January 2008

Happy New Year!

The Society newsletter will be circulated this month.

The Furrs of Hitchin

New member Harry Furr would love to hear from anyone who knows anything about his great grandparents Henry and Mary Furr who ran The Plough in Bridge Street, Hitchin, from the late 1870s to 1902, when Henry died there. Mary's maiden name was Nutting and their children were Walter, Frank, Fred and Elizabeth.

Harry's grandfather Walter Furr served 21 years in the army in Ireland and India. Walter's brothers Samuel and William are listed in the Hitchin school registers 1829, 1832 and 1835, at which time they lived in Ickleford.

One branch of the Furr family were fishmongers who also had a fish and chip shop in Nightingale Road, Hitchin. They were known as the Fishy Furrs and they get a brief mention in Derek Wheeler's book Hodgson & Hankin: a fishy tale of old Hitchin (see our books publications page), but Harry doesn't know if there was any relationship between the Fishy Furrs and his great grandparents at the Plough.

Can you help? Harry lives in Merseyside and can't get to Hitchin very often, but we're sure there must be stories and other information about the Furrs and the Plough among our members. Please contact the editor if you can add to Harry's knowledge and we'll be happy to pass on the information. He'll be delighted!

This page updated 6 January 2008