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Launched 09/04/2011

Latest update

09/10/2024 06:43

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Graveyard Memorial Inscriptions
Welcome to the Elham Historical Society database website. Feel free to browse and uncover the history of Elham. Our dedicated team of historians has recently finished recording the details on all the memorials in the graveyard. Our chairman Derek Boughton has overseen the operation, correlating the data and checking for errors. The results of their labours can be seen on the burials page.

Elham beat off stiff competition for the title of Kent Village of the year 2011 organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent.

Censuses for outlying communities in the parish will be rolled out gradually. Check out the stats page for interesting facts and

trivia about the village. We still need your help so please send us any information relating to Elham that may be of interest.

Les Ames hits out
Les Ames in action

Elham resident Les Ames in action for England against the West Indies in 1939. He was one of the finer wicketkeeper - batsmen and played for Kent CCC.

Abbot's Fireside c 1450
Abbot's Fireside

The Abbot's Fireside is one of the older buildings in the village and probably dates back to the mid fifteenth century.

Audrey attends school
Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn (neé Rushton) lived in Orchard Cottage (Five Bells) for five years in her childhood (1935-1940) and attended the local village schools. She took ballet lessons and dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

George V Playing Field
George V Playing Field

Dave Lee opens Elham's brand new playground with a sensory garden and a pretty flower meadow created by the Play for Elham charity. 21st November 2010

Swing Riots of 1830
Swing Riots

The machine breaking that led to the riots of August 1830 onwards started in the Elham Parish, writes our historian Derek Boughton, who has made a lifetime's study of the subject.

Elham residents were prominent in the gangs that sought out the new fangled threshing machines and destroyed them. Some of them cost the not inconsiderable sum for the day of £100. Full Story

Fire Engine c 1940

It was stationed in the old Bible Christian Chapel, The Row. It contained a grey Coventry Climax Fire Pump which was pulled by an old black saloon car (type unknown). Across the road, in the land where the bungalow now stands, was a tall pole with a cross beam on which the water hoses for the pump where hung up to dry out. The unit was manned by part time fireman and from Dave’s memory they were Dick Ames, Rex Ames, Stan Jordan and Dennis Johnson who was there until 1942 when he joined the army. Dave Johnson

SUICIDEOF A BRICKLAYER 1898

The East Kent Coroner (R. M. Mercer, Esq.) held an inquest on Friday, at the Rose and Crown Inn, Elham, on the body or James John Richards, bricklayer, aged 49. (Probably only 46) Deceased was found hanging to a tree in Collis Wood, Elham, by some children, who told a policeman, who proceeded to the place and found deceased was dead. —The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide whilst of unsound mind.' Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald - Saturday 22 October 1898

Alfred Croud

Some time before 1891 he left Elham and joined the British army, and it seems that he signed on for 14 years. His military service took him overseas to India, for in 1901 he reappeared in Elham with his wife Louisa, and three children. Louisa and his son Alfred were both born in Madras, India. His fourth child was born in Elham in April 1901 and on her baptismal record his occupation was recorded as 'retired policeman' so he may have been in the military or Indian police. Later that year he re joined his regiment and fought in the South African War until 1902. Alfred's travels were not over however. In 1914 he travelled to Australia, where he settled in Brighton, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. He got a job as an attendant at Minda Home, a progressive establishment for children and young adults with learning disabilities. It was in Brighton that he joined up when war was declared in August 1914. Due to his previous experience in the British army, he was given the rank of Corporal in the 3rd Brigade Ammunition Column. It was whilst serving with the 3rd Brigade that he was killed at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli. Family Historian site


What's in the database
11816 People
6787 Demography entries
2416 Events
1296 Marriages
415 Properties
425 Photographs
Completed projects ...
  • Properties 1841-1911
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (village only)
  • Cemetery & Graveyard burials
  • Memorial and graveyard inscriptions
Work in progress ...
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (parish)
  • Marriages within the Elham parish
  • Audio/verbal accounts by Elham residents
Coming soon ...
  • Mapping of all properties within the Elham parish
  • List of artefacts
Future projects ...
  • Audio village tour
  • Complete list of shops - past and present
What's new!
Michael Hayes
Doctor Who Producer
Arthur Frederick Broadbridge
Elham resident and diplomat
Charles Alfred Fortin
Elham assistant surgeon
William Lewis Cowley
Elham resident and author
George W Palmer
Graveyard burials
John Midgeley
Henry Clayson
STATS - Facts & Trivia
Windlass Cottage Title Deeds
Church Cottage history back to 1720
Anthony Eden
Prime Minister and Elham resident

EHS
Swing Riots
Les Ames in action
Audrey Hepburn
Letters

EHS Database

Swing Riots of 1830 recounted by Derek Boughton our local expert historian.

Les Ames for England v West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica 1930 or 1935. WK Ivan Barrow watches on.

Audrey Hepburn attended private schools in the village and dreamed of being a ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

What's in the database? Find the latest additions here.

1950 Cyril Parkinson