History of Tonbridge
- Introduction
- Tonbridge Timeline
- Events
- People
- Places
- Pictures
- How Tonbridge has grown
- From the archives
- Tonbridge then and now
- Made in Tonbridge
- Miscellany
- Links
Tonbridge Historical Society
Introduction
The Society was founded in 1960 to provide a focus for local people with historical interests. Unlike some similar societies it is concerned with national history and with archaeology, as well as with the history of Kent and the local area. The annual subscription is a modest £7 per person (£3 for students under 18), and new members are welcome. If you would like to join, please download and print the Application form or apply to the Hon. Sec. via the contact page. (Application Form requires Adobe Reader, probably already installed on your computer, If not, click here for free download.)
A programme of lectures by invited speakers runs through the winter months. Most of the meetings take place on Thursday evenings in the Riverside Room in the Angel Centre, Tonbridge. In addition there is an afternoon meeting, with tea, on a Saturday in November.
The society's Research Group explores varied aspects of the history of the town and its inhabitants, and has produced six publications.
A twice-yearly Newsletter is published with Society news, information, articles and pictures relating to the history of Tonbridge. You can download some recent Newsletters here.
The society also maintains extensive collections of archives and pictorial material, and is starting to build a collection of three-dimensional artefacts.
The local Archaeology Officer is a member of our Society and keeps a watching brief on building works in the area which may reveal historic material.
Lecture programme 2011-12
Meetings are held in the Riverside Room in the Angel Centre, Tonbridge, usually on the second Thursday of the month. Non-members are welcome to attend as guests at a fee of £2 (under 18s £1), payable at the door.
Thursday, 8th September 2011 at 7.45pm
The Kings' Supporters – ladies of the early Tudor period — Pat Mortlock
The ‘Kings' Supporters' are the mothers and wives of Henry VII and Henry VIII – from Lady Margaret Beaufort to Catherine Parr – and the talk will consider the impact of their support for the Tudor monarchy at some of its most vulnerable times. The speaker is a well-known local historian and lecturer.
Thursday 13th October 2011 at 7.45 pm
A city of legends – a history of Benghazi, Libya — Paul Bennett
he speaker is Director of Canterbury Archaeological Trust, but has been working intermittently in Libya since 1972. He is former Chairman of the Society for Libyan Studies (the UK Archaeological and Academic Mission to Libya) and is presently Head of Mission. From 2000-8 he co-directed excavation at Euesperides, the first (Greek) city on the site of present-day Benghazi.
Saturday 12th November 2011 at 2.30pm
Two talks: Women Wartime Workers in the Munitions Industry and The Bevin Boys — Ann Kneif
This is a two-session meeting with an interval
for tea, open to members only. Advance booking is required.
In the first
of the two related talks we will hear how many young women, directed to work during the
Second World War, were sent to the munitions factories. The second talk will
describe the fate awaiting the
young men who were directed to the mines during the same war and were sent
down the pits. The speaker is the historian Dr Ann Kneif.
Thursday 8th December 2011 at 7.45pm
Behind the Scenes at Time Team — Raksha Dave
The speaker has been a member of the ‘Time Team’ team on
Channel 4 television since 2004, following a few years experience with the
Museum of London Archaeological Service. She promises us a fascinating insight
into this popular series.
Thursday 2nd February 2012 at 7.45pm
How They Built the Crystal Palace in Four Months Flat — Anthony Wilson
Construction of the iconic Crystal Palace to house
the Great Exhibition of 1851 was an extraordinary feat of logistics and
engineering, even by Victorian standards. The illustrated talk will show how
it was achieved in record time.
Thursday 8th March 2012 at 7.45 pm
Cast Iron Firebacks — Jeremy Hodgkinson
The speaker has written and lectured on the iron
industry in south-east England for 30 years and has recently written the first
survey of British firebacks.
Thursday 19th April 2012 at 7.30pm
Annual General Meeting, followed by
All the Rage — Lee Ault
A light-hearted look at the fashions, accessories
and social attitudes of the 20s and 30s, two hectic decades between two
world wars, illustrated by original clothes of the period. Lee Ault is a
costume historian and freelance writer and curator of the Dickens House
Museum in Broadstairs.
Previous programmes
Our lecture topics in 2010-11 were: 'Louis XIVth', 'Knole and the Sackvilles', 'The Magpie' (drama presentation on the wives of Henry VIIIth), 'Railways in West Kent', 'The Origins and Early Development of Towns in Kent', 'The Salomons of Broomhill', 'The work of the KCC Heritage Conservation Team'.
In 2009-10 the lectures were: 'Darwin, the scientist in the garden', 'Edward 1st', 'Paintings of domestic town gardens', 'The history of lace', 'The Wealden Forest Ridge project', 'Emigration in the 19th century', and 'Sightseeing in the Middle Ages'.
In 2008-9 they were: 'Rudyard Kipling', 'Mediaeval Sandwich', 'A country house Christmas', 'Plays and Players in Mediaeval and Early Modern Kent', 'Archaeology of the Olympic site', 'Westenhanger Castle', and 'A closer look at old Tonbridge'.
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