In search of the Hampshire years

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by Murrow

Well I did it!

Yesterday I made my trip to Headley. A bloke on the bus pointed out Benifold on the hill, I had a pint in the Crown and then following what I'd carefully studied in street view, I made my way to Benifold.

The road it's in is now a neighborhood watch area and while I managed to find it and snap it quickly from either end, I had to do the "Just having a walk" act when I had to stop right outside to let a lady drive past, only to find she was in fact turning into the house opposite.

I left the immediate area by means of a designated footpath that slopes down past the lower end of the house - I had to slide down on my rear-end. But once you get to the bottom you can turn right and follow the narrow footpath (treacherously muddy in winter) and come out near the Crown again.

From there it's not that long a walk to Headley Grange either.

Can post a pic or two but will be doing so with respect for the fact that both buildings are now private homes.

Plenty of trees so bare and yet so beautiful though - and someone in the Crown told me they still get spectacular sunsets round there.

P.S. Oh yes and the official spelling is BENIFOLD. There's a D but no S, despite other spellings I've seen.

Wow, that's great. I take it the house had a name sign. Is Benifold on the Hill the proper name of the house or the name of the street? Or both? Did you speak with any punters in the Crown about the band? Do they have any pictures on the walls?

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

Wow, that's great. I take it the house had a name sign. Is Benifold on the Hill the proper name of the house or the name of the street? Or both? Did you speak with any punters in the Crown about the band? Do they have any pictures on the walls?

PS. Any news on Mrs Scarrott?

[Murrow]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

PS. Any news on Mrs Scarrott?

Sadly the only lowdown I got from anyone on the band was the guy on the bus who remembered being a kid and seeing Mick and Christine around the place. No-one in the pub was around in those days but a couple of guys told me the guy who'd been Peter Green's bass player was now in the band that had played the village New Year's gig and that once Pete Townshend had dropped by on his bike and popped in for a pint.

The name of the house is just Benifold and yes it is signed.

Owing to lack of those around at the time, I couldn't really ask anyone about Mrs Scarrott. I do however know a Headley-related website where the webmaster might be able to look out the info for me.

[Murrow]

I have corresponded with a resident of Headley who knows a lot about the area. He contacted a Benifold expert but could only ascertain that Christine's paintings are no longer there.

He did however tell me the following story:

"Funnily enough, I was leading a walk past Benifold this morning and two of the walkers had first-hand Fleetwood Mac stories to tell me - one about a birthday party for one of the daughters in the local church hall - her daughter (aged about 3) was invited - there was no food other than rock cakes and people were smoking funny joints!"

Deduction tells me it would have been Amie's birthday probably in January 1974 when she herself turned three - only months or even weeks before the band moved out.

[becca]

Originally Posted by Murrow

there was no food other than rock cakes

Ha, very appropriate... though the guests might have enjoyed some bluesberry tarts too!

[FuzzyPlum]

I was wondering whether there were any ideas as to who Mrs Scarrott is speaking to at the end. I'd always assumed it was Mick as he is supposedly the one who went around to her house with a tape recorder. However, listening to it back it isnt Mick. It sounds like somebody with a Northen English accent- Yorkshire?? Is this Mr Scarrott?

By the way, what exactly is being said...

Something about cake/tape?
'Theres a lot of pudding...'???
'If I didnt think so I wouldnt say anything'

[Neb-Maat-Re]

If it is a Northern accent it is unlikely to be Harry Scarrott as he appears to have been born in Alton.

I have posted a message on The Pump message board at http://www.headley-village.com/ to see if that attracts a response.

[Neb-Maat-Re]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

Something about cake/tape?
'Theres a lot of pudding...'???
'If I didnt think so I wouldnt say anything'

Lovely ...

This is all okay ...

Yes, I think so, yes ...

You do ... 'cos there's a lot I put into ... they can ...

If I didn't think so I wouldn't say anything ...

I'm just not certain about the italicised line - maybe thats what I think it should say.

Not sure I agree it's a Northern accent.

[FuzzyPlum]

Hmmmmm. I dont know where that comes from but Metro Lyric has the writer listed as Mrs E. Scarott

a) Her first initial isn't listed anywhere else
b) Everywhere else (including the sleeve notes obviously) its listed as Scarrott rather than Scarott

Is this website just wrong? ...I suspect so.

[Neb-Maat-Re]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

Is this website just wrong? ...I suspect so.

With the almost infinite variation of British surname spellings anything is possible, however it appears that Scarott is even less common than Scarrott.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of Scarotts recorded as living in Hampshire and none recorded in Headley, Alton or nearby.

How it was determined the initial was E might be interesting to know.

Is it possible to look up British copyright? I think I saw in one of the recent Tom Petty articles a breakdown of the copyright percentages - would that information be publicly accessible?

[Neb-Maat-Re]

I note that in the other thread about Benifold there was a poster whose grandfather had owned (and named) Benifold.

Has anyone tried contacting them with a PM to see if they or a relative knew of Mrs Scarrott?

Scarrott as a surname isn't all that common.

According to the Find-a-grave website, there is a Mrs Scarrott buried in the All Saints Churchyard in Headley. She was born in 1918, so would be 54 in 1972 - the Mrs Scarrott on the record sounds a little older than that.

Of course, Find-a-grave relies on user contributions, and not all cemeteries are complete - some just have the few entries individuals have posted.

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by Neb-Maat-Re

I note that in the other thread about Benifold there was a poster whose grandfather had owned (and named) Benifold.

Has anyone tried contacting them with a PM to see if they or a relative knew of Mrs Scarrott?

Scarrott as a surname isn't all that common.

According to the Find-a-grave website, there is a Mrs Scarrott buried in the All Saints Churchyard in Headley. She was born in 1918, so would be 54 in 1972 - the Mrs Scarrott on the record sounds a little older than that.

Of course, Find-a-grave relies on user contributions, and not all cemeteries are complete - some just have the few entries individuals have posted.

Unfortunately its not the Mrs Scarrott laid to rest in All Saints Churchyard. I managed to contact that lady's daughter who confirmed it was neither her mother not her grandmother.

However, she did say;
'fleetwood mac were very well known in those days,they would spend time in two places one was headley grange in liphook road and the other was in headley road but alass cant remember the name of the house,im so sorry but it was not my mother or grandmother, but there was another mr and mrs scarrott that lived in headley road'

[Neb-Maat-Re]

I suspected it wasn't the Mrs Scarrott buried at All Saints. The information about the other Scarrotts in Headley Road is interesting.

Taking note of the names of the couple buried at All Saints, I had a look to see if I could find another Scarrott family in Headley. I thought I was on to something but the trail went dead. Here's what I found:

The 1957 electoral roll for Headley shows Henry S and Grace Scarrot living at Laurel Cottage. The address for Laurel Cottage on the 1957 roll is "Parish House Bottom". However, on later records the address is Headley Hill Road.

Harry Samuel Scarrott and Grace Tietjen are married in nearby Alton in 1939. It is the 2nd marriage for Harry, his first wife dying in 1938.

In 1932 Harry Scarrott is listed as the father of the bride for the marriage of his 23 year old daughter at All Saints. Their address is Laurel Cottage.

Harry, his first wife and their daughter aged 3 can be found on the 1911 census (living elsewhere at that time).

When Harry dies in 1974, the probate index lists his address as Laurel Cottage, Headley Hill Road, Headley.

So we clearly have a Mr Scarrott living in Headley Hill Road. But have we found Mrs Scarrott? Sadly, Grace Scarrott died in 1964, so it can't be her on the album.

I cannot find a good match on FreeBDM or Ancestry for Henry/Harry Scarrott marrying again after 1964.

Unfortunately the probate index does not tell us to whom the probate was awarded. The full probate file would tell us who that was, but it would cost £10 to obtain a copy.

I'm not in a position to put up the full £10 on the off chance the file would reveal a third unknown Mrs Scarrott - probate may have been awarded to the daughter.

Or - could there have been a 3rd family of Scarrotts in Headley?

(Note: Just to save anyone going down a possible dead-end, Ancestry suggests the birth of a possible son named Harry Samuel Scarrott born in 1905 the year after Harry Snr's first marriage, but I can't find a matching birth (or death) on FreeBDM to support this, and no son appears with the family on the 1911 census. I think the reference on Ancestry is an error.)