EHS
Logo
divider


Launched 09/04/2011

Latest update

07/01/2025 10:11

divider
Graveyard Memorial Inscriptions
Welcome to the Elham Historical Society database website. Feel free to browse and uncover the history of Elham. Our dedicated team of historians has recently finished recording the details on all the memorials in the graveyard. Our chairman Derek Boughton has overseen the operation, correlating the data and checking for errors. The results of their labours can be seen on the burials page.

Elham beat off stiff competition for the title of Kent Village of the year 2011 organised by Action with Communities in Rural Kent.

Censuses for outlying communities in the parish will be rolled out gradually. Check out the stats page for interesting facts and

trivia about the village. We still need your help so please send us any information relating to Elham that may be of interest.

Les Ames hits out
Les Ames in action

Elham resident Les Ames in action for England against the West Indies in 1939. He was one of the finer wicketkeeper - batsmen and played for Kent CCC.

Abbot's Fireside c 1450
Abbot's Fireside

The Abbot's Fireside is one of the older buildings in the village and probably dates back to the mid fifteenth century.

Audrey attends school
Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn (neé Rushton) lived in Orchard Cottage (Five Bells) for five years in her childhood (1935-1940) and attended the local village schools. She took ballet lessons and dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

George V Playing Field
George V Playing Field

Dave Lee opens Elham's brand new playground with a sensory garden and a pretty flower meadow created by the Play for Elham charity. 21st November 2010

Swing Riots of 1830
Swing Riots

The machine breaking that led to the riots of August 1830 onwards started in the Elham Parish, writes our historian Derek Boughton, who has made a lifetime's study of the subject.

Elham residents were prominent in the gangs that sought out the new fangled threshing machines and destroyed them. Some of them cost the not inconsiderable sum for the day of £100. Full Story

DR. CRESSWELL’S CASE 1880

At the Hythe County. Petty Session, on Thursday. Mr. Minter made an application in the case of Dr. Creswell, of Elham, who a few weeks since was sentenced to I4 days' hard labour for disorderly conduct. At the hearing the defendant gave notice of appeal, but Mr. Minter now applied to the Beach to reconsider their decision and to inflict a fine instead of imprisonment as the defendant was unable to meet the heavy expense attendant upon an appeal. The Bench unanimously refused the application. At the Court of General Sessions, on Thursday, the Chief Constable was authorised by a resolution of the justices to undertake the expense of defending the appeal. Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald - Saturday 03 July 1880

The Chequer 1741

Given to a Travelling Woman that was Sick at the Chequer in Want 4 0 Given to the Widow Gilbert for Looking after the sick Woman at the Chequer 1 0 Given to the Woman when she went away for a pair of Shoes 3 6 CCA: U3/22, Overseers’ Accounts

Plymouth Argyle 1965

Elham resident Derek Ufton won 39 games out of 111 in his three year stay. When Malcolm Allison left Home Park for Manchester City in 1965, Derek was appointed manager and immediately embarked on a policy of transforming the team. One of his policies was to sell off the players who would command the highest transfer fees and replace them with cheaper equivalents. This paid off financially as the club made a net profit of nearly £50,000, but it made little difference to Argyle's fortunes on the pitch. Derek was well-liked by the Argyle faithful, but in his first two seasons at the helm the Pilgrims failed to progress, finishing in the bottom half of the Second Division. Early in 1967-1968 things became even worse. By February 1968, relegation seemed certain: Argyle were out of both Cup competitions and had won just three games in 25. Derek was sacked, and never managed a football team again. Greens on Screen


What's in the database
11820 People
6789 Demography entries
2417 Events
1298 Marriages
415 Properties
426 Photographs
Completed projects ...
  • Properties 1841-1911
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (village only)
  • Cemetery & Graveyard burials
  • Memorial and graveyard inscriptions
Work in progress ...
  • Demography records 1841-1911 (parish)
  • Marriages within the Elham parish
  • Audio/verbal accounts by Elham residents
Coming soon ...
  • Mapping of all properties within the Elham parish
  • List of artefacts
Future projects ...
  • Audio village tour
  • Complete list of shops - past and present
What's new!
Michael Hayes
Doctor Who Producer
Arthur Frederick Broadbridge
Elham resident and diplomat
Charles Alfred Fortin
Elham assistant surgeon
William Lewis Cowley
Elham resident and author
George W Palmer
Graveyard burials
John Midgeley
Henry Clayson
STATS - Facts & Trivia
Windlass Cottage Title Deeds
Church Cottage history back to 1720
Anthony Eden
Prime Minister and Elham resident

EHS
Swing Riots
Les Ames in action
Audrey Hepburn
Letters

EHS Database

Swing Riots of 1830 recounted by Derek Boughton our local expert historian.

Les Ames for England v West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica 1930 or 1935. WK Ivan Barrow watches on.

Audrey Hepburn attended private schools in the village and dreamed of being a ballerina. I wonder what became of her?

What's in the database? Find the latest additions here.

2011 Kent Village of the Year