Plaistow Lodge and Lord Kinnaird, Bromleag Magazine

Plaistow Lodge and Lord Kinnaird

A large part of (he area north of Bromley stretching towards

the hamlet of Catford, was once known as Plaistow. It was

mostly pastural land containing not only rustic farmhouses

and labourers’ cottages, but also a few grand estates and

high class residences. The area was served by narrow

winding lanes and paths. There were in the area four

estates; Plaistow Lodge, Plaistow Hall, Springhill and Milk

Street. Plaistow Lodge, which was the largest covered about

126 acres and stretched north from London Lane, once

known as Boyd’s Lane, after an occupier of Plaistow Lodge,

and the estate included all the land west of Burnt Ash Lane.

It was bought by Peter Thellusson in 1777, and he then had

Plaistow Lodge built at a cost of £40,000. The estate passed

through a number of hands and in 1873 was bought by the

Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, the father of Arthur Fitzgerald

Kinnaird, who was born on 16 February, 1847, and

succeeded his father in 1887 to become the 11th Baron

Kinnaird of Rossie.

Lord Kinnaird left Plaistow Lodge in 1896 and the estate

was then developed. Quernmore school had outgrown its

accommodation in Holwood Road, and Plaistow Lodge

became the Quernmore School we know today.

Before these changes had taken place, Lord Kinnaird had

become the most conspicuous name in the ranks of British

w footballers, and this position was retained throughout his

life; even when he had long since ceased to play football. In

1868 he had joined the Council of the Football Association

and after being Hon. Treasurer for three years, he became

in 1890, President of the Association and held that position

until his death in 1923.

He played football for Eton when he was 14 years of age,

and at Trinity, Cambridge, he was captain of the college

association football club. The sport was not then the great

attraction it is today and the newspapers of the time hardly

mention football, but he is described in the old records as

the “fleet footed Kinnaird” . He played for the Old Etonians

and the Corinthians; and was in 9 cup ties and on the

winning side five times. He normally played as a half-back,

but on at least one occasion he played in goal. He played for

Scotland against England three times. He gained the

reputation of being one of the finest players of the day, and

once Lady Kinnaird reproached him for his robust play.

“One of these days you will be coming home with a broken

leg”. “Ah, yes,” he replied, “but it will be somebody else’s”.

The last occasion when his broad hefty figure was seen

playing football was in a veterans’ match, when he was 48

years of age. He always played in white flannel trousers.

There is no record of him playing football at Bromley,

although he always took a great interest in local sporting

activities and local affairs.

Plaistow Lodge

His activities were indeed diverse. He was an athlete and a

low churchman with an interest in a wide range of

philanthropic activities. For many years he was President of

the Y.M.C.A., he was Lord High Commissioner to the

Church of Scotland from 1907 to 1909; he was a Director of

Barclays Bank; he would address boy convicts in prison and

on one occasion he made a daring voyage round the south

end of the Isle of Skye in a canoe. It is recorded that he

owned about 11,600 acres of land.

His interest in local affairs is indicated by his joining a

deputation to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1878 to

persuade them to sell Martins Hill to the local Board of

Works so that it could be made available for the public to

enjoy. In 1886 the Bromley Park Lawn Tennis club was

formed and Lord Kinnaird was its President.

Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, F.R.G.S., D.L., J.P., —

Baron Kinnaird of Rossie — died on 30 January, 1923, at 10

St. James' Square, S.W.I., when he was nearly 76 years of

age, and eleven days after his wife, to whom he had been

married for 48 years.

Bromleag Magazine September 1976

Plaistow Lodge in 1876