2009
To search these pages, look at top right of your screen, there should be three dots, click there
|
December 2009 from Leigh Trevail :-I have tried to find out more about the Hill Climbs at Branches Park nr. Cowlinge in the early 30's. Sometimes this was erroneously referred to as Newmarket, have you heard of these races ? Doug Everitt, Kirtling historian, came up with this information. "Mr Tonge, who preceded the eccentric Miss Parsons at Branches Park, was interested in fast cars and had a sports car 'with the handbrake on the outside', you can have a good guess what that might have been. He had the reputation of driving to Newmarket 'flat out all the way'. He used to have his cars serviced at the Cheveley Garage on Broomstick Corner" Mr. Tonge apparently made his money in shipping, and moved to Cheveley after leaving Branches Park. It may be that the car trials were held on the long approach drive to the house at Branches Park. More information on this subject would be appreciated. (webmaster) After further research Leigh has come up with this from 1930 :- C.U.A.C. Speed Trials.......Event at Branches Park....Owing to the fact that Ewelme Down could not be obtained for the Inter-varsity Hill Climb, this event has had to be postponed until a later date. In place of this, therefore, Cambridge ran a speed trial at Branches Park, near Newmarket, which was also open to members of the Oxford Club. The course which consists of 550 yards of straight macadam, was kindly lent by Mrs. Tonge, and favoured with perfect weather a very successful event was run off.<>b? October 28th 2009 From Peter Williams to Eric Dunning Newmarket (LHS Chairman):- I have been given your name by the Newmarket Tourist Information Centre as someone who may be able to answer my question: I understand that in the mid 19th Century there was an Independent (Congregational) Church in Newmarket with which the family of the famous preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon was associated. Are you able to tell me please, or put me in touch with someone who might know, where exactly that Church was situated and what building is there today? |
|
I have spoken to Eric Dunning, who is not on email, and we agree that the Church you mention was in the middle of the High Street (south side). The building still belongs to the Church but is now occupied by The Stable, a meeting place and cafée open in the mornings. The Congregational Church amalgamated with Christchurch (Methodist) which is in St Mary's Square. We have a file on the history of the Congregational Church compiled by George Ginn of Soham. This includes details of the Minister, Charles Spurgeon. If anyone wants access to this please contact our Society through this website (webmaster)
October 22nd from Charlotte Kempin of Burwell :-Dear Mr Vincent, Thank you very much for your recent talks on Icewell Hill, at Newmarket Library and at the meeting of Newmarket Local History Society. I really enjoyed seeing all the photographs of Icewell Hill that were included on Tuesday, hearing others' memories, and the opportunity to speak to people who lived there prior to the changes in the 1960s. I have been researching Elsie and Sophia Palethorpe since an article about them appeared in the Newmarket Journal in July this year. I contributed my research for the later article, published in August. I hope you will be able to help with my continuing research. I am gathering as much information as possible about the Misses Palethorpe, and plan to write a book in recognition of the captivating story of their lives, and their tragic deaths - which signify a landmark in Newmarket’s history that is sad in so many respects.( they walked out into the sea and drowned ) I am keen to hear from anyone who remembers the Palethorpe sisters. I already plan to see Bill Smith, Archivist for the Society, as I understand from Sandra Easom that he knows a lot about the sisters. I would love to hear any memories or anecdotes anyone else has about Elsie and Sophia. In particular, I am hoping to find anyone who may have any photographs of them. Please would you add an appeal for information to the Correspondence page on the Society’s website, and the newsletter if there is one?...With very many thanks for your help. We will help Charlotte with pictures. If anyone would like to get in touch with her please email or telephone me, contact details appears on this website (webmaster) |
|
October 1st 2009. From C Norton :-I have a query relating to the former Workhouse which is puzzling me. The present "St Philip's and St Etheldreda's" church is said to be the former Workhouse chapel. However the baptism records refer to the Workhouse chapel as St Etheldreda's and seem to imply that St Philip's was a different building - i.e. on the baptisms records both names are used on the same page indicating a separate identity. (This is in the 1895-1905 period). So can you tell me if there was a separate St Philip's church - with an identity later merged with the Workhouse chapel? Or was there only ever the one building which for some reason was referred to by two different names, i.e. if you entered from the Workhouse it was called one thing and entering off the street as another....Hoping you can shed some light on this St Phillip's Church, which was a rather poor corrugated iron building in St Philips Road, was demolished in the 1960s to make way for housing. The services then transferred to the hospital chapel (formerly the workhouse chapel), as they had been served by the same vicar (webmaster) |
|
September 11th 2009 I am researching Henry O'Brien, Earl of Thomond and Viscount Tadcaster who owned Shortgrove Hall in Newport Essex. He was succeeded by his nephew Percy Wyndham O'Brien who inherited his estate in 1742 together with his debts of £102,000. Fortunately Percy was the younger brother of the Earl of Egremont of Petworth House, Sussex so it was not too much of a problem. Henry was extravagant and not a good manager of his estates which he expanded without much thought. I have been told that among his acquisitions was Newmarket Palace. I have searched the net but have found little about the Palace or Palace House. I would be most grateful if you could provide me with any information on any connection of Henry O'Brien, Percy Wyndhan O'Brien or the Earl of Egremont with the Palace. I am the Village Recorder for Newport and on the committee of Recorders of Uttlesford History www.recordinguttlesfordhistory.org.uk Thank You,.....David Evans I refer you to http://www.newmarketshops.info/Charles_II_Palace.html, a website of one of our members (webmaster) August 31st 2009. Greetings - I obtained your email address from the website. I would appreciate your assistance. I am interested in the family of Sir Charles Rose and his connection to the game of real tennis. He was the owner of Suffolk House which was located in the centre of Newmarket. I do not know when it was demolished but the old tennis court survived and was brought back into play as recently as 1995. I came to the UK to attend the re-opening. Can you please advise if there is a picture of the old Suffolk House, in which case would it be possible to obtain a copy....Thank you, Michael Garnett (Melbourne, Australia) Our Chairman, Eric Dunning, knows a little about Suffolk House, some of which you may already be aware. At one time the old court fell into disuse and became part of the then Crisswells Garage, which fronted the High Street. I understand that it as brought back into use in the 1990s by Dr Shneerson, who was a surgeon at the Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire. I am told that he wrote a book about the court. We will check in our archives to see if we have a picture of Suffolk House, but this is looking a little unlikely. added in December 2013. :- Col McCalmont of Cheveley Park c.1900 built a Real Tennis Court there, but apparently it was never used. For some reason rivalry existed between the owners of the two courts. (webmaster) August 26th 2009 I am trying to track down information (and more specifically photographs and plans of) Lanwades Hall in Kentford between its construction in approx. 1901 and WW2. There appears to be very little information available (other than reference to the place as being connected to the Derby winner Jeddah). By any chance can you help? Many thanks in advance for any assistance that you may be able to offer.... With kind regards, Anthony Any information will be passed on (webmaster) August 14th 2009 Dear Rod, I have been trying without success to find out where inmates of the Union Workhouse at Newmarket (Exning) were buried. I came across the NLHS website while searching online and I was wondering if you, or any of the members, could shed any light on this matter. Any help would be gratefully received.....With best regards.......Alice Dalton An interesting question Alice. There is a helpful little book about the running of the Newmarket Poor Law Institution (Workhouse) by Dick Heasman, the son of the former Workhouse master, that gives brief details of the way burials were arranged in the later years. Sandra Easom, local historian and committee member, thinks the most likely answer is that they were buried in 'paupers graves', probably in Exning cemetery.The grave would have been numbered in the records but otherwise unmarked and the body would probably have been covered by a simple shroud.The cost would have been born by the parishes using the Institution.
This website rather confirms our supposition about the disposal of the bodies of dead inmates
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Newmarket/Newmarket.shtml
added August 2013. This website now includes an article on The Workhouse at Newmarket, and uses information from Heasman's Book, select here
Dorothy May Pammenter was raised in Exning, born in Snailwell and her ancestry goes back to 1738 through Swaffham Bulbeck and Bartlow. She worked for the Tate or Lyle Family (can never remember which) of Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup fame. They had a stately home somewhere in the Chippenham/Exning area. She started off as a scullery maid when she was about 12 years old and worked her way up to head cook.
My paternal Great Grandparents, David John Dean b 1860 and Selina Alice Rawlinson met when he was a bricklayer in Newmarket and called in to his local watering hole after work. Alice was at that time working as a domestic servant at the White Lion Inn on High Street, Newmarket. My other paternal Great Grandparents Jeremiah Pammenter and Eliza Clover, had a small farm in Exning and brought up 11 children in a tiny thatched cottage covered in roses.
I have family connections to a person who once owned the land on which the Swaffham Prior windmill stands and my family church is St Mary's where my father was a boy soprano choir boy. I now have over 8,000 relatives in my tree; you could draw a 15 mile ring around Newmarket and most of my 8,000 relatives would have been born in that circle.
Yes I do still have family in the Newmarket area. Three of my father's siblings have passed on and out of the original 7 children two are still living in Australia and my Uncle Leslie Dean lives up Exning Road. Leslie will be 90 next year and is still going strong. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese and worked on the "Railway of Death" but luckily came home. I have a wonderful photo of the boys having a drink with their mother when he came home and my Nana is looking adoringly at him. Leslie's daughter and my cousin Jennifer lives at Studlands.
|
March 2009. From Nick Spencer: -I'm involved with Mildenhall Museum in a commemoration project for the 75th anniversary of the MacRobertson England - Australia Air Race of 1934. As part of my research I went to Hendon in London to view the Royal Aero Club Archives. While there I had a very enjoyable time looking around the fantastic RAF Museum. One exhibit that particularly caught my eye was a temporary display dedicated to the flying life of Alex Henshaw. It consisted of some wonderful paintings by the artist Michael Turner that werecommissioned by Alex before his death and since turned into a limited edition book 'Alex Henshaw - A Flying Legend' published last month.
So
impressed was I, that on returning home I placed an order for the book. I also discovered that he lived and died at home in Newmarket. At this point I didn't really know how much of a connection he had with the town but thought it might be a good idea if the exhibit could go on display somewhere in Newmarket such as Palace House. I mentioned this to Simon Batey (Forest Heath Tourism Manager) on Wednesday at our Air Race committee meeting and he seemed interested. He asked that I send him details of Alex Henshaw and he would make further inquiries. I think he may also have mentioned the NLH Society as the first point of information. Anyway, I just stumbled across your website piece on Alex and thought I'd drop you a line to see what you think. March 19th 2009 From Janet Köhne (Mendham) now living in Germany:- I wonder if you can help, in or around 1942 a poetry book was printed of the works of Newmarket Secondary modern pupils. One particular poem called EXNING I remember part of. I unfortunately lost the book when I moved move 33 years ago. The only words I remember :-- Exning is a village, a village very small, Exning has a church, a church very tall, by it stands a hut, some call it a hall, Exning has a Policeman called PC Attawall. My question is, who wrote the poem?. Anyone got any ideas (webmaster> March 2009. In connection with a biography of Lily, Duchess of Marlborough, I am trying to get a feel for Newmarket in the late 1890s (1896 through 1900). Laura Thompson gives some idea of "society" homes in the town, although most Newmarket histories seem to be mostly about horses and jockeys. Lily's husband was Lord William Beresford, who kept his racehorses in training at Newmarket. The couple rented there during Derby week and Beresford is said to have leased "Heath House" during the last couple of years of his life (he died in late 1900), but from what I've read about Heath House I don't see how this would have been possible. I was wondering if there were any contemporary or somewhat later descriptions of Newmarket that you could recommend that might give a better feel for the town during this period.....With thanks....Sally Svenson, New York The most comprehensive description of Newmarket and its personalities during the Victorian period is contained in the two volume 'History of Newmarket and its Surrounding Areas', edited by Sandra Easom and produced by our Society. They contain much information on all aspects of the town and its people and gives a real feel for the times. It is not surprising that racing tends to be the dominant subject in connection with the wealthy and the aristocracy of the town. A whole section is given over to short biographies of some of the high profile characters, including Caroline, Duchess of Montrose, born the Hon Caroline Beresford, an extraordinary woman who built St Agnes Church in memory of her second husband, and married for a third time in 1888. Although this does not directly relate to your question I thought you might find it interesting, because of the Beresford connection. The Duke of Marlborough had connections with Newmarket and the Marlborough Club survived until recently. If further information is forthcoming through our Society I will contact you again.
Our two volumes were supplied to Libraries and schools and are available for reference, but were never on general sale and do not appear in book lists. We no longer have any spare copies. ....Rodney Vincent, webmaster Newmarket Local History Society www.newmarketlhs.org.uk
Lawley and Sir Charles Russell (later Lord Russell of Killowen) were regular visitors there on the mornings if race weeks, when they would chat about racing affairs. On one occasion these two also brought a third person with them, ultimately revealing him to be one Hawkins - he was the current official executioner.
Now I wonder whether Alfred Munnings, the artist, ever went there. He used to stay with Fred Butters in Rous Road for race weeks, just across from Avondale, and he would spend a lot of time sitting in my grandmother's (Rodrigo) sitting room. I never made a connection, although his babyhood nurse was a Bonnett - and so was my Grandmother. (We do have Munnings family relations, but they're from Kirtling/Haughley.)
One wall of Heath View House's grounds abutted the cottage in which the Elliott family lived. Father used to take an extra breakfast egg to pass over the wall to Charlie, who tried to repay him by telling him that Bois Roussel would win the 1938 Derby (which it did, at 20-1). Sadly, Father didn't back it. |
January 7th 2009 From Roger Newman in response to our feature on the old Icewell Hill. I do remember the Old Icewell Hill area or at least parts of it. There was fish and chip shop there just down from the Victory pub and at least once a week I had a portion of chips for lunch whilst at the Grammar School. My mother always gave me enough money for fish and chips but I used to buy a box of Smarties from the sweet shop next to the Grammar school so only had enough left for chips. When my sister and I were very young, our first two wheeled bicycle was a small second hand one which she had first and then I had it. When it was too small for me I am sure that a family called the Bishops, who had twin girls, had it next and I believe they lived on Icewell Hill somewhere. Sometime in the 50's, a boy was run over and killed on the hill outside the shop that used to be on the opposite side of the road to the houses. |
December 2009 this follow up from Tony Pringle: Just reading the correspondence and on 7 Jan 2009 a letter from Roger Newman mentioning fish and chip shop on St Mary's Square, that was Arthur Watkinson's. The boy he refers to as being run over over and killed just up Mill Hill was Hilda Butcher's son, (cannot remember his name ) the accident was right outside what is now the gun shop (see below) May 7th 2010. This from Bev Hill: I forwarded Tony Pringle's comments (see above) to my elder brother John Hill since we both knew the boy in question. I have copied his reply which may be of interest. "It was Colin Butcher. He was in the choir with us at All Saints (Head chorister) and the scouts. His dad had a shoemender's shop by the Rutland which was eventually taken over by Jack Martin who lived two doors up from us in Centre Drive. He had a smaller brother about Steve's age and for years afterwards his dad wore a black rectangle on his sleeve. He was run over by a lorry full of sand on Icewell Hill. I'll never forget it nor his funeral at All Saints and we said we would not take the two bob funeral money....Regards....Bev Hill CORRESPONDENCE |