Genealogy Notes for the Village of Compton, Surrey
A miscellany of pictures and data arising out of research into the KIRBY's family trees (but not all linked to them). This is a work in progress so please treat the data with appropriate caution. For related information see www.the-kirbys.org.uk, Ancestor List, Place Index and Wills Index

Location and general description

A small village to the west of Guildford and set just to the south of the Hogs Back (a section of the North Downs).

---

Buildings 

St Nicholas Church

St Nicholas Church has a Saxon tower.

Internally the arches are impressive.

Down Place

Down Place is a large country mansion set on the northern slops of the Hogs back, close to Compton, the village on the southern side of the ridge. These days (2004) it is just outside the western suburbs of Guildford, but around 1900 it further out into the countryside.

Most of the original house has been demolished and a new property built in its stead, but parts of the original stable block have survived, and the impressive gateway (passed by a public footpath) may also be original. The present property, which goes by a different name, is inaccessibly private.

The house had been purchased in 1859 by one William F FAVIELL who then rebuilt it. It changed hands again in 1890.

---

People

The FAVIELL Family

I suspect that the owner of Down Place was William Frederick FAVIELL (1822-1902) the railway engineer who helped build the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and later built the Colombo-Kandy railway in Ceylon. 

In 1859, the year that Down House was purchased, the Daily News (London, England), Wednesday, October 26, 1859; Issue 4197., announced that the Mr. F. W. FAVIELL's contract for construction of the railway on the Bhore Ghȃt had been terminated on the 1st April 1859.

A brass monument to the wife of William Frederick Faviell may be found in St Nicholas Church, Compton.

The house appears to have been used by the FAVIELL family, rather than just owned and rented out, for the newspapers of the period contain a few references to the family residing at Down Place. 

• The Surrey Advertiser for 5th November 1864 mentions a W F Faviel in connection with the Worplesdon Agricultural Association and that for 10 Dec1864 mentions a W F Faviell of Down Place, Guildford, in connection with the Cattle Corn and Root Show.
• The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle (Portsmouth, England), Saturday, May 17, 1873; Issue 4252. announced that Mr Faviell of Down Place would be attending a Bazaar in aid of the Royal Surrey County Hospital. 
• The The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Monday, February 3, 1879; Issue 4353., contains the following death announcement - Faviell, Sarah O., wife of Mr. William F., at Down Place, Guildford, aged 54, Jan. 31.' 
• In 1879 shooting rights on land in Park Barn and St Nicholas were leased for a year from Lord Onslow by William Frederick Faviell of Down Place nr. Guildford. [Surrey History Centre Catalogue, 1320/62/1]
• The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Thursday, May 14, 1885; Issue 6292., contained the following marriage announcement - 'Phipps-Faviell-At the cathedral, Cape Town, Edgar V. A. Phipps, Surgeon Medical Staff, son of the Rev. G. W. Phipps, Rector of Husband's Bosworth, Leicestershire, to Edith B., daughter of Mr. William F. Faviell, of Douro-place (sic), Guildford, Surrey, April 21.'

The McIntosh family

John McIntosh was butler at Down House, where he was accompanied by his wife Lavinia, nee Curtis, (who was later to re-marry to Arthur BULL). Several of his children were christened in St Nicholas, as was the son of another FAVIELL family who were based in Loughton, Essex.

---

Related links

A selection of links to other sites with information about this place

• None at present.

---

Bibliography

• 'Parishes: Compton', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 (1911), pp. 16-24. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42923. Date accessed: 21 September 2006. 
• Cricinfo, England players and officials http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/12815.html. Date accessed: 21 September 2006. 
• Cambridge University Library: Royal Commonwealth Society Library, Faviell Collection of Ceylon [i.e. Sri Lanka] Railway views, 1867, Y303A. http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FY303A. Date accessed: 21 September 2006.

---

Any transcripts and images on this page are Copyright R I Kirby 2008 unless stated otherwise.