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In June 1914 it was announced that a marriage had been arranged between Miss Phyllis Deacon, the third daughter of Mr. Maurice Deacon, of Chase Cliff, Whatstandwell, Derbyshire, and Captain Arthur G.C. Capell, 2nd Battalion Northants. Regiment, the son of the Reverend G.M. and Mrs. Capell, of Passenham Rectory.

Having been the rector of Passenham and Deanshanger for over 40 years, after an illness of two weeks, the result of influenza and bronchitis, on January 28th 1915 the death occurred of the Reverend George Marie Capell. He was aged 70, and born at 35, Grosvenor Square on January 11th 1845 was the son of the Hon. Adolphus Capell, the brother of the 6th Earl of Essex by his marriage to the Hon. Charlotte Maynard, the eldest daughter of the Viscount Maynard. After gaining a degree at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1870 he was presented with the living of Passenham by his grandfather, Lord Maynard, but apart from his religious duties he also became a famed inventor. In fact in the March 1915 issue of the Peterborough Diocesan Magazine an appreciation would be given by the Reverend A.J. Roberts, Rector and Vicar of Hastings, Sussex, in which referring to the Capell Ventilating Fan he wrote; “… it has revolutionised and improved the ventilation of mines to such an extent that the conditions of health, comfort, and safety under which the miners can now work is so much to their benefit and advantage, which is their economical capital. I think at the present moment there are more patents under his name at the English Patent Office than to any one single English inventor, but the Capell Fan is the one by which he has made his reputation and by which he will long be known.” It was also known by the engineer aboard a steamship which was equipped with an example, for in his opinion “Never did a parson put his wind to a better purpose than when Mr. Capell invented the Capell Fan.” Indeed, it was employed in many coal mines in the Rhonda Valley, Wales, the Derbyshire coal fields, the mining districts of Germany and Austria, and also America, and at the time of his death the Reverend was working on a silent propeller for aeroplanes. He left unsettled estate of the gross value of £13,508, and bequeathed £50 a year to Ernest Wood, for his trouble in connection with his various patents. Having married Annie Lowe, the daughter of Peter Lowe, of Whitehall, Churchstowe, Devon, he also left monetary sums to his son and four of his daughters. The fifth, Kathleen, was married, and otherwise provided for. The patron being Lady Warwick, at Passenham the Reverend Capell would be succeeded by the 65 year old Reverend Henry Symonds, formerly the rector of Little Easton, Dunmow, Essex, where he had been for 11 years.

Captain Arthur Capell, of the 2nd Northants. Regiment, was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle on Friday, March 12th 1915. He had been shot whilst leading his men, and, with the service being read over the grave by the colonel of the regiment, was buried in the same grave as Captain Herbert Pollard, his friend and fellow officer. The only son of the late Reverend G. Capell, rector of Passenham, he was born in 1879, and joining the Northants. Regiment from the Militia in 1902 served in the South African War, being awarded the Queen’s Medal and two clasps. In 1910 he was made a captain, and in October 1914 married Phyllis, the daughter of Mr. Maurice Deacon Chase Cliffe, of Whatstandwell, Derbyshire. On the afternoon of Thursday, April 1st 1915 a memorial service was held in Passenham Church, and amongst the large congregation were many notables. Some having been connected with Captain Capell on the battlefield, eleven soldiers of the 2nd Northants. Regiment, from the Depot at Northampton, were present, and these included a sergeant and a bugler. Nine had seen action and been invalided home, and all the members received a bound copy of the memorial service. Among the family mourners were the widow, the four unmarried sisters, and the married sister, Mrs. M.K. Dawes, and with the service being fully choral the Reverend Nelson Ward, from Wicken, read the lesson. The concluding prayers of the burial service were read by the Reverend H. Last, of St. Giles, Stony Stratford, and after the singing of the National Anthem the ‘Last Post’ was sounded in the churchyard by the bugler. Of the wreaths one bore the regimental colours of the regiment, upon flowing ribbons, with the inscription ‘From his sister Marie in undying memory,’ whilst another was inscribed ‘in memory of our darling Arthur, from Mother and his sisters.’ In January 1916 a brass tablet in Passenham Church would be unveiled to his memory by his young widow. As the Commandant of a Red Cross Hospital she had obtained leave to attend, and also present were the late Captain’s mother and sisters.

In March 1915 Mrs. Marie Kathleen Dawes, nee Capell, formerly of Passenham, was the petitioner for a divorce from Mr. D’Arcy Mackinnon Dawes, on the grounds of alleged cruelty and adultery. The parties had previously entered into a deed of separation, which had been annulled. The couple had been married at Passenham, and lived in Hertfordshire and other places. A decree nisi was granted.

Mr. T. Byam Grounds, J.P., died at the age of 74 on Wednesday, February 16th 1916. He had been the popular squire of Passenham, and for some 35 years played an important role in local public life. Despite having an estate near Dereham, Norfolk, he had been a magistrate of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire for over 30 years, and was one of the most regular of those who attended at the Stony Stratford Bench. In 1878 he had married Annie Louisa, a sister of the Reverend G. Sams, the rector of Emberton and Rural Dean, and they had a son and a daughter. The son, Major Noel Byam Grounds, of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, was wounded early in the war, and the daughter, Miss Dorothy Byam Grounds, would on July 9th 1917 be married by the Reverend J. Cochez, Chaplain to the Belgian Forces, to Gustave Charles Corstiaens, of the Belgian Army. He was the only son of Charles Corstiaens, of Antwerp, and grandson of late Baronne de Walgrave, and the marriage ceremony took place at Notre Dame de France, Leicester Place. A staunch churchman, and for many years churchwarden at Passenham, on the day that he died Mr. Byam Grounds had been to Stony Stratford, and whilst returning was met at the top end of the town by Mr. W.F. Read, of Calverton, who gave him a lift in his trap. However, near Passenham he suddenly became ill and died, the cause being pronounced as heart disease. The funeral took place on Monday, February 21st 1916, and with the coffin having been taken in the morning from the Manor House to the church, there it rested in the chancel covered with beautiful flowers. As the congregation assembled, Miss Mary Sams played suitable organ music, and with many notables in the assembly she also accompanied the hymns. At Emberton Mr. Byam Ground’s widow, the eldest daughter of the late Reverend Barwick Sams, the rector of Grafton Regis, would die the following year on February 23rd.

On the evening of Tuesday, March 13th 1917, an inquest was held at Passenham Mill into the circumstance of the death of Walter Canham, a 51 year old farmer and dealer. The recent heavy rain had caused the water to rapidly rise in the meadows, and early the previous morning on noticing that his pony, which he used for purveying milk, had got into difficulties, he waded into the floods and rescued the animal. However, it seemed that the exertion had proved too much, and feeling ill he went home to bed. A few hours later he died, and by a post mortem conducted by Dr. Cecil Powell a blood clot in the leg was discovered to be the cause.

By the instructions of the Countess of Warwick, at the Grand Hotel, Northampton, in September 1918 the firm of Alfred Savill and Sons, of London, offered the Passenham Manor Estate for sale by auction. The first three lots were offered together; Lot 1 being the Manor Farm, Lot 2 being the mill and land known as Passenham Mill, and Lot 3 being the Manor House with grounds and outbuildings. The bidding commenced at £9,000 and the eventual price reached was £11,500.