- Screen Colours:
- Normal
- Black & Yellow
TIMELINE PART 4. 1800-1901
Towards Modern Times.
1800 |
In the December of this year a man called Collins was committed for trial for stealing one rabbit from the warren of Mr. R. Eagle of Lakenheath. |
1802 |
RICHARD ROLPH, a bricklayer of Lakenheath, published an account of his conversion to Christianity, entitled ‘The Life of R Rolph, the Blind Peasant of Lakenheath, composed by himself’. It contains details of his life in the village, poems and some hymns. This book, endorsed by Rev. J T BUTT, Vicar of Lakenheath, who purchased 10 copies, was so well received that several editions were printed. It’s still available on-line today. |
1802 |
During the Napoleonic Wars invasion by France was feared. |
1804 |
Lieutenant Robert Eagle, of the LAKENHEATH AND WANGFORD VOLUNTEERS, son of ROBERT EAGLE of Lakenheath Hall, died, probably as a result of an accident. |
|
Read about local Volunteer Companies. The Lakenheath and Wangford Volunteers. |
1805 |
The Battle of Trafalgar took place. |
1812-15 |
America and Great Britain were at war. The United States were sympathetic towards the French Republic. |
1812 |
Undley Common was enclosed, ending medieval commoners rights there. |
1812 |
Belts of pines were beginning to be planted in the Brecks as wind-breaks. |
1815 |
The Battle of Waterloo saw the end of the war with France. |
1815 |
The CORN LAW was enacted by Parliament. |
1815-83 |
JOHN PELLS, Deputy Grand Falconer of England was born at Lowestoft. In 1843 he was in charge of the falcons at Feltwell Hall, and in 1860 he demonstrated the skills of Falconry at Sandringham before the Prince of Wales. On his retirement he lived at Goward House in the High Street. |
Goward House about 1900
1816 |
The Littleport Riots caused great fear and concern in the region. |
|
|
1816 |
Rev. JOHN BARNES, a local land owner, but never the vicar of Lakenheath, died aged 97 and was buried in St. Mary’s Church. He was a benefactor of the church. |
1819 |
Mr. R Eagle’s daughter Charlotte was “married from the Hall” to a Mr. W Clark of Thetford. |
1821 |
There were now 239 houses in the village giving a population of 1,042. |
1822 |
Transportation of felons to Australia had been taking place since 1788 but this is the year of the first transportation from the village that I can find. |
1822 |
Robert and William Eagle have become trustees of Evans’ Charity. |
1823-25 |
The vicar, Rev. BUTT, brought legal actions against Mr. R EAGLE of North Lawn Cottage, later called ‘The Retreat’, for non-payment of a Tithe which had been outstanding for several years. |
|
Read about Butt v Eagle: The Church Rate and Tithe Disputes. |
1827 |
Robert Eagle had applied at the Bury Assizes in 1795 to divert the ‘old highway’ in Lakenheath at his own expense. Justices of the Peace eventually certified that it had been done ‘properly’ and was fit for use and that the old highway could be ‘stopped up’. |
1827 |
A newly established Turnpike Trust High extended the High Street to allow heavier transport between the village and Hockwold. Not long after, a timber suspension bridge was built over the river Ouse at Wilton. |
1829 |
Mr. R Eagle’s postillion was ‘lost’ whilst returning a horse to Mildenhall which had been hired or borrowed after having taken his employer home. Bad weather was said to have caused his death. |
1829 |
The decision to found the Metropolitan Police was partly influenced by the Corn Law riots in London and nearby regions. |
1830 |
Robert Eagle died aged 73. He had probably built the house known as Northlawn Cottage and which much later became the Retreat. See photo’s. |
1831 |
A WILLIAM EAGLE was now at the forefront of legal objections to Tithe payments to the Ecclesiastical Authorities. This probably was the William Eagle who was the major land owner in the village. |
1831 |
The village had 1,209 inhabitants, an increase of 167 in ten years. |
|
|
1833 |
The Lakenheath and Hockwold Turnpike Trust were advertising. The turnpike may have run as far as Methwold, but it should not be confused with the mail-coach turnpike which crossed SE of the village on the way from London to Norwich via Thetford. |
|
|
1835 |
The Lakenheath and Hockwold Turnpike Trust was dissolved and the gates removed. |
1835 |
The Methodist Chapel on Back Street was built, replacing the Anchor Lane chapel. |
|
Read about Lakentheath Methodist Church. By Derek Banks. |
1835 |
A new Poor Law was passed and ‘Mildenhall Poor Law Union’ was formed. A new workhouse was built which also provided for Lakenheath. Desperately poor people were beginning to consider emigration. |
1837 |
Following the death of King William IV at Buckingham Palace Queen Victoria ascended the throne. |
1838 |
The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into force. |
1844 |
Lieutenant WILLIAM BANGS who had been promoted from the ranks in the Army was living in the village. Such a promotion was exceptionally rare. |
1844-5 |
West Suffolk County Constabulary was formed to police urban and rural areas and Justices of the Peace were delegated to appoint a Chief Constable. |
1844 | CHARLES CASH came into some land which was then called Mill Hill. The original transfer parchment can be seen in the story about a tenancy bequest (below). |
Read about how a tenancy could change hands. |
1845 |
The Baptist Chapel on Mill Road was built. |
1844-45 |
The first steam railway in Suffolk, built by The Northern and Eastern and Norfolk railways, connected Cambridge to Brandon via Lakenheath and shortly after was extended to Norwich. This made Lakenheath and Brandon the first places in Suffolk to receive steam trains. Robert Stephenson was the engineer. |
1846 |
The repeal of the CORN LAWS allowed grain to be imported, and so the price of bread began to fall. |
1847 |
Two ‘ballast-men’ working on the line not far from Lakenheath were killed by a runaway waggon. |
1847 |
Greenwich Mean Time was adopted by Railway Companies to make possible standardised railway arrivals and departures as well as reliable timetables. Travel was now truly reliable for the first time. |
1850 |
Lakenheath still had village constables. They were JAMES TRUDGETT, GEORGE PAYNE, ROBERT CASH and PHILIP READER who were all local farmers. They should not be confused with the new ‘professional‘ constables of the County Constabulary but were appointed by the local JP’s and were the last remnants of the ancient village law and order system. |
1850 |
The noise of passing trains caused the Lakenheath decoy established by Sir S Stewart to be discontinued because they frightened away wild-fowl. TOM WILLIAMS rented the decoy from Mr. W Eagle and was said to be 109 when he drowned after falling into a ditch in the fen. |
1850 |
Pillar boxes were introduced showing that many more letters were being written. Wall pillar boxes had been in use for some time. Early on they were painted green. The efficiency of the railway system had dramatically improved communication enabling letters to be sent rapidly to many parts of the country. |
1853 |
One of the most celebrated bare-knuckle fights took place at Lakenheath between NAT LANGHAM from Hinkley in Leicestershire and TOM SAYERS from Camden Town, both famous pugilists, ending in the defeat of Sayers. The fight lasted for 2 hours, or 60 rounds. |
1854 |
Brandon gun flints were used in the Crimean War. When flint-lock guns became obsolete hard times came to Brandon. |
1854 |
THOMAS PAYNE of Lakenheath was fined 5 shillings for refusing to have his child vaccinated, probably against smallpox. Vaccination became the socially responsible thing to do. |
1859 | ‘The Origin of the Species’ by Charles Darwin was published. |
1859 |
Guilty of Theft. |
1860 |
A new vicarage was built on Back Street behind the church. In the 20th C it became the Village Home and when it closed, became apartments for rent. It’s now called Shakespeare House! |
1861 |
Lakenheath Hall was for sale. The sale catalogue advertised, “Estate and dwelling house known as the the Cottage and the ruins of the ancient Hall House”. The seller was possibly Mr. W S Eagle who had been the owner of the so called ‘Lakenheath Cross’, an anglo-saxon jewel which is in the British Museum. Now known as the Wilton Gold Cross, it was probably found at or near Hockwold. |
1861 |
EMMA LUCY ROLPH also known as the ‘Governess’ was born. She became Head of the Infant School and a benefactor of St. Mary’s, presenting the church with its organ in memory of her parents and her sister. There’s more about Emma in the School story later at 1877. |
1863 |
The Elveden Estate was purchased for DULEEP SINGH. |
1864 |
Some restoration was carried out on St. Mary’s Church. |
1864 |
Is this the first landing from the air on the Warren? |
1865 | According to The Post Office Directory of this year the village had a Postmaster, WILLIAM HOUSEHOLD. There was also a Money Order Office and Savings Bank as part of the Post Office. William was also a grocer, draper, ironmonger and farmer. The Directory shows WILLIAM GRAHAM EAGLE as ‘owning the greater part of the land’ in and around the village. The village seems to have been well served by two boys schools and one ‘Dames’ school. Dames schools were schools for girls run by women. The boys schools were funded by endowments by George Goward, Messrs. Evans and Kitchener. (See Lakenheath Charities in Timeline Part 3). Carriers to Bury were SAMUEL WILLIAMS and WILLIAM BOWERS who offered a service each Wednesday and Saturday. Suffolk Heritage Explorer. Heritage.suffolk.gov.uk |
1866 | Bradshaw’s Railway Handbook gave the population of the village as 1797. |
1867 | The Reform Act doubled the number of people able to vote, but you had to be male and either owning property or paying rent of more than £10 p.a. |
1869 | DULEEP SINGH acquired the Eriswell estate. |
1869 | The National Provident Institution are now Lords of Lakenheath Manor PO Directory 1869 |
1870 | The Forster Act introduced Elementary education through the establishment of Board Schools. Education in the village had been available to those who could pay for some time by chapels or by charitable endowments. However, education still had to be paid for. |
1871 |
Local Government Boards were established to cover Health and Poor Law Commissions. |
1872 |
Lakenheath Manor and land was sold to Duleep Singh and the Warren was mined for its sand and gravel. Duleep repaired and improved the Lakenheath quays and cleared out the lode. |
|
|
1872 |
After years of extremely dubious electoral practices the secret ballot was introduced. |
1873 |
Urban and Rural Sanitary Authorities were formed under the Public Health Act and took over the operations of the Poor Law Unions. |
1875 |
The West Suffolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed. |
1875 | There was a major flood on Lakenheath Fen and the Lakenheath inundation relief fund was set up. Mr T. WADDELOW of Undley Lodge and the vicar Rev F. G. SCRIVENER appealed for help to the inhabitants of Bournemouth! " ...... to the distressed parish of Lakenheath". And "Through the bursting of a bank which protected the Fen, some 3000 acres in this parish alone are under water ......". The Poole and South Western Herald, Thursday December 16th 1875 1875This disaster destroyed the season's crops and made farming very difficult. Wheat ricks, straw, hay and all root vegetables were washed away. It will certainly have led to considerable hardship for the small farmers and their families. |
1876 |
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. |
1877 |
The Elveden Estate became one of the best ‘sporting’ estates in the country and provided casual work for Lakenheath villagers as ‘brushers’ or beaters. It was often visited by Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and his mistress, Lily Langtree, a well-known actress. |
1877 |
A new school was built. It opened with 108 pupils but had a capacity of 220 ‘mixed’ and 100 infants. |
|
|
|
‘Lakenheath School. A Centenary Poem.’ Wally Hebden, Headteacher, written in 1970. |
1880 |
The Elementary Education Act introduced ‘education for all’ which was compulsory up to the age of 10 and remained largely in force, apart from the raising of the leaving age, until 1944. Free education became law in 1891. |
1882 |
A Parliamentary Order in Council ordered the discontinuance of burials in St. Mary’s Churchyard. |
1884 |
DR. Alfred Joseph PICKWORTH came to the village. Not only did he provide medical care but he was also a Methodist minister. Later he owned the first car in the village. He died in 1943, a loved and highly esteemed man. |
1885 |
Northlawn Cottage, later to be called The Retreat, was acquired by WILLIAM DUNN MP who was created a Baronet in 1895. He became the first and only Baronet of Lakenheath. |
The Retreat before and after the extensions. Not far from Hall Drive a similar window shape can be seen. Where is it?
1885-86 |
The first motor cars were made by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler and a patent was taken out for the first motorbike by Daimler. Also in this decade the first ‘safety bicycle’ with two wheels of the same size became available and the ‘penny farthing’ became a thing of the past. For the first time ‘getting about’ also made possible travel for leisure for the newly emerging middle classes. |
1891 |
The population was now declared as being 1704 in the parish of Lakenheath and 1825 in the larger civil area of the village. |
1892 |
THE MONCKTON COPEMAN REPORT into environmental sanitation in Lakenheath was published. |
|
|
1893 |
A bankrupted Duleep Singh died in Paris. |
1894 |
The estate and lands of Eriswell were sold to Lord Iveagh. |
1895 |
The Report of the Medical Officer of Health for the Mildenhall Union Rural Sanitary Authority in his 6th Annual Report showed that in general, health in Lakenheath had improved and that old age was the leading cause of death. |
1895 | On Saturday August 3rd the Weslyan School Festival took place. |
The Bury Free Press, Saturday August 3rd 1895
1896 |
The Daily Mail made its first appearance. |
1901 |
Queen Victoria died. There were now 1,637 people living in the village. |