30th august 1909 leonard heath to emma heath nee cloke
tunbridge wells, kent to forest row, sussex
10 miles
the message
“Dear M & F
I arrived back in good time and feel none the worse for the journey today. I was pleased to arrive home also to find all well on such a nice day too. I had company from Groombridge. I was writing this while on the van. Quite nice riding round when it is fine. I am not so tired as yesterday. Hope all are well.
Yours Len”
the sender
Leonard Heath (1885-1958) was one of ten children born to Joseph Benjamin Heath (1858-1933) and Emma Cloke (1861-1916). Joseph was a Gardener.
In the 1891 census Leonard was living with his parents on the Ashdown Park Estate in Forest Row near East Grinstead in Kent. In 1901 he was working as an Errand Boy boy for a Baker in East Grinstead and living with the family. The card suggests that that 1909 he was living in Tunbridge Wells. In 1911 he was working as a Baker and Porter at the Union Workhouse in Chipping Barnet, Middlesex. There he met Mary Elizabeth Watson (1885-1978) from Liverpool and they married in 1912. In the 1939 Register they were living at a residence called Molendor on the delightfully named Rabies Heath Road in Bletchingly, Surrey and they were still there when they died in 1958 and 1978 respectively.
the recipient
Emma Heath nee Cloke (1861-1916) was born in Groombridge, Sussex. She was the daughter of William Cloke (1827-1905) and Matilda Hartman (1829-1867). She was one of 6 children. Her husband was Joseph Benjamin Heath (1858-1933). William was a Coachman by profession and always lived in the Tonbridge area. Matilda was the daughter of a shoemaker from Sussex. After Matilda died, William married Emma Jenner (1839-1919) and had two further children.
In the 1871 census it shows Emma living with her parents in Speldhurst, Kent. In 1881 she was still in Speldhurst but was working as a servant. In 1882 she married Joseph Heath in Withyham, Sussex. In the 1891 Joseph and Emma were living in Hartfield, Sussex. They were still living there in 1901. By 1911 they had moved to Forest Row. Emma died there in 1916. Emma and Joseph had 10 children including Leonard, the card sender. After Emma’s death, Joseph married Zora Leonora Hook nee Taylor (1862-1942) in 1917.
the trees
Heath
Cloke
the places
Tunbridge Wells, Kent to Forest Row, Sussex
what the card says to us
The picture shows a view of Tandridge Church in Surrey (https://www.stpeterstandridge.uk/) and does not appear to be related to the message or the family.
The message seems to describe a journey by van (which is consistent with Leonard being an Errand Boy/Baker/Porter for a Bakery. Maybe he had been to Forest Row to see his mother. Groombridge is nearby. Was he living in Tunbridge Wells at the time?
And was the “van” motorised or horse drawn in 1909?