Oliver Aldred Starling of Martham (1861-1950)

Oliver was born in 1861 at Winterton-on-Sea to George Davey Starling & Tryphena Marie, nee Thurtle. He grew up at his parents home at The Tower Mill, Hill House, Hemsby. His father was the miller there and Oliver may have learnt the mechanical workings of the mill from an early age which would have given him a good grounding for his future career.

In 1890 he was recorded in the electoral register for Martham as being an engine fitter and he lived at Hope Cottage which is a large thatched house on the east side of Martham Village Green. On 10th February 1892 Oliver married his cousin Laura May Thurtle, the daughter of Robert & Anne Thurtle. They married at her home village of Ormesby St Margaret by which time Oliver was a self-employed agricultural engineer. Oliver & Laura had six children who were all born whilst they lived at Hope Cottage. They were:

• Frank Oliver Starling who was born on 22nd June 1895. In 1925 he married Bertha Mabel Dyball of ‘Greenside’ across the Village Green. Frank died in 1970 and Bertha in 1974.
• Alec Leslie Starling who was born on 26th July 1897 but sadly died the following year, aged one.
• Ralph George Starling who was born on 26th September 1899. He married Margaret Thurtle (no relation to his mother) in 1932. Ralph died at Dover, Kent in 1969. Ralph was known as Ray.
• Eric Robert Starling who was born on 23rd January 1903. He married Edith Eleanor Barnes in 1932. Eric died at East Dereham in 1978.
• Marjorie May Starling (known as Mardie) who was born on 28th August 1905 and married James Kirkland at Great Yarmouth in 1932. Marjorie died in Surrey in 1976.
• Olive Mary Starling was born in 1911 but tragedy struck again when she died aged only 18 months.

Hope Cottage is shown above. You can see that someone has written the name Oliver Starling on this photo of the cottage thus confirming who lived there. They have also written “Martham Centenary Camp Meeting” which refers to the Methodist  Centenary of 1907 which dates the photo to that year.

Hope Cottage was a large property but perhaps their growing family needed more space or Oliver was just becoming more successful because as 1915 approached he was able to buy a meadow on which he had a new house built.
The railway had arrived in Martham in 1878 slicing through a field to the east of Rollesby Road. This created a portion of land to the north of the railway line outlined in red on the 1906 OS map shown below. This is where he had his new house built in 1915 that he called Westgrove. 

As we have seen above Oliver & Laura had six children but two died as infants. The others lived to become adults and below we have some lovely photos taken with Westgrove in the background still under construction or very soon after its completion.

Oliver greatly enjoyed playing cricket and he provided part of his garden, come meadow, between Westgrove and the railway line as a venue for the Martham cricket team to play their home games. It is shown on the above map outlined in blue. 

Below is a garden party on Westgrove front lawn looking west with the house in the background being across Rollesby Road. The date is unknown but there is a microphone for announcements so it may have been a party to celebrate the completion of Westgrove. Alternatively, although there are lots of ladies and children in the photograph there is a distinct lack of young men so perhaps, they were all at war and the bunting could also point to an end of the First World War celebration.

My thanks to David Stretton & Richie Warnes for the cricket and Starling family photographs.

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