Rainham History - History of Rainham Kent, Old Photos and Life in Bygone Times
The Quest for a Catholic Church in Rainham
The Quest for a Catholic Church in Rainham
Four centuries after Henry VIII’s break with Rome and nearly 40 years of hard work and organisation during the first half of the 20th century, the dream of a Catholic church eventually became reality for the Rainham Catholic community in 1958.
During the 1920s services were held at the Rainham Brotherhood Hall situated in Church Lane close to St Margaret’s church in Rainham High Street. An estimated congregation of about 50 people regularly attended Sunday morning Mass. The rent cost about 15p a week and Father Gerald Quinn, assistant priest at Gillingham Catholic Church organised everything, but the Rainham Catholic community were keen to move away and have a hall of their own.
The first stage of getting a permanent and suitable base began when the Diocesan Trustees bought a plot of land on a site adjacent to the London Road, the old medieval pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury for £270 with help from the parish of Gillingham in 1921.
When presiding Rainham priest Father McMahon retired communication between Father Gerald Quinn from Gillingham and the church authorities led to permission eventually being given for the building of a parochial hall on the new site. On August 2nd 1933 the hall with a capacity for 160 people became reality. The building served as a temporary church. Bishop Amigo opened it on November 10th 1934.
The Catholic community immediately set to work organising fund raising events through a newly elected social committee. Although weekly collections were only £1, whist drives were held and raffles took place while coach trips were arranged to the coast and other local locations during the summer months to raise funds for the new church.
By 1951 congregations had risen to 237 and a new fund raising scheme was introduced for finances to build a new church. To raise money a Catholic football pool and a Mile of Pennies scheme were set up. Such were the efforts that £158 8s 0d had been raised by October 1953.
On November 14th 1954 the parishes of Rainham and Gillingham held a social event to help boost funds to build a new church and school in Rainham. On the same evening a final decision was made to go ahead with the building of a church. A social club and a youth club were formed about the same time.
Dances held in the parochial hall proved to be a great success attracting people from far and wide. Bricks were sold for the new church at about 15p each after Sunday Masses. Rainham members of the Medway Catholic Women’s Guild made vestments for the new church and took it so seriously that they attended a course at the Medway College of Art in Rochester to ensure that they provided a high quality product.
Eduardo Dodds became the architect entrusted with designing the new church then on April 21st 1956 tenders for the building were revealed. Of seven local companies J H Durrant of Strood had their tender accepted and construction got underway in the Autumn of 1956 when the foundations of the church were dug and the brickwork begun. Although a crisis regarding finances arose at one stage a solution was eventually found and the building, dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, continued and became the only Catholic church to be constructed in the diocese at that time. With all the trials and tribulations involved in the construction with regard to finances, the ‘Laying of the Foundation Stone’ took place with Bishop Cyril Cowderoy directing the proceedings on December 29th 1956.
The new church had an interesting design in the modern idiom with beautiful carvings and statuary completed by Michael Clark FRBS who became President of the Royal Academy of Art. The church also acquired his ‘14 Stations of the Cross’ and the canonical erection of this took place on November 19th 1958. A statue of St Thomas of Canterbury, a gift presented to the church by Father Scott, was placed in front of the organ where it could be seen by members of the congregation leaving the church.
The church ceramics were designed by Adam Kossowski. These included a figure of St Joseph seated with the child Jesus. In the Lady Chapel angels were set against a background of blue tiles. A colourful depiction of the murder of St Thomas of Canterbury above the main entrance of the church is unique although Reverend Trew of Upchurch wrote in his short history of Upchurch church in 1911 that a fresco of St Thomas of Canterbury existed on the wall of the Lady Chapel of Upchurch church until it was whitewashed over after repairs.
The official opening of St Thomas of Canterbury Church took place on April 28th 1958 although the consecration of the building did not happen until June 11th 1970. A decision had been made to pay off all the debts for the building before the event could took place.
Photo of St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Church, Rainham, Kent
Father Swinton continued as the parish priest and he remained until 1961. He lived nearby in Salisbury Road. Father Petry succeeded him and stayed until 1963 then Father Gleeson arrived and served the parish for ten years.
Now a familiar and distinct landmark on the main road to Gillingham, St Thomas of Canterbury church continues to attract new members to its congregation and remains an important location in the parish. It also maintains a close connection with St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Romany Road and St John Fisher Catholic School in Chatham.
The First Rainham Soldier Killed in World War 1
The First Rainham Soldier Killed in World War 1
When war was declared in July 1914 most people believed that it would be a short and glorious affair. In Rainham young men joined up while others who were already in the forces soon became involved.
Originally born in Chatham, Thomas Henry Anderson lived in Chatham, Rainham and Upchurch during the period leading up to 1914, working as a butcher’s assistant before joining the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. His first military experience took place in India which at that time remained part of the British Empire and while serving there he was awarded the Delhi Durbar Medal in 1911 to commemorate King George’s coronation celebrations in India
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After completing his posting in India he returned to England where he was stationed at Portsmouth but with the outbreak of war in July 1914 it wasn’t long before he found himself sailing to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force made up entirely of professional soldiers under the command of General Sir John French. As a member of the 1st Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers he disembarked at Le Havre in France before being transported inland by train to Landrecies.
According to the regimental history of the Northumberland Fusiliers, on 21st August Thomas Anderson’s regiment marched towards Mons where the Ist Battalion took a position on the Mons Condé Canal while the French were fighting the Germans at the battle of Charleroi on the right of the British Expeditionary Force. The British aim was to hold a line along the Mons-Condé Canal for 24 hours to prevent the advancing Germans from threatening the French left flank. When the battle began the British inflicted heavy casualties on the German side but with the retreat of the French Fifth Army which exposed the British right flank to numerically superior German forces a retreat was ordered.
After their first conflict the battalion crossed the River Marne on September 9th and soon confronted German infantry in a wooded area at Veuilly. During the course of this they crossed a stream and marched on to the village of Dammard. They then crossed the River Aisne and billeted at Vailly. On September 14th they moved forward in support of the 4th battalion of the Royal Fusiliers near Rouge Maison and waited. At dawn the Germans attacked and the fusiliers were driven back after engaging their enemy in a wood on the left side. They lost more than 30 soldiers which probably included Thomas Anderson and 84 officers and men wounded or missing.
It isn’t clear exactly how he was killed but Thomas, who held the rank of Lance-Corporal, was later awarded the ‘Mons Star,’ a medal awarded to those who had fought the Germans in France and Belgium between 5th August and 23rd November 1914. He is remembered on the Upchurch and Rainham war memorials and on La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre memorial east of Paris. The Northumberland Fusiliers in which Thomas Anderson served raised 51 battalions for service in the Great War and lost a total of 16,000 men.
Thomas Anderson became the first Rainham serviceman to be killed in the conflict and 98 others from the village suffered the same fate in the Great War of 1914-1918. 527 words.
Chapel Lane Closed Hempstead
For years I've noticed a sign on a dead end road as a drive out of Hempstead so I finally stopped and got a few photos. This was a road that I remember driving down when I was learning to drive and shortly afterwards was closed. I've not found any information why Chapel Lane in Hempstead was closed to traffic in 1987 but the road remains in place with just a gate blocking the entry.
Chapel Lane Hempstead runs from Forge Lane (which leads to Bredhurst) near the junction with Lidsing Road through Chapel Hill Woods and joins Hempstead Valley drive near Savacentre/Hempstead Valley shopping centre M&S entrance. The road is still shown on Google maps with no indication of its closure. The road is narrow and maybe was unsuitable for large numbers of vehicles but would ease traffic on the Capstone Road/Hempstead Road junctions.
Some more information about Chapel Lane and the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, Lydsing is here http://www.ghostconnections.com/Medway%20Recce.htm
Memories of the Howard School in the Early Years
Memories of the Howard School in the Early Years
Moving from Orchard Street to the 36 acre site in Derwent Way Rainham in September 1967, the boys found the new school much more spacious with newer facilities than their previous one. Many boys puzzled over the name and thought it came from the building company that had constructed the site. In reality the building was named after Dorothy Howard who had served as Education officer for Medway and had been involved in local community and political affairs.
With a school population of about 500 and a four house system consisting of Tufton, Queens, Dering and Chaney, Mr Bacon continued as headmaster with his ageing white haired secretary in the adjacent office. Most of the Orchard Street staff continued although a few retired while well-known caretaker Mr Milgate remained at Orchard Street when the transfer took place.
Mr Newell continued as the art teacher and later became acting-head after the retirement of Mr Bacon, while Mr Gibbs continued as the principal English teacher, the librarian and wrote the annual school play. He left the school soon after its opening to teach at the former Sittingbourne teacher training college.
Mr Patterson remained as the geography teacher and Mr Barnes the maths teacher. Mr Powell continued teaching science and later became deputy-headmaster and Mr Rotherham continued teaching craft and organised the school football and cricket teams before retiring aged 81 during the late 1990s. Mr Groves, a muscular rugby player and athlete taught PE and games.
Well-known new teacher arrivals were Mr Ansell and Mr Bullen who also played for Rainham Cricket Club, Mr Clark who taught PE and originated from the Midlands, Vaughn Jenkins, a fat Welshman with a booming voice who ended up teaching English as a Foreign Language in Qatar and Ukraine before retiring to Blackburn. Mr Johns, another Welshman turned out to be a very introverted individual, prone to bursts of temper. Well-spoken Mr Richards taught English and tried to be best friends with all the boys. He wore thick black rimmed glasses and originated from Sussex.
Alan Suttie from Maidstone Road, who later became a graphic artist in London, served as head-boy with a group of prefects who all sat on the school stage during the morning assembly while Mr Bacon or deputy-head Mr Thomas conducted prayers and gave a daily sermon.
The prefect’s room had a table tennis table and many of the prefects played there and sometimes had to be removed by Mr Rotherham when they should have been in lessons or doing private study.
Because the playing fields were new a large number of stones appeared from below the surface, so initially many school football matches had to be played at the Langton Playing Fields, while during the summer some home cricket matches were played at Berengrove Park, the home of Rainham Cricket Club. A red gravel area existed for football practice but many boys complained of serious leg grazes after falling over and the orange dust stuck to their clothes. Outdoor artificial nets existed for cricket practice but the playground was preferred by pupils for sport. With a big gym, spacious science labs, well-lit classrooms and a dining hall, the new school had better and newer facilities than at Orchard Street but not as much atmosphere as the old school was smaller and more centrally located.
Well-known Howard Schoolboys from the period include George Meegan who became the first person to walk from the bottom of South America to the top of North America without any financial backing or special equipment for which he is in the Guinness Book of Records. Footballer Derek Hales went on to play for Luton, Charlton, West Ham, Derby and Gillingham. He later returned to the Howard School as a part-time football coach. Stuart Hart became landlord of the Angel pub in Station Road and a familiar scrap metal collector around Rainham while Raymond Hales, Alfie Fisher, Andy Findlay, Geoff Stone, Mick Arnold, Peter Heath and Malcolm Young became well-known local footballers.
With the closure of Gillingham Grammar School, the boys there moved to the Howard School in 1975 where they formed the grammar section of a new bi-lateral school, one of only five in the United Kingdom led by headmaster Mr Hicks. This amalgamation of the old Rainham Secondary School with Gillingham Grammar expanded the Howard School population to around 1,500 boys. The school remains one of the largest in Medway today.
Windmill on Windmill Hill near Otterham Quay
The Windmill on Windmill Hill near Otterham Quay
These days Windmill Hill in Upchurch is just a name without any importance for many people other than having a dangerous bend near the top of the hill, but from the early 19th century a towering windmill stood there as a familiar landmark. It could be seen for miles around due to its high location and like Upchurch church it served as a navigation point for boats sailing along the Medway. During the second half of the 19th century it became the property of ‘Wakeley Brothers’ fruit and hop business in Rainham but by the beginning of the 20th century it no longer functioned. ‘Wakeley Brothers’ allowed the structure to continue standing as a well-known landmark rather than demolish it.
Timber built with a brick base, the windmill’s wood was old and well tarred which made it highly inflammable and this eventually proved to be costly when a fire took hold.
On Thursday September 8th, 1910 the windmill caught fire. A farm worker noticed a narrow plume of smoke coming from it after he had returned from lunch. Due to the inflammability of the structure the fire took hold quickly and the high leaping flames and black smoke could soon be viewed for miles around. This caused crowds of people to converge on the scene to view the spectacle.
Eventually, after a delay of about 45 minutes, the horse drawn Rainham Fire Brigade engine arrived but there was little that could be done to save the windmill. The fire had become so advanced and the heat so intense that nobody could get anywhere near it and the situation worsened when the burning sails from the windmill broke off and fell into a nearby orchard causing considerable damage to young fruit trees that had just come into bearing. Many of these were badly burnt or scorched.
Police Constables Jenner and Sergeant Ashton from Rainham assisted by several passers-by were able to rescue some pigs in a sty close to the burning windmill otherwise the animals would have been roasted alive. A timber built store owned by Mrs. Stokes, wife of late farmer Sam Stokes also caught fire but the fire brigade was unable to save it. A standpipe positioned at the top of Windmill Hill provided water but due to the low pressure which had resulted from the high location the firemen were unable to access sufficient water quickly enough to make any great difference and were not able to control the fire for about three hours which resulted in the windmill being burnt to the ground.
Eventually the fire subsided but the windmill was completely destroyed and the nearby fruit orchard burnt and damaged. Although Mrs. Stokes store survived it was badly damaged. Several carts, a collection of fruit baskets, wheat and grain inside the store were destroyed or damaged. The cost to ‘Wakeley Brothers’ was about £250 and Mrs. Stokes lost about £100. Both parties were later able to claim insurance but the windmill, such a significant landmark on the landscape for about a century, disappeared for ever and only the name and a few photos survive.
Memories of Wakeley’s Hop Gardens
Memories of Wakeley’s Hop Gardens
Hop picking dates back hundreds of years in the area with hop gardens and oasthouses once scattered around the locality. Oasthouses still exist at Moor Street Farm, by Rainham railway station and just off the high street although these are no longer used for storage of hops but for other purposes. Although hop picking is now just something from the past 92 year old Marj Lacy from Bradshaw Close in Upchurch still has vivid memories of the hop picking season on those damp and misty autumn days of eighty years ago in Hartlip and Upchurch.
“I started when I was ten years old back in the 1930s and went hop picking with my brother and two cousins at Wakeleys’ hop garden in Hartlip. We shared a bin between us and picked into half bushel baskets which we tipped into the bin. I went picking to buy a new school uniform for myself each year. I earned about fifteen shillings a week and picked for the whole season which lasted for about five weeks starting in September. I worked in the Hartlip hop garden for four years and remember Seymour Wakeley from Rainham inspecting the picking and overseeing the payment of wages at the end of each week.
I worked at ‘Seventeen Acres’ hop garden in Oak Lane during the 1940s. Pickers from Upchurch brought their own equipment consisting of a stool and picking basket. Some pickers brought their equipment in a baby’s pram while others visited the workplace the night before to see which row they had been allocated.
Many Upchurch residents worked in ‘Seventeen Acres’ like Ellen Boast and Win Wraight from The Street, Mrs Goodall and Elsie Waters from Oak Lane and Win Edmonds and Molly Bass from Drakes Close. Mrs Neame from The Street Stores also came with volunteers to raise money for the Darby and Joan Club. Meanwhile, Mr Oldland, the foreman from Rainham, organised the pickers who came by bus from Chatham and brought their children with them while Brian Wakeley from Forge Lane in Upchurch often inspected the picking. Other visitors included a man with a basket of doughnuts and another on a horse and cart selling sweets. The pickers brought tins which were hung on a wire with a hook above a fire for making tea which they drank while they worked. Official tea breaks didn’t exist.
The pickers were paid per basket and chose the hours they worked although the usual working day began at 7 a.m. and finished at 4 p.m. A lunch break took place for one hour. The work was pleasant but the hops that dropped on the ground had to be picked up. This was the hardest work. I didn’t only do picking, I also did stringing and training. The hop bins were collected early afternoon by horse and cart and taken to Moor Street oasthouse situated nearby or to the Station Road oasthouse in Rainham for drying. At the end of a working day I returned home, did the cooking and housework and looked after my two daughters. I thought nothing of it in those days.
The last day of the season was usually a fun day when pickers arrived in fancy dress, had a good laugh and played tricks on each other. On one occasion my mother was put into a sack which was then tied up. I really miss hop picking, it was marvellous.”
Rainham in the Opening Months of World War 1
Rainham in the Opening Months of World War 1
When war broke out in July 1914 life in Rainham continued as normal with various events taking place like the Rainham fete when over 1,000 children participated in a procession around the village followed by a gymnastics display and music by the Salvation Army on the Recreation Ground. Soon after this The Rainham Flower Show, the biggest annual event in the village, took place with about 1,400 people attending at the Recreation Ground. Visitors were entertained by the band of the Royal Engineers and sports events involving local schools, while entries of flowers, fruit and vegetables were judged. Later at Prize Giving Day held in the Council School in Solomon Road, prizes were awarded by Mr and Mrs Sid Wakeley. Pupils of different ages performed songs with the most memorable being infants dressed as little Japanese maids followed by an upper school girl’s display of physical exercises.
The first evidence of war related activity occurred in late July when girls at the Church of England School were asked to bring a penny each which provided linen for a bandage ready for hospital use to treat wounded soldiers and sailors. Mrs Penfold, wife of Dr Penfold thought of the idea. Soon after this 106 parishioners were sworn in as special constables at the Church of England School. Their job was to patrol Rainham during the war period and seek out any possible German spies. A committee led by The Lion Hotel publican Phil Curling acting as chief of Staff was set up to oversee this.
Arthur Percy Light who died during the First World War
During August Rainham parish councillors led by Dr Penfold made a house to house collection for the Prince of Wales War Fund which raised £100. A recruiting rally held in Rainham Church Hall followed with the aim of persuading local men to join the forces and fight in the war. Dr Penfold acted as chairman while speakers included local MP Mr Granville Wheeler and captain A G Hendry. A second rally took place in early September outside the Church School in Station Road. With a large number of men assembled in the road MP Mr Granville Wheeler, Mr Payne, Colonel Honeyball and Reverend Tamplin gave speeches. Reverend Tamplin gave a particularly stirring speech asking every man to do his duty against Germany as he recalled the famous British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo. Later in October the East Kent Yeomanry held a recruiting rally in Station Road and six men joined up. These included William Barrett, Seymour Wilkins and Tom Russell from Station Road, Len Belsey and Frank Brock from Orchard Street and Sid Finn from Moor Street. Honorary recruiting agents for Rainham included Mr E Holdstock from Orchard Street, Mr E Pierce from Chapel Lane and Mr F Mattocks from Station Road.
In September the first war casualties were announced with Tom Anderson reported killed in action while serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers at Mons. Ernie Carter who served as a private in the Royal Marines Light Infantry died when his ship HMS Aboukir was sunk by a German submarine. Joe French aged 31 from Lower Rainham died on the same day when HMS Cressy on which he was serving got torpedoed by a German submarine with the loss of 560 crew members. Chief Petty Officer John Wood aged 38 of 99 Station Road also died when his ship HMS Pathfinder was sunk by a German submarine in the North Sea. He was one of 200 men to die on the vessel. He left a wife and a five year old son. Another death took place under unfortunate circumstances when 17 year old Wilfred Ray from Bredhurst Road accidently shot himself with a revolver while on duty as a territorial in Sheerness. A verdict of accidental death was given after an inquest. At about this time the tenor bell in Rainham church tower rang out at noon every day so that people could remember and say a prayer for those men fighting in the war.
In October a powerful explosion in the high street caused residents to rush out of their homes and into the street thinking that a German plane or airship had dropped a bomb. It turned out to be a gas explosion resulting from a gas leak in the scullery of the Lion Hotel which injured Mrs Curling who was working there at the time. As Mrs Curling lit the stove the resulting explosion threw her across the room, the iron stove door was blown off and hit her in the legs while the stove was blown to pieces. Luckily, Mrs Curling only suffered bruising and shock. A month later a huge explosion on the River Medway rocked the village when HMS Bulwark exploded and sank to the bottom of the river with the loss of 750 men. Early reports indicated that this had been instigated by German agents but an investigation showed that it had been caused by an accidental ignition of ammunition. The event turned out to be the second worst accidental destruction of a Royal Naval vessel in British maritime history. For weeks after the explosion bodies were washed ashore. In December the body of a sailor from the ship was washed ashore at Bartlett’s Creek in Lower Rainham and was eventually identified as ordinary seaman John Porter aged 19.
As the war progressed permission was given to Rainham Parish Council to keep the gas lights in the high street switched on through the night until daylight on the basis that the special constables patrolling the streets would be able to guard the telegraph wires more efficiently with street lighting. German spies were the biggest fear with regard to this and two Germans working for Wakeley Brothers were arrested under the Aliens Order by Sergeant Pattenden and sent to a prison in Olympia.
In November 1914 moves were made to raise money for Belgian refugees after the Germans had invaded the country. Garments were made for Belgian children by the local branch of the Girls Friendly Society under the direction of vicar’s wife Mrs Tamplin. The garments were packed and sent to the Belgian refugees headquarters in London. A concert by Rainham Co-operative Society in aid of the Belgian Refugees Fund at the Council School followed this. Regarded as the best concert to have taken place in Rainham for years a range of songs, music and Scottish dancing were presented by local performers. This resulted in £28 being raised for the fund and supplemented with a further £2 after publican Phil Curling had set up a match fund by selling boxes of matches for 1d a box.
Several months into the war a 20 year old man appeared on the streets of Rainham limping and dressed in the uniform of a Royal Marine. He claimed that he had been wounded while fighting for the British army in Antwerp. He twice attended services at St Margaret’s church on the same day looking for sympathy and board and lodgings and after telling people about his experiences fighting in Belgium he agreed to give talks about the war at local Rainham schools. He also obtained foodstuffs from Thomas Crump, a baker in Station Road by suspected deception. This raised the suspicion of the police who arrested him for fraud and he appeared before Sittingbourne Magistrates Court. Identified as private Ernest Williams of the Royal Marines stationed in Chatham, Investigations revealed that there was nothing wrong with his leg, he had not fought abroad, he had obtained food at Thomas Crump’s bakery by deception and that he had broken his leave from the army. He also had previous convictions for larceny. He was sentenced to three months hard labour.
With the war in full swing and more regular reports of deaths and casualties, Private Arthur Gore of the Royal West Surrey Regiment returned home to 45 Ivy Street to recover from his wounds sustained while taking part in the Battle of Ypres. The 21 year old had fought in trenches only fifteen yards away from German trenches and was struck in the top of the head with a bullet during the course of heavy fighting. As he fell back another bullet struck him in the eye and he lay unconscious for five hours until he came around and managed to make his way to a village about half a mile away where he received treatment. He was then sent to hospital in Le Havre where his damaged eye was removed. He moved on to the Royal Eye Hospital in Manchester for another operation and was then sent home to rest.
As the war progressed through the remainder of 1914 it soon became apparent that the conflict with predicted glorious cavalry and infantry charges, which government propaganda had earlier announced, would last for much longer than weeks. Instead, the conflict became a bloody war of attrition with huge casualties and both sides getting bogged down in trench warfare that lasted for four years.
Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebrations in Rainham 1887
Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebrations in Rainham
As Queen Victoria sat in her open carriage drawn by eight white ponies making the journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey for a full state thanksgiving service and cheered on by thousands of her flag waving subjects, towns and villages across the country had their own celebrations to mark the event on June 21st 1887.
The East Kent Gazette reported that on a fine sunny day in Rainham, early morning peels rang out from St Margaret’s church bells and at intervals for the remainder of the day to signify the big event. The people of Rainham had raised £50 to fund the celebration with decorations and activities and had formed a committee to organise it.
Flags and banners decorated the centre of Rainham drowning it in a sea of red, blue and white. Flags from the barges Agremont, Virginia and Director suspended by lines fluttered above the main road at the western end of Rainham. At the Cricketers pub landlord Samuel Jarrett exhibited a line of flags and transparencies of the Queen, the Prince of Wales’s plume and a representation of the crown. At the vicarage a bit further along the High Street a group of flags with the words ‘God Save the Queen’ on a crimson background and a transparency of the Prince of Wales’s plume of feathers were displayed.
A line of flags spanned the High Street from the Lion Hotel and also in the windows of nearby buildings. A banner with the words ‘The Queen, God Bless Her’ stretched across the street from George Quinnell’s grocery shop in Broad Walk and George Whayman’s drapery shop displayed a banner with the words ‘God Save the Queen, Long May She Reign.’ Frank Frost’s grocery shop displayed a portrait of the Queen wreathed in flowers while Men’s outfitter Edwin Jelly displayed a banner with the words ‘Long to Reign Over Us, God Save the Queen’ on a crimson background. At ‘The Chestnuts,’ a house owned by local preacher and businessman Thomas Stanley Wakeley, the colours of the barge ‘Richmond’ surmounted the building accompanied by a transparency of the crown surrounded by flags. At Mardale House, the home of Doctor Penfold, a transparency of the Royal Arms surrounded by a portrait of Queen Victoria decorated the building while a line of flags spanned the road.
At the White Horse Inn on the corner of the High Street and Station Road publican Alf Fiske had the building covered in English and French flags with beautiful floral decorations at the windows. He also had illuminated transparencies of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales’s plume and an image of the crown displayed for viewing at night. This contributed to making the decorations for the event in Rainham very colourful and highly impressive.
At 12-30 pm proceedings began when Rainham children assembled at the National School in Station Road with their teachers. Dressed in holiday clothes most wore or carried flowers and were led to the church. Followed by senior citizens they entered the building that was soon crammed with parishioners. With the Rainham Brass Band led by conductor Mr W Hunt positioned inside the church, the service taken by Reverend Charles Cobb commemorated Queen Victoria’s fifty year reign. Organist John Longley played a jubilee march followed by hymns sung by the choir and congregation. The service concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.
Crowds of people waited outside the church and lined the High Street. Amongst these the local branch of the Druids attired in costumes and holding banners sat on horseback while the Foresters with regalia were lined up with them ready for a procession. Once in order the procession moved down the High Street led by the infants, then the girls followed by the boys, next by the Druids and Foresters. Most of the children carried flags and banners. The girls carried a large silk banner with an image of the English crown.
With over 1,000 people taking part the procession headed towards Berengrove Park which had been lent for the occasion by the owner J. A. Walter. Swings had been erected in the park and amusements provided. Free dinners consisting of roast beef, mutton and plum pudding were provided for all parishioners over 55 years old and tables were placed under a row of trees at the bottom end of the park for this. After the old people had taken their places Reverend Cobb gave thanks and proposed a toast to the Queen. The playing of a verse from the National Anthem and cheers followed then the dinners were eaten. Immediately after this preparations were made to feed the children but only those who wore a jubilee medal that had earlier been presented to every individual by Dr Penfold were allowed to have a meal.
An estimated 2,000 people attended the event in Berengrove Park which included dancing and music. St Paul’s Fife and Drum Band from Chatham arrived in the afternoon and played some rousing, lively pieces. A display of colourful fireworks at dusk brought the event to a close. A huge bonfire was also lit on White Hill and could be seen for miles around.
The celebration turned out to be a great success for the village and the biggest event witnessed by residents for many years as they settled down to a further fourteen years of Queen Victoria’s reign.
Subcategories
Historical tales Article Count: 3
Historical tales
Rainham Life Article Count: 10
Rainham Life
Local Events Article Count: 48
Local Events
Photos Article Count: 143
Photos
Action Forum Article Count: 234
Action Forum is a free monthly magazine that is distributed to the Rainham area covering Wigmore, Parkwood and Hempstead as well. This archive covers old copies of the magazine dating back to its initial publication in 1969 and give a fascinating glimpse into life in Rainham over the last 50 years.
Link to Article Index - Action Forum Index - Photos and Articles from 1969 onwards