There is a book about the life of my grandfather, George Leslie Wates, written by my grandmother, Lucy W.Wates, which I edited and arranged to have printed in 2006. For further details about the book see the preface reproduced here and about his life see The Times obituary, which is also included as an appendix to the book, and the address given at the Thanksgiving Service held at The Lewisham Congregational Church on 19th Feb 1958.
The book is printed as a paperback and contains about
200 pages including photographs that I have inserted.
My grandparents' home from 1928 was Rowhill Grange, Wilmington, Kent. This is now a hotel, so, as the history of the house is of general interest, all the papers relating to it have been deposited with the Hextable Heritage Society.
These include abstracts of deeds which would be of general interest relating to the descendants of Francis Austen of Sevenoaks who owned the land in the 18th and early 19th centuries and the family of Isaac Minet of Baldwyn's Manor who owned it in the mid 19th century
Before depositing the documents I wrote a book about the history incorporating what my grandmother had written in the biography and here is the introduction. This is also printed as a paperback with 167 pages. Both books are available for sale. Please contact me
In 1957 some land adjacent to Rowhill Grange was made available to the Girl Guides and here is The Pax Wood Story written by his daughter Helen Grant and the press release on the opening. The last page of the press release is the story of Pax Wood as told by Lady Baden-Powell to the assembled Brownies
In 1940 my grandfather acquired Wallace & Co, a nursery garden business in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and here is a brief history of the firm. The papers upon which this was based were deposited with the Royal Horticultural Society
In 1945 he bought another nursery garden business, E.B.Champernowne & Co, at Buckland Monachorum, near Yelverton in Devon. The land included a wood known as Didham Wood and here is some information on the history of the wood extracted from the deeds
Closely associated with these two businesses was, and still is, a family company J.& S.& W. Ltd and here is a history of the company which incorporates other aspects of family history.
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