The Gouge Sisters and Parlor’s Farm: A Probate Legacy from Herefordshire
The Gouge sisters were Matilda Gouge (1870–1930) and Alice Gouge (1873–1921). The paperwork I acquired in October 2021 mainly concerns lands and probate records at Hereford.
Matilda Gouge was born in 1870 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, her father, Edward, was 30, and her mother, Eliza, was 27. She married Trevor Wynne on 20 October 1915 in Flintshire (born in 1888 in Caergwrle, Flintshire, his father, Thomas, was 40 and his mother, Ellen, was 37. He died in April 1957 in Cheshire at the age of 69). Matilda died in January 1930 in Worcester, Worcestershire, at the age of 60.
Alice Gouge was born in 1873 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, her father, Edward, was 33, and her mother, Eliza, was 30. She had one brother and one sister. She died, unmarried, in April 1921 at the age of 48.
They had a brother, Edward Gouge was born in 1869, his father, Edward, was 29 and his mother, Eliza, was 26. He was married in April 1896 in Aston, Warwickshire. He died in April 1928 in Hereford, Herefordshire, at the age of 59.
Their mother, Eliza Gouge (Parlor), died in 1912, leaving Alice and Matilda to sort out the copyhold* of the small farm (Parlor’s Farm), other lands and Eliza’s probate. This process took about five years. The archive is fascinating reading and you can feel the frustration caused by individuals and lawyers throughout.
Scans of correspondence here:
The will of their mother, Eliza Gouge:
BE IT KNOWN that Eliza Gouge of Parlor’s Farm, Brockhampton in the County of Hereford, Widow, formerly of the Bushes Inn, Blucher Street, Holloway Head, Birmingham in the County of Warwick
who at the time of her death had a fixed place of abode at Parlor’s Farm aforesaid within the District of the Hereford Probate Registry
died on the 9th day of December 1912 at Parlor’s Farm aforesaid
AND BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that at the date hereunder written the last will and testament of the said deceased was proved and registered in the District Probate Registry of His Majesty’s High Court of Justice at Hereford,
and that administration of all the estate which by law devolves to and vests in the personal representative of the said deceased was granted by the aforesaid Court to Matilda Gouge and Alice Gouge, both of Parlor’s Farm aforesaid, Spinsters, the daughters of the said deceased, the surviving Executors named in the said Will.
Dated the 10th day of January 1913
Gross value of Estate: £682 – 19 – 6
Net value of Personal Estate: £103 – 4 – 11
Extracted by: Messrs W. H. & H. S. Collins, Solicitors, Ross
This is the last Will and Testament of me Eliza Gouge the wife of Edward Gouge of “The Bushes Inn” Blucher Street, Holloway Head, Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Retail Brewer. I hereby revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions made by me.
I direct the payment of my funeral and testamentary expenses and debts by my Executors and Executrixes hereinafter named. I appoint my said husband Edward Gouge and my two daughters Matilda Gouge and Alice Gouge (hereinafter called my Trustees) to be the executors and executrixes and Trustees of this my Will. I appoint, devise and bequeath all the freehold, copyhold and leasehold property and real and personal estate and effects of or to which I shall at my decease be seised, possessed or entitled as my separate estate or which I may have power to dispose of by this my Will unto my said husband Edward Gouge and my said two daughters Matilda Gouge and Alice Gouge upon the trusts hereinafter declared concerning the same (that is to say) as to my freehold messuages or farmhouse buildings, land and premises situate in the Parish of Brockhampton in the County of Hereford, subject to the life interest therein of my mother Ann Parlor and all other my freehold and copyhold and leasehold property and real estate or any part thereof respectively and in such case the moneys to arise from such sale or sales shall be held by my Trustees upon the trusts hereinafter declared concerning the property so sold or as near thereto as the circumstances of the case will permit.
And as to all my personal estate and effects other than and except my leasehold property my Trustees shall stand possessed thereof in trust for my said husband Edward Gouge absolutely if he shall survive me but in case he shall predecease me then I trust that my Trustees shall call in and convert into money the same personal estate and effects other than and except my leasehold property or such part thereof as shall not consist of money and shall stand possessed of the—
(2)
proceeds of such sale calling in and conversion and of my ready money
in trust for my said two daughters Matilda Gouge and Alice Gouge in equal shares. Provided always that if either of them, my said two daughters, shall die in my lifetime leaving a child or children who shall survive me and being a son or sons shall attain the age of twenty one years or being a daughter or daughters shall attain that age or marry under that age, then and in each such case the last mentioned child or children shall take (and if more than one equally between them) the share, estate and interest which his or her their parent would have taken of and in my said freehold, copyhold and leasehold property and real and personal estate and effects respectively (including my said freehold property at Brockhampton aforesaid) if such parent had survived me. And I declare that if either of my said two daughters shall die in my lifetime without leaving a child or children who shall survive me and being a son or sons shall attain the age of twenty one years or being a daughter or daughters shall attain that age or marry under that age, then my trustees shall hold the share, estate and interest as aforesaid of my said daughter so dying in my said freehold or copyhold and leasehold property and real and personal estate and effects respectively in trust for the other of them my said two daughters.
And I declare that as regards any freehold, copyhold or leasehold property remaining unsold (including my said freehold property at Brockhampton aforesaid) my trustees shall be at liberty to let or demise the same either from year to year or for any term of years at such rent and subject to such covenants and conditions as they shall think fit, to accept surrenders of leases and tenancies, to expend money in repairs and improvements and generally to manage the property according to their absolute discretion. And any money required for repairs or improvements may be raised either out of the income or out of the capital of my estate as my Trustees shall under the circumstances think fair and equitable.
And I declare that all moneys liable to be invested under this my Will may be invested in any stocks, funds, or securities authorised by law for trust funds or in any stocks, funds or securities of any British colony or dependency or in or upon the stocks, shares or securities of any railway or other company whether in the United Kingdom or in any British colony or dependency or upon the securities of any municipal or other corporation, company or public body or in the purchase of or upon mortgage of real or heritable or leasehold securities or ground rents in England or Wales and that any property or ground rents purchased as aforesaid shall be subject to the trusts and provisions of this my Will as if the same had formed part of my estate at my death.
In Witness whereof I have hereunder set my hand this seventeenth day of August One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety Six.
Signed and declared by the said Eliza Gouge the Testatrix as and for her last Will and Testament in the presence of us
(both present at the same time, who at her request in her presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as Witnesses)
Eliza Gouge
G. W. Wright } Clerks to Mr. Alfred Pointon Solr. Birmingham
Geo. A. Parker
This is
On the 10th day of January 1913 Probate of this Will was granted at Hereford to
Matilda Gouge and Alice Gouge, Spinsters, the surviving Executors.
Into the 21st century:
Planning permission to convert the property in 2009, here.
Parlours Barn currently here
*copyhold, in English law, a form of landholding defined as a “holding at the will of the lord according to the custom of the manor.” Its origin is found in the occupation by villeins, or nonfreemen, of portions of land belonging to the manor of the feudal lord (source here).
Matilda and Alice Gouge: Birmingham Sisters, Bound by Land and Legacy
Born in the industrious heart of Birmingham, sisters Matilda Gouge (1870–1930) and Alice Gouge (1873–1921) came of age during a time of immense change in Britain. As daughters of a Birmingham tradesman and a mother with rural Herefordshire roots, their lives would span the contrasting worlds of urban modernity and lingering feudal tradition. In the years following their mother’s death in 1912, the sisters found themselves unexpectedly cast as legal stewards of a modest rural estate—Parlor’s Farm—grappling with copyhold law, frustrating bureaucracy, and the quiet weight of duty.
Origins in Birmingham: The Gouge Family
Both Matilda and Alice were born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the city that had become synonymous with Victorian progress. Their father, Edward Gouge, was a local tradesman; their mother, Eliza Parlor, hailed from Herefordshire, bringing with her a connection to the countryside and a legacy of landownership that would later define the sisters’ responsibilities.
Growing up in Birmingham, the sisters would have witnessed the rise of steam power, manufacturing, and municipal expansion. Yet despite this metropolitan upbringing, their adult lives would pivot toward rural matters—tied inexorably to the copyhold estate of their mother’s family in Herefordshire.
The Challenge of Copyhold and the Probate Years
Upon the death of their mother in 1912, the family’s small farm—known as Parlor’s Farm—became the subject of a complex probate process. Though they had a brother, Edward Gouge (1869–1928), it was Matilda and Alice who stepped forward to manage the legal and practical challenges. The land was copyhold, an antiquated form of tenure tied to manorial customs and deeply rooted in medieval legal structures.
Navigating this system required not only persistence but an ability to deal with solicitors, court rolls, and slow-moving estate agents. The sisters managed this process over the course of five years, despite repeated delays and obstacles. Their correspondence—preserved in a private archive—reveals intelligence, resilience, and no small measure of exasperation.
Quiet Lives with a Strong Sense of Duty
Neither Matilda nor Alice sought the spotlight. Alice, the younger sister, remained unmarried throughout her life and died in April 1921, aged 48. Matilda, by contrast, married late in life at age 45 to Trevor Wynne, a younger man from Flintshire. Their union in 1915 appears to have brought Matilda some stability after years of legal strain, but she passed away in January 1930, at the age of 60, in Worcester.
Their brother Edward also lived out a modest life and died in Herefordshire in 1928. All three siblings remained closely tied to the region their mother had cherished, and none are known to have left behind direct descendants.
A Legacy Preserved in Paper and Place
Though history often overlooks women like the Gouge sisters, their legacy endures through the documentation they left behind. Their role as informal executors, land custodians, and legal navigators paints a picture of two capable women fulfilling duties few expected of them—and even fewer recognised.
Today, Parlor’s Farm, also known as Parlour’s Barn, still stands. Planning permission for its conversion was granted in 2009, and it remains part of the Brockhampton Estate landscape. Thanks to surviving letters, wills, and probate records, the story of Matilda and Alice Gouge can now be properly told—connecting Birmingham’s daughters to a uniquely English tale of rural inheritance and female resolve.