Ingress Abbey Contents

There is an item on this blog about the life of Samuel Charles Umfreville (1820-94), who lived at Ingress Abbey, built by James Harmer (1777-1853) in Greenhithe, North Kent. My article was read by Michael Harmer, who has an interest in Harmer family history. He has emailed me with some information about what happened to the contents of Ingress Abbey after Samuel Charles Umfreville’s death.

When Samuel died, the Umfreville family leased Ingress Abbey to Holder Bros before eventually selling it. The family however kept the contents and these eventually ended up with his grand-daughter Phyllis Annora Umfreville (1896-1970), the only child of his eldest son Samuel Charles (1863-1937) and his wife Beatrice Lucy nee Brumell. Phyllis was a spinster who died 3 June 1970 at Yeaton Hall, Walford Heath, Baschurch, near Shrewsbury. Her executors auctioned her possessions through C E Williams & Co of Oswestry. The auction was held in the grounds of Yeaton Hall on the 15 and 16 October 1970, it consisted of 800 lots. The catalogue’s general information states "Much of the furniture at Yeaton Hall was originally in the possession of the Umfreville family at Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent and was specially made for the late Miss Umfreville's great grand-father in the early 1800's from timber grown on the estate....."

One particular lot (170), a set of chairs, has been resold several times and in November 2006 it was sold by Christies the Lot Provenance reads - "Supplied to Alderman James Harmer, for Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe, Kent. By descent to the Umfreville family (who sold the house in 1906). .........."

Lot Notes "The dining chairs, designed in the Gothic manner promoted by George Smith's ‘The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1826' were commissioned by Alderman James Harmer (b. 1777) following his purchase of Ingress Abbey, Kent in 1820 and its aggrandisement in the 'Gothic Elizabethan' manner under the direction of the architect Charles Moreing. The chairs were executed by Henry Stidolph who is recorded at Dartford, Kent between 1824 and 1839......."

The catalogue also includes a photo of two of the chairs.

Elizabeth Mary Ann Adkins nee Clarke (1864-1915)

I received a request for a photo of Elizabeth’s grave in East Hill Cemetery, Dartford. This led me to look up her burial in the cemetery records, where I found that she died at Dartford Railway Station. I looked at copies of The Dartford Chronicle (stored on microfilm at Dartford Library), to see whether I could find out more. This is what I discovered about her life and unfortunate death.

Elizabeth Mary Ann Clarke was born in 1864 in Stotfold, Bedfordshire. The 1891 census shows her as a housekeeper, living at 497 Kings Road, Chelsea with her brother Thomas W Clarke (aged 27, an accountant’s clerk) and two lodgers.

Elizabeth married Arthur Adkins, aged 29, a carpenter, at St John’s Church, Chelsea on May 30^th 1892. She is shown as aged 28, a spinster, with her father being William Clarke, a baker.

Arthur and Elizabeth seem to have moved to Ashwell in Hertfordshire after their marriage, as this is where their first three children were born. They were Thomas William (born 1893), Lilian Cecilia (born 1894) and Audrey Muriel (born 1896). Arthur was also born in Ashwell, which is only 5 miles from Stotfold. The family moved to Dartford in about 1897, where their other two children were born. They were May Olivia (born 1898) and Herbert George (born 1906). 

The 1901 census shows the family living at 99 New Colney Road, Dartford. Arthur is shown as a carpenter. New Colney Road is in the Newtown area of East Dartford. A lot of the houses in Newtown were built between 1880 and 1910, which was developed to accommodate Dartford’s rising population at this time. The streets were relatively wide and the properties were generally better than those in central Dartford, where there were health problems associated with poor sanitation. 

In 1911 the family were living at 113 Colney Road, Dartford. The household consisted of Arthur Adkins (aged 50, a carpenter), his wife Elizabeth (47) with their children Thomas (17, a clerk), Lilian (16, a dressmaker), Audrey (14, a milliner), May (12, at school) and Herbert (4). The census return says that the family were living in 5 rooms. 

The following item was published in The Dartford Chronicle dated Oct 1st 1915. 

"Passengers and officials at Dartford Railway Station on Saturday morning were horrified to see a woman, who attempted to enter a carriage of a train in motion, crushed to death between the train and the footway, in the presence of her little son, who was accompanying her to London for the day. 

The train was that which leaves Dartford at 7.03 am, and the last by which cheap tickets are available, and is accordingly very popular and always well filled. The train was stopped immediately, and the unfortunate woman was got on to the platform but life was extinct. The body was badly crushed. She was identified as Mrs Elizabeth Mary Ann Adkins of 113 Colney Road, Dartford." 

The item goes on to record evidence given at the inquest.

“The bereaved husband, Mr Arthur Adkins, carpenter, said he saw his wife a few minutes before the accident, at the foot of East Hill.”

A witness at the station testified that Mrs Adkins was seen running towards the train and called to her son “Come on sonnie, we’ll catch it.” 

The son of Mrs Adkins was Herbert George Adkins, who was aged 9. He must have been traumatised by what happened. 

Arthur Adkins died on 11 March 1935 aged 74. He was buried in the same grave as his wife. It is marked with kerbstones, although these have partly sunk into the ground. The inscription reads : 

“In memory of ARTHUR ADKINS passed over 11th March 1935 aged 74 / Also ELIZABETH his wife passed over 5th September 1915, aged 52.”

(The date of Elizabeth’s death was actually 25th September 1915)  

The grave of Elizabeth Adkins

Probate records show that the value of Arthur’s estate was £277 5s (equivalent to about £60,000 now) and that the administrator was Thomas William Adkins (his eldest son), a carpenter and joiner.

Thomas Edward Tiffin (1868-1952): Architect of Dartford Library

Thomas Edward Tiffin was Dartford Town Surveyor for 31 years. During this time he was responsible for several important building projects, including Dartford Library, which he designed. 

Thomas was born on November 5th 1868 in Sunderland, the second of five children (four boys and one girl) born to William Johnson Tiffin and his wife Margaret Ann Tiffin. The 1871 census shows William (aged 31, an accountant), Margaret (24), William (3), Thomas (2) and Arthur (9 months) Tiffin plus a servant living at 18 Shakespeare Terrace, Bishop Wearmouth, Sunderland. 

Sadly, Thomas’s mother died aged 28 in 1875 (when he was 6) and his father died aged 40 in 1880. In the 1881 census, Thomas is listed as a boarder, aged 12, at North Side School, Staindrop, Teesdale, County Durham. Thomas’s siblings Arthur (10), John (9) and Ada (7) are shown living with their grandparents Thomas (80, a ship owner) and Mary (77) Tiffin, their unmarried aunt Sarah Tiffin (47) and a servant at 7 Park Place West, Sunderland. Both grandparents died in 1884. 

Thomas became a civil engineer. This was his occupation listed in the 1891 census. By then he was a lodger, aged 22, at 9 Foyle St, Sunderland. He married Evelina Turner in 1894 in Sunderland. Thomas was 25 and she was 23. They went on to have seven children, namely Evelyn May (b 1896), Ada Marjorie (b1898), Thomas Edward (b1900), Henrietta Kathleen (b1903), Annie Marguerite Winsome (b1905), Alice Joyce (b1909) and Gordon Mervyn (b1913).

(a more detailed family tree may be found in the “tiffin42” database on RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project website)

The family moved to West Hartlepool around 1897, where they were living in York Road South in 1901. The census that year shows their household as Thomas (32, a civil engineer and surveyor), Evelina (30), Evelyn (4), Ada (2), Thomas (10 months), a nurse and a general servant.

In 1903, Thomas was appointed Surveyor and Engineer to the Dartford Urban District Council¹. Apparently his previous employer asked him to return to his old post soon after his arrival in Dartford. He considered doing so, but was persuaded to stay by an increase in his salary.²

Henrietta, Thomas’s fourth child, died in 1907 aged 4 years 10 months and was buried in East Hill Cemetery. The cemetery records show the address of the family as 27 Summerhill Road, Dartford. Thomas was still living there when he died, although the houses were renumbered in 1937 and the address became 20 Summerhill Road. The house still exists, it is a modest semi-detached property.

Thomas was responsible for public building works in the town. For example, Bank House (now empty and next to the Iceland shop) in Dartford High Street was acquired by the Council in 1909. He was responsible for adapting the building for use as Council Offices and (in 1910) adding a room that was used as the Council Chamber. 

The 1911 census shows Thomas (42), Eveline (14), Ada (12), Thomas (10), Annie (5) and Alice (1) plus a domestic servant living at 27 Summerhill Road (which had eight rooms).

(from Dartford Library Local Studies Collection)

 Thomas was the architect of the Dartford Library building that was constructed with the aid of a grant from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was built during the early part of the First World War and opened in 1916. An extension was added in 1937. The building is grade II listed and is an attractive feature of the town. After the First World War, Thomas was responsible for creating local housing schemes. He also supervised the construction of Market Street (in 1926) and various road improvement schemes.

Dartford Library (in 2022)

Thomas and Evelina’s daughter Ada married Richard Rowbotham in 1920. The eldest son of Thomas and Evelina, namely Thomas, was a 2^nd Lieutenant in the RAF in 1917. After the war, he worked in East Africa from 1919 to 1928 and in Sierra Leone from 1929 to 1932 as a railway engineer. He returned to Dartford in November 1932, went to visit some friends in Sunderland where he became ill and died of pneumonia in December 1932, aged 32 (unmarried)³.

Thomas Tiffin in 1934.

The Mayor of Dartford (Alderman Alfred J Penney) held a dinner at the Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel in 1934 to mark the retirement of Thomas Tiffin (aged 65) after 31 year’s service. Most of Dartford Council attended, together with friends and colleagues. He was presented with a clock from Dartford Council and cigarette case from his colleagues. Alderman Wooler said that he “never dealt with a more conscientious, upright man” than Thomas.²

Annie Tiffin married Frank Byerley in 1937. Frank was a flying officer in the Royal Air Service Volunteer Reserve. He died in 1940 aged 39, failing to return from a flying mission during the Second World War. Alice Tiffin married Claude Penny in 1938 and Gordon Tiffin married Margaret Mugeridge in 1940.

The 1939 Register shows Thomas E Tiffin born 5 Nov 1868, a retired civil engineer and Eveline Tiffin born 6 Aug 1870 living in the village of Willsbridge, Gloucestershire (between Bristol and Bath). Perhaps they had moved away from Dartford to avoid the expected German bombing. 

Thomas returned to Dartford and lived there until his death in 1952 aged 83. He died at 20 Summerhill Road, his home. Thomas's wife died five years later in 1957 aged 87. They are buried in East Hill Cemetery. 

Thomas Tiffin's grave

The gravestones are inscribed as follows :

Kerbstones

In loving memory of / HENRIETTA KATHLEEN dearly beloved daughter of EVELINA & THOMAS EDWARD TIFFIN / who died 27^th Sep 1907 aged 4 years 10 months / THOMAS EDWARD TIFFIN, died Dec 5^th 1932, aged 32 years

Headstone

T.E.TIFFIN A.M.I.C.E. / 3^rd June 1952 / EVELINE TIFFIN / 10^th December 1957. 

(A.M.I.C.E. stands for Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.)

Probate on Thomas’s estate of £993 (equivalent to about £65,000 now⁴) was granted to his widow Eveline.

Philip Taylor 

1. Dartford Further Historical Notes by S K Keyes (1938), p801.
2. Retirement of Mr Tiffin, Kentish Times 11 May 1934
3. Death of Mr T E Tiffin, Junior, Kentish Times 9 Dec 1932
4. Calculated with respect to average earnings using the website “Measuring Worth” www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/