Category Archives: Church and religions

‘Let him have it!’: murder, the abdication and New Year revels

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: When he retired as parish clerk and verger in 1969, Frank Butler left his notes of a turbulent period of the 20th Century, from world war, through to the rapid social changes of the Sixties. The verger’s memoirs … Continue reading

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Shirley care home celebrates the garden legacy of Rev Wilks

A special ceremony has been held at the MHA Hall Grange care home in Shirley to make the centenary of the death of the leading horticulturalist, and the person who created The Wilderness garden, Rev William Wilks. Rev Wilks arrived … Continue reading

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‘In office but not in power’: tune in for the Croydon Insider

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Parish’s dynasty of vergers caring for Croydon for 100 years

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In another discovery from the Croydon Minster archive, DAVID MORGAN has found the first-hand account of one of the church’s most senior lay officials which covers much of the history of the 20th Century When Frank Butler retired … Continue reading

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Occasional Voices concert, Christ Church Addiscombe, Mar 18

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Banker from Waddon who helped finance independent America

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One memorial in Croydon Minster’s churchyard dates back to the early 19th Century, and is for a man who knew Alexander Hamilton and had connections with George Washington. By DAVID MORGAN Another grave in the grounds of Croydon … Continue reading

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Book and Cake Sale, St Peter’s, South Croydon, Mar 18

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How Dick Turpin’s life of crime included a hold-up in Shirley

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Stand and deliver! DAVID MORGAN has tracked down notorious highwaymen who preyed on the unwary travelling on Croydon’s roads, from Thornton Heath to Smitham Bottom in the 1700s The registers of Croydon Minster, as well as the information … Continue reading

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Pitlake’s poetic priest and his Edwardian Coronation Ode

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Croydon Minster’s archive also serves as a library for its parochial reports dating back into the 19th Century, which help to reveal much about the area’s history, says DAVID MORGAN, pictured right The yearly Parochial Reports from the … Continue reading

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Indoor Boot Sale, St Paul’s Croham Park Ave, Mar 11

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Quiz Night fundraiser, St Paul’s Croham Park Ave, Mar 4

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Artist’s sister helped him become poster boy of Victorian age

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: With the discovery in the Minster archive of a century-old clipping from a magazine, DAVID MORGAN traces the Croydon woman who was the muse for the world-famous Woman In White Opening up a folder in the Croydon Minster … Continue reading

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When Minster was the venue for an Anglo-Saxon peace treaty

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A recent discovery of coins suggests that the date of the foundation of Croydon as a strategic location between London and Canterbury was more than 150 years earlier than historians had previously suggested, writes DAVID MORGAN It took … Continue reading

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It’s long overdue that Hurlstone’s music is heard once again

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the year when Croydon is London’s Borough of Culture, DAVID MORGAN suggests it presents an opportunity to revive some of the music of a once-admired composer Searching through some old press cuttings, I came across one from … Continue reading

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Make today the time we change to stand up for what’s right

On Holocaust Memorial Day, PETER UNDERWOOD considers how just trying to help others is a less-than-ordinary act of humanity Today is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. Since 2000, January 27 has also been … Continue reading

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Tudor vicar who stood with Thomas More against Henry VIII

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In his latest trawl through the Minster’s archive, DAVID MORGAN has discovered a Vicar of Croydon who is part of the long tradition of ‘meddlesome priests’ When Jonathan Gullis, the Conservative MP, vented his anger with the bishops … Continue reading

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‘Ordinary People’ invited to Town Hall for Holocaust Memorial

Croydon Council is to stage its first in-person Holocaust Memorial Day event in two years later this month, and is inviting the public to take part. The remembrance event will be held in the Town Hall Chamber  on Friday January … Continue reading

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Wedding that ended in gruesome death and Old Bailey trial

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The murder trial and menage à trois that scandalised Victorian England, as DAVID MORGAN explains, all had its beginnings in a marriage ceremony held at Croydon Parish Church When the curate of Croydon Parish Church looked through his … Continue reading

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Who do you think you are? Census data offers many insights

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The latest release of data from the 2021 national census has given PETER UNDERWOOD, pictured right, much to consider I have always been fascinated by the sort of data contained within the latest release from the 2021 census, … Continue reading

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Croydon Minster lunchtime recitals, Jan 20-Mar 24

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Croydon dowry proved not enough for heroic General Wolfe

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the greatest heroes in British military history relied for matrimonial advice on a friend and fellow officer from Croydon, as DAVID MORGAN discovered in the archives at the Minster Half a century before Nelson met his … Continue reading

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Book Club, St Peter’s Church, South Croydon, Jan 21

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Online support and phone numbers for Christmas period

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Four candles and the tragic tale of the Croydon tallow chandler

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: There was a time when those fragranced candles you might be burning to celebrate Advent were an essential part of people’s lives, as DAVID MORGAN explains December is a month for candles. Their glow and significance in churches … Continue reading

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Schools’ Christmas Carol Service, Croydon Minster, Dec 6

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