George Thums was born in 1841 in Basford in Nottinghamshire. He came to Derby in about 1860 and married Elizabeth Wilkinson in 1864. Their first three children were born in Derby and then the family moved to Little Eaton in about 1870. The couple lived first in Millwards Lane and then settled on the Alfreton Road. Their children George, Herbert, Milicent, Ada, Arthur, Henry and Frederick are all mentioned as pupils of Little Eaton School in 1881. Another son Joseph was born in 1883 but died aged 7 months.

In about 1900, they took over Church Farm (now the Long Barn and the Stone Barn). George then bought Park Farm in 1921, aged 80, and his son Henry farmed the 103 acres.

Henry was married to Harriet in 1905 and the couple had four children, Ada, Leonard, Arthur and Mary (Mary and her husband John Laurence Easter were John Easter’s parents).

Meanwhile, Henry’s brother Arthur took over Church Farm in the village. The two families lived in the two farms (known locally as Top Farm and Bottom Farm) until the late 1930s when Arthur died. Henry and Harriet then left Park Farm and took over Church Farm. Their children had married by then but lived nearby and continued to help to run the farm and the butcher’s shop.