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Leigh & District Historical Society

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  • History
    • Introduction to Leigh: Concise History from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day
    • Leigh: Early History
    • Artists and Leigh
    • Beating the bounds in Leigh
    • Bell Ringing in Leigh
    • Cinder Hill and Iron
    • Oak Tree on the Green
    • Place Names in Leigh and other parts of Kent
    • Jutish Forest (ca 500AD-1350AD)
    • At the end of the last Millennium
    • Leigh History by F N Stagg
    • Leigh before the Normans, pre-1066
    • Medieval Eating and Drinking in Kent
    • Leigh to 1550: Villare Cantianum
    • King Harold on his Way to Hastings: 1066
    • Leigh authorizes creation of separate Parish of Bidborough 1219
    • Leigh Man in Rebellion against King Edward (1320s)
    • Roads: Three Years and Still the Road is not Repaired – local people complain!
    • Wealden Iron Industry: ca1400-1760
    • Did Leigh People see Shakespeare? (ca 1600)
    • Tonbridge Education and Sir Andrew Judde 1500-2019 – and the Leigh Connection
    • Catching the Post – ca. 1550s-1900
    • Navigation of the Medway 1500-1840
    • Flooding – Leigh and Medway: from 1600 to present
      • A Myth Exploded: The Flood Barrier
    • 1661: Lady Anne Sidney marries Leigh’s Vicar, the Rev. Joseph Carte
    • Unveiling of Leigh’s War Memorial December 1920
    • Leigh Parish Registers
    • Shingle and Bear (sic): Leigh Churchwardens Accounts 1737-1740
    • Streatfeild Ledger Stone in the Nave of Leigh Church
    • Dr Robert Moffat 1795-1883
    • Crime in the Village, 1796
    • Leigh’s Three Windmills: 1820s-1960s
    • A hundred years of Leigh squirearchy: 1809-1886
    • Architect in Leigh: George Frederick Bodley (b. 1827-1907)
    • Leigh for Breakfast in 1823
    • The Swing Riots in 1830 – and Leigh
    • George Devey, Victorian architect, 1820-1886
    • Building of the South Eastern Railway track through Leigh 1840
    • What was Leigh like in 1840 – and what might you have been doing?
    • Tithe schedule: 1840
    • Leigh Butcher – Prosecuted (May 1869)
    • Canadian Red Indians, Shakers and Leigh, 1860
    • Hall Place Gardens in the last quarter of the 19th century
    • The Great Flood, 1880
    • Band of Hope – ca 1880-1900
    • Winter in Leigh 1879: Christmastide
    • Hall Place Gifts to Workers: 1880s-1945
    • Census and Cricketers in the Leigh Area: 1881
    • Diamond Jubilee celebration, 1897
    • Shocking Railway Accident in 1898
    • Leigh Village Policemen – 1900-1990
    • Killed by Lightning c1905
    • Church Parades, 9 June 1907
    • Leigh’s Own Railway Station: The History of the Redhill to Tonbridge Line
    • Coronation of King George V, 1911
    • Diary of an unknown man, 1904-1939 – named as Fred Eade
    • Chiddingstone Causeway War Memorial: 1918
      • Geoffrey William Paley Ashmore
      • William Henry Crouch
      • William Crossland
      • Horace Henry Eade
      • William Edward Frost
      • Herbert William Grubb
      • Montague William Hewlett
      • Percy Henry Parker
      • Victor Henry Pitfield
      • James Richards
      • Alfred Sears
      • Arthur Edward Warner
    • First World War – Half Time …
    • Tonbridge Cricket Week 1920
    • Leigh War Memorial: 1918 and 1945
      • William Henry Bamblett
      • Horace Batchelor
      • Sidney Batchelor
      • Edward Robert Bickersteth
      • Jack Brooker
      • Reginald Lewis Brooker
      • Charles Bourner
      • Frank Bourner
      • James William Bourner
      • Leslie Albert Chandler
      • John Albert Thomas Curtis
      • James Gordon Davies
      • James Charles Davis
      • Victor George Ready (Everest)
      • John Everest
      • Sidney Everest
      • Frank Faircloth
      • Anthony Lacon De Mallet Flower
      • Eric Gordon Fraser
      • Frank Garner
      • Frederick Healey
      • Sidney James Leonard Horan
      • Harry Horsey
      • Leslie Walter Cyril Humphrey
      • Albert George Janman
      • Frank Arthur Killick
      • Tim Lee – coal merchant
      • G. Mitchell
      • Charles George Henry Nixon
      • Gilbert Nixon
      • F. Parker
      • Philip Walter Patching
      • Sidney Pocock
      • Charles Robinson
      • Hubert Leslie Russell
      • Arthur Harry Murray Schofield
      • William Arthur Smith
      • James Taylor
      • Albert Towner
      • William James Upton
      • Herbert Upton
      • Roland Alfred Woodgate
      • Ernest Mark Young (Mark Young)
      • Godfrey Valentine Brooke Hine
    • Circuses and Funfairs in Leigh 1920s-1970s
    • Mummers’ Plays and Leigh ca 1930s
    • Memories of Leigh Bakery and Chapel, 1927-1939
    • Leigh Playhouse – 1930s
    • Fire at Hall Place – 28 November 1940
    • Leigh in the War 1939-45
    • Memories of a Leigh Evacuee – Gladys Hale
    • Memories of a Leigh evacuee – Tony Scragg
    • Evacuees in Leigh: Village Guests
    • Memories of Leigh during World War 2 by David Walters
    • Second World War events, by Bernie ‘Butch’ Baker
    • The Messerschmidt that surrendered in Leigh
    • The Battle of Britain and Penshurst Airfield
    • 1940 and the Pillboxes around Leigh
    • Leigh’s Iron Cross: 1940
    • Telegraph Boy in the 1940s
    • Leigh Meals on Wheels 1940s-1980s
    • Bakery and chapel-going, by Joyce Juggins (1935-1948)
    • Lord Hollenden moves into workshops – 1941
    • Do You Remember Dadlems Day?
    • Sunday School 1950s
    • The village sign 1951
    • Harvest Festival 1959 Style
    • A Child at Hall Place
    • Village Childhood Fifty Years Ago
    • Coronation Celebrations 1953: A Parade of Decorated Vehicles!
    • Village Shopping Fifty Years Ago
    • Leigh’s First Parish Magazine – August 1957
    • Leigh 1952 and 2002
    • Reflections of a Parish Clerk 1956-1984
    • A Gamekeeper’s Troubles: George Clarke (1955)
    • Silver Jubillee, 1977
    • Best Kept Village, 1971
    • John Parfitt and Papers – from the start of the Historical Society, 1981
    • Wild flowers of Leigh (1985)
    • The Princess Christian Farm Colony 1895-1995
    • French Film Crew Visits Leigh in July 2014
  • Family history
    • The ANDERSON Family at Home Farm and Charcott
    • Gladys AXTELL
    • BAILY family of Hall Place
      • Who was Farmer Baily?
    • Lucille BAKER 1948-1959
    • BENFIELD family
    • BENNETT family
    • Dr Ernest BERKLEY
    • Harry BLACKFORD – Chauffeur to Dr. Beaufort Fraser
    • Charlotte BOURNER
    • BOYD family and Moat Farm
    • BROAD family
    • BROOKER family
      • BROOKER Family Tree
      • Tribute to Ken Brooker
    • Clement Bertram BURT
    • CHILDREN family
    • The CHEESEMAN family
    • George CORNELIUS, police constable
    • Harold COX (1859-1936)
    • CRANDALL family
      • Richard Crandall – Road Rage
      • The Crandall Dynasty
    • Betty CRAWFORD
    • Keith DAVIDSON – Memories 1957-1963 – and letters from mother and father 1964-1974
    • Doctors in Leigh
    • Fred EADE
    • FAIRCLOTH Family
      • Harry Joseph FAIRCLOTH 1856-1929
    • FARRANT Family
      • FARRANT Family Tree
    • Harold FARRINGTON – Cricket Ball Maker
    • The FITZJOHN family
    • Emma GARDNER’s Prize 1901
    • Roy Frederick GRANT
    • GREVATT, George William
    • GRAY family
      • Joyce Caldwell – memories
    • GREYLAND children
    • HEATH AND HINE FAMILIES
      • HEATH AND HINE FAMILY TREES
      • GODFREY VALENTINE BROOKE HINE (1890-1915)
      • HEATH FAMILY ALBUM
      • Origins of the Chinese Porcelain at The Woods
    • The HEALY Family
    • Bob HINGE – wins flight in Lancaster
    • HOBBS – WINTER- STYLES Families of Leigh and Charcott
    • John HOLDEN
    • Thomas HODSON – Leigh Resident in Prison
    • Florence HOSTLER
    • Alfred HOUGHTON
    • Albert Charles HUMPHREY family
    • INGRAM Family
      • Ike Ingram 1855-1947
    • Noel JEMPSON, Landlord of the Plough
    • Harold JONES 1905-1983
    • Peter KING: Leigh Blacksmith: 1936-2014
    • John KNOCK (Pen Portrait)
    • Eileen LOCK
    • MAGNUS Family and Porcupine House
    • LUCAS Family
      • Lucas Brothers and Allotment Theft
    • MAY family
      • Thomas MAY’s letter to son 1849
      • MAY family letters to Henry May
      • MAY Family Tree and Notes
      • Cartes de Visite
      • Deed 4 Feb 1889: Isabella Maria May and Death Certificate
      • Indenture Between Thomas May and Samuel Morley: 28 December 1882
      • Indenture Between Henry Sturt and Thomas May re Little Lucy’s Farm 1886
      • MAY and OLIPHANT connection – who was Isabella Oliphant?
    • MAYNARD George ‘Pop’
    • MEACHAM, Charles Stephen: artist
    • MORLEY and HICKS of Lealands Avenue
    • MORGAN sisters
    • OLDER, Frank (1918-2006)
    • Samuel MORLEY
      • Samuel Morley at Leigh
      • Lady Sonja – 1919 to 2014
    • Edward OUTRAM, A Leigh Butcher
    • Janie van OOSTEROM
    • PANKHURST family
    • POCOCK Family
    • Joseph RANDERSON 1880-1973
    • SALES family
      • George Sales: Agreement signed 7 January 1858
      • Alfred SALES 1837-1928
    • Mrs SELDEN
    • SIMMONS family
      • Jack Simmons and the Titanic
    • SHOEBRIDGE Family
    • Bert STUBBINGS (and Argent) Family in Leigh
    • Thomas STURGESS, churchwarden
    • STYLES family
    • Edward TERRY
    • Phyllis UPFIELD
    • WAITE family
    • WELLS family
    • Rev. G E WESTON – Vicar of Leigh 1918-1926
    • Octavius WALTON
      • Reverend Walton’s photograph album
      • AMY CATHERINE WALTON
    • JOHN WILDASH – Who was John Wildash?
    • Albert WINSON
    • WINTER family
    • Richard YOUNG – Charge of the Light Brigade Hero from Leigh
  • Photographs and Documents
    • Buildings
    • Church
    • Clubs, Teams, Village Organizations and Institutions
    • Documents
    • Events
    • General Views
    • People
    • Penshurst Sales Particulars 1921
    • Rev. Octavius Walton’s Photo Album
  • Around the parish and MAPS
    • Maps held by the Leigh Historical Society
    • Maps of Leigh and district
      • Farm Survey, 1713 – Tyherst and Sinderhill Farms
      • Plan showing the Scheme of Drainage of the Village of Leigh, Kent: 1872
      • Farm Survey 1767 – Clark’s Farm
      • Farm Survey 1767 – Funk’s Farm
      • 1870 Ordnance Survey – area around village
      • Farm Survey 1819 – Little Kettles Farm
      • Penshurst Estate, 1822
      • Hasted’s History of Kent, 1778, vol 1 the Somerden Hundred
      • Lady Yonge’s Estate, 1758
      • Andrew, Drury and Herbert, 1769
      • Hasted’s History of Kent, 1778, vol. 2: The Lowry of Tonbridge
      • 1801 Ordnance Survey
      • 1810 Plan for Proposed Grand Southern Canal
      • Greenwoods Map of Kent, 1821
      • Powdermills, 1837
      • Tithe Map, 1841
      • DRAINAGE MAP and REPORT 1872
      • Maps of Leigh
    • Leigh’s Shops and Trades
      • Beer retailers/pubs/publicans in Leigh
      • A Plea to Save Leigh Tradesmen (March 1991)
      • Moon’s Garage
      • Butchers in Leigh
    • Around the Green
      • Leigh Green and The Village Sign
      • Barden Cottages
      • Cherry Tree Cottages/Chestnuts
      • Church Hill Cottage/s
      • Church Hill House
      • Cricket Pavilion
      • East Lodge
      • Elizabeth Cottage
      • FORGE Square and area/properties south of Church
        • Forge (The) and Forge House (formerly Cottage) and Forge Cottage
        • Forge Square (formerly Great Boydens/The Row)
        • Great Boydens – The Row (now Forge Square): also Little Boydens
        • Great Brooks
        • South View, (including Little Boydens)
      • Inglenook
      • The Jubilee Almshouses
      • Kennards
      • Oak Cottage, The Green
      • Old Chimneys (formerly No 1 and 2 The Green)
      • The Slaughterhouse
      • Park House
      • Old Wood Cottage
      • Pippin Cottage
      • Porcupine House
        • The Goat’s Head
        • The Naming of Porcupine House
      • Vicarage (Old) – and Leigh’s Four Vicarages
      • The Village Pound
      • War Memorial
    • Charcott
    • Farms and the surrounding area
      • Applebys
      • Blackhoath Cottages
      • Cinder Hill Farm
      • Fair Acres
      • Forstall, The
      • Fosters Farm
      • Gales and Greenways Cottages
      • Garden Cottages
        • Garden Cottages in 1921: a talk given by Susanne MacGregor
      • Great Barnetts
      • Green Lane, The (Meadowbank, Crandalls, Wyndham)
        • Leigh’s Pre-Fabs (Meadow Bank)
      • Green View Avenue/Lealands Avenue
      • Hayesden Farm
      • Home Farm (known as Clarks Farm until 1856)
      • Laundry Cottage (Bid Bridge)
      • Leigh Park Farm
      • Lightfoots Cottages
      • Little Barnetts Farm
      • Little Lucy’s Farm
      • Meadow Bungalow, off Weir Lane
      • Moat Farm: The Moated Site, Leigh Kent
      • Moorden: A Short Exhibition on the History of Moorden in Leigh
      • Moorden Farm House
      • Moorden Cottages
      • Oasts in Leigh
      • Oldhouse Farm and Old House
      • Old School House
      • Paul’s Farm
      • Powder Mills – The Cottages
      • Price’s Farm
      • Ramhurst Farm
        • Ramhurst Corn Mill
      • Watts Cross Windmill
      • White Cottage (The)
      • Wickhurst Farm and Oast
      • Woods, The
    • Gaza Barracks
    • Hall Place
      • Hall Place Rent Books
      • Hall Place 1660-1780
      • A Guest at Hall Place in 1859? And Who was John Wildash?
      • The Engineers Department at Hall Place
      • Game-keeping and Shooting in Leigh 1920s/1930s
    • High Street South Side – East to West; North Side East to West; and Lower Green
      • Bat and Ball and adjoining Cottages
      • Bombers Cottage
      • Budgeons Cottages – plus Bridge House, Ivydale and Bradbourne (Lower Green)
      • Chilling House (formerly The Limes)
      • Cottage (The)
      • Donkey Field
      • El Vanin and Ranmore
      • Engineers Cottages, Penshurst Road
      • Fleur-de-Lis and Fleur-de-Lis Cottages
      • Institute Cottage
        • Leigh Reading Room and Institute (Institute Cottage)
      • Oak Cottages, High Street and Lower Mead Cottage and The Firs
      • Lyghe Halt
      • Old Bakery (The)
        • The Bungalow, Lower Green
      • Old Brickmakers
      • Orchard House
        • Restaurant in Leigh
      • Pear Tree Cottage(s)
      • Penshurst Entrance Lodge: Pinnacle/Pepperpot
      • Pump Cottage And Pump House
      • Rose Cottage (replaced with Charlotte Bungalows)
      • Saxby Wood
      • Square (The)
      • Stone House (The) and Park Cottage (formerly 1,2,3 Park Cottages)
      • Village Halls (The)
        • Village Halls Refurbishment Project 1984-1987
        • Leigh Village Halls – Historic Background
      • West Cottage and Park View
      • West Lodge
      • Waterworks Cottages, Kiln Lane
      • Waterworks, Kiln Lane
      • Well Close
      • Wheelwrights Cottage
      • White House (The)
    • Institutions, clubs and teams
      • Cricket Club
        • Cricket after the War: Tonbridge Cricket Week 1920
        • Leigh Cricket Club history
        • The Match at Hall Place Park Monday 5 June 1848 and additional article on Cricket in Leigh in 1848
        • An Innings which ‘lasted three days’
      • Football Club
        • Leigh Football Club Centenary
        • Junior Footballers of Yesteryear – Where are they now? (July 2003)
      • Golden Years Club
      • Hospitals for people in Leigh
      • Leigh Coal Fund
      • The Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade
        • Leigh Volunteer Fire Brigade 1882-1948
      • Leigh Good Intent Benefit Society
        • Benevolence and Self-Reliance in Leigh in the 19th Century
      • Leigh Institute – minute books and accounts
      • Leigh Nursing Association and Leigh Invalid Comfort Fund
      • Leigh Poor and the Leigh Poor House
        • Leigh Families in the Sundridge Workhouse
        • Leigh Parochial Charities
          • Leigh United Charities
        • The Poor Law and the case of John Collens 1845
        • Sold for a Shilling and a Bottle of Gin
      • Leigh Police and Crime
        • Leigh Prosecuting Society
        • Why did Leigh need a Prosecuting Society?
        • Crime in Leigh in the first half of the 19th century
        • Leigh Special Police Constables
        • Crimewatch 1343!
        • Crime in the Village 1796
        • Richard Crandall and Road Rage
        • Lucas Brothers and Allotment Theft
      • Leigh Royal British Legion Table Tennis Club
      • Leigh School
        • Boy Gardens at Leigh School, 1931
        • Miss Helen M Naish – Headmistress of Leigh School 1946-ca 1968
        • Miss Winifred Ellis – infant teacher 1927-1946
      • Leigh Scouts – Scouting in Leigh – How it began
      • Leigh Village Horticultural Society: Brief History
      • Leigh Women’s Institute Pram Race 1971
    • Leigh Chapel
    • St Mary’s Church
      • Sermon by Rev Miles: November 2015
      • Worship in Leigh 1876–1883
      • The Churchyard
        • New Churchyard
        • Memorial Wall
      • Churchyard Boundaries: repair of the Church Wall after 1987 Storm
      • Vicars of Leigh
      • Church brasses
      • Stained glass
        • Stained Glass in the Heath Window, North Transept
      • Leigh Church during the Incumbency of the Rev. Hugh Collum
      • Refurbishing the Chancel in 1892
      • Monuments in Leigh Church
      • Leigh Church – A vicar, why not a Rector?
      • St Mary’s Choir (-1934-1984)
      • Painting of Leigh Church by Charles Stephen Meacham
        • Charles Meacham in the Local Press
      • Restoration of Leigh Church 1861
      • Four Leigh Vicarages
    • North Lodge, Redleaf, Penshurst
    • Powder Mills
      • Aynho – Powder Mills
      • Charity Win
      • Elizabeth I and her Association with Powder Mills
      • History of Powder Mills
      • Powder Mill Cottages
      • Powder Mills – general photographs
      • Watch House (The)
      • Checklist of trees and plants on the Powder Mills site, 2005
      • Maps of Powder Mills
        • 1951 Ordnance Survey
        • 1920 Ordnance Survey
        • 1981 Ordnance Survey
        • 1814 Kentish Sources
        • 1837 Powdermills
        • 1840 Tythe Map
        • 1801 Ordnance Survey
        • 1859 Conveyance Plan
        • 1865 Ordnance Survey
        • 1899 Ordnance Survey
        • 1916 composite
        • 1924 Ordnance Survey
        • 1938 Ordnance Survey
      • Pictures of Powder Mills
      • Powder Mills photos of site at time of dig
      • People of Powder Mills
        • Powder Mills workers, 1930s
        • David Benfield, a Powder Mill Family from 1811
        • William Ford BURTON
        • Noel Jempson, Powder Mill Carpenter and Landlord of the Plough
        • A schoolboy’s memories of the Powder Mills 1925-1935
        • Powder Mill Workers and Relocation: The Cheeseman Family 1830-1859
        • Powder Mill workers and relocation: the Sealy (or Sealey) family
        • John Fredrick Herring and Explosions at Leigh Powder Mills
        • Tim Lee – Powder Mills lorry driver
        • The Swain family
    • Growth of Parish 1830-2020
    • Southwood – Leigh’s ‘other’ Stately Home
  • Archive
    • Archive index
    • Burials 1827-1840: of children 5 years and under
    • Chapel burials, Leigh Nonconformist Chapel
    • Chris Rowley, We had everything: Index
    • Deed 4 Feb 1889: Isabella Maria May plus Death Certificate
    • Deed 1 August 1913 Exchange of Land and Cottages (South View/corner Green Lane)
    • Deed of Redemption: Leigh United Charities etc 1938
    • Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of Kent
    • Hildenborough Burial Records and www.findagrave.com
    • Indenture between Henry Sturt and Thomas May re Little Lucy’s Farm: 1886
    • Indenture Between Thomas May and Samuel Morley 1882
    • Leigh Parish Registers 1592-1812
    • Leigh Workhouse, 1851
    • Miscellaneous documents in our archive
    • Minutes of the Parish Council (Indexes only) 1894-1979
    • Notes on the History of the Parish of Leigh, by Commander F N Stagg, 1946
    • Poor House deaths, 1829-40
    • Redemption Document re Charity of George Children 1937
    • Sale of part of the Penshurst Place Estate 1921
    • Vestry Minutes 1823-1844
  • Links
  • Society events
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