The Hampshire Family Historian | Volume 49 No.4 | March 2023

Local Group Programmes

Contact: Jane Painter Email: fareham@hgs-online.org.uk

Fareham Evening Group Meetings are normally held from 7.15 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of each month at the Wallington Village Hall, Broadcut, Fareham.

No reports received Forthcoming Meetings:

None to report

Contact: Email: fleetandfarnborough @hgs-online.org.uk

The group normally meets at the United Reform Church Hall, Kings Rd, Fleet GU51 3AF second Thursday of every month except August at 7.30pm. Fleet & Farnborough

Reports by Carol Gomm (October) Dunmow Hill, The Early Days – Graham & Rosemary Mist

Graham and Rosemary had researched their own home in Dunmow Hill after finding a selection of postcards behind their mantlepiece. But with interest from other residents and with nothing better to do during lockdown, they decided to extend this to include the Victorian and Edwardian properties where deeds still existed. Nine were researched and this talk covered six of them: Lakeview, Greycourt, Ambleside, Deohal, Dunmow House and Homecroft, though some of these names have changed over time. Graham gave us the background to land sales in Fleet, details of the purchasers of plots, the builders & developers, and the owners & occupiers. Some plots were bought by builders like Frank Spear who built the house later known as Deohal, and Alfred Gale who built Kimberley (later called Homecroft), but many were bought by Samuel Higgins and his family. The first house to be built was Lakeview in 1893, which was Samuel’s own home, with Greycourt and Ambleside built on plots owned by his sister and sister-in-law respectively on either side. Most were built to be rented out and residents included the military, the clergy, and an engineer, and quite a few had connections to India, including to a tea plantation called, of course, Deohal. The benefits of the project have been to enhance community spirit and foster an interest in the history of the street. This is now a popular topic on TV – but it was Graham and Rosemary who got here first! There are still more stories to come, like how did Samuel Higgins (who was not a builder) get the money to buy the land and have so many houses built? Electronic copies of all the house histories and the deeds have been deposited with the Fleet & Crookham Local History Group. (November) – Christmas Food & Drink Through the Ages – Simon Fowler & Sylvia Levi – This was another husband & wife double act with Sylvia concentrating on the food while

172