Your ancestor may have been employed on a local estate, or provided services for it. Wages books, rentals and estate accounts, including bills, are excellent sources for family history. Once you know which parish your ancestors came from, a good starting point is to look at the local Tithe Map. Produced in the 1840s, these give the names of landowners and tenants, and will help you identify an estate which might hold relevant records.
Christ Church School, Chorleywood
Admission Register / Excuse Book, 1862 - 1874 (HALS ref: HEd1/193/2)
Family at Ashridge
from Panshanger photograph album, 1860s