Tag Archives: David Morgan

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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How real-life Indiana Jones put together the Scrolls of antiquity

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The archives at Croydon Minster contain many varied treasures, some of them with links going back to the dawn of civilisation, as DAVID MORGAN discovered Among the many and varied artefacts in the archives at Croydon Minster are … Continue reading

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The sadness in the legacy of 18th Century Vicar of Croydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The Duke, the bigamist, his wife and the vicar… In his latest delve into the archives at Croydon Minster, DAVID MORGAN has discovered a scandalising tale from Restoration England A search behind a simple entry in the burial … Continue reading

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Croydon postman lost forever on the battlefields of France

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM: Ahead of Remembrance Sunday next week,  DAVID MORGAN delves into the archives of Croydon Minster for the latest  story of a casualty of World War I Percy Kent grew up in Croydon, went to a local … Continue reading

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Officer’s distinguished service on Western and Home fronts

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM: The physical and psychological sacrifices made by all those who served, including those who survived the horrors of trench warfare, are important to recall, writes DAVID MORGAN As we outlined in last week’s column about how … Continue reading

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How a search for a new life ended in wartime death in the Sinai

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM:  One hundred and three years on from the first Remembrance Day, DAVID MORGAN has been researching the archives at Croydon Minster for more records of those lost in what was supposed to be ‘the war to … Continue reading

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It’s a Quare business: Croydon has clocked up some history

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The parish records at Croydon Minster reveal strong local connections to some of the most eminent horologists of the 18th to 20th Centuries, as DAVID MORGAN, pictured right, explains Croydon has been the home to many who practised … Continue reading

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Canadian air force hero’s sacrifice to help save his D-Day crew

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The records at Croydon Minster, the register of births, marriages and deaths, have given DAVID MORGAN more leads into local history, this time to the story of war-time bravery in 1944 On Monday, as a detachment of the … Continue reading

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Grimy Croydon collier who put the wind up an Archbishop

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: It is not only the rich and powerful, and those given the most grand of burial tombs, who always have the most lasting of memorials, as DAVID MORGAN discovered in this tale from an earlier Elizabethan age In … Continue reading

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The Victorian tax master who made Haling Cottage his home

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A badly worn gravestone, now used to pave a walk way outside the Minster, provides DAVID MORGAN with the first clues to a family history of eminent 19th Century lawyers Uncovering the stories behind the names found on … Continue reading

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Church career which led Quinn to the not-so-high and mighty

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Canon Arthur Quinn, for 32 years the vicar in Shirley, recently had his diamond anniversary of being a priest celebrated in a service at Croydon Minster. DAVID MORGAN spoke to him about Philip Larkin, Ronnie Corbett and the … Continue reading

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Martin How: organist who devoted his life to church music

DAVID MORGAN pays tribute to the emeritus organist at Croydon Minster, who has died, aged 91 Martin How, who died on Monday, aged 91, spent a lifetime working in music, much of it with the Royal School of Church Music … Continue reading

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Mustard keen to unravel the mystery behind Minster memorial

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Thomas Keen was a hugely successful Victorian businessman whose name became synonymous with an English staple condiment. DAVID MORGAN looks into the life of this generous benefactor to Croydon I wonder how many times over the past century … Continue reading

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Hannah and her sisters: faded gravestone gives up its secrets

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: This week, using just fragments of documentary evidence, DAVID MORGAN has managed to piece together a wealthy family’s history going back to the revolutionary age of the 18th Century Although the stone is worn smooth by the elements, … Continue reading

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Proms composer Demuth’s music is overdue an encore

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: A Croydon-born composer whose works have been forgotten deserves a revival, writes DAVID MORGAN The BBC Proms begins next month. Eighty years ago, in the war-torn summer of 1942, among the varied concerts performed at the Royal Albert … Continue reading

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