Nelson Hudd & Florence Hillier
Nelson Frank Hudd
​​Born: 1906/7, Rode, Somerset
Baptism: unknown
Married: 1932, Woolverton, Somerset
Death: 1987, Devizes, Wiltshire
Cremated: Haycombe, Bath
Florence Emily Rosina Hillier
Born: 27th April, 1908
Baptism: unknown
Married: 1932, Woolverton, Somerset
Death: 1993, Melksham, Wiltshire
Cremated: Haycombe, Bath
Children
​​June (1932) Jane (1950)
Charles Nelson (1933)
Brian (1935)
Stuart (1938)
Terence (1941)
Nelson Frank was the third child of Henry Robert Hudd and Charlotte Elizabeth Godwin. He was born in March 1907 in Rode, Somerset which is just near the Wiltshire border. Census records conflict with what his real name was, sometimes showing as Nelson and sometimes Frank, but it was not uncommon for people to use their middle name instead of their given name as they got older.
Nelson married Florence Emily Rosina Hillier in March 1932. Florence was the daughter of William and Alice Hillier from Woolverton, Somerset and was also known as Flo.
Nelson rented and lived at what was known as Midway Farm, but was renamed later as Hudd’s Farm by other residents. It is located on Westwood Road, inbetween the village of Westwood and Trowbridge. Florence’s family had moved to Westwood from Woolverton in Somerset, which is how they probably became to know each other.
The farm was used as a dairy farm and later became an equestrian school. Nelson had his own milk round which he served to the nearby towns of Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon and also to the surrounding villages. He delivered his round by bicycle at first untill he bought a pony they called Joey. Nelson and Joey used a cart to deliver the milk. It is recalled by Charles (the eldest son) that Florence would have to help push the cart up a hill out of Westwood to get to Trowbridge. This is probably one of the reasons Nelson then purchased another heavier horse called Molly. As time went on Nelson purchased other forms of transport such as a milk float, then a motorcycle with a sidecar and then an Austin 7 van for £100.
Photographic evidence, an article in The Western Daily Press on Thursday the 29th of July 1948 and a leaflet he had produced shows that the farm was producing milk.
Nelson at work in the cattle shed at Midway Farm in Westwood
Boy Failed To Stir Churn
Nelson Frank Hudd, Dairy Farmer, of Westwood, Bradford-on-Avon, was fined £3 at Bradford-on-Avon Magistrates’ Court yesterday for selling milk deficient in fat on May 27. Mr E C Mercer, chief inspector of Weights and Measures for Wiltshire, said that the samples sent to the public analyst were found to be deficient in milk fat to the extent of at least 16 per cent of the normal quantities. For the defence it was stated that Hudd had taken his first day off for a year to go to the Bath and West Show and left in charge his 15-year-old son, who did not stir up the churn from which the samples were taken before taking off the first bottle.
The son mentioned in the article was Nelsons first son Charles Nelson Hudd who was born in 1933. Nelson and Florence had six children. June in 1932 was born in the first year of the couples marriage when they lived in Heywood, Charles in 1933 in Farleigh Hungerford, Brian in 1935, Stuart in 1938, Terence in 1941 and Jane in 1950. All the children would of grown up and most likely helped on the farm at some point.
An article in the Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser on September 5th, 1942, shows that Nelson’s farm was one of many listed as being affected by foot and mouth disease.
Nelson was exempt from going to war in World War 2 because of his occupation. This did not mean he was not effected by it. He would have had strict instructions imposed on him on how he would have had to use his land from the Ministry of Food. This would of included the amount of land he could use for grazing and ploughing to grow food. The family would have had ration books for food and also fuel rationing for his vehicles. He even had to apply to be able to buy a tractor. At one point Nelson had two prisoners of war helping out on the farm. It is recalled that one was an Italian called Aldo Panzani and another who was a German storm trooper. They were both imprisoned at Eden Vale Camp near Westbury where they would travel from most days to wok on the farm.
After Nelson and Florence left Midway Farm, they moved into a bungalow in Lower Westwood which was not to far away from where they were living. This is located on Boswell Road and just on the entrance of Hebden Road. When Nelson and Florence had passed away, Terence, their youngest son stayed living at the bungalow and has continued to live there.
In later life Nelson suffered from dementia, which was a condition his father suffered from before he died. Nelson lived in a residential care home probably because of the dementia. He continued to stay in the care home up to his death. He died in 1987 in Devizes and his wife Florence died six years later in 1993 in Melksham in a care home, her daughter Jane was with her at her bedside when she passed away. Nelson and Florence were both cremated and interred at Haycombe crematorium in Bath. There was no placque laid down to commemorate Nelson or Florence, although Nelson did have an entry placed in Haycombes Book of Remembrance still held at the cemetery. The couple were both interred together in section 14 of the cremation area which is called Saddlestones.
Nelson and Florence later in their lives
Nelsons entry in the Book of Remembrance at Haycombe cemetery
