The James Bomford Line

The Ancestral Home of James Bomford

James Bomford was a storekeeper at Tarraville, Gippsland, with his brother Joseph, and most likely the biological father of Emily Macauley. The brothers grew up on Pinnock Farm near Didbrook, Gloucestershire, which their father Thomas farmed until 1843, when he sold the stock and became a cattle dealer. The Bomfords were Baptist farmers. James’s great-grandfather Heming Bomford farmed at Firs Farm, Atch Lench, and had a Baptist chapel built beside the cottage he retired to. Heming’s sons farmed in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, and two of his grandchildren, the first cousins Thomas and Martha, married in 1821. Atch Lench is Bomford country.

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A three-storey red brick farmhouse beside a lawn under a blue sky, with an inset photograph of a slate sign reading Firs Farm House on a wooden gatepost among ivy. Click to enlarge
Firs Farm, Atch Lench, Worcestershire 14 September 2026
Heming Bomford and Elizabeth Webb farmed at Firs Farm, Atch Lench. Heming was born in 1739 at Wyre Piddle, and they married at St Nicholas Church, Warwick, Warwickshire in 1770, by licence. The church was replaced 1779-1785 and so is not the church they knew.
A two-storey red brick building with a gabled roof, large multi-paned windows and a pale green front door, with potted plants and a lawn in front, and an inset photograph of a slate sign reading The Chapel on a brick and stone gatepost. Click to enlarge
The Chapel, Atch Lench, Worcestershire 14 September 2026
Heming Bomford retired and with Elizabeth moved to the small cottage, later known as ‘The Manse’. He instructed his sons Joseph and Thomas to build a Baptist chapel on the land adjoining this cottage. The chapel opened in 1829, the year after he died. Heming and Elizabeth were buried at Evesham, Cowl Street Baptist Chapel. The burial ground and parts of the chapel were cleared or demolished in 1978.
A honey-coloured stone church with a tall tower and slender spire, a red tiled roof on one side, tall pointed windows and old gravestones on a lawn, under a blue sky with wispy cloud. Click to enlarge
St Giles Church, Bredon, Worcestershire 17 September 2026
Heming and Elizabeth’s eldest son, John (c.1771) moved south and married Martha Dobbs at St Giles Church, Bredon in 1792, by licence.
A narrow road curving downhill past a white-painted cottage and a stone cottage with tiled roofs and brick chimneys, with a wide hazy view over fields and woodland in the distance. Click to enlarge
Westmancote, Bredon Hill, Worcestershire 17 September 2026
John and Martha Dobbs farmed at Westmancote, Bredon Hill. Martha died aged 72 in 1840 and John in 1854, both at Westmancote. Westmancote is a tiny hamlet on a road leading up to Bredon Hill overlooking the River Avon. Their daughter Martha was born in 1796.
Ordnance Survey map of Ipsley, Warwickshire, from the 1880s, with the land Heming Bomford occupied at Crabtree Farm shaded green on either side of Studley Road Click to enlarge
Crabtree Farm, Ipsley, Worcestershire Ordnance Survey map, 1880s
Crabtree Farm, Ipsley, shown shaded on the map, was farmed by Heming and Elizabeth’s second eldest son, Heming (c.1776). He moved north and married Elies Wells at St Andrew’s Church, Toddington in 1797. St Andrew’s Church was demolished and rebuilt in 1868. Their last son, Thomas, was born in 1802 at Sambourne. The family were early members of the Baptist congregation at Sambourne. The family stayed at Sambourne until at least 1809 when Elies Wells died. Heming moved his family to Ipsley and married Letitia Haynes in 1823 by licence. Heming raised a second family with Letitia at Crabtree Farm, Ipsley. The farm of 120 acres was owned by Thomas Entwisle Esquire. The farm is long gone. The farm house was located on what is now the south east side of the roundabout at Studley Road and Washford Drive. The shaded area on the map is the land Heming Bomford occupied. Map reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland, https://maps.nls.uk. Tiles © ArcGIS.
Panoramic view over fields and wooded hills near Didbrook, Gloucestershire, with the buildings of Pinnock Farm in the valley and sheep grazing in the field on the left; in the foreground is an inset of the farm gate sign reading Pinnock Farm, Private Drive Click to enlarge
Pinnock Farm, near Didbrook, Gloucestershire 14 September 2026
Pinnock Farm was farmed by Thomas Bomford from before 1832 until 1843, and is where James and Joseph grew up. The first cousins Martha (daughter of John at Westmancote) and Thomas (son of Heming from Crabtree Farm, Ipsley) married at St Martin’s Church, Birmingham in 1821. The church was demolished and rebuilt in 1873. Initially the family lived at Ipsley where their son Thomas was born in 1824.
Two newspaper advertisements from March 1843. Above, from the Gloucestershire Chronicle, Mr Bumford is leaving Pinnock Farm, near Winchcomb, and his sheep, cattle, horses, implements and household furniture will be sold by auction on 17th and 18th March. Below, from the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 226 sheep, 26 head of cattle, 12 horses and colts, farming implements and household furniture at Pinnock Farm, the property of Mr. Bumford Click to enlarge
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire March 1843
In 1843 the stock at Pinnock Farm was advertised for sale. Thomas stopped farming and was later known as a cattle dealer. Thomas Bomford has land, tax and census records for his being at Pinnock Farm from 1832 through 1842. Both advertisements spell the surname Bumford, a spelling error. Top: Gloucestershire Chronicle, 4 March 1843, page 2, column 2. Bottom: Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, Tuesday, 7 March 1843. Content provided by THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With thanks to the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.com).

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