This is a tale loosely connected with the Forest, which may be of interest as Billy Butlin is involved in it.

Leonard Hill was born in Coaley, near Dursley. He married Harriet Smith and had 9 children, two of whom feature in this story.

His first child was Edmond Hill, born Coaley where he married Annie Griffin and they had 10 known children.
The Hill family were involved in a travelling fair as Leonard was a confectioner and Edmund a baker/confectioner and we believe they started off selling confectionary in fairgrounds. Edmund’s daughter, Bertha Hill, met William Butlin when the fair visited Leonard Stanley where his father was the vicar. They married but the family was not happy about this as they were from such contrasting backgrounds so they eventually moved to South Africa where they lived in Cape Town. It is here that their son, Sir William Butlin (Billy) was born. Bertha eventually came back to England , remarried and moved to Canada where Billy joined them later. The family travelled the fairgrounds mostly it appears in the south west area. In 1921 Billy came back from Canada and joined them. The rest is history. In 1901 some of Edmund’s children, can be found with their families at Fair Yard, Lower Hill Street, East Dean and in 1911 in a field at Edgar Street, Hereford. They also had connections in Bedminster, Bristol.

Leonard’s fifth child, Charles William Hill, married Margaret Darby from Hewelsfield and they had one child, Margaret Harriet Hill, who married George Maurice Selby. Margaret Harriet was, therefore, a cousin of Bertha Butlin and niece of Edmund as her father, Charles was a brother of Leonard. Charles met Margaret Darby when they were both servants for the Vicar at Coaley. After their marriage they moved to South Wales where Charles became a coalminer. Darby relatives from Hewelsfield, also moved there, lodging with Charles and Margaret. By 1901 the family had moved back to Hewelsfield where Charles became a gardener. The 1911 Census states he was a farmer. Charles died in 1932 and his gravestone is in Hewelsfield churchyard. Margaret Darby was the sister of Manoah Darby and daughter of Peter Darby. Manoah and Peter were both Parish Clerks for many years.

If anyone has any stories of the travelling fair on visits to the Forest, I would love to hear them although perhaps there is no one alive now who would remember them. I am not sure whether any of the Hill family are still involved.