In July 1853, William Parker (believed to be Edward) married Emlin Corbett (who had been born about 1830 at Lichfield, Staffordshire) at Badsey in July 1853. William and Emlin had three sons and two daughters: William Corbett (1854), Samuel Smith (1856-1858), Emlin Grace (1859-1863), Prudence Mary (1861) and John (1863). Nearly all the children were given family names, Samuel Smith being William’s maternal grandfather and Grace being his maternal grandmother’s name.

In June 1854, Prudence Parker, William’s sister, married William Warmington at Badsey, and they remained in the village.

In 1861 William and Emlin Parker and their young family were still at The Manor. William’s parents, William and Mary, were also living there. Mary died in 1862 and her husband in 1879, and were buried at Badsey:

In October 1863, William Parker bought the Silk Mill at Public Auction at The Northwick Arms Hotel, Evesham, for £490. The auction particulars described the mill as substantially and handsomely built, containing four floors, each 76 feet 8 inches long and 27 feet 10 inches wide.and in 1864 converted it into residential accommodation. Following his purchase of the property, Parker reduced the height of the mill building and then converted the premises into a row of cottages. The stone in the central gable, which is still in position, confirms the date of the development as 1864. In 1866, the Manor was sold, so William’s tenancy finished.

The Parkers were no longer living in Badsey by 1871. At the time of the 1881 census, William and Emlin Parker were living at Haslor House, Cropthorne, where William was described as a farmer of 900 acres employing eight men and eight boys; their eldest son, William, lived with them also. It seems as though they also maintained a place in Bretforton, as 18-year-old John Parker, was described as Son (Head), a Farmer’s Son, at Manor House Farm. His sister, Prudence, lived there, too, and also two of his cousins, William Warmington and Helena Warmington.

William Parker died at Bretforton in 1883, but was buried at Badsey; his wife, Emlin, died at Church Honeybourne in 1905, and she, too, was buried at Badsey. The Parkers had obviously bought a plot of land in the graveyard, because their eldest son, William Corbett Parker, although he does not appear to have been living in the village, chose to be buried there in 1914.

William Warmington (1828-1900) was born at Wilmcote, Warwickshire, about 1828, the youngest son of John Warmington of Wilmcote. William’s father had moved to Wilmcote from Bidford (or possibly Marlcliff) as a young man to work in the newly-opened quarries there. He married the daughter of the landlord of The Swan Inn (later known as The Swan House Hotel and now as Arden House Hotel) in Wilmcote and inherited The Swan, where he farmed as well as being a brewer and publican (information from Allan Warmington of Chipping Campden).

In 1854, William Warmington married Prudence Grace Parker at Badsey (Prudence had been living at The Manor in Badsey with her brother for the last couple of years). William was living in Dorsington at the time of his marriage, and it was there that they returned to live, a son, William John, being born there in 1855. They then moved to Cleeve Prior, where Frances Mary was born in 1858, but they were living in Badsey by April 1858 when Frances was baptised (she died in 1862). William and Prudence went on to have two more sons and two more daughters, all born in Badsey: Henry George (1860), Prudence Grace (1862), Eleanor/Helena Augusta (1864) and Walter Richard (1866). At the time of the 1861 census, they were living at The Bell Inn, Bakers Lane (now School Lane), where William, following in his father’s footsteps, was the publican. Frances died in 1862, aged four.

In 1871, the Warmingtons were still at The Bell Inn with their five surviving children, but William was described as a farmer of 40 acres employing two labourers; their eldest son, William, was an apprentice to a builder. In 1881 and 1891, the Warmingtons had just their daughter, Prudence, at home. Prudence Warmington died in 1895, aged 71, and William Warmington died in 1900, aged 72.

William John Warmington (1855-?), the eldest son of William and Prudence, was an apprentice builder in 1871. In 1881, he was acting as Farm Bailiff for his uncle, William Parker, at Manor House Farm, Bretforton, living in the same household as his sister, Helena. By 1891, now employed as a Market Gardener, he was back in the village, married to Rose from Murcot, and living on Sand Lane. They had four children in total: John (about 1889), Kathleen Grace (1892), William Henry (1895) and Norah Augusta (1900). He was a School Manager at Badsey Board School for several years during the 1890s. In 1901, William still lived in the village, working as a builder, but was now living on Brewers Lane (the terraces at the far end). William John Warmington appears to have left Badsey in 1903, when he last featured in Smith’s Household Almanack and the children were withdrawn from Badsey Council School in September 1903.

Henry George Warmington (1860-?) was living at High Street, Evesham, in 1881, working as Assistant to Frederick Cox, tea dealer.

Prudence Grace Warmington (1862-?) was the only child of William and Prudence still living at home in 1881 and 1891. Prudence had an illegitimate daughter, Grace, in 1894; it is not known what happened to them after Grace was withdrawn from Badsey Board School in April 1900.

Helena Augusta Warmington (1864-?), in 1881 was living at Manor House Farm, Bretforton (the home of her uncle, William Parker), with her brother, William John, acting as a Domestic. Helena Warmington married farmer Henry Ruck in 1887 and no longer appears in Badsey records.

Walter Richard Warmington (1866-?) was working as a draper’s apprentice in 1881 for John Charles Smith, draper, of 3 Wood Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. Walter, was back in Badsey by 1891, married to Jecolia from Childswickham, and living on Village Street, next to The Pool House (probably The Firs). Walter and Jecolia had five children: Richard Smith (1889), Prudence Jecolia (1891), Thomas Walter (1893), Gwendoline Augusta (1895) and Albert Edward (1902). The career as a draper obviously did not work out as, by 1891, he was a Market Gardener and Assistant Overseer. Over the next decade, he became more prominent in Badsey life, adding to his duties by becoming School Attendance Officer, Clerk to the Parish Council and collector of taxes for Badsey, Aldington, Wickhamford and Bretforton. When the Badsey Fire Brigade was formed in 1899, he was one of ten men appointed and was elected as captain of the brigade, but did not hold office for long and resigned in 1901. All his children attended Badsey School. Prudence Jecolia, on leaving school, became a Monitress and then trained as a Pupil Teacher at Badsey. Tom, in 1906, was one of the first children from Badsey to attend the Grammar School in Evesham; Gwendoline was awarded the Seward scholarship in 1907 to go to Evesham Grammar School; and Albert, the youngest son, left in 1915 to go to Campden Grammar School. On the death of his father, Walter moved into The Bell Inn and took over the running of it. By 1915, his occupation in Smith’s Household Almanack was just listed as Assistant Overseer, and it would appear that he had handed over the running of the inn to his eldest son, Richard. Richard was married to Martha and had six children: George Walter (1910), Jecolia Mary (1911), Clarice Olive (1913), Grace (1915), Gwendoline (1916) and Richard Thomas (1918). Both Walter and Richard are last recorded in Smith’s Household Almanack in 1919, and Richard’s children were withdrawn from Badsey Council School in October 1919 on account of moving to Sedgeberrow (though George, Clarice and Grace re-enrolled at Badsey for short periods before returning to Sedgeberrow, when they appear to have lived at The Firs). Walter’s son, Thomas, took over the running of The Bell Inn. His only son, Walter Edmund (1923-1943), was killed during the Second World War.

In 1901, there was also 74-year-old George Warmington (born at Offenham) living at Badsey Field with his daughter, Mary Ann Roberts, and family, but he is not thought to be related.

Notes compiled by Maureen Spinks, February 2004