WADBROOK STREET IN KINGSTON: A GENEALOGICAL CHALLENGE
The origin of the surname “Wadbrook” is obscure. It was found in Kingston upon Thames records as far back as 1660
The first mission in Kingston upon Thames, mentioned in the Catholic Directory, was St. Raphael’s Church, in Surbiton. Built by Alexander Raphael [see www.kingstonhistoryresearch.co.uk], this opened on 1 September 1850 and flourishes today as a Catholic parish. A second Kingston mission, with a chapel and a school, was that of St. Mary and St. Patrick. The Directory recorded that it opened on 10 April 1853 and closed between 1855-1856. The Religious Census of 1851 recorded that the parish priest and chaplain of St. Raphael’s, then owned by Edward Raphael, the nephew of Alexander Raphael, was Fr. Jeremiah Donovan and it appeared that the church was open only on Sunday morning. An appeal for funds to support SS. Mary & Patrick indicated Diocesan concerns that the Catholic residents of Kingston were “dependent for their spiritual requirements on the pleasure of a private gentleman” and that the children were denied moral training because the schools provided by Alexander Raphael were not open. This evidenced the need for a second mission in Kingston. The Directory recorded that throughout its existence the priest at SS. Mary & Patrick was Fr. Henry Clark. He was a very active and dedicated man.
The Directory recorded also that in 1855 the priest at St. Raphael’s was Fr. James Doyle. Both served as military chaplains in the Crimean War and both suffered poor health as a consequence. Shortly after he returned to Kingston, Fr. Doyle died of a heart attack, possibly on church premises, on 29 July 1855. A report of his death in the Surrey Comet, a local newspaper, said that his “life was a constant practical exemplification of real Christian virtue”. Martin Corkery [1995] concluded that SS. Mary & Patrick’s mission closed because funding for its support was not forthcoming. However, a hypothesis emerged that the mission closed because, before or shortly after Fr. Clark went to the Crimea, an accord was reached between the Diocese of Southwark and Edward Raphael, the owner of St. Raphael’s Church and its associated schools, whereby they could be opened to provide all the services necessary for the expanding Catholic population of Kingston, with Fr. John Ainsworth as the priest. More research is needed to explore this hypothesis.
The origin of the surname “Wadbrook” is obscure. It was found in Kingston upon Thames records as far back as 1660
The first mission in Kingston upon Thames, mentioned in the Catholic Directory, was St. Raphael’s Church, in Surbiton.
In the Spring of 1901 Kingston Debating Society [KDS], founded in 1886, had 48 members, although not all attended the debates held in that season.
Noel Baddow Pope was born in Toxteth, a sub-district of Liverpool, on Christmas Eve, 1909. He moved with his widowed mother to Surbiton before 1926.
Some of the digitised material that I have used has been sourced as follows:
“Ancestry”
http://home.ancestry.co.uk
“Find My Past”
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/
The Times Digital Archive, via
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries
19th Century Newspapers, via
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/libraries
The London Gazette
http://www.thegazette.co.uk/
Lloyds’ Register Historic Archive
www.lrfoundation.org.uk
British Newspaper Archive
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Parliamentary Papers, via
http://www.history.ac.uk
The non-digitised material [books, journals, records of Assizes and Quarter Sessions, Council Minutes, etc], has come from many sources including:
The British Library
http://www.bl.uk
The National Archives
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Surrey History Centre
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/…../surrey-history-centre
Kingston Local History Centre
http://www.kingston.gov.uk/…/visit_kingston_history_centre
Kent History and Library Centre
http://www.kent.gov.uk/…/kent-history-and-library-centre
Institute of Historical Research, University of London
http://www.history.ac.uk