Colin's ancestors, the Warlands, farmed at Noke, which is on Otmoor. We know they were in Noke in 1841 and 1870 when family births took place there. They were definitely farming there in 1881 at the time of the census and in 1901 when one of the sons got married, his father is listed as a farmer, probably still at Noke. We don't know whether they were involved in what is described in the paragraph below, but it's quite possible. We found this out in a book that my daughter was reading about the agricultural revolution, and the implementation of the Enclosure Acts:

"Sometimes (but not often) there was violent opposition to a scheme. Otmoor in Oxfordshire was commonland, used by cottagers to rear large flocks of geese. In 1814, a proposal to drain and cultivate the common was torn from the church door. One of the scheme's advocates criticized local poor: 'In looking after a brood of goslings, a few rotten sheep, a skeleton of a cow ... they acquired habits of idleness and dissipation and dislike to honest labour'. When the enclosure was made, resentment turned to defiance: a thousand men, women and children smashed the new hedges. Troops were called and arrests made. For several years the 'war' continued, moonlit nights being a time for breaking down the fences." (From the book Spotlight on the Agricultural Revolution by Christopher Martin.)

(The following has been written by Colin's father, about his parents and grandparents. His mother was Evelyn May Warland.)

"My Grandfather (John Herbert Warland, born about 1870 in Noke near Oxford) was a baker in Oxford, but before he had his own business I think he lived outside Oxford. All his relations on the WARLAND side were farmers as far as I know. During the 19th century the Warlands farmed at Upper Farm, Noke, on Otmoor, near Oxford.

My mother was Evelyn May Warland, who was born on 16 November 1901 at 44 Chester Street, Cowley St John. When she married Arthur Clifford English on 24 November 1927, she was still living there. She was always very close, I never could get much information out of her. Grandmother Warland was a bit of a funny woman. She didn't go to her daughter Kathleen's wedding (although her husband, John Herbert Warland did), because she didn't approve of the marriage. My sister Jean was a bridesmaid."

Our Warland ancestors: