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Bromleag Volume 2: Issue 22: June 2012

CB Fry — the great all-rounder

Titanic survivors and casualties

What the Romans did for Bromley

Oddfellows give a helping hand

2 Bromleag June 2012

Bromleag The journal of the Bromley Borough Local History Society

Society officers

Chairman and Membership Secretary Tony Allnutt

Woodside, Old Perry Street, Chislehurst, BR7 6PP 020 8467 3842 [email protected]

Treasurer Brian Reynolds

2 The Limes, Oakley Road, Bromley, BR2 8HH 020 8462 9526 [email protected]

Secretary Elaine Baker

27 Commonside, Keston, BR2 6BP 01669 854408

[email protected]

Programme co-ordinator Peter Leigh

29 Woodland Way West Wickham, BR4 9LR 020 8777 9244 [email protected]

Publicity and website Max Batten

5 South View, Bromley, BR13DR 020 8460 1284 [email protected]

Publications John Barnes

38 Sandilands Crescent, Hayes, BR2 7DR 020 8462 2603

[email protected]

Bromleag Editor Christine Hellicar

150 Worlds End Lane, Chelsfield, BR6 6AS 01689 857214 [email protected]

Minutes Secretary Valerie Stealey

9 Mayfield Road, Bickley BR1 2HB 020 8467 2988 [email protected]

BBLHS website www.bblhs.org.uk

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bblhs.org.uk


News

June 2012 — contents News AGM, meetings and events 3 — 5

Local Studies and archives news 6 — 9

Website update 16 —17

Book review Jubilee Park 21 — 22

Letters 22— 23

Society Meetings The Building of the Crystal Palace 10 — 12

Discovering Roman Bromley 13 — 15

Features Harold Bride and the Titanic 18 — 20

The Oddfellows of Bromley 24 — 25

CB Fry, an extraordinary sportsman 26 — 30

A little more on Bromley smugglers 31

Bromleag is published four times a year. The editor welcomes articles along with illustrations and photographs. These can be emailed, on disk or a paper copy.

Items remain the copyright of the authors and do not necessarily reflect Society views. Each contributor is responsible for the content of their article. Articles may be edited to meet the constraints of the journal. Articles are not always used immediately as we try to maintain a balance between research, reminiscences and news and features about different subjects and parts of the borough.

Next journal deadline — 1 August 2012

The 2012 AGM was the first to be held at our new venue, Trinity United Reformed Church, Bromley, and was presided over by the Mayor of Bromley, Councillor David McBride.

He said his own interest in history had been nurtured by our vice-chairman, Michael Rawcliffe, when Michael was his history teacher. He added that the borough has a rich history and “Bromley has a lot to be proud of”. In his role of Mayor he presides over Citizenship ceremonies in which he said history plays an important part.

There were no contentious issues to be discussed at the AGM and the current committee were re-elected except for the treasurer Brian Reynolds, who is standing down because of ill health.

Brian’s decision was only made just before the meeting and consequently the post of treasurer remains open until a new treasurer is co-opted on to the committee.

Annual General Meeting report

Continued on P4


News

Our auditor Ian Carter kindly agreed to present the accounts. The society’s total funds are £4938, an increase of £1232 on the previous year. This has been from the increase in subscription charges, the claiming back of tax from Gift Aid and a considerable saving from moving to a new venue for meetings.

In a statement from Brian, read out by Ian Carter, he added: “I would like to congratulate John Barnes once again on exceeding £1,000 on the sale of publications and thank members for their donations.

“This year Peter Leigh has been extremely conservative in the speakers he has chosen for us and I am pleased to say by moving to this cosier meeting hall at a substantially lower rent, Peter will have more scope with the future selection of speakers. This move also gives us wider scope with a number of projects that our members are involved in.”

The chairman, Tony Allnutt, expressed his thanks for the work Brian has done over the last nine years as treasurer and said he was sure everyone would want to join him in wishing Brian a speedy recovery.

Tony reported that the Society has had a successful year, with the highlight being the hosting of the Kent History Federation Annual Conference at the Crofton Halls. He said: “This was organised in co-operation with the Council for Kentish Archaeology and provided a programme of talks and visits to places of interest in the Borough. The delegates came from all over the County and the event was very successful.”

He reported that there had been 11 evening meetings, including a meeting at the Local Studies Library and a members' evening, as well, visits to Beckenham [Kelsey Park] and Elmers End.

Tony said: “The membership of the Society in 2011 was 184, nine more than in the previous year.

“Your Committee took the decision to move to a new venue for meetings in 2012 as the cost of the old one was becoming greater than in was felt prudent to bear.

“It is my sad duty to record the deaths of two very long-serving members of the Society, both being Vice-Presidents. Fred Whyler was the first Secretary and the chief instigator of the Society and Patricia Knowlden, who had a period as Chairman and was Secretary at the time of her death. They both did an enormous amount for the Society and will not be forgotten.”


Society meetings June - September 2012

Meetings are held at 7.45 pm on the first Tuesday of the month (unless otherwise stated), from September to July, at Trinity United Reformed Church,

Freelands Road, Bromley. The hall has free on and off-street parking, good public transport links and facilities for the disabled.

Non-members are welcome at meetings for a nominal charge of £1.

VISITS To book a place on the visits to High Elms or Jubilee Park please contact

Peter Leigh on 020 8777 9244 or email [email protected]

12 June 10am

A guided tour of High Elms — history of the estate from 1808 to the present day

Starting at the main car park, High Elms Country Park, off High Elms Road, Farnborough. A footpath walk of up to two hours.

Cost: £1 per head

3 July 7pm

The Stone House, Lewisham

Instead of our usual evening meeting, the owners of the house will give us a private guided tour of their Palladian Villa For more information see March issue of Bromleag or details are on our website www.bblhs.org.uk

6 July 10am

Jubilee Park historic walk

Meet at Thornet Wood car park (beyond the end of Thornet Wood Road) Bickley. The walk lasts for roughly 1 to 1½hours. It is less than two miles, there are no stiles and is mostly on hard surfacing, although part of the walk is in the meadows where the ground is uneven. It is not suitable for people in wheelchairs or mobility vehicles and we ask that people do not bring dogs.

MEETINGS 4 September Members Evening

A chance for you to tell us of your special interests and recent research

If you would like to take part, please let Peter Leigh know (contact details above) .



News

On returning to work from my Christmas break in the New Year, I said goodbye to my previous role as Borough Archivist for Bexley; a post I had held for just over nine years, to become the Manager for both Bexley’s and Bromley’s Local Studies and Archives services.

My new post forms part of the London Boroughs of Bexley and Bromley’s new library and archive services shared management arrangement, which was introduced to make substantial savings. Simon Finch, the former Local Studies Manager, now works for the new shared service’s Information Team.

So how will this change affect users of Bromley Local Studies and Archives? What will it mean for local history in the London Borough of Bromley? Does it mean that Bromley and Bexley’s Local Studies and Archives services are now one? And what plans are there for the future?

Before I address these important questions ,I would just like to tell you a little bit about myself. Although my knowledge of the history of South East London has expanded considerably over the past decade, I do not come from this part of the world. I grew up in North West London and worked as a printer in various locations in West London, before finally going off to read history at the London School of Economics.

I first encountered an archive while working as a part-time archives assistant at the LSE’s British Library of Political and Economic Sciences. The archives at the LSE house some wonderful collections, including the records of Charles Booth’s survey of life and labour in London. I remember reading avidly a collection of Booth’s poverty notebooks, which give a fascinating insight into the lives of London’s Victorian poor.

In 1999 I graduated with a Masters Degree in Archives and Records Management from University College London and after holding several posts in archives I was appointed Borough Archivist for Bexley in 2002.

In my nine years at Bexley I have introduced considerable improvements to the service. In 2005 the search room was extensively refurbished to provide visitors with a range of facilities, including access to a wide variety of online resources. Digitisation of Bexley’s image collections has been an ongoing project for some time and there are currently some 10,000 images accessible online. Bexley runs a very popular events programme at the Local Studies Library and in branch libraries around the borough,

A new era for Bromley Local Studies

Simon McKeon, the new borough Local Studies and Archives manager,

sets out his plans for the future of Local Studies in Bromley


News

publishes a range of local history publications and has delivered several successful community history projects around the Borough.

So will the change in management affect users of Bromley Local Studies and Archives? I would like to think not. Although the two services are managed by just one manager, operationally you should not notice any changes. Bromley retains its own separate Local Studies and Archives, just as Bexley does.

I would also like to think that the future for local history in Bromley is a bright one. I want to build on the work of my predecessor to improve the range and quality of

services for our customers. Some of you may have already noticed that we have endeavoured to improve the customer experience in the search room. While we have improved the layout of the search room, we still have some way to go with improving the IT, which I hope will be done during this financial year.

My long-term strategic plans for Bromley Local Studies include increasing the range of digital material available online and to extend the outreach programme to include an annual programme of talks, walks and workshops. I also aim to improve the care of and access to the archive collections. I am particularly keen to work with local groups to develop community history projects.

I have already started working with the Penge Partners on a Heritage Lottery Fund project that seeks to promote the heritage of the people and places of the town. So if you have any ideas or would like to contact me about any aspect of the Local Studies and Archives service please drop me a line. I look forward to hearing from you. [email protected]

An e-petition has been launched to lower the cost of certificates for history research purposes.

Currently the General Record Index can only release information by means of a paper copy. The petition is calling for legislation to allow “uncertified” information to be issued via email. It is proposed that the cost of this would be much lower than the current £9.25 price of a paper certificate. The Republic of Ireland allows uncertified copies to be produced for a cost of €4.

To read the full proposal and sign the petition, visit the Government e-petition website at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

E-petition to lower the cost of certificates for research

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1792/

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1792/


High up in the Bromley Central Library building, well away from public gaze, are the London Borough of Bromley Archives, presided over by the charming Catrin Holland. Row after row, from floor to ceiling, are huge racks filled with information about all parts of the area going back into the mists of time. Unfortunately, all too much of it is still just that – caught in the mists of time, often poorly recorded and not always properly stored. And as more and more history is created and people donate their lives’ work, so the pressure on space and time becomes more acute.

At our Society meeting in the library in 2010, Catrin asked for volunteers to help with archive work and a few months later I made contact and offered my services. After she made sure I was a proper person to be let loose in the store, I joined the small team of voluntary helpers and nearly every Tuesday afternoon can now be found moving files, recording information, scanning pictures, interpreting old manuscripts or otherwise helping make more of the information held there available to the public. Progress is sometimes rather slow as I don’t just file and record. I nearly always end up reading many of the fascinating snippets of history that pass before me, which my family then learn all about over the evening meal!

Among my projects so far have been listing the extensive Joyce Walker collection and scanning glass slides from the GW Smith archive. In the latter case, I prepared a short show for the volunteers’ “thank-you” tea party in August which subsequently expanded into a presentation to the Society last January. Currently I am sorting through an amazing collection of letters written by Bromley Town Clerk’s office up to the demise of the old borough in 1964. Judging by the dust, nobody has read them since! It has also been a very useful way to learn more about research and what resources are available to the local historian.

Although the Archive has some excellent full-time staff, there is so much to do that they are running hard just to keep up. Catrin and her team are very reliant on the volunteers that re-package and list the treasures in the store. There will be further opportunities coming up for volunteers so if you value your local history, have around four hours to spare a week, and are looking to learn, why not contact Catrin— at [email protected] or phone: 020 8461 7170 — to say you’d like to lend a hand? Whatever your historical and geographical interests, there is sure to be something to excite you among the hundreds of collections. Don’t delay, get in touch

today. Max Batten

Bromley Archives’ online catalogue can be accessed at http://archive.library.bromley.gov.uk/

Blowing the dust off the archives


Kent ‘s new history centre opens A new £12 million purpose-built Kent History and Library Centre opened in April at James Whatman Way, Maidstone.

It replaces services currently offered at the Centre for Kentish Studies, County Central (Springfield) and St Faith’s libraries.

Fourteen kilometres of archive material that has been collected by Kent County Council since 1820 is stored in temperature-controlled conditions and includes business records, correspondence, charters, books and pictures. The oldest document is a charter from King Wittred of Kent in 699AD.

Project manager Lesley Spencer said: “We wanted to make our archives and our local studies material much more user-friendly ... and our treasures much more accessible to everybody.”

The building also houses a 40,000-book library, a community history area, archive search room, digital studio, free public internet access and wifi and a large space for displays and events.

Information on opening times and collections at: http://www.kent.gov.uk or phone 0845 247200

Author who immortalised Chelsfield dies Miss Read, the author who captured, through the eyes of a child, the life of Chelsfield village in the 1920s, has died just six days short of her 99th birthday..

In 1986 Miss Read – the pen name of author Dora Saint – was asked to contribute an article on her schooldays for a series being run by a Sunday magazine. She chose just a little window in her school life — the three years she spent at Chelsfield Village School from 1921 to 1924. The article then became the book Time Remembered.

A town girl thrust into the countryside by the need for her mother to recover from illness, Dora discovered her love of the countryside along Church Hill and Chelsfield Lane. Her headmaster at the village school nurtured her love of reading and she eventually won a scholarship to Bromley County School for Girls.

Although she was to make her home in Oxfordshire, the school at Chelsfield was the inspiration of her first book Village School and she was to continue to draw on those formative years in the village in many of her 30-plus novels.

By the time she wrote Time Remembered she was a successful author. Although never in the bestseller lists, her gentle novels about village life imbued with her love of the countryside were popular worldwide.


The Crystal Palace – the original 1851 Hyde Park building rather than the rebuilt one which gave its name to the area on the Penge/Sydenham borders – came alive again at our March meeting with a talk about the construction of the building by former teacher Terry Kent.

With props including a miniature doorframe, foam pieces and diagrams, he gave a practical demonstration of just what a monumental building project the exhibition centre was and how new technologies helped to solve the engineering problems.

“It is always surprising how little is known about the building other than it burnt down, and still fewer people know it was originally in Hyde Park,” said Terry. There was an open competition to find a suitable design and 245 were submitted, most from professional architects but there were a substantial number from ordinary members of the public.

There was one from Mr A Jackson of Orpington and another from a lady who said on her submission: “A lady with great diffidence submits this plan.” There were also a lot of entries from abroad, especially France

“The committee decided that none of the entries were suitable so they set about designing their own building. Their solution would have needed 13 million bricks, and it was only meant to be a temporary building,” said Terry.

Then a chance discussion between Robert Stevenson and Joseph Paxton led to Paxton submitting his plans for a glass and iron building. Paxton’s design – which came from his experience of designing greenhouses – was done quickly and submitted after the original deadline had passed.

How they built the Crystal Palace

Society meeting

Health and Safety would not approve: illustration of the construction of the Palace

Continued on page 12


Society meeting

Terry’s scale model of the Palace The model was originally made for an exhibition at Dulwich College and has since been displayed at Dulwich Picture Gallery, used at a hearing for the development of Crystal Palace Park and is now on display at the Crystal Palace Museum.

Making a model of the CP was a daunting prospect. Ideally it had to be made of a transparent material to show off the windows. Gathering the sizes was difficult and I resorted to counting the windows on the photographs.

Initially I worked on a system of casting modules in a clear plastic resin with a view to fixing these together in a similar manner to Lego. This idea was soon abandoned as it was too time-consuming and the resin refused to set properly in the flexible mould.

After several sleepless nights, a system was devised which involved making wooden moulds, over which, a clear thermoplastic was vacuum-formed. The moulds for the transepts were first turned circular on a lathe, with grooves cut to represent the “furrowed” roofing. The round former was then cut in half along the axis to make two semi-circular moulds. The heated plastic sheet was then formed over the mould and trimmed.

To achieve the windows and frames effect, I set about learning a computer drawing system called AutoCAD and printed off the resulting drawings on acetate sheet (overhead transparency sheets). These were then glued laboriously onto

the vacuum-formed shapes. A base was made which had to slope to reflect the original site, and the model was fixed to it. The towers were added at a later stage and used a technology, which was not available for the original model – laser cutting and printing.

Terry Kent


Society meeting

Terry said that Paxton was supposed to have derived his design from the structure of a lily pad but that it is more likely, “in trying to house the plant he was confronted with the same problems faced by the committee. In solving this task he was well on the way towards the design of the Crystal Palace.”

Paxton’s original design was plainer than the finished building but he had to adapt it and put in a transept to cater for trees in Hyde Park that could not be moved. Terry Kent has himself built a model of this building (see page 11) which he made after researching how the original building was constructed.

In his talk Terry explained many aspects of the construction, including how the crossbeams and columns were joined together with white lead or bolts and how the gutters were wood and had to take water off the roof and condensation from the inside of the glass as well. As for the glass, there was one million square feet of it and it was all blown by hand.

Paxton’s materials were predominantly cast and wrought iron – it was too early for steel – wood and glass. Terry’s demonstration materials were mainly wood, plastic and foam but with these he showed how Paxton used a combination of wide shoulders and diagonal braces to combat downward forces and wind forces to make the building stable but flexible. He also demonstrated how the moulds were made for the wrought iron.

To complement the demonstration there were illustrations showing some of the details of the construction and the machines that were specifically designed to make some of the parts.

In Hyde Park the construction area was fenced in but there was no waste as the fencing was later used as floorboards in the building. The organisers did not miss a trick in publicising the building and at times the public were allowed behind the fence to see what was happening. When they raised the semi-circular roof it attracted large crowds and it is believed they sold tickets for the event.

It took just nine months to construct and it was done with man and horsepower and some of Terry’s illustrations of the construction taking place showed that “health and safety” was not a prime consideration.

The exhibition was a phenomenal success, but that and its eventual move to Crystal Palace is another story.

For more information on the Crystal Palace museum, visit: http://www.crystalpalacemuseum.org.uk/


Society meeting

The death of King George VI in 1952 provided an unexpected half day off for the boys of Bromley Grammar School. Out of respect, lessons were suspended and young Brian Philp used the time to visit the library where he had become hooked on history and wanted to know what the Romans did for Bromley – very little according to the literature.

Sixty years later, thanks in no small part to Brian’s lifetime dedicated to archaeology, a rich Roman heritage has been revealed in the borough including two large villas, two major roads, a very high status tomb and a small “village” settlement, as well as a lost Roman town!

In a very erudite and entertaining talk at our April meeting, Brian took us through the trials and tribulations of uncovering these and other sites, and of preserving them. His work has taken him far beyond Bromley, creating teams to work on 700 projects as far afield as Malta, Germany and Madeira, but his first love is clearly the archaeology of his home turf.

Over the years the Bromley and Wet Kent Archaeological Group has drawn on large numbers of people to work on digs in Bromley. “There are no short cuts in archaeology,” said Brian. “It is hard physical work and *uncovering these sites+ has taken three to four million man hours.” Some excavations have been carried out after farmers have reported finds, such as pottery, others following up on reports in early literature about the borough.

Often the work takes place in winter so as not to disturb crops and everything is meticulously recorded and the finds catalogued.

After explaining the work involved in a dig, Brian’s talk centred on the major excavations and discoveries in Bromley. One of the earliest, in the late 1960s, was at the site of a scheduled building called The Temple at Keston where a “messy” excavation had been carried out in 1828.

The site, now in the back garden of a house and meticulously maintained by the owners, turned out to be a massive circular Roman mausoleum which was part of a family cemetery with 16 more burials.

“This was something very grand, high status and there clearly had to be something *another building+ related to it,” said Brian. Over 24 years, in conjunction with evening-class students from Bromley Adult Education Centre – some of whom went on to become professional archaeologists – a series of trenches was dug across the field beneath the tombs.

A site at that time was under threat of destruction by the planned building of

Digging up Bromley’s rich Roman heritage


Society meeting

Ringway C. What they discovered

was a vast villa complex with two major masonry buildings, two timber buildings, a potter’s kiln, corn drying ovens, boundaries, fence lines, paddocks, and wooden water pipes.”

At a lower level there was an Iron Age pit, circa 400BC, and in the middle of the site an Anglo Saxon hut from the 5th century AD, so the site had been occupied for 1000 years.

It is not far from here, at Sparrows Den, West Wickham, that in dry weather an outline of the vanished Roman road from London to Lewes can be seen. For many years treasure hunters, “looting on a grand scale”, had been digging up – and selling – Roman coins etc from a field further along the line of the road at Wickham Court Farm.

But they missed “a very rare find”, the rim of a Roman wheel in what was part of a blacksmith’s shop. This was discovered when a series of trenches was dug across the field and evidence was found of timber structures. “What we have discovered is the lost Roman town of Noviomagus. No doubt about it,” said Brian.

The town is mentioned in the Antonine Itineraries and Brian bases his location for the town not just on his archaeological work but also his understanding of how distances were measured in the Itineraries. This places Noviomagus 10 miles from London and 18 miles from Gravesend. The West Wickham site is in exactly the right

Plan of the Roman villa and tombs at Keston circa AD200


Society meeting

spot. There is also evidence, at Noviomagus, of a road going north-east lining up with the remains of a Roman arterial road found, by Brian, at Fordcroft in St Mary Cray. The line of this road goes direct to Gravesend.

A lot of Roman remains have been found at St Mary Cray, including a bathhouse, and Brian has carried out digs in the Poverest area prior to housing redevelopment. He said Fordcroft at Poverest was an important area, with an arterial road across the River Cray, probably a village settlement.

While the Keston villa is above the head of the River Ravensbourne, the other major villa in Bromley is above the head of the Cray at Crofton. Walls had been seen there in 1926 and the site was being monitored by English Heritage, but when, 22 years ago, Bromley Council wanted to extend the Civic Halls EH gave their blessing.

Brian persuaded the council to allow a dig and found 10 rooms of the original villa. The rest are under Crofton Road and Orpington railway station. The dig was so successful and created such a lot of interest, including in the national press, that the council changed its plans and preserved the site. The archaeological group, led by Brian, did all the work of preservation and they covered in the site at a cost of £80,000 to make a visitor centre.

Today Crofton – the only Roman villa open to visitors in Greater London – attracts many visitors, especially school parties.

Brian finished by saying: “All those years ago there wasn’t much to show in Bromley but with an enormous amount of work over six decades the situation has changed. Not only do we have the big Roman road but a Roman town, buildings at Keston with a big villa estate, at Crofton another estate and a small un-nucleated development at Poverest. Scattered around the district generally [we have found evidence of] a whole host of Romano-British farmsteads and self-supporting family units.”

Bromley Museum — Digging up Bromley

9 July – 10 Sept An interactive exhibition for parents on children focusing on finds made in Bromley Festival of British Archaeology

Poverest Road Roman Bathhouse and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery

21 – 22 July The site is normally closed to the public so this is a rare opportunity to learn about the people who lived in Orpington 2000 years ago. There will also be a historical trail of this important Roman and Anglo-Saxon site. Entry free.


Your society has had a website for several years, originally set up by former treasurer Brian Reynolds and looked after by the late Denise Rason. However, this was built on a free site and offered very little scope to add information or pictures and having been invited a few years ago to take on “care and maintenance”, I came to the conclusion that we needed more.

Chance then took a hand as the original supplier was taken over by the phone company Orange who offered a more comprehensive facility which seemed to fit better with my own limited skills and time availability.

After discussion by the Committee, it was decided we would invest £35 a year in the project, the main argument being around which web address, or URL, we should adopt. Finally, as you will be aware, we chose to use BBLHS in the name (the rest was laid down by Orange) as being the simplest to remember.

For over four years this proved a very adequate site which typically received 100 or more visits a month, quite a few clearly from non-members since we received queries and requests for information from all over the world, some of which were recorded on the web site or appeared in Bromleag.

However, I had a serious shock last autumn when I received a message to say the service which maintained our site was being withdrawn in a few weeks. I hastily emailed the company to find out what was happening and was relieved to find out they would honour existing contracts, which meant we had almost a year to find an alternative platform.

My first plan was simply to upgrade to the company’s new — albeit slightly more expensive — service, but it became apparent that I could not actually transfer the information. It would all have to be re-input and it would be complicated to have our preferred URL name, bblhs.org.uk.

So I looked round the market and finally selected an England-based company (the old site was in Germany) of which I had had long experience and knew provided a very reliable service with a good helpline if needed. An added bonus was getting our new name registered free with the site subscription.

So this February I bit the bullet, signed up and started creating the new site. Not an easy task, however, because, if anyone who has ever tried to design a poster or a form will know, there is no right way and everyone will have their own ideas.

I wanted the new site to look a bit different from the old, and the new web service made this almost inevitable anyway. After a bit of experimenting, I decided on the new interface which you can see today at www.bblhs.org.uk

Irrespective of how we manage our site in the future, this will be our permanent

www.bblhs.org.uk — our new website


Picture puzzle: Glassmill Lane house

This interesting building is just by the northern end of the Ravensbourne pond in Glassmill Lane, Bromley.

It was recently up for sale but the sale particulars did not say it is listed or give its age or origin, only that it was “totally unique” and “believed by its owners to be one of the oldest properties in Bromley”.

How old is it and was it part of the old mill that gave the lane its name?

name from now on and will not need to change again. If you haven't already done so, please make a note of it.

Some of the pages are still a bit experimental and I am concentrating on getting all the relevant old information and pictures transferred before attempting anything too fancy.

I hope one new feature which is already working, the Forum, will be popular with members to raise issues and hold online discussions.

The new site also offers the option to provide member-only content but at present all pages are open to all. It may be that we will look at publishing Bromleag online in the future as an option for signed in members. What do you think?

The old site will not be maintained after the end of June although a link directing you to the new site will remain until its demise in September. However, please update your “favourites” now and move to the new site.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Max Batten contact via the website or at [email protected]


Feature

Harold Bride, Beckenham’s hero of the Titanic

I n 1910 there was a lot of curiosity from the neighbours when 20-year-old Harold Bride and his father built an immense

antenna on the roof of their house in Ravensbourne Avenue, Beckenham. Two years later Harold was to become known to everyone in Beckenham, not just the neighbours, when he became was one of the heroes of the Titanic disaster. Born in 1890, he was one of the first pupils at the new County Technical School, which opened in Beckenham Road in 1901 adjacent to the Victorian baths built in 1899. All pupils had to attend compulsory swimming classes. Harold was a model pupil and in 1904, at the age of 14, he told his family he wanted to become a telegraphist and to travel the world. Supported by his parents and the experience of using the radio mast at home, he

completed the training which enabled him to register at the British School of Telegraphy. A year later he joined the Marconi International Marine Company and worked on various ships before joining the Titanic as second radio officer to Jack Phillips in spring of 1912.

Both Harold and Jack were young men. Wireless telegraphy was new and its main role on ships was to send messages for the first class passengers — a priority which delayed the reading of radio messages about ice fields from other ships in the Atlantic on that fateful night when the Titanic struck an iceberg.

When told by the Titanic’s Captain, Edward J Smith, to abandon ship, both Phillips and Bride stayed at their radio sets sending distress signals to other ships in the area until sea water washed into the wireless room. By staying at their post until the end, they were instrumental in saving many lives.

Cliff Watkins tells how Harold played a key part in saving the lives of passengers and

crew on the Titanic and how his education ensured his own survival, and

Chris Jordon recalls others who were not so lucky.

Harold Bride’s Beckenham home bears a commemorative blue plaque.


Feature

Bride further delayed his escape by helping to assemble a collapsible life-raft but was washed overboard and under the raft. Later, Bride’s Technical School teachers claimed that it was their compulsory swimming classes that saved him that night as he and Phillips swam away from the feared suction of the Titanic to reach one of the ship’s already overcrowded life-rafts.

The survivors already on the raft were reciting the Lord’s Prayer as they made room for two more. However, Phillips died of hypothermia before the arrival in the morning of the Carpathia, which rescued many of the survivors.

When Harold was rescued by the Carpathia, suffering from frostbite to his feet, he was carried to the wireless room where he wasted no time in getting back to work helping their wireless operator, Harold Cottam, a friend from Telegraphy School, to transmit the names of the survivors.

Bride received a hero’s welcome when he returned home to Beckenham. On Empire Day, Friday 24 May, he stood on the bandstand in Croydon Road Recreation Ground waving to the crowd, who responded with loud applause.

It was, appropriately, Mr H R Austin, the superintendent of the Beckenham Baths, who introduced him. The Beckenham Journal reported: “He was received with great cheering … Mr Bride asked them to be good enough to excuse him from making a speech, as he had had a very trying day in the court of enquiry.

“As Mr Bride left the bandstand many thronged around him eager to shake his hand, and then a body of his old school fellows of the Beckenham Secondary School got hold of him and carried him amidst cheers around the ground.”

Recently, Len Goodman’s BBC programme on the Titanic told us that those called to the UK government’s inquiry were given a “real roasting”. I have looked at the full details available on the internet. Bride was called to give evidence on Day 14 of the UK inquiry, Thursday 23 May 1912. The information covering Bride’s questioning comprised 13,770 words and takes up 42 pages of a Word document. Bride was asked 518 questions.

Harold Bride is not listed as giving evidence on Empire Day but Harold Cottam, was

Harold Bride, aged 16


Feature

and it is likely that Bride was expected to be at the inquiry while the questioning of the Carpathia’s wireless operator was taking place. It is clear in the Beckenham Journal report that his attendance at the Titanic inquiry prevented him reaching the Empire Day celebrations as early as the organisers had hoped.

Only three weeks earlier he had given evidence at the American Inquiry. He had been called three times during late April and early May. I think he must indeed have been exhausted and not in the mood to make any sort of speech on Empire Day.

In honour of his bravery during the Titanic disaster, the Marconi Company presented Bride with a gold watch. The inscription reads: “In recognition of having done his duty and done it bravely”

Harold Bride move to Clapham in 1922 when his father died and a few years later, married Lucy Downie and moved to Scotland, where he died in 1956.

Those who lost their lives on the Titanic Alfred Rush of 27 Palace Road, Anerley, was emigrating to Detroit, he celebrated his 16th birthday on board on 14 April, the day before the sinking. Consequently, when offered a place on a lifeboat with the women and children, he chose to stay on board, saying: “I'm a man now.” He did not survive.

Percival and Florence (Kate) Thorneycroft, emigrating from Bearsted near Maidstone, present a bit of a mystery. They gave a temporary address of 14 Walter Street, Penge, but no such road ever existed. Percy drowned but Kate survived and is said to have married either her Canadian brother-in-law (remaining a Thorneycroft) or her cousin (becoming Kate White) and returned to Penge, but confirmation of this has yet to be found. The Titanic inquiry project has not only the full transcripts of both the British and American inquiries but a great deal of background information and links to biographies of many of those on board the ship

http://www.titanicinquiry.org

There is a link to a biography of Harold Bride at:

http://www.titanic-lore.info/wireless-harold-bride.htm

This draws on the inquiry transcripts and lists several family members as sources.

Do you know of anyone else from the borough who was on the Titanic?

If so, drop a line the editor, contact details on Page 3

http://www.titanicinquiry.org

http://www.titanic-lore.info/wireless-harold-bride.htm


Book review

To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a new book has been written looking back at the history of a Petts Wood/Bickley park which was named in commemoration of the Her Majesty’s Silver Jubilee – Jubilee Country Park.

Jubilee Country Park – Its History and Heritage by Jennie Randall, a BBLHS member and chairman of the Friends of Jubilee Country Park, has been produced as a result of eight years of extensive research into the history of the landscape that now forms the park.

In her introduction Jennie says: “This is not a comprehensive history ... it is a compilation of stories, anecdotes, poems ... newspaper accounts and extracts from a wide variety of sources.”

But I think Jennie is doing herself a disservice because while this is a small book – 56 A5 pages – she manages to tell us a great deal about a relatively small area of land, 62 acres, which until 1940 was uninhabited. She does this not just by recounting the ownership of the land but by looking at field names, hedgerows and boundaries, country trades and showing the reader how small clues in today’s landscape, such as the last remaining 17th century coppiced oak, reveal the land’s past.

The land escaped the march of suburban development when it was laid out as the first home of West Kent Golf Club. But with the outbreak of war in 1939 the site became the Thornet Wood Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Site, one of a defensive ring of gun sites encircling and defending London.

Jennie has gathered together official sources and the memories of those who worked on the gun site to give a vivid picture of the work that went on there. Many of the illustrations from this time have not been published before.

Accommodation for up to 200 military personnel with dormitories, dining room, stores, and of course the command post and the massive gun emplacement, changed the landscape considerably. First the Army, then the Home Guard manned the guns and in 1941 women took over much of the work – but not the actual firing of the guns. Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked at the time: “This was one of the greatest experiments ever tried in the British Army.”

Post-war the site fell into decay, it was raided by scrap merchants, played in by

Jubilee Country Park — history and heritage


Letters

Following the successful digitisation of the GW Smith glass slide collection and the talk and article by Max Batten, Bromleag March 1012 I thought I would add some

details about the Smith family history. The family probably originated from Elmstead. In 1776 an indenture shows that the mother of William Smith of Elmstad paid £60 to apprentice her son to learn the art of carpenter in Bromley for seven years, plus Boarding Value of £42. Late in the 18th century or early 19th century the Smith family moved to Grove Cottages just off Warren Road near Prestons Road, Hayes, and were working as carpenters and undertakers.

In 1850 the family moved to No.4 [now 60] Gravel Road, Bromley Common. William Smith (1836-1908) started the business of Wm. Smith & Sons Builders and Undertakers in 1850 and the company was to continue until 1976. In 1905 William’s two sons, George William (GW) and Joshua Walter, took over.

GW Smith (1861-1926) was also a pioneer photographer creating glass slide photographs and this he combined with his other passion, local history. Joshua’s son, another George William, known as “Gee” continued his uncle’s photographic and historical interest and gave in excess of 100 lantern slide lectures after the Second

World War. Leonard Smith

Builders with a photographic family tradition

adventurous schoolboys and came under threat from developers. Eventually, in celebration of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, Bromley Council bought the land and ensured its survival as a park. This final phase of the book will be invaluable to future historians looking at how and why this park evolved and its history since 1977 charts the growing environmental awareness by individuals and organisation in our natural landscape.

Finally, the book explains how the conservation work the Friends group does today continues traditional rural practices which have been carried out for centuries.

This is a delightful book that gives the reader a much greater understanding of one of our newest parks.

All profits from the sale of the book go towards the work of the Friends of Jubilee Country Park. The book, £5, is available now from Petts Wood Library, Franks Wood Avenue, Petts Wood. For further information visit www.jubileecountrypark.btck.co.uk


Letters

Whe’ Yu’ From? recalls a St Mary Cray childhood

Whe' Yu' From? is the memoir of Brian Hudson who grew up in St Mary Cray during the Second World War before going to university in Liverpool and subsequently working all over the world.

The book title comes from a question put to Brain when he was living in Jamaica, his island home for many years. Subsequently he worked all over the world as an urban planner and is now a professor of Urban Development in Australia.

His childhood memories – of both Bromley and his mother’s family home in Cleveland – are captured in the first half of the book. He then recounts his experiences in other parts of the world, including Ghana, Hong Kong, the Caribbean and Australia, as he tries to answer the question of where he comes from.

He explores his schooldays at Chislehurst Road and Poverest Road schools before he went to Bromley County Grammar School for Boys, and with his experience as an urban planner he looks at the impact of London’s growth on former Kentish villages such as Orpington and St Mary Cray.

More information is available from Garliford Publishing, 2011: www.garliford.com

I refer to Michael Rawcliffe’s article on Bromley railways, Bromleag December 2011, to which Laurie Mack provided some clarification in the March issue. However, the issue over Redhill and Reigate still needs a bit more explanation — railway history is always complicated.

The South Eastern (SER) main line from London to Dover started out on 14 December 1836 with running powers over the London and Greenwich Railway. These powers were extended from Corbetts Lane, Bermondsey, (near the old Peak Frean factory) to Jolly Sailor, the much more interesting name for what we know today as Norwood Junction, on 5 June 1839 with a further extension to Reigate on 12 July 1841. From 19 July 1842, the SER purchased the section from near Coulsdon South to Reigate to connect to its recently-opened link to Tonbridge.

The real confusion here is, of course, that the Reigate station referred to is NOT the Reigate station of today. Redhill (Brighton lines) opened as Red-Hill and Reigate Road on 12 July 1841 while the separate Redhill (SER) opened on 26 May 1842. Both stations closed in April/May 1844 to be replaced by a new, slightly differently located station called Reigate. From 4 July 1849 this station became Reigate Junction, when the real Reigate opened as Reigate Town. It then became Redhill Junction in August 1858, not becoming just Redhill until 1929.

I am sure everyone is clear now! Max Batten

Redhill railway station on the right track


Letters

Oddfellows on a mission to help

E ven in this age of government pensions and the National Health Service, it is good to know that self-help societies such as the Foresters and the Oddfellows exist to give friendship, financial assistance and practical support

to their members. The first Oddfellows Lodge in Bromley area was established in St Mary Cray in 1841

but the roots of the society reach back to the 14th century, and the craft guilds of the country’s towns and villages. Mutual support in distress was the aim, and payments were handed out in sickness and to widows from a small levy. In some places there were not enough workers in any one occupation to form a viable guild so associations were formed from a mixture of trades, who were dubbed the Odd Fellows.

During the 18th century other friendly societies were formed but with the Napoleonic wars government became very sensitive about the possibility of people banding together and rebelling and such activities became illegal, so friendly societies had to keep undercover. Perhaps there was some justification — remember the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and the Swing Riots which began in Orpington in 1830.

By 1850, however, in a more stable political climate local groups were being established such as the Unity Friendship Society of Manchester. The earliest “Lodge” in this corner of north-west Kent was at St Mary Cray and probably owes its inception to workers at the paper mills of the Cray and Darent valleys. It entitled itself the Pride of Kent and met initially at the Five Bells public house, later at the Beech Tree.

It is noticeable that Oddfellows, like the parish vestries of the day, tended to meet at their local hostelries; a few Lodges in those early days acquired the reputation of frequently changing meeting place, a practice which the District Officers apparently sought to discourage. At first belonging to Dartford District, in 1866 it was joined by the Flower of Kent in Foots Cray and they together established St Mary Cray District. Both Lodges (now known as Branches) have survived the years and prospered. Some years ago they were reunited with Dartford District.

In the later 19th century eight more Lodges were opened, beginning with the Star of Keston in 1869 (which met at the Red Cross Inn before it became the Keston Mark). By 1950 there was a total of 10. The Prince Imperial at Keston was the next and soon became known for the smoking concerts held on winter evenings, which were open to non-members and must have helped finance summer sports days and their annual expedition to the seaside.

Patricia Knowlden


Letter

A member of Pride of Kent, Brother RB Page, who lived at Knockholt, proposed a branch locally and the Pride of the Hill opened in 1882, meeting at the Three Horse Shoes; but they found they had to amalgamate with another branch in the early 20th century.

Bromley’s Branch met at the Lord Holmesdale from 1885 before moving to St Luke’s Institute on Bromley Common eight years later — the first Branch not to congregate in licensed premises! Lord of the manor Coles Child was an honorary member in about 1 900 and other local landlords such as AC Norman of the Rookery on Bromley Common and Lt-Col BG Lake at Orpington Priory supported the movement.

It was local artisans and tradesmen such as HP Dunn of Bromley and Henry Taylor, a newsagent at St Mary Cray, and other worthies, who acted as secretaries and treasurers and ran the Lodges for their less fortunate Brothers.

One outstanding example is that of Brother William Epsom, an overseer at Joynson’s paper mill. Born in Swanscombe in 1831, he was educated at the British School until the age of 13 and went to work at the mill. Joining Oddfellows in 1849, he was secretary of Pride of Kent from 1860 for 34 years. Unfortunately, few records seem to have survived so we can know nothing of the all-important ordinary members.

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee was marked by the opening of Perseverance Lodge in Beckenham, but membership fluctuated; Star of Friendship Lodge in the next year at the Old Jail in Cudham had only a short life. There were moves to open Lodges for women, and for juveniles.

Star of Mottingham, on the other hand, begun by members from Prince Imperial in 1891, went from strength to strength and now has its own Hall where a very active and varied social programme takes place. As well as regular general meetings and church services there are dances and discos, bingo, quizzes, indoor bowls, Christmas and any other excuse for a party.

The only other Lodge with its own premises is Flower of Kent. These two are designated as financial branches, and organise today’s system of support and help for members locally in collaboration with the Unity head office in Manchester.

Oddfellows activities have expanded in the 21st century to include a legal aid scheme, travel club, an advice service embracing financial and health matters including convalescent homes — or faulty goods or noisy neighbours!

For more information on the Oddfellows visit www.oddfellows.co.uk This is one of several articles that the late Patricia Knowlden left for publication in

Bromleag


Feature

C harles Burgess [CB] Fry is remembered as one of the greatest cricketers but he achieved fame in the days when someone could excel in a range of sports, all at the same time.

He was the only man to Captain England in football and cricket. Two days after playing in an FA Cup Final he scored 82 runs for London County Cricket Club against Surrey at The Oval. He held the long jump record for 21 years (he finished his cigar after completing his jumps) and played rugby for Oxford, Blackheath and The Barbarians.

CB was born in Croydon in 1872 but at an early age his family moved to Chislehurst. While walking in the park with his nurse he had brief conversations with Napoleon III’s widow and her son Prince Imperial. When the Prince was killed in a surprise attack during the Zulu wars in Africa CB was quite shocked as: “Someone I knew very well had died.”

When CB was seven the family moved to Orpington, overlooking the cricket ground where members encouraged CB to develop his skills. [The cricket ground was on White Hart Meadow, behind the White Hart pub at the Priory end of the High Street].

At eight he became a weekday boarder at Hornbrook House School — which faced West Chislehurst pond — and he enjoyed his athletics and sport. He recalled the start of one cricket practice, in about 1880, when an obstinate Scot refused to be given “out”. The Scot grabbed a stump and the ball and set off in the direction of Bromley and CB and friends gave chase. He was a good sprinter but was eventually trapped with the help of a postman. CB and the others travelled triumphantly back to Chislehurst in the postman’s mail van – the captive and four boys inside, with the rest on top.

CB wrote of his prowess with a catapult. As he had little pocket money he walked home one Saturday to save his rail fare so that he could buy a catapult. This became known to the headmaster’s wife, who punished CB for the misuse of money. He thought this was very unfair.

Keen to take up fishing, he persuaded his father to buy him a rod and line. He was unsuccessful in fishing attempts at the ponds near The Priory and made several long journeys to Keston Ponds before he caught his first fish — a roach.

At school he learnt to jump — and won a high jump competition which was held behind Orpington vicarage. Years later his party piece was to face a fireplace, jump,

CB Fry – local sporting hero

Gordon Hughes


Feature

twist, land on the mantelpiece facing the audience, and take a bow. But his jumping was not always successful. At an Oxford cricket match, when showing off for a group of ladies, he carried a tray of teas on one hand and leapt over a low fence around the pavilion but caught his foot with disastrous results. At 50 he could still leap over a chair from a standing start! Throughout CB’s teens, until he was 18, the family lived in Orpington and he was greatly influenced by many local people. One person who probably helped him at cricket was Joseph Wells, HG’s father. CB’s first recorded contact with him was when Joseph Wells was umpiring and CB drove a ball hard, hitting Well’s forehead and knocking him unconscious. CB thought he had killed him. Wells was carried to a nearby tavern where, after some refreshment, he returned to the field. Although the family moved to Streatham, CB’s links with Bromley

were to continue through his friendship with banker Charles Hoare, who owned Kelsey Estate in Beckenham. He is thought to have been CB’s main benefactor, enabling him to remain an “amateur” and captain the MCC, without losing a test match.

Hoare, a member of the famous banking family, had been made a senior partner in 1877 but he was a reluctant banker who allocated much time and money to his sporting activities. He enjoyed hunting and was encouraged to join, and later became Master of, the prestigious Vale of the White Horse Hunt. The Master of the neighbouring hunt was Captain Sumner and his daughter Beatrice became Charles’s mistress, bearing him two, possibly three, children.


Feature

This very Victorian scandal took a new twist when CB, who would have been among those entertained at Kelsey, fell in love with, and eventually married Beatrice in 1898. Eight months after the wedding Beatrice gave birth to a third child who grew up to have a remarkable resemblance to Charles Hoare. She was to have two more children with CB.

CB’s first Test Match was in 1899, when he opened the batting with WG Grace. As they walked to the wicket, WG said: “Look here Charles Fry, remember I am not a sprinter like you.” They reached 75 before WG was dismissed.

After giving up first class cricket at 50, CB would say: “I had only one stroke but it went to 10 different parts of the field.” He was renowned for demonstrating this stroke with a range of makeshift bats. During a meal at one match, at Lord’s, he seized a walking stick to demonstrate his stroke but his beautiful follow-through was spoilt by a passing waiter, whose dish of sprouts landed on the lap of CB’s host!

Although now best remembered as a sportsman and a cricketer, Fry was an exceptional scholar and during his career was a politician, diplomat, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher.

With a wide range of achievement he became a contender for the vacant throne of Albania in 1921. During the First World War the Albanian royal family moved to Germany, where they had family connections. When the war ended Albania decided that they needed a new king. Their first choice was Aubrey Herbert (Auberon Waugh’s grandfather) who had played a leading role in Albania during the war. He turned down the opportunity. They then decided that they needed an English county gentleman who could provide £10,000 per year.

CB was interviewed and his great friend, and also a famous cricketer, His Highness The Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanangar, known to everyone in

Ranjitsanji, His Highness The Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanangar and CB Fry


Feature

the cricketing world as Ranji, was asked his views on CB. Ranji was extremely wealthy and he would have had to provide the financial

support. He might have thought that he would then lose a close friend. There was the prestige of being King but many thought he might be assassinated early in his reign and it is assumed that Ranji advised them to look for someone else.

CB later wrote that if he had been King he could have stopped Mussolini from invading Albania in1936. He said the British Navy would have prevented the invasion, because he, CB, would have introduced cricket to Albania and in March 1936 there would have been English teams in the country playing pre-season matches and the British Navy would have stepped in to prevent an invasion. Others said that he would not have been alive in 1936 as he would have been shot soon after becoming King.

Fry had a long, eventful life and he died in 1956 at the age of 84, but he will be best remembered as a cricketer. John Arlott wrote of him: “A most incredible man ... the most variously gifted Englishman of any age.” His early life at Chislehurst and Orpington no doubt played a part.

Further reading Iain Wilton’s books CB Fry – An English Hero and CB Fry – King of Sport give a fine portrayal of a remarkable life.

Various families who owned Kelsey estate were keenly interested in cricket. Peter Burrell IV inherited Kelsey in 1775. He was a lawyer and he is recorded as having been a good cricketer and a “great hitter”. He played for Kent and was a distinguished Gentleman player.

His cousin, Elizabeth, was the youngest daughter of Peter Burrell III, and she was considered the prettiest. In his excellent research The History of Kelsey Park Geoffrey Tookey wrote that, in 1777, Elizabeth (20) played a notable cricket match at The Oaks, Surrey, between The Countess of Derby’s team and a team of some other ladies of quality and fashion.

The 21-year-old Duke of Hamilton was one of the spectators and was observed to “pass an uncommon degree of attention to Elizabeth Ann Burrell and when she took the bat in hand the Diana-like air communicated an irresistible impression; she got more notches in the first and second innings than any lady in the game and that bowled The Duke fair out!”

They married before the next cricket season. Geoffrey Tookey also pointed out that the Women’s Cricket Association was set up until 1926 and it was 1929 when the first

Kelsey Park’s links with cricket


Feature

ladies’ public match was played in Beckenham. In 1835 Peter Hoare, the elder, purchased Kelsey. He is recorded as having been a

keen cricketer and he probably had a cricket pitch on the estate. Peter Hoare, the younger, continued the cricketing tradition. He developed the

estate and his cricket ground was opposite the mansion, presumably on the Wickham Road side of the lake.

In 1865 he offered use of the ground to Beckenham Cricket Club, the year before they acquired their present Foxgrove Road site. Most of The Club’s old records were lost in the Second World War so it is not known if the offer was taken up.

Charles Hoare inherited Kelsey Estate in 1877. Although he was slightly lame, he was determined to overcome this disability. In his teens he was accepted by the MCC and later played for Kent against the MCC, when he scored 14 and four.

Charles’s leading cricket coach was probably Joseph Wells (HG’s father) who is recorded in Wisden as the first to take four wickets in four balls in first class cricket. Joseph may have introduced Charles to CB Fry.

Kelsey Park, with the lawns stretching from the grand house to the lake


Feature

In 1740 an Exciseman was captured by smugglers and held overnight at Pratts Bottom, which was on the important Rye road.

At the time it was one of the best roads in the country as the London to Hastings/Rye road was the first to be Turnpiked, in 1710, to make it easier to bring goods to London. During Elizabethan times it was the time-honoured duty and service of Rye to supply the Royal table daily with fish.

The stretch from Pratts Bottom went south via Knockholt, Chevening and Chipstead and smuggled goods were often hidden temporarily in the area of Rushmore Hill, including 2,855 lbs of tea which was found in a field beside Rushmore Hill.

Illegal goods were sold on to “traders” from London. Jacob Pring of the Hawkhurst Gang managed the London end of the trade and lived in Beckenham. A typical consignment of tea for London would pass down Rushmore Hill, through Bromley and Beckenham to Stockwell, where a deal would be made with City merchants.

The same Jacob Pring was involved on 28 August 1742 in an attack on Thomas Quayfe, a Customs House official who was watching a cricket match on Bromley Common. A group of smugglers rode up and attacked Quayfe but he escaped and took shelter in Bromley College. The most likely reason for the attack is that the unfortunate Quayfe was too conscientious in the performance of his duty.

A proclamation by the King promised a pardon to anyone who should apprehend or gave information about any offender, even if the informer was an outlawed smuggler. By 1750 most of the Hawkhurst Gang were convicted and hanged, through their betrayal by former companions, including Jacob Pring.

A Smuggler’s Song, by Rudyard Kipling Running round the woodlump, if you chance to find Little barrels, roped and tarred, all full of brandy-wine, Don’t you shout to come and look, nor use ’em for your play Put the brushwood back again – and they’ll be gone next day!

18th century smugglers on the Rye road

Leonard Smith adds a little more colour to Pat Manning’s tale of Beckenham

smuggler Jacob Pring recounted in the March Bromleag


Subscription Rates

Yearly subscription from 1 January

Individual £10.50; couple £12. Senior citizens pay a reduced rate of £8 per person or £10 for a couple.

Members joining after 30 June pay half rates.

Membership Secretary 020 8467 3842

History is continually being made and at the same time destroyed, buildings are altered or demolished, memories fade and people pass

away, records get destroyed or thrown in the bin.

BBLHS was formed in 1974 so that those with an interest in the history of any part of the borough could meet to exchange information and

learn more about Bromley’s history.

We aim, in co-operation with the local history library, museums and other relevant organisations, to make sure at least some of this history

is preserved for future generations.

We hold regular meetings and produce a newsletter and occasional publications where members can publish their research.

The society covers all those areas that are within the present-day London Borough of Bromley and includes :

Anerley - Beckenham - Bickley - Biggin Hill - Bromley - Chelsfield - Chislehurst - Coney Hall - Cudham - Downe - Farnborough -

Green Street Green -Hayes - Keston - Leaves Green - Mottingham - Orpington - Penge - Petts Wood - St. Mary Cray - St. Paul’s Cray

- Shortlands - Sundridge Park - West Wickham.

www.bblhs.org.uk

Registered Charity No 273963

Bromley Local History Society


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