Peace day at Rickmansworth

The Peace Day Parade, 19th July 1919, somewhere near Rickmansworth

Louise has kindly supplied a digital copy of this interesting postcard, which I have added to the Rickmansworth pages of the main web site. Can you identify any of the children in the foreground?

 Zoom in for a much larger image

If you have similar old postcards or original photographs relating to Hertfordshire relating to the First World War or earlier it may be possible to share them on the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site.

Query about a trade union banner (dated 1 August 1920)

All good things eventually come to an end, and I am currently working on the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site to get it into a form where it can safely and usefully be archived. There is a long backlog of Hertfordshire postcards waiting to be loaded onto the site - and there is an embargo on purchasing more (although I am always happy to receive digital images which augment existing pages).

Even if I am not buying I occasionally see interesting cards on ebay - and one has just caught my eye. It shows a procession, photographed by Albert Arthur Durrah (1890-1973) of Rickmansworth. A group of men are carrying the above banner. Can anyone suggest the full name of the trades union (which is unfortunately obscured)?

Ebay Page for the post card

BooK: The Toll Roads of Buckinghamshire (and into Hertfordshire)

Part 1 of this newly published volume contains a detailed history of turnpikes while Part 2 gives detailed histories of the 24 turnpikes that existed in Buckinghamshire, including sections that ran into other counties. Of particular interest are two which penetrated deep into Hertfordshire - The Sparrows Herne turnpike (from Bushy, via Berkhamsted and Tring, to Aylesbury) and the Reading to Hatfield turnpike which ran through Rickmansworth and St Albans.

REVIEW

I have also updated the subject page on Turnpikes

One of my Hertfordshire Books for Christmas

Who was catching fish in Hertfordshire 200 years ago?

My attention has been drawn to the above news item that appeared in the Courier (presumably the London Courier) in 1816 and was later recorded in Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum (Volume 6, 1820 - available as Google ebook) and later the story was repeated in the Guinness Book of Records (19th edition) in 1972. The current world record is just over 40lbs.

This immediately raised two questions which some of you might be able to help answer.

• The first is who actually caught this magnificent fish - and where one might find the evidence, as the above tantalizing news story, with no name mentioned, is typical of the snippets of news in the slim papers that were being published in the early 19th century.
• The other is a more general question - are there any records of other interesting sized fish caught in Hertfordshire in the early 19th century, and who was involved. Clearly there was a significant interest in fishing as the following 1815 advert for Rickmansworth Park Manor points out it has an excellent Trout fishery and while the advert does not name the river it would have been the Colne, a few miles downstream from Watford.

Who was a Rickmansworth Gold Medalist in 1901?

The cart reads "Gold Medallist - London 1901"

The detail, from a picture of "Bury Lane, Rickmansworth" by Albert Arthur Darrah shows a delivery cart circa 1910, but the only visible writing relates to the gold medal. So which local tradesman won a gold medal in 1901? Any ideas anyone?

Albert Arthur Darrah, photographer of Rickmansworth,

Photographers

Finch's Avenue

Janet has provided an interesting post card of Finch's Avenue, Croxley Green by a photographer, Albert Darrah, of Rickmansworth, which I had not previously come across. A quick search online showed several post cards by him were on sale on ebay - most in the same series - with captions in handwriting. Another card,almost certainly latershows Rickmansworth war memorial. It turns out that before the First World War Albert was employed to make photographic emulsions (who for??). It is only after he had fought in the war that I find supporting evidence for him as a professional photographer. Unfortunately there are no postal dates for any of the cards I have traced and it would be very useful to know if the cards with somewhat crudely written captions were produced before or after the War. Let me know if you have a date-able card by this photographer.

See Full Details so far.

An interesting Cash Book from circa 1877-1887

George Austin's Cash Book

Rickmansworth

I recently noted that some interesting ephemera linked to Solesbridge Paper Mill, Rickmansworth was appearing in dribs and drabs on ebay and decided to purchase a small cash book to see what was going on, so that as much of the relevant history as possible could be saved.

Ephemera

The book was owned by the Mill owner, George Austin and in early 1877 it was used to record payments to customers (presumably for paper products) and his two biggest customers were the printers of the Hemel Hempstead Gazette and the Watford Observer. However from 1878 to 1887 it was used to record how much money his son Herbert James Austin had loaned the business, (by not taking his weekly wages) and how much Herbert had drawn back for essential purchases. The payments stopped when Herbert was married, and it was only in 1887 that George gave Herbert as promissory note for the remaining balance - which was never cashed as George went bankrupt.

For a list of George's customers in and around Hertfordshire, and some of the ways Herbert spent his money see  George Austin's Cash Book.

A GOODMAN descendant writes in - and I find a Hertfordshire SLOPER

Help Desk

Rickmansworth

Alan writes in to say that he is a a great great great grandson of Thomas and Zilpah Goodman, and gives details of the later generations who also lived at Rickmansworth. He agrees with my suggestion that there is a possible connection with the Sloper family in Wiltshire.

Hitchin

Sloper is an unusual surname - commonest in an around Wiltshire, and I decided to see I could find any possible Sloper relatives who had moved to Hertfordshire. I found a Rev. Charles Sloper, who was the minister at the Independent Church at Hitchin between 1817 and 1825, when he died "of a broken heart" having lost many of the congregation!

The Rickmansworth Historical Society

Many of the towns and villages in Hertfordshire now have local history societies which are run by, and for, people who live in the area and hold regular meetings with invited speakers. However many now have web sites, a newsletter, and other publications and even if you live too far away to attend meetings they can be an important source of information.

The Rickmansworth Historical Society is no exception and it is important to note that the Society's activities cover the history of the "old parish area" of Rickmansworth which includes Chorleywood, West Hyde, Mill End, Croxley Green, Loudwater, Batchworth and Eastbury as well as the town of Rickmansworth. They have monthly meetings which include talks of both general and specifically local topics and I note with interest that on the 13th March Bill Templeton is giving a talk on "13 corn and paper mills along the River Chess" which I am sure will include some Hertfordshire Mills such as the one at Loudwater. It has a quarterly newsletter, The Rickmansworth Historian, and there is a index of past issues, and a few selected articles on the web site. I found the article on the web site about Pest Houses very interesting - especially as it included details of a number of Hertfordshire pest houses I had not known about. 

There are a number of publications for sale, only one of which, Rickmansworth - A Pictorial History, I have reviewed on this web site. The latest of their publications is A Village Boyhood in Croxley Green, by Frank Paddick (1909-1965) which tells of a time when life in the village was dominated by Dickinson’s Croxley Mill.

Rickmansworth

Unlike many such local history sites their site does not include a collection of old photographs of the area  - but if you visit the Rickmansworth page of my site you will find many pictures (and additional historical information) ot the town and the surrounding villages.

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If your local history society, museum  or similar group has a web site relevant to local and family history in Hertfordshire why note drop me a line so I can include a review in this Newsletter, which currently gets around 200 hits a day from all over the world. 

Children's Names can be important clues. Goodman of Rickmansworth

Rickmansworth

Help Desk

Gilliam had a problem - which is in many ways a common one. Her research had got back to the later 18th century and only available evidence, the 1851 census, suggested that Thomas was born in Wiltshire. A thorough search of Wiltshire registers proved negative and Gillian wondered if perhaps he might actually have been born in Hertfordshire. I drafted a detailed reply based on this idea, and gave suggestions and leads which anyone with a similar problem might find useful. 

However one of the many children baptised in Rickmansworth was named in a different way to the others and I wondered why. This took me back to the tiny village of Rushall, in Wilts. But this was where the census said (after adjusting spelling) Thomas had been born.  Two leads from Hertfordshire back to the same tiny Wiltshire village, coupled with an unusual local Wiltshire surname, cannot be a coincidence ... and in the village there was, at the time Thomas was born, an active General Baptist Meeting House. While I may not have identified Thomas's parents by name it seems very likely that they were Baptists - and probably no direct record of his birth/baptism survives.

[Click Here for full details].

John was "not at home" during the 1871-1911 censuses ...

Have you ever had the problem of tracking down  a relative and find that they were not living at home on census night? I just came across an extreme example.

The Cedars, Chorley Wood by E S Brown, Rickmansworth

Rickmansworth

Having acquired a post card of "The Cedars," Chorleywood, near Rickmansworth, I decided to post a page giving the background to the post card. I discovered that in October 1861 a banker (and later MP) called John Saunders Gilliat purchased the Chorleywood Estate, pulled down the old mansion, and built a grand new house called The Cedars. He lived there until his death in 1912. The search for information was not helped by his mobility. He and his family were not in residence in 1871 -w hen he was living in a London house. They were visiting relatives in 1881 and 1891 and in 1901 and 1911 he was living at his London address, 18 Princes Gate, London.

More information.

Sir George Alexander at Chorleywood in 1911

Rickmansworth

Mrs & Mr George Alexander 

Following my recent posting of a picture of The "other" Oscar Wilde's currying connection with Hertfordshire I have now posted a picture of Sir George Alexander, the actor manager who lived at Chorleywood, Rickmansorth. He produced the "real" Oscar Wilde's plays Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of being Earnest. Sir George built Tollgate Cottage, Rickmansworth, not far from where the "other" Oscar Wild's family lived! 

More

The "other" Oscar Wilde's currying connection with Hertfordshire.

Oscar W Wild in 1879

Help Desk

Some time ago I acquired this carte de visite as an example or the portrait work of Frederick Downer of Watford. The back is labelled "Oscar W. Wild - Oct 26 1879" and I decided I ought to ask myself a question - Who is he?

Rickmansworth

So I dug down into the census returns and other records and found he a member of the WILD family of Rickmansworth. His grandfather was Thomas Wild (1795-1871) who in 1851 was tanner at Mill End, Rickmansworth, employing 19 men, later becoming a farmer of 250 acres in the area.

Thomas had five sons. Two of his sons became significant tanners and curriers - Charles Wild (1820-1878) was employing 18 men and boys at Kingston on Thames in 1861 - but was buried at Rickmansworth. Alfred Wild (1821-1890) became a tanner, currier and shoemaker in the Windsor area - employing 51 men in 1851, later returning to Rickmansworth, where he died.. Another son Thomas Wild (1824-1887) was a master currier on a small scale in Watford High Street in 1861 and 1871.

Cornelius Wade Wild (1832-1917) and Edwards Wild (1835-1910) were significant farmers in the Rickmansworth area respectively running Shepperds Farm, Heronsgate (440 acres, 19 employees) and Stockers Farm, Batchworth (500 acres, 18 employees).

Oscar Wade Wild(e) (1858-1945) was the second son of Alfred Wild. He went to Oxford, where he added an "E" to become Oscar Wilde - a few year before the name became notorious because of the famous Oscar Wilde. He became a clergyman and was vicar of St Ives, Huntingdonshire from 1899-1930.

More on the Rickmansworth family.

A Biography of Rev. Oscar Wade Wilde - A Wilde Goose Chase

Authorities release details of criminals seen at work in Tring

Old News

Have you seen these two criminals?

The Man is of a middle Age and Size, a little pitted with the Small Pox; has on a dark-coulour'd close-body'd Great Coat with a large Cape, and a small Velvet Collar, and looks like a Farmer. The Woman is disfigur'd in the Face, having a large black Patch over her Nose a bad Utterance, and gives Suck to a Child.

continued ...

Tring

In February I am giving a talk to a Tring U3A group on using old newspapers for family history research. As the talk is in Tring I have decided to use examples relating to Tring, many from the British Newspaper Archives. So please excuse me if many of the posts over the next couple of weeks relate to old news about Tring.

Today's cutting is from the Oxford Journal of 1754 - when three Hertfordshire were published together. The first relates to the shooting and killing of a footpad near Baldock. The second relates to a man who was robbed and killed near Rickmansworth. The final one relates to a fraud, involving the above couple, and a number of gullible people in Tring who generously donated to "charity."

Serious Riot at Watford - Police sent to Rickmansworth

Earlier I answered a question from Bryan about 173-175 High Street, Watford, and he emailed back to explain why Charles Bradley was no longer running a shop in Watford High Street at the time of the 1881 census.  Undoubtedly there will have been extensive cover in the Watford Observer but I decided to use the incident as another test of the British Newspaper Archive. The above description of the riot comes from The Graphic and I have posted reports of the serious riot from several other papers.

Four Booklets about Rickmansworth and district

I have added details of the following booklets:

Street Names of Rickmansworth (pub circa 1983) This covers Rickmansworth Town, Eastbury, Heronsgate, Moor Park, Maple Cross, West Hyde - and sticks firmly to its title - for instance it doesn't provide any information on other place names - such as Herongate.

Industrial Archaeology of Rickmansworth by E. V. Parrot (1980) is a slim booklet which mentions Loudwater Mill and Lane, Sokesbridge Mill, Mill End Mill, Batchworth Mill, Scotsbridge Mill, Church Street and Batchworth Bridges, Croxley Mill, Troy Mill, Croxley Green Windmill, Bypass and Wrights Garage, The Canal, Rickmansworth Gasworks, Railway, and Croxley House Well Head. 

Rickmansworth Park, Hertfordshire, by Adrienne Jaques (2003) is a very useful text about a large house, with pictures, maps and an index. This is still in print and available from the Rickmansworth Historical Society

'Ricky' - The Story of a Sailing Club by Tom Vaughan (1980) was published to mark the club's 50th anniversary and is an essential reference work for anyone researching this club.

Note

In each case I have only provided basic information on the booklet - but if you are interested in knowing more please Ask Chris a relevant question which the book may be able to answer - and I will then write a review which relates to your interest. This approach allows me to list as many books as possible while only writing detailed reviews of books which people are interested in.

H V Leménager - An early Hertfordshire Photographer

Henri Victor Lemenager (1822-1912) was born in Paris, but came to Bushey to teach French in a small private school, married and started a family. The date of his earliest family is not known but by 1866 he was described as a photographer In 1870 he provided photographic illustrations for a book on Rickmansworth, and by 1872 had moved to 16 High Street, Watford. However in 1887 he emigrated to the United States.

I illustrate the biography with four carte de visite, each mounted on a different printed card and I am looking for more information to put the backs into date order.