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  • St Johns Church
  • St Johns School
  • Lemsford Mill
  • Brocket Hall
  • The Sun Inn
  • Long & Short
  • Crooked Chimney
  • Waggoners
  • Lemsford WW1
  • Lemsford Springs
  • Lemsford Village
  • Cromer Hyde
  • Stanborough
  • Handside
  • Publications

Shirley Knapp (nee Cochrane) is a leading member of Lemsford Local History group and has provided more memories and images for our archive than any other member. When we asked her for her memories of WW1 that were passed onto her she produced a comprehensive, personal and loving recollections of her family, she bought them all to life for this generation. Her first article ‘Cochrane family Loss & Grief,’ deals with the reality and hardship of WW1 to a close country family. Her articles about the members who died, wounded and returned give a feel for the times. Her images provide us with an idea of what those times were like to live through. – Thank you Shirley To find full list of Census entriesClick Here

William & Robert Cochrane They did not fight in WW1

William Cochrane 1895 – 1989: Born in Sandpit Cottages, Hatfield Hyde he was the 2nd son of John & Lucy Cochrane. He moved with his parents to Valley Road Corner as a boy. He was born with only one hand and was rejected for military service in WW1. He became an active trade unionist and trained at Ruskin College Oxford.

As the Hertfordshire representative for the Farm Workers Union he was involved in gaining a shorter working week for local farmers ( Six and a half day week) Reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture at national conferences he met many famous people. In the early 1920s William and his brother Robert started The Cochrane Coal & Coke business in Hatfield Hyde now Welwyn Garden City.

Robert Cochrane 1902 – 1982: He was too young to do military service in WW1 but joined the Royal Marines with HMS Warspite after the War.

Lemsford Local History Group have a large archive of documentation & images for all aspects of history in Lemsford Parish. For our website we require your help to update and provide memories, facts and images about all aspects of the past in Lemsford Parish. Please Contact us on info@lemsfordhistory.co.uk

Andy Chapman LLHG

Enjoy Our Images

All photographs, images, PDFs and text used on this website are for your enjoyment. Please remember all photographs and material used on this site MAY NOT be copied, in whole or in part, or be duplicated to another computer, transmitted, published, reproduced, printed, hotlinked, etc. without the express written permission of the Lemsford Local History Group. To apply to use an image or article Contact Info@lemsfordhistory.co.uk

Article Author Date Read Article
Cochrane family Loss & Grief Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More
David Cochrane 1883 -1917 Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More
James Cochrane 1881 – 1967 Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More
James Cochrane 1898 – 1982 Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More
James Halsey 1875 – 1916 Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More
William & Robert Cochrane Shirley Knapp 2014 Read More

Lemsford Local History Group

The Lemsford Local History Group, formed in 2001, is interested in all aspects of the history and the people of this area - both ancient and modern. We welcome correspondence from anyone who shares this interest.The group archives now include a significant number of photographs and documents, as well as records of baptisms (to 1985), marriages (to 1970), burials (to 2003) and memorial inscriptions (to 2003) from the St John's parish church registers. Records of births, marriages and deaths before the consecration of the church in 1859 will be found in the registers of Bishop's Hatfield parish. The archive also contains admission records for the village school - St. John's Church of England Junior Mixed Infants school - since it was first opened in 1872