John White lived here from 1841 to his death in 1904. This picture shows the house in 2024 - exactly the same as it was at their Golden Wedding in 1891, when family photos were taken in fron of this door.

A page from the diary of John White - just one of about 5,000 pages!

Photo by Jim Forder, Croxley Camera Club

Photo by Jim Forder, Croxley Camera Club

The farm was quite a large and complicated business, but Mr White kept very carefully detailed records, including a valuation like this every September, at the end of the farming year.

The business was still simple at this time! But John White kept typically careful records.

Rickmansworth Historical Society/Geoff Saul collection

Copyright Rickmansworth Historical Society/Geoff Saul collection

The barn is believed to date from the sixteenth century. It was probably moved and reduced in size after the 1761 sale, and has been restored in the last few years.

The survey map by John Backer dated 30 April 1760, for the first sale of the estate in a thousand years (sic). By permission of Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, Asset 44213 (not to be further reproduced without their permission).

Taken on their Golden Wedding Day at Parsonage Farm, 6 May 1891

Robert Bayne, 1871

The stories of the men of Rickmansworth Rural and Urban districts who fell in WW1

Robert Bayne, 1871

A nineteenth century description and history of the present mansion.

Arthur Jones, the second son of the founder George, started and ran the cab and hire car business, which had a stand at the stations as well as premises in the High Street. This flyer dates from the 1950s.

George Jones had started in the family wheelwright and coachbuilding business in the 19th century, and had moved here in Church Street before 1910. The main motor workshop was in the High Street.

The modernised premises in Church Street in the early 1930s. 'Pep' Jones had by now joined his father in the business.

The George was one of the inns which stood side by side in the middle of Rickmansworth thriough the 19th century. When it lost its licence in 1912 it was taken over by George Jones, and became his principal workshop and garage.

Jim 'Stick' Walsh was a wonderful illustrator from the 1920s for over fifty years. A founder member of the Rickmansworth Historical Society from 1954, he depicted many local scenes - and posters for the Society's events. A challenge for us!

Dr Roderick Henderson pictured in the Watford Observer, May 1892 (Watford Observer).

A fine body of men! The volunteer fire brigade pose proudly on the old fire pump in 1877. Dr Henderson, as Captain, gazes sternly from the front.

Thomas and Edith Mayo outside the White Bear shortly after their marriage in 1909. The other people are unknown.

Edith Price aged 21 in 1900, very smart in day dress.

An newspaper advertisement for Costers. Amy Coster had married Walter Gravestock in 1924.

The Rickmansworth premises on A M Coster at 70, High Street, in the 1950s.

Batchworth Lake as it is now, 2022 (Deborah Young)

This advertisement dates from 1898, and shows the key features that Beeson wanted to convey - the 'hardware stores' being central to it!

The school was built in 1847, replacing the much older parish Poor House on the same High Street site. It is now the headquarters of a logistics company, but is unmistakably a school building! (Three Rivers Museum Trust)

Parsonage farm house in the 1970s. The house, built in the reign of Queen Anne, was largely unchanged at this time, although the farm itself had ceased to exist, being developed during the 1920 and 1930s.

Parsonage Farm in the 1860s. Some believe that this was painted by John White himself. It is owned by, and exhibited in, Three Rivers Museum.

The family of John and Sophia White at their Golden Wedding party at the Parsonage, May 1896. Seated next to John White is their daughter, Fanny, with her husband William Hounsfield. The others are their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Batchworth Mill towers above London Road in about 1890. The 'Anchor and Hope' pub is on the right - the canal is off the picture on the left, with the White Bear behind the camera. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

A typical gravel dredge being moved on the canal, on its way from one lake to another c. 1925. Gravel was loaded into barges or special gravel punts and taken to the railway sidings at Lot Mead to go to London's growing Metro-land suburbs,

Oxhey Wood school was the second on the estate, open in May 1950 in Juniors and Infants. This image shows it well established in the early 1960s (David Reidy collection).

The interchange bus shelter by Carpenters Park Station. Many thousands of South Oxhey residents will have travelled to work in London through this bus stop outside the station. (Three Rivers Museum collection)

Solomons Hill, spring 1963.The last of the winter's ice is in the centre, with a demolition, a very common sight round here at this time, under way in the distance. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Rectory Road (junction with Uxbridge Road) in 1967, with the new bypass well under way heading up towards the station. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Parsonage Farm, off Rectory Road, in 1962. The farm house had been the manor house of Rickmansworth until 1559, when the manor was divided. John White farmed Parsonage Farm in the nineteenth century. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Rectory Road during demolition of houses, 1962. Much of this part of the town was to be redeveloped to make way for the bypass. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Rectory Road, already the Rickmansworth bypass, being widened in 1968.The Long Island Exchange is on the right, the station and car park on the left. The upheaval can be guessed at. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Rowland and Co Estate Agent offices, Station Rd. Demolished 1963. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Station Rd before demolition 1963. J&M Photocopies and other shops, with The Sportsman pub. Demolition materials being sold! (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection)

Not all historic photos are old. Church Street looking towards the High Street, early 1960s before the demolition of the old Bell Inn in 1964. Cafe Suisse on the right. (Three Rivers Museum Trust collection) (11/1/C/-)