About the Westleys (for a more complete story of the Westleys please see the History of the Mills and the out-of-print book 'Blisworth', milling section

The Westleys were much involved in developing the village throughout the 19th century, not just in terms of farming, milling and baking but also in house building. The last Westley in Blisworth was a Margaret, a daughter-in-law of the entrepreneur Joseph. Until c.1950, she lived in St Michael’s, the bungalow on the corner of Courteenhall Road which she and her husband Alfred built in 1933 as a retirement house after living for about 30 years in Crieff House.

Alfred was a partner in the company Westley Bros. and Clark Ltd (youngest brother of eight) and, by the way, named the house ‘Crieff’ after the town in Perthshire, Scotland, where they honeymooned. There’s also the Mount Pleasant cottages that were almost certainly named to recall the Baptist chapel of that name in the Kettering Road where Samuel (eldest brother) was an evangelist.

With a score of Westleys in the phone book it seems reckless of George Freeston to refer to their absence in terms of “oh, they all died out ..” as he fielded questions on one of those guided trips around the village he organised in the 70’s. He was surprised by someone pointing out that an Elizabeth Westley was in his group and listening to his every word! Elizabeth, who has forgiven him years ago, is the grand-daughter of the second eldest son, William. Following George, I have recently stated that the Westley’s involvement in milling dates back to c.1825 when Ann Westley (ne Campion) had a freehold acknowledged by the Duke of Grafton of a windmill on Cliff Hill, and was Joseph’s mother. A couple of genealogists in the village were set to make short work of this. They pointed out that Joseph’s mother was an Elizabeth Campion who married Samuel Westley in 1820. In the “Miller’s Story” Jane Evans prefers the theory, based on pencilled additions to an 1838 estate map, that the ‘Ann’ was really Joseph’s sister-in-law (Robert Westley’s wife). So imagine my relief when the present day Elizabeth stated that her milling great-great-grandmother was known as Annie. But - was it George who told her that?!

R&A article  Feb 05