Havering atte Bower 1914 Kelly's Directory

History of Havering atte Bower

Havering Atte Bower Liberty

[comprising Havering, Romford & Hornchurch]

Havering atte Bower is a pleasant village and parish, 3 miles north from Romford station, and 15 from London, in the Southern division of the county, petty sessional division, union and county court district of Romford, rural deanery of Chafford, archdeaconry of Essex,  and Chelmsford diocese; this place gave name to the liberty and peculiar of Havering atte Bower, which included the parishes of Romford, Havering and Hornchurch, but this liberty was abolished by Order in Council, dated 9^th May, 1892. The church of St John the Evangelist, rebuilt by subscription, is an edifice of flint with stone dressings, in the Decorated style; consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle and an embattled tower on the south side containing six bells; the lower stage forms a porch: the church was re-consecrated 13^th April 1878; and contains an ancient font and a memorial by Wyatt to Sir John Smith Burges, bart, who died in 1803 and was buried in this church: an organ was provided in 1902 at a cost of £500; there are 250 sittings. The register dates from the year 1670. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £240, with residence, in the gift of W H Pemberton-Barnes esq, and held since 1909 by the Rev William Bertram Russell Caley MA, of  Pembroke College, Cambridge. A Parish Room was presented to the village in 1903 by Mrs Pemberton-Barnes. This is one of the few villages in England in which the ancient stocks may still be seen, and here they stand on the green facing the church. Havering is believed to have been once the seat of Saxon royalty, for, according to traditionary accounts, Edward the Confessor built a palace here, or improved one more ancient: the portions extant are not sufficient to determine the limits of the original building, whatever it may have been; it is certain, however, that this monarch frequently lived here in retirement.. Havering Park is the seat of Mrs McIntosh, lady of the manor of the liberty and principal landowner, the mansion, occupying part of the site of the old palace of the Confessor, is an elegant modern building with a tower and is pleasantly situated on an eminence, surrounded by extensive pleasure grounds and a finely wooded park of 250 acres. Pyrgo Park is the residence of Lord O’Hagan; the mansion, a modern edifice of brick, in the Classic style, with a tower and portico, stands in an extensive park, commanding very fine views of the surrounding country and occupies the site of a house formerly belonging to the Queens of England, in which Joan, daughter of Charles II, King of Navarre and  Queen of Henry IV, died 9 July 1437. Bower House, a mansion of brick, standing in a park of about 120 acres, is now the residence of John Taylor esq, M Inst CE. Bedfords, originally called “Bellfonts”, from its ample supply of water, is now occupied by Sir Montagu Cornish Turner, Kt, and is a stone mansion, standing in a park of nearly 100 acres, commanding one of the finest views in the country and embracing the river Thames, the Knockholt hills in Kent, the Crystal Palace,  St Paul’s and the towers of the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.   The soil is mixed; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, oats, beans and roots. The area is 2,093 acres; rateable value, £4,341; and the population in 1911 was 399.

Post, M O & T Office – Miss Ellen Hance, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Romford at 5.10 & 8.55 am & 7.30 pm; delivered at 6 & 9.10 am & (to callers) 7.45 pm; dispatched at 2.35 & 7.15 pm; Sundays 7.15 pm

Pillar Letter Box, Chase Cross, cleared at 7 am, 2.50 & 7.30 pm; Sunday 7.30 pm

Public Elementary School (mixed), built in 1837, since enlarged, for 112 children; average attendance  88;  Arthur Montague Derrick, master; Miss Derrick, mistress

 Caley Rev William Bertram Russell MA, Vicarage

Hope Geo Palmer JP, Havering Grange

McIntosh Mrs, Havering Park

Mallett Isaac, Lawn Cottage

Norris Arthur Lindsay, Chase Cross

O’Hagan Lord JP, Pyrgo park

Pemberton Rev Joseph Hardwick (curate of Collier Row, Romford), Round house

Pemberton-Barnes Misses, The Hall

Smith Benjamin, Fernside

Stone Henry Jessop JP, Lower Bedfords

Taylor John , M Inst CE, Bower House

Turner Sir Montagu Cornish, Bedfords

Woodforde-Finden Lt-Col W, Lower Bedfords

Commercial

Beckett Thomas, farm bailiff to Mrs McIntosh, Bower Farm

Cole Edwin A, farmer, Upper Bedfords

Fern Henry, head gardener to J Taylor esq

Fuller Alfred, Orange Tree PH

Goodwin Henry, baker

Halsey Rosina (Mrs), beer retailer

Knightsbridge Harold, butcher

Popplewell Robert James, tailor

Sammons William, farmer, Lower park

Stuart George, land steward to Lord O’Hagan, North Lodge, Pyrgo Park

Suckling Arthur, shopkeeper

Wright Reginald, bailiff to Misses Pemberton-Barnes, Bower Farm