April 15, 2018 by blackfenpastandpresent

Sir Charles Martel visits Sir William Pryn

On this day, 15 April, in 1930 Brig.-Gen. Sir Charles Martel, CB and his wife Lilian, of Queenswood, Blackfen visited the home of Surgeon Rear Admiral Sir William Pryn of 3 Christchurch Road, Sidcup. Martel signed Pryn’s visitors’ book and indicated that the day on which the Martels were themselves ‘at home’ to visitors was Saturday.

In the early 1900s our area was a popular place to live for retired military families. I am always fascinated by the networking and friendships between them!

Brig.-Gen. Sir Charles Martel, CB

Surgeon Rear-Adm. Sir William Pryn

March 14, 2017 by blackfenpastandpresent

Who’s Who of Blackfen

On 18 March I’ll be giving a talk at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre on ‘Who’s Who of Bexley’.

Of course I will be including some of the names from Blackfen who have been in Who’s Who.

Sir Vesey George Mackenzie Holt

Sir Charles Martel

Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel

Mike Rann

Sir Vesey Holt, KBE, banker, lived at Queenswood, Blackfen from 1868 and later lived at Mount Mascal in North Cray. There is also Brig.-Gen. Sir Charles Martel and his son Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel who both lived at Queenswood, Blackfen from 1910. Mike Rann lived in Blackfen as a child but emigrated to New Zealand and was Ambassador of Australia to the UK 2012-14. Audrey Slaughter lived in Blackfen as a child and became a writer and magazine editor. George Wallace, MP, later Lord Wallace of Coslany lived in Blackfen and it was his intervention that saved Queen Mary’s Hospital from closure in 1948. And Rev. David Silk who started his career in Blackfen went on to become Bishop of Ballarat in Australia.

To book a ticket and for more information about events at Bexley Local Studies and Archive Centre, see http://www.bexley.gov.uk/archiveevents.

February 26, 2017 by blackfenpastandpresent

Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC

Giffard Le Quesne Martel, born in 1889, lived at Queenswood House, Blackfen after his family moved there in 1910. After attending the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He served in France from 1914 and took an active interest in the development of tanks. After the war he lived in Camberley, Surrey and he built a workshop in his garden where he built a prototype one-man tank which others later developed into the British light tank and machine-gun carrier. He also served in the Second World War in France, India, Burma and Moscow. He was described as “a remarkable officer and constitutionally fearless… a natural bruiser… with a deep hoarse laugh”.

NPG x83846; Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel by Bassano

Lt-Gen. Sir Giffard Martel (from National Portrait Gallery)

It was when he was back in London in 1944 that he lost an eye in the bombing of the Army and Navy Club. He died in 1958: he was found dead, shot in the head, with the shotgun near the body.

His parents, Brig.-Gen. Sir Charles Martel and Lilian Martel, lived at Queenswood until 1931, when the estate was sold to the housing developer, C. R. Leech.

August 16, 2015 by blackfenpastandpresent

Pickpockets at the Club

The Morning Chronicle of 14 June 1854 reported on page 12 that George Gettins and William Stephens were charged with attempting to pick the pocket of Sir John Kirkland, of No. 10 Portman Square. Sir John Kirkland said he was near the Carlton Club yesterday afternoon when he felt a hand in his pocket. He turned round, and seeing his handkerchief nearly out of his pocket, and the prisoner Stephens close to him, he seized him by the collar, and held him till the police came up. The prisoner begged to be let off that time. The prisoner Gettins was close to the other prisoner.

Police Constable Keech, 102 C said he saw the prisoners and two other well-known thieves in company together in Charles Street. He saw Gettins try a gentleman’s pockets, and Stephens, who carried a bag, tried to rob a lady, who beat him off with her parasol.

Mr Bingham committed both prisoners as rogues and vagabonds to hard labour for two months.

[Sir John Kirkland bought the Blackfen Farm in 1861 and renamed it Queens Wood].

August 9, 2015 by blackfenpastandpresent

Sir John Kirkland at Beckenham Place

Sir John Kirkland, a wealthy army agent who purchased the Blackfen Farm in 1861, lived in some very grand houses. His London homes had included 10 Portman Square and 80-82 Pall Mall, while his country homes had included The Priory in Roehampton, Surrey (now the Grade II listed Priory Hospital) and Dulany House in Patching, Sussex (destroyed by fire in 1945).

From 1869 he was a tenant of Beckenham Place. This mansion had been built by John Cator, MP around 1763. The layout and design is strikingly similar to that of Danson House, Bexley, built around the same time. A portico with four Ionic columns was added to the frontage in the 1780s, and this element is a reminder of Foots Cray Place in Bexley which Sir John Kirkland had rented previously. (The only homes he actually owned were Avoch in Ross-shire and Queens Wood in Blackfen.) Not many people were wealthy enough to pay the rent on such properties, and Beckenham Place lay empty for some years after his death in 1871.

Front of Beckenham Place, 2015

Beckenham Place facing its splendid grounds

In the early 1900s Beckenham Place was used as a boys’ school and then as a sanatorium, while the grounds became a golf course. The whole estate was acquired by London County Council in 1927 and has been managed by the London Borough of Lewisham since 1971. The stable block was destroyed by fire but the formal gardens are still glorious.

Beckenham Place stable block and formal gardens

Today, Beckenham Place Park is an area of over 200 acres of beautiful open space, ancient woodland, meadow areas and a public golf course. There is a nature trail, a sensory garden and a children’s playground. The visitor centre (open Sundays 1.30-3.30pm) is run by volunteers and contains a fantastic collection of history on the park and mansion, information leaflets and books, plus the chance to see some of the 18th century-style interior.

Beckenham Place golf course

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at Beckenham Place Park. But it appears to be under a degree of threat, as a lottery bid for ‘improvements’ to the park by Lewisham Council includes the closure of the golf course and there is a campaign against it. I just hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the beautiful open space that I saw today and that Sir John Kirkland enjoyed until his death in 1871.

January 2, 2015 by blackfenpastandpresent

Gamble North and the Avery Hill Winter Gardens

Living on the western side of Blackfen, trips to Avery Hill Park were a regular thing as a child. Just a walk away and we were in a huge expanse of green. There were the swings in the playground, but the best bit was the steamy exotic greenhouse of the Winter Gardens. Even as an adult, I still enjoy the occasional walk through the park and around the tranquil greenhouse.

Avery Hill Winter Gardens in February 2014

In fact Avery Hill has a link with Blackfen in its history. Avery Hill Mansion was created by Col John Thomas North ‘Nitrate King’ and the Winter Garden was completed in 1890. His brother, the mine engineer Gamble North, was married to Leila, daughter of the tenant of Westwood Farm in Blackfen, John Hunt. After Col North died and his widow sold Avery Hill, Gamble North resided at Queens Wood, Blackfen.

The question is, of course: was the fertiliser produced by Col North’s Chilean business used for the benefit of Westwood Farm?!

Avery Hill Winter Gardens in February 2014

I was dismayed to hear recently that Greenwich University, the current owner, has announced its intention to sell the entire Mansion House campus in 2015.

A Facebook Page ‘Save Avery Hill Winter Gardens’ has been created by the Friends of Avery Hill Park www.averyhillpark.org.uk to monitor the process and ensure that the concerns of local residents and the wider community are represented. “While we understand that Greenwich University is primarily an educational institution and has determined the need to sell this property in order to fulfill its primary aim. However, we are determined to ensure that whoever buys the property takes on the responsibility of restoring the Winter Gardens and maintaining public access as Greenwich University had started to do.”

“In 2012 Greenwich University was awarded £192,000 Development Fund to help the university progress its plans to apply for a full grant at a later date. It is curious that the announcement to sell the property was made on the same day the final stage of the lottery grant application was to be submitted. The application was withdrawn. This means that at least any restoration will be delayed until the new owners apply for funding and if successful start preserving the decaying building. In the mean time the problems will only get worse.”

January 1, 2015 by blackfenpastandpresent

Sir John Kirkland of Queens Wood, Black Fen

Sir John Kirkland (1796-1871) was an army agent, providing a banking service to soldiers and their families, and was also military agent to Prince Albert. He was knighted at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. He lived in some very grand homes in London, Surrey, Sussex and Scotland, and also at Foots Cray Place and Beckenham Place in Kent.

In August 1861 Sir John Kirkland purchased the Black Fen Farm, a substantial residence and farm, surrounded by arable and meadow land, on the west side of Days Lane. He named the estate Queen’s Wood (presumably after the reigning monarch and perhaps inspired by the nearby Crown Woods). At the same time he purchased adjoining farmland towards Avery Hill and Days Lane Farm to the south, near Halfway Street.

Items specified in Sir John Kirkland’s will of 1866 include:
• gold inkstand and pair of gold candlesticks, a gift from Queen Victoria in 1852
• portraits of Her Majesty and the Prince Consort sent to Sir John from Osborne on 18 January 1862
• onyx pin containing a portrait of the Prince with a personal inscription from Queen Victoria sent from Balmoral on 19 May 1862.