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Category Archives: History
Et tu Brute: Fringe party claims credit for getting Perry elected
There’s more than a sense of the Ides of March about some of the rhetoric coming from public meetings as the 2026 local election campaign gets into its stride, as WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, writes It seems somehow appropriate that, … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Gabriel MacArthur, Peter Underwood, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, BBC Question Time, Cedar Hall, Charles Gordon, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Councillor Rowenna Davis, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derek Hatton, Donna Murray-Turner, Farah London, Fiona Bruce, Gabriel MacArthur, Green Party, Ken Towl, Labour, Liverpool, London Borough of Croydon, Militant Tendency, Peter Underwood, Question Time, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House, Taking The Initiative Party, TTIP
3 Comments
Take a step back in time for the start of the election campaign
KEN TOWL was at last night’s Ruskin House election debate, so that you didn’t need to be The great red-green face-off at Ruskin House last night answered some burning questions, such as who will Your Party support? And, what will … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ken Towl, Peter Underwood, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, 2026 local elections, Cedar Hall, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Councillor Rowenna Davis, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derek Hatton, Green Party, Ken Towl, Labour, Liverpool, London Borough of Croydon, Militant Tendency, Peter Underwood, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House
9 Comments
Music Hall performer whose potato song helped the war effort
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Musical director of the Croydon Empire theatre enjoyed a colourful career and played a part in the community, writes DAVID MORGAN A century ago, long before we had mass media in our living rooms and at our finger … Continue reading
Posted in David Morgan, History, Music, Theatre
Tagged Croydon Empire, David Morgan, History, Jack Morgan, Music Hall, Second World War, Theatre
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Historic Commercial Vehicle Brighton run, A23, May 3
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
From a few lines in Henry V, actor stood alongside the greats
CROYDON CHRONICLES: An outstanding producer-director at The Old Vic who performed alongside the likes of Sir Henry Irving and Sir Laurence Olivier, and appeared in some of the most notable films of the 1940s and ’50s, Harcourt Williams’ acting talent … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cinema, David Morgan, History, Theatre, Uncategorized
Tagged Around The World In Eighty Days, Audrey Hepburn, Croydon, David Morgan, Gregory Peck, Hamlet, Harcourt Williams, Henry V, John Gelgud, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Roman Holiday, Sir Henry Irving, The Old Vic, Whitgift Grammar Shool, Whitgift School, William Shakespeare
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Cycle Carnival saw thousands lining the streets for good cause
CROYDON CHRONICLES: There was a time when the town’s streets were not such a hostile environment for cyclists as they are today. They even had an annual event to celebrate, and raise large amounts for charity. DAVID MORGAN takes up … Continue reading
Posted in Cycling, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon Cycle Carnival, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Wulfruna
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Gertrude Massey’s masterstrokes showed Royalty in best light
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A prize-winner at Croydon School of Art went on to become one of the most sought-after portrait artists in Edwardian London, and taught Evelyn Waugh and the Wizard of Oz’s Scarecrow. DAVID MORGAN recalls the stellar career of … Continue reading
Breathless memories of Godard classic are far from vague
CROYDON COMMENTARY: A recent American movie, a hommage to a French master, has PETER GILLMAN considering the importance of words, and reminiscing about a date in a long-lost South Croydon cinema So who remembers the Croydon Classic? This was the … Continue reading
Historic Commercial Vehicle Brighton run, A23, May 3
C O M M U N I T Y A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Palace winger Harrison’s Match of the Day at Croydon Minster
DAVID MORGAN uses the Minster archive to trace the life and career of former Hampshire batsman and Crystal Palace winger Bernie Harrison, who played at Selhurst Park in the era when footballers earned a maximum £20 per week What was … Continue reading
All downhill for Odlings after they dismantled London Bridge
CROYDON CHRONICLES: A dynasty began in the late 1800s with a family living at Lennard Road whose relatives would build a global business empire from marble, played roles in running the British team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, helped to … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged 1936 Winter Olympics, Anselm Odling, Anselm Odling and Sons Ltd, Broadcasting House, Cedric Odling, Croydon Minster, D-Day, David Morgan, Dunkirk, London Bridge, Marble, Michelangelo, Michelangelo's David, Portland Place, Prisoner of war, Royal Artillery, Switzerland, The Eiger, The Odling Cup, Wengen, World War I, World War II
2 Comments
The curious case of the Croydon curate and his woman stalker
CROYDON CHRONICLES: For six years at the end of the 19th Century, church services and the lives of clergymen in Croydon and in Southend were disrupted by the behaviour of one woman. DAVID MORGAN with his latest discovery from the … Continue reading
This teacher’s Foss way always led her back to South East Asia
CROYDON CHRONICLES: In his latest delve into the archives, DAVID MORGAN recalls the life of a missionary, the daughter of a former Mayor of Croydon, who worked in China, Malaysia and South Africa, and survived almost four years in the … Continue reading
£1m project to restore David Bowie’s Bromley childhood home
No4 Plaistow Grove in Bromley is, in most respects, an unremarkable suburban terraced house, similar to tens of thousands of 20th Century homes, but for the fact that it was where, between the ages of eight to 20, David Jones … Continue reading
Posted in Bromley Council, History, Music
Tagged 4 Plaistow Gardens, Bromley, David Bowie, V&A, Victoria and Albert Museum
4 Comments
Coulsdon finial celebrates the navvies who built the railway
With the Brighton main line effectively out of service between Croydon and Gatwick over the next three weekends, our gratitude for the amenity that the railway line provides ought to be a touch improved. You never appreciate what you have … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, History, Transport
Tagged Charles King, Comrades Club, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Club, Coulsdon History Trail, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, ECRA, Farthing Downs, Finials, Happy Valley, Mammoth, Merstham Tunnel, Navvies, Stoats Nest Farm
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Longhurst sprinkles his magic with Croydon Christmas Time
Posted in Art, Croydon Radio, History, Local media
Tagged Christmas, Tim Longhurst, Video, YouTube
2 Comments
Mead’s Minster time to end after 32 years of church service
CROYDON CHRONICLES: Denise Mead became verger at Croydon Parish Church in 1993. This week, after working with three Vicars of Croydon, organising countless church events and welcoming Archbishops and a Princess Royal to Croydon, she will take her leave for … Continue reading
Coulsdon trail recalls era when mammoths roamed the hills
There was a time, about 20,000 years ago, when in the area where today a few cattle graze on Farthing Downs and Coulsdon locals take their pet pooches for a daily walk, there roamed across the land 15-foot-tall giants, the … Continue reading
FA Cup is going on public display in Crystal Palace Subway
The FA Cup, Crystal Palace’s first silverware in 120 years, will be going on public display in the Crystal Palace Subway for three days next month. Crystal Palace FC, and arts group calling itself Art Of and Added Time Club … Continue reading
This was a pub landlord who never needed any bouncers
CROYDON CHRONICLE: The Crown on North End, demolished in 1950, was a coaching inn with a history that stretched back 500 years, and whose many landlords included Jack Martin, a bare-knuckle boxer from the Regency era whose fights would attract … Continue reading
Posted in Boxing, David Morgan, History
Tagged Boxing, Croydon, David Morgan, Jack Martin, Jack Randall, KIng George IV, North End, Prince of Wales, Regency England, The Crown
2 Comments
Borough’s archives get £10,000 grant to ask obvious questions
It’s been a tough few years under Tory austerity for Croydon’s once cherished libraries and museum, and their hard-working staff. So the news that the borough’s archives service has received a £10,000 grant to help research a special project has … Continue reading
Posted in Bourne Society, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, Education, History, Libraries, Museum of Croydon
Tagged CNH&SS, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Archives, Croydon Clocktower, Croydon Council, Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society, John Gent, John Gent collection, Museum of Croydon, National Archive, The Bourne Society, Tory
7 Comments
10 shillings to join the Goose Club and lay on a Christmas feast
CROYDON CHRONICLE: Christmas is coming, as the old saying goes, and the goose is getting fat… DAVID MORGAN looks back to the Dickensian era, when financial planning for the end-of-year revels was serious business for the likes of Surrey Street … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Surrey Street
Tagged Charles Dickens, Christmas, Crown Hill, David Morgan, Goose Club, Marmaduke Willis, Phiz, Surrey Street, West Croydon
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Jamaica and Cuba Benefit Concert, Ruskin House, Sat Dec 6
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
