Free Anti-Burglary Packs from Contact Points in Swale

This is message 812 from Neighbourhood Watch.

Free anti-burglary packs on offer at Police Contact Points in Swale.

Kent Police is urging residents in Swale to safeguard their homes and their belongings with the help of free anti-burglary packs.

Officers will be available in Sittingbourne, Faversham and Sheppey for the remainder of this month, handing out infra-red battery operated alarms, UV pens to mark property, timer switches to help make empty homes appear occupied and personal attack alarms.
The packs are free as part of Kent Police's Stay Safe This Autumn campaign.
Police Community Support Officers will be handing them out, offering crime prevention advice and listening to residents' concerns at a number of Police Contact Points across Swale.

In addition to being able to contact Kent Police via phone, Email, social media and traditional Police stations, members of the public can also engage with officers at Police Contact Points. They are held each day from Wednesday through to Sunday when Police vans will stop at a prominent location for an hour and mainly visit rural locations.

Officers will be available this month on:

Thursday 14 November
- 12pm-1pm at St John the Baptist Church, Tunstall Road in Tunstall.
- 2pm-3pm at Mountview in Borden.
- 5pm-6pm at Bredgar Village Hall, Bexon Lane in Sittingbourne.

Friday 15 November
- 12pm - 1pm Newington Village Hall, High Street, Sittingbourne ME9 7JJ
- 2pm - 3pm Upchurch Village Hall, The Street, Sittingbourne ME9 7EU
- 5pm - 6pm Lower Halstow Village Hall, School Lane, Lower Halstow ME9 7ET

Saturday 16 November
- 12pm-1pm at Sheerstone in Iwade.
- 2pm-3pm at Eastchurch Village Hall, Warden Road in Eastchurch.
- 5pm-6pm at Swale Council car park, Imperial Drive in Warden.

Sunday 17 November
- 12pm-1pm outside Teynham Village Hall, Belle Friday Close in Teynham.
- 2pm-3pm at St Laurence Church, The Street in Bapchild.
- 5pm-6pm at Bobbing Village Hall, Sheppey Way in Bobbing.

Wednesday 27 November
- 12pm-1pm at Selling Railway Station, Selling Road in Selling.
- 2pm-3pm at Boughton Village Hall, Bull Lane in Boughton-under-Blean.
- 5pm-6pm at Northdown, off The Street in Doddington.

Thursday 28 November
- 12pm-1pm at St John the Baptist Church, Tunstall Road in Tunstall.
- 2pm-3pm at Mountview, Borden.
- 5pm-6pm at Bredgar Village Hall, Bexon Lane in Sittingbourne.

Friday 29 November
- 12pm-1pm at Newington Village Hall, High Street in Sittingbourne.
- 2pm-3pm at Upchurch Village Hall, The Street in Sittingbourne.
- 5pm-6pm at Lower Halstow Village Hall, School Lane in Lower Halstow.

Saturday 30 November
- 12pm-1pm at Sheerstone in Iwade.
- 2pm-3pm at Eastchurch Village Hall, Warden Road in Eastchurch.
- 5pm-6pm at Swale Cou mcil car park, Imperial Drive in Warden.

For times and routes of the Police Contact Points, and to find out other ways of contacting Kent Police in your area, please go to: www.kent.police.uk/yourarea

Kent Police Neighbourhood Watch.

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Caravan Stolen - Breach Lane

Reference: Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch Ward

This is message 801 from Neighbourhood Watch

XY/036179/13: A brown and cream Lord Musterland 1987 Caravan was stolen from a field in Breach Lane Upchurch overnight between 7th and 8th of November.

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant Crime Number.

For more information on crime prevention visit:  www.kent.police.uk

Kent Police Neighbourhood Watch

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Vehicles Vandalised - Upchurch

Reference: Hartlip, Newington, Upchurch Ward

This is message 794 from Neighbourhood Watch

Three vehicles were vandalised between the 1st and 2nd of November, in XY/035426/13: Newington XY/035304/13: Oak Lane Upchurch and XY/035456/13: The Street Upchurch. 

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant Crime Number.

For more information on crime prevention visit:  www.kent.police.uk

Kent Police Neighbourhood Watch

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Upchurch Darby and Joan Christmas Bazaar

Upchurch Darby and Joan are holding their Christmas Bazaar on Wednesday the 20th of November at Upchurch Village Hall.

Open to all ages with free entry it starts at 10:00am until 12:00pm. There will be the usual raffle and other attractions with homemade cakes, tea and bric a brac.

Funds raised will go towards the 55 members Christmas lunch.

All welcome!

Janet Gilbert

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Hello Sopranos of Upchurch Choral Society

The Freegard Singers.

I sing with a small chamber choir known as The Freegard Singers, we really do need some Sopranos, 1st. and 2nd. I know that Peggy Moseley is your conductor and we are lucky enough to have her as the accompanist for our concerts. Therefore our concert dates would obviously never clash.

We meet on a Thursday evening in term time at 7:45 pm at Bapchild School. If you would like to sing on another evening each week, we would be delighted to see you.

Please Email me:  jenny.ron@hotmail.co.uk  or if you prefer to call, my number is: 01634 239528.

Website:  http://freegardsingers.org.uk/drupal/home

Jenny Osborn

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Upchurch's New Zealand Connection - Jenni Gibson's Family Story

We receive Emails from all over the world here at Upchurch Matters from people with family connections to the village. Recently Jenni Gibson from New Zealand Emailed us telling her families fascinating story. Jenni has kindly agreed to us sharing it with you.

Hi from New Zealand,

My great great grandfather William Denness married Mary Ward at St. Mary the Virgin Church on 5th July 1856. They had six children including Mary Denness born 1 July 1860. She was my great grandmother and married Stephen James Gilbert at Lower Halstow. I visited Kent in 1984, 100 years after they had arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand on the ship Trevelyan (from Glasgow) with two little daughters. She gave birth to my grandfather a week after they arrived (having spent 100 days on the ship). She had three more children and passed away aged 32. Stephen James lived a long time and my mother knew him as a child in the 1930s. I have a photo of him, and a medal as he was in the fire brigade for 13 years in the days of horse and water cart! His son Harry was in WW1 at Gallipoli and had a gun shot wound to the head so lost an eye. He was also in WW2. He had two sons and one of them was my dad whose first name was Denness because of the family connection with the surname.

Stephen James Gilbert.

The first photo attached is from about 1892, Stephen James Gilbert is centre and children around him. Laura on the left and Emily at the top were the two children who came to New Zealand on the ship with him. Nellie is on the right, Harry in the centre is 7 years old, Rose is on the floor and Bill (William) on the left. Bill and Harry are both my grandfathers as my parents are cousins, so that is why I am doubly interested in Kent. Stephens wife Mary could not read and write but the children all did well at school according to Papers Past website Otago Daily Times and received prizes. I live in Wellington (North Island) but went to Dunedin (south Island) twice this year - for some odd reason the Otago official death record has Mary as Elizabeth, but I was able to produce her birth, marriage and passenger list name, so they have put "known as Mary" on her official record. "Elizabeth" died the same day as "Mary" so is has to be the same person! Their grave is in the southern cemetery Dunedin and I paid to have the gravestone re-done, it is just one word "Gilbert" - the r and t had fallen off.

There are two ship diaries of the trip published too and the captains log. There was a storm off Ireland, and they had to put the anchor down to avoid going onto the rocks, so very frightening. They were good with ropes of course, and made a swing of ropes for the children. When they were stopped in the doldrums they rode across to ships going the other way with mail for "home". When they got to New Zealand they had to stay on the ship for quarantine, but locals rowed out with bread and vegetables. Emily was 3 years and Laura was 1 year in the Assisted passenger list; Stephen was 26 years and a brickmaker, Mary was 23 years. I was 21 when I went to UK and 23 when I came back to New Zealand - travelling by plane was much easier! I came to the UK again in 1986 and took my mother so visited Kent a second time.

Stephen James.

The second photo is approximately early 1914 at Dunedin. Stephen James is in the centre. Nellie is on the right, and Emily on the far right. Rose is on his left and Laura in the far left with glasses on. Bill/William is standing behind Laura and Rose, Harry is behind Stephen next to Bill/William. The other adults are spouses and the children all off-spring. Bill Brown in the top left was a step son, unfortunately killed by a shark as he was a surf life guard. Their descendants are spread back to England, Japan, all over New Zealand and Australia.

I was fortunately to be contacted in 2000 by a Mrs Denness living in Gillingham who gave me info on the family, as I had advertised in a genealogy book. John Dennis (married Elizabeth Bishop on 12th Oct 1769 in Gillingham Parish Church. The second generation married in Gillingham. The third generation married in Rainham. The fourth generation is William Denness and Mary Ward. So I have a lot of info. I was just trying to find out which relatives were in Milton Union and currently am corresponding with a researcher as I am not sure if it was Mary, or her siblings - the father had 13 children as he remarried when his first wife died, so perhaps it was the children from the second marriage. One relative Mary's brother Fred (born Upchurch 1 March 1859) designed a brick kiln, so I have to email a contact about that; some were built around Kent; he travelled all around America. He didn't have any children, but it would be good to remember him because he was bright, he is buried at All Saints Church Findsbury, Kent. She kindly sent me lots of certificates.

They used the name Dennis because Denness sounded a bit foreign.

I have more info as my mother had written a book which I am expanding on, so the link is not lost forever. My niece came to the UK last year, but unfortunately has not got the ancestor bug yet! But she will be back. Other family came from the north of England near where Alice in Wonderland was written - apparently there are lots of sink holes there, and a carved rabbit in Ripon Cathedral, so it is all very interesting as my grandmother was called Alice, and my sister's second name too.

My 14 year son loves cricket and I see from the book I have on Lower Halstow that it used to be a very important part of village life!

Hopefully one day I will visit Kent again with our teenage boys.

Jenni Gibson

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