Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Rev. Herbert Kynaston Hudson, the long serving Vicar of Berden and founder and Chief Fire Officer of the Berden Volunteer Fire Brigade

Defence Medal, unnamed, with brooch bar; National Fire Brigades Union L.S. Medal, with ‘Ten Years’ brooch bar (6377 H. K. Hudson-Berden) bronze; National Fire Brigades Association L.S. Medal, 1 clasp, Twenty Years (4012 Herbert Kynaston Hudson) silver, mounted as worn; National Fire Brigade Association Honorary Life Member Medal, silver and enamel, hallmarks for Birmingham 1938, reverse inscribed, ‘Presented to H. K. Hudson 1942’, good very fine and better (4) £140-180

Herbert Kynaston Hudson was born in September 1864, the son of Edward Taylor Hudson, a clerk in holy orders, and Sarah Ann Fraser Hudson. He was baptised at St. Nicholas Cole Abbey in the City of London by a close friend of the family, the Rev. Herbert Kynaston - his Christian and surname taken as the child’s two Christian names.

He was educated at St. Pauls and Oxford University, taking a B.A. in 1890 and M.A. in 1893. Hudson was ordained a Priest in St. Albans in 1894 and served as Curate of St. John’s Forest Gate, 1893-95. He then became a Chaplain in Stratford East and in 1899 was given his first parish as Vicar of St. Nicholas at Berden, Essex. It was there that Rev. Hudson became a cornerstone of village life.

It is recorded that: ‘The Rev. Herbert Kynaston Hudson made a huge impact on village life, and his re-introduction of the miracle play and election of a boy bishop made national headlines in the Daily Mirror in 1935. The First World War was a time of great sadness for the Reverent Hudson. Just before hostilities broke out, he lost his wife Caroline. ... At the end of the war, several of his ‘Boy Bishops’ had been killed, .... The Reverend Hudson also took [the children] sightseeing. Berden Choir Boys were taken by trap to Bishop’s Stortford and then took the train to Southend. The Reverend Hudson was also known to award stamps at Sunday School, and on Good Friday he would take all the children to Battles Wood where they would collect primroses and wild daffodils [to decorate the pulpit].

Reverend Hudson also set up the Berden Fire Brigade following a large number of uncontrollable fires in the village at the start of his tenure and actually built the fire engine himself! - however, it was reported to have been too big to get out of the garage so adjustments had to be made and walls taken down to get it out. Six men supported him as volunteer crew and it was commended by the local fire brigade.

...The Reverend Hudson eventually remarried. She happened to be the school mistress, Miss Bonnett, who he had met during his weekly visits to the school.

His interests ranged from photography to astronomy - he built a stargazing hut in the vicarage garden. He was known to play the organ and lead the service and on some occasions rang three bells at once, two with his hands and one with a piece of string tied to his foot.’

Rev. Hudson retired and left Berden in 1937. He was awarded the honorary life membership medal of the N.F.B.A. in 1942. He passed away in October 1949, aged 85 years.

With copied research on paper and CD and also a copy of the book, Fire Prevention, Protection and Extinction, edited by Herbert Kynaston Hudson in 1930.