Q.I am currently trying to find out where my great grandfather lived in Chislehurst. I have little information other than that he moved to England from South Africa and bought a property in Chislehurst. I know from ships records this will be between 1896 and 1900. I wonder if you have periodicals\articles I could look at that might give me this information? The family does not appear in census records as they moved to South Africa in 1887 and returned occasionally on holiday but not for long to the UK.

I am attaching an obituary from the Star Newspaper in Johannesburg 1925 with the details attached for Henry Rees Powell my maternal great grandfather.

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

A. Local Studies made the link for us via the street directories that Henry Powell had lived in Thorndale in Lubbock Road.  I’m afraid no photos of Thorndale have come to light in our research.   The Chislehurst Society has unveiled an 1893 estate plan of Camden Park which shows a very clear outline of all the houses in Lubbock Road. 

The book 100 Years in the Wilderness now avaiable from the Society (here…) has a reduced image of the plan.  

That said I am reminded that there is a picture of the vicarage (parsonage) which was pulled down next door to Thorndale.  The tearing down of many of our grand Victorian mansions took place in the sixties, I have not trawled through local papers (also at local studies) to see if there were any stories about demolition.  The block of flats has at least retained the name and you could get a sense of the location and no doubt the specimen trees that would have been planted.  The road still maintains its style with a nod to the past as some original buildings have survived.