‘Solley of Sandwich’ (1869–1941): Entrepreneur, politician, farmer, fascist
This article is based on a talk given to Sandwich Local History Society in March 2024 . It was published in Archaeologia Cantiana , Volume 147, pp. 33-54.
Below are the first five paragraphs.
You can access the complete article from the Kent Archaeological Society at the link below.
On Tuesday 10 September 1935, Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) spent some time in Canterbury. After being heralded as ‘guest of honour’ at a luncheon in the Fountain Hotel for members of the farming community, he visited the city’s BUF headquarters to meet prominent BUF activists from the region. Amongst those presented to ‘the leader’ were Dr Arthur Tester, a fascist from Broadstairs who would flee to Germany at the start or the war to offer his services to the Nazis, and Lady Grace Pearson, BUF parliamentary candidate for Canterbury.2 Also introduced was Alderman George Christopher Solley along with his sister, Constance. Solley had been instrumental in organising the luncheon at the Fountain Hotel. A major catch for the BUF, Solley had been a founding member of the Sandwich branch and was helping to legitimise fascism amongst a broad section of East Kent society.
Solley was one of the most prominent personalities in Sandwich during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Businessman, farmer, politician, amateur historian: his influence extended beyond the town into the wider East Kent region and, in relation to some of his activities, on to a national plane.
An ambitious entrepreneur, Solley sought to become a stakeholder in the East Kent mining industry and promoted plans to transform Sandwich Haven into southern England’s biggest industrial port. During the 1920s, he chaired the East Kent Chamber of Commerce. Organised from Petersham House (50 King Street), his business described itself as ‘Auctioneers, Valuers & Surveyors, Estate, Land, House, Insurance and Mineral Rights Agents’ and managed the affairs of some of the region’s most eminent landowners. Solley was also a major figure in the farming communty, ever present at ploughing matches and agricultural fairs. During the first half of the 1930s, he played a leading role in the ‘tithe war’, a movement of civil disobedience against the modern version of medieval tithe.
Before joining the Fascists, Solley was, for almost forty years, a prominent member of the Sandwich Conservative Association. He served on Sandwich Town Council for over 30 years and was elected Mayor for two terms between November 1919 and 1921. He was an Alderman, Justice of the Peace and Magistrate of the Cinque Ports. Solley’s activities also touched Kentish cultural affairs. He sat on the council of the Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men and was a member of Kent Archaeological Society, occasionally presenting papers at its events.
Solley’s position in Sandwich’s political, economic and cultural life earned him the sobriquet ‘Solley of Sandwich’. It was more than a nickname. The ‘of’ possessed the quality of the French ‘de’, as in Charles de Gaulle or Simon de Montfort. It represented status, authority and prestige – and recognition that very little happened in the town of Sandwich without the involvement of George Christopher Solley. His biography deserves attention.