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Leamington’s Victorian Legacy
The second in our series of videos about the history of Leamington tells the story of Leamington’s development during the Victorian Age, and reveals how many of Leamington’s most famous landmarks came into being.
Major Harry Gem – Pioneer of Lawn Tennis
Major Thomas Henry (Harry) Gem was born in Birmingham on the 21st of May 1819. His father was a local solicitor dealing with criminal cases and was also clerk to the Birmingham Magistrates. After studying at King’s College, London, Harry also pursued a career in the law and joined his father’s chambers in Moor Street. … Read more
Feldon School
Feldon School was set up at Milverton Hill by Dr J.L. and Mrs S.A. Matthews in the summer of 1950. They had taken over a small private school, ‘Ardmore’ based at 69 Willes Road/corner of Leam Terrace in September 1948, when Ardmore’s previous owners left to run a boarding establishment in Monmouth. In a matter … Read more
Edith Devis
Edith Devis was a prominent businesswoman in Royal Leamington Spa in the 1920s and 1930s. She was born Edith Clark in Brigg in Lincolnshire in 1882. She moved to the Midlands in the early 1900s and in June 1906 she married Walter Dowding who had been the landlord of the Golden Fleece in Loughborough since … Read more
59 Beauchamp Avenue: A Short History of the House and its Residents
The house I grew up in, which we know today as 59 Beauchamp Avenue has not always been No. 59, or even Beauchamp Avenue. When the first plans for the development of this part of Leamington’s ‘New Town’ were made in 1825, the street was going to be called Newbold Terrace. When it was … Read more
E Francis & Sons, Bath Street
Until about 1790 Bath Street was the site of an orchard with a few cottages and outbuildings. William Abbotts discovered Leamington’s second spring on the land adjoining the former Bath Hotel, where he built the first hot and cold baths, demolished in 1867 by Frederick William Francis in order to extend his store. Mr Francis … Read more
Eric Taylor, Leamington-born Musician and Gamelan Pioneer
Eric Robert Taylor was born in Leamington on 5th May 1928. He attended Warwick School, where he distinguished himself as a musician. He also sang in the choir at St Mary’s Church, Warwick. In 1945, he made the pages of the Leamington Courier, – where it was announced that “Eric R Taylor has added lustre … Read more
Cricket in Leamington
ONE OF OUR EARLY ARTICLES As 19th Century Leamington metamorphosed from village into prestigious spa town, and eminent medical men advised exercise in addition to taking the waters, many sports associations sprang up here. Leamington could boast a Real Tennis Club, the first venue for Lawn Tennis (on the site of the present Manor Court … Read more
Bath Place School in the 1940s
History Group Member Jeff Clarke was a pupil at Bath Place School just after WW2, until he left to take up an Apprenticeship at Henry Griffiths’ jewellery factory at the age of 15. He recorded these reminiscences of his school days with Margaret Rushton. He remembers the overcrowding, in the Infants, Juniors and Seniors, – … Read more
Christmas Island
I was posted to Christmas Island in the territory of Australia in 1957, from RAF Wyton in Huntingdonshire, just after getting engaged to my future wife, Evelynn. Plans for marriage were put on hold, and my fiancée and her cousin Doreen spent the time while I was away making a wedding dress and preparing for … Read more
admin
Leamington’s Victorian Legacy
The second in our series of videos about the history of Leamington tells the story of Leamington’s development during the Victorian Age, and reveals how many of Leamington’s most famous landmarks came into being.
Major Harry Gem – Pioneer of Lawn Tennis
Major Thomas Henry (Harry) Gem was born in Birmingham on the 21st of May 1819. His father was a local solicitor dealing with criminal cases and was also clerk to the Birmingham Magistrates. After studying at King’s College, London, Harry also pursued a career in the law and joined his father’s chambers in Moor Street. … Read more
Feldon School
Feldon School was set up at Milverton Hill by Dr J.L. and Mrs S.A. Matthews in the summer of 1950. They had taken over a small private school, ‘Ardmore’ based at 69 Willes Road/corner of Leam Terrace in September 1948, when Ardmore’s previous owners left to run a boarding establishment in Monmouth. In a matter … Read more
Edith Devis
Edith Devis was a prominent businesswoman in Royal Leamington Spa in the 1920s and 1930s. She was born Edith Clark in Brigg in Lincolnshire in 1882. She moved to the Midlands in the early 1900s and in June 1906 she married Walter Dowding who had been the landlord of the Golden Fleece in Loughborough since … Read more
59 Beauchamp Avenue: A Short History of the House and its Residents
The house I grew up in, which we know today as 59 Beauchamp Avenue has not always been No. 59, or even Beauchamp Avenue. When the first plans for the development of this part of Leamington’s ‘New Town’ were made in 1825, the street was going to be called Newbold Terrace. When it was … Read more
E Francis & Sons, Bath Street
Until about 1790 Bath Street was the site of an orchard with a few cottages and outbuildings. William Abbotts discovered Leamington’s second spring on the land adjoining the former Bath Hotel, where he built the first hot and cold baths, demolished in 1867 by Frederick William Francis in order to extend his store. Mr Francis … Read more
Eric Taylor, Leamington-born Musician and Gamelan Pioneer
Eric Robert Taylor was born in Leamington on 5th May 1928. He attended Warwick School, where he distinguished himself as a musician. He also sang in the choir at St Mary’s Church, Warwick. In 1945, he made the pages of the Leamington Courier, – where it was announced that “Eric R Taylor has added lustre … Read more
Cricket in Leamington
ONE OF OUR EARLY ARTICLES As 19th Century Leamington metamorphosed from village into prestigious spa town, and eminent medical men advised exercise in addition to taking the waters, many sports associations sprang up here. Leamington could boast a Real Tennis Club, the first venue for Lawn Tennis (on the site of the present Manor Court … Read more
Bath Place School in the 1940s
History Group Member Jeff Clarke was a pupil at Bath Place School just after WW2, until he left to take up an Apprenticeship at Henry Griffiths’ jewellery factory at the age of 15. He recorded these reminiscences of his school days with Margaret Rushton. He remembers the overcrowding, in the Infants, Juniors and Seniors, – … Read more
Christmas Island
I was posted to Christmas Island in the territory of Australia in 1957, from RAF Wyton in Huntingdonshire, just after getting engaged to my future wife, Evelynn. Plans for marriage were put on hold, and my fiancée and her cousin Doreen spent the time while I was away making a wedding dress and preparing for … Read more
