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Category Archives: David Morgan
Capturing the bustle of Victorian Croydon’s busy High Street
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Minster archives are not just about the rich and famous, with documents relating to one family managing to describe life and business in Croydon 150 years ago, as DAVID MORGAN explains The archives of Croydon Minster contain … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon High Street, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, FRancis Tanner, High Street, History
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How Croydon alderman saved ‘Golden Book’ from the Vikings
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Danish invaders on the rampage, a Wessex king winning a huge battle and the most opulent of all the surviving English Medieval manuscripts are all traced back to the role of a nobleman with land in Selsdon by … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, David Morgan, History
Tagged Alfred, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Battle of Aclea, Canterbury, Canterbury Cathedral, Codex Aureus, David Morgan, Gospel of St Matthew, King Aethelwulf, Mercia, Stockholm, Stockholm Museum, The Golden Book, Vikings, Wessex
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From a GP’s on the High Street to hosting dinner for the King
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: An eminent and pioneering surgeon of the Victorian age, who performed operations on European monarchs and could command fees equivalent to £10m in modern-day values, began his medical career as a GP in Croydon. DAVID MORGAN traces the … Continue reading
Norwood to Hollywood: Oscar-winner who dressed the stars
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A career spanning 40 years in the movies, including two Academy Awards and a BAFTA for her work, marks out this Croydon costume artist as an all-time great, as DAVID MORGAN explains The next time the sword and … Continue reading
Posted in Cinema, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged A Man For All Seasons, Academy Awards, BAFTA, Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston, David Morgan, Deborah Kerr, Elizabeth Haffenden, Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Zinneman, Gainsborough Studios, Gregory Peck, Hollywood, Ian Flemming, James Bond, Margaret Lockwood, Oscars, Paul Scofield, Peter Ustinov, Roald Dahl, Robert Bolt, Robert Mitchum, Robert Shaw, Upper Norwood
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Artist Henry Wallis and affair that caused a Victorian scandal
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A prominent artist, who scandalised Victorian society when having an affair with a married woman, and later worked as an Egyptologist and early collector of ceramics for the V&A, has been long overlooked in Croydon, where he lived … Continue reading
Addiscombe cycle shop-owner who had record-breaking career
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Further research into the archives at Croydon Minster has discovered another local who reached Olympic heights in the last century, writes DAVID MORGAN The Stockholm Olympics of 1912 were the last Games to be held before the Great … Continue reading
Swimmer who made a splash with Tarzan at Paris Olympics
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Diving back into the parish register from more than 100 years ago, DAVID MORGAN has found the story of a medal-winner from Croydon who raced at the Chariots of Fire Games The 2024 Olympics are fast approaching. The … Continue reading
Croydon’s Lifeboat parades that answered a Mayday appeal
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 … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, David Morgan, Frederick Edridge, Queen Victoria, RNLI, Royal National Lifeboat Institution
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Join our tour to see the Minster’s windows on the world, May 21
Join Inside Croydon later this month for an exclusive guided tour around one of the oldest buildings in the borough, and discover more about the history and craftsmanship that went into making the stained glass windows in Croydon Minster. On … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Inside Croydon
Tagged Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History tour, Inside Croydon
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Defeated Dutch admiral who endured his parole in Croydon
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Researching the history of Croydon’s part in the wars fought across Europe and North America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries has taken DAVID MORGAN, right, in another, somewhat unexpected direction Researching a particular topic can … Continue reading
Artist Nash who captured Croydon church’s great disaster
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A pupil at a school in the town centre went on to become a noted Victorian era illustrator, an artist to the Queen, and responsible for probably the most famous image of the dreadful blaze that almost destroyed … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Joseph Nash
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Hallowell’s voyage from Boston to Beddington, via Brickwood
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The naval career of an American-born admiral who provided the hero of Trafalgar with his coffin, traced all the way to Croydon and then to Carew Manor by DAVID MORGAN What is the most unusual gift that you … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew, American Revolution, Battle of the Nile, Battle of Trafalgar, Benjamin Hallowell, Boston, Brickwood House, Carew Manor, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, HMS Swiftsure, HMS Victory, Horatio Nelson, John Singleton Copley, L'Orient, Lord Nelson
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Tracking the life and suspicious death of Benjamin Bowles Esq
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Not all the documents and wills in the Croydon Minster archive give up the full details of the lives of long-dead parishioners, as DAVID MORGAN found with his latest researches After reading Inside Croydon’s recent report which highlighted … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Beddington, Benjamin Bowles, Carew Manor, Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Lambeth, Loughborugh House, Magdalen Hospital, Rev Dr William Dodd, Samuel Johnson, Sir John Fielding, Tyburn hangings, Whitgift Foundation
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Minster carvings recall ancient traditions of The Green Man
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Has there been an outbreak of paganism in the pews of Croydon’s oldest church? Spring’s in the air as DAVID MORGAN investigates Visitors to Croydon Minster are often amazed at the detail in the wooden carvings on the … Continue reading
Addiscombe military college’s professor who was all at sea
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A friend and colleague of Sir Walter Scott and JMW Turner, a painter to Queen Victoria and her family, John Schetky was fondly remembered as a professor at Addiscombe military college. Using the Minster archive, DAVID MORGAN traces … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe East, Art, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Waddon
Tagged Addiscombe, Battle of Trafalgar, Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, East India Company, East India Company College, JMW Turner, Queen Victoria, Schetky, Sir Walter Scott, The Loss of Royal George, Waddon, Waddon Lodge
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The 550-year rise and fall of Croydon’s annual Walnut Fair
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The account of life in Croydon written by the son of Charles Dickens’ illustrator offers fascinating details into a long-forgotten annual festival on the ‘Fair Field’, as DAVID MORGAN explains “Try your hand at the Lucky Bag!” “Walk … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History
Tagged Charles Dickens, Croydon, Crystal Palace, David Morgan, Edgar Browne, Fair Field, Phiz, Queen Victoria, Walnut Fair
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A Dickensian tale which adds extra Phiz to its Croydon twist
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A careful search of the registers at Croydon Minster by DAVID MORGAN has uncovered a new and exciting link between the church and Charles Dickens It has been known for almost 200 years that Charles Dickens, the great … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Broad Green, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Thornton Heath
Tagged A Tale of Two Cities, Anthony Trollope, Boz, Charles Dickens, Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Copperfield, David Morgan, Hablot Browne, Hablot Knight Browne, Nicholas Nickleby, Phiz, Sketches by Boz, Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackery
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Minster archive reveals butchers, bakers and… peruke-makers
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A must-have fashion item from the late 1600s is now rarely seen or heard about. DAVID MORGAN, pictured right, had some hairy moments delving into the long-lost trade of Restoration period wig-makers A look through the burial records … Continue reading
Dutch courage of brewer who brought his beer to Croydon
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: An ancient document suggests that a Dutch businessman was doing very well in Croydon more than 500 years ago, writes DAVID MORGAN Dusting off a 520-year-old last will and testament has helped reveal aspects of life in Croydon … Continue reading
Hymns and arias: Whitgift’s key role in Bible’s Welsh translation
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Elizabeth I’s family background and Croydon’s most famous Archbishop encouraged a work of scholarship that has preserved a vital piece of heritage, writes DAVID MORGAN A couple who visited Croydon Minster last year had planned their trip for … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, John Whitgift, Llandaff, Llangollen, Llangollen International Eisteddfod, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochant, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth I, St Asaph, The Bible, Welsh translation, William Morgan
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Lockjaw, honours and pantomimes: Happy New Year from 1924
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: For his first column of the year, DAVID MORGAN has delved into the Minster archive to look at newspaper reports of what was happening in Croydon 100 years ago It is almost as if nothing has really changed. … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, David Morgan, FA Cup, Grand Theatre, Grand Theatre and Opera House, Jack Alderson, Jack the Giantkiller, Lockjaw, Mayday Hospital, pantomime
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Croydon lad who did a Runner for the Blind Beak of Bow Street
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Policing the streets in the early 19th Century was an almost privatised service, funded by the parish. DAVID MORGAN delves into the Minster archive and finds how this borough helped frame the formation of the Metropolitan Police In … Continue reading
