Kent Reliance Takeover (Kent Reliance Building Society) KRBS Gillingham FC Sponsor

UPDATE: 23 October 2010, the proposals for the transfer of Kent Reliance KRBS to the new KRPS have now been published. Click here to read why we will be voting against the proposals.
http://www.rainham-history.co.uk/html/KRBS-Kent-Reliance-Building-Society-takeover.html

It has been reported that the Kent Reliance Building Society, KRBS, sponsor of the Gills and Priestfields stadium, is in takeover talks with the US company JC Flowers. It is suggested that JC Flowers will invest £50million for a 49% stake in the business but that as this is not a full takeover it will not generate windfall payments to members.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10594824

In its stock exchange announcement, the building society said the proposed deal with Flowers would "create a new corporate structure for the Kent Reliance business."

This follows the controversial policies pursued by Chief Exec Mike Lazenby involving outsourcing admin processing to India and closing almost all the Kent Reliance branches.

The Daily Telegraph reports "As the boss of a mutual, , chief executive of Kent Reliance, is charged with running the company entirely for the benefit of its customers, with no external shareholders. Yet together they have devised the first private equity investment in a British mutual lender. The deal is being watched across the City and the regions since it could trigger a transformative impact on reform of the building society and banking sectors. "

One commentator said: "Flowers has been lucky with Lazenby who is not the standard mutual boss. He might find the others harder to convince."

The official announcement by KRBS says:

Kent Reliance Building Society today announces that it is in talks with J.C. Flowers & Co. to create a new corporate structure for the Kent Reliance business. If the new structure proceeds, it would allow for substantial new capital investment to support the business and would provide a means for the Society’s members to remain members of a mutual organisation.

Ann Castle's Book with details about the people of Rainham,

I recently received a message about a book by Ann Castle. It has lots of snippets about the people of Rainham, Halstow & Upchurch.

Ann Castle's Book on Rainham Halstow Upchurch

There are also some recipes, accounts and other articles that have been transcribed to a different page.


Most pages are dedicated to a particular family but occasionally, they spill over to an adjacent page.

Original grammar and spelling have been retained but some letters and words are illegible.

How old is my house?

I am often asked by people who want to find out how old their house is. There are several methods depending on the approximate age of your property.

In the Medway Towns there are books called Kelly's directory that are held at local libraries. These detail all the properties and owners in particular areas and can show when new houses appear in the records. For example many houses around Maidstone Road in Rainham sprung up in the late 1920s and early 1930s and can be seen from the volumes of Kelly's Directory from each year.

If you property is much older than this then parish records or census returns could be a good starting point. For newer properties local councils may hold records that show when the house was built.

If you have any more suggestions for ways to determine how old your house is then please leave them as comments.

The Lord Stanley Pub, Upchurch

I received this email today which I hope follow up very soon.

A friend of our's contacted me about The Lord Stanley.

Well we bought 'The Lord Stanley Bungalow ' March1996 I was asked when The Public House got burnt down, we are not sure as when we bought The bungalow it was all under probate so it was difficult to find out all about it. I'm not sure if you are interested but we have the deeds from 1865 ? you are most welcome to look at them. This was when it was bought by Barnes, my sister-in-laws Parents lived in Horsham Lane and she can remember going to Barnes' shop, my husbands parents had a fish round and he can remember as a small boy buying sweets from the shop while helping on the fish round with his Step mother. We have a photo taken in 1965 of The Pub and land, it was taken by a photographer in a Tiger Moth flying over head.

Picture Book of Old Rainham - Issue 3 Now Available

A new Picture Book of Old Rainham is now available. Click on the Amazon link below to order for delivery worldwide.


This book follows on from Volume 1 and 2 of the Picture Book of Old Rainham which are now out of print.

Feedback on Rainham History

Thanks for all the feedback and comments on the site, it is much appreciated and makes the effort of maintaining it all worthwhile.

History of Rainham, Photos and Tales of Bygone Times in Kent

The Rainham History site originally started out as a personal project in 2000 so ten years on it is quite an amount of work that has gone into it. I know some of the local schools are using the site for project work which is very gratifying.

Lipton Shop - High Street Rainham Kent, 1920s

I have attached a photo of a shop that I believe was located in HighSt Rainham in the 1920's. The person in the middle was my father Percy Jacobs who was born in Rainham, I think at High street. My grandfather was born in Upchurch he was a shepherd, I think it was at Greenboro' Marsh. In fact all of the Jacobs family was born, married and died in and around Rainham. I know that William Jacobs born 1791 was born in the are, probably Upchurch and his father Edward Jacobs born 1765 was I believe born in Rainham. I have done some research using Ancestry. com but now I am trying any other avenue to see what I can unearth. I am also looking back at the maternal family line which also springs from Rainham, the Hawks being one.