The family history below was dictated by Sarah Emily Lickfold Winter to her daughter Ida. Sarah (1860–1955) was the fourth child of Alfred (1827–1900) and Caroline Shipman Lickfold (1833–1890) of Ontario.

Handwritten in a little black book, this history was "discovered" by Frederick R. Lickfold III in 1971, when he visited Ida (Mrs. Ferd Mitchell) in Owen Sound, Ontario. "Fred" Lickfold is a grandson of Sarah’s brother Frederick and lives now in McKinney, Texas.

In the 1980s, Gordon M. Lickfold of Henfield, West Sussex, England, wrote some notes about the history; and in August–September 2000, he updated and expanded them. Those highly illuminating notes are included as footnotes in this transcription of "Aunt Sarah’s" history.

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Feb. 8, 1915

My children have frequently requested me to write down for their benefit what I can remember about the Lickfold family. There are only a few of the older members of the family living now, and after we have passed away, there will be no one left who will know anything about the family.

They came over from Normandy to England with William the Conqueror about 1070 A.D.¹ William confiscated a great deal of property from the wealthy landowners and gave it to his followers.² Among those to receive some of this property were my ancestors.³ They were given a piece of property which was named Hillgrove, an estate in Hampshire. I do not remember where it was, but it was not a great distance from Petersfield.⁴ I do not remember how many acres of land composed the estate, but it made a beautiful home for a gentleman. I have often heard my father say the house had 100 rooms in it. And the grounds were magnificent, having beautiful parks and woods abounding in all kinds of game and lovely plumaged birds; also, deer roamed freely through the parks and woods. In fact, the place was in every respect the same as we read in old English stories.⁵ My ancestors were the rich men of the place and had hundreds of tenants who worked on the place.⁶

The estate was entailed. No doubt many in this country will not know what entailment means. Statutes were passed from time to time empowering heirs of entail to exercise larger powers of ownership and to make provision for their families. By this act, heirs under an existing entail may disentail with the consent of certain heirs next in succession, and free the estate from the restriction of the entail. Entailment means the estate went from heir to heir, which was always the eldest son of the heir then in possession. He failing to have a son, it then went to the next brother, or his son, or to the nearest of kin to the heir.

The first of these heirs that I remember was a brother of my grandfather, John Lickfold. My grandfather had two brothers older than he was,⁷ and the oldest one was then in possession of the estate. He had no children,⁸ but the brother next younger than he had married a sister to this older brother’s wife, making both men’s wives sisters.⁹ The second brother had one son, James.¹⁰ The two wives did not like the idea of the property passing away from them after the death of their husbands, and as long as the property was entailed, it never could be sold but had to pass on the next Lickfold heir, whoever he might happen to be. So they formed a plan to have the two brothers agree to cut off the entailment, and after that would be done, the heir could leave it by will to anyone he wanted to. They finally persuaded this to be done. And after a short time, the heir died, and there being no will to the contrary, the next brother got it. He died, and his property came to his son James, aged 21 years.¹¹

This son had been raised to the free use of wines and all kinds of intoxicating liquors, as they had their own wine cellars, and they were always kept full of the finest liquors. Therefore, it is not surprising to know he was a drunkard, but as he was so young, there seemed to be many years of life for him, and he didn’t consider the advisability of making a will. He was only in possession six months.¹² This was in 1871, when he had a worse spell of drinking than ever, and he died in delerium tremens.¹³ As he left no will, the estate came to my grandfather; and as the entailment had been cut off, my grandfather was at liberty to will it as he saw fit. He said it had passed on from one heir to the other long enough, nearly 600 or 800 years, and in his will he left it to be sold two years after his death and be equally divided among his children.¹⁴ So passed the property out of the hands of the Lickfolds.

To go back to the death of James,¹⁶ his mother and aunt went to law about receiving their share of the estate, but as it had been an entailed estate in the Lickfold family, the case was decided in favor of my grandfather. But the court granted them a share in all the personal property, and all the silverware and jewels were sold and divided equally between my grandfather and six people on the women’s side.¹⁷ I never did understand why my grandfather did not name all his children as having a right to part of the personal property if the women could bring in four of their relatives besides themselves for shares. But I expect he did not think of it at the time, feeling he was fighting for his property, which was his by right of inheritance. I think it was the year 1879 my grandfather died, his wife dying two years later.¹⁸

The family given names of the Lickfold family were Edward, Alfred, James, John, Frederick, and Walter.¹⁹ Most all the families bore some of these names. If there were sons enough, as in my grandfather’s family, they were given to all his sons, with a few exceptions. In my father’s family there were, to my knowledge, six sons and three daughters. The youngest son’s name was Walter, the others bearing the names before mentioned.

My father was the old[est] child of the family, and his name was Alfred. Only he, John, and Walter of the boys lived to grow to manhood.²⁰ One sister, Emily, married Sam Gale. Sarah married Jim Heward.²¹ And Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, died about the age of 17 years.²²

My father was sent to college in England, and after he returned home, Grandfather told his boys that he not intend they should live an idle life, which they probably thought they could do, as Grandfather was well-to-do. Although he did not work himself, he had a great many different businesses under the care of skilled men who had spent their lives in his employ and were managing the different trades.²³ So my father chose to go to his father’s flour mill and learn the miller trade. Grandfather told him when he started that when the head miller or boss could tell Grandfather that Father understood the milling business well enough to be capable to taking charge of a mill himself, he would give him a gold watch and chain. (Watches and chains were not as common as at the present time.) After he had been at the trade a year or two, he said he used to go to his father’s wine cellar and carry something to drink to his boss, thinking that by being kind to him, he would speak in his favor to Grandfather. One day the boss said to him, "My boy, I can see through all this, but I shall never tell your father you are capable of taking charge of a mill till you are, so do not try to buy my favor." After Father did finish the trade, he quit work. And one day it threatened rain, and the men were hard at work in the harvest fields, trying to get in the grain before it rained. Grandfather had every available man in the field, and at the dinner table he said to Father he wanted him to go out in the field and help the men. Father thought that too much below him and refused to go. Grandfather said, "Young man, you will either do as I tell you, or you can put your knees under someone else’s table." Father said, "All right," and in a week from that time he set sail for Canada, 1848. He was engaged to be married to a young lady over there. She gave him as a parting gift a gold lead pencil, which he never would part with as long as he lived, but said I was to have it after his death, which I now have. When he left England, he owned 21 saddle and carriage horses.²⁴

He went to Canada, and in a town called Streetsville he met my mother, Caroline Shipman. They were married Dec. 15, 1852. They had eight children: Edward, Mary Ann, James, Sarah Emily, Frederick, Victoria Eugenia,   Alfred, and Nelson. They were born on the following dates: Feb. 13, 1854; Feb. 13, 1856; May 4, 1858; Aug. 31, 1860; Jan. 26, 1863; Feb. 14, 1865; July 31, 1867; and June 9, 1874. Born at the following towns: Trafalgar, Port Perry, Waterloo, London, Bayfield, Goderich, Goderich, and Goderich. All these places are in Canada.

Mary Ann married on Dec. 16, 1874. Had one son, Edward Thomas Fields, born Sept. 19, 1875. Lost her husband, Alfred Davis Fields, in Feb. 1876. Married again June 16, 1884, to John Bainbridge Lee, Erie, Pa. Had one daughter, Eva B., born Nov. 29, 1886; Raymond Ernest, April 27, 1888; Arthur and Alfred (twins), April 18, 1893. John B. Lee died Mar. 23, 1913; age 51 years on Mar. 5. Family live in Anniston, Ala.

Victoria Eugenia (called Jenny) married July 2, 1884. Had a large family. Also had twins, boy and girl. Her husband’s name was George Dunbar.

James learned the watchmaking trade and married Miss Pearl Donkin of Grenada, Miss., on Dec. 2, 1886. They had one boy, George, and one girl, Kate. James died Oct. 11, 1891.

Sarah E. married Harry Winter. Had three daughters: Nellie, Evelyn, and Ida. Sarah was married May 12, 1891, Massie, Canada.

My mother died June 19, 1890. My father died Aug. 17, 1900; had just passed his 73rd birthday Aug. 9.

Ed married Amanda Root in Virginia, Dec. 12, 1894. Had two children, Alfred and Edith.

Fred married in Aug. 1895 to Miss Camilla Stigler, Grenada, Miss. Had four children: Blanche, Fred, Charles, and Eleanor.

Alfred and Nelson have not married.

Edward Fields married Miss Lilian Ross, Anniston, Ala., June 30, 1898. Had four children: Lilian Evelyn, Arthur LeRoy (died at 18 months), Ernest Lee, and Alta Mae.

Later Nelson was killed in an auto accident, Nov. 30, 1920.²⁵

Alf married in Winnipeg.

In 1879 my brother Ed went to England. Two months after he got there, my grandfather died. Grandmother would not let him leave England as long as she lived, which was two years.²⁶ Ed then came home to Canada. Went back, returned. Went back, returned. Crossed the ocean six times in eleven years.²⁷

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Footnotes by Gordon M. Lickfold
18 September 2000

1. So far as I know, this is fanciful romanticism. It is highly unlikely that a Lickfold came over with the Normans. Early bearers of the name were called "de Lickfold" because they lived at Lickfold. The prefix "de" means "of" or "lived at" and was commonly used in Sussex surnames in the 13th century.

2. This is true.

3. But there is no evidence that he gave any land to anyone named Lickfold.

4. Sarah’s ancestors did live at Hillgrove, from before 1780. In the Land Tax Assessments for Lurgashall parish in 1780 (the earliest year for which they survive), William Lickfold paid £4 tax for "Bignear and Huckams". Hillgrove is not in Hampshire. It is a small cluster of properties in the parish of Lurgashall, Sussex, close to the village of Northchapel—a lovely setting still today. In 1851 and 1861 two Lickfold families still lived at Hillgrove. Sarah’s ancestors lived at Hookhams Farm at Hillgrove.

5. Sarah has confused Hookhams with Petworth House, which is close by. Her grandfather, John Lickfold, was probably born at Hillgrove. He was baptized at Lurgashall church on 27 December 1804. His parents, Edward and Sarah, are recorded as living at Hillgrove in the 1841 census, and John’s son Alfred (Sarah’s father) happened to be staying with them on census night that year.

6. According to the 1851 and 1861 censuses, they farmed 230 acres at Hillgrove and employed just 10 labourers.

7. The two older brothers were Edward (1795–1865) and James (1796–1871). There was also a younger brother, Frederick (1808–69), and at least two sisters.

8. Edward never married.

9. James married Elizabeth, and their nephew, Arthur Edwards, a bachelor, lived with them for many years. Therefore I believe Elizabeth’s maiden name was Edwards. As Edward (1795–1865) never married, Sarah cannot be referring to his wife. If she means Frederick, who married Mary Luff at Lurgashall in 1841, it is questionable whether Elizabeth and Mary were sisters.

10. Frederick actually had two sons, the first named Edward and the second named James.

11. I do not have any evidence to either support or refute this story. Edward, the bachelor, died in 1865; Frederick died in 1869; and James died, childless, in 1871 (aged 75). John (of Headley Mill) was the last surviving son; he died in 1879. The son of Frederick who inherited at age 21 was actually Edward, who presumably had to wait till he reached the age of 21 (in 1862) before he could inherit the estate. His brother James had died in 1843.

12. Actually two years.

13. Sarah got mixed up between Edward and his younger brother, James. Frederick (1808–69) had two sons. The first was named Edward; he was born in 1841 and died in 1871. In 1843 Frederick and Mary had a second son, James, but he died nine weeks after he was born. This story is therefore about Edward (1841–71). Edward died in 1871, aged 30, two years after he had inherited his father Frederick’s estate, being the sole heir.

14. This information about John’s will is correct; his estate was worth nearly £3,000 and included property at Rogate inherited from James (who had died without issue in 1871), and also Hillgrove Farm, which was originally his father’s.

15. After Edward died in 1871, Letters of Administration were granted to John Luff in 1872. He was described as "the Uncle and one of the Next of kin". John Luff of Rogate was the brother of Edward’s mother Mary. Edward left effects worth nearly £3,000, so it is likely that John Lickfold took out a law suit so that the lands could stay in the Lickfold family.

16. I.e., Edward, as above.

17. Presumably the Luffs.

18. This is correct. John died in 1879, and Anna in 1881.

19. Those were the names of John’s sons.

20. This is correct.

21. Emily married Samuel Gale at Farnham, Surrey, in 1853. Sarah married James Heward at Send (near Guildford, Surrey) in 1862.

22. Born in 1837, she was the first ever Lickfold baby to be registered at Somerset House. She died in 1856, aged 19.

23. I think this is exaggerated. So far as I know, John had only three businesses: he farmed 260 acres, he was the miller at Headley Mill, and they had a bakery beside the mill. So he grew the wheat, turned it into flour, and baked the bread. In 1851 he employed ten men, and in 1871, twelve.

24. This is an amazing story, and I have no reason to doubt it. It shows the measure of John’s character that he did not cut Alfred off. Rather, in his will 30 years later, he left Alfred an equal share of his inheritance, with the other children.

25. If Sarah started dictating her memoirs in 1915, some of it must have been added later.

26. On census night, 3 April 1881, Edward is recorded as a visitor at his uncle Walter’s home at Headley Mill. He is recorded as aged 27 and born in Canada. Anna (Edward’s grandmother and Walter’s mother) was also there, a 77-year-old "Annuitant". She died the following August.27. Aunt Sarah’s memoirs are a wonderful bonus for the Lickfold family history. The highlight is the story about why Alfred emigrated to Canada. The story of the entailment and the subsequent court case need to be corroborated by further research.

Some of Sarah’s recollections are inaccurate, others exaggerated, but in essence this is a fascinating tale of how the Lickfolds lived in England in Victorian times. Our family history would be much poorer without it.