The Rev, and Hon. Henry Vesey Bligh, son of the Earl of Darnley, of Cobham Hall, near Gravesend, was Vicar of Abingdon prior to his appointment to the living of St. James’s. At his induction, the Surrey Comet, of October 22nd, 1881, reports that he “formally took possession and rang the bell furiously for some time, after having been led to the door-step by the Archdeacon.”

He was not as wealthy as his predecessor, but nevertheless both he and the Hon. Mrs. Bligh, who was a granddaughter of Lady Ward, gave generously to all the various parish subscription lists, and we are told that during the hard winter of 1891, when some workpeople who had lost their employment because of the severity of the weather applied to him for aid, he gave them ten shillings each and set them to lay the path which runs from the “kissing gates” by Burton’s Road railway bridge to what was then Slade’s Farm but now is Fulwell Golf Club; meeting the not inconsiderable expenses incurred out of his own pocket.

We notice that our vicars were able to leave their parish for long periods in those days, for in 1888 Mr. Bligh sailed for Naples in March, popped back for some personal business in May, and then went back to Italy until August. In 1891 he was suffering from overwork and went to Cairo for three months.

Nevertheless, in spite of these absences he appears to have been extremely popular, and when in 1893 he decided to leave Hampton Hill for Fareham, considering that the climate there would be better for his wife’s health and that “the duties would be rather less exacting than the very numerous offices that fell to his lot at Hampton Hill” we are told that within three days over a thousand parishioners had signed an appeal for him to reconsider his decision. The Surrey Comet considered this “a remarkable demonstration of the esteem in which the Vicar is held, not only by his own congregation, but very generally by non-church goers also.” The appeal was described by the Surrey Comet as “a Valentine from the good people of Hampton Hill to their Vicar which said with a thousand tongues ‘Don’t Go'.

“In an address given by the Churchwarden, Mr. W. C. B. Hall, a further earnest appeal was made to him to remain. . . . “During the period of more than eleven years here, the whole system of parish organisation has worked smoothly and efficiently; more than £2,500 has been raised for the Church fabric; the Organ has been improved at an expense of about £230; the School Teachers’ houses have been built, and the Schools efficiently maintained. As President of the Hampton Total Abstinence Society you have co-operated with non-churchmen, thereby greatly advancing the cause of temperance in our midst.” We are told that this address received “a prolonged ovation” and that Mr. Bligh answered “with great emotion” to this “spontaneous expression of the affection and goodwill of his parishioners” and told them that he would “pray to God to aid him to make a right decision.”

He later replied to the pleas of the village, in the Parish Magazine, saying how touched he was at such expressions of good feeling but “after prayerful consideration felt they must leave, albeit with a hard wrench to their feelings and a deep sorrow to depart.” He was welcomed back with affectionate demonstrations when, in response to the parish’s invitation, he returned for the inauguration of the clock and bells, which was the culmination of the ambitious project, instigated by him, that started with the erection of the Victoria Tower and Spire.

Source: The Birth and Growth of Hampton Hill (Margery Orton)