The Tanner family came from Sussex and were both tanners by name and occupation. By the mid 1700s they owned the Tanyard in both Ditchling and Wivelsfield. They were also farmers and accumulated significant land ownership in the area, some of which was inherited through marriage.

With the death of Anthony Tanner in 1832, who was by then a widower, the surviving children, which included my husband’s great great grandfather Richard, went with their aunt, Harriet Neve, to live in London and both the tanyard and land was sold.

After being apprenticed to a Paper Merchant Richard set up the family business of R.T.Tanner & Company which was run by four generations of the family until the late 1990s. [see www.rttanner.co.uk]