Each era has had its prominent local personality and during the 19th century undoubtedly the most active person in this locality was George Burt.

Burt alias Loveland The Burt family had long been established in Worplesdon. In his will dated 2nd May 1582 George Burt alias Loveland stated his wish for his body to be buried in the churchyard of St Mary's. In the musters of 1572 he had been a "pyke man of the best sorte", while William Burt was a "bowe man of the best sorte". The latter name will also recur in our story. For the musters it was stated that "the strongest and best to be pikes; the strongest and squarest fellows will be fit to carry muskets; the least and nimblest should be turned to the arquebuses.".

On 10th August 1807 another George Burt was born, the fourth child and second son of Joseph and Ann Burt of Stoke. Ann later bore three more sons - one baptised Richard Smallpeice Burt - and two more daughters. Sadly, the youngest daughter was born some five months after the death of her father.

Hurst Farm. On 14th December 1832 George married Caroline Goddard of Frimley. The wedding was at Worplesdon, and his sister Maria and one of the ubiquitous Smallpeice family, James, were the witnesses. By 1835 George Burt was qualified to vote as a resident of the tything of Burgham and it seems likely that he was already the tenant of Hurst Farm, owned by Richard Sparks. George was certainly established there, farming 200 acres, when the Tithe Apportionment was made between 1836 and 1841. He and his wife, their children William and Maria, and their servants lived in the old Russell house, west of the Woking road, while some of his farm labourers lived in the old Crosse house, east of the road, which had been divided into five "tenements". In Worplesdon he owned Goose Rye Farm and several cottages, occupied Lower Farm and generally seemed to live up to his ancestor's alias of Loveland.

George and Caroline had three more children, Walter, Joseph and Ellen. At the time of the 1871 census, the last one to be taken while the family were still at Hurst, the only child still living at home was Walter, aged 28, unmarried and earning his living as a Miller, probably at Burpham or perhaps at Stoke. William had married and left home to start his own family and we shall hear more about him in due course. Ellen, Maria and Joseph disappeared from the census returns before they would have been 23, 17 and 13 respectively and we may hope that they were just absent, for various reasons, and not that they had died young as, sadly, was so often the case.

George was very active in the affairs of Worplesdon. As a Copyholder of the Manor he was a member - and on occasion the foreman - of the Homage of the Manor of Worplesdon; that is to say the jury at the Manorial Court Baron which dealt with transfers of land and the rights of the Lord and his tenants. He was also a member of the Homage of the Manor of Burgham.

His name was frequently mentioned in the Surrey Advertiser as being present at all types of public functions. In August 1873, for example, the annual ploughing match of the Worplesdon Ploughing Association took place at Hurst Farm, where "Mr Burt, with proverbial hospitality, provided an excellent luncheon, of which a large number of friends availed themselves." In the evening he attended the dinner of the Association at the Angel in Guildford.

During his time as tenant of Hurst Farm the property passed from Richard Sparkes to Sir William Bovill. After the death of Sir William his Trustees authorised a public auction, in April 1877, of properties which included not only Hurst Farm but also Queen Hythe Farm and Watts Farm. However none of these farms were sold on this occasion.

In the Particulars of Sale it was stated that all the farms were occupied by George Burt, who had been given notice to give up possession by 29th September but was to receive compensation from the purchasers for his interest in the land "according to the custom of the Country". In March he was reported as having attended a concert in Worplesdon, but sadly he died soon after the sale, on May 4th aged 69, while probate of his will was dated 26th May 1877. In his will he left nothing to his sons but bequeathed cottages and four acres of land at Kiddys Moor, Worplesdon, to his grand-daughter Ellen, then aged eight, in the custody of her father William until she attained the age of 21. He also left properties to William Lee of Fairlands and James Goddard of Godalming, the latter no doubt a relation of his wife.

William Burt His eldest son, William Burt, had worked for his father until the age of about 30, when he married and became a Farm Bailiff, living at Southland Farm - the location of which we have not yet deduced.

Not long after the abortive auction sale of 1877 William bought Queenhythe Farm where he lived with his wife and seven children - the said Ellen and George, Maria, Joseph, William, Grace and Mary, and farmed 56 acres. He remained there until February 1890 when he sold up and moved to Crabtree Cottages, describing himself as a "Retired Farmer", although he was only 53. His daughter Ellen lived there with him and in the 1891 census, when she had just attained her majority, she was described as "Living on her means" so her grandfather's bequest was presumably providing her with an income.

In 1904 William moved to Prey Heath, Woking and sold Queenhythe to Major Henry Treeby, although he continued to own property in the area - such as, in due course, Elm Cottages. Thereafter the Burt family appears to have severed its connections with the area, except perhaps for another George Burt who was living at Fern Cottage in 1938.