Life in Rainham Kent in the 1880s

In 1881 Rainham had far fewer buildings and a much smaller population than today totalling 2,739 people whereas twenty years earlier the population stood at 1,422 which showed a sizeable increase in just two decades. The village continually expanded after the coming of the railway during the mid-1850s and eventually developed into one of the biggest commuter towns in the south-east by the end of the 1960s.

During the 1880s large areas of land were still owned by Sir Henry Tufton who became a Justice of the Peace and Lord of the Manor, St Katherine’s Hospital owned land including the area around Berengrave Lane while the Earl of Aylesford and J W Stratford were also landowners. The principal crops included cherries, wheat and hops and several market gardens.

Farmers in the parish included Richard Mansfield Wakeley at Moor Street Farm, Peter Manwaring at East Moor Street Farm and James Mansfield also had land at Moor Street. James Miles owned Siloam Farm in Mierscourt Road and James Stearman owned Pump Farm opposite Pump Lane. The land formerly owned by farmer Thomas Dodd in Rainham and Upchurch became the property of Wakeley Brothers after intermarriage between members of the two families. Reverend William Walter owned the Berengrove estate where the paddock was used for fetes, the Rainham Flower Show and periodic matches involving Rainham Cricket Club. Walter employed William Kentenius as his farm bailiff to look after agricultural matters on his land.

Most of Rainham’s population was based along the High Street and down Station Road during the 1880s. Behind the High Street and church cherry orchards could be found and hops were grown at the Moor Street end of the village. The area from the present day Hothfield Road to Rainham Mark only had a small number of houses with large areas of open farmland and extensive woods further up on the land opposite Pump Lane. The land each side of Maidstone Road and Mierscourt Road, known at the time as Chapel Lane, remained open and almost totally unpopulated.

Rainham High Street had a large variety of shops that served the community. Herbert Hunt worked as the postmaster in the post office which also served as a telegraph office and a savings bank, James Taylor worked as a printer and Tom Pike had a barber’s shop. For meat you could go to butchers William Finness or John Parsons. Andrew George served as the village chemist and Fred Baker worked in the baker’s shop. Ellen Brook offered shoe repairs, George Green & Sons served as ironmonger’s and also offered carpentry services while tailor Bill Damarell could mend or alter clothes. Furthermore, a range of grocery shops lined the high street. Shopkeepers included Henry Callaway, Frank Frost, Sarah Coppins, Elizabeth Boorman, Walter Bolton, Charles Moss and John Wills. Henry Reeves served as a tobacconist while Edwin Jelly had an outfitter’s store and George Whayman had a draper’s store.

Shopkeeper George Whayman became involved in local affairs and had come to the village from Suffolk. He founded the Rainham Waterworks Company, he became a director of the Rainham Freehold Land and Allotment Company and was an original member of Rainham Horticultural Society. He also played cricket for Rainham Cricket Club and served as a club official on the committee

A working Men’s Club could also be found in Rainham High Street where Reverend William Walter from Berengrove House served as president and Dr Henry Penfold, Rainham’s doctor for many years, served as honorary secretary. In other streets Sarah Hales and Minnie Barling were shopkeepers in Ivy Street and George Quinnell had a grocer’s shop in Broad Walk.

In Station Road the National School stood on the site of the present day shopping centre while a variety of shops offered services. John Hath served as a shoe maker, Robert Dawson a boot maker, Thomas and John Harden were coal dealers and Arthur Roberts a watchmaker. Shopkeepers included Jesse Barrett, Tom Kidney, Tom Mudge, Bill Miles and Martin Parker.

Elizabeth Sayers managed The Temperence Hotel, now ‘The Railway’. This was situated beside Rainham railway station where Mr Shepherd worked as the stationmaster. Wakeley Brothers Corn Merchant’s and Brick Maker’s had their offices nearby and constructed the oasthouse that still exists there today. Opposite the Temperence Hotel a meadow owned by Solomon Brice became known as ‘Mr Brice’s Meadow’ where cows grazed and where periodic village events took place. Solomon Brice lived in Milton Villa, a big house at the far end of Webster Road. Solomon Road was later named after him. Other members of the Brice family included George Brice and Mrs E Brice who ran the family clay merchant business and Alfred Brice had a stone, clay and manure business.

Of the pubs located in the centre of Rainham Alfred Fiske ran the White Horse with stables at the back, Samuel Jarrett ran the Cricketers Inn where a bowling green and stables could be found, Walter Singer ran the Lion Hotel, James Clark ran The Angel and Bill Jenkins ran the Men of Kent. To get a horse drawn omnibus to the Medway Towns a ticket could be purchased in the Cricketers Inn and to go to Sittingbourne, Canterbury or Dover a ticket could be bought in the White Horse.

The setting up of Rainham Recreation Ground in 1888-89 became one of the biggest developments of the decade when Lord Hothfield who owned a large part of Rainham presented the people of the village with a seven acre field between the present Station Road and Scott Avenue in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The ground was overseen by a committee and this became known as the Rainham Recreation Ground Committee. Rainham Cricket Club played at the Scott Avenue end during the summer while the football club played at the other end during the winter. Trees were planted around the perimeter and a bicycle track constructed.

The Reverend Charles Cobb, vicar of St Margaret’s church, resided at the vicarage and had come to Rainham from East Anglia in 1876. He played for Rainham Cricket Club as an opening batsman in the early 1880s and held the position of club president for a while. He had an interesting background having been educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he went on to obtain a Master of Arts degree and was awarded the Royal Humane medal for the courage he had displayed on a shipwreck.

Other religious denominations existed in Rainham with chapels for Wesleyians, Independents and the United Methodist Free Church.

Thomas Stanley Wakeley became one of the most well-known local Baptist pastors during the 1880s. Being intensely religious he preached in Providence Chapel which his family had built in Orchard Street in 1884 and at the ‘Old Granary’ in Otterham Quay. He was also a family member of Wakeley Brothers fruit, hop and brick business which he joined in 1862. Regarded as a shrewd and straightforward man, he had a big influence on the family business. He rode to the fox and hounds with the Tickham Hunt, he also played cricket for Rainham and he captained Rainham First XI. His brother Richard Mansfield Wakeley lived at Moor Street Farm, John Wakeley lived in Church House almost opposite St Margaret’s Church and William Wakeley who became a national prize rose grower lived in Macklands House in Station Road.

The National School had been constructed at the top end of Station Road in 1846 and was designed for 140 pupils. In 1882 130 boys and 115 girls attended. The school existed on voluntary takings, government grants and school fees. John Longley served as headmaster and became involved in church and local political affairs which made him a respected member of the community. Samuel Hodson succeeded him in 1883.

Samuel Hodson, who originated from the Midlands, became a well-known Rainham figure as headmaster of the School and he played a prominent part in the community. He helped to organize Queen Victoria's Jubilee in Rainham; he became a parish churchwarden and took part in many activities connected with the church.

The infant’s School had a total of 120 pupils with an average attendance of 110 and these were taught by Miss Verrall and Mrs Brice. Another infant’s school existed in Lower Rainham with 60 children and an average attendance of 20. Miss Ada Spinner served as the mistress.

Rainham thrived during the 1880s with a wide range of shops and other facilities to encourage newcomers. The railway played a big part in the growth of the village and for the transport of agricultural produce to London and beyond. Therefore the 1880s was a period of expansion.

David Wood, 1,426 words.

Memories of ‘The Railway’ pub during the early 1970s

The Railway pub thrived during the early 1970s as a popular venue for Rainham residents wanting a good night out. Very lively and always crowded on a weekend with a mixed clientele, the customers, the landlord Bob and his wife Doris made it a friendly and enjoyable place for people to socialize.

A wide range of Rainham characters gathered in ‘The Railway’ on a Friday evening. In the saloon bar Dartford football manager Ernie Morgan, identified by his broad Yorkshire accent, became a regular and would speak to anyone, normally about football. During the daytime Ernie cleaned the windows of shops and businesses in the centre of Rainham as he owned a window cleaning business that lasted for many years. He also became a local football legend after taking Dartford to the Southern League championship and an FA Trophy cup final appearance at Wembley. Later he became involved in local youth football and this made him very well-known in the area. Ernie often drank with Chatham Town footballer Brian Laws and a tall, friendly, retired man dressed in a dark brown suit and matching trilby hat named Jim.

Billy Hales who worked in the butcher’s shop halfway down Station Road usually sat at the bar, sometimes with friends or with his wife. He usually had good stories to tell while Ernie Nicholls who owned a well-known haulage company and lived at the bottom of Station Road was also good for a chat, usually about cricket as he played for Bapchild Cricket Club. Peter Foster, a well-known local footballer also became a regular, usually accompanied by his blond haired girlfriend Janet Smith whose father owned a sweet shop in Station Road

Old Sid Clout who lived in Webster Road would buy a pint and sit alone in a corner for about an hour then go home while a former bus conductor named Ralph who had a high pitched voice and always dressed in a navy blue blazer with an Old Anchorians tie would talk the night away. He supported Kent Cricket Club and once went to the West Indies to watch England play a test series.

 Rainham cricketers who socialized in the pub on a Friday night included George Phillips from Scott Avenue, Denis Chambers from Pump Lane, Peter and Alan Heath from Childscroft Road, Bill Balderston from Berengrave Lane and Terry Glazier from Maidstone Road. Former Rainham cricketer Roger Varley and a well-spoken man named Max mixed with them. Max was easily identifiable by his black rimmed glasses and social skills as he spoke at length with almost anyone. The pub became so popular with the Rainham cricketers that it served as the club headquarters for a short period during the mid-1970s.

The saloon bar also became a popular meeting place for well-known Gillingham footballers with David Peach and Alan Wilks being regulars at one time. Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino also periodically socialized there during the mid-1970s. In 1976 David Peach who had played in the FA Cup Final for Southampton against Manchester United during the afternoon turned up in the saloon bar on the same evening with his FA Cup medal hanging around his neck to socialize with his old friends which caused a sensation.

The famous ‘Keg Boys’ usually drank in the public bar with Stan Peace sitting quietly drinking, smiling and staring at people without much conversation. He became a regular at the pub for years and was sometimes accompanied by Neville Huggins and a variety of other people. Others regularly socializing there included Billy Huggins and Maurice Mills who were both well-known local footballers. I sometimes accompanied them late on a Saturday evening to the Thomas A Beckett pub in the Old Kent Road where we would drink and see famous boxers like Henry Cooper and his twin brother George. In the days when drivers could drink, drive and get away with it we drove from ‘The Railway’ to London and back in Billy Huggins’s mini.

Bob and Doris served behind the bar for most of the time and they were assisted by Phil Austin from Station Road, a compulsive talker and joker and he worked alongside a lady named Linda who Rainham cricketer Alan Heath later married. Two other ladies also assisted at different times.

The evening entertainment only included recorded music with Dean Martin’s ‘Gentle on my Mind’ being played regularly while periodic social functions took place. I once remember playing in goal for the Saloon bar against the public bar on Rainham Recreation Ground in a special challenge match with about fifteen players a side and crates of free beer being provided at the end of the match. I also remember a day trip being arranged to Royal Ascot when everyone journeyed from the pub to the racecourse on a coach organised by Bob the landlord.

‘The Railway’ may have a very different clientele today but it thrived as one of the most popular social and drinking venues in Rainham during the 1970s.

Railway pub in 2003

When I find them I'm trying to add photos of local Rainham and Kent people that may be of interest or of use to anyone searching family tree records.  

My great grandfather was Arthur Percy Light of Rock Avenue Gillingham Kent and who died in 1914 in the First World War. His wife was Marion Light nee Marion Hudson and he was son of Richard and May Light, of Walmer, Kent. There is also a mystery about his son Richard Arthur Onyx/Owyn Light and his Mysterious Disappearance in 1919

Since this was originally posted I've found that his death is commemorated on the Chatham Naval war memorial at Great Lines park Gillingham http://www.everymanremembered.org/profiles/soldier/3049489/ and that he died age 40 on 22 September 1914 and was Ship's Steward assistant on HMS Hogue. Three ships were attacked and sunk in the North sea that day, HMS Cressy, HMS Hogue and HMS Aboukir.

I'd previously researched but as of 2017 there seems to be a lot more information available online to find details of service and rolls of honour along with crew lists for different ships that were lost in the war. 

His SERVICE NO. was 148076

Navy Records

HOGUE, cruiser – see 22 September 1914, Sinking of Cruisers Aboukir, Hogue, Cressy by U.9, North Sea. Built 1900, Pendant No. N.59, Capt Wilmot Nicholson. Ordered Cressy to look out for submarines, stopped and sent off boats to rescue Aboukir survivors, almost immediately hit portside by two torpedoes, started to sink by stern, quarterdeck awash in 5min, submarine broached to and fired on, Hogue rolled over on her side within 10min, abandon ship ordered and sank, her boats now headed for Cressy with Aboukir's survivors; 376 lives lost - 11 officers, 1 more DOW, and 361 ratings, and 1 canteen staff.

 LIGHT, Arthur P, Ship's Steward Assistant (Pens), 148076 (Ch)

Photo taken by Geo Hillsdon (George?),  Lyttelton Photo studios, 17 London Street, Lyttelton, New Zealand

More info on George Henry James Hillsdon, photographer of Lyttelton New Zealand is below. It appears he took over the photography studios on 25th May 1896 and my great grandfather, Arthur Percy Light would have attended the studio when on duty in the Royal Navy between then and his death in 1914. I'm trying to work out which year he may have visited New Zealand by checking his military records.

https://canterburyphotography.blogspot.com/2008/09/geo-hillsden.html?m=0