Thomas Streatfeild

Rev Thomas Streatfeild MA, FSA (5 January 1777 – 17 May 1848) was a renowned antiquarian and churchman in the early 19th century descended from the historic Streatfeild family. He lived on both sides of the Surrey Kent border, but is best known for his extensive research on the history of Kent.

Whilst at Tatsfield in Surrey he bought land in the adjoining parish of Westerham, Kent and built a house there – Chart’s Edge – to his own design in 1822.

Thomas Streatfeild memorial plaque, Chiddingstone Church

Antiquarian

Thomas Streatfeild matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford on 19 May 1795 and graduated with a B.A. in 1799.[1]

He devoted much time to a history of Kent but only one volume was ever published (Hundred of Blackheath[2]) – some 50 volumes of his unpublished material are lodged in the British Museum.

He was also a skilled artist and he completed a number of wood engravings and drawings for the History.[3]

Churchman
Chart's Edge, Westerham, Kent, built by Rev Thomas Streatfeild

As well as being a historian and writer, Thomas Streatfeild was an Anglican clergyman. He was first Curate at St Mary’s, Long Ditton, Surrey, and at that time chaplain to the Duke of Kent and later Curate of St Mary the Virgin, Tatsfield, Surrey.[4]

He altered and repaired the little church at Tatsfield by subscription in 1838, including the tower and porch at his own expense.[5] The following inscription can be found in the porch “Be it remembered that the masonry of this porch and tower is the free gift of the Rev. T. Streatfeild, of Chart’s Edge, Curate, 1838. Thomas Barrett, Timothy Ringoss, churchwardens.”

Family

Thomas Streatfeild was the son of Sandeforth Streatfeild (1750 – 28 July 1809) and Frances Hussey (1750-1821).

He married Harriet Champion (1776-1814), daughter of Alexander Champion, a wealthy merchant and whaler of Wandsworth, London, on 8 Oct 1800, and through her he acquired a considerable fortune. In 1823 he married again, Clare, the daughter of Rev Thomas Harvey and the widow of Henry Woodgate.[6] He had 14 children, 9 with Harriet and 5 with Clare.

Ancestry

References
  1. Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886
  2. Hasted's History of Kent, corrected, enlarged, and continued to the present time, from the manuscript collections of the late Rev. Thomas Streatfeild and the late Rev. Lambert Blackwell Larking, the public records, and other sources. Edited by Henry H. Drake ... Part 1. The hundred of Blackheath. by Edward Hasted. Published in 1886, Mitchell and Hughes (London)
  3. The Economy of Kent, 1640-1914 by Alan Armstrong
  4. Dictionary of National Biography
  5. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51329
  6. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland by John Burke
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