Exhibition: The History of Walton Hall

Benford

Hilary Gurney (1922-2000) was born in 1922, the eldest daughter of Charles Edward and Florence Emma Gurney who were farmers. After Charles returned from the 1914-18 War, the family lived at Crossroads Farm, Bow Brickhill where Hilary was born. In 1926 the family moved to Warren Farm, Ridgmont and stayed there until 1941, when they moved to Stantonbury Park Farm, Great Linford.

 

Growing up, Hilary helped on the farms and while at Warren Farm she volunteered as a Sunday School teacher. She also sang in the chapel choir and played the harmonium. In the 1939 register she was recorded working as a ladies’ hairdresser in Bletchley. She also carried out ARP duties during the War. According to her son Nigel, Hilary was artistic and loved gardening and writing and was an accomplished pianist.

 

In 1945 Hilary married Alfred Edward Benford (1920-2016) at Holy Trinity Church in Old Wolverton. On this page there is a lovely wedding photograph of the happy couple following their marriage. It was taken at Hilary's family home Stantonbury Park Farm and has been kindly made available to the Digital Archive courtesy of their son Nigel.

 

Alfred was the son of Alfred Walford Benford, a butcher, and his second wife Kathleen (née Pearce). The family butcher’s shop was located in Simpson Road, Fenny Stratford. Here is a photograph of the shop taken in about 1900 which shows Alfred Walford Benford with his father standing in front of their shop.

 

Alfred Edward enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Artillery from 1939 to 1945 and was posted to France. He survived Dunkirk and was then posted to Burma. Although Alfred had hoped to go into farming, after the war he worked as a master butcher in the family business and continued to run the business until his retirement in 1993 at the age of 73.

 

Alfred, Hilary and their two children, Susan (known as Toby) and Nigel lived in Walton Cottage, formerly known as Mount Pleasant (not far from Walnut Tree Farm) which Alfred purchased with adjoining land in 1961. Until then the property was part of the Walton Manor estate, owned by the Fitzgeralds. Annually, Alfred would graze between 25-30 North/South Devon cattle on his land. According to Nigel they were his pride and joy. He also reared several calves, including ‘Big Max’ who weighed almost a ton, when sold. The land was compulsory purchased by Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) in the early 1980s, a bitter blow for landowners such as the Benfords. 

 

Nigel remembers that his mother was invited to coffee mornings hosted by Diana Earle at Walton Hall in the early 1960s, referred to on the invitations as “Mrs Earle at home”.

 

Hilary died in 2000 aged 77, Alfred died sixteen years later in 2016 aged 95. The inscription on their headstone reads “Much loved by their family”.