Sevenoaks Railway Camps

Its amazing what areas family historians venture when ancestor hunting.
One of our members asked about the temporary camps set up to house the navvies working on the railway in the Sevenoaks area.

The answer to the query is given in 'Sevenoaks, an historical Dictionary' compiled by David Killingray and Elizabeth Purves and published in 2012 by Phillimore & Co Ltd for Sevenoaks Historical Society.
 

The railway lines were built:-

Line through Dunton Green to Tubbs Hill 1868.

Line through Otford to Bat and Ball 1862 and was extended to Tubs Hill in 1869.

 The ‘Sevenoaks, A historical dictionary’ says the railway camps were moving camps.

The Polhill tunnel is 1 mile 850 yards long was built through chalk under the north downs. The workers camp was at Bogs Island, Dunton Green.

 

The Sevenoaks tunnel 1 mile 1691 yards long runs under the Kippington estate  through the greensand ridge. More difficult to cut it was built in 1863. The workers were housed in huts at White Hart Wood. The line was fully opened in 1869.

 

The family for whom the query arose was living in the Vines area in c1865, is just north of Sevenoaks at the Junction of Dartford Road and Seal Hollow. See modern map, it has ‘The Vines’ cricket ground and just north of it Vines Lodge.

 Its lucky for us books of this type are written by the local history societies and their members.

Christmas is fast approaching and the Dartford Branch has its Christmas Dinner and talk on Saturday the 5th December 2015.  The Speaker will be Imogen Corrigan who will talk about The Politeness of Princes-The reality of medieval etiquette and table manners. 

Entry and parking is Free and Visitors are welcome. Doors are open 9.45 am for the meeting and talk. It is also an opportunity to meet fellow family historians and see what the Society can do to help you with your family history. Dinners are now booked, though you could always ask on the day or bring your own lunch. If you wish to just come and hear the talk and meet fellow family historians you are more than welcome. For more information see NWKFHS Website  

Dartford Technology College, Heath Lane, Dartford DA1 2LY. 

Sevenoaks Branch is meeting on Thursday 10th December 2015 and the Speaker is Geoff Doel who will talk about Smugglers & Outlaws of Kent.

Doors open at 7.15 pm, Free parking and entry, Visitors are welcome. There will also be a Finger Buffet. Once again it is an opportunity to meet fellow family historians and see what the Society can do to help you with your family history.NWKFHS Website for more details.

Sevenoaks Community Centre, Otford Road, Sevenoaks, TN14 5DN. 

North West Kent Family History Society - flickr. Knole House Winter Lectures. WWI Soldiers Wills

North West Kent Family History Society - flickr

NWKFHS is now on flickr. As a start to the build up of the anniversary of the start of  WWI there are photographs of many aspects of the war. There are six sets consisting of some 130 photographs: Women and WWI, Civilians in WWI, WWI Entertainment, Cinema, Music, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Military WWI, How WWI was portrayed in Children's Comics and as Cartoons in Magazines.

The photographs are on subjects from all over the Country, it is hoped to have a set on Kent in WWI soon. NWKFHS flickr
 

Knole House, Sevenoaks, Kent, Winter Lectures:

Knole House is hosting a series of winter lectures in the property’s Great Hall. 

Lady Anne Clifford: was she Cleopatra?

Saturday 9 November 2013, 5-7pm

£15.00

Find out whether one of the extraordinary mistresses of Knole, Lady Anne, played the part of Cleopatra in this discussion and recreation of a 400-year-old play in the Great Hall, where it was once performed.

Lord Sackville’s Christmas Lecture

Tuesday 3 December 2013, 11:30-2pm

£35.00 including 2-course buffet lunch

Lord Sackville delivers his annual Christmas lecture; ‘Living at Knole’.

Normal for Knole: our unbelievable architecture

Tuesday 10 December 2013, 11:00-12:30pm

£15.00

Archaeologist Nathalie Cohen reveals why all the 'unusual, baffling, uncommon and singular things' about Knole - the wonky roofs, voids, hidden stairs and a timber structure that defies the laws of physics by staying up' are all normal - at least for Knole.

The writing on the walls of Knole

Thursday 12 December 2013, 11am-12:30pm

£15.00

Archaeologist Matt Champion discusses hundreds of years of graffiti at Knole. Why did people write and draw on the walls? What does it tell us about life in a great house?

You need to book in advance. Further details can be found at National Trust Knole House

WWI Soldiers Wills:

Some 230,000 wills of soldiers who died on the front are available on line. They are part of huge on line archive is also a part project which aims to make all war wills from the Boer War to the Falklands publicly available. It is free to search but you will have to pay for copies of a wills. The charge is £6, which seems high for a copy of a Will. Find A Will 

NWKFHS Meetings for February 2013. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

NWKFHS Meetings for February 2013.

The 3 Branches, Bromley, Dartford and Sevenoaks hold monthly meetings (in the case of Sevenoaks there are only 9 monthly meetings). There is a talk at each meetings, plus a Society Bookstall and people to help and advise about your research. It is a good  opportunity to meet and talk to fellow family historians. Visitors are welcome so why not come to one of the meetings and see what the Society can offer and hear a talk by an expert in their field.

 

The next meetings to take place in February are:

 

Bromley Branch: Meetings are held on the third Saturday morning of the month, in the main hall, Bromley Methodist Church, College Road, Bromley BR1 3NS.  The hall opens at 9.45am, the meeting starts at 10.30am.

16 February 2013 The history of RAF Biggin Hill by Bob Ogley

 

Dartford Branch: Dartford Technology College.  Located on the north side of Heath Lane.  There is plenty of parking available. The meetings room is the New Auditorium.  Doors open from 9.45am with the meeting proper starting at 10.30am.

 

2nd February 2013 Chislehurst Caves - A History by Rod LeGear

 

You can view or download the branch newsletter Dartboard (current edition) from the website at NWKFHS Branches

 

Sevenoaks Branch: Sevenoaks Community Centre, Otford Road (at junction with Crampton Rd.), Sevenoaks, at 7.15pm.

14 February 2013 Jane Austen - Her connections with Kent by Clare Graham

 You can also view or download the branch newsletter Dartboard (current edition) from NWKFHS Branches

 

Before travelling to any meeting please check the website and this blog for any changes.

 

Other Meetings:

 

Thursday 7 February 2013, 6:00pm (doors 5:30pm) - 7:30pm at London Metropolitan Archives - Huntley Room: Documenting science: preserving the legacy of the Human Genome Project Jenny Shaw, archivist for the UK strand of the Human Genome Archive Project at the Wellcome Library will give a talk about the project.

Advance booking is essential. Please guarantee your place by e-mailing LMA : This seminar is free to all AfL members, non-members £5 (payable on the door). For further details see the Archives Twitter Page

 

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The  Federation of Family History Societies reports an appeal for help by the CWGC. The website has a free searchable database and as part of the preparations for the centenary of World War 1, the CWGC is installing visitor information panels at some of the significant WW1 sites and they are asking for your help  about those buried at Etreux British Cemetery, Guards Grave, Vailly British Cemetery and Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension, France. If you are aware of a personal story relating to any of these four sites, please email the CWGC.