A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
‘The History of the Collegiate Girls School Leicester 1867-
‘A Typical Hertfordshire Village 100 Years Ago’ -
‘When the First Railway Train Passed Through Stevenage in 1850’ -
‘Stories of the Broadwater Smithy, Fact and Fiction’ -
‘The Stevenage Giant’ May 1977. ‘Herts Countryside’: Vol. 32 No. 217 p 24-
‘Leicester Collegiate Schools: Link with Hertfordshire’.
‘Schooling in Shephall from the 18th Century to the Coming of Stevenage New Town’
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‘Teaching Local History’. March 1981. ‘Herts Environment’ p 11-
‘Priory Gardens of Hitchin’. Dec 1981. ‘Old Hitchin Life’: Vol.1 No. 2 p 24-
‘Hitchin Priory Gardens in the 18th Century’: Dec. 1981. ‘Herts Countryside’: Vol.
36 No. 272 p 21-
‘Did the Exiled King of Portugal live in the Rookery’. Oct. 1982. ‘Herts Countryside’:
Vol. 37 No. 282 p 48-
‘The Throckmortons of Chesfield Manor’. ‘Herts Past and Present’: Spring 1983.
‘The Clocks and Clockmakers of Stevenage’. ‘Herts Countryside’: April 1983. Vol.
38 No 288. P 33-
‘Public Houses of Preston (1): Early History of the Chequers and Horse and Groom’.
Oct 1983. ‘Herts Countryside’: Vol.38 No. 294 p 14-
‘Public Houses of Preston (2): History is Made at the Red Lion’. Nov 1983. ‘Herts
Countryside’: Vol.38 No. 295. P 16-
‘Home from Home: Sue Ryder Home, Stagonhoe’. June 1984. ‘Herts Countryside’ :Vol. 39 p.27.
‘Brickyards and Brickmakers in Stevenage’. Spring 1990. ‘Herts Past and Present’:
Vol. 28 p 35-
1919 -
Nina’s parents, Ernest Walter Coleman and Laura Maria (nee Tansey) lived in the Leicestershire
village of Sapcote. This community lies near Hinckley and between Nuneaton and Leicester.
When teenagers, Ernest worked as a labourer at the stone quarry where his father
was a blacksmith and Laura was a ‘runner-
She attended Hinkley Grammar School and then graduated at Leicester University achieving a BA in history which prepared the way for a busy and productive life in local and general history.
In 1938, when she was 19, Nina married Robert Freebody at Stockton-
four children.
Following her teacher’s training, Nina taught at schools in
Leicester including the city’s Collegiate Girls School for several years. This academy was of particular and personal interest to Nina as she wrote a history of the school for the century between 1867 and 1967. (See right)
Her book contained 64 pages together with eleven photographs. It took three years
to research and Nina harnessed the energy of sixth-
historical material. In a forward, the director of education for Leicester, Elfred Thomas, made this comment
about Nina’s book: ‘...it has been written with a scholar’s conscientious regard for accuracy in every detail,
but its strength lies in its sensitivity to atmosphere, its flair for catching that deep, abiding love and loyalty which has motivated all who “belong” to the Collegiate....’
Nina’s published articles
‘Red Roofs’, Back Lane, Preston
In 1967, Nina and Robert moved to ‘Red Roofs’, a bungalow at Back Lane, Preston (shown above). Nina was appointed as Head of History at Collenswood School, Stevenage while Robert, a lecturer in Engineering,
worked at Letchworth and Hatfield Polytechnic. It was while she was working at Stevenage that Nina studied
for her MA degree. At some stage she also took an English Local History Course. Then, Nina retired from teaching in 1979. Nina passed away in January 1996, aged 76. Robert died in October of the following year.
Between 1971 and 1990, her consuming fascination with local history inspired several
articles in magazines such as, ‘Hertfordshire Countryside’ and ‘Hertfordshire Past
and Present’, the journal of the Hertfordshire Association for Local History. Sifting
through this mass of material reveals Nina’s fascination with education and local
history. Indeed, she was included among the patrons of the book, ‘Hertfordshire in
History’, a collection of eighteen essays edited by Dr Doris Jones-
The first of her pieces fittingly focused on the village she had made her home – Preston. Entitled, ‘A Typical Hertfordshire Village 100 Years Ago’ (1971), Nina compared the hamlet recorded in the census of 1861 with life there in 1961. Twelve years later, in 1973, she wrote two further articles about the village featuring its public houses – The Red Lion and the Chequers. Some of these articles appeared in serial form in Preston’s monthly newsletter.
Priory Gardens in the nearby town of Hitchin were featured in ‘Hertfordshire Countryside’ in 1981 and, making the most of her research, Nina wrote on the same subject in Volume One of ‘Old Hitchin Life’, the journal of the Hitchin Historical Society, in the same year.
Spending her working life in Stevenage triggered a series of articles in ‘Hertfordshire Countryside’ and ‘Hertfordshire Past and Present’ about somewhat unusual and obscure aspects of the town’s history:
Nina’s research and methodology
Behind the text of these articles lies a prodigious amount of study, research and
expertise. Consider, for example, her pieces describing the history of Preston’s
public houses. What were her sources and how much fact-
For her articles about Preston, Nina interviewed local residents, acquired their
photographs and viewed the interior and loft-
Many of these records are in handwriting difficult to decipher; some are in Latin.
One long page of a manorial document might give up just a few scraps of relevant
information after cutting through the verbiage. Nina would have been a familiar figure
at HALS as she pored over papers for hour-
A profile of Nina
Along the lanes of Preston, Nina found a soul-
similar academic background and a passion for local history – Liz Hunter of ‘Rose
Cottage’, Chequers Lane -
the same wavelength with whom she could share her enthusiasm’. Often Liz would return home to find, in her porch, notes or a photocopy of some data that an excited Nina had
left thinking that Liz would find the research of interest.
Liz remembers Nina as a ‘loyal, honest friend; a discreet person who thought of others before herself’. Nina was a humble academic with no arrogance; seeking no glory for herself
despite her prolific output. Occasionally, she would ask Liz to proof-
She was a ‘determined person’ – ‘when she wanted to do something, it went onto a
mental list which was acted upon’. (There is evidence of this, for in one article
Nina comments that the story of the Swains of Preston ‘will be told elsewhere’. She
also advised the Herts Local History Council of work-
Nina was ‘conscientious – everything had to be done properly. She took a pride in doing things well; whether it was providing
tea and biscuits or her research’. Her work was tidy and structured. ‘Papers were tucked into folders and files which
were deposited into a grey filing cabinet in her study in the front room together with an extensive card system’. This organization reflected her teacher’s training and experience.
Nina and Robert Freebody
After her retirement, Nina spent more time in her garden. In the 1980s, she entered the Harkness Rose Competition (organized by the Stevenage Gazette) for the first time – and won the second prize of three roses from a new collection by
Peter Harkness.
Entrants of the contest had to submit three
names for newly-
hoping to compile ‘a major work on the gardens and nurserymen of Hertfordshire’
Although this tome was never written, Nina did produce an article for the Royal National Rose Society’s magazine in the autumn of 1983
entitled, ‘Hitchin Priory Roses’.
Nina -
(left) Nina with Peter Harkness
Conclusion
Until the Women’s Institute produced a history ‘Scrapbook’ of Preston in 1953, villagers had written little of their home. From 1967, Nina eagerly shared the results of her research and knowledge about Preston which inspired and intrigued her contemporaries to want to know more. Her pioneering work prepared the way for this web site.
Sources and acknowledgments: HALS. I am grateful for the contributions of Robert Freebody, jnr. and Liz Hunter.
Nina’s book and articles
Liz also recalled that ‘in the days when heads of departments were allowed to devise their own CSE courses, Nine took advantage of this option and gained accreditation for a local history and archaeology course at Collenswood School. This was the only such course in a Hertfordshire secondary school. She realized that the less able student needed the stimulus of local fieldwork, local museum artefacts and photos and local archive documents to motivate them to learn the methods and the results of a junior historian’.
‘The Stevenage Giant’ (1977)
‘When the First Railway Train Passed through Stevenage in 1850’ (1978)
‘Schooling in Shephall: From the Eighteenth Century to the Coming of Stevenage New Town’ (1980)
‘Did the Exiled King of Portugal live in the Rookery?: Some Interesting Residents of a Stevenage Home’ (1982)‘
‘Clocks and Clockmakers of Stevenage’ (1983)
‘The Throckmartins of Chesfield Manor’ (1983)
‘Brickyards and Brick-
Nina’s prolific pen also composed: ‘Stories of the Broadwater Smithy: Fact and Fiction’ (1975); ‘Home from Home: Sue Ryder Home, Stagenhoe’ (1984); ‘Industrial Archaeology in Schools’ (1974); ‘Teaching Local History’ (1981) and ‘Leicester Collegiate Schools: Links with Hertfordshire’ (1980).
Then the fruits of these studies had to be assimilated and processed to create the finished articles. Nina also used her imagination to ‘flesh out’ her story – the Preston robbery case of 1864 ‘was rare but it no doubt provided a source of conversation for many weeks afterwards. Life was uneventful and the most serious crime in Preston was poaching for rabbits’.
As well as her magazine and newspaper articles, Nina also lectured for the Stevenage Society. One subject was ‘Local History in Schools’ which was delivered at Stevenage Museum. A news release commented that she had built a large collection of local material which would illustrate her talk; ‘particular emphasis would be placed on how original documents can be presented to suit the capabilities of children’. She was also ‘an active member of a number of working parties (connected with the County Education Department) and was devising an environmental study course for local schools’.
To read Nina’s articles about Preston (which are fully transcribed), use the following links:
‘A Typical Hertfordshire Village 100 Years Ago’
It was believed that none of Nina’s papers or workings had survived but in July 2014 an uncatalogued holding was discovered which had been deposited by her husband, Robert, shortly after her death.
The bundle is noteworthy because it contains a typed History of Stagenhoe which was commissioned by the Sue Ryder Foundation in around 1982 as well as Nina’s handwritten notes for a talk to St Pauls Walden ladies about Stagenhoe. It is clear that the talk was given verbatim and from her marginal notes, it appears that it was illustrated with slides.
Also among the documents was correspondence which reveals how Nina worked. Remember
that although only thirty years ago, research aids that we take for granted today
such as e-
What follows is an account of how Nina gathered information about a steam car driven by Lord Caithness of Stagenhoe in 1860.
The Hitchin historian, Reginald Hine, had written an unpublished History of Stagenhoe in 1935. Nina discovered his manuscript at Hertfordshire Archives and Record Office (she refers to it in her talk and in her own History) and was intrigued by one paragraph in which Hine stated, ‘At other times he (the Third Earl of Caithness) journeyed (from Hertfordshire) to Scotland by road in a steam motor car of his own inventing. The photograph of it by TB Latchmore of Hitchin preserved amongst the Stagenhoe records shows this primitive machine being stoked from the footplate by a Home Farm engine driver...the Earl...used it constantly in the Hitchin district. The smuts from the car were terrible and the sight of her Ladyship arriving after a long journey at Stagenhoe is often talked about by old people to this day’.
Nina found apparent corroboration of this story of the Earl’s careering around the
local countryside in his steam carriage (top speed 10 mph; cruising speed 7-
Impetus was given to Nina’s researching endeavours as ‘Lady Ryder has expressed great interest in my work. If we could prove that the steam car was used on the estate and along local roads, the photograph could be copied and sold for their charity’.
Now a flurry of letters poured forth from Red Roofs, Back Lane from late 1981 until
1988. The Assistant Keeper of the Road Transport Collection at the Science Museum,
South Kensington responded, ‘I have not seen any reference to the use of the vehicle
at Stagenhoe Park’, adding, ‘Without documentary proof I would be inclined to discount
stories of a journey from Hertfordshire to Scotland as such an arduous journey would
surely have been well reported’ and suggested a trawl of local newspapers. Nina
later wrote, ‘At present I am combing the local papers of the period to see if there
are any references to the Earl’s steam carriage’, This task was doomed to failure
-
The County Archivist at Oxfordshire County Council reported that they had no references to the Earl running a steam locomotive in the streets of Oxford in July 1860. Nina also drew a blank (albeit with suggestions for further research) at the Scottish Record Office. However, the Registrar of Royal Archives, Windsor Castle confirmed that Queen Victoria had seen “Lord Caithness’ curious steam carriage’ at Windsor” and that She had observed that he ‘has much to say for himself as he knows so much’. Nina was to include these comments in her History of Stagenhoe.
The archivist at Buckinghamshire County Council (the county in which the builder
of the steam car resided) referred Nina to an informative, twenty-
Dilgently, Nina then wrote to Heal. A copy of her letter survives in the bundle:
Any comments on this letter would be superfluous as Nina’s disbelief in Hine’s earlier comments is clear.
Heal responded with faint surprise that a Hitchin man had taken the photograph and
asked to be informed of any further information that came to light from Nina’s researches.
The two evidently continued to correspond -
Nina’s talk to the ladies of St Paul’s Walden is not reproduced here. As someone
who struggles with proof-
Also during her talk, Nina couldn’t resist an allusion to her findings at Welei,
near Preston. Referring to the deserted, lost village of Stagenhoe she wondered whether
‘one day it will be located’ adding, ‘recently I found the site of the village of
Weley (sic) north of Preston with the help of documents at HCRO and the keen eyes
of the archaeologist from Letchworth Museum who found early medieval pottery and
Roman-
Click here for a link to Nina’s History of Stagenhoe