Reginald was born in 1880 at Babcock, Somerset to Alfred and Ellen Coggan. In 1884 Alfred moved his family to the Ship Inn at Mere, Wiltshire. From here Alfred ran a business in cattle dealing and butchery; meat being packed in hampers, sent by horse and cart to Gillingham, Dorset and taken by rail to London.
 
The young Reg was apprenticed to a butcher in London, where he learnt the trade. He returned to Somerset to become manager of a butcher’s shop in West Coker. There he fell in love with and married the owner’s daughter, Miss Elsie Mary Gent in 1906. Returning to Mere, Reg and Elsie ran their own shop and gave birth to a son Jack (1906) and daughter Doris (1908).
 
In 1916 the couple moved to Church Farm, Mere, mainly for the purpose of cattle dealing. In 1921 they finally settled down in Stratford sub Castle. Sadly, Elsie died in 1929.

Reg built a reservoir and windpump on his land in the early 1920's, which provided a water supply for properties on Stratford Road until 1940.

His background in the meat industry led Reg, with his son Jack in 1928 to start a slaughter house and meat business at Parsonage Farm, where they traded as R Coggan & Son. From 1939 until 1954, when meat rationing ended, the meat trade was controlled by the Government, including the slaughter house at Stratford.

After Jack and family moved to Home Stud, Reginald ran the farm with his grandson Patrick (Pat) as a partnership in the name, R&P Coggan. When Reg died in 1959, the only will found, dated 1930, left the farm and house entirely to Reg’s daughter Doris. (Taken from stratfordsubcastle.org.uk December 2021)