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The Hop Pickers Memorial,
In a corner of St Mary’s churchyard, Hadlow, is a monument shaped to resemble an oasthouse. It marks the resting place of thirty hop pickers who were drowned in the river Medway at Hartlake on 20th October 1853. The victims range in age from 59 to 2 years, including four children and several young girls. Twelve are thought to have been from Ireland while most of the rest were Gypsies from one extended family. All but one of the Leatherland family died – parents Samuel and Charlotte, daughters Comfort, Selina, Alice and Lunia together with Lunia’s husband John Herne and their two daughters. Sarah Taylor, her son and grandson, both named Thomas, and James Manser were related to the Leatherlands by marriage.
The hop pickers were employed by Mr Cox of Golden Green and were being taken by wagon to their camp site on the Tudeley side of the river. One party had made the journey safely, but on the second trip one of the horses stumbled and the wagon hit the side of the wooden bridge, which gave way. Wagon, passengers and horses all fell into the river, which was swollen with flood water. At the inquest, Fanny Leatherland described how the people came tumbling down like hailstones. She managed to take hold of the harness of the hind horse and so was saved. The verdict was that the deceased were accidentally drowned, due to the defective state of the road and bridge, the responsibility of the Medway Navigation Company.
Funerals took place in St Mary’s over several days; the last on 14th November was of the two year old, daughter of Lunia and John Herne. Sadly it would seem that no-one was left alive who knew her Christian name. The inscription on the memorial reads:
This monument was erected by public subscription in the memory of
Thirty Hop Pickers who were drowned at Hartlake Bridge in a Flood
Of the River Medway on the 20th of October 1853 and whose bodies
Are buried in this churchyard
In the midst of life we are in death
In October 2003 the Rev Gwen Smith conducted a moving memorial service to mark the 150th anniversary of the tragedy. It was attended by over 200 people, including some 40 descendants of Sarah Taylor. An account of the accident written by Alice Ransome was read by her sister Annie Brazil, both great-great granddaughters of Sarah. (Their grandparents, Sam Cooper and Annie Shepherd, chose to marry in St Mary’s in 1896 during hop-picking in memory of those who died.) Candles were lit as the names of the victims were read out. The service was broadcast on Radio Kent and covered by regional TV and local papers. It was also featured in Rochester Link.
The wording and names carved on the memorial are now weathering and difficult to read, but it is hoped that panels listing the names will soon be placed next to it. Hartlake Bridge has recently been rebuilt and a plaque commemorating the tragedy can be found underneath it. Flowers are often left at the memorial particularly near to the anniversary, so the thirty men, women and children laid to rest in Hadlow churchyard so many years ago have not been forgotten.
The names of those who died are as follows:
Samuel Leatherland (59 years) Selina Maria Knight (6 years)
Charlotte Leatherland (56 years) Catherine Donohue (42 years)
Comfort Leatherland (24 years) Ellen Collins (40 years)
Selina Leatherland (22 years) Norah Donovan (31 years)
Alice Leatherland (18 years) Catherine Clare (28 years)
Lunia Herne (26 years) Margaret King (20 years)
John Herne (28 years) Bridget Flinn (20 years)
Centine Herne (4 years) Ellen Devine (19 years)
Baby Girl Herne (2 years) Margaret Mahoney (18 years)
James Manser (18 years) Jeremiah Murphy (50 years)
Sarah Taylor (55 years) Catherine Preswell (24 years)
Thomas Taylor (38 years) Mary Quinn (22 years)
Thomas Taylor (4 years) Catherine Roach (21 years)
William Elsley (22 years) Ann Howard (49 years)
Selinda Elsley (25 years) Richard Reed (30 years)
If you have any information to add to the above, particularly if you are related to one of the victims or would like details of the inquest, etc., please contact Anne Hughes, Spring House, Hadlow TN11 0DZ, (01732) 850214.