Frederick Leith

Occupation: Solicitor, Landowner, JP for Kent & Cinque Ports

The Lease for 8 The Strand

According to Charles Elvin in his ‘History of Walmer and Walmer Castle’, in the early part of the reign of George 3rd two naval surgeons, named Pack and Leith, contracted with the Admiralty to, ‘victual and render medical assistance to the sick and wounded’. It seems the pair used an old hospital, owned by Leith, which stood on the site of the later, Admiralty owned, Royal Marine Infirmary, to deliver care to sick and wounded seamen.

There is not much doubt that the contract with the hospital and possibly similar contracts made Leith’s fortune enabling him in 1789 to purchase the Walmer Court estate from William Western Hugessen.

The Leith family owned huge swathes of land in Walmer, including The Strand where they erected the impressive row of shops and homes we see today. Two of these buildings were eventually leased to Edward Rose the tailor and James Peake the chemist.

Frederick Leith was the youngest surviving son of George Urmstone Leith Esq of Walmer Court and Elizabeth, daughter of John Sladden, Esq. Of Herne. Kent. In 1846 he married Elizabeth Williams it seems that this marriage produced no children. In 1871 he married Jane Ball daughter of Warren Squire Bradley, Commander RN of Strete, Devon and swiftly set about rectifying this with his young, second wife. There was an age gap of 28 years. 

Frederick Wingfield Leith

Their eldest son Frederick Wingfield Leith inherited the estate on the death of his father. Frederick jnr was sent to Dartmouth to train to as a Naval Officer where he remained until he was 19 years old and despite being thought ‘zealous and promising’ by his superiors he failed to impress and resigned. Frederick then seemed to spend the rest of his life ( apart from a stint in the Royal Naval Reserves during WW1 ) living the life of a landed gentleman.

Three Divorce Cases

He was named in three divorces and eventually died in a beautiful house on the Quay in Burnham on Crouch, Essex where he was living with his third wife, Lily and youngest son Frederick. He never lost his love of the sea and is to be found in the 1911 Census crewing a yacht on the Hamble in Hampshire with his lover, Florence. 

Liverpool House

Sources and further reading:
Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk).