I have composed a timeline of major events in Northbourne, more dates and information will be added as they are discovered.
| Date |
Northbourne Timeline |
|---|---|
| 618 |
The manor of 'Norborne' was given by Eadbald, King of Kent (reigned 616-640) to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine in Canterbury. |
| 1337 |
Salamon de Ripple, a monk of St. Augustine's monastery appointed by the abbot as 'keeper of this manor'. He made great improvements in particular he built new barns here, and a 'very fair chapel'. |
| 1371 |
The great storehouses here belonging to the abbey, full of corn, were burnt down, the damage was estimated at one thousand pounds. |
| 1450-1 |
Rebellion broke out in Kent and Sussex. The
rebellion in the summer of 1450 was known as the 'Cade
Rebellion', but there were other outbreaks in the Eastry area in early
1450 and again in 1451: John Tayllour of Finglesham who together
with other unknown traitors, assembled at Eastry April 21st and 22nd, 1451
and "imagined and compassed the death of the king and the destruction of
the realm." |
| 1511 |
Archbishop Warham'sVisitation, 1511-12,
NORBORNE: 'Item that there be many of the parisshe that wille not helpe
to the clerks wages nor putt theire helpe to othrer charges'. |
| 1557 |
Archdeacon Harpsfield's Visitation,
NORBORNE: 'Memorandum that the vicaryg house ys brent [burnt]'. |
| 1561 |
Edwin Sandys,
(later Sir Edwin Sandys) born 9th December, Worcestershire. |
| 1561 |
Queen Elizabeth I granted Northbourne Court for life to Edward Sanders, her foster brother. He resided here until he died (c.1580). |
| 1573 |
Archbishop Matthew Parker's
Visitation, NORBORNE: '... chauncell is in decay, the windowes are broken
and Lacketh glasinge, and the chauncell Lacketh pavinge and whitinge,...' |
| 1605 |
Sir Edwin Sandys
married his fourth wife Katherine
(sometimes recorded as Catherine). In the next
two decades they had twelve children. |
| 1605 |
June - Edwin
Sandys published A Relation
of the State of Religion . |
| 1609 |
December - Sir
Edwin Sandys denounced the vicar of Northbourne,
Henoch Clapham. |
| 1611 |
The first recorded
letter by Sir Edwin Sandys from 'Northborn'
is dated March 1611. |
| 1613/14 |
The formal grant
of the Northbourne Court made in March 1613/14. |
| 1614 |
Sir Edwin Sandys
began to build a new mansion at Northbourne Court. Completed in 1616. |
| 1614 |
Sir Edwin Sandys became
a member of the East India Company. |
| 1619 |
Governor Francis
Yeardley was directed by Sir Edwin Sandys
to issue writs for the election of a general assembly,
and July 30, 1619, the first house of burgesses, and the
first representative legislature body ever assembled
in America met in the church at Jamestown. |
| 1620/21 |
January - Sir
Edwin Sandys, MP for Sandwich, Kent. 1621, 1624. |
| 1621 |
16th June - Sir
Edwin Sandys imprisoned in The Tower by the king,
but he was released a month later on the 16th July. |
| 1623 |
May 13th - Privy
Council confined Sir Edwin Sandys to his house at Northbourne. |
| 1629 |
October - Sir Edwin
Sandys died and buried at Northbourne under an impressive
monument. |
| 1640 |
Sir Edwin Sandys's
last wife, Katherine, dies. |
| 1642 |
August - The Parliamentarian, Colonel Edwin Sandys, along with 200
troopers and 300 dragoons search Kent for weapons and purloin whatever they
could find for the Parliamentary cause. He had a full commission to disarm
all malignants, secure all forts, castles, and stores or arms. |
| 1642 |
September 23 - The Parliamentarian,
Colonel Edwin Sandys, was mortally wounded at the the Battle of Powick Bridge near Worcester. He
died on 1 December and is buried at Worcester Cathedral. |
| 1711 |
Matthew Bagley
cast the five bells for St. Augustine's church Northbourne. |
| 1740 |
Vice-Admiral Salmon
Morrice (1672-1740) buried at Betteshanger church. |
| 1775 |
The Kentish antiquary the Reverend
Bryan Faussett (1720-1776) acquired two stone corbels from Northbourne Court. |
| 1782 |
The scholar, translator, poet, and 'bluestocking,'
Mrs. Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806)
of Deal, was a keen walker and undertook 'many a ramble' to Northbourne
Court; which she records in letters written in 1767 and 1770 and also
in a letter to Mrs. Vesey, written on Aug. 19, 1782. |
| 1806 |
Rev. Montagu Pennington (1762-1849), vicar of Northbourne 1806-49, published the memoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter and later her collected letters (see 1782). |
| 1822 |
July - Collection made in the Parish
of Northbourne (in consequence of the King's Letter) for the Relief
of the poor in Ireland, who were perishing for want of food - £13
- 4s raised. |
| 1825 |
Frederick
E. Morrice (1778-1858) builds a new house at Betteshanger. A neo-Tudor villa designed by the architect Robert Lugar (1772/3-1855). |
| 1850 |
Sir Walter James (later Lord
Northbourne, 1st Baron) bought Betteshanger Park estate from Frederick
E. Morrice. |
| 1853-4 |
Sir Walter James had Anthony
Salvin completely rebuild St. Mary's church at Betteshanger in
the Norman style, imitating the 12th century church at Barfreston. |
| c.1856 |
Sir Walter James employed
architect George Devey (1820 - 1886) to undertake major additions
and remodelling of Betteshanger house. |
| 1868 |
June 2nd - Laying of the foundation-stone
of the Wesleyan Chapel, Finglesham. |
| 1881 |
Frederick
L. H. Morrice of the Vine Northbourne published a book - 'The
Nightless North - A Walk Across Lapland.' |
| 1881 |
On 26th/27th November 1881, gales strong
enough to be called hurricanes toppled at least 500 trees in Betteshanger
Park, and at the nearby vicarage "a valuable conservatory belonging
to the Rev. John Worthington Bliss was almost totally
destroyed." |
| 1887 |
Mr. Gladstone's visit to Betteshanger.
Reported in the Dover Standard 31 Dec 1887. |
| 1893 |
Lord Northbourne, 1st Baron (Walter
Charles James, 1816-1893), died 4th February 1893, at the age of 77.
Buried in Betteshanger churchyard. |
| 1898 |
December 9th - Mr. and Mrs. Jolliffe
retire from the posts of Master and Mistress of Northbourne School,
after 38 years service. Mr. Samuel Jolliffe 1838 - 1918. |
| 1907 |
May 23rd - Northbourne schoolhouse and school were
struck by lightning. |
| 1914 |
In the autumn of 1914, the poet Rupert Brooke was stationed at
Betteshanger with the Royal Naval Division. |
| 1915 |
On 28th January, the formation of the
Northbourne Platoon of the Volunteer Training
Corps (WWI Dad's Army). |
| 1915 |
In July 1915 a 'whirlwind' blew off
two sweeps from the New Mill and it continued working with the remaining
pair. |
| 1925 |
Two of the four sails of the Old Mill
were damaged and the mill went out of use; until 1928 when it was reconditioned. |
| 1928-9 |
Excavation of Finglesham Anglo-Saxon
cemetery (38 graves) by W.P.D Stebbing, see also 1959-67. |
| 1935 |
The lych gate at St Augustine's church Northbourne was blown down in early 1935 and it was reported on 16 March that Betteshanger Colliery engineers had volunteered to repair the uprights and put it back up. |
| 1939 |
Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Bio-Dynamic Farming, held at Home Farm, 1-9 July 1939. |
| 1940 |
In May 1940 Lord Northbourne (Walter Ernest Christopher James 4th Baron 1896-1982) published Look to the Land, the work that introduced the term ‘organic farming’. |
| 1940 |
Sunday 25th August - Spitfire 1 K9931
of No. 610 Sqn crashed at Stoneheap Farm, Northbourne; P/O F.T.
Gardiner baled out slightly wounded. |
| 1940 |
Thursday 19th September 21.00, an unexploded bomb blocked the road from Worth to Ham. |
| 1940 |
Friday 27th September - 15.50hrs:
Bf109E-1 3442 12+ - of 4/JG52 severely damaged, and pilot wounded
by S/L G.L. Denholm (or P/O R. Barry) of No. 603 Sqn
over Thanet. It crashed through high-tension cables and force-landed
in Northbourne Park. Gefr Ernst Bosch wounded. |
| 1940 |
Wednesday 27th November - 0.8.30hrs:
Spitfire 11A P7499 LZ-S of 421 Flt crashed at Cottington Court Farm,
Finglesham, after attack by Bf109; P/O Keith A. Lawrence was
blown out of the cockpit, but was picked up by RN vessel and taken to
Ramsgate. |
| 1944 |
Wednesday 8 November - 20.24hrs: A
V1 fell near Northbourne school after skimming over the Downs. |
| 1959-1967 |
Further excavation of Finglesham Anglo-Saxon
cemetery by Sonia Chadwick (later Sonia Chadwick Hawkes) see
also 1928-9. |
| 1952 |
20 August 1952 - USAF Thunderjet 49-2349 call sign ‘Thread Red 2’ caught fire
during a local night flying exercise. The pilot ejected and it crashed at Little
Mongeham. He parachuted down to Ripple and afterwards was
taken to Deal police station before returning to Manston. Curiously there is no
mention of the pilot’s name although, in early 1951 it was flown by WWII
veteran Col Eugene H. Snavely.
|
| 1982 |
July - White Horse at Finglesham burnt down. |
| 2008 |
June/July - Lych gate roof repaired and new weather vane installed on top of the church tower. |