Ethel Rosalie Harraden (Mrs Frank Glover) – 1857-1917. Ethel Rosalie Harraden was born in Islington, the older daughter of Samuel Harraden, a London and Calcutta Agent, and also a musician. She was reputed to have begun composing at the age of five, and later studied at the Royal Academy under Sir Sterndale Bonnett and Dr Dorell. … Read more
ONE OF OUR EARLY ARTICLES Robert William Collier set up his linen draper shop at number 21 Bath Street in late 1860. He was born in Cheltenham in about 1824, and was apprenticed to Robert Whitehouse, draper, of Lower Union Parade, Leamington where he appears on the 1841 census. He would have lived with other … Read more
Bonesetter? What are, or were, bonesetters, you may ask. They were healers, joint manipulators, and setters of fractured bones, long before the advent of X-rays, Plaster of Paris, and now, MRI scans. Often unqualified other than by experience, their ‘trade’ generally ran in families, handed down from father to son or daughter. It used to … Read more
All Saints Church is Leamington’s original, and until the early days of the nineteenth century, the only parish church. It is suggested that the building, or at least its predecessor, dated from the 13th. or 14th. century and there is also a mention in the Domesday Book of a priest. The explosion in population brought … Read more
The site for the 1831 Town Hall is land at the corner of High Street and Althorpe Street. It was assembled over a long period and in a rather complicated way. The first Town Hall was built by the Leamington Commissioners who had been appointed under the provisions of an 1825 Act of Parliament. They … Read more
It was from the Wise family that Elizabeth Surcombe the elder purchased the leasehold plot in Bath Street. They owned much of the land south of the river in Leamington Priors, including part of Bath Street, as well as land around Whitnash, Lillington and Warwick. Matthew Wise Snr was one of the principal landowners who … Read more
Herbert Edward Cox, was born in Coventry in 1870, the fifth of seven children born to James and Sarah Cox of Stoney Stanton Road. He attended the Grammar School, and after the death of his father in 1887, still living in the family home, he trained to paint at the Municipal School of Art in … Read more
Occupational shift In the Victorian era between 1841 and 1901, Leamington as a Spa town grew in terms of its population; its size and its wealth. Conversely, according to data extracted from the 1901 Census, Althorpe Street was in comparative decline with evidence of a significant social change. Of the 206 residents, the male:female ratio … Read more
Population growth In 1781, Leamington Priors was a village of 300 people built around a muddy mineral spring and the modern Althorpe Industrial Estate was primarily agricultural land owned by the Church. The next fifty years saw the population of Leamington Priors grow significantly as the Industrial Revolution in Britain gained momentum. The building of … Read more
Beginnings In 1784 Benjamin Satchwell and William Abbotts discovered a spring in Bath Lane in the hamlet of Leamington Priors, and 2 years later opened Abbotts Original Baths. At this time, much of the hamlet and surrounding land was owned by a handful of wealthy families, including the Wise family. In 1783 Bath Lane (not … Read more
Leamington has lost, over the last hundred years or so, three towers. None of these has been of any great architectural merit, although they all have had a measure of curiosity value. The earliest is the so called ‘Pepper pot chapel’, although the Milverton Chapel was its formal title. The chapel, as it was not … Read more
With special thanks to Jeff Clarke for his contribution to this history of Clemens Street.Additions in 2026 are by Michael Jeffs. Clicking on the images will bring up a larger more detailed picture. Leamington or ‘Lamintone’ was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “240 acres of land worth £4 with two mills worth … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
November 7, 2026
November 6, 2026
November 6, 2026