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Friends of Havelock Rec

History of Local Road Names

Our Local Road names reflect the imperial history that was popular with our planners at the time they were adopted by the Council: as the middle classes, who were in their first generation of running Bromley, were very enthusiastic about Empire, and committed Christians, the roads were christened accordingly.   They had a fascination with their heritage from the Puritan movement, and they promoted causes such as Temperance Movement.  This was the era with the rise of the Baptist and Methodist movements, and when the Salvation Army first began its extensive work.  Church-going was a passion at this time; just look at the number and capacity of the local churches built at this period, and compare them with the amount of housing from that time.  They’re only equalled by the number of pubs!

They probably hoped that by naming Havelock Road after a popular Christian and temperance man, they would give the somewhat unruly inhabitants something to aspire to….

Note, in the mid-Victorian era the turnpike road (now the A21) was along Shooter’s Common was lined (only on the NE side facing the common) with suburban villas, “occupied by tea dealers, cotton traders and members of the stock exchange” according to Matthew Greenhalgh’s thesis.

 

 

Havelock Road

Henry Havelock was a famous Victorian Baptist general in India and Burmah, and pioneer of modern army chaplaincy, and was very popular at the time; not just are many roads and streets named after him, but there’s a town in America and his statue on a plinth in Trafalgar Square.

His biographies were best sellers in the decades after his death, one by his brother in law sold 46,000 copies, considered remarkable at the time. A typical title was: General Sir Henry Havelock, The Soldier and The Saint: or Two Heroes in One. General Havelock’s life was seen as a lesson in Christianity, Honour and Duty; there were popular musical compositions commemorating him from the India Mutiny: for example the Havelock March and Havelock Polka Militiare.

Henry Havelock came originally from Sunderland, his family then  moved to Ingress Park, Greenhithe (Kent), and he attended Dartford Grammar School[1] (as a parlour boarder), then  Charterhouse School until he was 17.  He entered the Middle Temple in 1813,to study law, but losing his funds, he obtained on 30 July 1815, at the age of 20, a post as second lieutenant in the 95th Regiment of Foot, Rifle Brigade.

At this stage he started to diligently study military history and the art of war.  Then he went to see active service in India, with the 13th Regiment (Light Infantry) and therefore studied the Persian and Hindustani languages.  It was on this journey to India that Henry Havelock rediscovered his faith.

In the First Afghan War in 1839, Havelock was aide-de-camp to Willoughby Cotton at the capture of Ghazni, on 23 May 1839, and was then involved in a string of successes: the occupation of Kabul, the passage of the defiles of the Ghilzais in 1840, lifting the siege at Akbar Khan, promoted to Deputy Lieutenant-General and releasing British prisoners and then Jagdalak, Tezeen, Istalif, and then the Gwalior Campaign as Persian interpreter to Sir Hugh Gough, and distinguishing himself at Maharajpur in 1843, and the Sikh Wars at Mudki, Ferozeshah and Sobraon in 1845.

At this time he would have made his name known to the British public, as he used his spare time to produce analytical reports about the skirmishes and battles in which he was involved. These writings were returned to Britain and were reported on in the press of the day, and wer followed by a series of promotions.

 havelock_on_campaign 800px-Havelock_Statue_London

 

After returning to England and two years “church work” with the Baptists (involving himself in the Stepney Baptist Academy), he returned to India in 1852 with further promotions to become Adjutant-General to the British Army in India in 1857. Then he won successes in the Anglo-Persian War (action at Muhamra against Nasser al-Din Shah), then in the Indian Rebellion in Allahabad, then victories in Lucknow and Cawnpore. Despite being in his 60’s and outnumbered, he defeated all rebel forces in his path, as the years of campaign experience and his studies of the theories of war won him the reputation as a great military leader.  He lifted the siege of Lucknow, but died a few days later on 24 November 1857 of dysentery, brought on by the anxieties and fatigue connected with his victorious march and with the subsequent blockade of the British troops. He lived long enough to receive news that he was to be created a Baronet for the first three battles of the campaign; but he never knew of the major-generalship which was conferred shortly afterwards.

The plinth’s dedication reads: To Major General Sir Henry Havelock KCB and his brave companions in arms during the campaign in India 1857. “Soldiers! Your labours, your privations, your sufferings and your valour, will not be forgotten by a grateful country” H. Havelock. In 2003, there was major controversy when the then mayor of London, Ken Livingstone suggested that the Trafalgar Square statue, together with that of General Charles James Napier, be replaced with “more relevant” figures.[4]

.

 

1897  Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Raglan?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Bloomfield,_1st_Baron_Bloomfield

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Addison  

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_William_Addison  

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Greenstreet_Addison

Havelock

Road Laid: 1870s | Commemorates: General Henry Havelock, Military Strategist, Self-Disciplined Baptist, died in service after raising the siege of Lucknow.
... see full post

Fashoda

Road Laid 1909 | The Fashoda incident, ending the scramble for Africa and heralding the Entente Cordiale.
... see full post

Glanville

Road Laid: 1929 | Medieval bishop of Rochester, under King John
... see full post

Gundulph

Road Laid 1929 | Early bishop of Rochester (1077) and father of the Engineering Corps.
... see full post

Wendover

Road Laid 1870s | First Rector of Bromley parish church, and then Bishop of Rochester
... see full post

Waldo

Road Laid 1870s | First Rector of Bromley parish church, and then Bishop of Rochester
... see full post

Jaffray

Road Laid 1909 | John Jaffray, chartist and socialist.
... see full post

Napier

Road Laid ?1870s | A Famous victorian general, in India and the Peninsular War, and like Havelock, on a plinth in Trafalgar Square
... see full post

Elliott

Road Laid 1903 | General who was 2nd in command to Kitchener and distinguished in the Zulu wars
... see full post

Homesdale

Road Laid: n/a | formally Brick Kiln Lane. Lord Holmesdale, Viscount, local MP.
... see full post

Haywood

Road Laid: 1903 | Engineer (London's sewerage system with Bazalgette) and cemetery reform
... see full post

Pope

Alexander Pope  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) was an 18th-century English poet. He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson.[1]The money made from his translation […]
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Chatterton

Thomas Chatterton  There is also a page about Thomas Chatterton, that Chatterton Road (and now ‘Village’) is named after: from Chatterton Road History Society pages (with this evocative picture):
... see full post

-- supporter/context letter

(supporter/context letter)
... see full post

 

 

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Local History, Photos & Reminisces

Browse our collection of remarkable local reminisces in our oral history pages look at the park's previous incarnation as a working brickpit or a summary of it all here.

See also:

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Check out the Gallery

Early morning landscape by Jon Emmanuel
Landscape by Jon Emmanuel
IYellow Lab Daphne playing with her friend Molly
It's snowing!
evening light over our park
snow angel!
10422371_10152598816492595_4131414265842496626_n
2002jul02 tansy with little cricket bat
2008 double rainbow brickfield
HotBalloon060630-3
033 field water fight
IMG_1001-3
dragging the sledge back up the dip
snowmen and snow forts in 2009
The firemen parachuted in to raise money in 2005
fun-in-the-snow
fun-in-the-snow2
fun-in-the-snow3
fun-in-the-snow4
fun-in-the-snow snowman making
sledging-the-dip
dog in the snow
15jul01_sunset_over_brickfield_havelock_rec.jpg
14jun08 50490 view pink clouds brickfield.JPG
15feb28 dog walkers in field.jpg
andy_loakes_snow_on_the_brickfield.jpg
14jun08 50495 view sunset brickfield.JPG
P1090838.JPG
15jun29_4567-brickfield-field-bindweed-768x1024.jpg
15jun29_4583-brickfield-elderflower-768x1024.jpg
15mar14-brickfield-bulbplanting.jpg
15mar14-di-and-felix-litterpicking-brickfield.jpg
16jan18_volunteers-planting-hedge-brickfield.jpg
16jul18 bug-day-tent-view.jpg
16jun12 big-lunch-tug-war.jpg
16sep12-hoedown-2.jpg
17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20059-baker-girl-beauty-dancing-1024x768.jpg
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17sep09-brickfield-hoedown-20071-girls-umbrella-rainbowjpg-1024x768.jpg
1924 o-peills-brick-pit-half-mile-SW-Bickley-Stn-looking-S-16386_synch-l.jpg
1940 havelock-rd-bomb-damage-1940-4-e1437292677505-1024x699.jpg
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Recent Posts

  • Neighbouring Local History – Heinkel bomber shot down in Johnson Rd
  • WW2 – bombs in Havelock Road
  • Neighbouring Local History – Keeping Riff-Raff out… Bromley’s own Class Wall
  • Neighbouring Local History – Jubilee Country Park’s Not-so-quiet WW2 role
  • A Selection of other Local History in the Neighbourhood

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