Page 10 - Sylvia Malt - Side by Side

Many of the boys joined the regular Army as soon as they were old enough, which helped
ease the problem of overcrowding and offered them their only opportunity to see what lay
beyond their boundaries, as well as a chance to better themselves and earn a guaranteed
wage.

The rich and powerful occupied magnificent mansions, such as Foots Cray Place, Mount
Mascal, Vale Mascal and Loring Hall, where the number of servants employed often vastly
outnumbered the occupants. A few house servants lived-in, with many more employed on
a daily basis. In addition, a large number of gardeners were needed to maintain the vast
grounds and cultivated gardens.

Whilst the cottagers’ children attended the National Schools to receive a very basic
education, it was then usual for the sons of the ruling families to attend Public Schools,
where they could be educated in the gentlemanly tradition of honour, loyalty, chivalry,
patriotism and leadership, preparing them implicitly for the challenges of war.

The public school culture of organised games helped students to develop, not only
personal fitness, but also physical courage, self-discipline and team spirit - attributes
which were of substantial value in a military context. Underpinning all the young men’s
education and sporting activities was the principle of absolute loyalty to God, King and
Country and as soon as the First World War started in 1914 they were automatically
considered as suitable officers.

Geoffrey Vesey Holt, whose family home was Mount Mascal, North Cray, was the fourth son
of a very successful Army Agent. At their London home, this wealthy Edwardian family
employed a total of ten servants which included a butler, footman, nurses, cooks and
housemaids. By 1911, 13-year-old Geoffrey was at boarding school in Broadstairs, Kent
followed by Eton Public School. He took an enthusiastic interest in the Boy Scout
Movement and his father was President of the Sidcup Local Association of Baden Powell
Boy Scouts.

Joseph Charles Pillman JP, who was the head of a wealthy and respected family living in a
large property in Church Lane, Foots Cray, named “the Cottage”, played an important part
in the life of the Foots Cray community. He was a Kent County Councillor and his two sons,
Robert and Charles, attended the world-renowned Rugby School and both boys were
enthusiastic sportsmen, being selected to play international rugby for England.

A century ago the population of North Cray had risen to 665 people and it had a post office
in the shop of baker, Edward Humphrey. The North Cray Road has always been important
in the life of the residents of North Cray, linking them with other villages along the River
Cray. It was an ideal location for the country homes of senior politicians and the very
wealthy, being in easy reach of the London-Dover road and after 1866, with the coming of
the Dartford loop and its Station at Bexley, on the South Eastern Railway.

Then in August 1914, just as the harvest was being gathered in, came the devastating news
- Britain declared it was at war with Germany. Suddenly everything was different, more
chaotic, more uncertain. It was to send the men in all directions... to trench warfare in the
muddy fields of Europe, to do battle in the unbearable heat of the Middle East and even the
bitter cold of Russia's Siberia. Many never returned.

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