All Souls Farm and the Lidstones

Two long histories came together in George Green, just outside Slough in 1942. The Lidstone family can trace their history back to Elias Lidstone who lived from 1480 till 1545. Farming where All Saints Farm was probably begun in the 16th Century.

William Lidstone comes to Slough in 1876
The connection of the Lidstones with Slough began in 1876 when twenty-year-old William Albert Lidstone (WA) left the family farm in Devon. He set up a bakery business and later established a corn chandlery. The businesses prospered. For example, in 1900 he successfully tendered to supply horse feed to Combermere Barracks in Windsor, prior to the Boar War.

The Bakery and Corn Businesses Separated
After WA's death in 1936, the two sons who had worked with him divided the business. Albert continued the bakery while Gilbert was the corn merchant. In 1942 he took over the tenancy of All Saints Farm in George Green. The name All Saints Farm goes back to early in the nineteenth century, but construction of a new road from Slough and new buildings radically reshaped the farm in 1937. The tenancy in 1942 comprised just 129 acres, but Gilbert Lidstone bought it outright and expanded it to 275 acres and ultimately 350 acres.

The Dairy Farm
It was primarily a dairy farm. Kale, swede and mangold were grown for cattle feed, but some wheat and barley were also grown. In 1942 there was no mains electricity and the 42 cows were milked by four men, including Gilbert Lidstone's son, Clive. The herdsmen were paid £2-10-00 a week, with a rent-free cottage and two pints of milk a day. Clive earned £2 a week until he married when his father raised his pay to £5 a week. Gilbert Lidstone introduced the first tractor – a Fordson – onto the farm when he took over in 1942. Eventually Clive Lidstone became farm manager and a director of the family firm with his brothers Donald and Maurice respectively Managing Director and Sales Director.

Sources: "Lidstone 1880-1980" and an interview with Donald and Clive Lidstone, grandsons of the founder.

Reference: "Lidstone 1880-1980" & an interview with Donald and Clive Lidstone, grandsons of the founder.
© STEAM 2005