Northbrook Park, Farnham, Surrey

Admiral Sir John Acworth Ommanney

Sir John Acworth Ommanney who built Northbrook Park[2] was born in 1773 in Westminster, London. His father was Rear-admiral Cornthwaite Ommanney. John joined the navy when he was 13 and served on numerous ships and at the age of only 19 he was appointed Lieutenant. One of his most memorable achievements was his role in the Battle of Navarino. He was the Captain of the ship Albion and was credited with playing an important part in the victory. A lithograph was made by George Philip Reinagle in 1828 of his ship Albion during the Battle which can be seen at this link.[3] For this service he was award a CB as well as the French Order of Saint Louis, the Russian Order of Saint Vladimir and the Order of the Redeemer of Greece.[4]

In 1803 he married Frances Ayling, the daughter of Richard Ayling, a wealthy landowner from Stedham. For some time he lived in Willey House (now Willey Place) which is next to Northbrook Park as a birth notice of 1809 records this.[5] It may be that Northbrook Park was under construction at this time because Cary's New Itinerary of 1810 shows that he has moved to his new house next door and Willey House has a different tenant.[6]

One of John's junior officers was Captain John Harvey Boteler and he wrote a book called “Recollections of My Life at Sea” in which he reminisces about some of the adventures he had with Admiral Ommanney. He remembers that in about 1830 he went to stay with the Ommanney family at Northbrook and during this time made some of his best sketches for Emma Ommanney one of Admiral Ommanney's daughters.[7]

John sold Northbrook Park in about 1831 to Edmund Hambrough (1791-1832) but he died the following year and it was then sold to the Schroder family.

John Frederick Schroder

John Frederick (Johann Friedrich) Schroder bought Northbrook Park in 1834.[8] John was born in 1780 in Hamburg. His father was Christian Mathias Schröder (1742-1821) who owned a large merchant company in Germany. In 1800 at the age of 20 John came to London and established the merchant firm “J. F. Schroder and Co” at 35 Throgmorton Street.[9] The firm prospered and with the help of his brother became a major company in London. It is now Schroders, the well-known investment firm.

In 1802 he married Isabella Bustard, the elder daughter Richard Bustard who was a partner in the large merchant firm Richard Bustard and Marwood. The couple had one son and two daughters. In 1813 the family moved to Dulwich Lodge on the outskirts of London. His daughter Louisa died here aged 16 and there is a large sarcophagus in the Old Dulwich Burial Ground which is heritage listed.[10]

Sale notice for Northbrook in 1868

Soon after this the family moved to Willey Place[11] next to Northbrook. Unfortunately in 1830 his only son died here[12] and was buried in Dulwich College Chapel.

He bought Northbrook Park in 1834 and he lived here with his wife Isabella and daughter whose name was also Isabella. John died in 1852 and left a large amount of property to his daughter Isabella. When she died in 1863 she bequeathed some of her estate to the poor of the district. This money still exists as the Isabella Schroder Trust administered by the Farnham Town Council[13] The Trusts website states:

“The Trust was set up in the Parish of Wrecclesham according to directions in the will of Miss Isabella Schroder who lived at Northbrook House, Bentley, and who died on 18 September 1863. Since then seven generations of Wrecclesham people have benefited from the Trust’s donations.”

When John's wife died in 1868 the property was inherited by distant relatives and was put on the market for sale. The sale notice is shown. It was bought by the Rowcliffe family

Sale notice for Northbrook, 1931

William Rowcliffe (1826-1900) who bought Northbrook Park[14] in 1868 lived there with his family for the next thirty years. He was born in 1827 in Somerset. He became a senior partner in the legal firm of Rowcliffes Rawle and Co in London. In 1866 he married Matilda Francis Brown, youngest daughter of Thomas Brown of Ebbw Vale in Wales. The couple had six children, three sons and three daughters. He died in 1900 and Northbrook Park was rented to Edward Sprot for several years.

Edward Mark Sprot (1872-1945) was a resident of Northbrook House from about 1903 until 1910. He played first class cricket for the Hampshire County Cricket Club.[15] The next resident was Herbert Barrington Pyne (1872-1946) who was a civil engineer. He moved to Devonshire in about 1931 and the Holcroft family bought the house.[16] In 1932 John Culcheth Holcroft married Beatrice Emily Feathers (1906-1985) and shortly after the couple moved into Northbrook Park. Unfortunately he was killed in Egypt in 1941 during the Second World War. His name is on the Alamein Memorial which mentions that he lived at Northbrook.[17] After his death Beatrice continued to live on the Estate for many years.