John Rand Capron had a connection with Normandy in that he owned a fir plantation bordering the north of Pirbright Road near to the junction with Guildford Road at Elm Hill. The Tithe map for the Tithing of Wyke of 1841 shows the property as a fir plantation owned by Mary Mangles the widow of James Mangles of 'Woodbridge', Guildford. It is shown as two adjacent plots. One of I8 acres 36 poles, the other of l acre 3 roods and 2 poles. At that time the plantation was bordered on the east by another plantation owned by William Newland of Bramley and which later became the Normandy Park Estate and bordered on the west by a Common Allotment, described as "heath", owned by George Woodroffe and tenanted by Robert Hart. On the north the plantation was bordered by Wyke Glebe, another Common Allotment of heath, nominally owned by The Reverend George Bethell, then Rector of Worplesdon. Wyke Glebe was then in Worplesdon Parish. The southern border of the plantation was the present Pirbright Road. We do not know when the plantation came into the possession of Capron but a map attached to an Abstract of Title to Normandy Park Estate of 1890 shows the bordering property as belonging to him. To this day it remains a fir plantation, known and shown on Ordnance Survey maps as 'Rand's Plantation', now owned by the Ministry of Defence. The only other information we have about John Rand Capron also comes from the Surrey Advertiser. During the parliamentary campaign of 1880 he wrote a letter to the Surrey Advertiser criticising Mr Onslow, the candidate for Guildford. In the letter he mentioned that he had been out of politics for some time. We would be interested to hear of any further information about this remarkable man.
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