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1921. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA) Series RG15, 1921.
1911 census RG14/11473/61
1901 census RG13/1868/75
1939 England & Wales Register. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6590H. Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
1942 Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records. Sue Fay
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office.PD 609. Also available at www.familysearch.org