Local Authors
arranged in approximate chronological order |
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Revd. Edward Howes |
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Rector of Goldhanger in 1650, conversed
by letter extensively with the first governor of Massachusetts John Winthrop,
including writing to him about "a magneficall engine" which would
enable them to "sympathize at a distance". This was in effect a
proposal for form of telegraphy long before the basics of electricity were
understood. He also published a book on a "new and brief
arithmetic" which, he promised, would enable even a "mean capacity
person" to attain skill and facility. John Winthop's importance as a founding father of the USA has
resulted in all the correspondence between Howes and the governor being
carefully preserved by the Massachusetts Historical Society and much of it is
now available on the internet. More about. . . Edward
Howes |
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Revd Dr Daniel Williams The Revd Williams had the reputation in
the early 1700s of being a formidable non-conformist preacher in London who
was well connected with royalty and politicians. He owned Beckingham Hall in
Tolleshunt Major and several other large estates.
At his death he bequeathed the income
from his lands in trust for 2000 years to the New England Company in
Massachusetts (which was, and still is, a missionary society), to Harvard
College in Boston and to Glasgow university. He also created a library in
London which even today bears his name specialising in English
protestant nonconformity. He was the author of many religious books during
his lifetime.
More
about. . . Dr Daniel Williams
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The Revd John Atkinson |
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The Revd John Atkinson (1787-1828), the Goldhanger curate, was also a
well know ornithologist in his day and a short biography of him is included
at the beginning of Miller Christy's Birds
of Essex, published in 1890.
More about the two. . . Revd. Atkinsons |
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The Revd John Christopher Atkinson |
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The Revd. Atkinson was
a prolific author and antiquary. He was born on 9 May 1814 in Goldhanger, and
the son of curate the Revd. John Atkinson (above), and later became a well
known author of historical works, folklore and ornithology.
He spent the first 24
years of his life in Essex and was educated at Kelvedon school before
becoming a sizar to St John's College, Cambridge. The rest of his life he was
the vicar of Danby in the North Riding of Yorkshire. One of his early books: Walks
and Talks was semi-autobiographical and was based on Kelvedon and the
Essex Marshes.
More about the two. . . Revd. Atkinsons |
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Henry Coe Coape H C Coape was a wealthy Goldhanger
and Heybridge landowner and a Victorian author of some repute. Fifteen
literary works written by him covering novels, plays, operas and short
stories have been identified. He used the pseudonym Mervyn Merriton
for some of his work. During his lifetime he received notoriety for being
prosecuted for fraud and being 'scandalously divorced for adultery' from his
wealthy wife. More about. . . H C Coape |
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Miller Christy
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Miller
Christy (1861 - 1928) was a respected authority on Essex archaeology and
ornithology, and over a forty year period he published many books and
articles on these subjects. Although he did not live locally, some of his
literature refers to the Blackwater region and this has contributed
significantly to our local history and to the Goldhanger Past website. He
lived two miles west of Chelmsford in the small village of Chignal St. James,
but is said to have stayed at the Mill House in Fish St, Goldhanger on
occasions, probably while undertaking local research work. More about. . . Miller Christy |
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Revd. Fredrick
Gardner
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The Revd. Gardner was rector
of Goldhanger and Lt Totham from 1893 to 1936 and the was the last of the
prosperous rectors to hold the Perpetual Advowson of the joint Goldhanger and
Little Totham Benefice. Despite suffering from motor neuron disease for much
of his life he was a great traveller and one of the group of Goldhanger
residents who went to Spitzbergen several times to prospect
for minerals from 1904 onwards. He was a man of strong convictions, preaching
from his wheelchair in St Peters Church and writing
extensively in the parish magazine
between 1895 & 1940 with great passion. Extracts from the WW-1 period are available
on this site. More about. . . Revd. F T Gardner |
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Dr. Henry Salter
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Although not a Goldhanger
resident, Dr. Salter was the local GP between 1864 and 1932 who lived and
worked in Tolleshunt Darcy, so he was the village GP for 68 years. All his
working life he maintained a detailed diary of his many exploits and
interests which was published in 1933 after his death. The 400 page diary
contains many references to Goldhanger and the immediate area, and is a
wealth of local historical information. Although he was involved in
organising and funding the Spitzbergen
expeditions from Goldhanger, his diary does not record that he went himself.
Extracts from the diary are at. . . Dr Salter's Diary.
As the local Medical Officer of Health his diary also gives us an insight
into the village Public Health in the past.
More about. . . Dr. Salter |
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Ernest Mansfield |
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Ernest
Mansfield came to lived int Goldhanger in about 1904, having been a mine
manager in Canada and New Zealand. His friendship with the rector the Revd.
Gardner and the local GP Dr Salter resulted in him leading many expeditions
to Spitzbergen to prospecting for gold an other
minerals between 1904 - 1919. Several other
Goldhanger residents became involved and initially the company they formed
did very well. Mansfield was, and still is, well known on
Spitzbergen/Svalbard and he wrote a semi-autographical novel which was
clearly based on this experience. More about. . . Ernest Mansfield |
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H Crawshay Frost |
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Mr Frost lived in several addresses Fish
St between 1920s & 1960s. He studied history at Oxford, was injured in the
Great War and came to the village originally to be a teacher. He then
involved himself in local history, archaeology, languages, art, sculpture,
music, ornithology, horticulture, photography, antiquarian book, and writing.
Fostie also established a reputation as an eccentric
local philanthropist. He delighted in writing articles and
letters to newspapers and magazines, but perhaps the most telling aspect of
his life is the volume of material written about him by others since his
death. He also left a legacy of unusual photographs
of birds and local people. More about... Crawshay Frost |
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Major Lindsay Fitzgerald Hay |
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Major Hay was a career
army major in the Black Watch and the intelligence service and lived at Follyfaunts in the 1930s. He served in the
Great War and was twice wounded and was decorated. At 6ft 11inchs he was
tallest man in the army at the time and nicknamed The Lampost. He was the author of four books. His first novel, It
Wasn't a Nightmare which has an espionage theme, and said to be
semi-autobiographical. In later life he became a very well known collector of
expensive quality Ming China and his name is still used in auction room
statements of provenance to this day. More about. . . Major L F Hay |
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Maura Benham Maura lived in Church St between the 1970s and the 1990s and is best known locally as the author of the only book published on the history of the village: Goldhanger
- an Estuary Village (1977) Miss Benham was also author of the following
publications: An Introduction To The Birds Of Hong Kong
(1963) Medical Social Work in Hong Kong (1980) The
Story of the Wesleyan Chapel in Goldhanger The
Story of Tiptree Jam - the First Hundred Years Byrthnoth's Last Journey: from Maldon to Ely More
about. . . Maura
Benham |
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Maura's
history of Goldhanger is out of print, but her executors have kindly given
permission for the material to be digitised and made available for non-profit
uses. It is on-line in full at. . . Goldhanger - An Estuary Village Much of the material used in the page on the History of St Peters Church originates from her book. |
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Cyril Southgate |
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Cyril lived in Goldhanger
since childhood and attended the village school, he was always an enthusiastic
church supporter, choir master, church warden, and the bell tower captain. He
also maintained the churchyard for many years. In 2002 when Cyril decided
to move to Tiptree to be nearer to his family he wrote his early Memories of
Goldhanger, which with the permission of his family are preserved in the
village history archives, and presented here. . . Cyril's
early Goldhanger memories. ...and see also: Funeral of a Bellringer |
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Chris Thorby Chris worked for BBC Radio for over 30 years in
various capacities, including as a presenter, music editorial work and
management. For most of that time he lived in Church Street and will be
remembered locally for his role as a lay preacher, initially at St Peters,
Goldhanger and then at the Maldon United Reform Church. He served on the
management boards of St Clare's Hospice, Maldon and Farleigh Hospice,
Chelmsford. In the last two years of his life, while suffering from a debilitating
illness, Chris wrote and published a book entitled Life Journeys and created a website. ____________________ |
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Beti Webb |
Between 2005 & 2007
Elizabeth Webb published four children’s books: Madrigal the Secret Witch
Madrigal's Midsummer Magic Madrigal and the Magician
Madrigal and the Bent Broomstick |
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book covers |
Newspaper cuttings |
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Peter Padfield Peter Padfield is a well
known naval historian and biographer who lived in Fish Street in the 1960s
while working in nautical journalism, and where he wrote two of his earliest
books. He then moved to Woodbridge, where he still lives. Over the last 50
years he has writing about 30 books or marine and military subjects. He is
also an accomplished artist. More
about Peter's books at. . . Peter Padfield |
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Joseph Canning |
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Joe Canning is a retired
journalist who has spent thirty-five years working on morning daily and
evening newspapers and is the author of several semi-biographical novels. He
was brought up in Goldhanger and attended the village school, but now lives
in the north of England. Once Upon An Island was his first novel
(2006) which is clearly semi-autobiographical. His own words describing the
book are: It is written about places that exist and characters I knew. I
grew up along the estuary and in the village I describe. More about Joe's books at. . . Joe Canning |
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David Newman David Newman has published
two books. In 2012 he was co-author of Ernest Mansfield - Gold or I’m a
Dutchman, the biography of a Goldhanger resident and gold prospector
in the early 1900s. The co-authors were Susan Barr in Oslo and Greg Nesteroff
in British Columbia. In 2016 he was author of Goldhanger in the Past.
This book was sold locally to raise funds for St Peter’s Church and the
Village Hall improvement project, as was a VE-75 booklet. For many years he has
produced and revised a booklet on the History
of the Church which is available in the Church. He is also the author of
this Goldhanger Past website and co-author of the
website for Ellacombe
Chimes Support. |
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