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Public Houses in Maidstone
Melvilles 1858 Directory of Kent.
MAIDSTONE is an extensive and flourishing market town and borough, returning two
Members to Parliament; the assize town of Kent, and capital of West Kent. It is
pleasantly situated , on the river Medway; thirty-four miles from London by
road, and fifty-six miles by rail; eight miles south from Rochester and Chatham,
and twenty-seven miles S.W. (by road) from Canterbury. The town is governed by a
Corporation, consisting of a Mayor, six Aldermen, and eighteen Councillors, and
is divided into four wards. The population, according to the census of 1851, was
20,801. The local trade of Maidstone is very considerable, consisting of paper
works, breweries, mailings, iron foundries, rope and sacking manufactories,
cement and brick works, &c. Situated on the Medway, is the Medway Brewery, the
property of Messrs. Baldwin, Godden, and Holmes, celebrated for a peculiar kind
of ale, for public and domestic consumption. The parish church, dedicated to All
Saints, is an ancient and large edifice, and contains some fine monuments.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Archbishop. Trinity church
is a neat edifice, and was erected in 1819, at a cost of £13,000; the living is
in the gift of the Archbishop. St. Peter's church was, at one time, a chapel to
an ancient hospital, but was enlarged and restored in 1839, and will now
accommodate 800 persons. St. Stephen's is in the hamlet of Tovil. There are
several dissenting places of worship. The Maidstone Mechanics' Institution is in
a flourishing state, and has a large number of members, and upwards of 3000
volumes. The Free Grammar School has two exhibitions to University College,
Oxford. The Town Hall is a neat and commodious erection. The County Gaol is a
very capacious and well-constructed edifice, built in 1818, at a cost of
£200,000; the front forming a commodious range of rooms, where the assizes are
held and has accommodation for 450 prisoners. The Barracks form a grand cavalry
station and school, and contain about 400 men. The West Kent Infirmary is a
small but useful institution. The Corn Exchange is a very commodious structure.
In 1852, Public Baths and Washhouses were erected, at an expense
of £6246. The Model School is under the superintendence of the Canterbury
Diocesan Education Society. The Blue Coat school was founded in 1711, and
provides education for 53 boys and 43 girls. The Green Coat School is for 12
boys and 12 girls. Sir Charles Booth's School is for 35 boys and 35 girls. The
Brown Coat School is for 24 boys and 24 girls, who are clothed, and for 200 boys
and 100 girls; this is a dissenting establishment. The Savings' Bank receives
large deposits. A College was founded by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the
time of Richard II.
The revenues, at the Dissolution, were £159 7s 10d; ruins still remain. There
are gas works. The market, which is one of the largest in the country, is held
for hops and corn on Thursdays, and for general business on Saturdays. A cattle
market is held on the second Tuesday in each month, and annual fairs on the 13th
February, 12th of May, 20th June, and 17th of October which latter is the great
hop fair. The neighbourhood of Maidstone is a great hop district, 4500 acres
being planted with hops. Penenden Heath is the grand place for county meetings,
and has been so for centuries. Part of Maidstone parish is detached, five miles
south, at Loddington, containing a population of 61, and 590 acres. This is not
in the municipal borough.
Public Houses in Maidstone
Gentry in 1858
Traders in Melvilles 1858 Trade Directory by surname
A to B ; C to E
; F to H ; J to M
; N to R ; S to W
PUBLIC OFFICERS, INSTITUTIONS, etc.
MEMBERS OP PARLIAMENT.
A. J. B. Beresford Hope, Esq.
Captain E. Scott
MAYOR - John Whichcord, Esq., Week street.
RECORDER. - Sir. Walter B. Riddle, Bart., 13, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.
MAGISTRATES.
Argles, Henry, Esq., Ex-Mayor, AsMord road
Ellis, C., Esq., Rocky, hill
Hyde, Thomas, Esq., Manor House
Randall, Alexander, Esq., Foley Hpuse
Franklyn, Thomas, Esq., Cobtree
Hills, Walter, Esq., Clarendon place
Stacey, Edwin, Esq., Stone street
Godden, Henry, Esq., Stone street
Argles, Henry, Esq., Ashford road
Whichcord, J., Esq., Week street
ALDERMEN.
Randall, Alexander, Foley House
Argles, Henry, Ashford roai
Whichcord, John, Week street, 1852.
Spurgin, Rev. J., B.D,, chaplain
Monckton, J., Esq., town clerk
Seudamore, F., Esq., clerk of the peace
Case, J., Esq., clerk to Magistrates
Franklyn, Thomas, Cobtree
Stacey, Edwin, Stone street
Tootell, John, Stone street, 1852.
Kipping, T., Esq., coroner
Beale, W., Esq. treasurer and election auditor
POLICE.
Blundell J, syuperintendent
Faucett T jun, inspector
Sanders G, surgeon
Griffin, R., and Bigg, G., sergeants at mace
Faucett G, court keeper, billet master and town crier
Bentlif, inspector of weights and measures
Bensted, Joseph, water bailiff
PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS.
West Kent Infirmary and Dispensary, Instituted in 1830. - The Earl of Romney,
President; Mr Young, House Surgeon ; Mr. R. Holmes, Secretary j Mrs. Homewood,
Housekeeper.
Kent County Ophthalmic Hospital. - Established in 1846, for the cure and relief
of poor persons afflicted with diseases of the eye. The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Patron; the Earl of Romney, President; Dr. Lochee and Dr. Addison,
Consulting Physicians; Mr. H. Hancock and Mr. E. Canton, Consulting Surgeons ;
Mr. J. Woolcott, Surgeon; Mr. C. O'Callaghan, Assistant ditto; Mr. J. Munday,
House Surgeon ; Mr R. Pearson, Secretary.
Baths and Washhouses. - Erected 1851-2, at a cost of £6245. - J. E. Oliver,
Superintendent.
Custom House, St. Faith's place. - John Piper, Chief Officer.
Inland Revenue Office, Market Buildings, Maidstone, Rochester Collection. -
Charles Eldred, Esq., Mote Road, Maidstone, Collector; William How Drake, Loose
Road, and William Gillespie, Brewer street, Clerks. Maidstone District. - Nevil
Large, Knightrider street, Maidstone, Supervisor ; James Bentlif, Marsham
street, Maidstone, Permit Writer and Inspector of Corn Returns; William Smith,
Wheeler street; W. Thomas Wigg, Brewer street; William Henry Pitman, Brewer
street; William Henry Spiers, Loose ; Robert Pyle Mills, Hollingbourne; Gilbert
Taylor, Milton, next Sittingbourne, Officers.
County Court. - James Espinasse, Esq., Judge; Frederick Scudamore,Esq.,
Registrar; Mr. J. Case, High Bailiff.
County Prison. - Mr. G. W. Hillyard, Governor; Rev. Watson King, Chaplain; H. W.
Joy, Esq., Surgeon.
BANKS.
Mercer, Randall, and Mercer. Draw on Masterman and Co., London.
London and County Joint Stock Bank. Draw on London establishment. - C. Parker,
Esq., Manager.
Savings' Bank. Open every Thursday morning, from 10 to 12, and on Saturday, from
6 to 8 in the evening. - Alexander Randall, Esq., Treasurer; Mr. S. L. Hazell,
Secretary.
NEWSPAPERS.
South Eastern Gazette. Delivered by post every Tuesday morning. Messrs. F. W and
H. R. Cutbush, proprietors ; Office, 27, Week street, Maidstone.
Maidstone and Kentish Journal. Published every Saturday morning, by Mr. Charles
James Cooke; Office, 2, Middle row, High street, Maidstone.
POST OFFICE.
No. 92, Week street. Mr. Lewty Collingwood, Postmaster.
RECEIVING HOUSES. - West Borough, A. Finch; Stone street, A. Paris; King street,
R. Maidman, butcher; Week street, J. Miller, plumber; Fant, J. Lucas, Tunbridge
road.
Letters can be posted at the Receiving houses to 9-45 in the morning, and 6-45
in the evening.
The Day Mail leaves Maidstone at 10-15 a.m., for London, Tunbridge, Staplehurst,
Ashford, Canterbury, Herne Bay, Folkstone, and Dover; arriving, from the above
places at 1.30, p.m.
The Night Mail for London, Rochester, etc., leaves every evening at 10.
The first delivery takes place at 7-30; and the second at 2-30.
CHURCHES.
All Saints' - Rev D D Stewart, A.M., Perpetual Curate of maidstone; Rev I C
Matthews, B.A., and Rev. T. A. Carr, A.M., Curates ; C. Jennings, Organist.
Chapel of Ease to all Saints'. - Upper Stone street.
Licensed School Room in the Mote District.
Trinity. - Rev. R. Glover, L.T: D., Perpetual Curate ; Rev. H. Glover, Curate;
S. A; Pearce, Organist.
St. Peter's - Rev. George Davey, B. A., Perpetual Curate j Rev. A. Welch,
Curate.
St. Stephen's, Tovil. - Rev. Mr. De Vere, Perpetual Curate.
DISSENTING CHAPELS.
Baptist, King street. - Rev. H. H. Dohney, Minister; H. Tolhurst, Organist.
Bethel, Union street. - Rev. D. Crambrook, Minister ; T. Goodwin, Organist.
Independent, Week street. - Rev. T. T. Waterman, Minister; Miss M. Dye,
Organist.
Primitive Methodist, Brewer street. - Rev. _, Proctor, Minister.
Providence, Calvinist, Mote road. - Minister, (vacant).
Society of Friends, Wheeler street.
Unitarian, Earl street. - Rev. R. E. B. Maclellan, Minister.
Wesleyan Methodist, Union street. - Rev. John Brandreth, and Rev. Thomas Clulow,
Ministers; Henry Buckingham, Organist.
Zion, Countess of Huntingdon's, Brewer street. - Minister, (vacant).