People Hilbert Road TN2 3SA and TN2 3SB

Information about the children who lived in Hilbert Road between when it was built and the 1960s

If you lived in Hilbert Road on the Ferndale Park Estate as a child between when it was built and the early 1960s, have you ever wondered what happened to the children you used to know and play with? This page may tell you because it contains information, and some pictures, about some of them. It has been compiled from information and memories from persons who used to live on the estate, and from my own memories and research. Since 1998, I have been interested in genealogy, researching my own PAGE family extensively throughout East Sussex, and my mother’s HARRIS family in the East-End of London. I have used the various genealogy websites, especially the General Record Office (GRO), Ancestry and Find my Past, to help find information about the children and their families who lived on the estate when I was a child. All my research on this page is information that is in the public domain.

The GRO references to Tonbridge is because between 1837 and 1980, Tonbridge was the registration district that covered Tunbridge Wells. Since then Tunbridge Wells has had its own district. The centralised registration of births, marriages, and deaths in England and Wales commenced on 1 July 1837. Indexes to the records are available for public inspection and are separated into birth, marriage and death indexes. Each index is divided into quarters for each year (January-March, April-June, July-September and October-December) and they are referred in the text by the year, followed by /1, /2, /3 or /4 to indicate the appropriate quarter, eg 1944/2 for my birth in June 1944. There are many references to items published in the Kent & Sussex Courier newspaper and these are referred to as just Courier.

The names of people are listed in address order. Some of the earlier built houses had names before they were numbered, and in those cases I have added the name to the address. Occasionally I have added text in italicised square brackets to information given to me from others for clarity.

Whilst I am very grateful to those who have given me information and pictures so far, I would love to have more, so if you know anything about any of the children who lived on the estate between when it was built and the early 1960s, then please get in touch with me so I can add it here. I also welcome any corrections or clarification of anything that has been written here so far – thanks (chris@g4bue.com).

1 Hilbert Road (was 8, now 30 Hilbert Road) – Arthur and Paul PORTER

Street directories show the PORTER family lived at 1 Hilbert Road from 1936 to at least 1965. The 1939 Register shows Arthur P PORTER, born 20 June 1928 attending school, and a closed entry that is probably his younger brother Paul, who the 3 August 1934 Courier reported, ‘Paul Porter, 1 Hilbert road, Ferndale Park’ as a new member of the Pea-Nut Club.

The 6 April 1956 Courier reported, ‘Eldest son of Mr and Mrs A Porter of 8 Hilbert road, Tunbridge Wells, Mr Arthur Paul Porter, married Miss Gladys Lilian Micklewright, daughter of Mrs L Micklewright of 9 Montgomery Road, Tunbridge wells, at St Luke’s Church, Tunbridge Wells, on Saturday...Mr Michael Porter was best man.’

10 Hilbert Road, Franklyn (now 32 Hilbert Road) – Sidney EADE

The 26 February 1937 Courier reported, ‘A pretty wedding took place at St John’s Church, Tunbridge Wells on Saturday when Miss Nina Doris Ablett, daughter of Mrs E L Ablett of 21 Lime Hill Road, and of the late Mr Percy D Ablett of Saxon House, Appledore, was married to Mr Sidney Frank Eade, son of Mrs M J Eade of “Franklyn”, Hilbert Road, and the late Mr E Eade of 14 Currie Road...Mr Ernest Eade, brother of the bride-groom, was best man...their future home will be at “Franklyn”, Hilbert Road.’

20 Hilbert Road, Hillside (now 42 Hilbert Road) – Patricia TAYLER

Pat, who is now now Patricia SKITTRALL and lives in Norfolk, in 2016 said: “I was born at 20 Hilbert Road 80 years ago and lived there for 15 years. My best friends were Pauline SKINNER and Carole BLAKER (Hilbert Road) and Susan AVARD (Ravenswood Avenue). I also knew Rita SERMON, Christine SKEWIS and Brian MEARS (Fairfield Avenue) and Marion OAKLEY. I started school at the Blessed Sacrament Convent in Calverly Park Gardens and when I was eight I went to the then junior section of the Girls’ Grammar School in Southfield Road and stayed there until I was 15. Shell Mex then transferred my father to Southampton, but I didn’t really want to leave.”

The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1936/2 for Patricia A TAYLER, mother WALKER. Pat’s wonderful childhood memories are described on the ‘Memories’ page.

Housewives (l to r) Pat; Mrs Millson (3 Ravenswood Avenue); Mrs Eveleigh (believed resident elsewhere); Pat’s mother Marguerite Tayler; Mrs Chatfield, 22 Hilbert Road; Doris (Mrs Millson’s sister-in-law, resident elsewhere); possibly Mrs Skinner, 26 Hilbert Road; Mrs Barriball, 2 Fairfield Avenue and unknown – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

26 Hilbert Road, Sunridge (now 48 Hilbert Road) – Pauline SKINNER

The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1935/3 for Pauline M SKINNER, mother PELHAM, and a marriage at Tonbridge in 1956/1 for Pauline M SKINNER and Maurice E INGERFIELD. The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1931/4 for Maurice A INGERFIELD, mother GIBSON. Electoral registers for 2002-2008 show Maurice A and Pauline INGERFIELD resident at The Coach House, Frant Road, Tunbridge Wells, and the 2008-2013 registers at Jefferies Way, Crowborough, East Sussex.

Patricia SKITTRALL nee TAYLOR (20 Hilbert road): “I have just spent a few days wallowing in nostalgia! My best friends were Pauline SKINNER and Carole BLAKER (Hilbert Road) and Susan AVARD (Ravenswood Avenue). I also knew Rita SERMON, Christine SKEWIS and Brian MEARS (Fairfield Avenue) and Marion OAKLEY.”

28 Hilbert Road, Whynot (now 50 Hilbert Road) – Patricia EADE

The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1944/4 for Patricia A EADE, mother ANSCOMBE and a marriage at Tonbridge in 1964/3 for Patricia A EADE and David W HUXTABLE. The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1944/4 for David W HUXTABLE, mother MARKINS.

The 30 September 1966 Courier reported, ‘Miss Patricia Ann Eade, daughter of Mr and Mrs Lester Eade of 28 Hilbert Road, Tunbridge Wells was married to Mr David Wallace Huxtable of 7 Hawkwell Cottages, Lower Green, Pembury, on Saturday at St Courier Church, Tunbridge Wells...She was attended by Miss Valerie Watson and Miss Susan Huxtable, the bridegroom’s sister.’ Valerie WATSON lived (and still does), with her sister Pauline at 2 Pinewood Road, next door to my home at 40 Ravenswood Avenue.

The GRO has births at Tonbridge in 1972/3 for Stephen David HUXTABLE and in 1979 /2 for Gary John HUXTABLE, mother EADE, and electoral registers for 2002-16 show Patricia and David living at The Hurst, Tunbridge Wells. Probate records show David Wallace HUXTABLE died on 21 February 2017.

Pat’s father was Lester C EADE, born 27 January 1917, and the 1939 Register shows him living with his parents at 28 Hilbert Road and working as an electrician. The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1941/3 for Lester C EADE and Grace E ANSCOMBE. The 18 July 1941 Courier reported, ‘The marriage took place on Saturday 5 July at St James Church by the Rev Pat Kerwin, Lester Charles, only son of Mr C J Eade and the late Mrs Eade of 28 Hilbert Road, Ferndale and Grace Ernestine, youngest daughter of the late Mr and Mrs Anscombe of 77 Rochdale Road, Tunbridge Wells.’

Probate records show Lester died on 18 February 1984 while at 50 Hilbert Road. An Ancestry family tree shows he is descended from Amos EADE, born 1856 Penshurst, Kent and died 1938 at Tonbridge.

The 17 January 1941 Courier reported, “While walking in Silverdale Road on Wednesday evening, Mrs Teresa Evelyn Ann Eade, aged 52, of Whynot, Hilbert Road, collapsed and died almost immediately.’ The 24 January 1941 Courier reported, ‘The funeral took place at the Borough Cemetery on Monday of Mrs Teresa Evelyn Ann Eade of 28 Hilbert Road, Tunbridge Wells, whose death at the age of 52 took place with tragic suddeness on the previous Wednesday...’

John HEASMAN (42 Ravenswood Avenue): “Girls I recall at the youth club: Gillian, your sister, Pat EADE, Valerie WATSON, Angela HAFFENDEN and Christine and Sheila STILL.”

30 Hilbert Road (now 52 Hilbert Road)

In the Home Buyer section of the 7 February 1991 Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 52 Hilbert Road was featured, see picture opposie.

32 Hilbert Road (now 54) – Carole and Michael BLAKER

The GRO has a birth at Portsmouth in 1936/1 for Carole E BLAKER, mother COLLINS and at Tonbridge in 1937/4 for Michael P BLAKER, also mother COLLINS. Before living at 32 Hilbert Road, Carole lived at 50 Dorking Road, Tunbridge Wells when she was nine months old. The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1959/3 for Carole E BLAKER and John E PULLEN, and electoral registers for 2002-2014 show them living at Bennett Way, Guildford, Surrey.

The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1963/1 for Michael P BLAKER and Doreen G CROSSLEY and electoral registers for 2002-2014 show them living at Whitfield Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The GRO has a death at Buckinghamshire in 2015/3 for Michael Philip BLAKER, born in 1937.

See pictures of the BLAKER family opposite below.

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr and Mrs BLAKER had a son Michael and daughter. Mr BLAKER worked for an insurance company.

In October 2017 Marion OAKLEY (46 Ravenswood Avenue) told me that at a recent reunion of the Tunbridge Wells Grammar School, she had met Christine BLAKER who now lives in the Ilford, Essex area.

Patricia SKITTRALL nee TAYLOR (20 Hilbert Road): “I have just spent a few days wallowing in nostalgia! My best friends were Pauline SKINNER and Carole BLAKER (Hilbert Road) and Susan AVARD (Ravenswood Avenue). I also knew Rita SERMON, Christine SKEWIS and Brian MEERES (Fairfield Avenue) and Marion OAKLEY.”

40 Hilbert Road (now 62) – Christine, Sheila and Derek STILL

I remember Sheila and Christine STILL very well. They were very good friends of Angela HAFFENDEN, Shirley STAPLETON and Maureen GOWER in Lipscombe Road and Margaret STILL (I don’t think any relation) at 80 Ravenswood Avenue, and I got to know them when I was about 14 and we all went to the youth club in Commercial Road, just off Camden Road. In fact, Christine was an early girl-friend of mine!

The GRO has the following births at Tonbridge: Derek G STILL in 1939/3, Christine M STILL in 1943/3 and Sheila K STILL in 1945/1, all with the mother STAPPLE. The GRO has the following marriages at Tonbridge: 1963/4 for Derek G STILL and Christine A DENTON, 1963/2 for Christine M STILL and Denis A HOLLANDS and 1965/4 for Sheila K STILL and Alan G TOPPING.

In January 2017, Sheila, who is now Sheila WOOD, said, “I married Alan TOPPING in 1965 which sorry to say only lasted seven years. We lived in Zambia for a while which is where our marriage broke down. We had a son Hayden who I lost in 1996 in a road crash. I did remarry in 1975 and live in High Brooms. [The GRO has a marriage at Tonbridge in 1975/1 for Sheila K TOPPING and Ronald W WOOD.]

“Christine is married and now lives in Paddock Wood after living in Ferndale for many years. She has two grown up children which I forgot as I have. Christine works in M&S on weekends and Tony HOLDING [88 Ravenswood Avenue] often goes through her till, and they have a chat about old times. You may remember our brother Derry, he is now 77 and lives in Tonbridge. We lost our Mum at the end of 1963 and Dad died in 1990. I am in contact with Pat EADE, and Janet GARDENER who is now married to Roger VALLEY.”

The 2 November 1962 Courier has the following announcement, ‘The engagement is announced for Christine Ann, only daughter of Mr and Mrs Denton, 106 Hadlow Road, Tonbridge and Derek, only son of Mr and Mrs G Steel, 40 Hilbert Road, Ferndale, Tunbridge Wells’. The spelling of STEEL is as it appears in the announcement.

The 8 November 1963 Courier reported, ‘Miss Christine Ann Denton, daughter of Mr and Mrs S Denton of 106 Hadlow Road, Tonbridge was married to Mr Derek Gordon Still, son of Mr and Mrs G Still of 40 Hilbert Road, Tunbridge Wells at Tonbrige Parish Church on Saturday...She was attended by Mrs Christine Hollands...’ Electoral registers for 2002-2022 show Derek and Christine living in Derwent Road, Tonbridge.

The 8 October 1965 Courier reported the marriage of Sheila and Alan TOPPING with a photograph of them, ‘The vice-captain of the Old Skinners’ Cricket Club, Mr Alan George Topping, youngest son of Mr and Mrs E L Topping of 72 Clifton Road, Tunbridge Wells married Miss Sheila Katherine Still, youngest dughter of Mr G Still and the late Mrs I K Still of 40 Hilbert Road, Tunbridge Wells at St Courier Church on Saturday... In attendance were Mrs Christine Hollands, the bride’s sister...’

Alan DANE (70 Ravenswood Avenue): “Mr STILL worked for Levers and drove some magnificent old vans emblazoned with Stork Margarine. These vans were garaged in lock-ups and old stables at the town end of Sandrock Road and opposite St Courier Church. Probably in his 40s, Derek became a town councillor in Southborough.”

John HEASMAN (42 Ravenswood Avenue): “Girls I recall at the youth club: Gillian, your sister, Pat EADE, Valerie WATSON, Angela HAFFENDEN and Christine and Sheila STILL. Just for the record, Sheila STILL married George TOPPING, who used to go to the youth club at the little chapel in Commercial Road, Tunbridge Wells”.

42 Hilbert Road (now 64 Hilbert Road) – Graham GEER

The GRO has a birth at Eastbourne in 1940/2 for Graham H GEER, mother LOVELAND. Graham GEER was older than me and although I don’t now recall how, for a short while when I was about 13 years old, we became friends. His father Harold was, like my dad, a policeman at Tunbridge Wells.

Graham went to sea when he left school and when he was aged 17, whilst home on leave in 1958, he killed his step-mother at their home 42 Hilbert Road. Graham was charged with murder and appeared at Kent Assizes, Maidstone on 18 March 1958. He pleaded not guilty but the jury accepted a defence plea that his responsibility for the killing was diminished because he was suffering from schizophrenia (split personality), and he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment. The court heard that he beat his step-mother to death with two knives, a pair of scissors, a frying pan and a set of kitchen scales. After killing her he walked to the police station and said, “I have killed my mum. I always hated her.” The Blackkalender website says Graham was released from HMP Full Sutton, Yorkshire on 29 July 1960 after serving 28½ months.

This appears to have been the only case of a murder or manslaughter being committed on the Ferndale Park Estate during the years from when it was built up to at least the mid-1960s.

The Geers website shows Graham came from the East Sussex GEER family going back to James GEER born in 1713 at Arlington. When describing the ‘Geer Family of Hailsham’, it includes the following entry: ‘Graham Harold GEER was born 28 March 1940 at 9 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, Sussex, England to Harold Robert GEER and Dora Alice LOVELAND. In August 1964, aged 34, he emigrated to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Graham married three times. He was married to Jean Ann LIDGERWOOD, Patricia Ann SMITH and Patricia Ann BALDWIN. He had issue Carmen D GEER (mother Patricia Ann BALDWIN).’

The same website for Carmen D GEER has, ‘Carmen Dora GEER was born 17 February 1964 in the Maternity Home, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England to Graham Harold GEER and Patricia Ann BALDWIN. Carmen died on 6 July 1973 aged 9, in Pembury.’

48 Hilbert Road (now 64 Hilbert Road) – Howardine Elizabeth DALE

Street directories for 1948-1963 show ‘Miss H E Dale B Sc’ living there and between 1950-1964 telephone books show ‘Miss H E DALE 48 Hilbert Road.’ The 1939 Register

Clive STACE (104 Ravenswood Avenue) said in October 2023, “The DALE family comprised Mrs DALE and her adult daughter (probably as much as 20 years older than I). I knew the latter well and have quite a lot of memories of her - she was quite formative in my early natural history interest. They had a long narrow garden which backed on to the last four houses in Ravenswood Avenue (104-110), so we spoke over the garden fence. I cannot remember the daughter’s first name; her initials were H E, but she was referred to as Betty on the estate.

“There are lots of gaps in my knowledge of Miss DALE, but I have some facts. My parents knew her as Betty; I don't know what the H stands for, but the E is presumably Elizabeth. She gave me a nice butterfly book for Christmas in 1948, when I was ten. It is signed, but I cannot make out the initials. They don't look convincingly like H E, so I am wondering if it was signed by her mother, who perhaps paid for it.

“During the war Skinners’ [Grammar School] had some stand-in female teachers, of whom Miss DALE was one. When I went there in 1949 Miss DALE had left but three others remained for some time (the last left in 1956, the year I also left). I don't know exactly when Miss DALE left but when I first knew her properly (from about 1946/7), she was the curator of the Tunbridge Wells Museum, then on Mount Ephraim. When she gave that up, her assistant, Mrs Edythe Bradley, took over. Soon after then the Museum moved to its present place in the Civic Centre. During her curatorship Miss DALE started up a junior branch of the Tunbridge Wells Natural History and Philosophical Society (NHS), which was very successful. My brother Chris and I were keen members.

“From the Museum she went into teaching. One of the posts she occupied was at a school in Hastings, to which she commuted daily in her car (she was one of the few car-owners on the estate in the 1940s). She was in that post in 1956, during the Suez crisis. My mother’s family come from Westfield, near Hastings, and she got a lift with Miss DALE to visit in 1956. Petrol was rationed and I remember my mother saying Miss DALE switched off the engine downhill, to save petrol, but not to tell my father! She was still running the junior NHS in 1953/4, when she was presumably still at the museum.

“At some time Miss DALE got her final position at Kent College, the private school on the Pembury Road, that still exists. At some point (I don't remember when, late 1960s, 70s or 80s) I was in touch with the headmistress of Kent College for a different reason, and the subject of Miss DALE came up. The story in Ravenswood Avenue was that Miss DALE had been engaged, but the war ended that. There was also a story about her B Sc, which she said was an aegrotat. There was some slight scepticism from my parents about these points. The headmistress asked me about the B Sc in terms that suggested that she also was sceptical. I know no more about that, and I don't know which college/university was involved. When I communicated with the headmistress, she told me that Miss DALE had died a year or two previously.

“Miss DALE was extremely encouraging and helpful to me. Whatever her formal qualifications, she was a very good teacher and very good with young people. Talking with my brother Chris about her recently he told me something I didn't know or had forgotten. Miss DALE, like Chris, was into amateur dramatics, and was helpful to Chris in that field too.”

A GRO birth record at Fulham, London in 1912/3 shows Miss H E DALE was born as Howardine Elizabeth DALE, mother’s maiden name CHURCHFIELD. There is a GRO marriage record at St Giles, London in 1917/4 between Lydia Lewis CHUCHFIELD and Howard DALE. Howardine is a very uncommon female christian name, mainly used in America, and appears to be a reference to her father’s name of Howard. She doesn’t appear to have used it throughout her life, being referred to as either Elizabeth, her middle name, or as Miss H E DALE.

There is a GRO birth record at Fulham in 1880/1 for Lydia Lewis CHURCHFIELD, mother’s maiden name LEWIS, and a baptism at Christ Church, Steatham Hill, London on 2 May 1880 for Lydia Lewis CHURCHFIELD, the daughter of Mary Ann and William CHURCHFIELD, a coachman of New Park Road. The 1891 Census shows Lydia with her parents living at 17 St Georges Mews, St George Hanover Square, London, and the 1901 Census living at 37 Finsbury Road, Kensington, London. An Ancestry family tree shows she is descended from Joseph CHURCHFIELD (1774-1842) in Surrey.

Miss DALE’s father Howard DALE has led a rather confusing life! The 1939 Register shows he was born on 12 April 1865 but there is no record of a birth at the GRO. However, there is a birth record at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1865/2 for Robert Percy DALE, mother’s maiden name PROUD, and the 1871 Census shows him aged five living at 4 Lax’s Court, Newcastle-upon-Tyne with his father Frederick W DALE and mother Elizabeth DALE, and two older siblings, all three of them born in Newcastle. The GRO has a marriage record at West Derbyshire in 1851/2 for Frederick Walter DALE and Elizabeth PROUD, confirming Howard’s birth as Robert Percy DALE.

The 1871 Census is the last reference to Robert Percy DALE I can find, and for the rest of his life he was known as Howard DALE, including in all official records. The 1881 Census shows him as Howard DALE aged 16, working as a commercial clerk for a steamship owner, and still living with his family at Lax’s Court. There is a GRO marriage at Newcastle in 1888/4 for Howard DALE and Annie ROBSON and the 1891 Census shows them living at 4 Sydney Road, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey with their daughter Hylda aged six months and a general servant. Howard was 36 years old and working as a shipbroker, and Annie was 34 years old and born in Newcastle. It therefore appears Annie and Howard moved from Newcastle to Richmond after their marriage, and the 1901 Census shows them still living at Richmond with Hylda now aged ten.

There are several newspaper reports between 1900 and 1910 showing Howard was living at Richmond at that time. One in 1900 shows he was the Secretary of Richmond Camera Club, and one in 1906 reporting him singing a song at a concert held by St John’s League, Richmond, at which his daughter Hylda also performed a song and a pianoforte duet. A report in January 1909 referred to Howard Dale being the Warden of St John’s Men’ Club and a 1909 report say he was a crime victim when his house in Richmond was broken into while it was unoccupied.

Between 1901 and 1911, Annie and Howard appear to have split up because in the 1911 Census Annie is living back in Newcastle at 82 Hazelwood Avenue with Hylda, now aged 20 and working as an afternoon governess. Howard, still working as a ship broker, was living at 21 Mentone Mansions, Fulham Road, Kensington, London with Rita DALE, aged 30 born in Belgravia. I have not been able to find out who Rita was, but they were still together in the 1921 Census living at 1 Branston Road, Richmond, when Howard was working as a steamship manager for Walford Lines Ltd in the City of London.

There is now more mystery to Howard because it will be recalled that Miss H E DALE was born on 24 May 1912, and there is a GRO marriage record in 1917/4 at St Giles, London for Howard DALE and Lydia Lewis CHURCHFIELD (Miss DALE’s mother). Howard was able to marry Lydia because on 14 December 1916, he divorced his first wife Annie. The Newcastle Daily Journal reported the court hearing, ‘In 1907 petitioner [Annie] received an anonymous letter accusing the respondent [Howard] of infidelity. He admitted it was true. Petitioner forgave him on his promise that he would not commit himself again. In 1909 petitioner went into a rest home where she remained a year. The daughter had been sent to friends in Newcastle, and when petitioner came out of the home, respondent suggested she should also go to Newcastle. She went, and since then they had not lived together’.

The Liverpool Echo also reported the court hearing, adding it was an, ‘undefended petition of Mrs Annie Dale, residing at Newcastle, for a dissolution of her marriage with her husband, Mr Howard Dale, a Liverpool shipping clerk, on the ground of his desertion and cruelty...the parties were married in 1888, and there was one child born in 1890... In 1913, the petioner, following information, went to Ormskirk. She there saw a lady and a child about one year old. She later interviewed her husband. She went home to Newcastle, the husband holding out hopes that things would be all right. These hopes were not realised. The respondent was now in another part of Liverpool living with a l.ady.’

The one-year-old child that Annie saw in Ormskirk was almost certainly Miss DALE and the lady her mother Lydia, but who was the lady he was living with at the time of the court hearing? Was it Rita DALE who he was living with in the 1911 and 1921 Census, or somebody else? Strangely, I have not been able to find any record of Miss DALE or her mother Lydia in the 1921 Census. Miss DALE would have been nine years old and presumably living with her mother. In fact, I have not been able to find any record of Miss DALE since her birth, or of her mother, until 1939.

The 1939 Register shows Howardine E DALE born 24 May 1912 (aged 27), working as a science mistress (biology) and living at 15 The Drive, Beckenham, Kent, with her father Howard DALE, working as a printer’s departmental manager, and her mother. This is also the first record for Howard DALE I have been able to find since his entry in the 1921 Census with Rita DALE.

As previously mentioned, between 1948 and 1964 Miss DALE lived at 48 Hilbert Road, initally with both her parents. On 21 May 1950, Howard DALE died and his Obituary was reported in the 26 May Courier as follows, ‘The death occurred on Monday at the Kent and Sussex Hospital of Mr Howard Dale of 48 Hilbert Road, Tunbridge Wells. Mr Dale, who was 85, retired two years ago from a London printing firm. He was a keen musician and photographer. He is survived by his wife and his daughter, Miss E Dale, who is curator of Tunbridge Wells museum. Cremation took place yesterday at Charing.’ There is a GRO death record at Tonbridge in 1963/3 for Miss DALE’s mother, Lydia L Dale, aged 83 years.

Miss DALE was living at 48 Hilbert Road as early as February 1948 when the 20 February Courier published an advertisement for tickets for a social by Skinners’ School Young Farmers’ Club being available at 48 Hilbert Road. Clive Stace (104 Ravenswood Avenue) said Miss DALE had been a teacher at Skinners’ before becoming the Curator of Tunbridge Wells Museum.

Miss DALE moved from 48 Hilbert Road to Gabriel Cottage, Romford Road, Pembury and telephone books list her there between 1968 and 1981. Clive STACE (104 Ravenswood Avenue) said Miss DALE’s final position was at Kent College, Pembury Road, Tunbridge Wells from where she retired as Head of the Service Department in 1976. In March 1979 she went back to the college to open a new laboratory complex. The event was reported in the 16 March 1979 Courier that included two photographs of her (below).

In the following edition of the Courier (23 March), under the heading ‘Miss Dale plans to buy a pony and trap’, the paper published the following (above right), ‘After retiring from teaching more than three years ago, Miss H E Dale of Gabriel Cottage, Romford Road, Pembury, is planning to buy herself a pony and trap for shopping trips and visiting friends. The former head of science at Kent College, Pembury, she said before her retirement she had worked out the costs of running a car and had decided buying a horse would be much cheaper. “Besides”, she added, “there is the friendship element. You can’t make friends with a car, but you can with a horse.”

‘She thought she would try to buy a pony and trap within the next three years, and was excited at the prospect, remembering her childhood days when the family had one. She said she had thoroughly enjoyed her retirement and could not understand why people dreaded the prospect. She now enjoys “gadding” around the countryside and abroad – something she was unable to do fully when still teaching. “When you teach and have responsibilities you don’t feel you can have the time in the summer holidays to de exhaustive tours”, she said. “When I was younger I used to tear around all over the country and used to think nothing of cycling around Devon and Cornwall.” ’

I haven’t been able to find out if Miss DALE ever bought her pony and trap. Could her reference to ‘when I was younger...cycling around Devon and Cornwall’ give a clue as to where she lived during that period between 1913 and 1939 when I haven’t been able to find out anything about her, or her mother Lydia?

I don’t know how long Miss DALE stayed at Gabriel Cottage but according to probate records she eventually moved to Birkin Lodge, Camden Park, Tunbridge Wells, a care and nursing home, where she died on 20 April 1993. There is a GRO death record at Tunbridge Wells in 1993 for Howardine Elizabeth DALE, born 24 May 1912. She was 81 years old.

There is still much mystery surrounding Miss DALE, her mother Lydia CHURCHFIELD, her father Howard DALE and his first wife Annie Elizabeth ROBSON, as well as the mysterious Rita DALE with who he lived in 1911 and 1921. The record of Miss DALE in the 1939 Register, the 1948-1963 street directories and the 1950-1964 telephone books suggests she was the main occupier of 15 The Drive, Beckenham and 48 Hilbert Road, whereas you would normally expect one of her parents (usually the father) to be the main occupier.

Finally, let me add another possible twist: it will be recalled Clive STACE (104 Ravenswood Avenue) described the signed butterfly book he was given by Miss DALE in 1948. Compare (right) the signature of ‘Dale’ in it with the signature of ‘DALE’ on the 1911 Census return submitted by Annie DALE nee robson, Miss DALE’s father’s first wife. They appear very similar, considering they were made 27 years apart.

52 Hilbert Road (now 74 Hilbert Road) – Simon LEVETT

I vaguely remember Simon LEVETT but never got friendly with him. The GRO has a birth at Tonbridge in 1940/4 for Alan LEVETT and John LEVETT (twins) and 1943/1 for Simon E LEVETT, all mother CANE. Sadly, the GRO has two deaths at Tonbridge in 1940/4 for Alan and John LEVETT, both aged 0. I don’t think Simon married because I cannot find any possible marriages for him at the GRO.

An Ancestry family tree shows Simon as Simon Edmund LEVETT and his parents as Vincent James LEVETT (1905-1997) and Lucy Florence CANE (1907-1987), descended from John LEVETT (1720-1780) from Berwick, East Sussex. The tree does not show a marriage for Simon but that he died in 2015, and probate records show he died on 8 January 2015. By coincidence, Simon’s great grandfather William LEVETT (1809-1867) married Mary PAGE (1818-1891) both from Wilmington, East Sussex, but I haven’t been able to connect her with my East Sussex PAGE family.

Clive STACE (104 Ravenswood Avenue): “Near the rec gates, Simon who not long ago still lived there.”

Sidney Frank Eade, 10 Hilbert Road, and Nina Doris Ablett Wedding.

Pat Taylor, 20 Hilbert Road, aged eight weeks in 1936 with her mum and dad, by the front door of 20 Hilbert Road – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

Above right: Pat Tayler, in 1941 by the front door of 20 Hilbert Road showing the original house name of ‘Hillside’. The back garden sloped slightly upwards from the house which is why her parents called it ‘Hillside’ and not ‘Hilltop’! – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

Pat Taylor visited 20 (now 42) Hilbert Road in 1987 to show her children where she was born, and noticed the mountain ash tree was still there, albeit somewhat trimmed, but was gone by the time Google Earth got there! – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

Pauline Skinner, 26 Hilbert Road, on her wedding day in early 1956 when she married Maurice A Ingerfield. Maurice – photo thanks Carol Campbell nee Smith.

Patricia Eade, 28 Hilbert Road, and David HUXTABLE wedding.

In the Home Buyer section of the 7 February 1991 Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, 52 Hilbert Road was featured.

The Blaker family, 32 (now 54) Hilbert Road, (l to r) Carole, Philip, Eve and Michael – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

Just inside the Hilbert Recreation Ground (l to r) Michael Blaker, 32 Hilbert Road; unknown; Carole Blaker, 32 Hilbert Road; Patricia Tayler; unknown and Mrs Chatfield, 50 Hilbert Road – photo thanks Patricia Skittrall nee Tayler.

Sheila Still, 40 Hilbert Road, and George Topping wedding – photo thanks Courier.

Graham Geer pictured about 1960 – photo thanks Blakkalendar website.

The front page of the 28 February 1958 Courier.

Christine Still, 40 Hilbert Road, St Barnabas School c1950 – photo thanks Susan Muffett Sims, Facebook RTWPP

Miss H E Dale (Howardine Elizabeth Dale) pictured in 1979 – photo thanks Courier.

The signature in the butterfly book given to Clive Stace (104 Ravenswood Avenue) by Miss H E Dale in 1948 – photo thanks Clive Stace.

Extract from the 24 April 1909 Surrey Herald reporting Howard Dale’s house being broken into.

Advertisement from the 20 February 1948 Courier offering tickets for a social by Skinners’ School Young Farmer’ Club at 48 Hilbert Road.

Newspaper reports of the divorce of Howard and Annie Dale nee Robson on 16 December 1916: (above) the 15 December 1916 Newcastle Journal and (below) the 14 December 1916 Liverpool Echo.

The obituary of Howard Dale published in the 26 May 1950 Courier.

A comparison between ‘Dale’ in the 1948 signature in the butterfly book given to Clive Stace (top) and the 1911 Census return submitted by Miss Dale’s father’s first wife Annie Elizabeth Dale nee Robson (bottom).

Extract from the 16 March 1979 Courier reporting Miss H E Dale opening a new laboratory complex at Kent College, Pembury, (click on image to enlarge it).

Article from the 23 March 1979 Courier reporting Miss Dale’s retirement plans.