I’m still thinning out my backlog of Bonniwell-related documents that currently crowd my computer desktop. Today’s post includes some multimedia links, too. I hope you enjoy them.

A long, narrow, disagreeable, ill-built town…

Unlike the glowing prose of the description of Chatham we discussed earlier in Bonniwell background: Chatham, Kent 1832, not everyone was impressed by the Bonniwell’s home town, at least not in the late-1700s. For example, Edward Hasted (1732-1812), in his monumental History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent (second edition, vol. 4, Canterbury, 1798, pp. 191-226) had this to say:

THE TOWN OF CHATHAM, the greatest part of which has been built since the reign of queen Elizabeth, adjoins to that of Rochester, which, with Stroud [sic, Strood], makes one long street of more than two miles in length, of which Chatham is one, being commonly called the Three Towns, through which the high road leads from London to Dover, as above mentioned.

It is situated close to the bank of the Medway for about half a mile, after which the river leaving the town flows north-north east. It is like most sea ports, a long, narrow, disagreeable, ill-built town, the houses in general occupied by those trades adapted to the commerce of the shipping and seafaring persons, the Victualling-office, and the two breweries, and one or two more houses, being the only tolerable built houses in it.

The 12 volumes of the second edition of Hasted’s complete magnum opus have been digitized and made available at British History Online. The quoted bits above are a brief excerpt from Hasted’s almost 9,000 words devoted to the parish history of Chatham. Click the link for online access, or download a PDF copy here.

I discovered Hasted’s sour appraisal of 1798 Chatham while watching an interesting YouTube video devoted to the history of two major disasters that befell the town—and our Bonniwell and Hills families—in the early 1800s:

The Great Fires of Chatham, 1800 & 1820

Bonniwell family patriarch William T. B. Bonniwell was 16 years old when Hasted’s sketch of Chatham was published; William’s future wife, Eleanor Hills, was 13. William and Eleanor were 18 and 15 years old in 1800, when the first of two Great Fires devastated Chatham. By the time of the second Great Fire—in March, 1820—William and Eleanor had been married for 18 years and were the parents of 7 children (6 living), and Eleanor would soon be expecting their eighth.

The video runs about 17 minutes, is well-produced, and full of interesting details and visuals. Highly recommended

Fire relief efforts

As I understand it, the Royal Navy Dockyards at Chatham were generally unaffected by the two conflagrations. Many Chatham businesses were destroyed in the fires of 1800 and 1820, but a substantial percentage of those losses were covered by fire insurance. But a large number of Chatham’s poorest working class residents were made homeless and destitute by the fires. To relieve their suffering, subscription drives were organized. Much like the modern-day “GoFundMe” and similar crowd-funding platforms, in both 1800 and 1820 committees were organized in Chatham and donors from near and far were encouraged to subscribe and give funds to the relief efforts. The committees then evaluated applications from the fire victims and distributed funds to them in varying amounts, based on need.

In both 1800 and 1820, the relief committees published reports of their work. Each report examined the causes and extent of each fire, documented—in some detail—the losses sustained by Chatham residents and business owners, and recorded the pounds, shillings and pence paid to each qualifying fire victim. I have been able to locate digitized versions of both reports and both contain mentions of members of the Bonniwell and Hills families. I’ll try and put those up as PDFs, plus a little commentary, in my next post.

Historic revival in the 2020s

Chatham has had its ups and downs in the two centuries since the second Great Fire of 1820. There have been several major fires since, and the local economy has been through a number of boom and bust cycles. Happily, it seems that things are looking up lately in the Bonniwell’s old River Medway environs. For a glimpse of the Bonniwell’s world as it is today—and a look at a new historic preservation effort, click the YouTube image below and enjoy a 5-1/2 minute stroll through the Old Intra High Street connecting Chatham, Rochester and, ultimately, Strood:

This YouTube video from Historic England is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated report and proposal for further historic preservation and economic redevelopment. Click here (or on the image below) to view and/or download the full PDF; it’s filled with all kinds of Chatham-area history, maps, photos and other images.

That’s all for now. Let me know what you think of the videos and Historic England report. More history coming soon.