Memorial Windows in Christ Church Brockham Green
reproduced with the kind permission of Tony Hines
Most of the windows in the Church are memorials to Brockham residents, the plain glass has been replaced since the Church was built in 1847.
Opposite the north entrance St. George and St. Michael appear in a window to the memory of Lieut. Col. Leopold Seymour, The Grenadier Guards, of Brockham Park who died in 1904.
Two windows on either side of the nave show Hope, Fortitude, Faith and Charity, by Meyer of Germany, These are memorials to the parents of Mrs Mary Seymour (1890), Russell Sturgis, who died in 1887, and of Julia Sturgis who died in 1888.
Leopold Seymour's [1] parents are commemorated in the two windows at the end of the north Transept the late Sir George Hamilton Seymour, GCB GCH PC. (Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of Hanover, Privy Councillor) 1797-1880,* and his wife, Gertrude, 1807-1883.
Opposite is the memorial of another resident of Brockham Park, Francis Gordon (1905). In the west walls of the Transept are the windows of George Drayson (1873), Mary Lang (1879), Ann Thomas (1886) and Edith Poland (1924).
The most recent windows over the Altar (1938), the east window, consisting of three lancets, and in the north wall of the nave (1939), were provided through the bequest of Sidney Michael Poland. The east window was specially designed for Christ Church showing events in the life of Our Lord and incorporating the figure of St. Michael, representing the Mother Church. St. Francis and St. Christopher were chosen for the nave window, as being most suitable for the children's corner which was at that end of the church.
The east window depicts the Annunciation, the Presentation in the Temple, the Nativity, the Way to Calvary, with the Crucifixion in the centre light, which also includes St. Michael. The north-west window contains representations of St. Christopher and St. Francis.
Both were designed and made by a brilliant young craftsman, Constance Gardener of Beare Green, a talented artist who designed and made these lovely windows, died in the 1939-1945 War.
The two-light lancet window at the west end of the Nave is a memorial to Edith Cheales, daughter of the Vicar of Brockham, and was subscribed for by the parishioners in 1882.
On the west side of the north Transept are two windows to the memory of Mrs Poland, wife of Sidney Poland, who died in 1924.
The windows opposite the above in the south Transept are to Francis Gordon, wife of Robert Gordon, of Brockham Park who died in 1905.
The windows on the west side of the south Transept record the passing of George Drayson Jnr. in 1873 and of Ann Thomas in 1886.
Refs: The Birth of a Parish, Katie Dodson, 1987
The Ancient Parish of Betchworth *
Christ Church, Brockham 1947, Church Centenary Leaflet
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[1] Leopold R.D. Seymour
Leopold R.D. Seymour a retired magistrate and Lt Colonel in the Foot Guards, in the 1881 census was aged 39, born in Belgium but a British Subject. He was married to Mary, aged 30.
They had six children (1881 census):
Mildred, aged 8; Conway, aged 6; Richard age 5; all born in Leatherhead. Edward age 4; born in Betchworth, as were Beauchamp aged 2 and Ethel aged two months.
Staff included a Governess, a Butler, a Footman, a Cook and Housekeeper, a Ladies Maid, a Nursemaid, a Nurse, a School Room Maid, a Kitchen Maid, an Underhouse maid, a Nursery Maid and a Scullery Maid. In Brockham Park Lodge lived the Coachman and his wife.
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In the 1881 census living at the Cottage Brockham Park was James Thomas a gardener and domestic servant, presumably to Leopold Seymour. His wife was Ann Thomas and they had two children, aged 10 and 15.
One of the windows on the west wall in the transept is in memory of Ann Thomas. Is this the same Ann Thomas?