Esher District Local History Society

Newsletter Extracts

Spring 1993

The Court Cinema, East Molesey

(The following article was written for the Elmbridge Museum by our late Chairman, Mr Rowland G M Baker in 1985)

This cinema appears to have been started in late 1911, or early 1912, in a building erected for the purpose by Mr Thomas Usher, in front of his motor works at 62 Bridge Road, and called "The Electric Picture Hall". Mr Usher was a well-known local personality, a sometime member of Molesey Council, and also owned an ironmongers's shop on the other side of Bridge Road. The picture house closed for the summer, and re-opened on 2nd September, when the following announcement appeared: "Patrons of the Electric Picture Hall in Bridge Road will be glad to learn that the re-opening for the winter season is announced for Monday next. The hall has just been redecorated throughout in a most tasteful style, and a new heating apparatus has been installed. These things, in conjunction with tip-up plush seats with which the auditorium is supplied, combine to make it one of the most pleasant and comfortable theatres of its kind in the district".

Not long afterwards, the name was changed to "East Molesey and Hampton Court Picture Hall", and in the early 1920s, when the proprietorship was acquired by Mr Frank Saraski, a European emigre, yet again to "East Molesey and Hampton Court Picture Palace".

In 1932, the cinema was taken over by Mr William Hughes, formerly of the Prince's Cinema at Brighton, who immediately set about modernising the place. A new and more imposing facade was added to the front of the building, described as of "white marble and coloured stone", to the design of Mr F B Trimm, an architect, who was also a member of Molesey Council. The interior was said to be "on compact lines, and has accommodation for 500 hundred people. All the seats are on the same floor, and have been arranged so that each patron has an unobscured view of the screen. The most up-to-date methods of lighting are employed and include changing effects. Clarity in sound and voice reproduction is secured with the Western Electric talkie apparatus and Ernemann projectors ensure sharp, steady pictures. A heating and ventilation system maintains an even temperature unaffected by outside weather".

It re-opened as "The Court Cinema", on Monday 10th October 1932, when the programme included "Delicious", starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, together with Richard Cooper and Ursula Jeans in "Once Bitten", described as a "scintillating comedy of blackmail and domestic differences".

Some years later it was purchased by Central Picture Houses Ltd, owners of the Odeon chain; who about 1950 disposed of it to Mr John Ferris, an independent operator. Mr Ferris's policy was to screen as far as possible the type of films not normally put on by the big cinema circuits. One Surbiton correspondent described it as "a courageous policy of screening films of high quality, films that are not merely a sordid mixture of horror and sex. My wife and I frequently travel to Hampton Court knowing that the Court was the only cinema in this area that could give us, and many others, a happy and enjoyable evening".

However, the competition from other sources was too great; patrons like the one mentioned above were too few, and in October 1958, Mr Ferris announced that the cinema was to close. He sold the property to Kadek Arts Ltd, specialists in art design and colour printing, who are still operating in the premises. The last screening was on Saturday 8th November 1958, when the main feature was "His Greatest Role", starring "the incomparable Fernandel"; supported by Stanley Holloway in "Fast and Loose".

Spring 1994

Memories of West End, Esher

The following letter was received recently from Mrs C M Rea, now resident in Australia, in response to information sent her by this Society concerning her grandparents, Horace and Ada Hibbert, who were in service to the Talbot family of Glenhurst, West End, Esher - now the site of Talbot Lodge flats.

"The packet of mail from you, arrived today, and I really do not seem able to express in words the joy of seeing so much about West End and Esher.

My Gran lived in the cottage that formed part of the (Glenhurst) wall, and I believe it was originally part of the old laundry, which was converted. Before moving into the cottage (my half-brother still calls it the Butler's Cottage, Glenhurst) my grandparents lived in Bijou Cottage, Wolsey Road, Esher. My half-brother was born in 1918 and is 9 years older than me, so has more memories.

I remember my Grandfather, although he died in May 1931, and I was 4 years old the next month. I remember him carrying me up the lower drive (the one that came round to the yard and stables) to the farmyard, when the cows were in for milking - I must have been very young.

Later on after his death, I remember catching the Green Line bus from Croydon, with my mother and brothers, to spend part of the school holidays with Gran. Gran used to send me up that same lower drive, to get her milk from the dairy. I believe the farmer was Mr. Giles, but it is a long time ago and perhaps the memory is not clear. Gran used to send me with a jug and fourpence and say 'Be sure to give it to Mr. Giles'. It was always so cool in the dairy.

My bedroom was the one with the small window which was quite high up the wall. I remember jumping up and down on my bed to catch a glimpse of the cows coming up West End Lane at 6am to be milked. They seemed to spend the night in a pasture and they were returned to the pasture after evening milking. I suppose during the day they would have been turned out into some of the fields along the bridle path, which was just past the farm buildings.

I was over in 1992, and the path was very overgrown with nettles. We used to use that path to get to Esher, and where the path turned and went up a rise, was always called Donkey Hill. Whether that was its name or just got called that because there were always a couple of donkeys in those fields, I don't know. There was always a barn owl flying about there late on summer evenings. I remember the path was closed one day a year - something to do with public right of way I think.

My impressions from listening to Gran, as a small girl, are that Colonel and Lady Talbot were good, kind people. The Talbots let Gran stay in her cottage until after the Second World War. I remember seeing Miss Talbot in her Girl Guide uniform, out by the stables once.

My grandparents were in service all their lives, and Gran used to talk about opening the London house for 'the season', and Grandad went to Scotland with the gentlemen for the grouse opening - August 12th? There was a very large picture of my Grandfather's favourite pointer dog whose job was to point to where the birds fell.

When we were in England in 1992, I did not have time to do any research. I have five brothers in England, and some of them I had not seen since 1946 - they were still at school when I left - so it was a great time of family reunions.

We did come to Esher and looked for my Grandparents' grave. My Gran, like Lady Emma Talbot lived a very long time after the death of her husband. Gran was buried in Esher Churchyard with her husband in 1960 - she was 97 years old. We scrubbed the headstone and put flowers there before we left.

We also put some flowers on Winifred Hollywell's grave. She died aged 15, and was apparently my half-brother's first girlfriend - he says she died within 48 hours after getting meningitis.

I never thought I would have photos of Gran's cottage and Glenhurst - it's wonderful. Last year my husband took a photo of my brother and I by the wall, because we told him that this was where Gran's cottage used to be.

I have so many memories - Mrs Webb's shop! Mrs Webb got quite cross one day when my younger brother kept opening and shutting the door, because he liked the tinkle of the bell which hung over the door. The cows grazing on the common were so big! I did not want them too close! My brothers managed to elbow me into the pond one Sunday in my best dress and shoes! We got lost in the pine woods and yelled our heads off for Mum; some people riding horses restored us to her! So many memories! There used to be harebells in the ditch at the bottom of the lane where we caught the Green Line bus back to Croydon - I also fell in there!"

Website editor's note November 2007

Mrs Rea remembered the name of the farmer perfectly. A check of the local Kelly's for 1936 reveals the following for the east side of West End Lane

Hibbert Mrs. (The Cottage)

Finch Fredk. (Glenhurst stables)

Talbot Col. F. G., D.S.O. (Glenhurst)

Giles Edwd. (Glenhurst farm)

Bailey Hy. S. (The Lodge)

Ellis Commdr. Henry Samuel H., R.N. (ret.) (Glenhurst cott)

.......here is footpath leading to Esher....

Spring 1990

Sandown Park by Richard Burr

To support this year's History Council Symposium, when the subject was "Leisure and Pleasure", we used Sandown Park as our display subject. We thought it appropriate to publish a few words on the history of the Park.

In the dim past, the mound now known as the Warren was part of the foreshore - a giant waterway. It is possible that the Thames in those early days was much wider than today. This fact is supported by excavations carried out when the new stands were constructed, and it was confirmed that the top soil to a depth of several feet was "blown sand" only. It is this sand content that today makes the ground ideally suited for a race course, leaving it well drained in winter and still soft after severe drought.

The reign of King John saw a priory, under Augustinian rule, founded within the park boundaries and dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene; the residents worked as farmers and cared for the poor.

Two visitations of the plague led to the decline of the Priory, and in the 15th century it was merged with Saint Thomas the Martyr Southwark. The only known remaining remnant of the Priory is the water forming the water jump.

In 1740, Sandown House (now the Council Offices) was built and the park was cultivated as farmland. This continued for over a century and in 1870 it was on the market as farmland held by the Spicer family of Esher Place.

Various proposals were made: these included the building of a large mental hospital, the construction of a new town with streets, squares, shops, and a fine new church. Despite all these noble ideas, a group of young society men, friends of the then Prince of Wales, wanted to create a race-course.

General Owen Williams, Member of Parliament, purchased Sandown Farm, and in conjunction with his brother Mr Hwfa Williams, and Sir Wilford Brett (then living at More Place), laid out the race-course, much as we see it today.

Entry to the race-courses at this time was free to spectators and as such attracted undesirables - the roughest, most foulmouthed, and coursest members of society. To control entry to the park Mr Hwfa Williams, who had been elected Clerk of the Course, decided to completely enclose the area with a high fence, thus making it the first enclosed racecourse in England.

Thus it gained a reputation of being a place where it was possible to take a lady, and soon became a place, supported by the then Prince of Wales, where both the well to do and ladies of fashion would parade.

The first meeting was held in1875, with two meetings held in this year that were sufficient to establish horse racing at Sandown Park, and its success went from strength to strength. Mr Hwfa Williams continued as Clerk of the Course, and was to remain so for almost fifty years. It was he who, in 1886, persuaded his friend Leopold de Rothschild to put up £10,000 for a race which became known as the Eclipse Stakes - this at a time when the Epsom Derby was only worth £4,600. Today, however, the Coral Eclipse is worth £100,000, with the Derby worth over £250,000.

The year 1887 saw the first great event for the people of Esher, when after a long procession, including the Esher Band, the Cricket Club, the Volunteer Fire Brigade on their engine, and hundreds of villagers, a tea party on the lawns was set out for 1500 people. Medals were distributed to school children, followed by a torchlight procession and bonfire on Esher Green.

Edward VII became a regular visitor to the course, and twice won the Eclipse Stakes with Persimmon and Diamond Jubilee, and a Royal Box was built by a local man, Mr Rouse, a cabinet maker and upholsterer of High Street, Esher. In the 1970's this was dismantled and re-erected in a Sussex park.

The park was to play a part in the history of early aviation, for in 1909 the French aviator, Louis Paulham, attempted and broke the world's record for altitude at the time, with a flight which achieved over 600 feet.

Both World Wars saw the park occupied by the military.

After racing in July 1972 , work was commenced to dismantle the old stands and Royal Box, and fourteen months later the stands as we see them today emerged, bringing a new use and image to the complex, to include exhibitions, symposiums, fashion displays and trade shows.

The park itself provides a golf course, ski slope and heavy goods vehicle driving school.

Since 1978, the course has many times been voted the Race-course of the Year. Royal patronage continues for the racing activities, and even as we write, building work is in progress to improve the facilities and the pleasure of those attending functions in the Park.

After 120 years, racing at Sandown Park, is I am sure, here to stay.

(Editor's note. Now another 17 years later in 2007 and after another rebuild of the facilities, Sandown Park continues as a focal point of activity at the heart of Esher)

Winter 1989

A Stay at the Gun Site, Cobham by Dr D H Phillips Chairman Farnham & District LHS

I spent most of World War II with the 274 Battery of the 86th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Honourable Artillery Company). During the London Blitz, this battery formed part of the defences of the capital. It was deployed mainly around the north-eastern edges, near Chingford, Loughton and Chadwell Heath.

By the end of the Blitz, changes were taking place in Anti-Aircraft Command. Mixed batteries were being formed to take over the permanent sites with static guns, and all-male batteries began to withdraw. Some then began the long training for the invasion of occupied Europe, which eventually took place on 6 June 1944.

It was then that 274 Battery gave us its 4.5" static guns at Chadwell Heath, collected new mobile 3.7" guns and other equipment, and took over from another battery a piece of open land at Fairmile, Cobham, behind a pub called the Tartar.

I think our stay there must have taken us over the 1941-1942 winter, and I remember that the weather was extremely cold. For some time the showers and water supplies were frozen up, and we melted snow in mess tins for washing and shaving. When the thaw eventually came, the ground gave off the same strange smell that comes from baked soil, wet by rain after a long summer drought.

The new guns needed much attention. They were covered with an array of grease nipples. These were to be treated with a variety of greases, and had to be painted with a colour code to assist in future maintenance. Among the gunners was Robert Aldhouse, who in civil life had been a scene painter in one of the London Theatres. He was a small man with a bald head, a handle-bar moustache, and a ready wit. Not to be outdone in wit, however, was the wartime Army, which ordained that Robert, with his artistic background, was the ideal man to paint the grease nipples, and this he duly did. Neither was he in any way offended, for he was not easily perturbed. He painted many backgrounds for battery pantomines, and other shows. On one occasion, when a scene was almost finished, someone threw a pot of paint over it. Robert said nothing, but quickly repainted it.

Entertainment in Cobham was not lavish in those wartime days. On pay nights, those free to do so, often visited the local pubs, of which, besides the Tartar, I remember White Lion. Otherwise, if time permitted, there was the trip to Esher, and so to London.

In the Spring, the Battery moved on, and seemed to tour most of Britain before the final landing in Normandy, and the advance across Europe to the end of the War.

Winter 1991 and repeated as "A Blast from the Past!" in the Autumn 2007 Newsletter

by Roy Simpson

Members may be interested to learn that March 1992 marks the 100th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes' visit to Esher.

It was a cold wet evening in March 1892 when Holmes and Dr. Watson arrived in "the pretty Surrey Village of Esher", and having found "comfortable quarters at the Bull" proceeded with Inspector Baynes to Wisteria Lodge, about two miles south of Esher, in connection with the murder of Aloysius Garcia whose body had been found on Oxshott Common.

Winter 1989

The Demise of the Title "Duke of Newcastle"?

On 13th September 1989, under the heading Ross Benson - "The Diary", the Daily Express published a report that Lady Patricia Pelham Clinton Hope, an actress, better known as Trisha Pelham, and now living in Los Angeles, was making a claim to the title of the Dukedom of Newcastle.

This title became officially extinct by the death in January this year of the 10th Duke of Newcastle, a bachelor, who died without heirs. Trisha is the eldest daughter of the 9th and penultimate Duke, who died in November 1988.

Convention dictates that titles pass only to men and excludes females from succession. Trisha will now petition the Queen, who, seeking advice from the Lord Chancellor, and the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords, will eventually say "Yes" or "No".

The local interest in this case is centred around Claremont, where in the house built by Vanbrugh, lived Thomas Pelham, Earl of Clare and 1st Duke of Newcastle, who had purchased the residence from Vanbrugh in 1714.

Thomas Pelham also employed Vanbrugh to build the chamber pew, still to be seen in St. George's Church, Esher, with its divided seating arrangement - one half for Thomas Pelham and family and the other half for his brother Henry and his family from Esher Place.

Richard Burr

Spring 1990

Brickmaking at Claygate in the 1950's

The request for information in the last issue of this Newsletter has prompted the following notes from a lady who was for many years in the industry.

"The brickmaking season in Surrey began in mid-April and ended in September. Clay was dug during the winter months and allowed to 'weather' and then mixed with 'town ash' collected from a 'tip' at Merton by the company's own lorries. The smell from this refuse was overpowering and it contained many unwanted objects. This refuse was passed through a sieve (riddled) so that only real ash was used and unwanted items thrown out.

Near the beginning of the brickmaking season, the clay and the ashes would be mixed together with water; the clay in Claygate contained a layer of 'London Blue Clay', so there was no need to use any colouring material. Mixing continued until the mix was the consistency of dough.

All the brick-making companies in Surrey were small i.e. employing an average of 100 - 120 men.

The process was a collective operation, and a typical set-up would consist of up to six sheds, each about 25 ft x 25 ft, housing a brickmaker, three assistants and two boys - the sheds were referred to as 'stools'.

The mixed clay would be wheeled into the stool and fed into a machine which would extrude the mix into suitably prepared moulds, which had been internally sand-blasted to prevent sticking. Each mould was levelled off with a wide knife and the pre-sanded cover placed in position on the mould.

Moulds were upturned and bricks turned out into pallets with wheels that looked more like coster's barrows. When the pallet was full, it was wheeled out to the drying ground, where the bricks were transferred to duck-boards and allowed to dry in the wind and sun.

There would be row upon row of duck-boards extending over at least half the width of the brick field, and every night the bricks would be 'capped' to protect them from rain - similarily, rain in the day demanded that the bricks be covered. Each row of bricks would be about six bricks high. After two or three weeks; depending on the weather, they would be 'skintled', that is, every other brick lifted higher than its neighbour, so that the drying process could continue. When the bricks were sufficiently dry to be handled without damage, they were again loaded on to special barrows and wheeled along a metal track where the bricks were built into clamps, in such a way that they would not collapse.

A typical clamp base would be about 40 ft x 20 ft, and internally fire holes would be made at intervals. Probably as many as 2,000 bricks would be needed to complete a clamp, and when finished the fires that had been prepared while the clamp was constructed were lit, and slow combustion would continue for about three weeks, during which time the ash was burnt from the clay and then the clamp was allowed to cool.

When the bricks were cool enough to handle they were sorted into 'firsts' and 'seconds' and priced accordingly. In the 1950's best bricks sold at about £12.10.0 per 1,000.

There were many small brickworks in Surrey - at Oxshott, Cobham, Tolworth and Bonesgate (between Hook and Ewell), and two at Claygate, but none producing more than 1,000,000 per season, whereas The London Brick Company were machine-making this quantity in a day, with the inevitable result that the small companies closed.

Spring 2002

Emergency Treatment!

The following account is taken with acknowledgments from "Thames Ditton Today" of Summer 1994. It features Doctor George Tickler, whom many of us will remember as a prominent local medical man and the physician/surgeon in charge at the old Thames Ditton Hospital. His conduct on this occasion was, as you will read, truly heroic.

Several V1 "flying bombs" fell in the Dittons in the summer of 1944, but the biggest impact (in all senses) was the missile which fell on the Imber Court Police Sports Ground. The Welsh Guards training battalion was holding a well attended sports meeting at the ground. It was a fine sunny day and a 100-yard race was in progress. Because the band was playing, few heard the Air Raid sirens, or the approach of the bomb which landed virtually on top of the runners. All taking part were killed instantly, except Lieutenant Paget who sustained a horrific leg injury.

In the immediate confusion, casualties were loaded into any handy vehicles and rushed to the nearest hospitals. Exact casualty lists do not seem to be available (it was Government policy that such figures should not be published), but probably some 40 people were killed and another 100 or so wounded.

This was at the time of the Normandy landings; Dr Tickler was working in the Emergency Medical Service at Horton Hospital, Epsom. He was on full-time call and the hospital (like most in South England) had been warned to be ready to receive casualties from the D-Day assault. The first, mercifully fewer than expected, arrived in the late afternoon of June 8. Some time after midnight, he started a 12-hour session in the operating theatre, after which his wife came to drive him home for a rest. As they came down Station Road, Weston Green, they could hear the air raid sirens and then saw and heard a flying bomb. They stopped the car and, as they watched, the engine cut out and the bomb went into a glide. They jumped out and lay down in the roadside ditch. Some seconds later, they heard and felt a huge explosion. Uncertain quite where it had fallen, they drove home.

Barely had they entered the house when the Matron of Thames Ditton Hospital, Miss Dyson, rang requiring the doctor's immediate attendance. In spite of his undoubted fatigue, Dr. Tickler was at the hospital within 2 minutes. Vehicles of all types were unloading casualties from the Imber Court explosion on to the pavement outside the hospital, and the wards and corridors were already full. The staff coped calmly and efficiently, especially Miss Dyson; Dr. Tickler believed it was her finest hour.

Drs. Howard Smith and Percy Foster soon arrived and, while urgent resuscitation was being given to the worst cases, extra beds were brought into the wards and all along the corridors. The operating theatre was in continuous use all night; only one of their casualties, a Welsh Guardsman with appalling head injuries, died. Lieutenant Paget was some two hours in the theatre but, though critically ill for some days, survived. While the worst cases were being dealt with in theatre, Dr.Foster worked in the first aid post dealing with minor injuries, mainly cuts and bruises.

The flying bombs continued for some time after these events. Dr. Tickler's two children and their dog adjusted to a life spent mainly in the shelter. At the sound of the siren, Peter the spaniel was always first in! Eventually they sent the children to his wife's sister in Somerset. Four V1s passed over Surbiton Station while they were waving the children goodbye!

November 1968 No. 1

An extract from the very first Newsletter

Descent of the Manors of Esher and Milbourne and the Claremont Estate

The Committee has received an extremely interesting letter on the above from Mr. A.F.C. Boyes, formerly Senior Solicitor to the Esher Council. The following is a shortened version. The original can be seen at the Central Library.

The Manors of Esher and Milbourne, otherwise Esher and Wateville, sometimes Waterville, and the Claremont Estate, were bought in 1816 by the Commissioner of Woods and Forests for the benefit of Prince Leopold (later King of the Belgians), husband of Princess Charlotte, heiress to the British Throne (Act; 56 Geo. III cap 115).

Princess Charlotte died in 1817, and by Acts 10 Geo. IV cap. 50, and 15 Vict. cap. 42, the property became vested in Queen Victoria's personal estate, and was conveyed to her as such on April 18th, 1882.

On 19th April, 1882 Queen Victoria, by a settlement made on the marriage of her youngest son, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, to Princess Helen of Waldeck-Pyrmont, settled Claremont and the Manors on herself (i.e. the Queen) for life, and after her death upon trust for the Duke of Albany for his life, with power to appoint a life estate in favour of his wife, which appointment he made by a Codicil to his will.

The Duke died in 1884, leaving an only son, another Prince Leopold, who was also Duke of Saxe Coburg Gotha. Queen Victoria died in 1901, and the control of the estate passed to the dowager Duchess of Albany for life.

In 1905 the son, Prince Leopold, exercised legal rights by which the estate would have become his absolutely on the death of his mother. Meanwhile, however, he had gone to Germany for dynastic reasons, and on the outbreak of the 1914-1918 War he became an enemy alien within the meaning of the Trading with the Enemy Acts of 1914 and 1916.

On the death of his mother in 1922, his interests being vested in the Public Trustee as Custodian of Enemy Property, in July 1922, 503 acres of the estate were put up for public auction by Messrs. Knight, Frank and Rutley, and printed particulars were got out for the purpose.

Lot 27 comprised the Manors or Lordships of Esher and Milbourne with their Commons and Waste Lands, and this was purchased by the Esher Council. There were other auction sales of parts of the Claremont Estate.

The part which now belongs to the National Trust and is managed by the Council was bought by Mr. Corry at the 1922 auction and ultimately became vested in Sir Samuel Hanson Rowbotham. After his death it was conveyed to the National Trust in satisfaction of certain death duties.

The Council has a full Abstract of the Title of the Manors and a print of the Auction Particulars and plan, together with the Conveyance to them of the Manors and the Commons.

Spring 1993

The Leopold Memorials -these are to be seen in St. George's Church, Esher

by Reg Crabbe

King George III had nine sons and six daughters but in 1815, after more than 50 years on the throne, there was only one grandchild eligible to succeed to the throne of England. She was Charlotte, the daughter of the Prince Regent (later King George IV) and of his estranged wife Caroline. Small wonder, then, that her marriage in 1815 to Leopold, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was marked by the grant to him for life of the mansion of Claremont. Sadly, his bride, Princess Charlotte, died two years later in child bed, delivered of a still-born son. Prince Leopold continued to be entitled to occupy Claremont until his death in 1865, even though he became King of the Belgians in 1831.

Following the death of Princess Charlotte the edict went out that an heir to the throne must be produced. As a result, three babies were born in 1819 - Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Kent and two boys to younger princes, one of whom became George V of Hanover. Victoria frequently visited Leopold at Claremont and regarded him as her favourite uncle - as witness the inscription on one of the memorials which are the subject of this article , where she describes him as "the uncle who held a Father's place in Her affection". Esher Parish has two memorials commissioned by her - one to Leopold and Charlotte in the North Aisle of St George's Church and the other in the West Tower vestry of Christ Church.

The memorial to Leopold and Charlotte is very large - over 12 feet wide - and was originally mounted on the staircase at Claremont. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria as late as 1880 and was sculpted by F. J. Williamson, almost certainly in his studio at the rear of his house in Esher High Street, now the Grapes. It was given to St. George's Church in 1910 by the Duchess of Albany, Queen Victoria's daughter-in-law. It consists of three panels. The centre contains a scene sculpted in high relief depicting Charlotte and Leopold dispensing charity to the villagers of Esher. The scene in the left hand panel shows Charlotte on her death bed with Leopold kneeling at her side. In low relief above the bed appears the apotheosis of the Princess - an interesting revival of a practice which had been in abeyance since the time of the Stuarts. The right hand panel depicts Leopold accepting the crown of Belgium while Brittania looks on approvingly.

The memorial to Leopold was first placed in St. George's Chapel, Windsor shortly after his death in 1865. It was later given to Christ Church by Queen Victoria. The main panel is in very high relief and depicts Leopold, wearing uniform and cloak which drapes his legs, lying in state on a couch. In front of the couch is a lion couchant while above the King's effigy are two winged angels carrying shields with the English and Belgian Royal Arms. Under the main monument are two inscriptions. That on the left summarizes Leopold's life and marriages and records that he lies buried at Lacken in Belgium by the side of his second wife, Princess Louise d'Orleans. That on the right is the inscription I have already quoted, expressing Queen Victoria's deep affection for her uncle.

(Extract from "Esher's Parish Magazine Newsletter" - August 1991 - reproduced by permission of the Rector and the author, which we acknowledge with thanks.)

Autumn 2001

The History of a Local Family - The Batchelors

by Eileen Bernard

My great-great-grandfather was Richard Batchelor, born in Sussex in 1733. He was a farmer in the village of West Grinstead. The name Batchelor (spellings vary from Bachelour, le Bacheler, Bachelor, Batchellor to Batchelor) is of French origin and means an "aspiring knight". The earliest names in the records at Chichester Record Office, under the Sussex Subsidies, is Rado Bachelor (1296) in the reign of Edward l. He lived in Blakeham and paid a tax of three shillings and one halfpenny. One can assume that the Batchelors came from France with William of Normandy.

I have been unable to discover where exactly in Sussex Richard Batchelor was born because it is difficult to find any records further back than 1733. The church records may have been hidden or destroyed for reasons of safety, or they may have been buried or burnt. I have made extensive searches among the villages listed in the area at the Record Office, but to no avail.

Richard Batchelor is buried in the parish church of West Grinstead, together with his wife Elizabeth, their son John and John's first wife, Ann. This church, part of which is Norman, is well worth a visit and is one of the most interesting old churches in Sussex. Richard's second son, John, born in 1778, had five children, the last being another Richard from whom I am descended. After his wife's death, John married Mary Pollard and had ten more children. He was a farmer and lived in Pinland Farm, West Grinstead. The farmhouse is now a relatively modern building and the land is owned by the Lock Estate Ltd. The adjacent farm, now called Moat Farm but named Priors Bine in the 1851 census, was farmed by his eldest son, also John. There is an old farmhouse on the estate and this is also owned by the Lock Estate.

Richard Batchelor, brother to the above-mentioned John, came to Esher and set up business in the High Street. He was a corn merchant and farmer and lived in the house next to Waitrose. This house is still in the High Street but is partly obscured by two shops which were built out over the pavement. One is a chemist's and the other shop was formerly Hunter Dunn. I have a watercolour of the house, dated 1860, painted by Eric Hull, with the following inscription; "This drawing of her birthplace is presented to Miss Alice Batchelor in remembrance of many happy days spent in Esher. August 1860". Alice Batchelor died in 1864 aged 15.

The following is an extract from the Surrey Comet dated 16th May 1857: FIRE - On Friday night this quiet little village was thrown into a state of consternation in consequence of an alarming fire that broke out upon the premises of Mr Batchelor, a corn merchant and farmer. We are sorry to state that very considerable damage was done to the stock, and a valuable horse fell a sacrifice to the devouring element. Happily the other cattle were rescued. Every assistance was rendered by the inhabitants, and the fire was ultimately subdued".

There is a tombstone in the churchyard of the Anglican church, Christchurch, Esher with the following inscription: "In memory of Mr Richard Batchelor, died Dec 20 1858 aged 46 years. Also Charles Joseph, youngest son of the above, died Feb 14 1861 aged 7 years. Also Richard Batchelor, eldest son of the above, died 13th November 1865 aged 25 years. Also Jane, wife of the above Mr. Richard Batchelor. Aged 51 years. (1868). In the 1861 census, there is no mention of any Batchelors in Esher. After her husband's death, Jane went to live at 76 Crowndale Road, Oakley Square, London, but was buried in the family grave in Esher.

Richard and Jane Batchelor had nine children. Their eighth child, Herbert William, was my grandfather. Several of the children died when young. The eldest son Richard played cricket for Esher, and "had he been in a position to be tempted to try cricket for his livelihood, might have formed one of his County's Eleven, but he had a prosperous business which he would not neglect. He complained of illness during the cricket match played at Esher on October 9, 10 and 11 in 1865 (game played in much wet), and, going home, at once took to his bed and died November 13th 1865 aged 25, at Esher where he is buried". (From the records of the MCC).

Mary Catherine (known as Kate) became companion to Blanche, Duchess of Orleans when she lived at Moore Place in the High Street, Esher, and it is believed that she accompanied the Duchess when she returned to France. I have a prayer book given by the Duchess to Kate. Mary Agnes became a nun in France and returned to England briefly when religious orders were forced to leave France.

My grandfather was born in 1852. He was a partner in a business in Sackville Street, London with a Mr Curtis who lived in Magpie Cottage, Weston Green. This house faces the pond just off Hampton Court Way. My grandfather died at the age of 46, having contracted pneumonia after taking a Turkish bath. My grandmother was a widow at 39 with five children. Her name was Frances Sarah Readwin and she married my grandfather in 1889.

Kathleen Mulheir, grand-daughter of Henry Bernard Batchelor, brother to my grandfather, possesses a brooch given to Jane Batchelor by Queen Victoria for nursing the future Edward VII at Claremont. The brooch is a small turquoise bow. Kathleen lives in Blackburn, Lancashire and is now 95.

Eileen Bernard

Spring 2002

Claygate's V.C.

by Jo Buckley

Holy Trinity Churchyard contains the grave of Captain Douglas Walter Belcher, the holder of the Victoria Cross. He was born in 1889 at Surbiton. The citation for the award of the Victoria Cross reads that on 13th May 1915 as a Lance Sergeant, during heavy bombardment near St. Julien, Belgium, he was in charge of a part of an advanced breastwork which he volunteered to hold when other troops were withdrawing. He succeeded by opening fire on the enemy, just 150 yards away, each time they prepared to attack. Later he became a Captain in 1/5th Bn., London Regiment (The London Rifle Brigade), now the Royal Green Jackets and 6th Gurka Rifles. Captain Belcher died on 3rd June 1953 at Claygate, aged 63. His medals are held at the Royal Green Jackets Museum, and his gravestone in the Churchyard includes an inscription to his wife Gertrude Elizabeth who died in 1967.

Winter 2004

Three Local History Gems provided by our Vice-President Joan Harlow

1. Fete at Boyle Farm, Thames Ditton 1827

Boyle Farm (now the Home of Compassion) was the venue for a celebrated Fete in 1827 given by Henry de Bos of the Farm and four of his fashionable London friends who each subscribed £500 (a substantial amount in those days) for the event. This has been described as having great taste in the arrangements: a pavilion on the bank of the river, a large dinner tent on the lawns capable of holding 450, and a select table for fifty in the conservatory in the house.

Gondolas floated on the Thames at the foot of the lawns containing singers from the Italian Opera Company, and in a boat the famous singers Vestris and Fanny Ayton, one singing in Italian and the other in English. There were illuminations in the grounds of the house and down to the river, with quadrilles danced on the lawn by the beauties of the season. It was recalled as the "Dandies' Fete" for many years to come.

2. Elmbridge Commons

The fact that we are so fortunate in Elmbridge in having so much common land owes much to Henry VIII who drew the land into his Chase for hunting, and in successive years this land has developed into heathland and now our Commons. Elmbridge has a dedicated Commons Management Team led by , David Page to care for around 1200 acres of Common of which 885 acres are in old Esher Council area. The team ensures the restoration of the heathland so necessary to retain the blue studded butterfly, lizards, unique solitary wasps breeding in bare sandy soil and yes, snakes. There are over 1,000 different types of fungi and a rare star water plant in the West End pond. With a rich variety of habitat the Commons are home to deciduous and coniferous trees where woodpeckers, goldcrests, nuthatches, tits and warblers are resident, as well as birds of prey such as kestrel, sparrow hawk and the occasional hobby. The Commons have a wide diversity, from the woodlands of Oxshott, Esher and Arbrook Commons to the heathlands of the Oxshott South Slope and Fairmile Common, the ponds at the Claremont Mansion; and the interesting geology of the Ledges above the River Mole at West End where Neolithic implements have been found.

3. Manor House, Long Ditton

The Manor House next to Long Ditton Church was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ditone or Ditune and Included in the lands of Richard, son of Count Gilbert and held from him by one Picot. The first recorded Rector of Long Ditton Church is Robert Picot (!) in 1166. In 1565 Sir George Evelyn acquired the manor, and later Sir Thomas Evelyn, a Member of The Long Parliament - although a Parliamentarian, he was never Cromwellian - resided in the Manor and it continued in occupation of the Evelyn family until 1692. The Tax Return of 1664 shows Sir Edward Evelyn at the Manor House with 20 hearths. The Evelyn/Alston family sold the Lordship of the Manor to Peter King of Ockham in 1721. He became Lord Chancellor of England in 1725. A map of Sir Peter King's Lands dated 1725 shows "The Manor House, Woodstock", and was the first map of Long Ditton. A Mr and Mrs Trollope made their home at the Manor House at the end of the 19th Century and the lych gate at the Church was erected in their memory in 1902. A small part of the present building retains some of the 18th Century building. (Acknowledgments for some of this information to Rev. Eric Smith and Mr Peter Fussell of Long Ditton)

Winter 2005

A letter from our Vice-President Mr. Derek Brown about R.C.Sherriff

I saw quite a lot of Mr Sherriff in the last years of his life, shy and retiring man though he was. He agreed to give an Esher Library Lecture for me in about 1964 in the old Council Offices at Esher. I was District Librarian, Esher, at the time and made a feature of a monthly lecture in King George's Hall. (These were the forerunners of the present Royston Pike lectures, because as long-time Chairman of the Library Committee, Royston Pike was a strong supporter). To our dismay the then Prime Minister chose our lecture night for the General Election, but a week later we had a large audience anxious to meet an Esher celebrity. Mr Sherriff spoke of his concern about the rise of television and its enormous appetite for plays. In general he had great sympathy for Terence Rattigan and regarded the advent of the "angry young men" with dismay.

It was expected that Mr Sherriff would meet us socially in the Chairman's Room but to our consternation he was a bundle of nerves and would not stay to talk to us. This extreme shyness was shown again on 2 December 1971 when he agreed to open the new Thames Ditton Branch Library. He was so panicky at the thought of meeting the audience afterwards that I actually had to stand in the doorway to block his exit - so that at least we got half-an-hour's conversation out of him! He bore me no malice and I several times took sherry with him at his house, Rosebriars. Sometimes we would go up to his first floor writing room which was largely an open space, since he liked to compose whilst walking about. The fine oak cabinets contained a complete collection of Roman coins, his "portrait gallery of the emperors", as he would call it. A feature of this room was the placing of four pairs of spectacles at strategic points, ready to be snatched up and put on as inspiration for a word or phrase came to him. Downstairs we would sit and enjoy his excellent sherry, with me sitting normally in an armchair and him sitting sideways on, dangling his long thin legs. He was full of nervous energy, describing to me such episodes as the time his regiment was posted to Glasgow in anticipation of a "red revolt". He served under another well-known Esher resident, Major Drane.

I was moved from Esher in 1974 but attended Mr Sherriff's funeral the next year when Dr Michael Dixon, a much-respected Esher GP, delivered a splendid eulogy of his friend and patient.

Bob Sherriff had outlined to me his hopes that Rosebriars, with its large rooms and six acres of beautiful grounds, could become an arts centre. Unfortunately, these plans largely fell through because he had left most of his money to the causes that he cherished. He was a lonely man and I like to think he appreciated my visits as much as I appreciated his sherry!

Spring 2006

Charing Cross Hospital

April 1873

We have much pleasure in drawing attention to the following notice issued by the authorities of this Hospital, as we feel assured that it will be in the power of many of our readers to forward the assistance asked for by the Committee. We the more readily present the Appeal through remembering the excessive kindness and attention received in the Hospital by many patients from this Parish. The Rector will be happy to receive and transmit to the Hospital any such parcels as may be sent to him:

May 1893

Those persons to whom Blankets have been lent during this Winter Season, are reminded that they are to return them to the School House, at 12 o'clock on Wednesday, May 17th. Sixpences will be given for each Blanket brought back well washed and in good condition.

Autumn 2006

More on the Paper Mills

Mrs Audrey Orr has written to say that she remembered how, as a child during the First World War when she lived in Weybridge, she used to hear and see the Rag & Bone men coming in their horse and cart, when householders would bring out "rags & bones" to be disposed of. The rags would go to the Paper Mills.

Autumn 2006

Telegraph Hill, Claygate/Hinchley wood

There are visible earthworks in Hinchley Wood on the Hill, which has been designated as an Area of High Archaeological Potential in the Sites and Monument Records. The team of volunteers from KUTAS, Unisearch and Surrey Archeaological Society has now completed the second survey season of this area.

Much of the land on Telegraph Hill, which is owned and managed by Elmbridge Council, has now been surveyed. The plans appear to confirm the survival of field boundaries and possible traces of the old track across the hill as shown by Rocque. The survey will recommence on 17 September, when it is planned to work towards the large earthworks of the northern scarp slope. Anyone interested in joining the survey team should ring Chris and Gay Harris on 0208 390 1000 for further information.

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