Recent Comments
Mathew Hill on MP Jones ‘gravely concer… Anthony Miller on MP Jones ‘gravely concer… Shifra Sheikh on MP Jones ‘gravely concer… Chris Flynn on Former Whitgift teacher given… Mrs Ryan on RSPCA upgrades award to recogn… Peter Gillman on Perry’s latest money-mak…
Category Archives: Croydon Minster
Victorians’ favourite artist for capturing lines of Classic winners
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: From his home on Warrington Road, George Paice became one of the leading Victorian and Edwardian-era artists, specialising in painting the gentry’s pets and racehorses. DAVID MORGAN traces his career, beginning from a WWI memorial in Croydon Minster … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Epsom Oaks, George Paice, Pretty Polly, Stanley Paice, World War I, World War One
Leave a comment
Sharpe’s rebellion in Jamaica highlighted the plight of slaves
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Concluding his tour of places around the world named after Croydon, DAVID MORGAN takes a look at a former plantation in Jamaica and its links to a famous slave uprising One of the popular destinations for tourists today … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Abolition Bill, Croydon, David Morgan, Jamaica, Montego Bay, Sam Sharpe, Slavery, William Gladstone
1 Comment
Tudor sculptor’s Minster memorials stand the test of time
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Following up on an enquiry from a visitor to Croydon Minster, DAVID MORGAN goes in search of the sculptor of one of the church’s best-known tombs Visitors to Croydon Minster often ask interesting questions about the history of … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Archbishop Grindal, Archbishop John Whitgift, Cornelius Cure, Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, John Whitgift, King Henry VIII, King James I, Mary Queen of Scots, Nonsuch Palace, Queen Elizabeth I, William Cure
Leave a comment
80 years on the stage – taking Croydon from the Blitz to Narnia
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: This year marks the 80th anniversary of the first performances by CODA, the Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, making it one of the longest-lasting community arts organisations in the borough. DAVID MORGAN looks into how the group came … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, CODA, David Morgan, History, Theatre
Tagged Ashcroft Theatre, CODA, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Morgan, Fairfield Halls, Grand Theatre, Grand Theatre and Opera House, Kenneth Horne, Narnia, Russell Grant, Second World War, Simon Le Bon, The Blitz, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, World War II, World War Two
Leave a comment
The chimney sweep to Queen Victoria and ancestor to a star
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: No need to go all Dick Van Dyke, when Croydon had its very own chimney sweep to the Queen, no less, as DAVID MORGAN has discovered in his latest delve into the Croydon Minster archive “Good luck will … Continue reading
The ‘incompetent’ Lebombo scout who helped win Boer War
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the latest stage of his world tour of places named after Croydon, DAVID MORGAN encounters some old-style adventurers in southern Africa If you are a fan of the quiz show Pointless, then you will know that Eswatini … Continue reading
Croydon gold rush that saw thousands move to the outback
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Using the parish records from the Croydon Minster archive as his starting point, DAVID MORGAN’s world tour takes him to the harsh Queensland sheep stations of the 1880s “There’s gold in them thar hills!” The cry goes up, … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Queensland, David Morgan, Normanton, Queensland, William Brown
1 Comment
The battle to save ticket offices – and Croydon’s private army
Our latest podcast includes among our guests former Olympic sprinter Donna Fraser. It’s the first time on our podcast we have had the pleasure of the company of someone who holds the Freedom of the Borough, as Donna does.
Spectacular history of Addiscombe college is required reading
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: It played a significant part of the history of Croydon, and of Britain, yet today is largely forgotten. DAVID MORGAN reviews an important and surprising new book about Addiscombe Military College Kate Birbeck’s new book Addiscombe Military College … Continue reading
Posted in Addington Palace, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Museum of Croydon
Tagged Addiscombe, Addiscombe Military College, Addiscombe Military College and the Cadets who Forged an Empire, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, East India Company, Kate Birbeck
5 Comments
Hardships and dangers on the Utah trail heading to Croydon
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The pioneering settlers of early 19th Century America expressed their ‘manifest destiny’ by founding a settlement in the Rockies that they called ‘Croydon’. DAVID MORGAN explores what they will have found on the Utah frontier There is, you … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Brigham Young, Croydon, Croydon Utah, David Morgan, Morgan County, Salt Lake City, Utah
6 Comments
Millionaire Mayor who made sacrifices for others and an ideal
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the borough’s most-revered figures from the Edwardian era lost everything when he declared himself bankrupt. DAVID MORGAN recounts the noble story of Howard Houlder With Heathfield House and its gardens falling steadily into a state of … Continue reading
How Croydon lodged itself forever in a part of Philadelphia
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: In the tumultuous 18th Century, a time of trade, international war and revolution, Croydon’s links with America were many and varied, as DAVID MORGAN’s latest researches have discovered One of the names that I have found in the … Continue reading
Only few precious places remain on guided tours of Old Palace
Time is running out for you to secure a precious place on one of the 2023 tours of Croydon Old Palace, for the chance to take a trip back in time hundreds of years, to the age of the first … Continue reading
Kelly’s heroics and the tale of a soldier’s hard life and death
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the feted heroes in Wellington’s army made a home in Croydon but, as DAVID MORGAN explains, his duties took him far from his wife and family “Daddy! Daddy! Tell us again the story of what you … Continue reading
Gravestone destruction erases link to Royal Waggon Train
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the casualties of the churchyard vandalism at Croydon Minster last month was the gravestone of an old soldier who served in the Napoleonic Wars. DAVID MORGAN looks at the service of John Kennedy and two other … Continue reading
Carnage in Carshalton on the day the balloon went up
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Croydon’s association with pioneering aviation is focused on the former airport. But DAVID MORGAN has found evidence of an historic flight over the town that took place almost 100 years before Britain’s first international airport was opened The … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Airport, David Morgan, Montgolfier brothers, Thomas Harris
1 Comment
Gravestone destruction at Minster investigated as ‘hate crime’
The destruction of dozens of gravestones in the churchyard of Croydon Minster at Easter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police as a hate crime, the MP for the area and the Vicar of Croydon have confirmed. More than 20 … Continue reading
Croydon painter Sant, a portrait artist by Royal Appointment
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One hundred and fifty years ago, Queen Victoria chose a Croydon-born artist to be her ‘Principal Painter in Ordinary to Her Majesty’, but as DAVID MORGAN discovered, she never liked his work As Croydon celebrates being the London … Continue reading
