Posted on Sep 21, 2025
GUNDULF was born in Normandy, now part of France. Four years after the conquest of England in 1066, while he was a monk of Caen, Gundulf was called to England to assist Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the administration of that diocese. Gundulf was appointed Bishop of Rochester in 1077. As a skilled architect he rebuilt the almost ruined Cathedral in the Norman style and founded a community of Benedictine monks to serve there. In 1078 King William I appointed Gundulf to oversee the building of the White Tower of London. He was responsible for the building of St Leonard’s Tower, here in West Malling, and many churches in the Medway Towns. In about 1090 Gundulf founded this Abbey (St. Mary’s) for Benedictine nuns, one of the first post-conquest monasteries for women; it is the home of Benedictine nuns today. Gundulf was famous for his care of the poor and his devotion to prayer. He died on 8th March 1108 aged 85, and is still honoured as the patron of the Royal Engineers. St Leonard of Noblac was a very popular saint in England and Europe in the11th century. He died c.559 AD and was the Patron Saint of Justice and all those suffering confinement such as prisoners, the mentally ill and pregnant women. French legends state St Leonard, who lived as a hermit in the forest of Limousin in France, was going to the Yule (Ewell) celebrations, and met a beggar who asked for wine. St Leonard had wine and gave him some, but then had no gift. The beggar told him to fill his flask from the spring and the water was turned to wine. St Leonard also saved the life of the French King’s wife in childbirth and the King gave him woodland where he built an oratory and lived with two monks. Water in the French story was 1000 yards away at an Abbey dedicated to St Mary. The legend states St Leonard dug a great pit and filled it with his tears. He divided the King’s woodland and supported the needy. St Leonard’s Day was a compulsory public holiday in Worcestershire in the 13th century. Now look at West Malling. The Ewell Spring here in West Malling rises below St Leonards Tower. The Abbey here is also dedicated to St Mary and is 1000 yards away from the tower. The lake is clearly excavated. Perhaps the whole complex in West Malling was modelled on the Norman French Legend? The story match is remarkable. Further...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2025
Reproduced with the kind permission of ©National Portrait Gallery x167928 Admiral Sir William Lowther Grant KCB (1864-1929) was born on 10th November 1864, the eldest boy in a family of six children. His father was a banker, and later a JP. They lived in the Portsmouth area, settling at Monckton House, Alverstoke in the 1870s. Grant went to school at nearby Stubbington House, known as ‘the cradle of the Navy’, with close links to the training ship HMS Britannia, which he entered as a cadet in 1877. Although he had been placed twenty-third out of forty six successful candidates in the Naval Cadetship examination, he was described as ‘very promising’, and progressed from midshipman in 1879, to sub-lieutenant in 1883 after serving in the Anglo-Egyptian War (1882), and lieutenant in 1884. In 1896 he qualified in torpedo duties and commanded a torpedo boat for manoeuvres in 1887. By 1893 Grant was recommended for promotion, as he was said to be ‘very trustworthy, and handles [the] flotilla with skill’. In 1896 he was commended again for his ‘zeal and ability’ in preparing a report on trials of a Howell Torpedo at Newport, Rhode Island, and in 1897 was promoted to Commander. From 1898 he worked at the Admiralty’s Naval Ordnance Department. In January 1900 he landed in Cape Colony, was mentioned in despatches, and became a Captain in October 1900, in recognition of his service in the Second Boer War, where his detachment was nicknamed ‘Grant’s Guns’. He was in command of Monarch, Sutlej, Hawke and Cornwallis during the early 1900s, and was Naval Advisor to the Inspector-General of Fortifications. He acted as a Naval Aide-de-Camp to Edward VII in September 1908, and also became the Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence in the same year, before being promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral in October 1909, shortly before his forty-fifth birthday. From 1910 he was based at Sheerness (where he was stationed till November 1911), for special service with the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Third and Fourth Divisions of the Home Fleet. In King George V’s Coronation Honours in 1911, Grant was appointed Companion in the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, becoming a Knight Commander (K.C.B.) in 1917. At the outbreak of the First World War, he initially commanded the Sixth Cruiser Squadron from HMS Drake, based at Scapa Flow, before he was promoted to Vice-Admiral in July 1915 and transferred abroad. He was then made Commander in Chief of the China Station in 1916, then Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station in 1918. By now Sir William Lowther Grant, he was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 1st September 1918. When he left the United States in 1919, the American Secretary of the Navy expressed his ‘sincere regret’ at the departure of ‘this talented and gifted officer’. For his wartime service abroad he was awarded the USA’s Distinguished Service Medal, the Légion...
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Posted on Sep 21, 2025
Admiral JOHN FORBES (1714 – 1796) was mentor to John Locker, Horatio Nelson’s “Sea Daddy.” He refused to sign the Death Warrant of Vice-Admiral Byng. Born in Minorca he was the son of the third Earl of Granard. He served on the Burford under his uncle Hon. Charles Stewart. In 1729 Stewart promoted Forbes to Lieutenant. He was Captain of the Poole, later commanding the Port Mahon, the Severn, the Tiger and the Guernsey. Commanding the Norfolk in 1742 he took part in the battle off Toulon in 1744, and gave evidence in the Parliamentary enquiry. As Rear Admiral of the Blue in 1747 he was second in command to John Byng. In 1748 he rose to Rear Admiral of the White. He became Vice-Admiral of the Blue 1755 and was elected to the Irish Parliament. Under William Pitt he became a member of the Admiralty Board. Forbes refused to sign the Death Warrant of Vice-Admiral Byng as he was convinced it was illegal. Many Europeans said that “From time to time the English hang an Admiral to encourage the rest”. In 1758 he married Lady Mary Capel and became Admiral of the Blue, Admiral of the White 1770, and Admiral of the Fleet 1781. He bought Malling Place in 1779, where he lived until his death in 1796. He was highly respected. Forbes passed his vast knowledge of naval matters to his friend and colleague William Locker, Horatio Nelson’s acknowledged mentor and so called “Sea Daddy”. More...
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