The Daniell family

The Christmas period has brought some interesting new contacts.

One of these concerned the large memorial outside All Saints, Little Kimble, to Mary Daniell and her husband James Whiteman Daniell.

The Daniell family were not in Kimble for very long. They lived at Ladymede under a tenancy agreement with Henry Vivian Gibson Craig.

Mary Jane Coghill was born in San Francisco in 1861, and her first marriage was to  Robert Paul Hastings. There were two children from this marriage, Elizabeth Parker Hastings who became a naturalised British citizen, and Harry Coghill Hastings. After the death of Robert Paul Hastings in 1890, Mary married James Whiteman Daniell in 1894 in London.

Soon after moving to Ladymede, Mary died on 24 August 1906 and was buried at All Saints Church. Her husband James moved to Folkestone, where he died on 27 July 1932. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, and his ashes were then buried in Little Kimble alongside his wife.

An interesting connection is with Mary Valery, born Mary Valerie Piers, who married William Keatinge Clay at St. Nicholas, Great Kimble, in 1909. Mary was ward of James' aunt, and the Daniell family made Ladymede available for the reception.

Any further information about these families would be very welcome.

New book on Kimble history launched

Yesterday (Friday November 13th) saw the launch of an important new book about the history of the Kimble villages.

The book is by Kimble resident and local historian Roger Howgate and is entitled "Kimble's Journey - The history of England from the Perspective of a Rural Parish". The launch took place at The Swan, Great Kimble, with Roger available to answer questions and sign copies.

Roger commented:
It is important that some of what our forebears experienced is preserved and recorded, otherwise we find ourselves without roots and without a heritage Some might say it is nostalgia, but I think that is mistaken You will find events, people and the culture of a community which is both ordinary and extraordinary There are some amazing individuals in the history of Kimble. and some remarkable events The book has been a personal journey recording both our local and national societal trends and recalling the special moments and events in the life of our community. It could not have been written without all the kind people who have told their stories and delved into their photograph albums.

The book is in large format with over 240 pages.

Roger was also a co-author of “Kimble Faces & Places”, a book published in 2000.  
I look forward to reading the new book and more details will be posted later.

Copies of the book are available direct from Roger.

Charles Edward Stewart and the village hall

The Kimble Stewart Hall is the village hall for the parish. It was named after one of Kimble's residents, Charles Edward Stewart and his wife Katherine.

 The Kimble Stewart Hall 2015

Charles Edward Stewart was born near Glasgow in 1866, and his father Andrew Stewart was a prominent industrialist and founder of the company that became Stewart & Lloyds.  Charles married Katherine Anne Dunn in Glasgow in 1900. The family lived in London before moving to Lady Mede in Little Kimble before the First World War.

Plaque in Kimble Stewart Hall

Charles had established his name as a prominent artist of the time, though now rather forgotten. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London at the age of 16 and continued to exhibit for more than 30 years.

Although initially a portait painter, his later works include epic scenes of battles as well as more rural scenes of hunting and point-to-point racing. Many of these feature horses and dogs.

The picture below is entitled Balaclava, depicting the cavalry charge, hangs in the Cavalry and Guards Club in London.

Balaclava

Charles died in 1942. The Bucks Herald wrote about his contribution to village life:

Two of the oldest institutions, namely the Cricket Club and the Horticultural Society always received the support and patronage of Mr. Stewart. His contributions to to welfare of the village took various and practical forms. It was mainly through the assistance of Mr. Stewart that the necessary renovations were carried out to the timber and roofing of St. Nicholas Church Great Kimble.

Tablet in St. Nicholas Church, Great Kimble

It is perhaps in connection with Kimble Village Hall, now known as the Stewart Memorial Hall, that he will be remembered most. On a site given by the late Mr. E. J. Benyon, near the Kimble Railway Station, he caused a pleasant building to be erected to the design of Mr. C. M. O. Scott, a well known London architect, who is also a Kimble resident. On Armistace Day, 1925, the hall was formally opened.

In memory of his eldest son, Mr. Hector Stewart, who died in 1935, Mr. Stewart had a room added to the Hall and the name was changed to the Stewart Memorial Hall.

Extract from The Bucks Herald, Friday 20 February 1942.

His wife Katherine died in 1952 and was buried at All Saints Church, Little Kimble, along with their son Hector Stewart.  Charles is not buried there; instead he asked for his ashes to be scattered at Loch Katrine in Scotland.

Can you add more, or offer any corrections? If so, please do contact me.

Genealogy pages

For those who have family history connections with the Kimble villages, there is a separate site where I have begun to collect data, extracted from the standard genealogical sources (births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, censuses and so on) to construct some family trees.

This is a work in progress, with much more to be done. As many will know, it is difficult to be sure of accuracy when researching your own family tree - doing the same for unrelated families is more challenging and open to errors, so I very much welcome any comments, corrections and additions.
The site does not display information on any living people.

The site can be found here.

Welcome to the Kimble One-Place Study.

What is a One-Place Study?

A One-Place Study researches the history of a place and its residents.  In many ways it is similar to a more traditional local history but with the emphasis on the people and their occupatuons, life expectancy, migration in and out of the place, and so on.

The Kimble One-Place Study covers the modern combined Parish of Great and Little Kimble cum Marsh, which includes the settlements of Smoky Row, Clanking, Marsh and Kimblewick as well as Little Kimble and Great Kimble.

 Kimble War Memorial

It is hoped that this site will be of some interest to those with connections to Kimble – including those who, like myself, have ancestors who lived or worked in the area, and those who now live there.

It is also hoped that visitors will fee able to share their knowledge, stories and photos, or offer additional information or corrections to anything that they see here.

My connection with Kimble

My grandparents, Ernest Thomas Rutland and Emma Cummings, were married in the parish church of St. Nicolas, Great Kimble, in 1906. The postcard below shows a view of the church from around this time.

My grandfather was born in Marsh, and several generations of the Rutlands lived in the Kimbles going back to the late 18th century.

Before this there had been Rutlands in Kimble between 1620 and 1645. This includes Thomas Rutland, whose name appears along with John Hampden on the list of defaulters who refused to pay the “Ship Money” in 1635/6. As far as I know there is no connection between these earlier Rutlands of Kimble and my line – but more research is needed.

Postcard St. Nicholas Church, Great Kimble 1905

I recently had the opportunity to meet Roger Howgate, a resident of Kimble and who has been studying local history for many years. Roger has just completed the text of a new book on the history of Kimble, to be published soon. I understand the book will look at Kimble in the wider context of British history.

Roger was also a co-author of “Kimble Faces & Places”, a book published in 2000.

The study is registered with the Society for One-Place Studies. Read more at here.