The History of the Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade

Suzanne has drawn my attention to the extremely interesting web site which deals with the History of the Sawbridgeworth Fire Brigade - which includes extensive information (including images of original manuscript log books, etc). It is an excellent example of a specialised local history site, which concentrates on a single organisation.A link has been added to the main Sawbridgeworth page.

Susanne also mentioned another interesting web site - Wartime Airfields of East Hertfordshire and West Essex - although as this site does not deal with the Second World War I have not indexed it on the main web site.

New Information on High Wych, Sawbridgeworth

Theo sent me a query about the date at which the parish of High Wych was created - and I corrected the unfortunate error on my site. To make up for my sins I have added a 1929 description of the village, together with information on the building of the church and church school in 1861, and a sampler made by a pupil shortly after the school was opened.

Much of the added information comes from The Story of Sawbridgeworth - which was produced by a Workers' Educational Association tutorial class under the excellent guidance of Lionel M. Munby in the 1960s.

[I have also corrected the same error on Wikipedia, which may well have been copied from my web site.  Unfortunately there are bound to be a few errors an a site as large as mine - so I am always grateful when such matters are drawn to my attention.]

Possible Suffragette Links to Sawbridgeworth - Who was K. E.?

The above picture, showing a suffragette May Day parade, possibly in 1909, was posted in the Rogues Gallery some time ago.  Maureen is researching Emily Wilding Davison who was killed by the King's horse during the Derby in 1913. She is currently trying to identify the suffragette known only by her signature, K. E.  She was the person that sent the above card to a Dr. Frank Brickwell. It turn out that Emily was in or near Sawbridgewortj as a child. (circa 1880?) and may have met K. E. there. In addition there is a strong family connection between Frank Brickwell and Sawbridgeworth. 

First Surrey Rifles in St Albans & Sawbridgeworth, 1914-15

When the First World War broke out in August 1914 the 2nd London Division of the Territorial Army moved to war stations in St Albans. Jeff is researching the history of the First Surrey Rifles in Hertfordshire, 1914-15. He sent some useful details relating to the 1st Battalion in St Albans, and the 2nd Battalion in St Albans and Sawbridgeworth. He also supplied a picture of the 2nd London Field Ambulance unit in Hatfield Park.

I was able to fill in a number of details - such as the fact that the First Surrey Rifles consumed 100 turkeys and 500 pounds of roast pork for their Christmas dinner in St Albans in 1914. I located the Hatters Croft and the Red House in Sawbridgeworth but there was some uncertainty about "Spels" but it may have been the Good Intent beer house.