THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY FOR THE LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY

Vol. 5 No. 4 October 1981 Price 10p Free to Members

Local History Exhibition at Central Library: 23rd November - 7th December

As reported in the previous news letter, the Society has interest, for this exhibition. been invited to stage a local history exhibition in the Here we have a chance which must not be missed, to exhibition area of the Central Library. ‘Members are show the people of Bromley, that the area has an extensive invited to submit original sketches to be shown at this and interesting history and that there is an active Society exhibition and a prize of a £5 book voucher will be studying that history. If you have anything you think presented for the best sketch submitted. should be included in this exhibition please let a member of Members are also invited to lend any articles, the Committee know. photographs, etc. etc., which may be of local historical □

MEETINGS AND FINANCE ANNUAL PUBLICATION There is a slight reduction in the number of meetings to be The Society regretfully has insufficient money to produce a held in future. This was discussed at the Annual General publication this year. As members will have noticed there Meeting and the Committee have given the matter most has been a number of local history books, magazines, etc., careful consideration in the light of the Society’s financial appear during the past year or so, and this has had some position. It has always been the aim to keep subscriptions effect on the sales of this Society’s annual booklet. It was as low as possible, but the cost of hiring rooms for reported at the June Committee meeting, that money had meetings is increasing. When meetings were held at been received at that time for the sale of only 600 of the Stockwell College, the Society did not pay anything at all 1980 publication. The Society relies upon the sales for the for the use of rooms for meetings; the cost of hiring the finance to produce the next issue. The cost of producing small hall at the Central Library is at present, £14.50 for the annual publication is about £2,000 and the Committee each meeting. This is a considerable drain on the Society’s had to face the fact that the money required would not be finances. available. There is a steady sale of the booklet but it has Gordon Wright produces the quarterly newsletter at a not been the flood of sales which followed the issue of the very low cost.. Not only is it of a very high standard but it is earlier publications. The steady sale of the five booklets so very cheap to the Society. A great debt of gratitude is owed far produced by the Society, continues and is encouraging. to Gordon Wright. There is no doubt that further issues will appear. It may be Like all Societies, the expenses of providing a service to that the Society will have to produce two issues over a its members, are increasing rapidly. A Society such as ours period of three years. This is something the Committee will must move forward; it cannot stand still — our have to consider. The articles are there; the money is not. membership is about 200 — we have interesting friendly A difficulty is to get the booklets out to the booksellers meetings, which are reasonably well attended — and we and stationers. Members of the Committee do their best, produce a quarterly newsletter of a high standard. We have but they cannot cover the whole borough and more help in reason to be proud of our achievements. Our members this direction would be appreciated. There is no difficulty know that the history of the area of the London Borough in getting the shopkeepers to take the booklet because the of Bromley is very interesting and the aim must be to get profit margin to them is very good. □ more people interested in that history. The programme of talks etc., has not yet been settled but members may like to know that the dates and venues of meetings will be as follows, please enter these in your diary Courses. 10thOctober — Joint meeting with other local history The following to be held by the Orpington Adult Centre, societies at SIRA. may be of interest:— 30th October — Central Library, Bromley. 13 th November Central Library, Bromley. Heraldry & Genealogy — an elementary five week course 27th November Central Library, Bromley. — starting 29th April, 1982 — Newstead Wood School — 11th December Central Library, Bromley. Tutor, J. Bedells. 29th January — Central Library, Bromley. 12th February — Central Library, Bromley. History is Now — with the theme that history is an on­ 26th February — Farnborough lOsa*** going thing — a six week course — at Newstead Wood 12th March — Central Library, Bromley. School — Tutor K. Wilson. — starting 11th January, 20th March — Public meeting at Orpington. 1982. 30th April — Main Hall, Old Church Schools, Hayes 28th May — Visit or Walk to be arranged. London through the Ages — a 12 week course starting 14th 25th June — Visit or Walk to be arranged. January — at Newstead Wood School — Tutor Mrs. S. 30th July — Visit or Walk to be arranged. Mathews. □ Harry Relph — Little Tick The Cages o fBromley and Beckenham. “ I know I earn more than the Prime Minister but after all I In December, 1865, the Bromley Record reported that it do so much less harm, don’t I” . was proposed to remove “this respected relic of former Harry Relph was born at Cudham in 1867, being the times” , to make a better entrance from Widmore into the sixteenth child of his father, who was 77 years old when town of Bromley. It was a dumpy square building, erected Harry was born. It is known that in 1869 Little Tich’s early in the 19th century and stood in Widmore Road, near father kept the Blacksmith’s Arms, so it is possible that he the Market Square. It was a small prison, with one door was born there. The child was different from others from and two cells. There was an iron grating high up in the wall birth. He had six fingers on each hand and his fully grown of each cell, so that a step of some kind was required to height was only 4 V i feet. These oddities caused him enable a person outside to see and talk to anyone inside. It immense personal embarrasment, even though he used is believed to have been mostly used for people who were them to advantage in his professional life. drunk and it must have been a very unpleasant place to be in. There were no facilities, no means of warmth and the cells were open to all weather conditions. In 1820 or 1821, £20 was spent on repairing, strengthening and cleaning the Cage, which the Bromley Record later referred to as “ a dirty old shed surrounded by muck heaps” . It was reported that in 1824 a prisoner escaped by burrowing underneath the building. There does not seem to be any record of the time prisoners were kept in this dreadful place, but it was probably only for very short periods, e.g. over a week-end, until they could be brought before the magistrates. By 1892, when the Bromley Record refers to the Cage again, it had been gone many years, but had le,^ its name behind, because the field then bounded by East" Street, West Street and North Street was known as Cage The Blacksmiths Arms, Cudham, c.1905 Field. That too has now gone. The Beckenham Cage was at the foot of Church Hill, He attended Jail Lane school but said he was largely self opposite the Greyhound. It is first mentioned in the Vestry educated. His first professional stage appearance was at minutes of 1799,soit was built about the same time as the - the age of 12, when he had a blackened face and sang nine Bromley one. Inscribed on it was the rebuke “Live and songs a night. He took his name from the Tichborne Case, Repent” , with the date 1787. Probably it was very similar a sensational trial in 1871, when a claimant said he was the to the Bromley Cage. It was demolished in 1856. missing son of Richard Tichborne and demanded his inheritance. For a time Harry Relph adopted the professional name of Little Tichborne. Later he became Little Tich and gave up the blackened face and the boots which were over two feet long. He became an international star and was one of the founders of the Variety Artistes’ Federation. In 1903 there was a musical hall strike when twenty-five music halls in London were closed down and Little Tich was a picket during this strike. He was “ on the boards” for nearly 50 years and was the highest paid performer in the country. He died in 1928 at his home in Hendon.

Darwin’s Coffin. In vol. 2. of The Kentish Notebook, by G. E. Howell, written in 1894, he records that “ We got an introduction to Widmore Lane, Cage Fire Engine Houses, c.1905 Lewis the Carpenter, who conducted us to a workshop at the rear of his house and there stood a handsome polished Officers, Publications Secretary and Auditors. coffin on trestles. It was ornamented with heavy brass handles and other fittings, and whilst we were examining it In the previous issue of Bromleage, an appeal was made Mr. Lewis fetched from his house the plate intended for for volunteers to take over the duties of Publications the coffin lid but which was kept wrapped up to prevent it Secretary and fot two Auditors. At the time of writing no being scratched. The plate was a massive one of brass, and offers of assistance have been received. Someone has to do nearly square in form and on it was the following these jobs, so please consider if you can help. The inscription, which I copied verbatim:- responsibilities and duties of the posts were set out in Charles Robert Darwin Bromleage. If you consider that you would fill any of the Died 19 April, 1882 jobs, your assistance would be appreciated. Please let the Aged 73 years Secretary know. □ The fact of it being really the great man’s coffin, and of Mr. Lewis’s possession of it, was accounted for as Diptheria in Orpington — 1893. follows:- A monumental inscription in Orpington Old Churchyard When Darwin died his family ordered the coffin of Mr. records the death of the wife and children of Augustus Lewis’s and it was delivered in due course. The body was Levermore, as follows:— placed in it, where it remained for 30 or 36 hours. In the Alice, his wife, aged 37, died 21st March 1893, and meantime arrangements had been made for the body to be daughters Alice Mabel, aged 13, died 8th March, 1893, buried in Westminster Abbey and for that purpose his Blanche Augusta, (Gussy), aged 5, died 10th March, admirers sent down from London a very handsome coffin, 1893, Isabella, aged 18 days, died 18th March, 1893, in which to convey the body to Westminster. The original Sybil Beatrice, aged 1 year 7 months, died 18th March, coffin was then returned to Mr. Lewis, in whose possession 1893. it still remains” . all of diptheria at Crofton. □ Sir Samuel Edward Scott — Sundridge Park. JOURNEYS A case of “welching” at the Eridge Hunt races, of which First, to the Institute of Archaeology in London where the Sir Samuel Edward Scott, was the victim, came on for Society for Landscape Studies held a symposium in hearing on 18th October, 1892, when Henry Murray, a February, on the relationship of the boundaries of manors bookmaker,- was charged at the East Surrey Quarter and parishes, vills and townships; and wapentakes, Sessions, with the theft of a sovereign. The prisoner, it was hundreds, rapes, borghs, and so on. At the end, it was stated, should have been tried at the June Sessions, but, clear that all was unclear, because most of the terms meant being on bail, did not surrender. He was re-committed and different things in different parts of England, and again admitted to bail but had been apprehended on a sometimes at different times. So Tim Tatton-Brown, sheriff’s warrant. Sir Samuel Scott stated that at the Eridge Director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, steeplechases the prisoner was offering 8 to 1 about suggested drawing up county glossaries as a first step Goldseeker, which ran in the Hunt Plate. Witness took the towards sorting out the problem, an idea which was bet and deposited a sovereign. Goldseeker won, but on Sir approved by the meeting. Samuel demanding his money, Murray insisted that he had In Maidstone, at the County Local History Committee backed Plunger. Subsequently however, the accused said meeting in March, business was much as usual, interesting he had made a mistake; and the jury, after ten minutes and varied. The following could be worth your noting: deliberation, supported this view by acquitting the Halliwell’s of Rochester announce the formation of a prisoner. □ Local History Book Club; Kent University Library have issued a list of recent theses, which includes some on subjects of local historical interest; the report of the Kent in London. North West Kent in the Historic Buildings Committee mentions (among items Sixteenth Century. further afield) that ‘comments had been offered regarding The Bromley Local History Society is the host this year to the conversions of barns to dwellings’ in a redevelopment the all day annual meeting of the local history societies in scheme at Manor Farm, Farningham; Mr. Yates, the the area of “ Kent in London” . The meeting will be held on County Archivist, told us'about an Archives Fellowship Saturday, 10th October, will start at 10 a.m. and will be for which an inaugural meeting has now been held. There held at SIRA Institute, South Hill, Chislehurst. has been some discussion with Kent Archaelogical Society The theme of the meeting is to be North West Kent in the etc., over the possibility of resuming work on Vol. IV of sixteenth century. The main speakers will be Dr. Felix the Victoria County History — largely a matter of finance! Hull, the former County Archivist, and Peter Tester, an The Kent Archives Office has been very busy, especially on authority on the architecture of the county. Two excellent late Monday evenings, and we are advised to ring up speakers. There will also be a session of short talks by before going, at least until more accommodation is made members of the societies involved, on aspects of their areas available. ______in the sixteenth century. Miss Hughes of this society, will Regarding the compilation of the county list of church talk about the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the area. She is guides, responses were ‘coming in nicely’, and I can echo always worth hearing. that for Bromley’s part, thanks to the several people who This promises to be a meeting of more than ordinary are helping with it; but Bromley has over 50 Anglican interest. Tickets are £1 each and are obtainable from the churches, and a few more hands would make lighter work Secretary. of it . . . so please — any offers? For complete instruction Previous meetings have always been extremely well kit, ring 462 5002. organised and this Society must show that we are as Most of this season’s week-end courses are now over. I capable of organising a meeting of this nature, as are the have been to two, at Allington Castle and at Canterbury; other Societies, so please come along on 10th October and and Miss Helena Butcher has reported on another, at be prepared to help. „ Wye College. At Allington we learnt about “The Family in Pre-Industrial England’, about variations in age at marriage at different periods and yes, there were love matches in the Middle Ages; how arrangements were made w High Elms Estate. for widows and orphans, and the elderly were assured of The Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society has their place by the fire. That vexed question about the issued a booklet about the history, management and numbers of bastards in the late 18th century had an conservation of this estate. It has been written by Jack unexpected answer — the suggestion that although many Penry-Jones, a historian, naturalist and ornithologist, who were legally bastards after the 1751 Act which required all has been a President of the Croydon N.H. & S. Society, marriages to take place in church, they were the offspring and is also a member of this Society. of common-law marriages, or, a simple declaration by the The booklet includes a sketch map of the estate, eight couple to each other and previously legal and binding. plates and 17 pages of records of flora, fauna, etc., This puts a different complexion on our views of 18th compiled in part by members of the Orpington Field Club. century morality, and perhaps explains many a family It can be obtained from the Croydon N.H. & S. Society, historian’s vain search through the Parish Registers. My 96a, Brighton Road, South Croydon, Surrey, CR2 6AD, other trip was in celebration of the Peasant’s revolt of and costs £1.70. 1381. It included an irrelevant but altogether delightful history of Canterbury by Paul Bennett, exemplified by the open holes of one of the City’s ‘digs’, around which we stood in the mud for one whole fascinated hour. Regarding the revolt, Andrew Butcher has recently concluded that, although the Poll Tax may have sparked things off, in fact it released tensions built up from many causes and varying in different parts of the country. In Kent, largely from discord between social groups in especially, Canterbury, stemming from the aftermath of the plague. Eventually, on Sunday afternoon on the train home, the concensus of opinion was that what we had been celebrating had been something of a non-event, in terms of real results, at least. □ Patricia Knowlden High Elms, c. 1900? mi ii iuai ruuiiuauuiio

Members are reminded that copies o£ these are still Wickham, by Harry Walden; The Bromley Palace and available:- Coles Child, Lord o f the Manor 1846-1873, by J.L. Filmer; Trustees o f the New Cross Turnpike Trust, 1718- 1830, by Patricia Knowlden. The above will be supplied to members post free at the No. 1 1976, contains, and costs 75p. prices shown. Non-members are asked to add 20p for eacv The Holwood Estate, Keston, by M.C. Watts; The Lady copy, to cover the cost of postage, etc. They are o b tain ab le Margaret Hospital, Bromley, by Mrs. K.M. Batten and from the Local History Society for the London Borough of H.J.O. Marshall; The History o f Transport in Bromley Bromley, 163 Tubbenden Lane, Orpington, Kent, BR6 and District, by Charles F. Klapper, F.C.I.T., F.R.G.S.; 9PS. The Wells Family o f Deptford and Bickley, by J.L. Filmer; Copies can also be collected from the Local History Problems in the Cray Ravensbourne Valleys, 1830, by Department of the Bromley Central Library. q Miss M. Hughes, B.A.; William Farr, M.D., F.R.S., D.C.L., C.B., by Miss G.C. Sinclair; The House that was Information Wanted. on Camden Close, Chislehurst and its People, by Mrs. E. About the history of Baston Farm or Baston House, by the Myatt; Sources o f Information, by A.H. Watkins. Headmistress, Baston School, Hayes, Bromley, BR2 7AB. No. 2 1977, contains, and is in short supply, it costs 50p. (01-562 1010). Village into Suburb, Wickham Street through five About Springfield House, built in 1890, and now St. Centuries, by Patricia Knowlden; Reminiscences o f J.R. Nicholas School, by Mrs. Jane Oliver, St. Nicholas Pocock, 1834-1909; The Norman Family o f Bromley School. Springfield Gardens, Grosvenor Road, West Common, by J.L. Filmer; Roman Coins o f Roman Wickham, BR4 9PX. (01-777 4633). Bromley, by Gordon Wright; William Baxter, Bromley About smuggling — any gravestones with interesting Antiquary, by A.H. Watkins; The Sandersons o f Bullers and legible inscriptions to do with smugglers, any local Wood, by Susan P. Bunnett; St. Mary Cray & The Anti- public houses with smuggling legends or facts and the same Corn Law League, by Miss M. Hughes, B.A. with churches and houses — for the period from the No. 3 1978, costs 75p and contains:- earliest times to about 1850, by John Douch, 33, Castle Street, Dover, Kent. □ John Till, Rector o f Hayes, 1777-1827, by Mrs. Hester Wells; The Bromley School o f Science and Art, by Miss M. Hughes, B.A.; The Story o f Farnborough Hospital, by Kent Archives Fellowship. Fred Whyler; The Genesis o f Horsburgh’s “Bromley, This fellowship has now been launched as a support group Kent”, by A.H. Watkins; The Roman Occupation o f West for the Kent Archives Office. The Fellowship will aim to Wickham, by Gordon Wright; Bromley College Pillars, by foster public interest in archives, to encourage the deposit Rev. F.J. McBride; The Growth o f Shops in Beckenham, of archive material, to raise funds for the improvement of 1885-1915, by G. Collins; The Old Anchor and Hope Inn, archives services in Kent and to comment on the future Orpington, by John Edwards; The James Frazer Tent o f development of these services. the Independent Order o f Rechabites, by Frank Scott. At the inaugural meeting, at which this Society was represented by Patricia Knowlden, the following officers No. 4 1979, costs 75p and contains:- were elected:— The Parish Chest and Its Contents — with particular President, Lord Astor of Hever; Chairman, Dr. Felix reference to the Chests o f Local Churches, by Miss M. Hull; Vice-Chairman, Canon Paul Welsby, Hon. Hughes, B.A.; Sundridge Parks and the history o f the Treasurer, David Cleggett; Hon. Secretary, Paul Oldham, Scott family who lived there, by J.L. Filmer; The British 15 Hermitage Lane, Barming, Maidstone, Kent. In Red Cross in the Bromley Area, 1910-1919, by Joyce addition to these officers, a committee of ten was elected. Walker; The History o f Orpington Hospital, by Fred Membership is open to everyone interested in archives. Whyler; Anglo-Saxon Charters o f Bromley, by M.C. The annual subscription is £3 for individual members, with Watts; James Scott, the famous Surgeon o f Bromley, by special rates of £5 for families and £2 for students. A.H. Watkins; Bromley Fire Brigade, 1867-1904, by D.E. Lecture meetings and a bulletin twice a year, in Edwards; The Windmills o f Keston, by M.C. Watts; The conjunction with the Kent Archive Office, are planned. It Emancipation o f West Wickham, 862-1928, by Patricia Knowlden. is envisaged that members will be able to purchase Kent Archive Office publications at a discount. No. 5 1980, costs £1, and contains A meeting will be held in the afternoon of Saturday, 3rd Memories o f Bromley, 1897-1916, by Mrs. K.E. Payne; By October, in Canterbury, to enable members to discuss the Rail to Biggin Hill. A Railway that never was, by John objectives and work of the Fellowship. The subject will be Edwards; “Bromley gets Switched on”. A History o f introduced by two speakers including one from the West Electricity in Bromley, by L.J. Downes; Very Early West Sussex Record Office. □

Designed and produced by Raven Studios Ltd., 5 Rectory Road, Beckenham, Kent on behalf of The Local History Society for the London Borough o f Bromley. Editorial contributions or enquiries to: Mr. F.J. Whyler, 163 Tubbenden Lane, Orpington.