Photographs
The photographs reproduced by Peter Kingsford in his book 'A Modern History of Brookmans Park 1700-1950'.

Chapter 1: Lord Chancellor and Bank Governor 1700-1816
The Gaussen family arrives in 1786 and create the estate that led to the development of the village of Brookmans Park. Lord John Somers, The Lord Chancellor, spends the last years of his life in the village. North Mymms commons is enclosed. Organised farming develops.

Chapter 2: Squire's Domain 1816-1880
Robert Gaussen takes over at Brookmans Manor. There is a depression in africulture after Waterloo. The estate expands. Labouring jobs are created.The expansion of the railways threatens to run through Gaussen's land.

Chapter 3: Towards Dissolution 1880-1923
Agriculture prices fall and so do rents. Scottish farmers come south to take over farms. Brookmans Manor is burned down while the family cruise off the coast of Holland. The Great Northern Railway pushes through the estate. Parts of the estate are sold off to cut costs and make ends meet.

Chapter 4: Developer's Delight 1923-1939
The developers move in and the village changes forever. A railway station is built and with it shops and homes. The BBC sets up its transmitter station.

Chapter 5: People's War and People's Peace 1939-1950
The war years resulted in many being evacuated to Brookmans Park from London, but the surrounding area was also hit. Brookmans School is built as the village grows.

Historical Notes
Essential notes to help the reader to understand the developments explained in the above chapters.

Other books by Peter Kingsford on this site

North Mymms People in Victorian Times
This complete book tells something of the lives of the people of North Mymms Parish in the 19th century. Peter Kingsford's second book deals with the whole Parish including the hamlets of Welham Green, Water End, Bell Bar and Roestock, with a glance at Little Heath.

North Mymms Schools and Their Children 1700-1964
Peter Kingsford's third book looking at the beginning of formal education in the parish and how provision developed.

Victorian Lives in North Mymms
This, Peter Kingsford's fourth book deals with the Parish of North Mymms in the nineteenth century but in a different way to his second book. This one throws a fresh light on the Victorian times, how the people lived, worked, thought and behaved and their relations with each other.