Essendon is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in Hertfordshire , south-west of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

. The village is on the B158 road above sea level and has a view of the

Lea Valley The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, ...

to the north. Although on an ancient site, St Mary's parish church dates mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries and was restored in 1883. The west tower dates from the 15th century and has eight bells, the oldest cast in 1681. The church contains an unusual

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rap ...

ceramic

font In movable type, metal typesetting, a font is a particular #Characteristics, size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "Sort (typesetting), sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of ...

dated 1780 and several brasses and monuments. In 1916 the east end of the church was damaged by a bomb dropped by the German Navy

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, ...

L-16; two sisters were killed. There is a village pub named The Rose and Crown. Historic houses in the parish include Camfield Place which was the home of the novelist Barbara Cartland and visited by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

. Nearby is Holwell Court, a Grade II listed building, built in about 1900 for Sir

Ernest George Sir Ernest George (13 June 1839 – 8 December 1922) was a British architect, landscape and architectural watercolourist, and etcher. Life and work Born in London, Ernest George began his architectural training in 1856, under Samuel Hewitt, ...

; it is now converted to private apartments. Essendon Place was the seat of the Barons Dimsdale of Russia; Thomas Dimsdale was an expert on the treatment of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...

by inoculation and in 1768 he was invited to Russia to inoculate Catherine the Great. For his services there he was made a baron of the Russian Empire. Bedwell Park is another manor house near to the village and is also the site of Essendon Country Club golf club. Bedwell End was the home of Deneys Reitz, High Commissioner for the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

, until his death on 19 October 1944. At the outbreak of the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

he joined the Boer forces at the age of seventeen and accompanied General J. C. Smuts on his famous raid in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, of which Reitz wrote in his autobiography, ''Commando''. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, as a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, he commanded the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in France. The End of the 'Baby-Killer'

In the early morning of 3 September 1916 during World War I, several houses were destroyed and the church damaged, when

Schütte-Lanz SL 11 The Schütte-Lanz ''SL 11'' was a German military dirigible built in 1916 by Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz. It was the first German airship to be shot down while bombing England. Operational history The ''SL 11'' was based at Spich and comman ...

, a German airship returning from a bombing raid on London, jettisoned its remaining bombs. Two sisters, Frances (26), a Post Office telephonist, and Eleanor (12) Bamford, daughters of the village blacksmith, were killed. A plaque commemorating the event is on the wall of the church, where their funeral was also held. The airship was shot down shortly afterwards, while still over Hertfordshire, by Lieutenant Leefe Robinson, killing the entire crew. pp 1-2 Robinson received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his action. Essendon, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is named after the village. Richard Green (1808-1878), whose father Isaac Green was either owner or tenant of Essendon watermill on the River Lea, arrived in Victoria in the 1850s and gave the name to the district.Henry Bateson
"How Essendon got its Name"
''The Argus'', 3 Feb 1934

Notable people

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom '' Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. ...

, actor * Thomas Pearce (1847–1898), first-class cricketer

References

External links

Essendon at Hertfordshire Genealogy
Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire Welwyn Hatfield {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub