Slades Farm no longer exists and can be remembered today as we pass Slades Wood on the road from Chickering to Wingfield and Stradbroke. Slades Farm was demolished to make way for the erection of The Depperhaugh which took its name from the nearby Depperhaugh Wood. It is most probable that the land here was owned or tenanted by the Pipe family who were living at Hoxne and Reading Green during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The next family to own the property called Slades Farm was the Deye or D’Eye family from Eye, Suffolk. The Reverend Thomas D’Eye [1732-1766] who was the rector of Palgrave, Suffolk obtained ownership and it passed from him to his sister Martha. Thomas was the son of Nathaniel D’Eye [b.1691] of Eye, Suffolk and his wife Mary Cullum [b.1695] of Thorndon. Thomas must have gained some education, possibly at Eye Grammar School which had been founded during the 16th century within the Guildhall. Perhaps Thomas most probably purchased Slades Farm as an investment to provide himself with an income, or may have inherited this property, but at present we are not sure.
Thomas was 18 years old when he went to study at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1750 and gained his BA in 1755. We do not have any information about his training as a priest, but in 1757 he became the rector of Palgrave, Suffolk. If you go into the church at Eye and examine the much worn floor memorials you will come across several adorned with the armorial of the D’Eye family. This family most probably took its name from the town of Eye and were long established here.
Thomas was the rector at Palgrave from 1757 until his death in 1766 aged 35. He may have lived at Palgrave Rectory with his wife Mirabella Stebbing [1734-1772] who also came from Eye, but the site and sound of children in his home was not an experience he enjoyed as Thomas and Mirabella were not blessed with their own children.
Nathaniel D’Eye [1691-1758] and his wife Mary Cullum [1695-1756] were the parents of Mary [b.1729], Martha [1730-1801], Nathaniel [1734-1734], Dioness [1735-1736], Dioness [1737-1737] and Nathaniel [1737-1737]. So it would appear that the D’Eye family were going to die out within the male line. His sister Martha was married to Edmund Betts [1719-1788] of Oakley and they were the parents of George [1750-1753], Martha [1751-1779], Mary [1755-1814] Charlotte [b.1756] and Harriet [b.1758]. So Martha was to become the heiress of her brother’s properties.
Thomas D’Eye had no children of his own and must have briefly enjoyed the friendship of Martha’s children until his early death in 1766. Martha’s children therefore were the only issue from the D’Eye family and his closest relatives. Mirabella had married Thomas D’Eye in 1760 and on his death she remained a widow until 1768 when she was remarried to Thomas Hendry, a widower from Kings Lynn, Norfolk.
Martha Betts and her husband Edmund resided at The White House in Oakley, positioned near to the entrance to Hoxne Hall, which was owned by the Maynard family. In later years this property was extended and became known as Oakley House, not to be confused with Oakley Park, the former Hoxne Hall until its ownership by the Kerrison family.
Martha and Edmund’s daughter Martha Betts [1751-1779] was married to John Worth [1737-1774] an apothecary and surgeon from Diss, Norfolk. They were to be the parents of John Worth [1775-1835] who became a Royal Navy captain. In 1802 Captain John Worth was married to Catherine Sinclair [d.1849] at St Paul’s Church, London on the 10th August. Catherine was the heiress daughter of Captain Patrick Sinclair and his wife Anne Sutherland.
John and Catherine were the parents of Mary Catherine Sinclair Worth [d.1889] who was married in 1834 to Baldwin W Walker [1802-1876] who had a distinguished naval career.
John Worth [1737-1774] the apothecary and surgeon in Diss, Norfolk was an antiquarian and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He purchased several papers which came from the renowned antiquarian Thomas Martin [1696-1771] of Palgrave for £600, but did not enjoy his purchase very long as he died in 1774 and was buried at Diss on the 12th December. He died intestate and his library was sold to Thomas Hunt the bookseller from Harleston, Norfolk.
If we look at the armorial for the Worth family it depicts a double headed eagle and we can confirm that John Worth was the son of Walter Worth [1707-1755] of Cambridge, who was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and became the rector of Brockdish and Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk. Walter was the son of William Worth and Jane Cillinback who were married in 1707 and lived within the parish of St Giles, Cambridge.
Walter Worth [1707-1755] was married to Susanna Aldous [1708-1762] of Fressingfield, Suffolk in 1737 and they were the parents of John Worth of Diss, who became an apothecary and surgeon.
It has been said that The Depperhaugh had been built on the plan of a ship and that the tall chimney stacks represented smoke turrets and the terrace at the back of the house represented a quarter deck and that the rooms had nautical names. The Walker family remained here for several years and members of the family are buried near to the west tower of Hoxne Church.
Article provided by Stephen Govier