Big day out: Croydon’s Lifeboat Day parade in 1908. A regular, if not annual event, it raised precious money for an enduring cause
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Newspaper archive reports going back more than a century reveal a regular Croydon town centre fund-raiser: the Lifeboat Day procession, as DAVID MORGAN takes us back in time…
The RNLI, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2024.
The organisation is rightly proud that their volunteers have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. From their 238 lifeboat stations around the coast of Great Britain and Ireland, they operate a 24-hour search and rescue service. To this day, they rely on voluntary subscriptions to keep their boats and lifeguards functioning.
A trawl through the newspaper archives has revealed that, despite being some distance from the sea, Croydon has had a very close association with the charity over many years.
Wednesday July 6, 1898, was a big day in the Goodman household in South Norwood. Young Ernie and his brother were full of questions for their mum as they ate their breakfast.
Main event: a local newspaper report from 1898 of that year’s Croydon Lifeboat parade
“Today is the big procession for the lifeboats isn’t it mum?” Ernie asked.
“It is,” his mum replied. “It’s the first time Croydon had held a big fundraising event for the lifeboats. The Mayor says Croydon is always generous in helping out people and he wants us all to make it a special day.”
“Can we go and see the procession?”
“You and your brother can go after school, but be careful, mind. You can each take a ha’penny from the mantlepiece to throw on to the floats as they pass by.”
“Uncle Frank finishes at one o’clock today. He’s got a half-day at work.”
“That’s right, and it’s all because of what the Mayor wrote in a letter to the local paper the other week. Mr Edridge is always trying hard on behalf of the town,” mum said. “He was asking every business to close early so that as many who wanted to take part in the procession could do. He wants to make it a day to remember.
“Your friend Billy, from the down the street, he’ll be in the procession with the Boys Brigade band.”
“It will be funny to see his face turn red when he blows his bugle,” Ernie chuckled.
The boys wished that they had been able to have entered the fancy dress competition.
Mayor’s decision: Frederick Edridge was Mayor of Croydon in 1898
Ernie’s brother had the idea of painting a cardboard box and one them would hang the box over their shoulders so they could go as some sort of wild animal. “I thought a tiger,” said Ernie’s brother. But they didn’t have any paint and no spare money to buy some.
At the parade that afternoon, he boys realised the prizes for the fancy dress were for the adults. They would never have stood a chance against the man who rode his bicycle bedecked in playing cards or the lady who had dressed up in a Welsh costume.
Ernie and his brother couldn’t wait for the end of school. The raced home to where they lived in Cresswell Road in South Norwood, grabbed the coins, waved goodbye to their mum and set off to see the procession.
One of the first people they saw was Mr Cook, the chimneysweep, from Gloucester Road. His cart was decorated with all sorts of green leaves and he was looking pleased with himself for winning second prize in the fancy dress contest.
The crowds lining Croydon’s streets were so packed that the two brothers were pleased that they were able to wriggle their way through to the front.
“There’s Billy!” they both shouted as the Boy’s Brigade marched past. Billy, trying to maintain a marching discipline and rhythm, just sneaked a glance at them out of the corner of his eye. Ernie and his brother were pleased they weren’t marching, as the afternoon turned out to be very hot and sultry and some of the younger members of the bands found it a struggle to keep in step.
There were some impressive displays in the procession. The boys cheered along with the crowd as the South Norwood Fire Service passed by with the blue ensign flag on one side and the stars and stripes on the other. The West Kent Volunteer Fire Brigade followed on with a tableau about “Shipwrecked sailors on a raft”.
Then there was a lorry decorated by the Beckenham Britannia Operatic Society and drawn by four horses. This one was all about “Britannia and her Colonies”.
Just as the Brigade band approached, a horse ridden by one of the marshals on the route was spooked. The rider lost control and his mount backed into the crowd. Poor Ernie couldn’t get out of the way in time and was knocked to the ground. Some ambulance men and police came running over. Ernie was alright apart from a having a slightly cut elbow and being shaken up. His brother was told to take young Ernie home once they had checked him out. Their disappointment at missing the rest of the procession was clear for all to see.
When Ernie’s mum heard the front door open, she was surprised because she wasn’t expecting the boys home so soon. “You’re back early.”
Bright lights: the processions got bigger and brighter into the 20th Century
“There’s been an accident,” said Ernie’s brother. “Ernie got knocked over by a horse.”
“I’m alright, Mum,” Ernie said as she fussed over him, looking at his elbow, ruffling his hair to make sure for herself he hadn’t got a lump on the scalp. “We were having a great time, we saw the…”.
Ernie didn’t get to finish his sentence. He was going to tell his mum all things they saw but she insisted that he went to his bed and lie down. “You’ll be able to tell me tomorrow,” she said “but you need to rest now.”
For young Ernie the day had ended in disappointment. He hadn’t even been able to see the Worthing Lifeboat pass by. He was being helped by the ambulancemen and couldn’t really see much. The Mayor, the dignitaries and the vast crowds, though, celebrated a triumphant occasion. The local paper reported that the crowds were greater than those seen on the streets for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
Ernie had to find out what happened on the rest of the Lifeboat Day when he saw Billy at school the next day. He wasn’t letting his knocks and bruises keep him at home.
Billy told him that lots of the businesses in the town like Grants, Schnabel’s, the jewellers in North End and Buckworth’s the drapers had huge banners fluttering above the main door of the Town Hall. What impressed Billy the most was the large model of the Eddystone lighthouse which was put on display with a huge model lifeboat, about 18 feet long. The lifeboat was painted in the proper RNLI colours and bore the name The Croydon. It was lit up with more than 100 amber glass globes.
Croydon’s Lifeboat Day of 1898 was the talk of the town for some time afterwards. It was never intended that the town would have such a grand celebration every year, and it was another 10 years before another occasion was planned and huge crowds again came out to support the charity.
First-hand account: how the accident with little Ernie Goodman in 1898 was reported
In 1926, the Mayoress of Croydon, Mrs Camden-Field, wrote an impassioned letter to the editor of the Croydon Advertiser asking him to publicise the Lifeboat Day which that year was to be held on May 4. She was exhorting the women of Croydon to give a few hours of their time to collect money for the RNLI.
This was but a little sacrifice, she explained, when compared to what the women of Boulmer in Northumberland did. Thirty-five of them dragged a lifeboat a mile and a half in a December blizzard and then stood by ready to launch it in response to rescuing sailors from the stranded ship the Amble.
As a result of her appeal, a large audience at the Large Public Hall in Croydon were treated to an evening of Shakesperean scenes, performed by the Croydon Historic Society. The proceeds of that evening’s entertainment were sent to the RNLI.
One scene from the rarely performed Henry VIII play was a portrayal of the interview between Queen Katherine and two cardinals. Hebe Bidmead, Henry Skein and William Jamieson were highly praised for their performances. Compliments were paid also to the delightful orchestra for the evening led by Miss Cushing, with incidental music arranged by Mrs Waine.
Concerted efforts were still being made in Croydon in the Depression-hit 1930s to raise funds for the RNLI. An article in the local paper explained that more than 100 collectors had been out and about in the town, many dressed in sou’westers, stormcoats and kneeboots to replicate the lifeboatmen.
The piece went to say that the miniature lifeboats used as collecting boxes had not shown such good results as the previous year.
Ernie Goodman would be pleased to hear that the RNLI is still going strong. He would be even more pleased with one of the values that underpins their work: kindness. The world would be a better place if there were two centuries of kindness.
David Morgan is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
- David Morgan will be guiding a tour of Croydon Minster’s stained glass windows for Inside Croydon readers on May 21. Places on the tour are limited, and are being booked up fast. Click here for more details and to book your place
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Defeated Dutch admiral who endured his parole in Croydon
- Artist Nash who captured Croydon church’s great disaster
- Hallowell’s voyage from Boston to Beddington, via Brickwood
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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