Dr John Vincent Bates MC MD of Wisteria House
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Read More »West Malling Blue Plaques
The plaques you will find around West Malling commemorate but a few of our notable citizens, and their stories are not yet fully revealed. Further research and information is always welcomed. Click here for further information
Read More »Gladys Frances Miriam Wright
Gladys Frances Miriam Wright Pioneer of Physical Education, founder of English Gymnastic Society, life-saving hero, competitive and long distance open water swimmer. Gladys Wright went from grocer’s assistant to founding her own college of physical education. Leaving school with no qualifications she travelled to study at colleges and universities in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. She was a pioneer, determined to introduce new ideas in teaching in the UK. Gladys attracted loyalty and respect in friends and acquaintances, as well as many influential people who took up her cause. Early Life Gladys was born on 8 July 1891 in West Malling Kent. Her parents Clara Wright (nee Hunter) from Australia, and Edward Henry Wright, ran the family’s grocery and wine merchant’s shop on the High Street. By 1901 the family had moved to Gravesend and then to Chatham by 1911. In Chatham Gladys was employed as a cashier in a grocery and provisions shop, however she was clearly a proficient swimmer and was employed part-time to teach girls to swim by the City of Rochester Education Committee. World War One During WWI Gladys organized swimming galas to entertain and raise money for wounded soldiers, and she also worked for the Red Cross Strood Voluntary Aid Detachment. By then Gladys was attracting media attention for her long-distance swimming. In a 9-mile race along the River Medway, Gladys was pitted against a field of male non-commissioned officers, not only did she win, but the next competitor finished 35 minutes behind her! In 1919 the organisers of a 5-mile race along the Thames invited Gladys to take part, but when it emerged that she had been paid as a swimming coach she was classed as being a “professional” and her entry was cancelled. A love for teaching Autumn 1919 Gladys was taken on to coach children at the Chatham Junior Commercial School in swimming and other forms of physical exercise. Teaching attracted Gladys, but she didn’t have any qualifications, so during the Commercial School’s summer holiday in July 1920 she travelled to London to obtain a passport, then took a ferry to Denmark where she attended a one-month training course at the Junker Institute in Silkeborg, Denmark. The Institute taught Ling’s system of Swedish gymnastics in courses aimed at teachers. For the next ten years Gladys divided her time between teaching and studying. Teaching at the Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston-upon-Thames, Chelsea Polytechnic, Bergman Ӧsterberg Physical Training College at Dartford, and Richmond County School for Girls. Whilst also studying the Scandinavian systems of exercise in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. In 1923 Gladys used her newly acquired knowledge to set up her own annual Scandinavian gymnastics summer schools at Herne Bay College, before they moved to Milner Court, Sturry (now part of Junior King’s School), in the 1930s. The courses were aimed at teachers and featured gymnastics, swimming, diving and dance. News reels from the...
Read More »Rosalind Isabel Wingfield-Stratford
Rosalind was born in 1858, the daughter of Hon Rev Edward Vesey Bligh JP and Lady Isabel. See footnote. She married Cecil Vernon Wingfield-Stratford in 1881. He was a lieutenant with the Royal Engineers. Being in the army meant that the couple lived in many places throughout their married life, but when Cecil retired in 1910 they settled into Fartherwell Hall (pictured above), which was part of a large estate just outside West Malling, and owned at the time by Rosalind’s parents. Her father died in 1908, and when her mother died in 1915, the estate was left to Cecil and Rosalind. Given the size of Fartherwell Hall (it had 14 servants) and the mother being on her own, it is likely that Cecil and Rosalind had moved in when he retired. Fartherwell Hall was demolished after WW2. It was just off Fartherwell Road, roughly where Fartherwell House now is. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Cecil was recalled to the army. At the time, Malling Place was owned by Percy Nevill, related to Rosalind through her mother. He offered it for use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) Hospital. The VAD was founded in 1909 mostly by the British Red Cross, to receive and treat wounded men returning from the front. By 1914 there were over 3,000 VAD Hospitals in the UK. Rosalind volunteered her services and was appointed Commandant here at what was known as “Kent 150”. She was awarded the MBE in 1920 for “services in connection with war refugees”. Sadly, given her important role with the VAD, we have been unable so far to find a photograph of Rosalind or her husband. Any further information or images would be welcome. Rear of Malling Place as VAD Hospital Funeral of Pte William Dobson outside Malling Place 1915 Cecil Vernon Wingfield-Stratford was born in 1853 at Addington Place, Addington. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and joined the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant in 1873. From 1907 to 1910 he was Chief Engineer, Irish Command. He retired in 1910 but was recalled in 1914 to serve in WW1. He held a command on the western front as a Brigadier-General, participating in the battle of Loos in 1915, and the Somme in 1916. He was mentioned in dispatches four times, and was awarded the CBE in 1916 and the CB in 1918. During his earlier life he played football (outside-left) for the Royal Engineers and earned one cap for England against Scotland in 1877. He played in the 1875 FA Cup final at Kennington Oval for the Royal Engineers against the Old Etonians. He died at Fartherwell Hall in 1939. More information Footnote Hon Rev Edward Vesey Bligh JP was the son of Edward Bligh, 5th Earl of Darnley and his wife, Lady Isabel, was the daughter of William Nevill, 4th Earl of Abergavenney. They lived in Fartherwell...
Read More »Sir Thomas Twisden
Sir THOMAS TWISDEN presided at the trials of the executioners of Charles I in 1660. Born 1602 at Roydon, East Peckham he attended Emmanuel College Cambridge in 1614. He was admitted to the Inner Temple 1617, called to the Bar in 1626 and married Jane Thomlinson in 1639. Jane Thomlinson was the sister of the man who escorted Charles I to his execution. Twisden bought Malling Place in 1642. He became a Bencher in 1646 and changed the spelling of his name from Twysden to Twisden. At this time he became Member of Parliament for Maidstone but was excluded in 1648. He became Sergeant at Law in 1654 and bought The Manor of Bradbourne House, East Malling, Kent in 1656. After the Coronation of Charles II, he became MP for Maidstone again in 1660 and was knighted. After the trials of the Regicides (the signatories to Charles I death warrant) he was made a baronet in 1666. He died in 1683. More...
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