The history of Brickfields Country Park, page 11

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In spite of a history with Aldershot going back to the 16th century, information about this particular Boxall family is very hard to come by. Tim Childerhouse (our local historian) wrote on page 6 that – The Boxall family came into possession of the land in about the middle of the 1600's, probably at the time of the Great Rebellion, England's Civil War. Widow Sarah Boxall[1] did not pay her taxes and was taken to court in London in 1703, soon after this the land seemed to become split into several smaller sections, of which Boxalls Farm[2] was the largest in acreage. Sadly Tim died without passing on his research to us so we are still looking for any historical references to Sarah Boxall and the London court case from 1703.

However recent searches have turned up two wills from 1682 and 1710, both for men named "Thomas Boxall yeoman of Aldershott", both wills mention a John Boxall and a Thomas Boxall either as sons or "my brother", so we now have the beginnings of a family tree.

The first will[3] for Thomas Boxall from 1688 mentions his "well beloved wife Sarah", and their children John (aged 8) and Thomas (aged 4). Their ages at this time are calculated back from another document dated 1688[4] where they appoint their mother Sarah, as executor for their now deceased fathers will of 1682, as they were – "in our respective minorityes". This will goes on to mention a William Boxall as Thomas Boxall's father from whom he purchased and then occupies land.

The second will[5] from 1710 for Thomas Boxall the younger son, makes a bequest to the son of his brother John Boxall – "late" – of Guildford Surrey. That son is also a Thomas Boxall, the main residue of his estate is given to Elizabeth Boxall, his niece, the daughter of John Boxall. No mention is made of Sarah Boxall. The will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury which was a church court under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and was responsible for the probate of wills and trials of testamentary causes where the value of the goods involved was greater than five pounds, and the property was held in two (or more) dioceses within Great Britain.

So for now we have –
William Boxall has a son Thomas Boxall(1). William dies prior to 1682[6].
Thomas(1) is married to Sarah prior to 1682 and they have sons John and Thomas(2). Thomas(1) dies prior to 1688[7] having made his will in 1682.
Thomas(2) is married, his wife is Elizabeth(1), referred to as "her Mother in law" when referring to Elizabeth(2) in his 1710[5] will.
John is living in Guildford and has a son Thomas(3) and daughter Elizabeth(2), the niece and nephew of Thomas(2) prior to 1710. John dies after 1688 and prior to 1710 as he is "late of Guildford" in the Thomas(2) will of 1710.
Thomas(3) dies sometime after 1710.

There is a large Boxall family history project maintained by Veronica Mensch over at Facebook, alternatively Google "Boxall Genealogy" and take it from there. Good luck. We are indebted to Veronica for putting us on to the wills and especially Jill Salt who did splendid work transcribing the old English legal wording – not an easy job!

Cont....

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There is a burial for a Sara BOXOL in 1727 at St. Michael the Archangel[8] in Aldershot. [top]
From – www.hants.gov.uk/hampshiretreasures/vol03/page199.html – "Farmhouse, Boxalls Farm. Stone and brick structure. Extensively restored. Original structure possibly C.18, on site of earlier building. Farmland was rented by Waverley Abbey until its dissolution 1536. Ref: The Story of Aldershot, (Cole), p.294. SU 866 494, Card 0102 08".
Unfortunately Hampshire C.C. has taken down the "Hampshire Treasures" section of its website, so all the contents of this useful on–line resource about Hampshire's past has been lost.
Also –
From "The Story of Aldershot – A History and Guide to Town and Camp", Lieut. Colonel Howard N. Cole O.B.E., T.D., Aldershot, Gale & Polden, ©1951 – Page 294 – "Boxall's Farm comprises three cottages, a Farmyard and out-buildings", and in the sale sheet issued by the auctioneers when the Farm was sold in February, 1922 was described as a "very compact small holding with sufficient ground for pig and poultry farming comprising 1–1/4 acres with a capital barn, cowsheds and piggeries".
and -
"To the north of Boxall's Lane, at the rear of Jubilee Road, at the foot of a shrub–strewn steep hill lies a brick and tile works, today the premises of Carwood, Wharton and Co. Ltd., manufacturers of Porex Pipes. The old kilns stand on the site of brickworks which have existed for over two hundred years on this site, the brick kilns being shown on the map of 1856, and were known during the latter part of last century as "Kemp's Brickworks" after the Aldershot builder of that name. To the left of the brickworks is Boxall's Farm, the original buildings of which remain, and adjoining is a large field, formerly a playing field, which bounds the southern edge of a housing estate comprising Highfield Gardens, and Highfield Close which was built in 1938-9 and is still being developed, the roads taking in the old footpath which ran from Farnham to Guildford through the villages, a part of the old Pilgrims' Way. This footpath, which still exists in parts, ran at a diagonal from Boxalls Lane near the foot of Eggars Hill, behind the lower portion of Highfield Avenue and across the fields, to the rear of Evelyn Avenue, where it joined Croft Road and lead on to the Parish Church". [back] [top]
Thomas Boxall's(1) will from 1682. [back] [top]
John and Thomas Boxall(2) in 1688 appoint their mother Sarah Boxall as executrix for their fathers 1682 will. [back] [top]
Thomas Boxall's(2) will from 1710. [back] [top]
From the website of Thomas Kerry Brown for Aldershot burials there is a burial for a William Boxall on the 4th March 1652, Aldershot. Unfortunately the original link no longer works but it is available from the WayBack Machine internet archive here. [back] [top]
www.ancestry.co.uk burial record for Thomas Boxall on the 19th September 1685, St. Michael the Archangel, Aldershot. [back] [top]
Wikipedia entry for the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Aldershot, and at The Church of England. [back] [top]