Ruislip's farming family

From 1851, the census returns list each householder's age, birthplace and their relationship to the head of the household. They can be used to construct family trees and trace ancestry.

Census - farmer
The Ewers - one of Ruislip's prominent farming families - appear throughout the census. They occupied Manor Farm, then a working farm (as tenants of King's College, Cambridge). The 1891 census shows Henry James Ewer, his wife, 3 children, mother-in-law and servant Emily. At that time, many farms employed domestic servants.

The census shows Ewers at several Ruislip properties. Most can be traced back to a James Ewer at Hill Farm in 1851. James, Henry James' grandfather, was then 77, widowed and living with 6 adult children. With a farm servant, 11 labourers and 230 acres, he was a prosperous man.

James also held Bury Farm, which was later leased to a James Bunce who was  listed in the 1911 census as a retired hay dealer. Bunce opened tea rooms on Bury Farm land to serve day trippers arriving on the newly-extended Metropolitan Line. The railway spelled the end of Ruislip as an agricultural community. Manor Farm itself eventually closed to farming in 1933.

Page last updated: 11 Feb 2021