You are in [Family History] [Langford Family] [James Stephen Langford - life story]

(Kindly sent by Linden Langford, Jim Langford's niece, January 2023).

Introduction:

As stated at the beginning of this history of the family, I have put together all this information from many sources as Jim, my uncle, was very interested in the family history. I take responsibility for any errors or misrepresentations. I should also add that I have a very large collection of photographs covering almost every aspect of this story. Linden Langford, January 2021

James Stephen Langford:

Born 23rd March 1915, died 1st June 2010.
Born at Templars, Shefford Woodlands, Hungerford, Berkshire.

His mother was Sarah Maud Mary Waldron, known as Maud, born 25th April 1872, died 26th February 1965. Maud was 42 when Jim was born. His father was Reginald Langford, born 8th November 1881, died 24th May 1962. Reginald was 34 when Jim was born.

Jim was born at Templars, Shefford Woodlands, a house that had been lived in by his ancestors for over 200 years. When Jim was two years old the family moved out of Templars because the land had changed ownership. They moved to the Woodlands House also in Shefford Woodlands, which had been built by Jim’s grandfather, Stephen Waldron, Maud’s father. They lived in this house until 1929 when Jim was about 14. There are photographs of Jim as a baby on the lawn at Templars and more photographs of him as a small boy at the Woodlands House.

His father had built a house, called Barndown, on a piece of land he owned in the village. It appears that they were not able to afford to live in this house and so built a smaller house, also in the village, and moved to it in 1935, renting and later selling the larger house. Jim lived in this fourth house, Newtown Lodge, for the rest of his life. So, he lived at Templars for two years, in the Woodlands House for twelve years, Barndown for about six years and Newtown Lodge for 75 years, all in Shefford Woodlands.

Schools:

Etonhurst

His brother Tom, five years older than Jim, went to Etonhurst in Weston-super-Mere, as did Jim. They went there because the vicar’s son attended this school. Jim went when he was eight and stayed there until he was about 12 in 1927. He remembered it with amusement because one of the teachers was ‘from a previous century’ in her dress - she wore a long black dress with starched collar and manners to match.

Aldenham

Because of the 5-year difference in age between the brothers, Tom left Aldenham when Jim went there. Tom was therefore about 17 at this time and went to work on the farm for his father.

Aldenham School is near Elstree, Hertfordshire. The boys attended this school because Harvey Beck was the Headmaster at this time and he was married to Emmeline Langford, a cousin of Reginald. Jim loved his time at Aldenham and spoke of it many times and wrote about it. He enjoyed the friendships he made and mentions learning, admiring those who taught him and the daily routine of exercise, cold baths and Chapel before breakfast. He was there for almost four years until, according to the farm diaries, Reginald, his father, agreed with Harvey Beck that Jim should leave the school at Christmas 1930. This being the 30s Reginald could probably not afford to keep Jim in school. He left school at the end of the Summer Term 1931.

Harvey and Emmeline Beck were disappointed when Jim had to leave the school at 16, because Jim had already taken exams and passed them to get into Cambridge. According to his Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board certificate he was very good at English, Latin, French, Elementary Mathematics and General Science. He passed most of these with merit. The Certificate is dated July 1931.

Jim in old age could recite Latin, especially the Grace said before meals at the school.

Farm Work:

When Jim’s brother Tom was 18, Tom decided to go to Patagonia to learn sheep farming on the Waldron farms. Tom sailed for Patagonia in September 1931 on the Alcantara and he was down in Patagonia for about 9 years, with occasional short visits back home, but he returned for good on 4th May 1939 on the Highland Patriot. Reginald needed Jim to take Tom’s place and Jim was therefore not quite 16 when he started work on the farm.

Jim wrote about his early years: “At this time British farming ran into serious depression so that it was a disappointment to Mr Beck that I did not go to Oxford or Cambridge although I had qualified. So, I left school and spent years as little more than an English farm worker in depressed conditions and with borrowed money.”

Before the war, he spent his leisure time playing tennis with friends locally, riding his bicycle along the Berkshire lanes. He and his mother also went ‘to the pictures’, seeing films like Clive of India and Maytime. There were also family holidays going to Porlock in Somerset, a favourite holiday destination where the family went almost every year. He also went to Newquay to visit Emmeline Beck. He went to Topsham, near Exeter in Devon and to Minehead in Somerset and the South West Coast.

He also went to Taunton in Somerset for live stock shows, to the Newbury Races, Newbury Fair, and South Berks Point to Point. and air displays at Marlborough and at Abingdon, and Andover for the Empire Air Day Display and Royal Counties Show at Reading.

Jim went to agricultural college and South Berkshire College in Newbury. He studied French and attended many Cox and Midwinter lectures on agriculture and other agricultural lectures at Newbury Technical Institute from 1931 to 1939.

By 1936 Jim was already making decisions about the farm and visiting local markets to buy live stock. By 1938 his father went on holiday leaving Jim in charges of the farm for the first time. He owned a shot gun and there were a lot of shoots on the farm during the war and a lot of rabbits and other wildlife were shot for food.

For his 21st birthday his father gave him a white heifer calf. In December he went with his father to London and bought a 12hp 6cly Wolseley Hornet, EW Daytona special, 1933 model for £70 from Sprosen’s, 179 Great Portland Street. He got his first driving licence in 1938 and the last one in 1995. He also learned how to dance and had classes and attended many dances.

1939 to 1945:

Jim was 24 when the Second World War began, on 3rd September 1939. He had always wanted to join the Royal Air Force and applied to join in March 1939, but was disqualified because he had hay fever. He suffered from hay fever until he was about 50 years old. As he could not join the Air Force, he dedicated himself to farming. He had already joined the Police as a Special Constable attached to the Royal Observer Corps in 1936. His father, Reginald, was also a Special Constable. When war broke out, he farmed during the day and did night duties for the Corps.

The Observer Posts were manned 24 hours a day continuously because of the threat of invasion. Jim’s Post, 4/VI won the Southern Area Efficiency Competition in 1943. Jim was by then Chief Observer of the Post. This post was located half way between Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands.

In June 1944 he was part of the invasion supply force. He sat an exam in air recognition at Guildford and the most qualified were chosen. About sixty were chosen. He first went to Bournemouth for five days Seaborne duties training.

They then went to London on 26th May, and he was stationed on the HMS Chrysanthemum, a drill ship with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, moored on King’s Reach on the Thames. This ship is now moored near Temple on the Thames. Here they received further instruction, and because they joined the Navy as part of the invasion forces, they had to learn how to swim, something Jim always enjoyed doing and encouraged others to learn.
About a week later they then went to Tilbury docks and joined USS Lee S Overman. The next morning they went round to the British Channel and later sailed across to France on this American forces ship.

He remembered well when they rounded the land near Dover that the guns on the Calais side fired at them and hot splinters landed on the deck. They went to Arromanches and anchored at Gold beach. The battleship Prince of Wales fired over their ship towards France and he remembered the noise of the guns. He had the opportunity to go ashore on an amphibian craft and did a tour of the area. After about four days he returned to England mid-June and then returned to France again, the whole event lasting about six weeks.
He had a day’s leave and with US Lieutenant David Wood went home to Shefford Woodlands for the night. They then went for a second visit to Arromanches Beachhead.

On 8th July he finished the Seaborne Service and was signed off at Bournemouth. He later learned that USS Lee S Overman struck a mine up the Dutch coast and sand. 

On 10th June 1945 the Royal Observer Corps had a Stand Down Parade in Hyde Park before King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He spent the night before in Stockwell Deep Shelter.

In June 1945 he flew to Bremen and Liege and also Liverpool, Cambrai and Paris, and on 22nd July he flew to Compiegne and back. The diaries do not say why he went to these cities.

After the war in July 1946, he became a Lieutenant in the Army Cadet Force with a unit centred on Shefford. As part of the Army Cadet Force he attended camps at Saunton, Devon, and at Weymouth in the Verne Prison Camp.

Medals: War Medal 1939 to 1945. Defence Medal 3 September 1939 to 2 September 1945, and France and Germany Star 6 June 1943 – 8 May 1945.

He got his first passport in 1946 and the last one in 2001.

In his nineties, when sitting in the garden, he could still identify a plane by the sound of its engine.

Working Years:

After the war Jim continued to farm and, with his father, had the opportunity to buy the farm in 1947 with help of his friend Frank Streatfield Moore and the bank. By this time his father Reginald was over 65 and Jim slowly took over the entire running of the farm. Jim was a very committed farmer and always improved and maintained his farm with great dedication. He worked the farm from 1931 to 1981 and kept diaries and made day to day entries for 50 years.

Jim was always involved in many local matters:

Magistrate:

He studied law and was sworn in as a Magistrate in 1951. He sat on the bench at Lambourne and Hungerford becoming Chairman of the bench in 1955, a post he held for 30 years until he retired when he was 70.

A friend wrote: “I cannot believe that even those brought before him at the bench could ever have thought that they had not been properly heard and given fair justice.”

He became a member of the Police Authority Committee and Magistrates Committee, which met at Kidlington Courts near Oxford.

Church:

He was a church warden at St Mary’s Great Shefford from 1955 to 1975. His father was a church warden and there have been Langford church wardens dating back to 1756.

Jim wrote the following about his faith:

One or two of my thoughts –

I have a traditional view of God and the Book of Common Prayer – However, I recognise that religious thought can encompass many variations. I am happy to accept that there are many ways to God
People who reject belief in God will not believe nothing – they will believe anything – things that turn up and appear for the moment.
For me God is a mystery that is awe inspiring, endless and everywhere – carrying me through difficulties as well as success. I thank Him; I apologise to Him; I ask for His help.
I am not alone – ever – though I sometimes forget that and worry. It is sad that people will do evil in the name of religion – any religion – but that is not religious thought. It is not God’s evil – it is ours – if we cannot accommodate other genuinely held beliefs.
It is not necessary to prove God scientifically in order to meet Him – and know Him. Faith is gratuitous – those who lose it cannot regain it by ‘effort’.
Wait for the Grace of God and His generosity will not fail you.

Sailing:

He gained a National Sailing Instructors certificate, qualifying at the National Sailing Centre at Cowes. He had several small craft, the first one he put together himself. He sailed at Theale near Reading in Berkshire and also at Poole in Dorset.
1964 to 1989 he was an instructor and founder member at the Berkshire Schools Sailing Centre. He loved sailing which he mastered and taught to many with great patience.

Other Committees:

He was Chairman of the Youth Committee, Lambourn
1949 to 1985 he did committee work with the Berkshire Youth Clubs.
He was a General Commissioner of Taxes for Newbury District from 1960 to 1990.
He was Chairman of the Parish Council for 15 years from 1956 to 1988. The first Parish Council was held in 1894 and Jim’s grandfather Henry was one of the first councillors. His father Reginald was also a councillor.

Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire:

He was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire on 8 August 1975 and retired in 1990 at the age of 75. The Lord Lieutenant who appointed him was David Smith. In 1990 when he was 75, he had by then served under four Lord Lieutenants, The Hon David Smith, Sir John Smith, Sir Gordon Palmer and John Henderson. His duties were mainly attending funerals and delivering telegrams from Queen Elizabeth II. He attended several garden parties at Buckingham Palace.

Travel:

He was a man of many interests, apart from learning French and his love of England.
He loved the countryside and I remember going on many drives with him just to see the beauty of the surrounding area and he told me about its history. I remember visiting the Ridgeway, starting in Avebury in Wiltshire, for the first time and realising that it had been there for 5,000 years.

He developed a great love of travel, especially the Mediterranean, first going with his brother Thomas, and family and then with many friends whom he invited to go with him. Over the years he went to France, Mallorca, Malta, Italy, Gibraltar, Spain, Croatia, Greece and many other places as he enjoyed going on cruises, in particular SS Canberra.

I had the pleasure of going with him to Gibraltar and also on a cruise on the P&O ship Sea Princess when we went round the Adriatic and up to Istanbul, including Dubrovnik and Athens. I also went with him to Perugia and toured the area including Assisi and we also had a memorable holiday in Rome.

His last trip was when he was about 80 when he saw the Norwegian fjords.

Old Age:

Jim died very peacefully, on the 1st June 2010 at Newtown Lodge, Shefford Woodlands, at the age of 95.

All who knew him say he was a true gentleman, a Christian, helpful, generous, he did everything with careful consideration and good judgement. He had a sense of fair play; he was patient and understanding.

In his old age he was surrounded by women – his many carers – who enjoyed looking after him because he was always good tempered – well, almost always, enjoying a joke and a laugh, full of humour, with a twinkle in his eye.

In his long life he made many friends and there were many people who had always been with him, for a lifetime, working the land and helping to run the house and grounds.

Jim’s generosity to everyone was special and undoubtedly influenced many lives.

Jim will live long in our memories as a very special friend. His life has been a great inspiration to a great diversity of people. I am grateful to have known and loved him.

Obiturary:

Lambourn Valley News,
Thursday 17th June 2010

Farmer (95) lived in village all his life.
Tax commissioner widely involved in the community

Tributes have been paid to a Shefford Woodlands farmer and former magistrate whole funeral took place this week.

James Langford, who was chairman of the bench at the former Hunger ford and Lambourn magistrates’ court for more that 20 years, died at the beginning of the month, aged 95.

He was the general commissioner of taxes for the Newbury district for 30 years and was also involved in many other aspects of community life, including chairing the Lambourn Youth Committee, serving as a member of the police authority committee and serving as the church warden for St Mary’s Church in Great Shefford, where he was buried on Tuesday.

The Langford family had farmed in the area for several generation before Mr Langford, as had his mother’s family, the Waldrons.

His niece, Linden Langford, who looked after him during his last 10 years, said
“All those who spoke of him said he was a true gentleman.
“He was always generous and helpful and had a good sense of judgement, even in old age.
“His carers loved him because would always crack a joke.”

She said that people worked for him all their lives because he was a good employer.

“He will particularly be remembered for his generosity to people,” she added.

Mr Langford was born in 1915 in Shefford Woodlands and lived in the village all his life.

He attended Aldenham School in Hertfordshire before studying French at South Berkshire College, now Newbury College, and also studied farming in the town.

He was a keen sailor, taking boats out on the Theale gravel pits and Poole Harbour and qualified as an instructor in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

He was a special constable for the Thames Valley Police until the start of the Second World War, when he joined the Royal Observer Corps, farming during the day and taking part in air reconnaissance missions at night.

He leaves two other nieces, Sheelagh and Jane.