WELCOME
PROGRAMME OF MEETINGS OF THE SOMBORNE SOCIETY
Officers of the Somborne and District Society
History and overview of the Somborne & District Society
Talks given to Society 2005
Titles & Dates of Lectures to the Sombrone & District So
Talks given to Society 2002
Talks given to Society 2001
Talks given to Society 2003
Talks given to Society 2004
Records of Marriages, Baptisms & Burials in KS from 1700
Talks given to the Society 2006
Talks given to the Society and Event s in 2007
Talks given to the Society 2008
Contact Information for Somborne and District Society
Links for Somborne and District Society
Message Board
Guestbook
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The Singer family David Parrott Jan 2003
Wed 22nd January The Singer family by David Parrott.
David Parrott became interested in the history of the Singer family because he lives in a house in West Tytherley which was once part of the Norman Court estate.
Isaac Singer was born in New York in 1811 the son of a poor migrant family and was the youngest of thirteen children. He ran away at 12 to become a machinist. He married and after several false starts he developed a stone crusher and later a type setting machine. The breakthrough came when he went to work for a firm making sewing machines. He changed the design of the machine which became such a success that by the age of 46 he was a millionaire. In 1858 he divorced his wife who had born him 10 children and married his mistress who already had 5 children by him. He was a great womaniser and at his death in 1875 26 children were acknowledged in his will. For a time he lived in Paris but the Franco-Prussian War caused him to flee, first to London and then to Paington where he built an enormous house known as ‘The Wigwam’ although he died before it was finished. His wife (who was the model for the Statue of Liberty) lived in the house but eventually returned to France and married a poor nobleman. In order to prevent him getting his hands on the family’s money a Paignton solicitor arranged for all the male children to be made Wards of Court at the age of 16.
David then talked about the older Singer children. Mortimer, married several times but did not have children. He was a pioneer cyclist, motorist and flyer. He bred race horses and was knighted in 1920. He died in 1929 and is buried at Torquey.
Winoletta was a lesbian, she married young for social advancement but her first marriage only lasted 4 hours. She later married a homosexual and this marriage lasted much longer. She became influential in the artistic circles in Paris and her friends included Proust, Stravinsky and Miro. In 1943 she was exiled to England where she came to live in West Tytherley until her death in 1943.
Washington spent his early years in Paris before Moving to Oldbury Mansion (The Wigwam). In 1887 at 21 years he inherited £1 million as well as having $1 million a year from Singer shares. He bred and raced horses from Marlborough and W.Tytherley and in 1906 bought Norman Court, he enlarged the estate until it covered 20,000 acres and gave employment to 400+ local people. He was a great benefactor and built the village halls at West Dean and W.Tytherley. He became Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1926 but suffered a stroke in 1931 eventually dying in 1934. His son Grant was killed in 1942 in the War and death duties caused the estate to be broken up.
The last of the family that David discussed was Paris who was a restless, brilliant man who trained as an architect and did work for the Royal Family. He spent much of his time remodelling Oldbury Mansion which is now the headquarters of Torbay Council. Although he never worked for Singers he had an income of $15 million p.a. Eventually he returned to the USA where he lived in Palm Beach until his death.
David’s lecture was most interesting and gave a great insight into one of the most influential families of the 20th century.
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History of England in Pub Signs Gerald Gregory Feb 2003
Pub signs have been in existence in England for hundreds of years and they reflect more or less accurately the great events in our history. Stonehange is one of the earliest images to appear on signs but there are many devoted to the Romans, the Danish invaders and King Canute. Trade has also been commemorated over the centuries with references to the wool and cotten industries as well as shipbuilding and the coming of the railways. Famous people such as Thomas of Becket, Drake and Nelson are frequently shown as well as curiosities such as the Talbot hunting dog and the invisible man.Gerald Gregory is a member of the Inn Society of Great Britain and has a comprehensive knowledge of pub signs and their significance.
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Hampshire Rights of Way Chris Piper March 2003
Chris Piper opened by telling us that many Rights of Way have existed since prehistoric times. Originally they were not categorised but were just paths and bye ways which connected farms, churches and pubs etc. Consequently they are of many different types and in Hampshire they range from 2’ to 60’ wide and from 3 yards to 2.3 miles in length.
The first legislation in 1564 made it incumbent on Lords of the Manor to provide 4 days labour a year to look after the local highways. Between 1700 and 1730 because parish councils could not provide the long distance roads Turnpike Trusts were set up to improve communications and they charged tolls for the privilege. The Enclosure Acts also influenced matters because they were designed to get rid of the open field system and the Commissioners had powers to change the landscape and create and close highways as necessary. In 1835 the Highways Act made Parish Councils responsible for local roads but by 1899 this responsibility was passed to District and Borough Councils and by 1929 the County Councils assumed responsibility for roads.
In 1949 under the National Parks Act every highway authority had to draw up a definitive map of Rights of Way but they devolved this responsibility to Parish Councils who interpreted this responsibility in different ways and often deferred to the views of local landowners. The Definitive Map for Hampshire was drawn up in 1952 and has had only minor revisions since that time. The scale of 1:25000 is far too small but the new digital revision will be available within the next 12 months and this is more compatible with the largest OS maps.
Hampshire has;
3,00 miles of Rights of Way
2,000 miles of Footpaths
400 plus miles of Bridle ways
312 miles of BOATS (Bye ways open to all traffic).
The responsibility for the Rights of Way lie;
1. With the public to obey the Country Code.
2. With landowners for cutting back, removing obstructions and maintaining stiles and gates.
3. With Hampshire County Council who are responsible for sign posting, surfacing, bridges, cutting back and stiles and gates on long distance footpaths. There are 6 County teams across the doing this work but contractors and volunteers are also used. The cost is 60p per year on Council tax.
Since the 1990 Rights of Way Act paths are better protected . Landowners now have to reinstate paths 14 days after ploughing and must cut back crops at an early stage, obstructions are fewer, travellers less of a problem and it is estimated that 90% of the network in Hampshire is now in acceptable or good order. A Right of Way can be acquired if it can be shown that there has been 20 years of continuous use and the establishment of new Rights of Way mean that the network is growing year on year.
The new Access to the countryside Act primarily affects Counties with large amounts of Mountains, heath, moor, down and common land. In Hampshire most of this type of land is already protected so the new Act will have minimal impact. More important in Hampshire is the demand for increased access to riverbanks and the seashore.
Any Rights of Way which have not been recorded by 2026 will be extinguished so it is very important for accurate recording of all Rights of Way to be completed by that date.
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Found in the Fields Alan Cracknell April 2003
The April meeting of the Society was addressed by Alan Cracknell who is an technical illustrator who illustrates artefacts for the Museum Service. As a hobby he works alongside archaeologists using his special skills with a metal detector. He recently was able to work in some of Tony Monk’s fields above the Rack & Manger pub and he showed members a very large and varied number of artefacts which he had unearthed from within 3 inches of the surface. These finds were laid out on tables so that members of the Society could study them.
The finds included Roman Artefacts, Cloth Seals (often found in fields where trading had taken place), pottery fragments, furniture fittings from the 17th and 18th centuries, lead weights, three 0.303 bullets and horse brasses. There was also (from a different area) a late Bronze Age socketed axe head which was 13.9 cm long and had a loop in the socket to make it easier to tie on the cross piece.
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Commoning in the New Forest Caroline Stride May 2003
Caroline not only is a commoner in the New Forest but she is also an Education officer with the NF Museum and so offered an excellent insight to this ancient activity.
Originally Commoning rights came into being because many of the farms (mainly dairy) in the Forest had only a small acreage and the farmers used to supplement their feeding areas by using the forest. Commoners rights relate to a property which is either owned or rented and not to an individual.
The right of grazing usually relates to a pony or cow but Caroline has a sow which is also allowed to graze the Forest for pannage for 60 days in the Autumn in order to eat acorns which are poisonous to the ponies. Her sow often travels considerable distances but she likes a warm dry bed at night so Caroline has a mobile shed which is moved to where the sow is grazing.
There are about 3,000 ponies grazing the Forest and the owner has to pay £ 18 a year for exercising this right. In the past few years prices for New Forest ponies have been very low so the number of stallions has been reduced to 30 in order to improve the quality and saleability of the ponies. The ponies remain in their family units until the youngsters are 3-4 years old, they are very territorial and each pony needs about 3 square miles for grazing. The Agisters are responsible for overseeing the stock in the Forest, they ensure that the ponies are branded and they cut the pony’s tail in a specific way in order to certify that the owner has paid their grazing fee. They also are responsible for ensuring that the animals are healthy and since about 2 ponies a week are hurt in road accidents they also have to be able to put injured animals down. New Forest ponies are small, strong and placid and many used to be used down the coal mines.
The Verderers are responsible for looking after the interests of the Commoners, their Court meets on 11 days a year and they decide many matters concerning the use of land in the Forest.
In addition to rights of grazing and pannage Commoners have rights to Turvery ( about 8 million turves used to cut each year a century ago), Marl (Collecting limestone for building or agriculture), and Estover which is the right to collect wood although these days the Forestry Commission cut the wood and the commoners just have to collect it.
In order to improve the lot of farmers and Commoners Forest Friendly Farming was set up about 2 years ago and one benefit has been the construction of a new sale yard for the pony auctions and it is hoped that other improvements will also come about in due course.
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History of hampshire policing Colin Peake Aug 2003
Colin had been a serving officer for many years, finally being stationed at Gosport before his retirement. He told us that the police service as we know it today is less than 200 years old and came about after the Gordon riots when following 6 days of rioting in London more than 700 people were killed, the Peterloo massacre also showed that the Army was not a suitable force to control civilians and that another body was required that could maintain law as well as be disciplined and accountable. Robert Peel initiated the foundation of the modern police service with the founding of the Metropolitan Police Force in 1829. Six years later all Boroughs were allowed to form their own police forces and they were set up in all the major towns in Hampshire. Eventually in 1839 the Hampshire County force came into being and for a while the County Police Force worked alongside the Borough Forces. The early Chief Constables were appointed from the Army or Navy and at first the general public rather resented the police until they realized that they were controlling crime and maintaining the law. Initially policemen had other roles including animal welfare and weights and measures legislation (including testing the strength of beer) together with ceremonial duties such as escorting the judges at the opening of the Assizes. Gradually these other roles were devolved to other services. The early policeman obviously had a rigorous job because he worked 12 hour shifts, mainly walking his beat with no days off until 1912. He used a rattle to attract help and on his leather belt (not to be used as a razor strop!) he carried handcuffs, his truncheon and a lamp! Disguises were sometimes adopted and the need to use officers in this role eventually led to the development of the C.I.D. Rattles were phased out in favour of whistles and later pillboxes were used for telephonic communications- the constable was often out of contact but the phone in the pillbox would be rung every 10 minutes to try and contact him. Radios (with very poor reception) did not come in until the 1960’s. Horses were routinely used until WW11 when they were phased out in favour of motorbikes and cars and women PC’s only came in at the same time.
Colin gave us many interesting insights into how the police service has developed in Hampshire over the years and he brought home the fact that there used to be more crime about than we think!
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Sir Thomas Sopwith Cyril Pigott Sept 2003
The Sopwith Family came from North East England and were well off as a result of their engineering interest and lead mines. On the 18th January 1888 Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith was born. He was called Octave because he was his parent's eighth child all the others being girls and he was always known as Tom or Tommy. He was educated privately in the county of Rutland until the age of 13. One tragic incident occurred when he was ten years of age; the family often went shooting in Scotland and while out on a boat on the loch Tommy accidentally discharged his gun and shot his father dead and as a result became the only man in the house with his mother and seven sisters.
After schooling he was entered for Dartmouth but was rejected on educational grounds so he was sent to Seafield Engineering College at Lee on Solent where he flourished while learning his basic engineering skills. While at Seafield he was able to observe the development of the fledgling motor industry and it was also the time of the Wright brothers' first flight.
In 1904 at the age of 16 in conjunction with Philip Paddon he opened a motor show room in Albermarle Street in London. This showroom specialised in Rolls-Royces and he became a great friend of the Hon C.S. Rolls. Tommy led rather a playboy's life at this time and dabbled in yachts, cars, speedboats and motorcycles. He even entered and won the TT race as well as winning the 1904 Hatfield reliability test for three wheelers completing 100 miles in just over 5 hours.
In 1906 he and Philip Paddon purchased a gas balloon made by Short Brothers which they named Padsop but the event which really changed his life came in 1910 when he was out in his speedboat in the Channel when Moissant made the first crossing of the Channel with a passenger and landed near Dover. Apparently Tommy raced in to see the plane and immediately caught the aviation bug. He went to Brooklands where he took two flights for £5 and in October 1910 at the age of 22 years he purchased his first plane, a Howard-Wright for £630. He taught himself to fly but crashed on his first flight, he immediately purchased a second machine and in November 1910 was awarded his Royal Aviators Certificate No.31. 3 days after getting his certificate he won the Michelin Cup and £500 for the longest flight by a British pilot in a bi-plane He started entering competitions at home and in the United States and won the then enormous prize of £4,000 for the longest flight from England to the Continent having taken off from Eastchurch in Kent eventually landing in a turnip field in Belgium (169 miles in 3hrs 40mins).
Just before this he bought a 166 ton schooner, the Neva into which he installed a engine. The engineer (Fred Sigrist) who did the job so impressed Tommy that he immediately engaged him.
In early 1911 he bought 2 more planes. By now he was becoming a national figure and later that year the King invited him to land at Windsor Castle to meet him.
In America he won many competitions and provided joy rides in his aircraft. As a result he earned a lot of money and when he returned home he opened the Sopwith School of Flying at Brooklands. One of the Australians called Harry Hawker whom Sopwith taught to fly was so good that Tommy asked him to join the Company as a test pilot. He decided that the firm should design aircraft, the first one that Sigrist built was called the Hybrid and was sold to the Admiralty for £900. Because the old premises were becoming too small the company bought the old skating rink at Kingston-on-Thames which was renamed as the Sopwith Aviation Co. Ltd. In Feb 1913 the first genuine Sopwith plane was bought by the Army & Navy and later that year the 2 seater Tabloid was produced; this aircraft was very advanced for its time and could fly up to 92 m.p.h . with a corresponding high rate of climb.
In 1913 Churchill asked for a plane to be designed which could land on land or sea. Sopwiths designed the Bat Boat with both wheels and floats; it was purchased by the Admiralty and Tommy won the Singer prize of £500 for the first amphibious aircraft. His exploits continued and in 1914 at Monaco his plane won the Schneider Trophy at an average speed of 86.75 m.p.h.
In 1914 the Germans bought the Bat Boat and the Tabloid was purchased by the Admiralty but there was no British engine available for these aircraft until W.O.Bentley designed one. Sopwith saw that war was coming and his two most famous fighters of WW1 were the Sopwith Pup ('flies like a gentleman') and the Sopwith Camel ('flies like a bitch'). The latter became the most effective fighter of the war and was responsible for the destruction of 2700 German aircraft including that of Baron Von Richthofen. At the height of the war 90 Camels were being produced each week. Towards the end of the war the Sopwith Snipe came along and this was invincible against the German aircraft who avoided it at all cost. Tommy was awarded the C.B.E for his contributions to the war effort
After the war ended there was a glut of unsold aircraft so Sopwiths diversified into motorcycles and aircraft spares. In 1919 the Daily Mail offered a prize of £10,000 for the first plane to cross the Atlantic. Sopwith built a plane which they named the Atlantic, this was to fly from Newfoundland to Ireland and was piloted by Harry Hawker. Only 14 miles from the coast the aircraft overheated and had to ditch but both the pilot and the plane were saved and Hawker and his co-pilot were awarded a consolation prize of £2,500. 5 weeks later Alcock and Brown crossed the Atlantic in 16hrs 27mins.
As a result of the glut of planes and a large tax bill the company went into liquidation and Tommy had to sell his house in order to pay his debts. 2 months later he bounced back with the formation of H.G.Hawkers Engineering Co.Ltd although sadly in 1921 Hawker himself died when testing a new aero plane.
After Tommy met Sidney Camm (a 29 year-old draughtsman with the Martinsyde Aircraft Company) the firm produced a line of very superior planes including the Woodcock and the Gamecock. However the next breakthrough came with the production of the Horsley which was the first all metal aircraft. This plane won a prize for the first flight to India.
In 1927 the Company responded to demands from the Air Ministry for new aircraft, Sopwiths produced a series of such aircraft culminating in 1935 with the Hawker Fury. This was a time of considerable expansion for the company and acquired several other famous firms including Glosters and Armstrong Siddleys and in1935 became the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Company. As a result many different aircraft were produced including the Whiteley and the Manchester which eventually evolved into the Lancaster which was the most famous British bomber of WW11. The company only built one civil aero plane called the Ensign which was designed for Imperial Airways but Tommy realised that this was not his forte and concentrated on military aircraft.
Tommy was now extremely rich and indulged himself by building luxury yachts. He also built J class racing yachts and in 1934 competed for the America's Cup with his yacht Endeavour but lost after the rules were changed. A second try with Endeavour 11 was also unsuccessful when the American yacht Ranger won fairly easily.
By 1935 the Air Ministry wanted a fighter armed with 4 guns and as a result Sopwiths produced the Hawker Hurricane. However the Government would not order the plane but Tommy had been to Germany and knew that war was coming so on his own initiative he set up a factory to produce 1,000 aircraft without having a single order. Were it not for this courageous decision we could well have lost the Battle of Britain. In 1940 of the 55 RAF squadrons 26 were Hurricane ones.
After the war Sopwiths supported Whittle's research into the jet engine which led to the production of the Gloster Meteor this was the forerunner of many famous jet bombers including the Victor and the Vulcan. Once again he showed great foresight because without any orders being placed he went ahead with production of the Harrier which was world's first vertical take off plane. It is still flying and was apparently his favourite aircraft.
In 1945 Tommy bought Compton Manor. He was knighted in 1953 and remained Chairman of the Hawker Sddeley group until 1963 and retirement when he accepted the title of Founder and Life President. He continued to live a rather reclusive life at Compton manor but in 1988 on the occasion of his 100th birthday there was a wonderful fly-past over Compton Manor of some of his famous planes including the Pup, the Hurricane, the Victor, the Vulcan and the Harrier.
Tommy's very long and fulfilling life came to an end on 27th January 1989 at the age of 101 years and 9 days and is buried in Little Somborne churchyard. There is a memorial window to him in Kings Somborne parish church with the inscription "Twice his foresight saved this nation in time of danger".
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Victorian Restorations of Kings Somborne Church Gordon Pearson
The Doomsday Survey in 1082 recorded that there were 2 churches in Somborne, one was at Little Somborne and the other was possibly on the site of the present church in Kings Somborne. The present building is probably of 12th -13th century origin. In 13th century the chancel was taken down and rebuilt larger. This was done again in the 14th century when at same time the South aisle was added. In 14th or -15th century probably as the population grew the North Aisle was added & the South aisle extended towards the alter. In later 15th century 4 windows put in North aisle but over the next 400yrs nothing else was done. In 17th century a musician’s gallery was inserted as well as box pews and a gallery was built over the South aisle. An organ was installed at a later date and took over the function of the musician’s gallery.
In 1882 the building before any restoration work was undertaken was quite different from what we see today. From the North the tower was different from today and independent of the main building, there was no entrance on the N.side, there was a dormer window in roof and all the walls were rendered. The main entrance was on the South side and there were 3 dormer windows in the South roof. The East window was much same as at present except the walls were rendered but the West elevation is totally different from today.
Inside the church was also totally different, there were box pews, a sounding board above the pulpit and the original Jacobean. beams tied the roof. The church was in very poor condition, the walls of chancel were not bonded into the nave and there was a crack between the two walls big enough to see through. The columns in the nave had no foundations, and gave no support to the roof which was sinking and the chancel arch had fallen in. There were cracks everywhere, the roof was leaking and there were tiles missing, the floor was in an appalling state with loose flagstones everywhere. The condition of the church was so poor that in 1883 it was closed because it was unsafe.
The internal layout before restoration show us that the font was right up against a pillar with very little space around it for a baptism, the box pews were so high that one could not see the altar, the church was very dark because the gallery over South aisle together with the musicians gallery with organ below cut out all the light. Altogether the whole building dark, damp & miserable and since a fire in the church some of the beams were charred. There were 4 bells but a 5th bell was added in 1887.
By the end of the 18th century many churches were in a similar state ‘the 18th century was when the Church of England went to sleep’.
In 1883 a church restoration Committee was set upwas formed by the vicar Canon Blackledge plus local worthies. A levy of 1/- in £1 was imposed on all parish ratepayers as well as special collections for such things as the enlargement of churchyard, the restoration of the organ and the provision of altar cloth, kneelers and a font cover. Biggest subscriber Mr Edwards from Broughton £165, Vicar £120, Mr Reeves of the Manor House Up Somborne gave £110, the Stockbridge Fishing Club £7 and the cottagers of Kings Somborne gave £1 8/-.
John Poulson was appointed as architect for the project, he was an eminent architect who practised in Winchester and was Surveyor to Winchester Cathedral for 40 years West front. He was a very prolific architect who worked on 120 churches in Hampshire, as well as 40 schools, shops, hotels and West Down School. This was one of last commissions that he undertook before if 1895. Application (citaion) was put infor the work and approval (Faculty) was given approval given in 1885 (within 1 month of citation) subject to monuments and inscriptions remaining in the same position and all rights of pews to be retained by existing families. Work started in December1885 (before approval given). 10 tenders were received, the cheapist £1600 up to £2014. The lowest tender was accepted accepted from Sealey & Bascombe of Winchester.
Work started. The West end is all new, the flints were re used as far as possible
Supplemented by spares from Manor House at the back of the site. The West .window which is a copy of East window is new but it is in fact old window imported from some other building.
From the North the aisles had been extended to enlarge church & buttress the tower and incorporate it into the building All render was removed and the flints re-pointed. The dormer window removed. The N. aisle roof was rebuilt using some new timbers because many of the old ones were too rotten. The porch is not where architect intended, probably due to road being made up outside. The porch was moved from S. side round to North side. The porch was put back in with some of the stones being upside down. A new stained glass window given by Jane Munday as a memorial to her mother was put in at the same time. Some fragments of medieval stained glass are still in the windows.
The South elevation was extended to buttress tower, the 3 dormer windows removed from the roof , the render was removed, the flints re-pointed and the priest’s door replaced. The chancel roof completely rebuilt using machine tiles. The S.aisle was completely new and of very poor design. The South entrance was filled in with rather poor workmanship with odd bits of stone and generally crude, shoddy work. One window was taken down and rebuilt (also upside down).
East elevation not much changed, render just removed and flints re-pointed. Stained Glass window was put in, a gift from the Edwards family of Compton.
Internally the eventual result was not to architects original plan The idea had been to take down only one third of the nave the font position was changed ?later date.
The nave ceiling rebuilt, using some of tie beams from chancel or local Manor House. The gallerys & box pews were removed. Seating capacity reduced from 352 to 298.
Chancel ceiling was completely re-newed.
New plain tiles were used on the floor. The brasses are very valuable, they very rare because they depict civilians (probably 14th century stewards of Manor) and only 6 examples exist in the country, Another unusual feature is that one shows a bearded man and this is very rare.
The arcading was rebuilt in Bath stone originally only the pillars at the West end were to be rebuilt but eventually they all had to be rebuilt. The Nave walls bonded to chancel arch extra work needed at cost of £183 which was a big extra at that time. Pulpit which was a gift from the Reeves family Up Somborne, Caen Stone. Chandeliers put in. Font cover donated from Mrs Horrell. Font polished and Purbeck stone columns put in. Organ rebuilt. Kneelers in chancel made by vicar’s daughters. Architect gave 2 chairs.
The graveyard was extended and enclosed with new flint wall for the sum of £26 5/-
Church reopened 3rd March 1886 3months after work started! A special servicewas held to commemorate the re-opening and this raised £18 towards outstanding debt of £91 Total cost £2279 9/-.
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