DATA BASE REF: A/F 1009
JARVIS FAMILY FARMING AT HOME FARM, MARHOLM nr PETERBOROUGH Stan and Fay Jarvis live at Home Farm, having farmed there with Stan’s brothers, the late Toby Jarvis and Peter Jarvis
Their grandfather George Jarvis after the First World War came to the village to Belsize Farm (considered to be in Marholm, it is in fact both in Castor Ecclesiastical Parish and Castor Civil Parish.)
Family
George Jarvis who died in 1957, came to Belsize after the Great War. Before that he had been a carrier based in Helpston, transporting, gravel, wood, timber etc. Vic Winterton claims that when George Jarvis came back from the 14-18 War, Helpston village helped him buy his first horse and cart.
George m Edith
Jarvis
Arthur m Faith Jack m Rose Watts George Ernie
Jarvis Jarvis Jarvis Jarvis
(Home d.1957 (these 2 brothers came out of farming 1947)
Farm) (Belsize Farm)
Toby Stan Peter Gordon Cyril m Jean Colin m Lily Brian Graham
m. m m (Dick) Ayres (Jagger) Dytham
Mary Fay Vi
East Wright
Notes:
Grandfather George Jarvis lived at Home Farm Marholm from 1923 once he had taken that on in addition to Belsize Farm.
Cyril Jarvis, son of Jack(John) is always known as Dick. He married at Marholm Church in 1954 to Jean, daughter of Sid and Liz Ayres who lived at Pellat Hall (where Jean was born in 1931) as tenants of Milton Estate.
Toby married Mary East and they had three children: Wendy, Andrew and Martin.
Stan was married to Fay Wright at Werrington in 1958 by the Revd Mr Butterworth and they had a son Robert
Peter married Violet and they had a son Stephen.
Cyril(Dick) Jarvis has a son Trevor married to Jane (children Melissa and Isabel) and Sandra (children Gavin and Stephanie Cooper)
George Jarvis the younger, son of old George worked for the Bradleys at Woodcroft. His daughter is Rachel Ginn of Ailsworth
Farms Associated with the Jarvis Family :
George Jarvis came to Belsize after the Great War in the 20s. He took on about 230 acres. The Pike family had been the previous tenants. He took the land rent-free for the first two years, and when he told Lord Fitzwilliam that he was not going to be able to make it pay the rent, Lord Fitzwilliam told him to work it until it was profitable. Times were very hard then due to the agricultural depression. George must have been a hard man but shrewd farmer. He farmed it with all four of his sons. Jack Jarvis (Dick’s father) married in 1928, and at about that time George then took on Home Farm Marholm and the Fruit Farm (now Milton Woodyard). George moved into Fruit Farm Cottage, leaving son Jack at Belsize and his son Arthur at Home Farm. They farmed it all as one unit.
In 1947 George Jarvis sold up to retire, but his son Arthur took on the tenancy of Home Farm and his son Jack took on Belsize Farm. George built a bungalow in Woodcroft Road (where Selma Roth lived latterly) and he and Ethel lived there until they died. The bungalow is owned by Milton Estate now. Jack died 12th December 1979
In 1962 Dick took on Belsize from his father and retired in 1996, and his son Trevor now farms Belsize on his own. His parents Dick and Jean still live on the farm in Belsize Cottage.
Farming at Home Farm:
Toby, Stan and Peter Jarvis took over the tenancy of Home Farm from their father Arthur(Jim). There was always a dairy at Home Farm in Arthur’s day, and Stan kept this on until 1998. Arthur had a milk round in Peterborough, and they used to do their own bottling at the farm. Mechanized milking started in the 1940s. In addition to the dairy they farmed cereals, sugar beet, potatoes, sheep, pigs and chickens for their own use and to sell on. When in came to picking the late potatoes and the end of September after Harvest, the children from Marholm School would have a fortnight off, even as late as the 1950s to help pick them. The children were paid and Arthur Jarvis always gave them a cup of hot cocoa made with milk in a big churn. They would have grown six or seven acres of potatoes in the Dryside Field, just opposite the cattle grid entrance into church field – this is now farmed by Noel Darby of Manor Farm. Grandad(George) Jarvis would go off to market every week in a pony and trap; fortunately the pony could find its own way home as they all went to the pub after market. At one stage they had 28 horses, but they had given them all up by the late 1950s (Jim Coles was the last horseman) . They were used for beet-hoeing and carting grain etc as well as ploughing.. They were kept where the cow-shed now is. Grandad Jarvis had a big Suffolk Punch called Turpin. They had tractors early at Home Farm, ever since Stan can remember. He remembers an old Caterpillar Crawler tractor. They used to walk the cattle from Marholm through Peterborough to Whittlesea Wash for the grass there. That meant herding them along the Lincoln Road! Haymaking was in June. After harvest some people would go gleaning from the village like old Mrs Sharpe. Sometimes chicken huts were put in the fields after harvest to pick up the ears of corn. They used to harvest the wheat before it was ripe, bind it and stouk it. They would leave it stouked in the fields for about a fortnight, then cart it and stack it in the stackyard, thatching the top of the stack to keep the wet out. It would be threshed in the stackyard. The last thing in the year was the beet, harvested top end of September/October to January. After ploughing it up, you would have to knock it, and lay it in rows, and depending on the time of the year top it as well. All in all, looking after 600 acres with no help was hard work.
Notes made by W Burke on 15 May 2003 with Stan and Fay Jarvis