Richard Wakeley and the Founding of Rainham Cricket Club in 1856

Born at Moor Street Farm in 1832, Richard Mansfield Wakeley entered the family farming business and became the farm manager during the 1850s. He also excelled as a cricketer and played for Gore Court at their old Bell Road ground in Sittingbourne from 1855 to 1856. He left the Sittingbourne club in 1856 and with the assistance of fellow Rainham farmer Thomas Dodd, gathered together a group of interested local Rainham men, trained them in the art of cricket and formed Rainham Cricket Club. The players were drawn from different occupations and backgrounds.

Thomas Stanley Wakeley worked as a corn merchant, James Atkins, a malster, William Burley, a tailor, William Moss, a grocer and draper, Charles Rich, James Mansfield, Thomas Dodd, Edward Dodd and James Miles, farmers and George Dodd and John Stevens, farm workers. All these men resided in Rainham.

James Miles, the owner of Siloam Farm in Rainham allowed the newly formed club the use of his meadow, situated in Chapel Lane (now Mierscourt Road) opposite the present day Primary school and this became known as ‘James Miles Meadow.’ According to the ‘East Kent Gazette’ dated July 18th 1857, Rainham Cricket Club awarded him a silver cup at one of their quarterly meetings with the inscription:

Presented to Mr. J Miles, by the members of the Rainham Cricket Club, for his kindness in allowing them the use of his meadow. July 1857.

A photograph of the cup still hangs on the wall of the present Rainham clubhouse. The actual cup was brought to the ground in 1957 during the club’s centenary season (celebrated one year late) by James Miles grandson. From that time until recently the cup remained in the vault of the Midland Bank in Rainham but when the bank closed the cup went missing and has not been traced.

J Miles Cup

 It isn’t clear how long Rainham Cricket club played at Siloam Farm but they had stopped playing there by 1883 when the owner James Miles sold the farm. The club then had to play on numerous grounds, including Berengrove Park by courtesy of Mr. William Walter the owner until a permanent venue at Rainham Recreation Ground was obtained in 1890. When Richard Wakeley junior took possession of Siloam Farm the club returned there for several seasons during the period 1902 to 1910.

According to the ‘Rochester Gazette’ dated July 8th 1856, the first match involving Rainham Cricket Club took place against the Angel Club Strood on Wednesday July 2nd 1856 at Siloam Farm and after a close game they lost. They played other local clubs in the area and these included Gore Court, Milton, Selling, Throwley and the Star Club Rochester. After home matches the teams went to the ‘White Horse’ pub in Rainham High Street for tea and entertainment provided by the publican and host Mr. Conningsby whose name also appeared on some scorecards.

Richard Wakeley became the team captain in 1856 and stood out in the side as an all-rounder. He took five wickets in the club’s first game against the Angel Club Strood. He also helped to build up the strength of the club until Rainham became one of the strongest clubs in the area by the end of the decade.

Richard Wakeley played regularly during the 1850s before going to the Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester where he represented the college cricket team. Unfortunately, without his services and influence Rainham deteriorated in strength during the 1860s. After his marriage in Cirencester in 1867 he returned to Rainham where he maintained his links with the club up to his death in 1907 both as a player then as a vice-president. Two of his sons Seymour and Richard Mansfield Wakeley junior later played for the club.

Apart from his cricketing ability Richard Wakeley had strong religious convictions and served as pastor at Providence Chapel in Orchard Street which his family had built. He also served as a local politician and a Guardian of the Parish. According to his obituary in the ‘East Kent Gazette’ in September 1907 he remained a kind hearted and generous benefactor to the people of Rainham during his lifetime. In his later years he wrote a book entitled ‘Gathered Fragments,’ a profile of his brother Thomas Stanley Wakeley.

As a farmer and employer in the parish Richard Wakeley became very well-known and instrumental in the establishment of ‘Wakeley Brothers’ fruit and hop growing business which existed until recently in the Rainham area.

League cricket didn’t exist when Rainham Cricket Club first started and it wasn’t until 1896 when the club joined the Chatham & District League that they had their first taste for one season. The games played before this were friendly social matches which usually took place on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

On August 3rd, 1858 the ‘Kentish Gazette’ reported a match played on July 28th:

On the 28th past a match was played between the gentlemen of Throwley and eleven of Rainham on the Belmont ground, the residence of Thomas Townsend esq, whose hospitality to the players on this and former occasions has been such as to merit their rarest acknowledgement.

As in recent times the players retired to a pub for a drink after matches and sometimes had a few too many as Richard Wakeley pointed out in his book ‘Gathered Fragments’ where he wrote that after one match near Sittingbourne during the late 1850s his brother, Thomas Stanley Wakeley, challenged the team to a race back to Rainham. With Wakeley in his personal horse and trap and the other players in a horse drawn coach the race took place which Thomas Stanley Wakeley won after which he gave the reins to his driver and then laid down in the back of the trap and fell asleep on the last part of the journey home.

TS Wakeley

Photo of TS Wakeley, Rainham Cricket Club

The Wakeley family had a big influence on Rainham Cricket Club from 1856 to 1910 with six members of their family playing and three of these R. M Wakeley, T. S. Wakeley and R. M. Wakeley Junior holding the captaincy for periods of time. They also furthered the interests of the club through the local parish council contributed a ground at Siloam Farm and maintained the pitch at Rainham Recreation Ground when the cricket club played there. Wealthy Rainham farmer Sid Callaway later patronized Rainham Cricket Club right up to the late 1980s.

 

The game of cricket played by Rainham in 1856 more or less resembled the game today, including the length of the wicket, the size and shape of the bats and the weight of the ball, although there were a few differences. Firstly, an over consisted of four and not six deliveries but when there was a change of bowling the new bowler was allowed to have two practice deliveries at the batsman before the statutory four deliveries in his first over. Bowlers could also bowl underarm which ceased at the end of the 19th century.

Today, Rainham is a much bigger club than when it first formed with three teams turning out on a Saturday and two on a Sunday with an assortment of boy’s teams playing midweek. The First and Second XIs play in the Shepherd-Neame Kent County League and home matches are played at Berengrove Park.

 

 

The Unsolved Wigmore Murder of 1965

Cambridge Road in Wigmore is usually a very quiet and peaceful area where nothing much of great consequence happens, but in April 1965 the local newspapers reported an event that sent a feeling of revulsion and a shiver of fear down the spines of local residents and shook the Medway area.

 A 77 year old widow named Florence Lewis heard a knock on the front door of her bungalow on a Saturday evening just before Easter and she opened it to investigate. Unfortunately, she had made a fatal error and a short while later she was dead. It’s unknown if she knew the person who had knocked or what motive that person had but whoever it was and whatever they wanted no mercy was shown for Mrs Lewis who was known in the area as a friendly and unobtrusive lady. Unfortunately, as a pensioner living alone the criminal may have thought she had a lot of money stashed away and could have viewed her as a soft target.

The murderer, once in the bungalow, shut the door and battered the old lady to death with unbelievable brutality, repeatedly and callously striking her with a heavy object on her head. The police estimated that 14 blows were delivered which left Mrs Lewis dying in an armchair. The murderer then escaped without leaving a single clue and disappeared into the night without being seen by anyone.

Mrs Lewis wasn’t found until the following Monday lunchtime when insurance agent Roy Bishop discovered her corpse in an armchair covered in blood. Whatever had happened in the short meeting between Mrs Lewis and her murderer is unknown but the killer had obviously gone into a killing frenzy as the bloody condition of his victim showed that a vicious attack had taken place.

Detective Chief Superintendent Arthur Hall who led the investigation said at the time that it could take weeks to find the murderer but after a massive investigation which included the searching of every garden in Cambridge Road, the combing of local woods and the interviewing of more than 7,000 people, the crime has remained unsolved and the murderer free.

The police checked all of Medway’s laundries with the hope of finding blood-stained clothes belonging to the murderer. They also looked for the murder weapon which they suspected as being a heavy hammer or poker but they remained empty handed after a long and meticulous search.

The only clue about who did the murder arose in the week after the event when two people said they saw a man and then a woman call at Mrs Lewis’s house a short time apart at about 8-30 p.m. They also said they saw a small grey van in the vicinity. Confusion was also added to the case when three other people said they saw Mrs Lewis being driven in a car on the Sunday afternoon after the estimated time of her death.

At Mrs Lewis’s funeral 18 days later detectives swooped on Gillingham cemetery to check on everyone entering and leaving in case the murderer had attended but they failed to find a suspect. During the following weeks the police continued interviewing neighbours but they came up with nothing. An appeal was made by the police on national TV and the case was also broadcast on the TV programme ‘Police Five’ but although a large number of people phoned in with information it led to nothing.

Finally, the Northeast Kent coroner Mr W J Harris wound up the case in June 1965 by announcing a verdict of murder by a person or persons unknown. In one of the most despicable and brutal crimes committed in the Rainham and Wigmore areas the killer has remained free for almost fifty years, barring death, and the case remains open.

 

Photo of the Style and Winch pub The Bredhurst Bell in around 1910. Style and Winch were a local Maidstone brewery and many local Medway and Maidstone pubs sold their ales.

The licencees name above the door is James Monday. In the early years of the 20th century pubs were only allowed to sell alcoholic drinks to travellers on a Sunday. A traveller was defined as someone who had walked at least 3 miles. It is possible that this rule was part of the Defence of the Realm act introduced during the First World War.

Photo of Bredhurst Bell customers in early 1900s. The pub sold Style and Winch fine ales

Bredhurst Bell customers in early 1900s. The pub sold Style and Winch fine ales

Sir Cecil Wakeley – Famous Surgeon

A long standing Rainham family, the Wakeley’s have produced numerous well-known people over the years including cricketer Richard Mansfield Wakeley, local preacher Thomas Stanley Wakeley, national rose grower William Wakeley and more recently international fashion designer Amanda Wakeley. Sir Cecil Wakeley also became very well-known and respected in the medical profession as a top class surgeon.

Born into a large family on 5th May 1892 at Meresborough House in Rainham, Sir Cecil had a quiet country life as a child, an early interest in horse riding and he owned his own pony. In 1904 he attended King’s School Rochester but his education was interrupted in 1906 when he contracted pneumonia but he survived after being seriously ill. He then continued his education at Dulwich College after his family moved to the area in 1907. After he left school in 1910 he entered King’s College Hospital in London with whom he maintained a life-long connection and qualified as a surgeon.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1915 as a surgeon lieutenant, serving aboard the hospital ship Garth Castle at Scapa Flow where the only major naval conflict of the First World War took place. When the First World War finished he maintained his links with the navy. Firstly, he became a consultant then Rear–Admiral Surgeon at the Royal Naval hospital at Haslar near Portsmouth.

Sir Cecil Wakeley – Famous Surgeon

Photo of Sir Cecil Wakeley – Famous Surgeon

His career had numerous successes starting with his acceptance at King’s College Hospital to work as a surgeon in 1922 followed by promotion to senior surgeon. He then became consultant to the Belgrave Hospital for Children, the Royal Masonic and the Maida Vale Hospital for Nervous Diseases. He later became member of the Council of King’s College and then he served as president from 1949 to 1954. He also became President of the Association of Physiotherapy, the Hunterian Society, the Medical Society of London and the Royal Life Saving Society. He also served as an examiner for the Primary and Final Fellowship exams as well as for medical degrees at various universities in the UK and overseas.

In other areas Sir Cecil became a Hunterian orator, Hunterian professor and an Erasmus Wilson, Bradshaw and Thomas Vicary Lecturer. He became Chairman of the Trustees of the Hunterian Collection and received the College’s Gold Medal for his services. He also received various honours including the Order of the Nile in 1936, he was made Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1941. He also became Knight of the Order of the British Empire and received the Legion of Merit from the USA in 1946. He also received the Chevalier de la legion d’honneur from France in 1950 and he was awarded with a baronet in recognition of his work in the medical profession in 1952. Finally, he became an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.

Colleagues considered Sir Cecil to be very positive with a very clear mind, a very affable and cheerful individual with great powers of observation. He never forgot a face and liked to give encouragement and advice to those around him. He was also a very efficient surgeon who carried out operations very quickly and meticulously.

Throughout his life Sir Cecil remained a devout churchman who became President of the Bible League and followed in the footsteps of his father Percy Wakeley who preached at Providence Chapel in Orchard Street and his grandfather Thomas Stanley Wakeley who became an ardent and well-known Rainham churchman and Baptist preacher during the second half of the 19th century.

Sir Cecil presided over the Lord’s Day Observance Society and became the author of various medical textbooks and edited Rose and Carless. He also edited theBritish Journal of Surgery and he founded the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He also edited the Medical press and circular.

In 1925 Sir Cecil married Elizabeth Muriel Nicholson-Smith in Lewisham and they had three sons. John and Richard entered the medical profession while William got involved in the farming business ‘Wakeley Brothers’ in Rainham and he still lives in Hartlip. Sir Cecil’s granddaughter Amanda, daughter of his son John, became a famous fashion designer from the 1990s onwards and was awarded an OBE for her contribution to fashion in 2010.

In 1975 Sir Cecil celebrated his golden wedding anniversary with his wife. At retirement age he maintained connections with the medical world and he also got involved in local activities such as opening village fetes. He eventually died in Chatham on June 5th 1979 aged 87 after a long and highly successful life.

 

Photo of Amanda Wakeley, daughter of his son John, became a famous fashion designer from the 1990s onwards and was awarded an OBE for her contribution to fashion in 2010

The Rainham ‘Bug Hutch’

Originally constructed as a Salvation Army hall, the Royal cinema which could seat 395 people opened on 25th October 1920 as a new location of entertainment in Rainham. In the early years it showed black and white films with a basic projector and proved popular at a time when TV didn’t exist.

In 1947 the cinema experienced a serious fire but it survived then in 1956 it was updated with ‘CinemaScope,’ an amorphic lens for shooting wide screen movies. This allowed a better quality image with stereophonic sound to be projected. Sandwiched between Pullen’s seed shop on the right and an estate agent’s named Harris & Bone on the left, the cinema’s entry point could be found on the right side and the screen at the high street end of the building. Compared with other cinemas the Royal was basic without a balcony area or a cafeteria. From the entry point a narrow corridor led to a very small box office where a ticket could be purchased from a lady named Joyce then entry into the auditorium immediately to the left. Pushy teenagers made for the back rows where they could snog with their girlfriends, smoke or just chat with their friends. The building became commonly known as the ‘Bug hutch’ although it wasn’t exactly a flea pit as it had a reasonably clean and comfortable interior.

Bug Hutch Rainham - Royal Cinema

Photo of Bug Hutch, Rainham - The Royal Cinema

On Saturday mornings during the 1950s and early 1960s local children packed the cinema to watch cartoon films and American serials like ‘Flash Gordon.’ As they cheered, banged the seats and threw balls of paper the programme continued unabated to the end, all in good fun, of course. I only attended a handful of times then got sick of the noise and began attending the Saturday morning sessions at the Odeon in Gillingham which proved to be less noisy in more spacious surroundings.

The Saturday afternoon matinee followed the children’s morning session, attended mainly by teenagers who turned up to watch a blockbuster film of the day. For a small admission fee they could watch a cartoon, a preview of future films, Pathe News and a full length film, sometimes two films.

Apart from the projectionist the Royal was almost entirely overseen by an ageing lady with tightly permed grey hair who worked as an usherette. I believe she lived in Orchard Street and constantly moaned at the youth, often shouted at them and occasionally threw them out if they misbehaved. Using a small torch she showed customers to their seats and occasionally served tickets in the box office. I remember attending as a boy and joining an irate crowd of youngsters queuing and pushing outside the cinema until almost the starting time of the film. The usherette turned up very late to a scene of chaos, she sorted everyone into an orderly line before opening the doors and then made everyone line up in a regimented fashion to buy tickets which she served. On another occasion the projector broke down in the early part of a film which at first caused disappointment then a complete riot. The usherette lost control in a crescendo of whistling, shouting and heckling then after a long delay the projectionist eventually announced that the problem couldn’t be fixed and everyone had to leave the cinema but at least they had the entry fee refunded.

Saturday afternoon attracted large audiences, particularly during the winter months when adverse weather prevented youngsters from doing very much. During the 1960s when I attended I saw films such as Pinnochio, Son of Paleface, Ice Cold in Alex, Guns at Batasi, Goldfinger and Zulu.

Eventually, audiences began to diminish and although new seating was installed in later years, the owner Mrs Gass, decided to sell up and retire. The cinema closed immediately after the screening of Cat Ballou starring Lee Marvin on March 5th 1966 after 43 years in existence. Other local cinemas like The Gaumont closed in 1961, the Odeon (Gillingham) in 1977 and the Plaza in 1980.

After closure the boarded up cinema stood empty for a while then builders turned it into Vye & Sons supermarket. These days the building is the location of Lukehurst’s furniture shop and the roof is the only recognisable part of the original cinema that remains.

 

This comment was received from David Stevens: ""Parker's" was the name of the shop near the bus stop to the right of the bug hutch cinema. Parker's shop sold sweets, tobacco products (I think), and other items I can't remember. The brown and white (Chatham Traction Company) double decker buses would come up Station Road from their terminus, and turn right and then stop at the bus stop near Parker's. Some of the green and white (Maidstone & District) double deckers would follow the same route, but others would come straight through from the Sittingbourne/Faversham region to the east (?).

Grays bicycle shop was to the left of the bughutch and a seed merchant to the right. Lemonade 6 pence a bottle with 2 pence on return. They also sold toys and more importantly ice cream delivered first after the war once a week and we used to go and queue early to avoid disappointment. Ice cream in blocks and everyone watched closely to make sure they did not short change you as they sliced it. Whittaker's on the right going down Station Road also sold fizzy drinks - their specialty was a 5-6 ounce, home-made, frozen ice lolly made from Coca-Cola or Tizer ("the Appetizer"). That seed shop next to the bug hutch was Pullen's I think..

Photo of the Liptons supermarket in the early 1970s.

 

Harris and Bone estate agents looking towards Liptons formerly Bug Hutch

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Action Forum is a free monthly magazine that is distributed to the Rainham area covering Wigmore, Parkwood and Hempstead as well. This archive covers old copies of the magazine dating back to its initial publication in 1969 and give a fascinating glimpse into life in Rainham over the last 50 years.

Link to Article Index - Action Forum Index - Photos and Articles from 1969 onwards