Geoffrey Haines was born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1899 before his family moved to London. He was educated at St Paul's school. In December 1917 he joined the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps at Whitehall before being sent to Cambridge. In 1918 he had a severe case of Spanish Influenza and subsequently never saw action. After the war he moved to London and worked firstly as an account in his father's company before getting a job as accountant with the London Association for the Blind where he was to remain for the rest of his career. He married Olive in June 1927 and they moved into a house in Balmuir Gardens Putney before moving to Larpent Avenue in Putney in 1934. Their daughter Anne was born in 1928. During World War Two Geoffrey was an Air Raid Warden for the B7 division in Putney and later became a Bomb Reconaissance Officer alongside his wife Olive. The Warden's Reporting Post was in his front room at Larpent Avenue. In 1956 Olive Haines was appointed Mayor of Wandsworth and their daughter Anne was her Mayoress. He had a keen interest in antique coins and he built up an impressive coin collection which he sold to the Barber Institute at the University of Birmingham in 1965. He received an OBE in 1968 and was also made Vice-President of the Blind Association after thirty-seven years of working there. He was the Treasurer of the Royal Numismatic Society and was a member of numerous other institutions. Geoffrey was also involved with the Masons and held several key positions at the Lux in Tenebris lodge and within the larger organisation including Deputy Chair of the Royal Masonic Institute, a position he held for 18 years. He died on 14 September 1981.
Martin Colin Tupper was born on 20th June 1950 in St James Hospital, Balham. From 1954 to 1960 he attended Hearnville Primary and Balham Central [Chestnut Grove] schools. In 1967 he joined the Libraries Department of Islington Borough Council, where he developed his interest in local history and archaeology. He remained there until his last illness in 2006.
He was a resident of Balham and active in the local Labour Party, which he joined in 1970. He was elected a Wandsworth Borough Councillor in 1986 and combined his interests in local history with membership of the Clapham Society, the Co-operative Movement and the Socialist Educational Movement. He was also connect4ed with the Battersea Churches Chairty and Battersea Combined Charities. Within the Labour Party, he was chair of the Nightingale Ward of Battersea Labour Party 1975-1977. He became secretary of Balham Ward 1978-1982, and publicity officer for the same ward in 1982. He became secretary of Battersea Labour Party 1982-1985. He was chair of Balham Ward 1991-1992, and vice chair towards the end of the 1990s. He attended some meetings of Wandsworth Labour Group in the 1980s, possibly in his capacity as councillor.
He was a governor of Alderbrook Primary School, Balham, 1973-2002, taking the role of vice chair and chair at various times through the 1980s and 1990s. He was a governor of Chestnut Grove School, formerly Hydeburn School, Balham, 1977-2005, taking the role of chair 1981-1984, vice chair 1988-1989, and chair of the exclusions panel 1998-1999. He was a governor of Hearnville Primary School, Balham, 1973-1991.
William Tarlton Rayment Jackson was born in 1856, the son of a chemist, and married Mary Emily Bruton on 15 September 1888, in the parish church of St Andrew, Holborn. Their son Hugh was born in 1890 and their daughter Mary Marguerite - sometimes referred to as Daisy - in 1893. William, known to his wife as Jack, was a commercial traveller for the firm of Blundell, Spence and Co, who manufactured paint. Jackson also had a sister, Louise, to whom he occasionally wrote and also refers to his wife's younger sister Rose. The family seemed to suffer from financial worries, as this is a regular theme within the letters and Jackson makes clear that he has undertaken his long business trips abroad to try and get the family out of these difficulties. Mary Emily was known as Emily, or affectionately by Jackson as "wifie", and was born in Derbyshire in 1856. From the 1881 census she appears to have been a school teacher prior to her marriage.
Blundell, Spence and Co were a Hull firm, who had offices at Anchor Wharf, 9 Upper Thames Street, London. Jackson refers to other employees of the firm, including Bob Cooke and Richmond.
Susan Ward was a Labour councillor until May 1978.
Edwin Fairland was an assistant surgeon in the 21 Regiment Hussars, Lucknow. He married Emma Thomson in Lucknow on 3 November 1870. They had three daughters. Emma Fairland died on 21 October 1897 and Edwin Fairland died on 6 August 1909. Edwin Fairland died at the home of his daughter, Mrs Mabel Alice Harrison of 76 Prince of Wales Mansions, Battersea.
The Putney Literary and Debating Society existed from 1922 to 1983, although the society was suspended during the Second World War. Meeting places included Zeeta House, Upper Richmond Road and Lady North Hall, YMCA, Ravenna Road. Members included Sir Hugh Linstead, MP, who was president of the society, 1972-1983, Hugh Jenkins MP and David Mellor MP.
Roehampton Horticultural Society was founded in 1873.
Wandsworth School was a boys school that began as an offshoot of Wandsworth Technical Institute. In 1927 the school separated from the Technical Institute and moved to new premises at Sutherland Grove, Southfields. The school later amalgamated with Spencer Park School to become John Archer School. It has now closed.
The school was founded in 1828 on Roehampton Lane. The "bottom" school was built in 1835, and the "upper" school in 1854, originally intended as a separate school for boys.
These are the main title deeds for the West Hill Estate, Wandsworth, which extended from West Hill in the north to what are now Gressenhall Road and Granville Road in the south. Later additions extended it on the west to Tibbets Corner, and on the east and south-east into South Field. Later still, a large part of the Spencers' Wimbledon Park was added to the south. The deeds end with this purchase by the second Duke of Sutherland in 1838. In the next decade the estate was purchased by John Augustus Beaumont for building development. The estate was first purchased, as part of the demesne of the manor of Downe, from the Duke of Bedford in 1759. The new owner was Mrs Penelope Pitt, wife of George Pitt (who later became Lord Rivers) and sister and heiress of Sir Richard Atkins of Clapham Bt. She sold it in 1786 to Sir Samuel Hannay, a Scottish baronet. Mrs Pitt had built a mansion house called West Hill House on the estate, but had not extended the grounds. John Anthony Rucker, a merchant originally from Hamburg, who bought the estate in 1789, and all later owners added to the lands by purchase. In 1804 Daniel Henry Rucker inherited the estate from his uncle; it was settled in trust on his marriage to Caroline Gardiner in 1805, and eventually put on sale by public auction in 1825. The main purchaser, by private contract before the auction, was George Granville Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stafford, later 1st Duke of Sutherland. He, through his wife the Countess of Sutherland in her own right had added most of the county of Sutherland to his vast estates in the north of England.
On his death in 1833, his son the second Duke inherited.
Cecil Tudor Davis was born in 1854 at Upton St Leonards near Gloucester. After working as the senior officer at Birmingham Reference Library, he moved to Wandsworth in 1886 to take up the position of Librarian of Wandsworth, based at West Hill Public Library. He held this position for 34 years before retiring in 1920. He died following a short illness in 1922. He lived at 55 West Hill and was married twice with five children. He was very interested in local history and wrote many articles and frequently gave lectures on the subject, as well as collecting books and documents relating to Wandsworth.
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Wilson's Garage was located on Spanish Road, Wandsworth Common.
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Councillor John Garrett was Deputy Mayor of Wandsworth in 1984-1985 and in 1998-1999. He was Mayor of Wandsworth in 1988-1989 and 2000-2001.
Herbert Thomas Charles Battcock was born around 1896. He married Gladys Matthews in Wandsworth in 1921, but was widowed before any children were born. In 1939 he married Aileen O'Callaghan, and a daughter, Celia, was born in 1944.
In a deed of 1922 (D157/3/5) his occupation is given as 'printer', and in 1927 'printers machine manager'. By the time of the Second World War he was working in the Foreign Office, and belonged to the Home Guard. He retired from the Civil Service in 1962.
Herbert Battcock was initiated into the Freemasons Lodge of Affinity in 1927, and was a founder member of the Earlsfield Lodge which was consecrated on 10 October 1938. He received honorary membership of the Earlsfield Lodge in 1979. He died in 1981.
The Battersea Field Club and Literary and Scientific Society was formed on 10th January 1895 and was a development of the University Extension Society - Battersea Students Association, which had started in 1890. In 1902 the name was changed to the Battersea Field Club and the society was affiliated to the South East Union of Scientific Societies and the Photographic Survey and Record of Surrey. In 1906 it was associated with the British Association and finally disbanded in 1944.
Arthur Wellings was an auctioneer, land and estate agent in Southfields with offices at 8 Westbourne Terrace, Garratt Lane.
The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was created by the London Government Act 1899 from the former vestry of Battersea, and included Battersea, Battersea Park, Clapham Junction and parts of Wandsworth Common and Clapham Common. In 1965 the borough was combined with the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth to become the London Borough of Wandsworth. Battersea Town Hall, which was built by the Vestry of Battersea, was the administrative headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough, and was on Lavender Hill.
The school was founded in 1819 and amalgamated with All Saints, Putney in 1928. All Saints was founded in 1858, and was on Putney Bridge Road. St Mary's School was on Charlwood Road.
Battersea Polytechnic Institute was a purpose built college which was founded in 1891 and opened in February 1894. The building was located in Battersea Park Road on the former site of the Albert Palace and was designed by the architect Edward Mountford who also designed Battersea Library and Battersea Town Hall. The Institute took on a more scientific and technical leaning from 1920, leading it to be renamed the Battersea College of Technology in 1957. In 1966 it became the University of Surrey and moved out to premises in Guildford two years later.
Spencer Park was a secondary county school for boys which opened in 1957. On opening, the intake was made up of boys from Honeywell secondary school, Wandsworth secondary technical school as well as some students from schools in Lavender Hill and Earlsfield. The school was housed in the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building in Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common, which had been sold to the London County Council in 1952. The school also occupied a new building erected in 1957 specifically to house the school. The two buildings were divided by a playground. The school moved out of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building in September 1976 and into the extended new buildings next door, as the building was falling in to disrepair and was unsafe to house the school. The school closed in 1986 when it was amalgamated with Wandsworth School and renamed John Archer School. The students moved to the premises in Sutherland Grove, Southfields in September 1986.
The Glengyle Preparatory School for Boys was founded in 1907 by Leonard Augustine Chope. It was originally in Cambalt Road before moving to 4, Carlton Drive in 1914. Walter Vivian Wallace was appointed as Assistant School Master in 1938 before purchasing the lease from Mr Chope and becoming the proprietor/headmaster of the school. He purchased the freehold of the property in Carlton Drive in 1960. His wife Winifred taught at the school and took over its running following the death of her husband in 1981. Mrs Wallace retired in 1986 and the school was sold. It is now the Merlin School.
The school was founded in 1850 and closed in 1985. It was on Green Lane, High Street, Battersea.
Until 1856, the Vestry of Battersea was an open vestry, including all the ratepayers and with the Vicar as chair. After the 1855 Metropolis Management Act, the parish ceased to be seen as a rural parish and began being classed as a part of London. The Vestry was set up, and classed as part of the Wandsworth District Board of Works, along with Clapham, Wandsworth, Putney, Streatham and Tooting, where it had 12 representatives. The Highway Board and Inspectors of Lighting for Battersea were superseded, and their powers passed to the District Board of Works. From 1877 to 1887 various attempts were made to incorporate Battersea in its own right and after the Metropolis Management (Battersea and Westminster) Act, 1887 Battersea ceased to be represented on the Wandsworth District Board of Works and Battersea Vestry was incorporated. This meant it took on responsibility as the Sanitary, Highway and Sewer Authority for the parish and had to elect vestry-men. In 1888 the Vestry took possession of offices in Battersea Rise, purchasing them from the District Board of Works and in 1891 purchased the Elm Hill Estate on Lavender Hill to build a new Town Hall. The building, designed by E Mountford, was opened in 1893. The 1899 London Government Act wound up the vestry system and created Metropolitan Borough Councils, which took over from 1900.
The Eileen Lecky Clinic was founded as the Putney Branch of the Mothers' Welcome, but was renamed the Putney Infant Welfare Centre by 1922. The Putney Infant Welfare Centre was based at 104 Felsham Road. There was also a Putney Park Branch Infant Welfare Centre on Merton Road. In 1931 the centre moved to new premises at 2 Clarendon Drive and was renamed the Childrens' Health Centre. The Children's Health Centre was divided into two sections: infant welfare and school treatment. During the Second World War, the buildings at Clarendon Drive were occupied by Wandsworth Borough Council for use as a gas decontamination and first aid post. The infant welfare services temporarily moved to the Putney Day Nursery, Lacy Road as well as 2 class rooms at the Putney Church School and the Girls Hall at St Mary's School. These premises suffered bomb damage in early 1944, and the Health Centre relocated again, occupying part of their own building on Clarendon Drive. After the end of the Second World War, the Health Centre once again occupied the whole building at 2 Clarendon Drive.
The organisation was initally administered by a Trust, relying on volunteers to provide services to the community. The Centre became part of the National Health Service in 1948 but continued to be administered by the Trust until 1958. The Betty Rawson Home in Whitstable was taken over by Wandsworth Council in 1947 and renamed the Peace Memorial Home, Whitstable (in memory of Betty Rawson). In 1958 the Health Centre was handed over to London County Council and inherited by Wandsworth Borough Council in 1965. The Borough Council later renamed the Health Centre in memory of the long standing (Hon) Secretary, Eileen Lecky.
Edward Thomas was born on 3 March 1878 in Lambeth, and was educated at Battersea Grammar School, St Paul's School and Lincoln College, Oxford. He married in 1899, and began writing reviews for newspapers and magazines, particularly the Daily Chronicle. Despite regular reviewing work he had consistent financial worries, and made several attempts to find alternative work, few of which were successful. He suffered from depression for several years, including considering suicide, and spent time away from his family in the care of doctors in attempts to recover. In 1915 he decided to enlist in the Army, and was killed in action during the Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917.
The Wandsworth Area Social Democratic Party (SDP) was set up in 1981. The Party was active until 1988 when the SDP merged with the Liberal Party. In the years in which the party was active they worked closely with the Liberal Party in the area to forming the SDP/Liberal Alliance to run at Local and General elections.
Architects firm, Andrew Carden and W E Godfrey, ARIBA, 120 Chancery Lane, WC2.
William Poel was an actor, theatre manager and dramatist, who lived in Amersham Road, Putney for a time. His surname was originally Pole, but he changed it following a misspelling on a theatre billing. In 1895 he founded the Elizabethan Stage Society, and he spent a lot of his career researching and lecturing on Elizabethan performance. He died at his home, 85 Howard's Lane, Putney, on 13 December 1934. He was cremated at Golders Green.
The Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1973 although it can trace its origins back to a group of musicians who met at the Putney Literary Institute in 1918. The Orchestra is made up of advanced amateur musicians and two professional musicians. The Orchestra rehearsed weekly at St Mary's Church, Putney and has been led by Keith Stent who has been with the Orchestra since 1963. Mollie Simmonds played cello in the Orchestra.
Deposited by the British Records Association, no 2447.
Mary Ann Brodie lived at 30 Loxley Road, Wandsworth Common. She died aged 68 on 8 June 1920.
The deeds were received in a bundle together. It is not clear if they are associated.
Battersea Chess Club was founded in 1885 and is still in existence today.
This site was part of the Clapham Junction Estate, Battersea, 5th portion Lot 660, originally part of the estates of Frederick Earl Spencer. Frontage 20' 3" Depth one side 70' on other 69' 11".
The Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was formed as a result of the London Government Act 1899 from five civil parishes - Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting Graveney and Wandsworth. Previously these parishes were administered by the Wandsworth District Board of Works. When the metropolitan boroughs were replaced in 1965 Clapham and Streatham became part of the London Borough of Lambeth, and Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth were combined with Battersea to form the London Borough of Wandsworth.
The school was founded in 1863 and was on Trinity Road. In 1894 a separate site was acquired as a department for the Boys School, which was later the Infants School. The original school was bomb damaged.
The first Wandle School on Garratt Lane was opened in 1904. The school was badly damaged by bombing during World War Two. The school was rebuilt and was reopened for junior and infant pupils on 30 April 1952.
Mayfield School was a girls secondary school in Putney. It was also known as the Putney County Secondary School. The school closed in 1986 when it merged with Garratt Green school.
Battersea Men's Institute was opened in 1920. It was run by the London County Council and was housed in a former school building in Latchmere Road. The purpose of the Institute was to provide evening and weekend courses to interested men. The Institute was open to all men over the age of 18 who paid a small amount of money per term to attend classes. The classes were in practical subjects and were designed to be taken for interest rather than to further a career. Courses included cookery, music, poultry keeping, art, petrol engines, science, photographs and electricity. There were also social events and sports clubs. There were over 1100 members in 1929 and 3000 in the late 1930s. Women were admitted in the 1940s. The Institute also had further branches in Warple Way, Waldron Road and Magdalen Road, as well as making use of the facilities in local schools.
The 28th County of London (Wandsworth) Battalion Home Guard was established on 11 November 1940. It was made up of volunteers from the V Battalion, men from four companies which had been raised as Home Guard Units by Wandsworth Borough Council and men from factories within the new Battalion area including Young & Co. Ltd at Ram Brewery. The Commanding Officer was Lt Col Sanders until 1942 when Major J Black took command. Many of the men in the Home Guard had seen service during World War I. The Battalion participated in civil defence duties during the War particularly helping the Air Raid Wardens during and after bombing raids. In 1942 the Battalion became responsible for Wimbledon Common and a company from the Wimbledon Home Guard Battalion was transferred to the join the Wandsworth Company. The Battalion was comprised of approximately 2000 men of all ranks and it is estimated that during its existence over 6000 served in it. The Battalion was disbanded following a final parade on Sunday 22 October 1944 although many men became members of the Home Guard Social Club and took part in anniversary parades at Ram Brewery until 1982.
Anthony Kersting was an architectural photographer, who was born and grew up in 37 Frewin Road, Wandsworth, on 7 November 1916. He attended Dulwich College and then worked in Lloyds Bank, Sloane Square, before turning to photography full-time. In 1939 he volunteered for the RAF and in 1941 was posted to a photographic unit in Egypt, where he took the opportunity to travel. After the war he became well known as an architectural photographer, and died on 2 September 2008, aged 91.
Wandsworth Central Labour Party was renamed Tooting Labour Party in 1971.