How Peter found the home of LVC

“L.V.C. HOUSE, SOUTHFLEET. KENT”

A trip in December 2007 to Southfleet itself was initially disappointing but on driving along the local lanes, to my delight I spotted the distinctive gables of this house in the nearby hamlet of Betsham. As can be seen, the exterior of the house has hardly changed:

I knocked at the door and the present owners were pleased to share their own research into Betsham House. Among their papers I saw the name Lewis Vincent Cockell, the owner, in Kelly’s Directory of 1930. By 1937 the house was in someone else’s possession.

Further research revealed that Lewis Vincent Cockell was born in Deptford, Kent in 1876. In the 1901 census his profession was given as insurance clerk. He married May Beadles in 1906 and between 1911 and 1913 was living in Sydenham, Kent. This latter information came from the telephone directory.

The family must have been fairly well-off to have a telephone at that time. Later Lewis’ profession was listed as Barrister-at-Law and Principal Clerk in the Valuation Department of the Corporation of the Corporation of the City of London. He died in February 1933 at the age of 57. At the time of this discovery it seemed strange that the photographer did not include the owner of the house in the snap. The photo shows the back of the house. Perhaps another photo of the front has gone missing? But probably the most significant thing to be learnt from the identification of this house was that the initials were those of the owner. Up to this point the researchers had wondered if the initials had some other significance. Now we knew what we were looking for. Lewis’ death in 1933 also helps to narrow the possible time-frame for the dating of the album as a whole.