As the village of Leamington Priors rapidly developed into a fashionable spa, the increasing number of visitors and residents required distractions other than simply taking the waters. Bath Street was at the hub of the initial development since most of the springs and the bath houses built around them were in that vicinity. By 1813 … Read more
The name ‘Theatre Royal’ has been used for at least two theatres in the town and it may have occasionally also been applied to another. The first incarnation with the name was the theatre built in Bath Street in 1813. This stood on the east side of the street and was near to the church just … Read more
An article about the Camouflage Directorate which operated in Leamington in the Second Word War can be viewed HERE. This article shows the unveiling a commemorative plaque on the Regent Hotel on 24th September 2025 by the Mayor, Councillor Ruggy Singh. The hotel was the headquarters of the Directorate. The hotel was requisitioned by the … Read more
At the beginning of the Second World War the government had a great deal to think about. One important decision to be made was about the need to prevent damage and destruction by the enemy of vital factories producing materials for defending the country and waging war and other civilian assets such as power stations. … Read more
An article written by Virginia Ironside, daughter of the two recipients of a Blue Plaque. I am delighted that Leamington had chosen to commemorate my parents with a Blue Plaque, because I lived in Lansdowne Circus until I was 2 1/2 and it was here that my parents were happiest. (Their marriage didn’t last long … Read more
Walter Ritchie was the son of a Coventry carpenter who trained with local stonemasons to become a fully -fledged sculptor by the age of 18. He said that they taught him how to hold a hammer and a chisel, – and a crowbar – in his words, “a very useful tool.” After WW2, he was … Read more
Rosa Newmarch was born at 29 Lansdowne Place*, Leamington, the youngest of the family of four boys and three girls of the physician Samuel Jeaffreson. She was an artist, an accomplished musician, linguist, poet, writer, critic and composer, – and a wife and mother. Mrs Newmarch began her … Read more
William Walden Hammond was born the youngest of three surviving children of James and Martha Hammond, in Middlesborough in June 1888. James was an Auctioneer and Appraiser (perhaps now, a valuer,) but before long, he and his family had moved to Cambridgeshire, where he took on the role of hotelier and licensed victualler. Albert, Walden’s … Read more
Robert Leveston Graham (long thought to be his trade name, rather than his given name) was born in the East End of London in 1844, the younger of two sons born to Louisa, the unmarried daughter of Lawrence and Mary Leverston of Stepney. When their mother married, the brothers were raised with their step-siblings in … Read more
Edward Tracy Turnerelli was the grandson of an Italian count. His father Peter was one of the most eminent sculptors of the age and in 1801 became Royal Sculptor in Ordinary to King George III. He carved portrait busts of many members of the Royal Family and enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. One of … Read more
Mrs Fowler, legendary owner of Leamington’s pre-war Blue Café, was born in Derbyshire and grew up in Polesworth, where her father was Vicar of the Parish Church, and Rural Dean. In 1906, at the age of 25, she married George Herbert Fowler, an Oxford-educated mining engineer who was managing director of Arley Colliery in nearby … Read more
Lockheed staff magazine ‘Precision’ dated March 1951 reported: The year is 1951 the year of Britain’s great Festival, with British craftsmanship on show to the world in two great sections – the South Bank site on the River Thames at Waterloo Bridge and the 37 acres of Pleasure Gardens at Battersea. An outstanding feature of … Read more
Contact the Secretary, Margaret Rushton: secretary@leamingtonhistory.co.uk
September 9, 2026
August 12, 2026