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Alderton

Allen - see Bluetown

Attegare

Bartholemew

Bonny

Boulding

Bridge

Brook

Burley

Burnett

Burrell

Burnett

Catlett

Cleaver

Collard

Cound

Coupland

Court

Creusot

Dutnall

Exel

Farrington

Fentiman

Fletcher

Godwin

Goldsmith

Howard

Llewelyn-Smith

Lyon

Masters

Millen

Moon

Munns

Newman

Ost

Pack

Pretty

Priston

Pope

Rossiter

Smeed

Smith

Sparrow

Tenison

Thompson

Twopenny

Venner

Watson

Webb

White

Willis

Wood

more.....

see also our personal histories pages

see also Borden tombstone inscriptions

Many thanks for the hard work already done in providing the site for those of us born in the town but flung out into the wider world.

May I suggest that consideration be given to adding a links page to the site that will take the viewer to other Sittingbourne material. I have transcribed the Sittingbourne & Milton Directory 1908/09 with the permission of the copyright holder and you can find it here together with Sittingbourne Land Tax 1780-1832 which was donated by another researcher.

Many thanks and good luck

Peter STUART
Kent Family History Society Membership No 9974
MAXTED -Any
HALL - Queenborough and Faversham
AMOS - Canterbury
WEEKS - Egerton
GOODING - Lenham
MUDDLE - Boxley and Hollingbourne

William Thompson aged 22 born in Sittingbourne, Kent, England.

Ship: HMS Africa

Rank/Rating: Able Seaman

Service details

Comments: From: Zealand, Pegasus HMS Africa

Ship's pay book number: (SB 121)
13 September 1805 to 5 April 1809 (Was at Trafalgar)
Rank/rating: Able Seaman

HMS Namur

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

/trafalgarancestors/

Peter STUART

Sir,
I was very interested in the page on the website about papermills, I have recently found the will of my 4xgt grandfather John SMITH, "gentleman of Sittingbourne" , on the National Archives website, and in his 1829 will he left his papermill in Sittingbourne to his son Edward Smith. John requested to be interred in the vault he had recently built in Sittingbourne graveyard, he finally died in 1836 (having added a couple of codicils to the original will). The quality of the copy of the will is not good. I'm on the trail of the vault in the graveyard now hoping to find some record of memorial inscriptions.
John SMITH is also 3xgt grandfather of Lady Margaret Patricia Hornsby Smith MP.

kind regards
Ginnie Warburton

My ancestors came from Sittingbourne. I have their records going back to Thomas and Ann Burley  whose children were born between 1796 and 1810. My interest is in trying to understand their life in Sittingbourne and the environment in which they lived in the early 1800s.

The census documents show that they lived in East End High street Sittingbourne. and most of them were tailors. There was also a Burley family in East End High Street some of whom were plumbers. I have no knowledge of whether these were joined to our "tailor" Burleys

I.would be interested to know what your archives could show.

I am a member of the Society of Genealogists and have a British Library Readers ticket

sincerely, Peter Hollins

Would you know whether you or another local repository hold staff lists for county court bailiffs around 1901 ?

My ancestor was listed as such and living in Sittingbourne in the 1901 census.

Thank you for your time in consideration of my request.

yours sincerely

Richard Wagland

Unfortunately we do not hold this information. The Centre For Kentish Studies, County Hall Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ hold the Local Government Records for Sittingbourne and may well have the information. Write to The Archivist.  

Cleaver & Sons - enq 148

I wonder if you have any information to help me.  I have been digging over my chicken run at the bottom of my garden and have unearthed two metal signs, in a poor state.  They both seem to be shop signs.  They say Cleaver & Son, West Street, Sittingbourne, and at the top left is the word 'Gents', the rest is not easily read, but am guessing it should say 'Tailors' or 'Barbers' in the top right hand corner.  Firstly, would love to know if I am guessing rightly about what they did, and secondly wonder what happened to them.  Would love to see a picture of the signs in situ!  As for the signs, anyone want them?

Sally

I`m  wondering if the sign found in your garden is actually from the the workshop and garage of F.Cleaver & Co. 53 to 59 West Street,Sittingbourne. Please see attached from Sittingbourne Directory for 1908-9.-- The word gents on the sign you  dug up could have read Agents. These premises were next door to Ferndale House and the Catholic Church as shown in the postcard. Cleaver & Co traded for over 50 years from this site. 

John Crunden, SHM

yes, I see it.  When I was younger, that was a kind of junk shop-cum-car spares place.  I remember my boyfriend once selling a set of alloy car wheels to the guy there.  I think I remember a cafe next door that became a hair dressers, then it was Beaney's Model Shop, and then Boyds childrens clothes on the corner of Ufton lane.

Thank you.

Cleaver & Sons - enq 70

My grandad Victor said he had Cleaver cousins in Sittingbourne and believes our line is related to them. Frederick Cleaver (senior, Victors Grandad) I believe had 6 brothers/sisters and they may have moved there.

My family tree is online at www.tribalpages.com/tribes/terrycleaver if you wish to see if there are any connections. If you have a family tree of the Cleaver's of Sittingbourne I would appreciate it if you could please send me a copy so I can see if there are any connections, or if there is any other information you have.

Terry

I'm wondering if there are photographs available of Gore Court Cottage where my great grandfather, Edward Fentiman and family were living at the 1861 census time period.  The name Tunstall keeps popping up in conjunction with Sittingbourne.  My grandfather's (Henry Fentiman) birth place is given as Tunstall, Sittingbourne, Kent.  Are Tunstall and Sittingbourne one and the same? I'm looking forward to your reply.

Al Fentiman

Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Al

No photographs have come to light but I have had this reply from one of our researchers:

"Tunstall is a village which is now more like a suburb of Sittingbourne. In 1861 it was still a separate community, about a mile from the town. It was actually a very small village. Gore Court was an eighteenth century mansion and the families who lived in it over the years employed quite a number of servants. They had two or three cottages close to the mansion and I wonder whether Gore Court Cottage was one of these. Gore Court House was demolished in the 1920s and only the stable block stands today. Part of its lands were saved as a public park. "

Hope this helps
 
Allen, SHM

In researching my family I have found my earliest relative to originate from Sittingbourne circa 16th century.  Can you advise if the Catlett family has relatives living there now?

Dear Mr.Catlett,

Your enquiry about the Catlett family of Sittingbourne is interesting. In our museum we have a copy of the Charter granted to Sittingbourne in 1599 by Queen Elizabeth 1 giving us a Corporation (a local authority) and one of the named Jurats in the charter is a John Catlett, being an honest and upright citizen.  As far as we can find out, there are no Catletts left in Sittingbourne but there is one listed in the telephone directory as living in Strood.

Peter Morgan, SHM

Milton Union Workhouse - enq 209

Do you hold copy records relating to the Milton Union Workhouse for the period 1840 – 1895?
If so could you confirm access arrangements please.
Many thanks for your help.
Yours faithfully
Jo Heathfield

Records for the Milton Union Workhouse for the period 1840 to 1895 are held at the Centre for Kentish Studies: 01622 694363. Access by arrangement between 9 a.m. & 5 p.m. Ticket is normally required.

Keith/ Helen, SHM

Godwin - enq 177

(see also Buildings and streets, Harold Rd and Unity Street)

My father was born Leslie Robert Smith in Eastry area of Deal on the 19th December 1908. As you can see by his enclosed birth certificate he was born to Annie Smith, Waitress. I will now tell you the story that was told to me about my father's young life. My father's oldest half sister Florence Godwin told my father and me that when she was in her teens that there had been awful arguments between her mother and father. Shortly after this on one Sunday morning my father was brought to the house as a tiny baby by a young girl and her aunt. He was handed over to her father (Francis Edgar Godwin) who took him upstairs to her mother and from that moment on he was their baby brother. She adored him and said that he must never think that he wasn't wanted by his natural mother as she nearly broke her heart when he was handed over. My adoptive grandmother was called Sarah Godwin (nee Hawkes). She married again a man named Percy Jeffery after Francis Edgar had died. My Grandfather died on (May 10th 1915) at the battle of Ypres serving under Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. My father never knew that he was adopted until 1929 when he asked for his birth certificate so that he could marry.

He wrote to my nephew Karl about his early days:  "I was born in Deal (Kent) until 1918 I lived at Sittingbourne where I can remember many incidents mostly about World War 1. This is because there was an Army Camp nearby called Gore Court Park and the soldiers passed through on their way to France, starting with the Dublin Fusiliers. We had air raids by huge cigar shaped balloons called Zeppelins and one night I watched a street where I had lived previously blown down like a pack of cards. In 1916 we purchased a business in the High St consisting of a sweet and confectionery shop and a Cafe above. The cafe was one very large room where I used to sit outside in my pyjamas and listen to the various army performers singing, (I was supposed to be in bed). The first school I can remember was Ufton Lane Infants, where I played with trays of sand and small shells and wrote on a slate with pencils. The next school was Pembury Street where I remember dancing to the piano and the tune at the time was Irving Berlins 'Everybody's doing it'."

As you probably know my main problem and I am still exploring every avenue is who was my father's real mother and if I could get in touch with any of her family.
My Dad also lived in William Street and above a Cafe Confectioners in the high street. It would be interesting if anyone could remember any of these surnames My Grandparents were:

Francis Edgar Godwin (died at Ypres)
Sarah Godwin (nee Hawkes)
Gunner Frank Godwin (Francis' Son)
Florence Godwin(daughter)
Albert Godwin(son)
Leslie Godwin(son) but baptized Leslie Smith to a Annie Smith of 23 College Road Deal

Princess Patricia's Canadian light infantry have been marvellous in giving me information. But its his time in Sittingbourne and Deal that I need help
with.

thanks again
Lorna Laing

enq 201 - Smith

I was wondering if my name and e-mail address could be passed on to Lorna Laing who provided Enquiry No 177 on your website - or is there another way I should contact her myself?
My interest is in the Smith family of Eastry, and as she starts her enquiry "My father was born Leslie Robert Smith in Eastry .................." I thought she might be a good person to get in touch with. My interest is in a lady called Enid, born around 1900ish who married a Smith.
Any help you can provide would be appreciated, Barry
 

Your web site asks for 'snippets' of information, I hope this is of interest.
In 1901, Chalk Tavern, Bassett Rd, was occupied by a John Newman and his wife Emily. John was a naturalised Swede from Stockholm.  I do not know if he owned the pub or not.  In November 1879 John was aboard the Whitstable schooner "Emerald", when it was run down and sunk by a steamer in the Tyne Estuary.  The accident and subsequent inquest are reported in Wallace Harvey's book "The Merchant Ships of Whitstable".  John survived to give evidence at the inquest but the Captain, Ernest Hoult and a "boy" Edwin Coleman were killed (I presume both drowned). 
Soon after this incident John married Emily Warner, from Whitstable and presumably gave up the sea for a land based existence.  Emily Warner was my maternal Great Grandfather's sister.
By coincidence my paternal Great Grandfather, Robert Pope moved to Sittingbourne in the 1870's to work in a "Chemical Factory", where he married Sarah (nee Austin) a local girl and in 1881 they lived at 19 Quay Rd.  By 1901 he was working in the Paper Mill(s) and he and his family were living in Chalkwell Rd.  Both died in the 1920's and are buried in Sitingbourne cemetery.
Hope this is of interest, if you can add any more information I would be grateful. 
ps although I am not from the Sittingbourne area I am living in Kent.  regards AJ Pope

Constance Creusot - enq 56

My name is Max and I live in the South of France. When I was in my teens some 45 years ago I spent some years in Sittingbourne where my mother taught at a Catholic school for girls. She died and was buried in Sittingbourne in the mid seventies. I am her only living relation and have been abroad ever since.

I am trying to get in touch with someone who might explain to me what happens to a thirty five year old grave that probably has'nt been visited, whether it's still there to be seen, whether I can got and have it renovated, and so on.

Can you give me some sort of clue as to who to contact?

Thanks, Max Creusot

(mother's name Constance Margaret Creusot

note:

A member has found the grave and forwarded a photo to Max.

Dutnall  - enq 61

Do you have any information of the above situated in Frederick Street in 1908 particularly register of workers.  We are researching my wife's great grandfather Walter Burrell who came to Borden in 1911 from Suffolk originally then Stratford Essex he was a Blacksmith and we would like to know why he made the move we also know that he was a Baptist. John Rose Plymouth Devon

John, Feb 2006 

Dear Sir, I wonder if you, or visitors to the museum website might be able to help me to find a photo or memories of the Anchor Coffee Tavern, which used to stand in Station Road, Teynham.  This was run on the early part of the 20th century by my G.G Grandmother Emma Hales. 

I am in the process of building a family website and would love to have some more information, a picture or memories of the Tavern and the Hales family of Teynham.  Emma was married to William Hales and had 11 children: Ellen, William, Jane, Fred, Arthur, Flora, Alfred, Fanny, Albert, Henry and Nora.  William owned the butchers shop at Periwinkle Mill, Ellen, Arthur, Flora and Albert all emigrated to Ohio, and the rest of the children all remained local to Teynham and Sittingbourne as far as I am aware. 

I would greatly appreciate any information you can offer.

Many Thanks, 

Sharon Johnson, May 2005

Dear Sir

I visited your Museum 2 weeks ago and found it interesting and your colleagues helpful and informative.

I have discovered that my Great Great Grandfather John Masters lived in 65 East Street Sittingbourne as a Fruiterer in 1891. (according to Kelly's Directory of Kent Sussex and Surrey of that year).  65 is next door (westward) of your Museum 67 East Street(now occupied by Financial Consultants).  My question is whether the existing 65 and 67 were built prior to 1891 or after?

Also John Masters and his father Stephen were in the early 19thC Coachmakers (mentioned in Pigots 1824 and Pigots 1840-Sittingbourne).  John Masters became a Fruiterer and Barge Builder.  I have visited the Dolphin Barge Museum last Sunday and there is a whole poster dedicated to three generations of 'Masters family' that were Barge Builders.

I have yet to find out where John fits in to this.  If any of your members have any information on 'The Masters' I would be interested to hear from them.  I notice on your web page that Sittingbourne was a Travellers town, half way from London to Dover on Watling Street.  Also that this ceased with the coming of the railways and the change of emphasis to shipping of bricks to London by Barges on Milton Creek.  It is possible that my family were involved in this change.

Any data, information would be most welcome.

regards

Tim Timpson

Dr Llewelyn Smith - enq 90

1902 - 1940

I wonder whether you can help me about how my wife's uncle died. Dr. Smith lived in Sittingbourne. He and another doctor died on 29th July 1940 after a car accident. Would you think that the details of the accident and the funeral would be in the local press and would it be in your archives in any chance?

Phil,

Newport, Shropshire

March 2006

David, 2005

Alex Moon

Although we do not normally have the resources for genealogical research, we have been able to trace  many members of your families and this photo of 23 Dover Street, where Charles Moon is listed in the 1903 directory as operating as a "cab proprietor".

Shirley, SHM

Hope you can help me, I am researching my family tree. My (Pack) family came from the Sittingbourne area c 1800. I am looking to find the connection between an Isaac who first married Elizabeth Higgs 1774, then Amy Lake 1778 both at Milton Sittingbourne and a Henry Pack who married a Sarah Gore in Milton 1826. Their daughter Amy born 1836 Frinsted Kent was my great grandmother x2. I also think the Isaac family came from Bobbing which I know is near Sittingbourne. Any info on this family would be most helpful. I live in Perth Australia and so am unable to research the parish records in person.

Jean Harris, Perth Aus.

My great great grandfather Daniel Lyon left Sittingbourne in 1855 to come to Australia. His father Samuel Lyon was listed in Pigots directory as a builder/carpenter in Sittingbourne in the early 1840's. Is it possible to find out whether there are still Lyons in Sittingbourne who may have been related to Samuel & Daniel? Is there any other information available about either of these men?

Cameron Lyon, Sydney, Aus..

Cameron:

Brook - ENQ 120

I have been researching family history for 12 years but have only just started looking into my fathers family (he died when I was 11). I was told that one of my grandfather's (Leslie Hubert BROOK) brothers was a commissionaire at the Queen's Cinema in Sittingbourne. I purchased the book by John Clancy, "Long-Gone Cinemas of Swale" and discovered he was named in it. I was wondering if there were any old photos of the Queen's cinema showing the doorman in his "Resplendent uniform and cap"?  Also another of my grandfather's brothers Sidney Terry  BROOK died in a paper mill accident in 1895 in Sittingbourne I am presuming this would have been the one that you have a history of on your web page. Are there any books available about the mill? Any help you can give me would be most appreciated.

Maria Merrell (nee Brook)

Goldsmith - ENQ123

I  am researching a GGG-Grandfather who came to Pennsylvania, USA, around 1850.  He later served in the Union Army in our Civil War and was taken prisoner in the battle of Gettysburg.  Despite his age at the time, he survived and lived several more decades.  I have found through personal recollections of his grandaughter that he was from Sittingbourne.  He would have been born about 1822.  In her recollections, she mentions that his name "James Goldsmith" was not his true surname, but rather the name of a kind shoemaker to whom he was apprentised. (This man later paid for James' passage to America.)  Apparently, according to notes, he did not want to follow in his own father's profession.  I am intrigued by this and wonder what professions of the time might be so disagreeable as to abandon one's own family name.  I also wonder if there would be any records which would give a clue to his birth name, or the changing of a name. Thank you for any help in this direction.  Claire Meloni

Millen - Enq 116

The family Millen was for some 200 years a part of Sittingbourne life – as butchers, bakers, farmers, auctioneers, and, more recently, as an editor of the ‘East Kent Gazette’ in the 1950s and 60s. My wife is a Millen, and was born in Sittingbourne. It would be marvellous to find that there were records of the family which might be available. Of course, we should need to visit. You may know the answer, though, to one question; Is there a Wilfrid Millen on the War Memorial for the 1st World War? I know nothing more than that there was a memory of his being killed in Service.  Should be grateful for any thoughts you might have on the likelihood of our finding material.

Yours sincerely 

David Pearce

There is a wonderful web-site 'Sittingbourne Remembers' with details of all those killed in the war & memorials etc. Here you will find Wilfred Millen whose name appears on the Sittingbourne war memorial.-4th battalion Canadian Infantry 'a real gentleman' died 10th August 1918.
Helen
 

Hi, my grandfather was from Sittingbourne and I have an old photo that I believe was taken about 1910 of him standing in the doorway of his father's butcher shop, A. Webb & Sons. The shop is in the photo with all sorts of birds, fish and other items hanging out front, with many citizens also included. Would the museum be interested in a copy of this photo? Also, any information on my family would be very much appreciated. My grandfather, Percy Webb, emigrated to America around 1912 or so.

Bill Webb

yes please, SHM

My great, great grandfather Thomas Court was christened on 25 Dec. 1801 in Borden County of Kent and died in the County of Kent in about 1849. His son Thomas came to the US as a cabin boy and eventually settled in Waupaca Wisconsin where he was a farmer. I am interested in finding any of the Court family graves. I recently visited Sittingbourne and visited the Borden Church cemetery but many of the grave markers are very old and hence not legible. I am interested in knowing the history of the Borden Church as well as the Bobbing Church and wonder if any written church history is available. Thank you for any help you can give me.

Sincerely, Jeff Court LaCrescent MN USA

There is a very comprehensive book on the history of Borden-'Borden the history of a Kentish parish' see Synjon books web site www.synjonbooks.co.uk

As regards tombstone inscriptions at Borden I transcribed all those then legible in the 1970s and there were no Courts.

See document here

Helen, SHM

Burnett - ENQ122

I have just discovered your wonderful well presented website. I hope you don't mind my family history question. As I live in Newcastle upon Tyne it is very hard for me to find information. My Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother may possibly have been the landlords of the Rose Inn,Green Street,Teynham .My Grand father may also have been born there in approx 1876.

Would it be possible that you may be able to confirm this? GGF name was HENRY BURNETT  born 1851approx      -   GGM name was MARY ANN DUNCAN born 1856 approx GF name HENRY JAMES BURNETT  born  1876        I would be grateful if any help could be given. John Burnett

Yes I have checked & in 1891 the census for Green Street Teynham shows Henry Burnett 40 general labourer & publican of Rose Inn, wife Mary Ann 32, son Henry J,14, railway station clerk, Jamees B Duncan, fatherinlaw, widower 74 shoemaker + 1 lodger.  In 1881 Henry was a police constable in Teynham  hope this helps

Alderton - Enq 78

I really like the web site, very interesting information etc. My 3 x great grandfather William ALDERTON was the baker on High Street, Milton. (evidence from the 1851 & 1861 census) His wife was Frances and They had several children, one of whom was Isabella ALDERTON born 1838 in Milton. My question is in two parts. Firstly, Are there any photographs surviving of the High St, Milton that show the Bakers shop? And secondly, Isabella was a Schoolmistress in Milton as stated by the 1861 census for Milton. She was living at the High St, Milton at the time. Is it possible that someone could point me in the right direction regarding which school she may have taught at, and whether any records are likely to have survived?

Rob Jeffrey

From our History Meeting regarding Milton Workhouse I have found out that two Jackson children were entered into the 1841 Census. Upon contacting my nephew who has compiled the Jackson family history from 1630's, he informs me that Oliver Alderton's daughter married a Charles Jackson who was a distant relation of my husbands. I do not know much of the family, particularly the date enquired about. Regarding a photo of the bakers shop in Milton Highstreet, my nephew is going to look through his collection to see if he has one. My nephew now lives in Cheshire, but has done a lot of research not only of the family. but various other aspects of Sittingbourne and the areas around. If I receive any further information regarding the Alderton family I will forward it to you. Re-reading my nephews letter hr does state that the Aldertons were listed as bakers in Milton in trade direcctories from 1858-1883. Charles Jackson was also a baker in Milton. Oliver Alderton was the Workhouse Master and his wife Elizabeth the Matron. Hope this may be of some help

Peggy, SHM

I am wondering if you know of anybody who has researched the Bridge family from Milton Regis. The Bridge family has resided in that area since at least 1705.
Thank you for any leads, Milton

Thank you for your wonderful website which is very well presented and a joy to read. I wonder whether someone might be able to help me with some family history queries. My Great Grandfather, Edwin Harold Coupland, was, I believe, the headmaster of Milton School. As he was born in 1886, and the 1908 Directory has him listed as an Assistant Master, I expect that this must have been from the late 1930s at the earliest. Does anyone have any information about him - or even remember being taught by him?

My Great Great Grandfather, Edward Coupland, was born in Lincolnshire where he ran a pub until about 1884. He turned up in Sittingbourne via East London in the late 1800s (I wish I knew why!) where he is listed in the Census as a "Beerstore Keeper". My mother recalls that he was later a caretaker at a fever hospital somewhere in the woods near Hollingbourne. I can find no more about this and again, I would love to know more about him. We still have a rather gruesome artefact of a stuffed foxes head - Edward Coupland having shot the unfortunate creature in the 1920s.

Another Great Great Grandfather, Ernest Albert Rossiter was an upholsterer in Sittingbourne High Street (nos 106-108) and my mother believes he may have been Mayor at sometime. She recalls a photograph of him sitting on top of a brand new fire engine - was this donated following a fundraising campaign during his mayoral term?

Sue Threader (Mrs)

However I have now found the information we have been seeking which appears in the 1908 Sittingbourne Directory available at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/dir08sitt.html

Hello, We have been researching our family tree for the past twenty or so years. George Bartholomew (father Thos) and Margaret Winch (father Wm.) were married at Milton register office 27th July 1867. Although the Winch family were quite easy to find unfortunately the Bartholomew side remains a bit of a mystery. George, as far as we know was born in Bilsington. It is thought that there may be a Romany link. Does the museum have any details or is there anyone who can throw any light on the subject? Many thanks, Cecilia Hunter
 

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