We are pleased to announce that our new video is now available online This is the fourth in a series of videos created by Leamington History Group and local filmmaker Mark Ellis chronicling the history of the town. It shows how Leamington recovered after 1945 to become a thriving industrial and tourist town. We also hear the … Read more
Delivering Newspapers for W H Smith My friend Chris advised me that he was leaving WHS and asked if I wanted a job. I certainly did! The hours were 7-8 a.m. Monday to Saturday and the Education Committee issued a card stating when I was allowed work and for how long. Chris was with me … Read more
I was wondering, lonely as a cloud, through the Archive the other day and was thinking about the Blue Plaque that was put up in September 2023 to William Munger Heynes. William Munger Heynes was a man who was instrumental in the design, performance and production of so much of Jaguar’s successful days after WW2. … Read more
Our new Free Town Trail is based on a Commonwealth Theme to echo the Games this summer. It will be a free guided walk around Central Leamington to learn more about the town’s past connections with the Commonwealth. The walk will visit around ten locations including the Royal Pump Room, the Town Hall, Imperial House … Read more
Derek was a long-time member of the Leamington History Group who sadly passed away in July 2021. He was always keen to contribute to the activities of the Group and he was particularly noted for his collection of items relating to the history of the town and his huge collection of photographs. He was a … Read more
Betty Monica Still In an interview a couple of years ago with Betty Still, Betty recounted her early life in Leamington and her work as a telephonist up to and through WW2, in Leamington and Coventry. She was born at 4 Victoria Road Leamington Spa. When she was five, the family moved to 42 Willes … Read more
Harry Warr joined his father George* in business as a plumber and house decorator when he left Clapham Terrace School aged thirteen in 1923. By the outbreak of WW2, he had become a Special Constable, and joined the Police War Reserve. In October 1943, Harry was drafted into the Navy, and the business was ‘mothballed’ … Read more
We are proud to launch our new video on 12th August 2021. This follows the story of our town from 1900 to around 1930. Simply click on the image above or this title “Life After Victoria” This video follows our two earlier ones entitled “Birth of a Spa Town” and “Leamington’s Victorian Legacy”. We particularly … Read more
Lockdown Living History Research Challenge Thank you to all contributors for the Leamington History Group’s Living History Lockdown Project. A new contribution from a youngster was added on 29th April. The ‘Leamington Scrubbers’ When the Covid pandemic took hold, Ashleigh Linsdell, a nurse from Cambridge, started a grass-roots movement For the Love of Scrubs to … Read more
In the days before mobile phones, as far as I have been able to discover, this system for contacting police officers on the beat, or allowing them to contact the station, was in use in Leamington from 1941 to about 1956. I have managed to find the location of nine of the known pillars, and … Read more
We are delighted at the success of our first video, “Birth of a Spa Town” We have commissioned a sequel following the life of the town in the second half of the nineteenth century. It will be entitled “Leamington’s Victorian Legacy” and we expect it to be available before the end of October 2020. This … Read more
Charles Richard Burgis was descended from a line of traders in Oxfordshire going back to the late 17th century. Some of our Burgis ancestors were millers in Benson, and I have a certificate of Indenture of a James Burgess, dated 1761, from his apprenticeship to Henry Goodwin, a Tallow Chandler and Soap Boiler in Benson. … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
July 22, 2026
June 9, 2026