Following Epsom and Ewell Times story on George Pelham, who survived the Titanic disaster and another ship sinking, local writer and historian Martin Knight tells us the story of another Titanic double-sinking survivor, buried in our Borough:

Few will be aware of Ewell’s connection to the most famous maritime disaster of all time in which 1,514 people perished on RMS Titanic. Mary Kezia Humphries was born in Liverpool in 1870. In 1912 she was living in Nottingham with her husband David Roberts, who was the proprietor of the West Bridgford Motor Company. Mary joined the historic ship as a stewardess in 1st class and was rescued in lifeboat 11 as the boat was swallowed by the North Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg on the night of 15 April 1912.

 Her husband and children experienced a torrid few days without knowing whether Mary had survived the tragedy or not and it was only after she was deposited by the Carpathian in New York that word finally reached home. However, the experience did not deter Mary from going back to sea, and in 1914 she was working again aboard the Rohilla when that ship went down in the North Sea. Mary told her family that the rescue from the Rohilla, a ship that was built in Belfast by Harland & Wolf like the Titanic, was a far more frightening ordeal than the one two years earlier. The sea was eerily calm when the Titanic sunk and if you were lucky enough to get into a lifeboat you were relatively safe but conditions were far more treacherous with the Rohilla. Eighty-five lives were lost. Mary is thought to be the only survivor of both disasters.

 At some point Mary and David opted for a quieter life and settled in Ewell. Mary died in 1932 and her husband David was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident just a year later. They are buried together along with their daughters Daisy Bell and Kezia Nora in St Mary’s Churchyard.

Related stories

Epsom’s Titanic Ties

Epsom and Ewell Times’ History Detectorist purchased this miniature brass bible box from The Princess Alice charity shop in Epsom 2 years ago in the belief it was a piece of World War 1 trench art, but after some light cleaning he was astonished to discover the word “Titanic” engraved on it. 

Reference is also made to Douglas Woolley, who claims to own the salvage rights to the Titanic and who in the 1960s made plans to locate and raise the Titanic, a plan that involved inflating nylon balloons and attaching them to the Titanic’s hull.

Although Douglas Woolley’s dream of raising the wreck of the RMS Titanic and creating a floating museum in Liverpool was never realised, he wrote a book on the subject and continues to maintain that he owns the salvage rights to the “unsinkable” ship that sank off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic in the early hours of 15 April 1912 after colliding with an an iceberg.

The disaster resulted in the loss of an estimated 1,500 lives, partly due to a lack of lifeboats and 2 of Douglas Woolley’s great aunts may also have drowned had it not been for a premonition which caused them to cancel their trip on board the Titanic at the last minute and not travel with their luggage which went down with the ship.

Could it be that the miniature brass bible box had once belonged to one of Douglas Woolley’s great aunts, or perhaps one of the survivors of the Titanic?

Having wanted to raise the RMS Titanic, is it possible that Douglas Woolley was gifted the miniature brass bible box after it was salvaged from the wreck?

If the engraving on the miniature bible box was intended to deceive for the purposes of financial gain, then why was the box donated to a charity shop and why is the name “Douglas Woolley” engraved on it when the name of a member of the Titanic’s crew would have caused the box to fetch more money at auction?

Unfortunately, Douglas Woolley is now an elderly gentleman and I have not been able to make contact with him, but if any readers can tell me anything about this interesting brass object and how it came to be purchased by myself in an Epsom charity shop, The Epsom and Ewell Times and myself would be delighted to hear from you. 

George Pelham served on the Titanic as a Trimmer and survived the sinking. It is thought he survived another sinking of a ship during the First World War and these circumstances eventually led to his nervous breakdown and admission to Horton asylum in Epsom in 1935. 42 days after he was transferred to the neighbouring Longrove Hospital he died and was buried in the Horton Cemetery in Epsom on 14th October 1939.

You can read the full story on www.hortoncemetery.org and also read about the campaign to restore the Cemetery where 9000 patients of Epsom’s cluster of psychiatric hospitals were buried between 1899 and 1955 and now lay abandoned.

The suffragette movement is celebrated in the heart of Epsom with the statue of Emily Davison in Epsom’s Market Square. At our neighbouring Esher Theatre between 24th and 25th February Emily’s colleague Emmeline Pankhurst‘s life and struggle will be brought to life in a drama play by The Theatre Lab Company. “Emmeline – The Suffragette Movement, follows the journey of the inspirational leader of the Suffrage movement on her life’s mission to achieve the vote for women. Delving into the dynamics of the Pankhurst family, Emmeline explores the tensions that arose between her and her daughter Sylvia on militant tactics and social values, emblematic of the conflicts that divided the movement. Does the end justify the means?

Should the cause come first, no matter the personal cost? A story of the courage and sacrifice of the Suffragettes, their struggle and exaltation, and their undying determination that made history.

“A story to inspire the country to continue the fight for human emancipation.”

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Theatre Lab Company is a London-based international theatre company, with reputation for mesmerising theatrical imagery, physical theatre/performance and work that crosses the boundaries of culture, language and taboo.

Notable credits include commendation from Off West End (2019), an award by Global Entertainment Awards for Most Innovative International Theatre Company — UK (2018), critiques selection at Avignon Festival D’OFF, (2014)and Prague International Theatre festival (2007), nominations for a Fringe First and Total Theatre Awards,Edinburgh Festival (2007) They have produced their shows in highly acclaimed venues like RIVERSIDE STUDIOS (2010-2014), Sadler’s Wells Theatre (2016), Hoxton Hall Theatre (2017-2018) ,BT at Oxford Playhouse (2019) and National Theatre of Greece (2005).

Reviews

A thoughtful, well-researched and compelling production.” 4. STARS **** LONDON THEATRE 1

“Every element of this production was so well thought out and meticulously refined to create a cohesive masterpiece.” 4.5 STAR ****1/2 THEATRE AND OTHER THINGS LDN

“This is an important, informative and entertaining production that everyone should see.” – BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Tickets: https://eshertheatre-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173627634

Epsom and Ewell Times marks Holocaust Memorial Day (Friday 27th January) with an article about Surrey characters who saved Jews from persecution and we report on the work of a daughter of a Holocaust survivor, now living in Epsom, who is saving today’s refugees.

Marking Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January) Surrey History Centre highlights local characters who saved Jews from persecution. Across Britain many so-called ordinary people made extraordinary and often brave attempts to help rescue and settle people escaping Nazi oppression. Surrey was no exception: individuals and committees alike demonstrated remarkable compassion and team spirit in helping refugees during the 1930s and 1940s.

Some of these extraordinary people were themselves Jewish refugees from Europe: people like childcare specialist, Alice Goldberger (1897-1986) from Berlin, who set up a hostel for child Holocaust survivors at Weir Courtney in Lingfield in 1945; Dr Hilde Lion (1893-1970), an academic from Berlin, who established Stoatley Rough School in Haslemere in 1934; and Julius Warschauer (1907-1982) from Berlin who chaired the Mayor of Guildford’s Refugee Committee, and was helped in the pastoral care of Guildford’s Jewish refugees by his father Rabbi Malwin Warschauer (1871-1955).

Read the full story from the Surrey History Centre HERE

History repeating?

Nina Kaye, who lives in Epsom and is one of the founders of the Epsom & Ewell Refugee Network, is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Her mother, Marianne, was born in Vienna in 1925 and had to flee when the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938. Marianne’s mother was granted a visa for Great Britain but she was not permitted to bring any dependents with her, so Marianne had to apply for a visa for the kindertransport and, at the age of 13, travelled alone from Vienna to Stockholm. Later, in 1943, she was able to rejoin her mother in London.

In 2015, Nina wanted to offer Syrian refugees a room in her house but there was no organisation that matched refugees with private families offering to host them. So she helped set up Refugees At Home (www.refugeesathome.org) , a charity that has since become one of the leading organisations to match people with a spare room to refugees and asylum seekers in need of somewhere to stay. Since then she has hosted more than 30 refugees in her home.

At the same time she was involved in setting up Epsom & Ewell Refugee Network (EERN), a local organisation whose aim is to help support refugees and asylum seekers in and around Epsom. EERN is a volunteer led local organisation with an enthusiastic support network. Before the Ukrainian crisis, EERN was helping around a dozen families and some individuals settle in to the area and make a new life for themselves, providing English lessons, offering support to find jobs, helping children settle into schools, organising events and addressing many of the issues that arise. Since the war in Ukraine started, EERN now support around 180 families, helping them integrate into the community. Host families in this area have been very kind and generous and EERN offers support to both the families and their guests.

EERN’s most pressing need is for more sponsor families and potential landlords for Ukrainian families. If anyone can help, please contact epsomrefugeenetwork@gmail.com

Frank Howard [b. 1876 – d. 1912] was about 11yrs old when his father died and following that he was in and out of various workhouses, then away to sea and the record tells that he had “no settled home”. A life that involved revolving in and out of workhouses and the merchant navy ended in Ewell’s Epileptic Colony and burial in Epsom’s asylums’ “forgotten cemetery”. His story is told in the pages of www.hortoncemetery.org with highlights reprinted here with the Charity, The Friends of Horton Cemetery’s permission. There you will find many more fascinating life stories of the 9000 buried in the Cemetery beside Hook Road/Horton Lane.

In 1889 Frank, aged 13yrs, is admitted to St Mary’s infirmary as a pauper, he appears to remain there from Dec 89 – March 1890, brought in by his mother and discharged into her care. Later hospital admission records state that Frank’s Epileptic fits began when he was about 7yrs old although on these same records and on the 1911c it says he first developed Epilepsy at 26yrs.

Between Dec 1890 and Dec 1891 Frank 14yrs and Arthur 15yrs (brother/other relative?) are in the Workhouse twice ‘on remand’ and when discharged ‘taken by police.’

In the 1891c we find a Frank Howard 14yrs is an ‘inmate’ on the Training Ship ‘Torwell’ River Thames off Purfleet, Essex could this be an attempt to give Frank the opportunity of a fresh start in life? Later hospital records show that he became an Able Seaman, Engineer and fitter, in the RN which he left aged 21yrs and went on to join the Merchant Service, so the help he received did seem to make a difference.

From 1891 when Frank was on the training ship Torwell we have one possible sighting of him in 1898 when we find a Frank Howard, Seaman, aged 20yrs in the Stepney WH with Malarial Fever.

In the 1901c we definitely find our Frank Howard in the National District Hospital, Holborn, 25yrs Engineers Assistant born in Slough, with Epilepsy.

1902 sees Frank in and out of the Liverpool Road, St Mary’s and St John’s Road WH until on 20th February he is discharged to Canes Hill Asylum, Coulsdon, Surrey where he remains until at least 20th August 1903 when the register says he is “not improved” and he is transferred to the Ewell Epileptic Colony, Epsom.

On admittance his general condition is said to be fair, but he is having frequent attacks and is unable to do anything for himself. He is diagnosed with “Epileptic insanity with dementia and emotional instability”. It is noted that he is dull, weak minded, easily excited and prone to threaten violence,” He is generally known to be an “unreasonable grumbler”.

By summer 1911 he was noted variously as ‘unmanageable, confused and falling about’ he was still working but ‘not much use’.

In Feb 1912 he deteriorated rapidly and became ‘very feeble’ needing to be tube fed. He was having multiple seizures, ’81 in the past 48 hours’ and on Feb 14th he was said to be ‘sinking fast’. Frank died at 11.15am on 14th February 1912.

His death certificate appears to give his death as Feb 14th, 1917, but all other documents including his notes state 1912, age 36yrs. His death certificate says that he died of Epilepsy with no unusual circumstances.

Frank HOWARD was buried at Horton Cemetery on 20th February 1912 in grave 1355b.

How does the daughter of a famous Government Architect, who shaped the landscape of New South Wales, Australia, end up buried in an unmarked grave in Epsom? Her UK asylum records indicate a birth date of 1865/6 which has been proven to be incorrect.

Story and images reprinted by permission of The Friends of Horton Cemetery. You can read many more fascinating accounts of the lives of those buried there at www.hortoncemetery.org

Enid Barnet was born 23rd March 1861, in Glebe, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, Australia, in the shadow of Sydney harbour.  She was the fourth child of what would become a brood of 8, born into a very influential family.

The factual link which ensures we have the right person, is an asylum visitor log entry from her brother, the Rev. Donald McKay Barnet.

Enid’s Father

Enid’s father was James Johnstone Barnet, born in 1827 in Arbroath, Scotland. On 22 July 1854 he married Amy Gosling, daughter of John and Elizabeth Gosling; they sailed for Sydney and arrived in December. In 1860 he joined the Colonial Architect’s Office; two years later he became its acting head and in 1865 colonial architect; he held the position until 1890 when the office was reorganized.

His major works include the General Post Office building in Sydney, Callan Park Lunatic Asylum, the Australian Museum, the Colonial Secretary’s building, Lands Department building, and the Anderson Stuart Building at Sydney University.

After 24 years’ continuous public service, in 1885, James was granted 12 month’s leave from his duties to embark on a trip to Europe. Barnet toured Venice with his wife and visited the continent’s major art centres. He also performed some duties in relation to his work. This included inspecting the Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Broadmoor, England. Barnet returned to Sydney just before Christmas 1885.

In 1899 he published Architectural Work in Sydney, New South Wales, 1788-1899.

Barnet died on 16 December 1904 and was buried in the Presbyterian section at Rookwood cemetery where his wife had been interred ~1890. He was survived by four daughters and three sons. There are many sites dedicated to James Barnet, if you wish to read more.

Enid’s Life?

Very little can be found beyond birth for Enid until she comes to the asylum. We know that the family lived a healthy life in Sydney, and Enid’s sister is mentioned laying the foundation stone for Macquarie lighthouse, but little else can be found.

James and Amy Barnet settled in Glebe, firstly in Christie St where their eldest child Amy was born in 1856. She was followed by four more daughters and a son born on Glebe Rd: Lilia (1858-1928), Rosa (1859- 1940), Enid (born 1861), Maud (1862–1949) and James Jnr. (1865-1932). In 1867 the family moved to Braeside, a house that John designed. Two more sons were born: Thomas (1867-1931) and Donald McKay (1869-1940). James Jnr and Thomas followed their father’s profession, while Donald became a clergyman. They had many pets including a magpie, an Italian greyhound, a Skye terrier and a kangaroo.

We know that her father visited Europe for work and pleasure and can assume that the children accompanied him on at least some of those trips, although no immigration or ships roster can be found for the family. At some point in the 1890s Enid was in England, where she was to remain living with a family friend until being admitted to an asylum.

Enter a life at the Asylum

On Thursday, 27th February 1896, Enid Barnet was admitted to the Constance Road workhouse in the Parish of St. Giles, Camberwell, “Alleged Insane”. The workhouse was a frequent halfway house where people would receive a doctor’s examination before being put to work or in Enid’s case, being discharged to Fisherton House Asylum just 7 days later (1896 was a leap year).

The records show Enid was admitted to Fisherton on 4th March 1896, where she spent 3.5 years, before being discharged “Not Improved” in October.

Further records show that Enid was received at Horton asylum on 18th October 1899, where she was to spend the rest of her life.

Her admission entry shows the 33yr old Enid admitted as a single woman with no occupation, by her friend, Mrs. Barnes (also shown on visitor book), of 10 Colwell Road, E. Dulwich. This address is listed as her previous address, so they were living together. It states that her first attack was at aged 20.

She is rambling & incoherent in her statements, full of delusions as to where she is and the identity of those about her, says “I am the Prince of Wales”, says her occupation is to grow Tea in a teapot like a Chinaman. She hears voices and answers them

Fact indicating insanity observed [on admission]

Rambling garrulous and delusional. Mutters in an incoherent manner to herself. Says she is King & Queen of England, Empress of Russia and Queen of China.

Mental State: A. Rotherham

Enid’s Manor case notes begin on Jan 14th, 1900, and note typical delusional behaviour, talking to herself, laughing and giggling, childish behaviour, and hearing voices. Each entry appears to be approx. quarterly, thus 11 years of notes only span 2 pages. In 1903 it is noted that the patient is very much worse with phthisis and was transferred to the infirmary. Most quarterly examination notes generally consist of a very brief sentence moving from a noisy, delusional, patient progressing to someone who is more vacant, dull, weak-minded and in poor health.

On 3rd December 1911 Enid suddenly collapsed and her pulse became feeble, and it is noted that her previous phthisis which became quiescent in 1906 has made a return. After becoming ever feebler on 10th December, she received 3 injections of 5 minims of Strychnine, a lethal poison used historically in small doses to strengthen muscle contractions, such as a heart and bowel stimulant and as a performance-enhancing drug. Enid died shortly after at 12:05AM.

The statement of death sent to coroner states that the cause of death is (1) Pulmonary Tuberculosis and (2) Fatty degeneration of heart. The document notes “fading bruises on forehead and under each eye, the result of an accidental fall on the 24th of Nov, Patient caught her foot in dress whilst undressing.”

The Manor Address Book Female #1 [6282-13-56] shows that Enid, case 437, did receive two visitors in January and July 1900 just after admittance. One was Mrs Emma Barnes, listed as a friend, whom she was living with at the time of being admitted. The other was her youngest sibling, the Rev. Donald McKay Barnet, visited in 1900 just after her admittance but never returned to the asylum, he also lived in Australia.

• 18.1.00, 28.1.03 – Friend, Mrs Emma Barnes, 207 Lordship Lane, E. Dulwich
• 11.7.00, 14.7.00 – Brother, Rev. Donald McKay Barnet, 10 Guildford St. Russel Sq. WC (Letter returned “Not Known”)
• 5.12.11 – The Clerk, Hammersmith Guardians, 206 Goldhawk Rd. Shepherds Bush
• 8.12.11 – Cousin, J. Barnes, The Glen, Cudham Rd., Tatsfield, Surrey.

Enid received a visit from a local cousin just two days before she died, and 3 days after a visit from the Hammersmith guardians. Did the asylum attempt to reach Enid’s brother but having the letter returned (he had returned to Australia), contact the guardians? Did they also try to contact the only other visitor she ever received, as the cousin shares the same surname. It is comforting to know that she at least had someone at the end.

Enid died on 10th December 1911 and remains buried in unmarked plot #1323a.

Author’s Thoughts

Enid appears to have suffered with her mental health from a young age. It would appear that she was left in England with a friend of the family, Emma Barnes, who may or may not be related to the J. Barnes (cousin) who visited her in her last moments. Could it be that her famous father couldn’t deal with the pressures of having a mentally ill daughter around in his influential circles.

According to Enid’s file her illness began around 1881, did this influence her father? Colonial Architect James Barnett designed the new Callan Park Lunatic Asylum, in New South Wales, to be built according to the enlightened views of the American Dr Thomas Kirkbride. The date certainly fits with Enid’s diagnosis. James worked in collaboration with Inspector of the Insane Dr Frederick Norton Manning to produce a group of some twenty neo-classical buildings, completing in 1885 and subsequently named the Kirkbride Block, offering progressive patient care.

Author: Steve Johnson

Shortly after 11.pm on the night of 21 December 1869, Thomas O’ Brien, the stationmaster on Ewell West Railway Station prepared to turn the gas lights off as he awaited the last train of the night – the 10.40 pm from Waterloo. A single passenger alighted who Mr O’ Brien would later describe as wearing a ‘villainous expression of countenance’. He was so alarmed at the man’s appearance and odd manner he ordered him from his pristine new station.

The man, Thomas Huggett, had no intention of hanging around as he had murder in his heart and he set off, following the course of the River Hogsmill, to the gunpowder mills owned by Sharp & Company and that were situated by the river in the areas leading up to what is now Ewell Court Park. He knew the mills well as he had delivered and collected from there in the past. Breaking into an outhouse he stole 25lb of gunpowder and feeling in his pocket to ensure he also had his knife he headed back towards Ewell Village and the house in West Street where his former lover, Lizzie Richardson, was now living.

Huggett worked in a warehouse at Rotherhithe and had been living with Lizzie Richardson for six months after she had left her husband for him. They had never married and the relationship had quickly broken down and Lizzie had moved away from him to live with her sister Eliza and her husband George Spooner and was acting as housekeeper as Eliza had been ill for some months. Also living in the cottage, which stood close to the newly opened Ewell Boy’s School in West Street, was a man called William Smith, a porter with the railway company, and another lodger George Mason, as well as the Spooners’ two young children Ellen and Frederick. It was rumoured later in the many pubs of Ewell that Huggett believed that Lizzie and William Smith were romantically attached.

Hiding in the Spooner’s coal house he watched as the lights of the Hop Pole Inn opposite (now the site of John Gale Court) were turned down and waited quietly. At 3.40 am Lizzie rose from her bed to begin to prepare George Spooner’s breakfast as he was due to make a delivery to London early that morning. She went outside to fetch coal to top up the fire she had lit and was shocked to be faced with Huggett sitting on the coals with a bag between his legs. Screaming she ran back into the house followed by Huggett who was shouting that he would kill her and himself. He was also brandishing his knife and tipping gunpowder on to the floor. By this time George Spooner had jumped from his bed and ran down the stairs to restrain Huggett from following Lizzie Richardson who had taken refuge in her bedroom. A struggle ensued and Huggett managed to break free and throw the bag of powder on to the fire. The house exploded demolishing the adjoining wall of the cottage next door and Huggett was blown through it.

Huggett was dead either from the blast or a knife-wound to his heart which had been inflicted with his own weapon. It was possible that George Spooner may have wrestled it from him but he was in no fit state to tell as he had been carried across to the Hop Pole pub with horrendous burns. Witnesses said that his ‘outer skin had come off’. William Smith was also less seriously injured and he was taken to Guy’s Hospital.

The explosion would have rocked the village but would have been no great surprise as accidents emanating from the gunpowder mills were not uncommon. Only six years earlier Ewell resident James Baker had been blown to bits by one such ‘accident’. Messrs Sharp & Co. were moved by the Spooner tragedy to write to the Times not to express sympathy but to assure readers that their premises were not unmanned at nights. George Spooner, 38 years of age, lingered a few days but died from his injuries and a subsequent inquest recorded wilful murder by Thomas Huggett whose own inquest had concluded suicide.

When Thomas O’Brien, the stationmaster at Ewell West station, heard of the incident when he rose on the morning of 22 December he immediately said, “That man I saw last night did it.” He marched across the Gibraltar area to West Street to view the body which still lay in the half-standing house and confirmed that Huggett was indeed the man that had got off the train the previous night. He had to be steadied though when he realised that the lodger that had been taken to Guy’s Hospital (and would later recover from his injuries) was his new employee, porter, William Smith.

© Martin Knight, 2012

Both “The Horton” (Arts Centre) and The Horton Cemetery featured on the agenda of the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council’s Strategy and Resources committee Thursday 29th September. For the second time this year discussion on a request to the Council to exercise Compulsory Purchase Order powers over the neglected 9000 body 5-acre cemetery on Hook Road, Epsom, was withdrawn.

As previously reported HERE the bone of contention, between the charity, The Friends of Horton Cemetery and a report to Councillors, concerns the valuation basis for compensation to the property speculator, to whom the intact Cemetery was incongruously sold by the NHS in 1983. Trustee of the Charity Hon. Alderman Alan Carlson stated “We are grateful our request has not been determined by the Strategy and Resources Committee. Our own independent expert and affordable valuations have not been enough to persuade the Council. We will now obtain more. We are also grateful to the many supporters who on short notice of the matter mounted an effective email campaign to Councillors in protest”. He further added: “This 5-acre Cemetery is sacred to a growing number of relatives of the dead. It is a white elephant in the possession of Michael Heighes of Marque Securities, who cannot in a thousand years develop it at all. This is why he has totally neglected the site for 40 years”.

Chairman of the Committee, Councillor Neil Dallen (RA Town Ward), responded to the supporters’ campaign stating the Council will meet the Charity as “aspects of the Council Report have been misunderstood by the Trust”.

The Horton

Just one week after an opening event at The Horton arts and heritage centre, the venue appeared on the agenda of the same meeting of the Strategy and Resources Committee. However, without challenge from any of the 10 Councillors present, the Committee went into secret session to discuss the item. The committee stating that the item concerned the finances of a “third party” and it was not “in the public interest” for them to be disclosed publicly.

Other items:

The committee approved investment in a new gas boiler for the Council’s Community and Wellbeing Centre on Longmead, Epsom. The Council has investigated the efficacy of ground and air heat-pump systems, but the building is not well enough insulated for them to be effective. This prompted Cllr David Gulland (LibDem College Ward) to query whether insulation should be invested in. The officer responded that the Council was reviewing insulation across the Council’s entire estate.

Following the sudden departure of Kathryn Beldon from the top Council post of Chief Executive (reported HERE) the committee agreed to extend the employment of Jackie King as interim Chief Executive pending a permanent posting. The meeting also noted a requirement for the appointment of a chief legal officer. Cllr Kate Chinn (Labour Court Ward) joked she had asked a previous Council law officer Simon Young to return from The Falklands where he had migrated to be the islands’ lead attorney.

The chief IT officer had been lost recently so an Information Technology strategy review was withdrawn from the meeting.

The committee approved the business plan being put this Autumn to a vote of business rate payers in the central Epsom area. This would allow Epsom Bid Ltd (known as Go Epsom) to continue for another 5 years to make improvements to the business zone, funded by an additional levy to business rates. Cllr Eber Kington (RA Ewell Court Ward) expressed enthusiastic support for the recent work of Epsom Bid in the changes and activities it has initiated.

Since 1946 Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II missed only three Derby Races held in Epsom. In tribute to Her love of the event the magnificent Queen’s Stand, opened in 1995, was so named. This Platinum year it was officially renamed The Queen Elizabeth II Stand. Sadly, she missed this year’s race-meeting on the occasion of her unparalleled seven-decade long reign. Undeterred the Borough of Epsom and Ewell held a fitting celebration with the lighting of the Platinum Beacon on the Epsom Downs. A feature that will remain a constant reminder of Her Late Majesty’s steadfast service to the Nation and beyond. Over these years it has been the habit of many locals to wait beside a road, hoping to see the Queen on her way to or from the Derby. The lucky ones receiving that famous Royal wrist-ache saving back-handed wave!

The Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux has issued the following statement:

“On behalf of the people of Surrey, I have expressed our profound sympathy and sincere condolences to HM The King on the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. His Majesty and all the members of the Royal Family are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this sad time. May she rest in peace.”

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has issued the following statement:

The Councillors and staff of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) are deeply saddened at the news of the death of Her Majesty The Queen. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this time.

Flags in the Borough are being flown at half-mast and books of condolence are available for everyone to sign at the Town Hall, Bourne Hall and the Wellbeing Centre. An online book of condolence is also available at https://www.royal.uk.

The Mayor of EEBC, Councillor Clive Woodbridge, has said, ‘Her Majesty was no stranger to Epsom, rarely missing a Derby. She was a much loved and respected monarch, and I know the vast majority of the residents of this Borough will be profoundly saddened by today’s news.

‘As well as our sovereign, Her Majesty was also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother; on behalf of the people of Epsom & Ewell, I extend our sympathies to members of the Royal Family on their personal loss.’

The Interim Chief Executive of EEBC, Jackie King, has said, ‘As Members attend to the democratic process in the Council Chamber, they do so under a portrait of our late monarch; a poignant reminder of duty and personal commitment.

‘I am very aware of the esteem in which Her Majesty is held by the Council’s staff, and on their behalf, I offer our sympathies to the Royal Family.’

Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP for Epsom and Ewell has written to constituents. “I am sure you will want to join me in expressing very great sadness at the death of the Queen. She has been such an important part of our national life and will be hugely missed.”

Baroness Sheila Hollins has joined Freemen of the Borough, the local MP and others in their Patronage of The Friends of Horton Cemetery. Baroness Hollins is a leading figure nationally and worldwide in the field of psychiatry. A former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Medical Association, she is an adviser to The Pope on the protection of minors and is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords.

The Charity’s 50+ strong research team leader, Kevin McDonnell, said “We are truly honoured that the charity’s objects have Baroness Hollin’s endorsement. Especially as on 6th September we launch our project “Out of Sight, Out of Mind“, supported by Historic England and Kings College London. The story of the Cemetery and the Stories of the lives of those buried there are becoming significant locally, nationally and internationally. We have researchers and followers here, across the United Kingdom and overseas. An extraordinary heritage putting Epsom on the world map.”

Dr Alana Harris, Director of Kings College’s Liberal Arts Department said “The project aims to restore dignity to the 9000 patients buried beside Epsom’s Hook Road, in Europe’s largest asylum cemetery. Our project seeks to recapture these stories and to create a crowd-sourced memorial, overcoming historical amnesia, neglect, and inaction. We are seeking volunteers (who will be trained, and work in pairs) to lead public engagement ‘chat and craft’ workshops, which will discuss the history of the ‘Epsom Asylum’ cluster and its cemetery.”

You can find out more at an information session on Tuesday 6th September 4pm-6pm at St. Barnabas Church, Temple Road, Epsom KT19 8HA and you can contact the Project via www.hortoncemetery.org