1.
Staplehurst
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Staplehurst /ˈsteɪpəlhɜːrst/ is a large village and civil parish, situated south of Maidstone in Kent, England. The name Staplehurst comes from the Saxon words staple and hurst, the village lies on the route of a Roman road, which is now incorporated into the course of the A229. There are approximately 2,600 households and 6,000 residents, the population includes the village of Hawkenbury. However, Staplehurst does not have the facilities, like a supermarket although planning permission has been granted to build one. There are a number of shops at the Parade, which lies roughly at the centre of the village, and one public house. It also has a library and a newly built two-million-pound medical centre which contains numerous doctors. The building of the centre on the school field enabled the school to have a large sports hall built. During the last few years Hush Heath Estate has become renowned for its sparkling wine which has won awards. In the early 19th century, Staplehurst was often visited by invalids seeking recuperation, especially those from Romney Marsh and East Kent, the Staplehurst rail crash, in 1865, is a significant event in the history of the village. Charles Dickens, who was on board, was affected by the incident for the rest of his life, in 2003, Staplehurst won the Kent Village of the Year Competition. Staplehurst was also the centre of investigations following the Securitas depot robbery in 2006. Staplehurst is governed by Staplehurst Parish Council, Maidstone Borough Council, and Kent County Council, the 12th century parish church, All Saints, is located at the highest point in the village. It is a Grade I listed building, the parish church is a Church of England church in the diocese of Canterbury. The village also has a United Reformed Church, a Free church, the United Reformed Church was formerly a Congregational Church prior to joining the United Reformed Church in 1972. The first pastor was Daniel Poyntell who had been the Rector of Staplehurst Parish Church until he was ejected from the Church of England in 1662 for non-conformity, during his pastorship, and for many years afterwards, it was a presbyterian church. The foundation of the present building was laid in 1825, the Strict Baptist chapel has been used a place of worship for Baptists since 1751, apparently having previously been used as a barn. The original congregation were General Baptists and were a continuation of the old Spilshill church that was formed around 1640, in 1838 the building was sold to the Particular Baptists. The Free Church began in 1969 when a group meeting for worship in homes throughout the village
2.
South Eastern main line
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The other route is the Chatham main line, which runs along the north Kent coast to Ramsgate and Dover via Chatham. The line was built by the South Eastern Railway, which was in competition with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, the original main line was given sanction by Act of Parliament in 1836. The route first authorised was from London Bridge via Oxted, Tunbridge, Maidstone, Ashford, the route was to make use of the existing London and Croydon Railway and London and Greenwich Railway companies tracks. The SER was not a company that had an amount of capital to spare. As a cost-cutting measure, authorisation was secured in 1837 to make the junction with the London and Croydon Railway at Norwood, however, the London and Brighton Railway were authorised to build from Norwood southwards in 1847. It was suggested by Parliament that further savings could be made by avoiding having lines running in parallel valleys for 12 miles if the SER were to make its junction further south. The London and Brighton were to construct the line, and the SER were to purchase it at cost on completion, both companies would operate trains over the route. The London and Brighton took advantage of this to ensure that gradients would be kept as shallow as possible, even at the expense of substantial earthworks and a mile-long tunnel at Merstham. The SER main line diverged from the London and Brightons line at Reigate Junction, leaving the Brighton line, a beeline was made for Folkestone, plans to serve Maidstone having been abandoned. A branch line was to be built from Maidstone Road instead, the line was almost direct between the two points, not varying by more than ½ mile in either direction between Redhill and Ashford. The engineer was Sir William Cubitt, to facilitate fast running, Tunbridge, Maidstone Road and Ashford stations were built with through roads. Headcorn station was to be rebuilt on a plan in 1924. Construction began in November 1837 from Reigate Junction eastwards, and in both directions from Tunbridge, the line from London Bridge to Tunbridge opened on 26 May 1842. The line between Tonbridge and Ashford opened on 1 December 1842, No major engineering works were needed until Folkestone was reached, where a 100 feet high viaduct was needed to cross the Foord Gap. A temporary station was provided at Folkestone, which opened on 28 June 1843, with the completion of the viaduct, Folkestone station opened on 18 December 1843. East of Folkestone, a hard gault ridge was bored through by the Martello Tunnel, between Folkestone and Dover, there were three headlands, Abbotts Cliff, Round Down Cliff and Shakespeares Cliff. The first and last were of sound chalk, but Round Down Cliffs chalk was of a different character, Cubitt sought the advice of Lieutenant Hutchinson, RE, who had experience in using dynamite in the clearing of the wreck of HMS Royal George in 1840. It was decided to blow the cliff away over a distance of 500 feet, on 18 January 1843, a total of 18,500 pounds of gunpowder was used in three charges to blow away the cliff face
3.
South Eastern Railway, UK
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The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover, Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent. The SER absorbed or leased other railways, some older than itself, including the London and Greenwich Railway, most of the companys routes were in Kent, eastern Sussex and the London suburbs, with a long cross-country route from Redhill in Surrey to Reading, Berkshire. However, in 1899 the SER agreed with the LCDR to share operation of the two railways, work them as a system and pool receipts, but it was not a full amalgamation. The SER and LCDR remained separate companies until becoming constituents of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923, on 21 June 1836, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed a Private Act incorporating the South Eastern and Dover Railway, which shortly afterwards changed to the South Eastern Railway. At the time of there were two potential rail pathways south from London, and the Speaker of the House of Commons had said no further pathways would be permitted. The SER therefore considered routes to Dover from the proposed London and Southampton Railway line at Wimbledon, or from the existing London, the former left London in the wrong direction and then on a roundabout route. A new connection on this line near to Norwood could provide access to a route to Dover via Tonbridge, Ashford. This was less direct than the route but passed through easier country. It involved one significant 1, 387-yard tunnel through the Shakespeare Cliff near Dover and this was the route first chosen by the SER at its inauguration. The SER gave way to this proposal as it reduced the costs, although it resulted in a route 20 miles longer than by road, running south for 14.5 miles. It also meant that its trains from London Bridge passed over the lines of three companies, the L&GR to Corbetts Lane Junction, the L&CR as far as Jolly Sailor. Construction began in 1838 at several places simultaneously, and the Shakespeare Tunnel was complete by May 1841, the L&BR line to Redhill opened on 12 July 1841 and the SER line from Redhill to Tonbridge on 26 May 1842, when SER train services began. The main line reached Ashford on 1 December 1842, the outskirts of Folkestone by 28 June 1843, on the same day the SER offered to lease the L&BR for 21 years at £100,000 per year, but the offer was turned down. Later that year, the SER refunded to the L&BR £430,000, Trains ran toll-free to both companies on this stretch but still had pay on the L&CR from Norwood Junction railway station to Corbetts Lane Junction, and the L&GR into London Bridge. In 1843, when the reached the edge of Folkestone. The SER dredged the harbour and arranged for a packet company to provide a ferry to Boulogne. The following year it established the independent South Eastern & Continental Steam Packet Company, in December 1848 it opened a steeply graded branch from the Folkestone station to the harbour
4.
Derailment
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A derailment is said to take place when a vehicle such as a train runs off its rails. This does not necessarily mean that it leaves its track, although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system, and they are potentially seriously hazardous to human health and safety. In emergency situations, deliberate derailment with derails or catch points is used to prevent a more serious accident. During the 19th century derailments were commonplace, but progressively improved safety measures have resulted in a lower level of such incidents. In the US, derailments have dropped dramatically since 1980 from over 3,000 annually to 1,000 or so in 1986, a traditional track structure consists of two rails, fixed at a designated distance apart, and supported on transverse sleepers. Some advanced track structures support the rails on a concrete or asphalt slab, the running surface of the rails is required to be practically continuous and of the proper geometrical layout. 170 broken rails were reported on Network Rail in the UK in 2008, in jointed track, rails are usually connected with bolted fishplates. The web of the rail experiences large shear forces and these are enhanced around the bolt hole, where track maintenance is poor, metallurgical fatigue can result in the propagation of star cracking from the bolthole. In extreme situations this can lead to a piece of rail at the joint becoming detached. Local embrittlement of the parent metal may take place due to wheel spin, the fishplates in jointed track may fail, allowing the rails to pull apart in extremely cold weather, this is usually associated with uncorrected rail creep. Derailment may take place due to excessive gauge widening, in which the sleepers or other fastenings fail to maintain the proper gauge, the crabbing effect referred to above is more marked in dry conditions, when the coefficient of friction at the wheel to rail interface is high. The running gear — wheelsets, bogies, and suspension — may fail, modern technologies have reduced the incidence of these failures considerably, both by design and intervention. The last condition applies if the suspension springing has a stiffness optimised for the condition, or for a compromise loading condition. The vehicle wheelsets become momentarily unloaded vertically so that the guidance required from the flanges or wheel tread contact is inadequate, a special case is heat related buckling, in hot weather the rail steel expands. This is managed by stressing continuously welded rails and by providing proper expansion gaps at joints, in addition, lateral restraint is provided by an adequate ballast shoulder. If any of these measures are inadequate, the track may buckle, a large lateral distortion takes place, junctions and other changes of routing on railways are generally made by means of points. In the early days of railways these were moved independently by local staff, accidents — usually collisions — took place when staff forgot which route the points were set for, or overlooked the approach of a train on a conflicting route. If the points were not correctly set for either route — set in mid-stroke — it is possible for a passing to derail
5.
Folkestone
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Folkestone /ˈfoʊkstən/ is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, there has been a settlement in this location since the Mesolithic era. A nunnery was founded by Eanswith, daughter of Æthelberht of Kent in the 7th century, the harbours use has diminished since the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel and stopping of local ferry services, but still remains in active use. The area of Folkestone has been occupied since at least the Mesolithic era, in 2010, worked flints were discovered below the remains of the Folkestone Roman Villa. The East Cliff area was excavated in 1924 and most recently from 2010 -2011, on the East Cliff, an extensive Iron Age oppidum existed, which produced quern-stones on an almost industrial scale. These querns, or stones used for grinding cereals into flour, were traded for continental exports such as pottery, a modest Roman style villa was constructed over the Iron Age settlement sometime during the first century AD, followed by a more luxurious one in about 200 AD. The villa was abandoned sometime during the third or fourth century for unknown reasons, in 597 AD, monks led by St Augustine arrived at Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet, on a mission from Pope Gregory to re-Christianise Britain. He was greeted by the Anglo Saxon pagan King of Kent, Ethelbert and his Christian Queen, Augustine was granted land in Canterbury where he built his church and outside the walls founded the monastery of St Peter & St Paul - now known as St Augustines. Ethelbert was succeeded as Anglo-Saxon king of Kent by his son Eadbald, in 630 AD, Eanswythe founded a nunnery on the site of her fathers castle near Folkestone by the present parish Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe. Eanswythe died c 640 AD and was made a saint. Her remains were moved into the chancel of the current church in the 12th century and they became the focus of prayer and pilgrimage such that Eanswythe was quickly adopted as the towns patron. The community grew and developed into a monastery until it was dissolved by Henry VIII and they were rediscovered in June 1885 when workmen, carrying out alterations to the high altar, found a battered lead casket immured in a niche in the north wall of the chancel. Examination by archaeologists at the time and again in 1981 confirmed that the casket was of Anglo-Saxon origin and these relics are still housed in the church close to where they were discovered in the north wall of the chancel flanked by a pair of small brass candlesticks. St Eanswythe is celebrated on 12 September each year - the date on which her relics were moved to the present chancel and she also appears on the towns seal with William Harvey, the Folkestone-born, 17th-century physician who discovered the circulation of the blood. A Norman knight held a Barony of Folkestone, which led to its entry as a part of the Cinque Ports in the thirteenth century, at the start of the Tudor period it had become a town in its own right. Wars with France meant that defences had to be built here, at the beginning of the 1800s a harbour was developed, but it was the coming of the railways in 1843 that would have the bigger impact. Until the 19th century Folkestone remained a fishing community with a seafront that was continually battered by storms
6.
Board of Trade (Privy Council)
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The Board of Trade, originally the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. It was first established as a committee of Englands Privy Council to advise on colonial questions in the early 17th century. Between 1696 and 1782 the Board of Trade, in partnership with the secretaries of state over that time, held responsible for colonial affairs. The Home Secretary held colonial responsibility until 1801 when the Secretary of State for War, the committee has been known as the Board of Trade since 1786, but this name was only officially adopted by an act of 1861. The new Boards first functions were consultative like earlier iterations, and its concern with plantations, in such as the approval of colonial laws. This department was merged with the Ministry of Technology in 1970 to form the Department of Trade, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was also President of the Board of Trade. The full Board has met only once since the mid-20th century, in 2016, the role of President of the Board of Trade was transferred to the Secretary of State for International Trade. This would be followed by a number of committees and councils to regulate the colonies. The Boards formal title remains The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade, in 1634, Charles I appointed a new commission for regulating plantations. Soon after however, the English Civil Wars erupted and initiated a period of political instability in England. Between 1643 and 1648 the Long Parliament would establish a parliamentary Commission for Plantations to take the lead in colonial and commercial affairs and this period also saw the first regulation of Royal tonnage and poundage and begin the modernization of customs and excise as growing sources of government revenue. During the Interregnum and Commonwealth three acts of the Rump Parliament in 1650 and 1651 are notable in the development of Englands commercial and colonial programs. These include the first Commission of Trade to be established by an Act of Parliament on 1 August 1650. It was the Lords of Trade who, in 1675, originated the idea of transforming all of the colonies in America into Royal Colonies for the purpose of securing English trade against the French. In 1696, King William III appointed eight paid commissioners to promote trade in the American plantations, the board carried on this work but also had long periods of inactivity, devolving into chaos after 1761 and dissolved in 1782 by an act of Parliament by the Rockingham Whigs. William Pitt the Younger re-established the committee in 1784, and an Order in Council of 23 August 1786 provided the basis that still remains in force. A secretariat was established included the president, vice president. By 1793, the board remained in its old structure
7.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
8.
Ellen Ternan
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Ellen Ternan is sometimes confused with her near contemporary, the Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry, whose career was more distinguished, but who did not have an affair with Dickens. Ellen Lawless Ternan, also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Robinson, was an English actress who is known as the mistress of Charles Dickens. Ellen Lawless Ternan was born in Rochester, Kent and she was the third of four children, she had a brother who died in infancy and two sisters named Maria and Frances. Her parents, Thomas Lawless Ternan and Frances Eleanor Ternan, were actors of some distinction. Ternan made her debut in Sheffield at the age of three, and she and her two sisters were presented as infant phenomena. In 1857, she was spotted by Dickens performing at Londons Haymarket Theatre and he cast her, on the recommendation of his friend the actor and playwright Alfred Wigan, along with her mother and sister Maria, in a performance of The Frozen Deep in Manchester in August 1857. Dickens was forty-five when he met Ellen Ternan and she was eighteen, Dickens began an affair with Ternan, but the relationship was kept secret from the general public. Ternan was clever and charming, forceful of character, and interested in literature, Dickens referred to Ternan as his magic circle of one. Matters came to a head in 1858 when Catherine Dickens opened a packet delivered by a London jeweller which contained a gold bracelet meant for Ternan with a written by her husband. The Dickenses separated that May, after 22 years of marriage, Ternan left the stage in 1860, and was supported by Dickens from then on. She sometimes travelled with him, and Dickens was travelling with Ternan and he abandoned a plan to take her on his visit to America in 1867 for fear that their relationship would be publicised by the American press. She lived in houses he took under false names at Slough and later at Nunhead, Dickens left a legacy of £1,000 to Ternan in his will on his death in 1870 and sufficient income from a trust fund to ensure that she would never have to work again. In 1876, six years after Dickens death, Ternan married George Wharton Robinson, an Oxford graduate, who was years her junior. She presented herself as 14 years younger, the couple had a son, Geoffrey, and a daughter, Gladys, and ran a boys school in Margate. Ternans husband died in 1910, and she spent her last years in Southsea with her sister Frances and she died of cancer in Fulham, London. She was buried in Highland Road Cemetery in Portsmouth, Ellen Ternan was the subject of a bestselling biography by Claire Tomalin in 1990, which brought the relationship to a broader general audience. A summary of the story of the discovery of the relationship was published in 2012 by Professor Michael Slater, some records relating to Ellen Ternan and her family are held by Senate House Library, University of London. Simon Grays play about her life, Little Nell had its premiere in 2007 at the Theatre Royal
9.
Frances Eleanor Jarman
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Frances Eleanor Jarman was a British actress who appeared in Ireland, Scotland, England, America and Canada. She travelled with Charles Dickens while her daughter was his mistress, another of her daughters married the novelist Thomas Adolphus Trollope. Jarman was born in Hull in 1803 and her mother was a successful actress and after her marriage she continued to appear and from 1812 she appeared with her daughter. Jarman was almost immediately part of the cast and she appeared in one role before she was christened and she continued to be employed in juvenile roles. Whilst she was appearing in Edinburgh she met an Irish actor named Thomas Lawless Ternan and they set off immediately on a long working honeymoon and in 1835 she was on a three-year tour of cities in Canada and the United States. There she gave birth to a daughter Frances Eleanor Ternan on board a steamer in Delaware Bay. According to Tom Ternan the tour was a success making £500 in two nights in Boston. The Tarnans returned to Britain where she found work in cities before appearing at Drury Lane in 1837 to 1838. The Tarnans daughters appeared as Infant Phenomena on the stage, Thomas Ternan became the manager of the Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne where his wife became the lead actress and all of his daughters acted on the stage. Thomas Ternan had a breakdown in 1844 and he lived for two years in an asylum in Bethnal Green before he died in 1846. In 1865 Charles Dickens was abroad whilst writing Our Mutual Friend with his mistress Ellen Ternan, Ellen was accompanied by her mother. Dickens was travelling with Ellen Ternan but this was not public knowledge although he seemed to no effort to disguise his relationship with her on the ferry home. Dickens had booked three first-class tickets and they boarded the train for London, during the journey there was the Staplehurst rail crash when the train was derailed and some carriages ended up in the river and ten people were killed. Their carriage came close to falling but remained in an unstable condition, Dickens was involved with rescuing several passengers including the Ternans. Dickens made substantial efforts not to give evidence at the enquiry as he wanted to keep his travelling companions identity secret. Dickens talks of this incident at the end of Our Mutual Friend, Jarman died in Oxford in February,1873. Her daughter Maria was a journalist, her daughter Frances was a novelist and Ellen is mentioned above
