Margaret Rushton Frederick George Brown was born in 1835 in Leamington Priors to John and Charlotte Brown. John was a local carpenter and had five surviving children, four sons and one daughter. Three of his sons became policemen – two of them, including Frederick, were sergeants in Leamington Priors Borough Police Force. After school, Frederick first became an … Read more
Two of the attributes of the late Victorians were large families and the multi-skilled “polymath”. There was more to Arthur Conan Doyle than the creation of iconic detective fiction, and to C B Fry who played cricket for Sussex and England who also held a world athletics record, won an FA Cup winner’s medal and … Read more
Take a look at the engraving of the Parade in this article and in particular take a close look at the classical portico on the left of this image, the Palladian style building with the Ionic columns. This engraving first appeared in Hopper’s History of Leamington Priors published in 1842 and has been reproduced in … Read more
Thomas Dawkes, parish clerk of the original All Saints church during the early nineteenth century was a close neighbour of Benjamin Satchwell and witnessed first hand the metamorphosis of Leamington from a small village into a town. His real importance to the researcher lies in the fact that he made copious notes on what he … Read more
Charles Guernsey, Lord Aylesford We are delighted to announce that Lord Aylesford of Packington Park, whose ancestors played such a major role as landowners in the early years of the Spa, has kindly agreed to take on the role of President of Leamington History Group, following the death of Toby Cave in May.
Elizabeth Anne Galton was a Victorian gentlewoman, the eldest of six daughters and three sons born to a wealthy Quaker banking family and related through her mother to the Darwin family. She was not a feisty high-achiever, explorer or philanthropist, but she played a significant role for future historians at least in recording her memories … Read more
The Early Years William Thomas was born the second of four sons in 1799 in Suffolk. In about 1805, the family moved to Gloucestershire. William was apprenticed to the local builder as a a carpenter and joiner, and skills he learned then came in useful in his later career as an architect. All four of … Read more
“Don’t touch it with a barge pole!” A piece of advice that the Hampson family did not heed when purchasing no 8 Lansdowne Circus in 1966. Its bulging gable end wall, run down condition and an elegant two-storey staircase painted ‘fire-engine’ red did not deter us, – it was definitely a heart buy. We loved … Read more
I was recently in Clarendon Street watching the demolition of the old chapel, originally known as the Free Baptist Chapel. The construction came about when a group broke away from the Warwick Street chapel, ostensibly over the lack of provision of a school. The new chapel cost some £2, 098 and was opened in June … Read more
In 1851 at the Great Exhibition Sidney Flavel of Leamington was awarded a medal for his Kitchener cooking range. There is much confusion over this medal, modern descriptions claim it was one of seventeen ‘gold’ medals awarded. However, contemporary accounts only claim “a medal” and suggest a bronze medal, similar to all the other medals … Read more
Ranelagh Gardens, “The Vauxhall of Leamington,” 1811-1846 Leamington’s ten acre Ranelagh Gardens were situated in old town over the canal bridge in Brunswick Street. No doubt named in imitation of the famous Ranelagh Gardens in London, Leamington’s gardens were created at a time when leisure for most people was scarce, when a holiday was … Read more
When I was a young lad growing up in the nineteen- fifties, my father was a baker in the small Warwickshire town of Southam. In 1947 he had purchased the old windmill and the bakery business that went with it and my two brothers and I moved in to the small cottage that went with the … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
June 9, 2026
Nelly (later known as Eleanor Velasco) Thornton was born in Stockwell, London, on 15th April 1880 to Frederick and Sarah Ann Thornton, who was also known as ‘Nellie’. They had...
May 26, 2026
This is Mark’s own brief personal and professional story about how he became interested in the history of Leamington Spa and producing films about the town’s full, varied and fascinating...
May 6, 2026
Acknowledgements to Contributors Writers of Articles Stella BolithoNigel BriggsPeter CoullsBarry FranklinMichael JeffsAllan JenningsMichael PearsonDr Sylvia PinchesMargaret RushtonSidney SysonRichard TaulbutDr John Wilmot Substantial Contributors to Articles. Kay Bugg; Alan Griffin; Dr...