The building of a railway, in Kent, in the nineteenth century, is being explored through a partnership between Kent County Council’s Centre for Kentish Studies, the Marden History Group and Parliamentary Archives and Parliamentary Outreach.
Using unique archive material held by the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone, Kent and the Parliamentary Archives, a group of volunteers will research the South Eastern Railway which was built by an Act of Parliament passed in 1836.
The activity is part of the People and Parliament: Connecting with Communities project which was launched by the Parliamentary Archives in 2009. The project explores the connections between people, communities and Parliament using archive material to find out how people have influenced Parliament, and how Parliament has had an effect on communities.
This phase of the project will investigate the coming of the South Eastern Railway line to the Marden area, and the impact of this on local communities.
David Prior, Assistant Clerk of the Records at the Parliamentary Archives, said:
“We are really pleased to be working in Kent with our partners on this activity which will explore the building of the South Eastern Railway. The research will be a valuable contribution to this part of the communities project.”
