Farmers of Batts Farm
The Pimms, the Cookes and the Millers
George Miller
Sutton Local Studies And Archives
By 1841 the Pimm family ran Batts Farm. Charles Pimm was born in 1783 and at one time farmed 280 acres, employing twelve labourers. He lived there with his son William and daughter Anne. When Charles died in 1869, William took over and farmed there until his own death in 1892. They would have grown mainly grain and vegetables and had some livestock for local needs.
By 1901 the new tenants were Frederick B Cooke and his family. He was a poultry farmer. The1911 census shows that the farm had again changed hands, this time with Thomas Bridgman breeding poultry and his brother Charles, a plasterer, stating that he was head of the household. Neither man was married, but they had two nephews, George and Thomas Bridgman, living with them - one a plasterer and the other a farm assistant.
Lavender Growing
George Miller a Mitcham herb grower was in residence in 1912. The farmhouse which had probably been built in the late 1850s was now described as being in a poor state of repair. George specialized in mint and lavender and he had a still at Beddington Corner to extract the oil from his products.
George was subject to a court case after he allowed rubbish to be dumped on his land near to the newly built Isolation hospital. The smell was appalling and led to complaints by the patients and doctors. It was reported that nearby cottages were covered in flies. He ignored many warnings from health inspectors and it was not until ordered by the court that he agreed to dispose properly of the huge pile of waste that had accumulated on his land.