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

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

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 (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

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

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

Sir John Williams 1653 - 1723

2nd Baronet of Elham. He left his house in the Square and some land to establish a Charity School for six boys from the village. Sir John's father, Dr. Thomas Williams had purchased the Manor of Elham as a country venue. Thomas became a chymical physician to Charles II and later to James II. Charles's method of paying his doctor's bill was by heaping profitable sinecures on him — Assay-Master of the Mint , Examiner in Bankruptcy , Receiver-General of Land Revenues , etc.; all of which brought great wealth to Williams. Sir John's grandfather on his mother's side was John Hogbeane (now Hogben) c1600 Elham, a barrister at law. He and Mary had five girls and the baronetcy passed to his nephew Sir David Williams.

Electricity 1934

The first electricity comes through the village. All the wires were on long poles along the street but it was some time before most people were connected up.

"It was a very welcome service. All you needed to do was put a switch down and you had heat or light; no more candles or oil lamps to read or sew by. It's wonderful how people managed with such poor light."

Memoires of Bill Watson

Plymouth Argyle 1965

Elham resident Derek Ufton won 39 games out of 111 in his three year stay. When Malcolm Allison left Home Park for Manchester City in 1965, Derek was appointed manager and immediately embarked on a policy of transforming the team. One of his policies was to sell off the players who would command the highest transfer fees and replace them with cheaper equivalents. This paid off financially as the club made a net profit of nearly £50,000, but it made little difference to Argyle's fortunes on the pitch. Derek was well-liked by the Argyle faithful, but in his first two seasons at the helm the Pilgrims failed to progress, finishing in the bottom half of the Second Division. Early in 1967-1968 things became even worse. By February 1968, relegation seemed certain: Argyle were out of both Cup competitions and had won just three games in 25. Derek was sacked, and never managed a football team again. Greens on Screen

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.

2011 Kent Village of the Year

Click here for more stories

Les Ames (1905 - 1990)

Former Elham resident Leslie Ethelbert George Ames CBE; who died suddenly at his home in Canterbury on February 26 1990 - aged 84 - was without a doubt the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman the game has so far produced; and yet - at the time he was playing - it used to be said there were better wicketkeepers than Ames - and that he was in the England team because of his batting. If this was so would Jardine - for example - have preferred him to Duckworth in Australia in 1932-33?

Surely not. When fully fit - Ames was England's first-choice wicketkeeper from 1931 to 1939 - when he virtually gave up the job. For Kent - he was an integral part of their Championship side from 1927 to the first match of 1951 - when a sharp recurrence of back trouble - which had dogged him for so long - brought his career to an end while he was actually at the crease. By this time he had amassed 37248 runs - average 43.51 - made 102 hundreds - including nine double-hundreds - and passed 1000 runs in a season seventeen times - going on to 3000 once and 2000 on five occasions. He had had a direct interest in 1121 dismissals - of which more than 1000 were effected when he was keeping wicket. His total of 418 stumpings is easily a record.

In Test cricket - Ames played 47 matches - scoring 2434 runs with a batting average of 40.56 - and taking 74 catches - and 23 stumpings. Record 8th wicket partnership in all tests of 246 with GO Allen :Made 123 in the pre-lunch session of the 1923 test against South Africa (a record for runs in a session): Scored centuries against every first-class county apart from Kent. Unusually for a wicket-keeper - he also bowled over 200 overs - taking 24 first-class wickets with a bowling average of 33.37.

Ames was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929. He was a pupil at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone and he also played five times for Gillingham FC.

2011 Kent Village of the Year

Elham Parish Council We are very pleased to announce that Elham has been awarded the title of Kent Village of the Year, as well as being very successful in the individual categories of the competition. This is a fantastic testament to the hard work put in by so many residents in and around Elham. The competition was organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent, which is the Rural Community Council for Kent and Medway. Their aim is to excel in the provision of information and support to communities in Kent to enable them to help themselves through action involving all sections of the community. The competition was sponsored by Kent Men of Trees and The Kent County Agricultural Society who amongst many other things organise the Kent County Show. The category awards were not given due to the work of one group or an individual’s actions, but on how the category themes ran through a plethora of initiatives, organisations, clubs, businesses and others in the village (over 50 at the last count - we submitted a synopsis of each to the judging panel) which of course has led us to gain our overall title! Our awards were: Overall Kent Village of the Year - Kent Village of the Year for Environment - Runner-Up Kent Village of the Year for Social Action - Runner-Up Kent Village of the Year for Economy. As well as the prestige associated with the award we have been given £250 to be spent on a village project, two trees, framed certificates and two “Kent Village of the Year” signs, which we host for a year, kindly installed by the British Legion. Someone said to the Parish Council on hearing of the award; “a lot of people work hard in all kinds of ways – often anonymously giving us a sense of wholeness”. In preparing our bid for the award, it became immediately apparent that we will live in a village that not only excels at the big headline grabbing work but also excels in the small important things that may seem inconsequential to some but vital to others. We should take pride in what has been accomplished but also look at it as an ongoing reminder of how when our village, Elham, unites, great things can happen. Thank you to everyone for all your hard work on a day-to-day basis that makes this award so deserved.

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.

2011 Kent Village of the Year

EHS Database

Swing Riots

Les Ames (1905 - 1990)

Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993)

She came to village with her mother Dutch Baroness Ella van Heemstra. She lived at Orchard Cottage (now the Five Bells) and attended the private schools in the village square.

Stats

2011 Kent Village of the Year