The Guntripps

Sarah and John Guntripp

John (b. 1778) and Sarah (b.1782) Guntrip were a very enterprising couple and were born and raised locally. John born in Longwick, Buckinghamshire and Sarah Guntrip (nee Goome) in Chinnor and was part of a large family.

Sarah (36) and John (40) were married in St Andrews church in 1818 and their marriage lasted 35 years until John’s death in 1853. The newly married couple moved into one of the cottages near the railway line. Sarah’s elderly mother (nee Eustace) lived with them along with Sarah’s sister Lucy Briggs. Sarah died in February in 1859 at the age of 77.

Sarah was a lacemaker and John a woodsman / wood dealer and recorded as such in the 1851 census and they were the only two in Chinnor. Sara was possibly the agent for selling local lace at the two weekly fairs held in Chinnor and supplying patterns and materials back to the ladies.

John as a wood dealer could have been supplying raw coppiced timber to the bodgers for turning into chair legs or supplying firewood as far away as the London market. This was a busy trade in firewood from the Chilterns until coal became more freely available and cheaper. The wood was shipped along the Thames to the capital or taken by packhorse. An alternative route was via Hambledon Wharf by horse and cart and moved by barge along the river from there.

The original name of the lane was Hollins Lane, however, as Sarah and John thrived and became stalwart residents of Chinnor the lane was renamed in the early 1840’s to Guntripp Lane

The cottages disappeared by 1881 but the old orchard which may well have been part of their land remains. The orchard itself is now under conservation by Greening Chinnor. Preservation of the old fruit trees and small excavations to determine the site of the old cottages is being conducted sympathetically by the group and volunteers.

The lane itself was also at one time known as Keens Lane, in later years it became Donkey Lane although not officially.