Tiptoe Farm
What was the residence of Mary Girling from 1879 to 1880?
Mary Girling Mary Ann Girling ( 1827–1886 ) was an English religious leader , the founder of the sect called The People of God , also known as New Forest Shakers . Life . Girling was the daughter of William Clouting ( or Clowting ) , a small farmer , born in the parish of Little Glemham , Suffolk , on 27 April 1827 . She had little formal education , and her letters were full of spelling and grammatical errors , but she was considered to be quite intelligent . When she was 16 , she married George Stanton Girling in the Anglican Church . He was first a seaman , then a fitter in an iron foundry , and afterwards a general dealer at Ipswich . She had eight miscarriages and two surviving children . Girling had a vision of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day 1858 ; by Christmas 1864 , she began to believe that she was a new incarnation of the Deity . One sign of this was in the stigmata which appeared on her hands , feet , and side . She was wont to describe with minute details the extraordinary emotion which overwhelmed her at the moment when she experienced the divine call . From that period she went about proclaiming the new revelation and speaking as with absolute knowledge of hidden mysteries . She gathered around her a small company of men and women , belonging for the most part to the labouring classes . Their first meeting-place for public worship was at 107 Bridge Road , Battersea , London , where in August 1870 they attracted much attention . They were generally called shakers , but they themselves never accepted that name , but always spoke of their community as the Children of God . By 1871 , Girling had been barred from preaching in the Methodist chapels which she had previously attended . This was likely due in part to her style of preaching—an eyewitness who called her the high priestess of Jumperism wrote the woman prayed volubly , and used her long arms freely in gesticulation…actually screaming in a which I thought might have caused a jump or two . However , it also reflected unease with her increasingly public claims to divinity . On 2 January 1872 , the Children of God removed from London and settled near Hordle in the New Forest , Hampshire , where Miss Julia Wood , a wealthy lady , had purchased for them a residence and a farm , known as New Forest Lodge . Wood gave £2,250 for the property , on which there remained a mortgage of £1,000 . Here the community increased to 160 persons , who learnt to regard Mrs . Girling , ‘their mother,’ with tenderness , love , and reverence . She owed her authority over her people to her belief in herself and to her great force of will . Their faith in her endured through cold , hunger , and suffering , and many and repeated misfortunes . It was believed that they would all live for ever , and that sooner or later everybody would acknowledge the divinity of Mrs . Girling , who would then rule over a peaceful world . She was a tall , lean woman , with an upright carriage , a strong , intelligent countenance , bright eyes , a very good expression , and a rather winning voice . She had scruples against going to law , which afterwards made her an easy prey to her enemies . The community was industrious , and lived in a state of celibacy . It also followed Girlings prohibitions on trade , leading it to fall into debt and be evicted from New Forest Lodge on 15 December 1874 . Girling was subsequently declared insane , though the verdict was overturned ; several years later , Miss Wood was also declared insane and spent 24 years in an asylum . The eviction took place in very severe weather , and the pitiable condition of the people excited much commiseration , particularly following reports that an infant had died of exposure . The community camped on the roadside for two days , when they had notice to leave , and part of the community returned to their homes in various parts of the country . A Mr . Beasley then offered them the use of a shed , where they remained for three weeks , but the place was not large enough for them all to sit down at one time . They next found a friend in the Hon . Auberon E . M . Herbert , who gave them the use of a barn on the Ashley Arnewood farm , Lymington , on the condition that Girling sign an agreement to prevent any dances without clothes taking place among any of the brothers , sisters or children , reflecting the widespread belief that the Children of God engaged in orgies , witchcraft , and other unsavory practices . After staying in Herberts barn for five weeks , they removed to a field which they formerly had on lease with New Forest Lodge ; when this lease expired they were again turned into the roadway , and there they lived night and day for five weeks . In 1879 , Girling rented a two-acre farm called Tiptoe Farm , near Hordle . Here the community erected a number of wooden huts with canvas roofs , with a larger and superior hut as a place of public worship . The farm became a tourist attraction , with visitors arriving in charabancs on the weekends and buying quantities of beer from the nearby public house . Girling publicly announced her divinity in a letter to local newspapers in February 1882 . The only publication known to survive , however , is a four-page tract entitled The Close of the Dispensation : the Last Message to the Church and the World . It is signed ‘Jesus First and Last ( Mary Ann Girling ) , Tiptoe , Hordle , near Lymington , Hants , 1883.’ In it she says : Latterly the Children of God escaped public notice , except from excursionists visiting the place . The cold and exposure at last told on Mrs . Girling , and she fell ill . During her illness she did not lose faith in what she had preached , and believed that she would never die , but would live until the second coming of Christ . Girling was diagnosed with cancer of the womb and died at Tiptoe , Hordle , on 18 September 1886 ( aged 59 ) , and was buried in Hordle churchyard 22 September . A large crowd turned out for the funeral . Afterwards , those of the community who had friends returned to them , and only six persons were left to occupy the camp at Tiptoe . Girling left children , among them a younger son , William Girling . Legacy . According to author Philip Hoare , Girling inspired Andrew Thomas Turton Petersons interest in spiritualism and mesmerism . During a séance , Peterson claimed to have received the plans for what would become Petersons Tower in Sway , Hampshire from Sir Christopher Wren . In the 1870s and 1880s , local newspapers regularly reported rescues and escape attempts related to the Children of God , claiming that members of the community were terrified of Girling . While under Mrs Girlings reign of terror , one was said to have written , I was not allowed to write to you , or do anything only in strict accordance with her decrees . Girling has also become the subject of urban legends . In Hampshire and Isle of Wight Folk Tales , author Michael OLeary reports that in the 1990s , a group of young men who had robbed a service station stashed the money in Hordle churchyard . When one of them returned to claim it , he encountered the tall , gaunt , angular figure of a woman , wearing a long , black Victorian dress and a large , black bonnet…and she was jumping–up and down–up and down… The young man fled , and The police found him the next day , crouching in a foetal position , rocking backwards and forwards , laughing and crying at the same time .