Arlesey County Primary formerly Arlesey Siding School

The information in this blogg has come from the Records Office at County Hall ,Bedford in 1975 , and  Maureen Howell an ex Arlesey Teacher.

I believe this school and the Station were called Arlesey Siding because they donated free bricks for the buildings if they were called after the Brickyard.Later when the brickyard had a change of name and owners they both changed their names.Arlesey Siding station to Three Counties station.When the wooden W.I. was burnt down they definitely this time supplied the bricks for free.I have read that.

In 1870 the Forster Elementary Education Act was passed, and  newly-formed school boards were elected to make attendance at school compulsory for children between the ages of five and thirteen. Forster’s Act had two main aims ‘ to cover the country with good schools and to get the parents to send their children to these schools.

ARLESEY SCHOOL BOARD

To comply with the Education Act of 1870, elections were held in the small Bedfordshire village of Arlesey to appoint a School Board. The candidates for the election were moderately well-off by current standards and included the vicar of the parish.

The first meeting of the Board was held on June 24^th 1874 and a clerk was appointed at a salary of £40 per year. The Board discussed the purchase of land in the village and an advertisement was placed in a national magazine, ‘The Builder’, for architects to submit plans for the new school, which was to accommodate three hundred children.

THE ARLESEY SCHOOL BUILDING

By March, 1875 tenders had been received from builders ranging from £4,937 to £1,925 The lowest was too low; the builder withdrew his tender as he had forgotten to include the cost of the ironwork! (The only iron railings i can remember were the ones outside the school gates which stopped children from running straight across the road.)The second lowest tender was approved at £2,185 and  a loan of £3,036  was made to the board for building and land.

TEACHER HOUSING Mr Curran lived in this house , but moved up to Etonbury School we that opened in 1954.

The school, school house and outbuildings were built on land of one acre and sixteen poles in extent, purchased for £325 and situated in the village High Street next to the Three Tunns.

A TEMPORARY CLASSROOM i was taught for 2 years in here. 1960-62 Miss Aaron and Mr Barratt.In this photo is Miss Philips and Mr Barratt.The year above me.Moira (Geekie) Houghton .The clever children my age were moved up to the next class.I can see Ingrid Vinns , Brenda Rumbold , Roger Wiltshire ,and Gillian Steptoe.Sorry if I have failed to recognise anyone.

Carol Lombari was expecting our son Paul in 1977.The school was demolished soon after , hence me taking the photo.

POOR FACILITIES

Although it was a nice new school , it wasn’t a pleasant experience.They had next to no heating ,equipment or books .The first headmaster of the school was paid a salary of £85 per annum and the use of the school house and free coal. The Board expected the services of his wife to be provided without salary.

The new school opened on September 4^th 1876.Approximately one hundred boys, sixty girls and sixty three infants attended during the first few days. The register would have recorded higher figures on the roll but attendances during the first few years seldom rose above eighty per cent.

The School Board exercised their powers requiring all children over 5 and under twelve years old to attend school unless the child has passed the third standard. In that case the child was exempt from attending school.

ST PETERS SCHOOL

This was built in 1861 and was run by the Church of England.Not all the children of the village were to attend the new school. The distribution was decided as follows: “Girls and Infants north of St. Peter’s School (Old Church School taken over by the Board in 1875).,would go to this old school and  All boys, no matter where they lived and girls and infants south of St Peters School were to go to the new school.

Mr A.J.Appleby was the headmaster of the Junior school when I went there 1958-62.Mrs Edgell the vicar’s wife was presenting Kaye Johnson and Me the Sports Day Cup.

Reverend Bevan holding an outdoor service on King George V ‘s Silver Jubilee Day.Oh yeah the iron railing they were talking about.

The school, typical of the age and area, was built of white and red brick and slate.  It was comprised of three classrooms, two of which were 40′ x 20′ and the third, 60’x 20’

PLAYGROUNDS AND LAVATORIES

There were two earth playgrounds, one at the front of the building for the boys and one at the rear for the girls and infants. In the corner of each playground was a row of lavatories hidden behind a corrugated iron screen.

That were usual for a country village. They were the bucket-type lavatories, with a plank of wood with a hole in it on top for the seat. The buckets were emptied by the night soil collector who came with his horse and cart every night. It would appear that these were still in use until the 1920’s .

Just four weeks after the opening of the new school, the headmaster was rebuked by the Board for ordering books to the value of £20.4.7 (£20.23) without permission.  The initial order list, which included 36 bibles, 1 gross copy books, 1,000 slate Pencils, 1 gallon Ink and 50 Royal Readers.

OVERCROWDED CLASSROOMS

Within four years a teacher was informing the Board of over-crowding and that with over one hundred children in one room, another must be built. It was  resolved by turning  the Infants lobby, which was unused, into another class room for the boys.

This seems to have relieved the pressure on the space for a time.  Nine years later estimates were approved to build a new classroom to accommodate sixty girls. Further building took place and the school was closed for nine days as work on two new classrooms was begun on March 9^th 1895.

DIRTY CLASSROOMS

In the early days of the school there were numerous complaints of dirty rooms and Mr. H was appointed to sweep out the rooms daily, for which he was paid two shillings a week. It was not until the end of each term that the rooms were washed and cleaned thoroughly.

OIL LAMPS

The school was originally lit by oil lamps and in 1905 gas lighting was installed was after a tender for £18 was accepted by the County Council. The installation of a mains water supply was also undertaken  in 1906. The Gas lighting was replaced by electricity in 1933.

POOR HEATING

Heating of the classroom was not adequate. On e coal fire at the end of each room barely took the chill from the air. One teacher reports that the children were brought to the fire in groups to give them a little relief from the cold. Eight inches of snow and a severe shortage of coal resulted in the closing of the school for short periods from February to May 1919.  When opened, attendances were recorded of one hundred and ten children out of two hundred and fifty on the register. Owing to the low temperature in the classrooms (38 ̊ F. to 44 ̊ F.), when the children did attend, the normal timetable “was not adhered to and lessons requiring movement was the order of the day. In 1930 the heating of the school was modernised and central heating was installed. The mud playgrounds were tarmaced in 1910.

NO MUSIC FACILITIES

So the board got them a gramophone. There was no piano until.1923 when the school raised £23 by having a concert and were able to buy one themselves.

SCHOOL LAYOUT

A layout of the school , notice all the temporary class rooms.I believe that is why a new school was built.There were more temporary class rooms than brick ones.

Sending your children to school wasn’t actually free. It cost  the parents 2p per child per week to attend school.If it wasn’t paid the children were sent home.This was half the running costs.The rest of the money was obtained by a government grant.

Canteen built wasn’t until 1948 when school dinners were introduced to make sure all children had at least one hot meal a day.It was said you needed to be fed to be able to learn properly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragliding in Bulgaria 2016

I have always fancied doing this .After my great nephew did it , I was determined to give it go even on my own with strangers cos none of the others wanted to do it after Jack and his dad Martin had done it the day before.Oh yeah the wife was still ill in bed with sunstroke and didn’t want me hanging around her all day.There was a doctor and family from Birmingham we had made friends with and he offered to see her.Very good of him , but Carol was recovering by the second day.

The first lot of pictures, and the coming back on the banana boat were taken by my niece Caron , Jack’s mum , the up in the air ones were taken by the paragliding crew.I told Caron I was going to do it and she said they would come and watch like I had the day before.Jack was determined to go up again and said he would pay with his own money.60 Levs it was less than £30.We paid our money and put the life jackets on.We had to take off our water sports shoes , we had bought for swimming in the sea.(I thought were perfect even light than plimsolls.)

We were taken out to the large speed boat on a motorised dinghy.This broken down about half way out and the driver had to walkie talkie the the speed boat crew to come and pick us up.There were five Chinese looking people already on board.We drove off and two of the crew went aft and were sorting the parachute into the correct location.When both sides were right part of it was lifted onto this high hook (i guess when it picked up speed the parachute would catch the wind).We were put in harnesses , ready to go up first.

They told us to go aft and clipped us on to the bottom of the parachute.Soon as the open up the throttle we soared up into the air like a large bird.It wasn’t cold and it wasn’t windy.I held on tight with each hand but Jack wasn’t holding on at all , and waving both hands.They let out the full 150 metres of rope and our views were spectacular.

MORE OF THE STORY TO COME

 

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A Very Special Man Reverend James Beavan

Reverend Bevan

Reverend Beavan marrying dad’s sergeant Raffaelo Buonogorio to Cynthia Musk both were prisoners of War in the Arlesey Camp.

When I was down the churchyard tidying up the families graves I saw Patsy Hare (maiden name).

She used to live diagonally opposite me in Lynton Ave. We lived at No 10 for fourteen years. Mrs Morgan a mutual friend lived on the corner the other side of the road to us. We talked about the old days. Patsy showed me where Mrs Morgan’s grave was , and she said that unmarked grave next to hers is the Reverend Bevan. She said he never wanted his grave marked , well I was worried that the plot might get re-used.

Mrs Morgan holding the girl

The Reverend Bevan helped my dad come back to his fiancée (my mum) after the war In 1948. In those days it was very difficult to come to England. You had to have a job , somewhere to live , and a professional person to pay to send you home if you could no longer support yourself. Mrs Annie Morgan was the live-in vicars house keeper , and was married to Joe Morgan an ex miner from Durham, but very close to the vicar. She even inherited all his beautiful furniture when he died. Then Mrs Morgan retired ,and she got a council house near us and we stayed good friends with her. She even used to look after me sometimes.

the Old Vicarage why was it pulled down? it was much more attractive than the new one. Notice it has 3 floors.

Reverend Bevan got my dad a job at City Field farm working for farmer Rawlins. He also let my dad lodge at the Old vicarage for 6 weeks before he got married and helped my mum with the paperwork to bring him back to England. The vicar married them and let them have the reception at the Old St Peters Church Hall (now owned by the PIANO man).

St Peters Church Hall

Rev Beavan taking the Silver Jubilee Open Air service at Arlesey Primary School in the Thirties.

Rightly or wrongly I made a cross out of some Mahogany and fitted a Brass Plate the I had inscribed.

See the small cross bottom right

Every week I go to cut the grass round the family graves , I always check to make sure Reverend Beavan’s cross is still there

The Band Of Hope Parade Through Arlesey and Other Old Photos (16 old Photos)

    I assume this Band of Hope  parade 1915 was organised to try and lift spirits during the First World War.The parade started at Newtown Arlesey and they marched to Bury Meadow where they had organised a Fete with various displays.

There are two photos of the Firemen probably employed by Three Counties Asylum.

Don’t just love the frilly clothes from that era. Notice the shoes are very substantial.

The girls wore pineys to keep their clothes clean , and the men’s straw boater hats made in Luton ,or they wore cloth caps.Most of the men wore hats.

Horses and bikes were the main source of transport if you were well off , otherwise Shankseys pony was the order of the day.

I am Going to IMPROVE Arlesey Lake for the people of Arlesey.”Councillor Beatham” 9 old photos of Arlesey Lake

I HAVE A CHANCE TO DEVELOP AND DRASTICALLY IMPROVE IT .

The reality of what actually happened…..

He stopped locals walking up there , built two houses up there , builders waste was then dumped in the Lake until it was almost completely filled in.

I am NOT a Fisherman but would like to Conserve Arlesey as it is. I am a member of the Arlesey Town Council Archive Group but I am not speaking for them.My gran and grandad were walking round the lake from 1937 when they first moved from the Brickyard foremans house to 2, St Peters Ave.They took me up their as a 4 year old in 1956. My son went round there until he was a teenager in the late 1980’s. So my family walked round the lake from 1937-1987 , 50 years.

Three members of our Allen family Ron , Mick ,and Jim , and Richard and Ann Francis playing up the Lake.

Twenty Years Ago on 4th March 1994 an article was printed in the BIGGLESWADE CHRONICLE with a photo of the Etonbury Farm Conservation Area sign. The fishermen were concerned the Lake was being destroyed forever.

The 8 Acre Arlesey Lake was one of Fishermans most historic waters.

ex Arlesey Councillor David Beatham even put up this sign Etonbury Farm Conservation Landfill Site

The late record breaking local fisherman Dick Walker patented the Arlesey Bomb here , and this was a huge step forward for the sport.

Many fishermen look on it as a bit of a shrine to Dick Walker.

Beds County Council gave the owner David Beatham Planning Permision to partial fill in the Lake in1989. Work started in 1991 and by 1994 when finished half a million cubic metres of builders debri will have been tipped into it , allegedly to make it shallower and better for the spawning of the fish. Dumping all that rubbish in there though was killing the fish. Conservation Area Sign?the fish were being killed.

The owner David Beatham said he had done nothing wrong and has only the future of the Lake at heart. He said he had taken advice from the RSPB and Anglia Water and wanted to improve it and turn it into a much more natural Lake.

He went on to say the fish and the environment will benefit.

I hear there is no fishing up there now and its only about 4 feet deep , and people have been stopped from walking around there.

Strange I have another Biggleswade Chronicle article dated 21 October 1994 which says he only had permission to dump 300,000 cubic metres of harmless waste. By the time councillor Beatham’s permit ran out he had only dumped 250,000 cubic metres.

The fishermen protested and lobbied Mid Beds County council not to extend his permit but they lost and he was given permission to dump another 100,000 cubic metres.

That was a huge blow to the fishermen across the UK.

The dumping scheme allegedly had the support of RSPB , Anglia Water , and Mid Beds County Council. For what that was worth , in my opinion clauses should have been put into the agreement.

A farmer is facing the prospect of demolishing a house he built without planning permission.

This week Wheelform Properties’ directors Mr and Mrs David Beatham of Etonbury Farm, Stotfold Road, Arlesey, asked Mr Justice Cranston in the High Court to quash a Government planning inspector’s decision that his farm manager’s house must go.

Mr Beatham, owner of a pig farm, had claimed the building was vital for a farm manager to keep an eye on livestock.

But Mr Justice Cranston disagreed saying the inspector’s decision should stand, adding: “The relatively routine work does not in my mind require workers to be readily available at most times, or on hand day and night.”

The judge also said that should any emergencies arise, Lake House, where the Beathams live, was close enough to the pig sheds for any disturbance to be noticed and concluded that a farm worker living in Arlesey would be able to provide essential care for animals at a reasonably short notice.

Wheelform argued that the inspector’s report was unreasonable.

The court heard Mr Beatham had started building the property in 2005 pending completion of his own intended home Lake House, set in about three acres with its own drive and looking out over landscaped lakes and surrounded by the 22 hectare farm.

The farm also had a mobile home for its resident stockman since 1993 and in October 2004 Mid Beds District Council (MBDC) indicated it would be prepared to grant planning permission for its replacement with a farm manager’s house if Wheelform met certain obligations.

The court was told that the obligations were not met and planning permission was later refused.

But the house was substantially completed, apart from external cladding of the upper floor and the Beathams moved into the house in 2005 while Lake House continued to be built.

In November 2005, Wheelform made a retrospective application for planning permission but this was also refused and MBDC issued an enforcement notice requiring the house to be demolished.

Mr Beatham said this week after the High Court decision: “I feel I have had a raw deal and now we have lost this appeal we might have reached the end of the road and the house might have to come down.

“This whole business has cost me many thousands of pounds and it has caused a great deal of stress and strain on me and my family.

FILLED UP SO MUCH it is now a series of little islands

Roger my brother up the lake in the 50’s

Even my late sister  Maria even went for walks up the lake when she was heavily pregnant in the 1970’s

It must b gut wrenching tho to go thro all the emotions of a build , and the stress ,after having 3 extensions done , and extortionate expense.Always a lot more than you have budgeted for , then to have to lay out more money to have it demolished. I am not completely heartless , BUT AGREED WITH CENTRAL BEDS! The house had to come down.

40 Old Photos of Arlesey Fetes 195? , 1981, 1986 , 2012

The late Nick Daniels when he was Mare rest in peace. And a man with a very good voice on the left lol

the calm after the altercation with Ian Dalgarno. Which I regretted after the red mist had settled. Yet the burger was good lol

Susan Edwards (the ex vicar of Arlesey) who we personally got on very well , she did my mum and dads funerals very well.

Our second cousin on my mum Alma Allen’s side of the family.

Brass band at fete

The Arlesey Guides in the 80’s

Lots of floats in the Fete

Would Health and Safety allow kids on the back of Lorries and Tractor and Trailers

Fancy Dress Contest

Arlesey Princess Caron Heudebourck

Mrs Hayes I believe

Dog Show

Arlesey Brownies . My two nieces Lisa and Caron Heudebourck

Sheila Oakley donated this Collection of Arlesey 80’s Photos to Arlesey TC Archive scanned by clive lombari

The Car is approaching Arlesey Carpets drive

Biggs butchers Angela Bigg was in my class at Etonbury , i believe the butchers had a racehorse as well.John Hayes reminded me the horse’s name was Oxo .I remember now lots of Arlesey people having a flutter on it when it ran.

 

A nice colour photo of the Cosy cinema , Nipper Dalton’s mum used to run it.

Peter Goodwins Bakery I believe he had a skip hire business as well. it would be good to have a bakery in the village like Stotfold has Ashwell Bakery.

I remember my Mr Hildon senior mainly , and going in there with my mum. He stocked stuff for the Hospital road Italians as well.

Lamb Meadow I remember playing there for the under sixteens, and there was a very large crowd against a much fancied Hitchin Argonauts.I think we drew 1-1.

Three Counties Firemans helmets .I think the Fairfield hospital huts are in the background.

W.I. being refurbished after the fire.What caused the fire? I bet the Insurance company would have tried hard getting out of paying for it today. Slightest thing and they don’t payout.The womens institute was built out of wood in 1918. It was used as a cinema until the Cosy opened in 1920. Later on London Brick Company donated all the bricks needed to rebuild it because even when i was a boy in the sixties it was also the village hALL.

The Womens Institute was first made out of wood . It was used as a cinema to start with .  London Brick donated the bricks for the building so it could be rebuilt .New roof going on the W.I. parking was bad there then as well.Arlesey Women’s Institute Hall re-opened on the 29th October two years after being gutted by fire on 15th April 1981, the cost of restoration and rebuilding being around £24,000.

I wonder why the double window was bricked up.Did Mr Biggs own the slaughterhouse as well ?

Grimes cottage with the railway memorabilia.Shame it was taken down i always used to look at it. Lyn lives there now I believe.

What a lovely little cottage shame it was demolished and not refurbished.

Even though Karl Franklin it was always cold even with a roaring fire. I remember a row of cottages behind there with an outside tap for the tenants.

54 Arlesey Etonbury School (Sixties) photos.jpg

     

Thanks to John Page for Etonbury 1956 and Joan Pearson/Clive Smith for Mr Steele School Photo

Child Convict George Allen aged 16 transported to New Zealand 1843

CONVICTS SENT TO NEW ZEALAND!

When I first put my family tree on Ancestry.co.uk I was contacted from New Zealand saying they had seen my tree and it partly matched theirs.They were relatives of a George Allen.I wondered if he was a convict , but found that New Zealand would not accept convicts.I have just found evidence that they very reluctantly accepted some pardoned young offenders , but very few and made a hell of a fuss about it . I looked through the names and one was called George Allen.Could this be the same George Allen?

The Boys from Parkhurst Prison

On the the Isle of Wight there was a Military Hospital and Children’s asylum, called ‘Parkhurst’ was built on land in the centre of the island in 1778, a large and stately looking house surrounded by its own grounds. By 1838, the British Home Office had decided to convert the property into a prison for young boy offenders up to the age of 15 years, soon to be occupied by some 102 convicted boys transferred from other prisons.

 Many of these boys, some as young as twelve, had committed offences which could only be described today as misdemeanours. Theft and shoplifting, picking pockets or stealing food, were the main offences which had been dealt with harshly by the Police Magistrate's Court in those days, sentences of imprisonment and deportation to Australia for seven to ten years being quite common.

Most of these lads had come from underprivileged homes where the act of theft and stealing had been generated by their need for food or adequate clothing to keep out the cold winter winds, frost and snow.
In 1843, under a new Governor named Captain George Hall, the boys were employed moulding and baking house bricks with which they were to build two new wings for the prison.
By 1853 the transporation of convicts to Australia had ceased .

 In the year 1841, after lobbying by the Quakers, the British Home Office decided to   grant a conditional pardon from the Crown to boys between 13 and 16 years old who were detained in Parkhurst Prison. The boys were to be carefully chosen as deserving a pardon by the then prison governor, Captain Woolcombe. The 'condition' was that the    boys were to serve a two-year apprenticeship on arrival in New Zealand before being    given their independence .The boys who accepted this 'pardon' were to be called 'immigrant boys,' however, the authorities both in England and later New Zealand, still recognised them as criminals just the same.

Eighteen young boys who were ordered to be deported by the Court and who were now granted a Crown pardon, were selected to be sent to Freemantle, Australia. The Simon Taylor left England on the 29th April, 1842 with 245 passengers aboard, eighteen of them Parkhurst Boys, arriving after 111 days, on the 20th August. The Captain presented the Governor of the Colony with their documents of ‘conditional pardon’.

It was a great surprise to the early government in Auckland, when the barque St.George, under Captain Sughrue, sailed into the harbour on the 25th October, 1842, just two weeks later, with ninety-two ‘Parkhurst boys” aboard.

 The then Acting Governor, Shortland, who had many other matters to deal with at the time, following the untimely death of Governor Hobson a few months before, decided to place the boys under the care and guardianship of Captain David Rough, the Government appointed Immigration Agent and Harbourmaster.

It was later considered in Government circles of the time, that the sudden arrival of these boys had breached an undertaking by the authorities in England, who, in setting up New Zealand as a separate Colony from Australia, had agreed that NO convicts were to be shipped. This action by the British Government was seen by the Auckland people as a total betrayal.

 Scarcely had this matter quietened down, when, just over a year later, on the 14th November, 1843, a second vessel named the Mandarin, under Captain T. Smith, arrived in the harbour with another thirty-one Parkhurst 'immigrant boys" aboard. She had sailed from Gravesend on the 18th June 1843 via Hobart, Australia.
 The news of the arrival of more 'Parkhurst Boys' aboard the Mandarin spread rapidly around the growing township. The populace of Auckland were outraged!
Letters of protest appeared in the Southern Cross and Auckland Chronicle newspapers voicing their strong disapproval of the British Government's actions. 

It was found, meanwhile, that there were few openings for the boys in the Auckland workforce. The two trades they had been taught in Parkhurst Prison, tailoring and shoemaking were in little demand. Those in the second shipment who had skills in carpentery and building were given work on construction sites, while those boys who had nothing to offer were consequently put out to tasks that gave them no trade experience at all; some were sent to the copper mines on Great Barrier, where they were treated no better than slaves and the others employed working on the roads, often without boots or any protection on their feet.

 The Acting Governor Shortland, voiced the public concern in a diplomatic note to London. On September 30th 1844 theNew Zealand Journal reported that:

“A notice was brought before the House of Lords of the evils likely to accrue to New Zealand from the transmission of convict boys to the Colony….. that New Zealand was colonised on the faith that it should never be inunduated with a convict population”.
The note continued:
“These reformed convicts are a nuisance and a disgrace to the community; the inhabitants of Auckland are now in constant dread of thefts and robberies from the ‘reformed convicts’.

 An extract from the Southern Cross in the February 1844, also had this to say about the Parkhurst boys:

“The transportation of Parkhurst apprentices to this Colony appears by late accounts from England to be regarded by the friends of New Zealand as an evil and an act of injustice which should not be tolerated. In the Parliamentary intelligence of the Times on July 7th, we find that “The Archbishop of Dublin presented petitions from persons connected with the colony of New Zealand, praying that in future no emancipated convicts should be conveyed there as settlers. The persons who established that colony had a positive promise from the Government that no convicts should be sent to their settlement, yet recently two shiploads of convicts who had served their time had arrived from Parkhurst prison. It was a mere evasion to say that they were not convicts because they had served their period of imprisonment. To him it appeared that a convict and an emancipated one were much the same as a wild beast, loose and a wild beast chained. The petitioners were very anxious that they should have no more such imports.”
“The Earl of Devon said that the petition was well entitled to the careful consideration of the house. He did not think that the petitioners [ New Zealand] had been fairly treated.” “From the above we have every reason to hope that no more of the unfortunate Parkhurst Boys will be inflicted on this Colony.”

 These publications and submissions to the British authorities in the Home Government seemed to have the desired effect and the transportation of   boys from Parkhurst ceased.

 The Parkhurst Boys of 1842 & 1843

 

ST.GEORGE 1842 Astle, William 12 tailor Axford, John 18 tailor Axford, William 16 shoemaker Baker, George 16 shoemaker Baldwin, William 14 tailor Beasley, William 14 tailor Bellamy, David 15 tailor Biggs, Arthur 16 Blackwell, William G 14 tailor Bottomley, George 15 Briggs, James 17 tailor Brown, James 16 shoemaker Bryant, James 15 shoemaker Burford, William 18 tailor Burgess, James 12 tailor Burke, Michael 12 tailor Burnard, Isaac 15 tailor Burnard, Thomas 17 shoemaker Carter, Edward 14 tailor Coley, James 15 tailor Coley, Joseph 17 Chapman, Charles 15 Cook, Samuel 18 Copping, John 16 tailor Cotey, Joseph 17 Crawford, William 15 Critchley, Thomas 17 tailor Davis, James 14 Dawes, Frederick 16 Dillion, Thomas 14 Dobby, Michael 15 tailor Dowie, Henry Buller 19 Edge, George 19 shoemaker Elder, Alexander 18 Fawian, Thomas 16 Floyd, John 18 Fox, Robert Waylett 15 Garn, William 18 Hardy, Thomas 17 Harvey, Thomas 18 Hitchcock, Benjamin 17 Hollis, William 16 tailor

Holloway, Charles 17 shoemaker Hopkins, Gabriel 13 shoemaker Horne, Frederick 15 tailor Jones, John 17 King, George 18 King, Thomas 15 shoemaker Lee, John 14 tailor Liddle, Adam 17 Lloyd, John 15 tailor Mahoney, John 14 MacKay, William 14 tailor Malcolm, John 19 Marsh, David 15 Marsh, James 16 shoemaker Matthews, William 17 tailor Mellom, Walter 18 Miller, John 15 shoemaker Minhinnick, John 15 shoemaker Moody, John 14 tailor Murguard, Charles 16 Myler, Richard 14 tailor McGuiness, James 17 shoemaker McQuarrie, Andrew 17 Nicholson, John 18 Nicholson, William 18 Ogan, John 14 tailor Parsons, James 16 Phillips, Joseph 14 Piney, James 14 Pool, James 17 Proctor, Thomas 15 tailor Rampling, James 16 Richmond, Peter 14 tailor Rook, Thomas 19 Ryan, John 18 Saunders, John 14 Sayles, James 18 Seamell, Henry 20 Shears, John 17 shoemaker Sheriff, Charles 17 tailor Sheriff, Charles 17 shoemaker Smith, William 18 Stokes, James 18

Strong, Henry Stephen 18 Thorn, William 18 Tuft, John 17 shoemaker Toppeny, William 13 Topping, William 13 tailor Tuck, William 11 tailor Tugget, John 17 Warnutt, William 16 tailor Whitehead, John 18 Willey, John 15 tailor Wines, Henry 15 tailor Woodgate, William 16 MANDARIN — 1843 Adams, Thomas 17 carpenter Allen, George 16 tailor/cooper Bassan, Henry 16 bricklayer /tailor Beales, William 18 carpenter Binnie, Alexander 19 tailor Cotterill, John 17 tailor Day, Thomas 18 tailor Denman, William 15 tailor Eggerton, Isaac 17 cooper/shoemaker Farrell, John 16 cooper/shoemaker Goulburn, Thomas 18 carpenter Griffiths, James 17 carpenter/shoemaker Hermitage, John 16 carpenter Inchie, James 19 cooper Lamb, Michael 16 bricklayer/shoemaker Lay, George 20 carpenter Lynch, John 17 carpenter Neil, Charles 16 shoemaker Organ, Richard 16 plumber/glazer Parker, William 12 tailor Paton, William 19 bricklayer Rose, Edwin 17 farmer Shaw, John 17 shoemaker Smith, Joseph 18 plasterer/bricklayer Smith, William 16 farmer Waller, Alfred 15 carpenter West, William 16 bricklayer/tailor Williams, Joseph 17 cooper Wilson, George 16 shoemaker [2 names are missing]

By the year 1849 there was little to remind the public of Auckland of the scandal surrounding the arrival of the two ships of ‘Parkhurst Boys.’ They had quickly integrated into the everchanging Auckland society with the arrival of more and more immigrants families settling into the infant Colony.
Fortunately, they were the first and last ‘ex-convicts’ ever sent by the British authorities to the shores of New Zealand.

The dates don’t quite match but only by 2 years.George was born 1828/29 and in the 1851 census it says george  aged 22 is still living at home .so at the moment it looks like it could be a different George Allen , so our George was probably a genuine migrant who immigrated slightly later to better himself.I will check the ship manifests next.Unless of course George managed to get home for a visit ,before returning to New Zealand. So if our George was born in 1828 , in 1843 he would have been 15 very close to the right age. 8 years later he could have saved enough money for a visit home.So really the jury is out as to wether this is the same George Allen , or just a coincidence?

Wartime Arlesey Aircraft Crashes and the History of RAF Henlow

Lockheed Hudson bomber from RAF Tempsford on Stotfold to Arlesey road – crew of 4 killed – 28 Mar 1944;

The aircraft FK767 had left its base at RAF Tempsford on a training flight. There was an officer pilot  ,an officer navigator , and two airgunner sargeants. On operations as well they carried up to 4 agents and desperately needed supplies for the resistance.

• The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter. 
  

• Top speed: 404 km/h

• Length: 14 m

• Wingspan: 20 m

• First flight: December 10, 1938

• Engine type: Radial engine

• Manufacturer: Lockheed CorporationDesigner: Kelly Johnson
• the lock head Crew
  
  credit http://www.roll-of-honour.com complied this information
• RAF Tempsford was used during the war by the SOE (Special Operations Executive). It was from here that underground agents and their supplies were flown, and dropped into enemy occupied Europe. The station was home to “Special Duties” 138 and 161 Squadrons flying Whitley, Hudson, Halifax and Stirling bombers and also Lysanders.Over 80 aircraft were lost from Tempsford during the war, with many of their crews being killed.Gibraltar Farm Barn was built deliberately to look like a normal farm barn to fool German air-reconnaisance was where agents were supplied with their equipment and their poison pills, in case of capture. Today there are moving memorials to individual R.A.F. aircrews and S.O.E. agents inside the barn. Arround the barn memorial trees have been planted by the Czech, Norwegian and Polish underground resistance and others planted in memory of individual aircrews who never came back.Tempsford Airfield is a private airfield and as such not open to the public. Where possible small groups of visitors may be allowed access but only by prior arrangement. Anyone wishing to visit the airfield must telephone 01767 650251 beforehand
• The Halifax Crash

• 
  
  This sad story happened on Sunday 19th December 1943 at 19.25. They  still had to fly 8 more sorties to finish their year. A Handley Page Halifax BB364 from Squadron 138 at Tempsford had been in the air 1 hour 5 minutes on a practice flight. It was circulating RAF Henlow airfield dropping off containers on paracutes at a height of 40 feet.
  The young Welsh pilot Sargeant Hubert Williams 21 , was from a small village in Carmarthenshire , called Talaris . He clipped the top of a 280 foot brickyard chimney. Flying low and  at night has got to be the most dangerous flying you can do , especially in a Blackout situation. He knew the chimneys were there but wasn’t flying high enough in the dark to clear them . The aircraft was 1 mile from the airfield.  It burst into flames killing all nine on board . The crash scene was just the other side of the Arlesey Common bridge. A neighbour of mine Ray Shiel heard the crash and rushed down there the next morning as soon as it got light.
  The RAF were trying to stop people going there. But being schoolboys they went in the back woods way and took some metal souvenirs. Parts of aircraft were scattered all over the common.The chimney lights were switched off due to Blackout regulations.The experienced pilot had 252 hrs solo experience. 25 hrs on Halifaxs , and 62 hrs night flying experience , 8hrs on Halifaxs. It was a truly British Crew .Today of course this could never have happened , because the chimney would have set of an alarm and been detected.
  One of the propellors of the Halifax was put up on one of the London Brick Walls.What a shame it has disappeared , it could have been on display somewhere in the village.
  They were so young.
  Pilot Sgt                   HuW Williams 21 ,            the Welsh pilot ,
  Air Gunner Sgt         Alexander McIntyre 36 ,    from Glasgow.
  Nav/Bomber Sgt       Joeseph Polland 31,         from Belfast.
  Pilot / Nav Officer     Cyril Wooldridge 32         from Bromley
  Nav Sgt                    Harold Houghton 22         from Horwich , Lancs
  Air Gunner Sgt         Frank Adams 22             from Islington
  Flt Engineer Sgt        Stanley Higham 23         Mawdesley Lancashire
  Air Gunner Sgt         John Mooney 28             Liverpool
  Air Gunner Sgt         Cyril Addison 37             Liverpool

  Role	Heavy bomber
  Manufacturer	Handley Page
  First flight	25 October 1939
  Introduction	13 November 1940
  Retired	1961 (Pakistani Air Force)
  Primary users	Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Free French Air Force
  Produced	1940–1945
  Number built	6,178

  These are not the actual crew but other Temsford aircrew that crashed and died that they have photos of. These were obviously colleagues and friends of theirs.

  
  History of RAF Henlow info from Wikipedia
  While I was researching this story I thought I would include raf Henlow as it is very close to Arlesey , and obviously aircraft were always flying over Arlesey, thus making us a target in WW2.

  Henlow was chosen as a military aircraft repair depot in 1917 and was built by MacAlpine during 1917 and 1918. 4 Belfast Hangars were built and are now listed buildings. An additional hangar was added to the inventory in the 1930s and this too is now listed. Originally a repair depot for aircraft from the Western Front, the Station officially opened on 18 May 1918 when Lt Col Robert Francis Stapleton-Cotton arrived with a party of 40 airmen from Farnborough. The parachute testing unit moved The Officers Engineering School moved there in 1927. During the Second World War Henlow was used to assemble the Hawker Hurricanes which had been built at the Hurricane factory operated by Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, under the leadership of Elsie MacGill. After test flying in Fort William, they were disassembled and sent to Henlow in shipping containers for reassembly there. Over 1,400 Hurricanes (about 10% of the total) were built by Canadian Car and Foundry. Henlow was also used as a repair base. Hurricane fighters were dismantled there to be shipped to Malta as well. After the war, Henlow became the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment, but was reduced to a Radio Engineering Unit in 1980.

  A major RAF technical training college was also formed at Henlow after the Second World War and this was amalgamated with RAF College Cranwell in 1965. The RAF Officer Cadet Training Unit then moved in, but this also moved to Cranwell in 1980. In 1983, theLand Registry took over part of the site.

  Henlow Camp, a civilian settlement, has grown up around RAF Henlow since the station’s establishment.

  Present

  Today, RAF Henlow houses the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), all 3 of the RAF’S Police Wings (including the Tactical Provost Squadron), the RAF Centre for Aviation Medicine (RAF CAM), DE&S, 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron which operatesVigilant T1 motor gliders and number 1 Military Intelligence Brigade HQ. A civilian flying school also operates from the site.

  Administratively, RAF Henlow was part of a combined base, RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow but this has been disbanded with RAF Brampton being closed.
  

  Facilities

  Henlow facilities include a Medical and Dental Centre, Officers’ Mess, WOs’ and Sgts’ Mess, Junior Ranks Club – ‘Whittles’, Junior Ranks Mess and Coffee Shop – ‘Crystals’, Welfare housing – ‘Whittle’s Inn’, Gymnasium, Swimming pool, bowling alley, an 8 runway grass airfield and a 9 hole golf course open to the public.

  Cadets

  RAF Henlow is also home to 2482 (Henlow) Sqn Air Training Corps.