I recently received an email from Ben Harding of South East Kent Astronomers regarding any information I had regarding “the Nonington Meteorite” which came to earth in May of 1910. Unfortunately I was unable to give him any information as I had none to give. It was a complete mystery to me!
Along with the email Ben kindly forwarded a couple of newspaper clippings regarding the meteorite strike from The Daily Mirror and The Hull Daily Mail, both dated Saturday 24th May, 1910. Despite extensive searches by SEKA members of newspapers archives Ben informed me that no reports in the East Kent local press of the event came to light!
If anybody has any information either written or oral regarding the Nonington meteorite I will be very happy and grateful to receive it and I will share it with Ben!
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The two newspaper articles of 24th May, 1910, published in The Daily Mirror and The Hull Daily Mail respectively contain the following information:-
METEORITE FALLS NEAR DOVER
“Making a big hole in the ground, from which vapour rose to a height of 12ft., a meteorite fell at Nonington, near Dover, on Saturday. The meteor fell only a few yards from the residence of Mr. Morgan, a veterinary surgeon.”
FIRE BALLS SEEN
“A Dover correspondent reports the falling of a meteor or fire ball at Nonington near Dover, which may or may not be connected with the comet. It fell during Saturday’s storm in a field, a few yards from the residence of Mr Morgan, a veterinary surgeon, and made a hole in the ground, from which vapour rose to the height of several feet “caused by the meteoric stone’s intense heat.”
Mr W. F. Denning, who is one of our leading authorities in regard to this subject, reported the other day the flight of a fire-ball seen in the sunshine on May 10, by many observers in the Midlands. It was a very brilliant object. Experience has tended to show that comets and meteors are associated and move in similar orbits, and Mr Denning is of opinion that the bright meteor of May 10 may have been connected with Halley’s comet.”
Strangely, the event was also recorded in The Chicago Tribune, an American journal, on 19th June, 1910.
“Making a big hole in the ground, from which vapor rose to the height of twelve feet, a meteorite fell at Nonington, near Dover, England. The meteorite fell only a few yards from the residence of Mr. Morgan, a veterinary surgeon.”
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The Morgan family had worked the Church Street forge throughout the 1800’s and became blacksmiths and veterinary surgeons in the later part of the century. They gave up blacksmithing in the early 1900’s but continued for some years as veterinary surgeons.
Mr. Morgan, the vet, lived next door to St. Mary’s Church in Nonington in what is now called Church House, so the meteorite fell within a few yards of the church. It seems strange that there is no reference to this event in the parish magazine, parish council minutes or in the local press. The land the meteorite fell on was part of the St. Alban’s Court estate owned by the Hammond family. A quarter of a century or so after the landing of the meteorite Dr. Frederick W. Hardman, a noted East Kent historian and philologist in the early-to-mid 20th century, extensively researched the Hammond family archives but made no mention of it. You would think that if the meteorite was recovered it would have gone to the Hammonds and that it would have been recorded and preserved.
It really is a mystery as to why there are no local records of the meteorite’s landing!
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Halley’s Comet was widely observed over East Kent, and the rest of the UK, in May of 1910, and there was likely to have been widespread speculation as to what ills and woes its appearance would impose on East Kent’s inhabitants.
One terror inducing potential consequence of the comet’s appearance in 1910 was Cyanide Fear! Astronomers had detected cyanogen gas in the comet’s tail and the scaremongering pronouncements of some scientists led to a widespread global anxiety that when Earth passed through the comet’s fiery tail the poisonous gas would suffocate everyone on the planet.
British newspapers reported fearful inhabitants sealing windows and doors whilst opportunists sold fraudulent “comet pills” and anti-comet gas masks. Other people were fearful of natural disasters such as floods and storms, and to comfort the fearful special church prayer vigils were held.
Halley’s Comet: a reproduction of the first photograph of the comet take in May of 1910 by E.E Barnard at Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
For the previous millennia or more people had believed that the appearance of Halley’s and other comets was a portent of imminent doom and misfortune. When Halley’s Comet appeared in April of 1066 Harold, the recently crowned king of England saw it as a sign of impending ruin and death while Duke William of Normandy, Harold’s rival for the English throne, took it as a blessing for his upcoming invasion of England. Both proved to be correct in their interpretations of this heavenly omen!
Despite the widespread fear and alarm the Earth passed through the comet’s fiery tail on 19th of May with no obvious harmful effects and the panic quickly subsided. However, there was one fatal event which did cause some of his more superstitious subjects to blame the appearance of the comet was the death of King Edward VII at the age of 68 at Buckingham Palace in London on 6th of May, 1910. It was posited by the more puritan elements of British society that Edward’s death was divine punishment for his infamously sybaritic life style, which is not too far removed from the truth as the official cause of death was acute pulmonary issues worsened by a series of heart attacks!
