Kemsing was from the fifteenth Century a church with a curate; the Vicar of Seal lived at Seal and had responsibility for supervising curates at Kemsing. This arrangement changed in 1874 when Reverend George Bridges Lewis was appointed Vicar.
George Bridges Lewis was born on 5 March 1824 at The Close Salisbury Wiltshire.He was the only son of William Wiliam Lewis of Woburn Place London. He was privately baptised on 14 March 1824 at his grandfather's home and his baptism is recorded in the register of Saint Andrew Holborn London.
He is found in the 1841 census of Bradford Wiltshire to be a pupil of the Reverend James Bliss. He was later educated at Eton before entering Oriel College Oxford earning a BA in 1846 deacon in 1849 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1850 at Winchester by the Archbishop of Canterbury Doctor John Bird Sumner. He gained his MA in 1853 at Oxford.
I first encountered his entries in Sundridge registers he served as curate at Sundridge from 1849-1852. Before his arrival he had married Mary Rebecca Madeline Sutherland on 8 June 1848 at Croydon.Sadly Mary died on 17 November 1850 at Hastings Sussex. He was to remarry twice again.
From 1853-1857 he was curate at Malden in Surrey and his entry in the 1851 census suggests that he lived there with the Vicar Reverend William C Stapylton Vicar of Malden cum Chassington.George is recorded as a visitor in the census and described as Curate in that parish.
In 1857 and until 1875 he was Perpetual Curate of Northaw Hertfordshire and in 1873 he became Vicar of Kemsing.
In the Kemsing burial register there are two unique entries
interment of combatants from the battles of Otford
the extraordinary baptism of a deceased infant
He died aged 80 in 1905 at The Close Salisbury in Wiltshire and was buried on 13 January 1905 at Salisbury Cathedral.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Friday 22 May 2020
The Extraordinary Kemsing Baptism of a Deceased Infant
On 7 March 1885 a daughter was born to John and Susan Vaughan of Noah's Ark Kemsing. As I transcribed the Kemsing burial register for 1885 there is a very detailed description by the Vicar George Bridges Lewis of subsequent events. I have the impression that both infant and child mortality in the hamlet of Noah's Ark was extremely high and wonder what was the cause of so many deaths.
John and Susan notified the Vicar of their desire for the baby to be baptised and a Sunday date was set for the Baptism at Saint Mary Kemsing. However the baby died before Sunday,and what followed was the most extraordinary record I have ever encountered in transcription work since 1968.
"2 April 1885 attended the burial of an infant... I used such service as deemed expedient"
Reverend George Bridges Lewis meticulously records even what ecclesisastical clothing he did and did not wear "no surplice ".
"I received the party at the porch and read ....then entering the church I stood on the north side of the font with the coffin west of me closely." After baptizing the child's body "then to the grave" where the form of burial was carried out.
"I did so much because of the intention of the parents to have brought the child to baptism which was frustrated by its sudden death otherwise I should not have admitted the coffin to the Church at all Oh!!!"
I wondered why in so many infant burials private baptism was not thought expedient in a hamlet with such infant mortality and whether the extraordinary baptism caused the Vicar to examine his conduct. There are a number of possible interpretations of that Oh and three exclamation marks!
the detailed entry for this event can be found at the foot of page 68 of the register of burials from 1813-1911 and is numbered entry 544. There is no entry for the child in the Kemsing Baptisms register for the year and not unusually for the hamlet no birth or death registration takes place in the March quarter but an Ada Vaughan is registered in the June quarter. The burial register contains no name for the child.
The same volume during George Bridges Lewis period as Vicar includes the battles of Otford interments conducted by him.
My transcript of the Kemsing burial register is now complete and is being prepared for publication at Kent Online Parish Clerks in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
John and Susan notified the Vicar of their desire for the baby to be baptised and a Sunday date was set for the Baptism at Saint Mary Kemsing. However the baby died before Sunday,and what followed was the most extraordinary record I have ever encountered in transcription work since 1968.
"2 April 1885 attended the burial of an infant... I used such service as deemed expedient"
Reverend George Bridges Lewis meticulously records even what ecclesisastical clothing he did and did not wear "no surplice ".
"I received the party at the porch and read ....then entering the church I stood on the north side of the font with the coffin west of me closely." After baptizing the child's body "then to the grave" where the form of burial was carried out.
"I did so much because of the intention of the parents to have brought the child to baptism which was frustrated by its sudden death otherwise I should not have admitted the coffin to the Church at all Oh!!!"
I wondered why in so many infant burials private baptism was not thought expedient in a hamlet with such infant mortality and whether the extraordinary baptism caused the Vicar to examine his conduct. There are a number of possible interpretations of that Oh and three exclamation marks!
the detailed entry for this event can be found at the foot of page 68 of the register of burials from 1813-1911 and is numbered entry 544. There is no entry for the child in the Kemsing Baptisms register for the year and not unusually for the hamlet no birth or death registration takes place in the March quarter but an Ada Vaughan is registered in the June quarter. The burial register contains no name for the child.
The same volume during George Bridges Lewis period as Vicar includes the battles of Otford interments conducted by him.
My transcript of the Kemsing burial register is now complete and is being prepared for publication at Kent Online Parish Clerks in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Wednesday 20 May 2020
Kemsing 1880 interment from the Battle of Otford 776 or 1016
In 776 the battle of Otford took place see Wikipedia Battle of Otford (776) .
In a detailed entry in the Kemsing Burial register Kemsing Saint Mary 1813-1911 held at Kent Archive and Library Maidstone (reference P205/1/E/1) there is an account of the interment service held to bury in consecrated ground two skeletons believed to be from the battle.
On 18 December 1880 a plough had disturbed the bones which were found in "field number 24 on the ordinance map 750 years west of the West End" of Saint Mary Kemsing. "The skeletons were lying one with feet to the east the other close by with feet to the West - a spearhead was afterwards found."
Reverend George Bridges Lewis the Vicar of Kemsing goes on to record "Probably they are remains of mankind at one of the battles of Otford at Danes Field a mill west of Otford in 1016".
There is no further account of what if any action was recorded by the local Coroner or of any archaeological investigation The second battle at Otford in 1016 is cited by the vicar as being probable for the Kemsing skeletons see Saxon Otford wikipedia.
On 24 December 1880 the two humans remains placed "with reverence" in a box and "interred in the churchyard near the North fence due north of the north buttress of the nave" had several prayers and collects as part of the ceremony conducted by the Vicar and assisted by the Parish Clerk.
Image Wikipedia
My transcript of the Burial register will be published at Kent Online Parish Clerks Kemsing parish page in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
In a detailed entry in the Kemsing Burial register Kemsing Saint Mary 1813-1911 held at Kent Archive and Library Maidstone (reference P205/1/E/1) there is an account of the interment service held to bury in consecrated ground two skeletons believed to be from the battle.
On 18 December 1880 a plough had disturbed the bones which were found in "field number 24 on the ordinance map 750 years west of the West End" of Saint Mary Kemsing. "The skeletons were lying one with feet to the east the other close by with feet to the West - a spearhead was afterwards found."
Reverend George Bridges Lewis the Vicar of Kemsing goes on to record "Probably they are remains of mankind at one of the battles of Otford at Danes Field a mill west of Otford in 1016".
There is no further account of what if any action was recorded by the local Coroner or of any archaeological investigation The second battle at Otford in 1016 is cited by the vicar as being probable for the Kemsing skeletons see Saxon Otford wikipedia.
On 24 December 1880 the two humans remains placed "with reverence" in a box and "interred in the churchyard near the North fence due north of the north buttress of the nave" had several prayers and collects as part of the ceremony conducted by the Vicar and assisted by the Parish Clerk.
My transcript of the Burial register will be published at Kent Online Parish Clerks Kemsing parish page in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Friday 15 May 2020
Sundridge Aerodrome Coombe Bank Farm
There are very few aircraft hangars in England that predate the 1914-1918 war but Sundridge has the oldest airplane hangars in the country and they are Historic Listed buildings see Historic England Images and the 1988 Grade 2 listing.
Serge de Bolotoff was a Russian Prince who designed the the two seater biplane the De Bolotoff SDEP which was manufactured at Sundridge.
De Bolotoff claimed to be the fifth person in the world to fly in a powered aircraft and he had attempted to build and fly an aircraft to fly across the English Channel to contest a prize offered in 1908 by the Daily Mail.
An interesting illustrated history of his aircraft types is here.
His aircraft production at Sundridge halted in 1927 when de Bolotoff Engineers ceased manufacture. However the aerodrome continued to use the hangars during World War 2 as an aircraft recovery unit handling damaged aircraft. After the war the hangars with the addition of a concrete wartime addition became farm buildings until in 1988 because of their significance they were listed by Historic England.
Many years ago I spent nearly a year visitng Kingswood House in Dulwich one day a week. The mansion and grounds by the 1970's had been acquired by Southwark Council. In the 1950's a large London County Council housing development encroached onto the grounds and and the mansion was developed as a council library and was used by community groups. A Day centre for the elderly was developed by the council on the ground floor and terrace. The building is currently used as a wedding venue.
Prince Serge Vincent Constantinovitch de Bolotoff was born in 1889 in Saint Petersberg Russia the child of Constantine de Bolotoff and Princess Marie Wiasemsky. In 1908 he took a sublease of Kingswood House in Dulwich from the owner the estate of John Lawson Johnston the inventor of Bovril.
The Princess his mother and he moved into Kingswood House with his sister and two brothers. The staff included 7 live in servants (including three hospital nurses) an unspecified number of outdoor servants and two gardeners who occupied the lodge. Despite all this his name did not appear on the lease and the de Bolotoff mother and son did not finance the lease;payments were made by loans from others. The situation arrived in Court and the judge found against the family who were forced to leave Kingswood House in a scandal of publicity.
In 1914 after successful arms trade with Russia the de Bolotoffs lived for a time at Kippington Court Sevenoaks a grand house in seven acres.
However financial scandal followed and the withdrawal of backing for de Bolotoff Engineers brought the collapse of the business in 1927.
In August 1918 the daughter of Harry Selfridge Rosalie Selfridge married Serge. The recent TV series Mister Selfridge brought the de Bolotoff name to the public again.
Serge was constantly in court defending financial actions against his mother and himself. However his memory is preserved as an early aviator at Coombe Farm.
He is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery see Find a Grave
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Serge de Bolotoff was a Russian Prince who designed the the two seater biplane the De Bolotoff SDEP which was manufactured at Sundridge.
De Bolotoff claimed to be the fifth person in the world to fly in a powered aircraft and he had attempted to build and fly an aircraft to fly across the English Channel to contest a prize offered in 1908 by the Daily Mail.
An interesting illustrated history of his aircraft types is here.
His aircraft production at Sundridge halted in 1927 when de Bolotoff Engineers ceased manufacture. However the aerodrome continued to use the hangars during World War 2 as an aircraft recovery unit handling damaged aircraft. After the war the hangars with the addition of a concrete wartime addition became farm buildings until in 1988 because of their significance they were listed by Historic England.
Many years ago I spent nearly a year visitng Kingswood House in Dulwich one day a week. The mansion and grounds by the 1970's had been acquired by Southwark Council. In the 1950's a large London County Council housing development encroached onto the grounds and and the mansion was developed as a council library and was used by community groups. A Day centre for the elderly was developed by the council on the ground floor and terrace. The building is currently used as a wedding venue.
Prince Serge Vincent Constantinovitch de Bolotoff was born in 1889 in Saint Petersberg Russia the child of Constantine de Bolotoff and Princess Marie Wiasemsky. In 1908 he took a sublease of Kingswood House in Dulwich from the owner the estate of John Lawson Johnston the inventor of Bovril.
The Princess his mother and he moved into Kingswood House with his sister and two brothers. The staff included 7 live in servants (including three hospital nurses) an unspecified number of outdoor servants and two gardeners who occupied the lodge. Despite all this his name did not appear on the lease and the de Bolotoff mother and son did not finance the lease;payments were made by loans from others. The situation arrived in Court and the judge found against the family who were forced to leave Kingswood House in a scandal of publicity.
In 1914 after successful arms trade with Russia the de Bolotoffs lived for a time at Kippington Court Sevenoaks a grand house in seven acres.
However financial scandal followed and the withdrawal of backing for de Bolotoff Engineers brought the collapse of the business in 1927.
In August 1918 the daughter of Harry Selfridge Rosalie Selfridge married Serge. The recent TV series Mister Selfridge brought the de Bolotoff name to the public again.
Serge was constantly in court defending financial actions against his mother and himself. However his memory is preserved as an early aviator at Coombe Farm.
He is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery see Find a Grave
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Thursday 14 May 2020
Sundridge Paper Mill Kent
One of the largest industries in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Kent was paper making. The demand for white paper after 1754 in particular was enormous as every parish was required to record marriages in a printed register and this and the need for paper banknotes created a large demand and various parts of Kent responded. From 1813 Parish registers were required to conform under an act of George III to maintain standard form Baptismal and burial registers and Church of England Dioceses purchased from London stationery printers all of the records for each parish in England. Other faiths also needed to record and the demand for white paper increased.
Sundridge Mill provided paper for another major customer namely the Bank of England for over a century and it was therefore a major industry in the area.
A map of the mill is included in a collection of Chevening material held at Kent Archives and Library Maidstone under reference P88/28 papers presented by the Barham family to the parish of Chevening. The Mill had a long mill pond and was an extensive range of buildings. As a water powered mill it could not compete in the last half of the nineteenth century with the larger paper mills which were steam powered elsewhere in Kent such as Dartford.
The Sundridge Baptismal registers transcribed for Kent Online Parish Clerks reveal the number of heads of Households described as paper makers or foreman to the manager. The population of Sundridge not engaged in agriculture or trade were employed at the Mill and it would represent the largest year round employment in the parish.
The mill buildings were converted to a laundry in 1910 and the water wheel removed to enable steam power to be generated for the Laundry. The mill pond was destroyed by a bomb in 1940 and in 1969 the derelict buidings were demolished. Nowadays there is no sign of the site; the land is waterlogged marsh at the side of the Westerham to Sevenoaks section of the A25 on the approach to Sundridge.
Such images as survive are in postcard form and a selection of them is found in the catalogue of Mills Archive.
My Sundridge transcripts are being prepared for publication at Kent Online Parish Clerks Sundridge parish page in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Sundridge Mill provided paper for another major customer namely the Bank of England for over a century and it was therefore a major industry in the area.
A map of the mill is included in a collection of Chevening material held at Kent Archives and Library Maidstone under reference P88/28 papers presented by the Barham family to the parish of Chevening. The Mill had a long mill pond and was an extensive range of buildings. As a water powered mill it could not compete in the last half of the nineteenth century with the larger paper mills which were steam powered elsewhere in Kent such as Dartford.
The Sundridge Baptismal registers transcribed for Kent Online Parish Clerks reveal the number of heads of Households described as paper makers or foreman to the manager. The population of Sundridge not engaged in agriculture or trade were employed at the Mill and it would represent the largest year round employment in the parish.
The mill buildings were converted to a laundry in 1910 and the water wheel removed to enable steam power to be generated for the Laundry. The mill pond was destroyed by a bomb in 1940 and in 1969 the derelict buidings were demolished. Nowadays there is no sign of the site; the land is waterlogged marsh at the side of the Westerham to Sevenoaks section of the A25 on the approach to Sundridge.
Such images as survive are in postcard form and a selection of them is found in the catalogue of Mills Archive.
My Sundridge transcripts are being prepared for publication at Kent Online Parish Clerks Sundridge parish page in due course.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Wednesday 13 May 2020
Otford Saint Bartholomew Transcripts of Parish Registers
I continue my ramble along the Pilgrim's Way parishes as I transcribe parish registers for publication on the Kent Online Parish Clerks parish page for each parish.
Otford is a village which I have visited numerous times over the last 40 years since I left London to reside in Kent. I was fascinated to discover the remains of a lost Palace of Henry VIII which is a scheduled monument and other old houses including a manor House. I'll begin this blog though by looking at the history of the parish church of Saint Bartholomew and then return to Henry VIII and the palace.
Originally Shoreham Parish was extensive and included Otford and Dunton Green. A chapel of Ease was needed and built at Otford at the end of the Saxon period and the beginning of the Norman influence;the nave is the oldest part of the building and dates from the 11th century with a tower added in the 12th century. The present building is Grade 1 listed building and it's listing details the centuries of adaptation Listed building register.
The earliest register has an interesting story and as I progress the transcript series for the parish I will return to tell that.
For the present I am transcribing the burial registers as here as in other Pilgrims Way parish records there is traveller history. Travelling families often followed the Pilgrims Way as they fulfilled seasonal work. The Otford burials include seasonal workers and their children and convey the passage of workers.
I am grateful to Kent Churches you tube images of the Church and it's history.
Otford is on the River Darent as it flows north here past Shoreham and the river and the flood plain and marsh play an important part in the history of the Lost Palace of Henry VIII detailed here. The present day remains of the Palace described n the 19th century burial register as Otford "Castle" by one curate give little idea of the real size of the Palace. This presentation and modelling convey much better what life was like in 1514 and the importance of the hunting ground.
My transcript of the burial register is at Kent Online Parish Clerks Otford Parish page which includes other record sources for the parish Otford Burials 1813-1871.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Otford is a village which I have visited numerous times over the last 40 years since I left London to reside in Kent. I was fascinated to discover the remains of a lost Palace of Henry VIII which is a scheduled monument and other old houses including a manor House. I'll begin this blog though by looking at the history of the parish church of Saint Bartholomew and then return to Henry VIII and the palace.
Originally Shoreham Parish was extensive and included Otford and Dunton Green. A chapel of Ease was needed and built at Otford at the end of the Saxon period and the beginning of the Norman influence;the nave is the oldest part of the building and dates from the 11th century with a tower added in the 12th century. The present building is Grade 1 listed building and it's listing details the centuries of adaptation Listed building register.
The earliest register has an interesting story and as I progress the transcript series for the parish I will return to tell that.
For the present I am transcribing the burial registers as here as in other Pilgrims Way parish records there is traveller history. Travelling families often followed the Pilgrims Way as they fulfilled seasonal work. The Otford burials include seasonal workers and their children and convey the passage of workers.
I am grateful to Kent Churches you tube images of the Church and it's history.
Otford is on the River Darent as it flows north here past Shoreham and the river and the flood plain and marsh play an important part in the history of the Lost Palace of Henry VIII detailed here. The present day remains of the Palace described n the 19th century burial register as Otford "Castle" by one curate give little idea of the real size of the Palace. This presentation and modelling convey much better what life was like in 1514 and the importance of the hunting ground.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
Saturday 2 May 2020
Reverend George D'Oyly Rector of Sundridge
George D'Oyly was born 31 October 1776 at Buxted the son of the Rector of Buxted Matthias D'Oyly who was also Archdeacon of Lewes, George was privately educated and then admitted to Corpus Christi Cambridge where he graduated in 1803 after distinction earning both a B.A. and in 1803 an M.A. later a B.Divinity and 1821 Doctor of Divinity. As reflected in his Wikipedia page he became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1815. He was a distinguished academic theologian and biographer and in 1820 he became rector of both Lambeth and Sundridge. He published with Reverend Mant a version of the English Bible which is still valued by Antiquarians and Church of England scholars to this day. Many of his sermons are also available in print. His distinction in society and withing the Church of England echoes the achievements of members of the D'Oyly family in others walks of life.
He had been chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury and traditonally the Rectory at Lambeth was subsequently given but the Archbishops triangle of Rectors at Chevening,Brasted and Sundridge were also in his gift and D'Oyly became Rector of Sundridge until his death.
I first encountered his work in Lambeth and his infuence in the foundation and development of King's College London. I was researching on behalf of a client in the parish records of Lambeth and discovered that many of Lambeth's churches were brought about through his efforts. It is appropriate therefore that he is buried there with a suitable memorial.
In transcribing Sundridge records I became aware that his wife resided at Sundridge and his children are baptised there by him. His celebration of baptisms marriages and burials are regular although his curates carry out more of this work as he fulfils the duties of Rector in both parishes.Sundridge also had a chapel at Ide Hill licensed for baptisms so he effectively led a clergy team to meet the needs of a large rural parish.
He died on 8 January 1846 and was buried at Lambeth Church.
Wikipedia has this image of an 1846 engraving signed by D'Oyly whose influence on recordkeeping in the Sundridge register meant that his curates strove hard to keep up. It has been a joy to transcribe the baptismal register and to see surviving Bishop's Transcripts so clearly recorded.
My transcript of the Sundridge registers is being prepared for publication in due course at Kent Online Parish Clerks Sundridge Parish Page.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
He had been chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury and traditonally the Rectory at Lambeth was subsequently given but the Archbishops triangle of Rectors at Chevening,Brasted and Sundridge were also in his gift and D'Oyly became Rector of Sundridge until his death.
I first encountered his work in Lambeth and his infuence in the foundation and development of King's College London. I was researching on behalf of a client in the parish records of Lambeth and discovered that many of Lambeth's churches were brought about through his efforts. It is appropriate therefore that he is buried there with a suitable memorial.
In transcribing Sundridge records I became aware that his wife resided at Sundridge and his children are baptised there by him. His celebration of baptisms marriages and burials are regular although his curates carry out more of this work as he fulfils the duties of Rector in both parishes.Sundridge also had a chapel at Ide Hill licensed for baptisms so he effectively led a clergy team to meet the needs of a large rural parish.
He died on 8 January 1846 and was buried at Lambeth Church.
Wikipedia has this image of an 1846 engraving signed by D'Oyly whose influence on recordkeeping in the Sundridge register meant that his curates strove hard to keep up. It has been a joy to transcribe the baptismal register and to see surviving Bishop's Transcripts so clearly recorded.
© Henry Mantell Downe and Farnborough Online Parish Clerk 2013-2020
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