OCTOBER 2023 MEETING REPORT
Kent in the Nineteenth Century was the subject of Bob Ogley’s talk to our members at our October meeting. Bob explained that The Great Storm was the catalyst for his major change of career from being the editor of The Sevenoaks Chronicle before the storm to being a self-employed author, publisher and speaker afterwards.
Engaging his wealth of knowledge and story-telling skills, Bob took us back to a time before cars, trains, even bicycles and paved roads when people mostly did not go far from where they were born. Life could be hard with high numbers dying before reaching 45. Crimes, such as rustling, were common and punishments were harsh. Hangings regularly took place on Penenden Heath, Maidstone and hulks off the Kent coast were used as prisons, one the subject of the famous painting ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ by J. W. Turner who lived in Margate with his lady friend Mrs. Booth.
Many other artists lived in Kent during this time – Vincent Van Gogh was a teacher in Ramsgate; William Morris and other members of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood lived at The Red House in Bexleyheath; Samuel Palmer and his followers ‘The Ancients’ enjoyed painting ‘The Valley of Vision’ at Shoreham and ‘The Golden Valley’ at Underriver. Writers and poets too found inspiration in Kent including Alfred Lord Tennyson; Alfred Austin; Lord Byron; Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens who resided at Gads Hill, Higham.
Explorers and other prominent residents included Charles Darwin from Downe; Isabella Beaton of domestic science fame from Greenhithe; Abolitionists William Pitt who lived in Keston and James Ramsey who became vicar of Teston after trying to support enslaved people on St. Kitts. Not far from Swanley is The Manor House, Farningham, once the home of Vice Admiral William Bligh, survivor of three mutinies.
Fear of invasion has persisted through the ages and in the nineteenth century Napoleon Bonaparte, whose army tents could be seen from Dover, was the’ bogey man’ haunting the nightmares of adults and children alike. Horatio Nelson, defeated Napoleon’s navy at Trafalgar, dying in the arms of purser Walter Burke who lived at Wouldham.
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (known as the Crab and Winkle Line) was the first to carry passengers in Britain, with trains pulled by the steam locomotive Invicta. During the century railways were laid across Kent, changing lives and landscapes forever.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 1st November when Committee Member Tracy Mihill will tell us the history of the Hand in Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society - At the sign of the clasped hands.
Alexandra Suite St Mary’s Road Swanley. Doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start. Members £2 Visitors £3.
Annual membership £5.
Kent in the Nineteenth Century was the subject of Bob Ogley’s talk to our members at our October meeting. Bob explained that The Great Storm was the catalyst for his major change of career from being the editor of The Sevenoaks Chronicle before the storm to being a self-employed author, publisher and speaker afterwards.
Engaging his wealth of knowledge and story-telling skills, Bob took us back to a time before cars, trains, even bicycles and paved roads when people mostly did not go far from where they were born. Life could be hard with high numbers dying before reaching 45. Crimes, such as rustling, were common and punishments were harsh. Hangings regularly took place on Penenden Heath, Maidstone and hulks off the Kent coast were used as prisons, one the subject of the famous painting ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ by J. W. Turner who lived in Margate with his lady friend Mrs. Booth.
Many other artists lived in Kent during this time – Vincent Van Gogh was a teacher in Ramsgate; William Morris and other members of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood lived at The Red House in Bexleyheath; Samuel Palmer and his followers ‘The Ancients’ enjoyed painting ‘The Valley of Vision’ at Shoreham and ‘The Golden Valley’ at Underriver. Writers and poets too found inspiration in Kent including Alfred Lord Tennyson; Alfred Austin; Lord Byron; Rudyard Kipling and Charles Dickens who resided at Gads Hill, Higham.
Explorers and other prominent residents included Charles Darwin from Downe; Isabella Beaton of domestic science fame from Greenhithe; Abolitionists William Pitt who lived in Keston and James Ramsey who became vicar of Teston after trying to support enslaved people on St. Kitts. Not far from Swanley is The Manor House, Farningham, once the home of Vice Admiral William Bligh, survivor of three mutinies.
Fear of invasion has persisted through the ages and in the nineteenth century Napoleon Bonaparte, whose army tents could be seen from Dover, was the’ bogey man’ haunting the nightmares of adults and children alike. Horatio Nelson, defeated Napoleon’s navy at Trafalgar, dying in the arms of purser Walter Burke who lived at Wouldham.
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (known as the Crab and Winkle Line) was the first to carry passengers in Britain, with trains pulled by the steam locomotive Invicta. During the century railways were laid across Kent, changing lives and landscapes forever.
Christina Tyler, Programme Organiser
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 1st November when Committee Member Tracy Mihill will tell us the history of the Hand in Hand Fire and Life Insurance Society - At the sign of the clasped hands.
Alexandra Suite St Mary’s Road Swanley. Doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start. Members £2 Visitors £3.
Annual membership £5.