William Lovell
William Lovell was actually born Joseph Augustus William Lovell. He was born in 1852 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Lovell. He had nine siblings. William's father was a small farmer and by 1871 William was living with several of his siblings, his brother Thomas, who headed the household, having followed in father's footsteps and become a farmer himself. It seems that William's interest was in animal husbandry, as in subsequent censuses he is described as a cowman or stockman.
William married
Sarah Elizabeth Stacey on 13 October 1880 at Combroke; she was a Compton Verney girl. (Sarah is buried at
E 12. 2). They went on to have a very large family - of thirteen children. By 1887 they had moved to Stareton as their daughter Ellen was christened here in that year. They lived at 2, Stareton, for the rest of their lives. Many of the Lovell children went on to play a large part in the life of Stoneleigh.
William died on 9 November 1933, aged 81, seven years after his wife.