Wateringbury man elected Rochester Bridge warden (1654)

Post date: Dec 30, 2011 4:19:11 PM

In 1652 Sir Thomas Style, born in 1624, the second baronet of Wateringbury (his father who died in 1637, the first baronet had the same Christian name; as did his second son, the fourth baronet from 1703 to 1769) was elected as an assistant warden of The Rochester Bridge Trust and in 1654 became junior warden. He was like many bridge wardens subsequently elected as an M.P., in his case for Kent to the Second Protectorate Parliament in 1656 and then to the Third Protectorate Parliament in 1659 (after Oliver Cromwell had been succeeded by his son Richard).

Bridge wardens, since the reforms of 1575 and 1586, were elected annually at Rochester by householders who attended from the contributory parishes which included Wateringbury (for the Anglo-Saxon origins of the contributory parishes system see the society's publication A history of Wateringbury to 1086). They were generally from the most important families of the county and sometimes the appointment descended from father to son. Many, like Thomas, were, or became, M.P.s.

Thomas had evidently been able to distance himself from his family's royalist loyalties (derived from the creation of the Wateringbury baronetcy- see Wateringbury and Nettlestead landowners oppose making Medway navigable) and the prosecution of his mother in 1640 (see Lady Elizabeth Style prosecuted). He lost office as a bridge warden in 1660 with the restoration of the monarchy, which resulted in a wholesale change of office-holders, but in 1681 a Sir Thomas Stile (i.e. spelt with an i) was appointed who, given he served to 1702 the date of this Thomas ' death was presumably the same man.

Thomas (born 1624) married firstly Elizabeth Airmine, daughter of Sir William Airmine, 1st Baronet and secondly Margaret Twisden, daughter of Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet. He died in 1702.

A photo of his memorial in Wateringbury Church follows:

Much later, Albert Frederick Style (from 1860 the Style of Medway Brewery in Maidstone which became Style & Winch in 1899) was a bridge warden from 1892 to 1895 and George Montague Style from 1896 to 1906. The Styles were at this time no longer living in Wateringbury Place, although they returned in 1945 until 1978.

See also Rochester Bridge Opening (1856)