Reverend Edward Henry Lee Rector of Chiddingstone 1875-1893

One aspect of research in archives is the discovery of something unexpected about an individual from unintended neglect or forgetfulness. On opening the Chiddingstone burial register from 1813 onwards one such discovery is made.
Reverend Henry Lee was appointed Rector of Chiddingstone in 1875 and it is probable that in handling the burial register he was locating the earlier burial of a family member to locate the burial place for a later burial as the burial register reference P89/1/E/2 at Kent Archives and Library Maidstone covers the years 1813-1847.
There is evidence of his search for members of the Eagleton family burials on a folded sheet of paper which is  on the reverse publicity for a private publication by the Reverend Henry Salkeld-Cooke BA 5 Agnes Street Burdett Road Mission Priest and Curate  of  Saint Pauls Bow Common in East London.
Perhaps to mark a place in the register he used the envelope which was to hand addressed to him as Reverend E Lee Chiddingstone Edenbridge. He left for posterity the delights of a sample McDougall's Insecticide Sheet and publicity for this and McDougalls manure.There are several publicity and testimonial sheets in addition to these. It appears that the letter is sent in the 1890's toward the end of Reverend Lee's life.

Edward Henry Lee was born on 16 March 1818 and baptised on 18 March 1818 at Saint Mary Newington Surrey. He graduated from New Inn Hall Oxford BA in 1841 although his Oxford alumni record appears as Henry Edward Lee. He married Mary Elizabeth Holmes on 30 September 1851.
 From 1850-1869 he was Curate in Charge at Cliffe before he became Vicar of Boughton under Blean 1869-1875. Whilst at Cliffe his efforts to restore and improve the church including addition of bells are recorded in Archeologica Cantiana XL, 158. Three of his four children are born at Cliffe Mary 1854,Harry Holmes 1856 and Alice 1859;in Chiddingstone the couple appear in the 1881 census at the Rectory Chiddingstone.
He died at Chiddingstone 7 November 1892 age 74 and is buried there with his wife Mary Elizabeth who died 21 April 1904 aged 86. Her entry in the burial register at Chiddingstone indicates that she lived at Grosvenor House Westerham which since 1954 has been a grade II* listed building in Westerham.
I find this insight in to the life of Reverend Lee quite touching. It is in my mind the only example of an English burial register deposited in an archive to contain a sheet of "self acting insecticide sheet" unless anyone knows of another.

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