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
Down Place
Down Place is a large country mansion set on the northern slops of the Hogs back. These days (2004) it is just outside the western suburbs of Guildford, but around 1900 it was closer to Compton, the village on the other side of the hill. The house had been purchased in 1859 by one William F FAVIELL who then rebuilt it. It changed hands again in 1890. The present structure, which goes by a different name and is inaccessibly private, looks too modern to be FAVIELLs building.
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.
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 had births registered in the Guildford region.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.