Notes on the Contributors
Neil Aldridge: born a Man of Kent and an active member of the KAS since 1979. He is continuing to investigate, record and publish aspects of the archaeology of the Weald. He contributed a chapter on the early history of Ulcombe for the recently published book on that parish. A similar piece has been written to be part of a new history of Benenden. Other interests include family history research in Tenterden and its surrounding villages, and the effects of the two World Wars on local communities.
Diana Burfield, b.a. hons: read psychology and anthropology at London University, and passed most of the next half-century in academic publishing and antiquarian bookselling. Intrigued by the chance discovery of her great-great-grandfather Edward Cresy’s association with Charles Darwin, she embarked on the research for his biography (see Review, pp. 423-25). She is currently writing the history of the Bomb Shop, a bookshop in Charing Cross Road established around 1908 by the Tolstoyan anarchist Francis Riddell Henderson.
Mike Davis: son of a former vicar of Stone-in-Oxney, his interest in churches began when his father showed him a mason’s mark in his church. Studies of ecclesiastical sites and landscapes were interrupted somewhat by thirty-seven years of military service but they have since resumed in earnest. He serves on the committee of the Society for Church Archaeology and is currently reading for a m.sc. in Applied Landscape Archaeology at Oxford University.
Gerald Grainge, ph.d.: retired in 1993 and undertook a research degree in maritime archaeology at Southampton University. His doctoral thesis, The Roman Channel Crossing of AD 43, was published in 2002. The Roman Invasions of Britain, published by Tempus in 2005, extended his research to the invasions of Julius Caesar, as well as that of Constantius Chlorus in ad 296. He is currently editing a book by D.W. Waters on the history of Renaissance navigation.
Richard James, b.a., a.i.f.a.: is currently a Senior Archaeologist with Archaeology South-East (UCLFAU). He has worked on numerous Kentish sites with the Unit since 1995, including several phases of work at Lydd Quarry. He is currently involved in historic landscape work, and is developing the Unit’s expertise in this field.
Ian Mortimer, b.a., m.a., ph.d., f.r.hist.s., r.m.s.a.: is an historical biographer, currently working on the life of Henry IV. Previous biographical studies include The Greatest Traitor: the life of Sir Roger Mortimer and The Perfect King: the life of Edward III. His ph.d. thesis was on the social history of medicine c.1570-1720, which is heavily based on the east Kent probate accounts. Other related work includes two volumes of seventeenth-century Berkshire documents and a list of the licensed and other qualified medical practitioners in the Diocese of Exeter. He lives and works in Devon and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter.
Keith Parfitt, b.a., f.s.a., m.i.f.a.: Hons degree in British Archaeology at University College, Cardiff, 1978. Subsequently joined Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, working on a variety of excavations across Kent and S.E. London; spent several years writing-up Keston Roman villa. Moved to Canterbury Archaeological Trust in 1990 and worked on the Dover A20 project which culminated in discovery of the Bronze Age Boat in 1992; and on Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery in 1994 and Townwall Street, Dover, in 1996. Running parallel with full-time career, Director of Excavations for amateur Dover Archaeological Group since 1978. Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2000. Has served on KAS Fieldwork Committee since 1992 and acted as Director for KAS excavations at Minster, 2002-2004. Presently engaged in a joint project with the British Museum excavating the complex Bronze Age barrow site at Ringlemere.
Anthony Poole, b.a., ph.d.: taught classics, particularly Greek and Roman History, for thirty-five years at Wimbledon College where he was successively Housemaster, Sixth Form Master and Deputy Head. He has since turned his attention to local history, and plans to follow up his recent book on interrelationships among the late seventeenth-century inhabitants of the Cran-brook region (see Review, pp. 419-20) with an examination of the families in his home village of Fittleworth in West Sussex.
John F. Potter, b.sc., ph.d., f.g.s., f.i.biol., c.biol., f.i.env.sc.: was for many years Principal of Farnborough College of Technology, Hampshire, and in retirement holds the position of Visiting Emeritus Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Reading. Trained as a geologist, with many published papers, he has worked in the field of ecclesiastical geology for over thirty years.
Sheila Sweetinburgh, ph.d.: is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of History, University of Kent. As well as her book, The Role of the Hospital in Medieval England, she has published essays on medieval Kent, including works on charitable gifts of clothing to the poor, the peasant land market in the fifteenth century and civic rituals amongst the Cinque Ports. Currently she is a member of the English Heritage funded Sandwich project team and also undertakes documentary research for the Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
Hugh Vaux, m.a., m.b., b.chir (cantab): is a retired general practitioner who has lived in the same village for over forty years. He became fascinated by family interrelationships and the histories of nine Wealden hall-houses remaining in Otham. This interest was greatly helped by Allen Grove who encouraged the publication of ‘Otham, people and places’ (Archaeologia Cantiana, cxi, 1993) and by patients who shared memories and produced artefacts.
CONTRIBUTORS