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Tag Archives: Croydon Minster
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
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
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
Vicar’s plea: Out of shocking destruction – let’s come together
One week on from the wanton destruction of at least 20 ancient gravestones in the churchyard at Croydon Minster, Canon Andrew Bishop, the Vicar of Croydon, has appeared in an emotionally-charged video posted on social media.
Minster misery over desecration and destruction in churchyard
The congregation of Croydon Minster arrived for yesterday’s morning service to discover widespread and wanton destruction of gravestones in the churchyard alongside the building. Gravestones which had survived the terrible fire which had destroyed much of the medieval church building, … Continue reading
Posted in Church and religions, Crime, Croydon Minster, David Morgan
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, gravestones
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Spinster sisters’ life-long service to the Girls Friendly Society
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A small brass plaque in a corner of Croydon Minster was only the beginning of the story of a life of service to the church and community, as uncovered by DAVID MORGAN On the wall of the Lady … Continue reading
Posted in Bishop of Croydon, Charity, Church and religions, Community associations, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Education, History
Tagged Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Dingwall Road, Ethel Cooper, GFS, Girls Friendly Society, Jabez Spencer Balfour, Randall Davidson, Rev Leonard Burrows, Wellesley House
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Mystery surrounding the lost coffin of Sir William Brereton
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the heroes of Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian army in the English Civil War was given Croydon Palace as a reward for his efforts. But no one seems to know the location of his last resting place, as … Continue reading
‘Let him have it!’: the abdication, New Year revels and murder
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
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
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Bishop Maurice Harland, Canon Leonard White-Thompson, Croydon, Croydon Minster, Croydon Minster Fire 1857, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Frank Butler, Rev Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, The Blitz, William Groves, Woodbine Willie, World War I, World War II
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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
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
Posted in Crime, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Dick Turpin, Highwayman, London, Shirley, Smitham Bottom, Thornton Heath
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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
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
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
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
Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History
Tagged Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Wolsey, Croydon Minster, Croydon Parish Church, David Morgan, Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Rev Rowland Philipps, Rowland Philipps, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More, Vicar of Croydon
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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
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
