In the early 1970s, Kit and Ivy Reading were interviewed for the 1st edition of the Bath Place Times, painting a vivid picture of their lives and the area where they grew up. The Reading family kept the Althorpe Arms in Althorpe Street for 42 years, until the area became a trading estate in the … Read more
Leamington Priors was one of only four Spa towns in 19th century England to have Bath-chairs as a form of transport, and Thomas Timms played a major role in developing this form of transport. Towards the end of his life, he published a short memoir, detailing his early life and experiences. He was … Read more
Alice Rosa Barker, was born in Wolverhampton in 1843 and was possibly the child of her mother’s 20th pregnancy. She arrived into a world of great change, energy and creativity – only a month after the launch of Brunel’s SS Great Britain. With motion at the very heart of nineteenth century industrial expansion – wider … Read more
From its earliest days as a Spa town, Leamington has always hosted bands and their music. There used to be military bands playing in the Pump Room Gardens every morning in the summer season, – an unwelcome distraction in the early years of the 20th century, for the girls at the Grammar School, sitting examinations … Read more
The British Army has engaged in many heroic actions over the years but few have achieved such legendary status as one during the Crimean War in October 1854. This action, described by The Times reporter present as ‘an atrocity without parallel’ came to be known as The Charge of the Light Brigade and moved the … Read more
The Leamington Priors mineral springs had been exploited by local physicians from the early eighteenth century but it wasn’t until the start of the nineteenth century that they were promoted on a commercial basis. Drinking health-giving mineral waters and regular bathing in them was a well established custom widely practised and known as ‘taking the … Read more
In 1889, middle-aged Sarah Kibbler was a general servant at the home of Dr and Mrs Horniblow, 76 Clarendon Street, Leamington. Her duties included cleaning and taking care of the family, the doctor, his wife, their only son William – and of the family pet, a rat kept in a cage in the scullery. … Read more
Arthur Edward Vicars was born at Winton Lodge in Holly Walk in Leamington on the twenty seventh of July1862. He was the youngest of four children born to William Henry Vicars, a retired colonel in the 61st Regiment of Foot, and his wife Jane. The family lived in some style as befitted a retired Army … Read more
Mary Beamish. 1791 – 1876 From her marriage in 1815 until 1836, Mary Beamish was the farmer’s wife, at Manor Farm Lillington, where her father in law had first become the Wise family’s tenant in 1805. With the help of a housemaid and a dairy maid, she was responsible for the farmhouse, an extensive … Read more
Leamington’s Greatest Footballer G H Green, Capt, 1st left, front row. c 1934 George Henry Green was born in Leamington on May 2nd 1901. As his mother died giving birth, he was brought up by his grandmother in Eagle Street. His father George ( ‘Daddy’ senior) was a painter and decorator who also played … Read more
For a comparatively small town, Leamington Spa can lay claim to five recipients of the Victoria Cross, the world’s most coveted medal for gallantry. The town war memorial on The Parade bears the name of one of these brave men, Arthur Kilby VC, the only one of the local recipients to lose his life … Read more
Leamington Spa has been well served by her members of Parliament since the creation of the Warwick & Leamington constituency in 1885. Several of them achieved high office, two as Attorney General and another as Speaker of the House of Commons. The most distinguished of this group of Parliamentarians however was Anthony Eden, who represented … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
October 16, 2026
October 13, 2026
October 12, 2026