John Daffurn

I have been invited to hold my book launch for Stamford Assets in a building once owned by the Newcomb family….just one of the c120 properties they owned.

Details to follow shortly.

My new book will be published on 8 February 2025 however it is possible to pre-order your copy for delivery in the week prior to publication. This option is available until 31 January and the order page can be accessed HERE.

After 31 January the book will remain available using the link above but at the full price without postage included. Alternatively, the book can be obtained from Walkers Bookshop and Amazon after 8 February.

During the summer I rediscovered an old copy of the sale particulars of a major auction held in 1919.

The purpose of the sale was to dispose of almost all of the property estate of the Newcomb family including properties that had passed through eight generations from 1783.

The properties were well described but my inquisitive mind wanted to know how these properties had been acquired and from whom. Also how they had remained within the family for so long without division or sale.

Five months later the research is complete and a book is nearing completion. More details later this month.

John Daffurn’s latest book is due to be published on 4 November 2022

Between 1839 and 1842, a wealthy newspaper proprietor in Stamford, England, commissioned a group of fine Victorian buildings by an architect who until recently, had remained unknown. The designer of these buildings has now been identified as George Glover, and despite the quality of this work, by an architect in his twenties, little knowledge of him exists in the literature. Glover was born in York, the son of a whitesmith, and his eldest sister married Joseph Aloysius Hansom (1803-1882), the well-known Catholic architect and inventor of the Hansom cab. Glover’s life is trailed from York to the coastal town of Lowestoft where he declined, after exhibiting so much early promise, into relative obscurity.

ISBN 9780993147937

72 pages Full colour

57 illustrations 189mm x 246mm

With a Foreword by Professor James Stevens Curl, eminent architectural historian and editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture

Covid played havoc with my love of travel but it provided additional windows for desk research. I was able to publish Stamford Tenants towards the end of 2020 and make a start on a biography of the architect of Rock House and Rock Terrace in Stamford, which is now complete.

In November this new book, shown below,will be published.

Pre-orders for delivery by 23 October are now closed but it is possible to order for delivery after publication date HERE.

Articles about the book will appear in Active magazine at the end of October and the Stamford Mercury on 23 October.

The book will be available from Walkers bookshop on Stamford High Street from 23 October. John will hold a book signing from a market stall outside of M&CO on Stamford High Street on Saturday 24 October.

Review

         “Meticulously researched and beautifully presented, Stamford Tenants would definitely appeal to those with local history interests or those seeking inspiration for their own house history project. If you have Stamford connections, the pages will reveal a fascinating history on your doorstep that you may have yet to explore; and, if you are tracing a house history, the way that John Daffurn has woven case studies, high quality illustrations and useful timelines, setting out the history in interestingly themed chapters, provides an impressive example of a century of history”

Family Tree  magazine

If you are interested in more information about Stamford Tenants please register HERE

The book will look like this when it is launched towards the end of October …

If you are interested in additional information about Stamford Tenants please register HERE

The manuscript is being typeset as we speak and estimates are in from the printers.

My mind has turned to marketing the book and myself…the bit I hate. However I have set up a dedicated instagram account @stamfordtenants and this provides images and information about many of the other properties owned by Richard Newcomb or his heirs.