It's easy when you walk around an area all the time, not to notice small signs of the past. However if you keep your eyes open they are everywhere. Around Sutton in the late 1800s, comfortably off Victorian families lived, typically with many children and two or three domestic servants. One of these such houses was Haselmere in Brighton Road pictured here in 1918.

Haslemere Brighton Road SuttonHaslemere Brighton Road Sutton

Haslemere Brighton Road, Sutton

Haslemere was designed by local architect Herbert Appleton for his brother William in the 1880s. William Appleton, a tea merchant like his father, lived here with his wife Bessie, sons Bernard and Harold and daughters Florence and Dora and a cook, housemaid and a nurse. Harold died in 1906 age 27 and after Bessie's death in 1928 William lived in the house with his elder daughter Florence until his death on the 22nd October 1940. William left £173,075, a vast amount at the time, to his son Bernard and daughter Florence. 

William Appleton Of Haslemere Brighton Road SuttonWilliam Appleton Of Haslemere Brighton Road Sutton

William Appleton

Haselmere was demolished in the 1960s and a block of flats called Dunsfold Court stands on the site today. The original nameplate remains on the wall outside and a magnificent cedar tree still stands in the grounds that the Appleton children ould have played in over a hundred and twenty years ago.