MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Chair: Christine Pittman
BULLETiN No. 231 SEPTEMBEr 2024

Two of Irene Burroughs‘ watercolours from her Physic Gardens display (see p.13)

CONTENTS
Message from the Chair – Christine Pittman 2
Programme September 2024 – April 2025 2
Photo Call 3
Visit to Wandsworth Prison 3
Mitcham Heritage Day – John Pile 3
‘Sport along the River Wandle‘ 4
More Memories of the New Merton Board Mills – Kevin Naylor & John Fitzgerald 5
‘The Richest of the Rich – Richard Thornton of Cannon Hill‘ 6
Commemorating Merton Priory – John Sheridan 7
Local History Workshops: 10
10 May: Museum of Human Diseases; Ship Canal through Merton; William Gore; Collapsed Priory wall
28 June: Stables fittings; Stone coffin; Stanford Road and men; MMUD notice; Quakers vs. Rude People
‘The Physic Gardens of Mitcham‘ 13
Potter and Moore‘s ‘Powder Cream‘ – Rosemary Turner
13
Reelstreet.com.uk – Dave Haunton 14
Reid Cameras – Norma Cox 15

MESSaGE FrOM ThE Chair

Your Committee is a supportive, friendly and happy group, which works together to keep the Society busy
and active. We meet every two months, either by Zoom or in person, to discuss our programme of talks and
visits, look at current and future publications, deal with research enquiries, and generally manage the Society‘s
administration. In between meetings, we stay in touch by email or occasionally discuss issues over a coffee.
Living beyond the Merton boundary is no barrier to being on the Committee.

Every year, it seems, the Chairperson makes a plea for members to either join the Committee, or to offer to assist
on a regular basis. Some Committee members have given many years of service to the Society, in one way or
another, and now find themselves with personal obligations to fulfil, or they wish to retire gracefully, while still
retaining their interest in local history.

If you would like to put your name forward to assist in some capacity, please email our Secretary at
mhs@mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk or speak to any of the Committee at the October talk. Thank you.

A Membership renewal form is enclosed with this Bulletin, as well as the aGM agenda. The minutes of last
year‘s AGM were enclosed with the December Bulletin.

Christine Pittman, Chair

PrOGraMME SEPTEMBEr 2024 – aPriL 2025

20 September at 2pm a Visit to St Bartholomew Church,
(nearest station Central Line: St Pauls) West Smithfield, EC1a 9DS, led by richard Smart
Book with Bea beforehand: mhs@mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk

TaLKS:

Saturday 12 October at 2.30pm ‘history of Dogs of London‘
a talk by Chris Burton, London Tour Guide

Saturday 9 November at 2.30pm aGM followed by Members‘ Talks

Saturday 14 December at 2.30pm ‘West Barnes and Motspur Park 1920-1940‘
a talk by Toby Ewin, local historian

Saturday 11 January 2025 at 2.30pm ‘Paper Conservancy‘
a talk by Joyce Brown, practising volunteer conservator

Saturday 8 February at 2.30pm ‘Transport history in Merton Park‘
a talk by Bruce robertson, local historian

Saturday 8 March at 2.30pm ‘Morden Cricket Club and its history‘
a talk by Derek Ballard, Club captain

Saturday 12 april at 2.30pm ‘Lost English Country houses‘
a talk by Matthew Beckett, amateur country house historian

Meetings are held in St James‘s Church Hall in Martin Way, next to the church.
Buses 164 and 413 stop in Martin Way (in both directions) immediately outside.
Parking in adjacent streets is free.

LOCaL hiSTOry WOrKShOPS:
Fridays 27 September, 8 November 2024 from 2.30pm

at the Wandle Industrial Museum, next door to the Vestry Hall, Mitcham.
Do join us. You don‘t have to share any research unless you wish to.

Our apologies to any member whom we failed to reach with our
message about the change of date of the august Workshop.

Visitors are very welcome to attend any of our events.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 2

PhOTO CaLL

As part of an ongoing general review of the layout and content of the MHS website, we have identified a need
to refresh the existing website graphics by building a new library of contemporary images. The Committee
therefore invites members to contribute photographs depicting historic features which remain in Merton,
Mitcham and Morden today. Photographs should be:

♦ Recent (taken in the last twelve months)
♦ In colour
♦ In digital (JPEG) format
♦ No larger than 1MB in file size per individual image
♦ Accompanied by a caption, with date of photo
♦ And, most importantly, confirmed as wholly owned by the contributor (ie. not submitted on behalf of a third
party or copied from another source).
This invitation is extended until further notice.
Please send your pictures to membership@mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk with ‘Photo Call‘ in the heading.

ViSiT TO WaNDSWOrTh PriSON

In December last year, Stewart McLaughlin gave us a very interesting talk
on Wandsworth Prison, and on 30th June he took a group of us around the
Prison and Museum, both of which were fascinating. I could have spent a
great deal longer in the Museum (which I believe is Stewart‘s project). A very
worthwhile and educating trip. The accompanying photo of the imposing
front elevation is taken from Wikipedia, courtesy of photographer Derek
Harper (the prison, like all such, does not have a website, only a minor
mention on gov.uk).

Bea Oliver

hEriTaGE OPEN DayS: 6-15 SEPTEMBEr 2024

The annual national celebration of local heritage. Find details of local sites at
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/whats-on/search-2024-events.html
MHS have been invited to have a stall at St Lawrence Church, London Road, Morden SM4 5QT, a Grade

I listed church. The internal structure dates from the mid 14th century with a brick outer cladding around
the middle of the 17th century.
Drop in Saturday 7th between 10am and 5pm or Sunday 8th between 2pm and 5pm.

JOhN PiLE sent the following details to extend our report on
MiTChaM hEriTaGE Day

Irene Burroughs‘ report (p.6, Bulletin 229) discussed two 1930s documents – a certificate for a pedlar, and a
permit for swing-boats on the Common. I looked up the recipients, Sarah Miley and Mr Ayres, on the Ancestry
website. This, in summary, is what I discovered:

Sarah (Sally) Miley Ayres was born 20 Sep 1910 in Mitcham, her father being Hiram Ayres (1889-1966), and her
mother Christina Annie Miley (1892-1947). She was baptised on 20 September 1912, at All Saints, Warlingham,
married James Greed (born 1910) in December 1936, and died in October 2004 in Merton.

In 1939 Sarah Greed (née Ayres), occupation ‘pickler‘, and James Greed, occupation ‘hawker‘, lived in the
Caravan Swing Yard, Western Road, Mitcham.

Swing Yard is mentioned by Eric Montague in Mitcham Histories Vol.14, p.103, and may well be the yard in
which I saw gypsy caravans c.1950. There is clearly scope for further research into the gypsy community in
Mitcham. I shall do a little more digging myself, but I would be interested to know whether there are more
responses to the article.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 3

‘SPOrT aLONG ThE riVEr WaNDLE‘

On 10 March 2024 Mick Taylor welcomed 24 members and guests with the news that the banks of the Wandle
were not all mills and works and industrial heritage, but supported many sporting activities. He proposed to
answer the question ‘What sports would you associate with the Wandle?‘ and came up with a staggering variety
of past and present leisure pursuits.

The talk started with a look at the various stadiums that sat on the river‘s banks. Mick began with football
and Wimbledon Stadium (1928 to 2017), home of Wimbledon FC, but demolished in 2017. Owned by the
Greyhound Racing Association until 2007, it hosted greyhound racing 1928-2017, speedway 1928-1991 and
2002-2005, and stock car racing 1962-2008, when the introduction of the London Low Emission Zone seems
to have put an end to that sport.

The stadium was demolished and a new one built in its place, surrounded by housing. It is now known as
the Cherry Red Records Stadium, from the sponsors of the ground. AFC Wimbledon, formed in 2002, used
various other grounds (Wimbledon Common, Kingsmeadow, etc.) and took over the new ground in 2020.
This finally returned AFC Wimbledon to Merton. They currently share the ground with Rugby League side
London Broncos. The original home of Wimbledon FC was also in Plough Lane but on the west bank of the
Wandle. It was their home from 1912 until 1991 at which point they went to ground-share with Crystal Palace.
To the despair of many supporters the team moved to Milton Keynes and has now become known as MK
Dons or, as many football fans call them, Franchise Milton Keynes! Summerstown FC played in the Athenian
League 1914-1928. Their main stand was sold to Wealdstone FC and is now covered by the Henry Prince Estate.
Summerstown Casuals FC is a Sunday team who play in Garrett Park.

The other football stadium on the banks of the Wandle is at Mitcham Bridge. The home of Tooting and Mitcham
FC, the Imperial Sports Ground, commonly known as The Hub, opened in 2002. This was after their Sandy
Road, Tooting, ground was declared unsafe. The last stadium Mick mentioned was Wandsworth Stadium.
Opened in 1933, closed in 1966, it was used for greyhound racing, which had been introduced to the UK in
1926, having evolved from the sport of coursing.

Mick moved into looking at various businesses that had sporting associations. This included Veritgas Gas
Mantles in Garratt Lane, who have cricket and football teams. Wandgas formed from Wandsworth & District
Gas Company now have a ground for sport in Worcester Park. Mullards, who were based in Mitcham from
1929 until the 1980s, had a strong sports and social club and provided subsidies for equipment and functions.
hovis had a ground for cricket and tennis north of Mitcham Bridge. This was an area that was also used for
other sports. Liberty Print Works had a sports club that had moved from Perivale in 1923. Other than football,
there was very little interest in it after WW2. A pavilion and tennis courts did survive on the west bank of the
Wandle until the land was taken over and Lyon Road Industrial Estate developed.

Mick had been surprised to learn that young‘s Brewery at Wandsworth never had a Sports and Social Club.
Despite this they arranged and sponsored many sports. They took part in inter-brewery competitions and ran
Young‘s inter-pub events. They did have their own football team, who played at King Georges Sports Ground,
now the Wandle Recreation Centre. The Darts events that Young‘s sponsored at Battersea Town Hall were to
his mind the fore-runner of the darts tournaments that now take place. They also sponsored golf, cricket, rugby
and bowls. The Summerstown Paper Works held Sports Days as well as having it own football team. There
were stills from ciné films, possibly in Garrett Park, showing a 1937 Sports Day, with sack race, tug of war,
skipping races, separate races for Ladies and Gentlemen, shot putt, long jump, egg and spoon, blindfolded races
(!) and races for children. Connolly‘s Leather Works, at Colliers Wood 1919-1994, produced racing leathers
and football and rugby balls. This included providing leather for the seats of the Vanwall F1 (Formula 1 racing
car) and leathers worn by the likes of Stirling Moss. Founded by an American, Whiteley Products Ltd, at
Ravensbury Mill, Morden, 1925-1983, produced rubber goods including starting gates for horse racing and
speedway, along with chest expanders as used by Charles Atlas.

As Mick said, you can‘t have a river without water. The various mill ponds along the Wandle (Ravensbury,
Beddington and Wandle Parks) were used as boating lakes. The lake in Wimbledon Park flows into the Wandle
so was included in the talk because of this link. It is used for swimming, wind surfing, sailing and paddle
boarding. There is a film of a canoe trip down the Wandle filmed by Craig MacCraiger and donated to WIM, on
their You Tube account. Traditionally the ‘best trout fishing in the country‘, for the 17th century the river was a
royal game reserve, and there have been controls and fishing permits ever since. This did not stop poaching, but
did encourage locals to exercise packs of otter hounds to reduce the number of animals preying on the fish, and

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 4

less formal expeditions to hunt rats and mice, particularly in the flour mills. While Otter hunting was banned
in 1981, rat hunting is still legal.

Numerous Leisure Centres have been opened along the Wandle, such as the Westcroft (1976), and Wandsworth
Council Pool (1901-1993), where Edward Temme, the first man to swim the Channel both ways, used to train.
The Wandle Recreation Centre, built on the former swimming pools, has five-a-side football, Jiu Jitsu and other
martial arts. Bunce‘s Meadow at Phipps Bridge, once used as bleaching fields for textiles, was the site of prizefighting.
One fight was held as recently as 1931, when the police were powerless to stop the betting as, at the
time, betting was only regulated on horse and greyhound racing.

Ballooning may seem a niche activity, but Wandsworth Gas Works was a popular launching point from the
1880s until 1910, used by adventurous characters such as Leslie Bucknall (1906 long distance record, time to
Lake Geneva, 402 miles in 16 hours), Frank Henry Butler (of Hedges and Butler whiskies, 1897 one of the first
car owners, 1905 longest cross-channel single-handed balloon flight, to Caen) and Henry Tracey Coxwell who
intended to reach Russia, and did a test run from Wandsworth.

Horses could provide varied sports – in the Edwardian 1900s Mr Menzies at Wandle Park House, Colliers
Wood, hosted polo in the park. At the same period Mr Jenner at Wandle Grove laid out a track for trotting
races on the lawns. For the less well-off, a cycle speedway track was opened in Garrett Park in 1955 (replacing
a paddling pool) where teams with exciting names competed – Tooting Tigers, Tiger Cubs and Wildcats, South
London Rangers and Hunters, and Wimbledon Rangers, while the bikes had no brakes. And, of course, the
starting gate was a Whiteleys product. Leisure activities visible in Beddington Park included ladies‘ cricket and
lacrosse, with tug of war practice at Poulter Park, while the Wandle Trail offers opportunities for walking and
cycling. Between Garrett Park and the Wandle lies the Wandsworth Rifle Club, formerly Earlsfield Rifle Club,
dating back to the First World War.

As a final thought, long ago on feast days, the grounds of Merton Priory would have witnessed archery, bowls,
colf (an early form of golf), gameball (a simple form of football), stoolball (an ancestor of cricket), shinty
or hurling (similar to hockey), hammer-throwing, horseshoes, skittles, wrestling, quarter-staff play or even a
jousting tournament. Not all at the same time, but certainly some at times when the King visited.

Dave haunton, kindly corrected by Mick

MOrE MEMOriES OF ThE NEW MErTON BOarD MiLLS

Christine Pittman noted this entry on Facebook in January [here somewhat edited]:

Kevin Naylor ‘grew up in Garrett Lane and worked as a glass boy in Wimbledon Stadium from the age of
thirteen. At age sixteen I began my apprenticeship as a carpenter at Merton Board Mills, a great place to work.
The Mills were haunted from top to bottom, with lots of ghostly sightings of monks floating around, and strange
goings-on. … The Mills were built on the old monastery grounds, so quite often, when workmen were laying
new floors in the factory, they would dig up old monks‘ bodies and fill them back in again.‘

Having bought our booklet on Memories of the Mills, John Fitzgerald kindly sent us this photo, taken in the Lord
Nelson pub in 1958 or 1959. It shows John (on the right, home on leave) and three men, all then employees of P
Crate Ltd in Leyton Road, and previously of the Board Mills. From left to right they comprise a chap whose name
John has forgotten [can anyone recognise
him?], William Fitzgerald (John‘s father)
and Teddy Trimmer (mentioned in the
book). One of John‘s memories of the
Mills is of the waste paper, which was
stored in huge piles next to the boundary
with Station Road. The piles seemed to
catch fire fairly often, probably due to
internal combustion. ‘For us children it
was a very exciting experience to see the
fire brigade turn up and then all the rats
running for their lives, as the paper made
an ideal nest.‘

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 5

ThE riChEST OF ThE riCh – riCharD ThOrNTON OF CaNNON hiLL

right person, right time, right mindset

On 13 April 2024 our winter talks programme finished on a flourish with our long-standing friend Sarah
Gould, Merton‘s Heritage Officer, giving us a fact-filled and entertaining excursion through the life of Richard
Thornton, who lived at Cannon Hill. On his death aged 88 in 1865, Thornton left an estate of ‘under £2,800,000‘,
which was 3.6% of the national income of the day and the largest English estate before 1870. Unlike those
of similar wealth, such as the Rothschilds and Barings, his name is unknown today. He was buried in West
Norwood Cemetery, one of London‘s ‘Magnificent Seven‘ cemeteries.

Richard was born in 1776 in Burton in Lonsdale (still) in Yorkshire where he later endowed a school, now sadly
closed. He was one of ten children, eight of whom predeceased him. His family, devout evangelicals, came to
London, living at Battersea Rise House in Clapham. He was educated at Christ‘s Hospital (Blue Coat School)
from the age of eight. He managed to accumulate wealth while still a boy!

Starting as an apprentice hop merchant to a Mr Knowles he soon became associated with the Livery Company
of Leather Sellers. 1798 saw him as a member of Lloyds, the marine insurers, and involved in shipping itself. In
the middle of the Napoleonic wars Britain needed the supplies of hemp, hide, and tallow found in Russia and
blockaded by the French in the Baltic. In 1810 he led his own ships to the Baltic to find and transport supplies
back to Britain. Two years later he made a killing in the market for these goods, as he knew about Napoleon‘s
retreat from Moscow before others did and sold the goods on forward contract at a price which made him about
£4m. His activities led to his being known at the Duke of Danzig.

After the Napoleonic Wars, Richard turned to trade with India in 1813 through his company Thornton West
and became involved in transporting French troops to the Crimea. The 1830s and 40s saw him involved in
providing finance for the Portuguese and Spanish governments at a time of civil war. He was the largest holder
of UK Consols (stock issued by the UK government to fund their activities). In 1840 he withdrew from the
shipping trade and finally retired in 1851 to become a country gent and farmer.

Described as a betting man, genial and a cockney orator, Richard never married, but had four children with his
‘housekeeper‘ Alice Lee, all acknowledged as his children. Not ostentatious, he did not travel and was known
as the Hermit Millionaire. He was generous to locals at Christmas and made religious donations including to
St Mary‘s Merton. He invested in land in Wimbledon, such as that which became Thornton Hill Road. His
involvement in the Leather Sellers Livery Company lasted for 66 years, where he was Master for one year. A
charitable institution, the Company built alms houses in Hertfordshire where the occupants received coal and
ten shillings a week.

The bulk of his £2.8m estate went to his nephew David (?) Thornton West, who had connections in Exeter.
A son, Richard Napoleon Lee, received £400,000 on condition he changed his name to Thornton. (Richard
Napoleon was a cricket lover who played for Surrey.) Charitable legacies included donations to Christ‘s Hospital
and £11,000 for Merton Poor Trust. The Trust built a school in Melrose Road/Church Lane, which later swapped
premises with a school in Queens Road, Wimbledon, which Thornton decided should be known as the Priory
School. That school still exists.

PS. The writer spent much more time on this report than she had expected, ignoring the sat-nav and taking
the scenic routes. Is Burton in Lonsdale still in Yorkshire? What does she remember from O Level about the
Napoleonic Wars? So that‘s why the school near where she lives is called the
Priory. Plus much searching of Ancestry.

Read more about Richard Thornton in MHS Bulletin 184 pp.13-15 – https://
mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bull184X-1.pdf

Janet holdsworth

Drawing by Rosemary Turner from Richard Dighton‘s A Scene on the Baltic Walk,
Royal Exchange (1822)
The piece of paper ‘Dicky‘ Thornton holds reads: ‘To the Superintendent of the London
Dock. Please to deliver 4000 casks of Y.C.[?] Tallow‘ . Thornton notoriously made money
by cornering markets in various commodities. One such was tallow, that is animal fat
used to make candles, which was imported in huge quantities from eastern Europe.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 6

JOhN ShEriDaN has been disentangling the tale of
COMMEMOraTiNG MErTON PriOry
1 – Proposal, agreement and Location

Further to the rediscovery of the site of Merton Priory church in the 1920s, a committee chaired by Lord
Onslow, President of the Surrey Archaeological Society, produced a prospectus for an appeal to raise funds to
commemorate the priory.1 Lord Onslow launched the appeal by means of a letter published in the Times on 1
May 1926.

The aim of the appeal was to raise a sum of £2,500 to purchase for posterity a substantial part of the northern
side of the Merton Priory Church site. A public garden would be laid out with the church foundations suitably
marked. Donations were to be paid into the Merton Priory Site Purchase Fund. The treasurer was E F Knapp-
Fisher of Westminster Abbey. The opening words of the prospectus were ‘Few important buildings can have
disappeared more completely than was the case with Merton Priory up to a very short time ago. The Church
and Convent, destroyed at the Reformation, had left no visible trace. It was not even known where, within a
large area, the actual site might be.‘

As if to emphasise the point, the Ordnance Survey‘s 1890s map had mistakenly placed the church to the south
of its actual site, in what is now the Merton Abbey Mills complex, near the Wheelhouse (below).2

The Lambeth Water Company found buried ruins on the true site in Station Road immediately to the north of
the former Merton Abbey railway station in 1891, but these were not recognised as part of the church. Then, in
1919 two graves walled with stone were discovered by workers laying gas pipes. In the same year John Corfield
(1871-1939) purchased land to the north of Station Road on which to build a metal pressing factory, and his
workers discovered more buried remains. Corfield alerted the archaeologists.3 Presumably Corfield also offered
to sell the land containing the
northern part of the priory
church site to the proposers of
the commemorative garden.
The rest of the church site was
covered by Station Road, Merton
Abbey station and the Tooting,
Merton and Wimbledon
Railway, and was not for sale.
The approximate site of the
priory church is here marked on
a 1929 aerial photo (right).4

The priory church and
chapter house foundations
were excavated by Lt. Col H F
Bidder DSO FSA. Bidder and

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 7

Canon H F Westlake were the
authors of articles about the
excavations in the Society of
Antiquaries‘ Journal (1922) and
in its Archaeologia (1926). Their
account included a ground
plan of the priory church, with
excavated foundations shown
in black (right). The church site
is now occupied by part of the
car park of the Colliers Wood
Sainsbury and Marks and
Spencer, alongside and just to
the north of Merantun Way.

The appeal was renewed in a
Times article on 26 July 1927.
On 31 July 1930 the Sutton and
Epsom Advertiser reported that Merton and Morden Urban District Council (the UDC)‘s General Purposes
Committee had noted that Surrey County Council was not prepared to contribute towards the cost of acquiring
the priory site.

Despite the lack of progress on the appeal, negotiations were underway in 1936-37 for the UDC to acquire
a site to commemorate the priory. A later UDC document (on which more below) records that the donor
who made the purchase possible was Gilliat Edward Hatfeild of Morden Hall. An Office of Works file note of
26 May 1936 recorded that there was a hitch in the land acquisition negotiations.5 The next item on the file
was a note dated 12 December 1936 saying that the UDC was to hold a meeting that evening to consider a
planning application by Merton Trust Ltd to build a factory on the priory church site. Merton Trust Ltd was
the landowning subsidiary of Corfield Ltd.6 It seems that Corfield Ltd had withdrawn John Corfield‘s earlier
offer to sell the site. The Office of Works file hints at alarm in that office, at Surrey County Council and at the
Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments at the potential loss of the site, and that some last-minute lobbying of the
UDC took place.

The UDC accordingly rejected the Corfield planning application, on the grounds that it wished to preserve a
portion of the site as an open space. Merton Trust Ltd appealed to the Town and Country Planning Division of
the Ministry of Health. They arranged for an official to visit the UDC‘s offices at Dorset Hall, Kingston Road, on
15 April 1937 to hold a local inquiry.

A briefing note dated 16 March 1937 by an official at HM Office of Works stated that the landowner and
the UDC had reached agreement that the UDC would take over a small portion of the site, including the
foundations of the screen behind the high altar, two column bases and the ambulatory wall. The local inquiry
would not take place. The same note confirmed that the 1926 appeal had fallen through. Knapp-Fisher left no
accounts that survive at Westminster Abbey.7

In subsequent correspondence in 1937 the Office of Works told the UDC that they could not give any financial
support for the construction of a small building or shelter on the site, but they would be glad to be kept informed
of developments; nor could they help by preparing plans for the layout of the site and the design of a shelter, but
they would be pleased to give their observations and to advise on any sketch plans that the UDC might submit.
That was the end of the correspondence. It seems that the UDC could not afford to build and maintain a suitable
commemorative structure.The UDC‘s Register of Properties, held at the Surrey History Centre, indicates that
the UDC purchased an area of land on the north side of Station Road from Merton Trust Ltd on 22 February
1938 for £210. The land had a frontage of 59 feet onto Station Road and a depth of 44 feet.

The Register entry stated that: ‘The Council covenant to erect a fence of such a nature and character as shall
be approved by His Majesty‘s Inspector of Ancient Monuments on the sides of the said property marked with
“T” on the plan [no plan was appended] and keep same in good repair and condition and not to erect or suffer
to be erected or placed on the same property any building or erection other than a small building or shelter in
which may be placed a note as to the Priory and its associations as may be approved by His Majesty‘s Inspector
of Ancient Monuments.‘8 No entry was made under a heading on the Register ‘Restrictive covenants affecting
the property or which will revive on a sale‘.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 8

The Hamilton Works and the Corfield staff
canteen were subsequently erected on the
remainder of the site of the priory church to
the north of Station Road. The surviving UDC
papers make no reference to any suggestion
of archaeological excavations at the time. It is
possible that the construction work took place
during the war, and that the urgency of adapting
the Corfield premises for war work trumped any
archaeological considerations.

A document entitled Excerpts from Notes of a
Guided Walk by Miss Jowett plus Diagram indicates
that the site acquired by the UDC was a rectangular
area in front of the Corfield staff canteen (right,
grey rectangle here laid over Miss Jowett‘s outline).9
This corroborates the recollection of Jim Parker,
a former Corfield employee, in discussion with
Wandle Industrial Museum volunteers in 2023. A
rather low-contrast aerial photograph of January
1946, held by Historic England, appears to show
a large dark circular area in the garden: perhaps
Corfield staff had laid this out as an allotment.10

Miss Evelyn Jowett‘s notes state that the UDC
laid out the site as a garden to commemorate the
Festival of Britain 1951. The minutes of the UDC‘s
General Purposes Committee for 13 September
1951 noted that the Clerk of the Council ‘had
met a representative of Merton College, Oxford,
and that consideration was being given to the
possibility of the College bearing the cost of providing a plaque to be placed on the site recording the historical
significance of the small site which the council is about to enclose.‘11 However, the plaque was not to be installed
in time for the Festival of Britain (which closed in September 1951 anyway).

1 MHS holds a copy of the prospectus. There is also a copy in The National Archives (TNA) at WORK 14/470.
2 The error was perpetuated in OS editions as late as the 1930s.
3 Excavations at Merton Priory, Bidder and Westlake, 1927. Reprinted extract from Archaeologia, Vol LXXVI, 1926.
4 The building in the oval marked on the left was Merton Abbey Station; the light coloured marks on the ground

on the other side of Station Road could be Bidder‘s excavation of the priory church foundations. The low
sawtooth-roofed building is the Corfield factory, behind it is New Merton Board Mills. Photo by permission of
Historic England.

5 TNA, WORK 14/470. This file was also the source for subsequent references in the article to the Office of Works.
6 TNA, BT 31/87632: Merton Trust Ltd was registered as a company on 1 January 1936.
7 Information obtained from Dr Matthew Payne, Keeper of the Muniments at Westminster Abbey. He checked the

Muniments index and found no references to Merton Priory later than the 15th century.
8 Surrey History Centre (SHC), 6082/1/1, Folio No. 32. The vendor was listed as The Merton Trust Ltd and another.
It is assumed that the other was Corfield Ltd, as The Merton Trust’s parent company.

9 Miss Jowett‘s diagram of the priory church site, superimposed on a map showing Merton Abbey station to
the south of Station Road and industrial buildings to the north. Evelyn M Jowett (1911-90) was the Librarian
of Merton and Morden UDC and a local historian. A scan of her notes and diagram was kindly supplied by
Rosemary Turner of MHS.

10 The garden was surrounded by Corfield Sigg (east), Corfield Industries canteen (north), the Hamilton works
(west) and Station Road (south). The name ‘Hamilton works‘ suggests a Nelsonian and hence a Corfield
connection. The works building extended into the site of the priory church’s north transept. The absence of any
archaeological record perhaps indicates that the building was erected quickly to fulfil Corfield Industries‘ war
work obligations – they made pressed metal products for military use. After the war, the Hamilton works was
occupied for a period by B Sterling & Co Ltd, manufacturers of hats and caps. Their classified ads appeared in the
local press between 1953 and 1965.

11 SHC, 6546/1, UDC minutes, May 1951 to May 1952, page 441.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 9

LOCaL hiSTOry WOrKShOPS

10 May 2024 Seven present – Rosemary Turner in the Chair

♦ Bill Bailey said he was looking into the March 1922 by-election in Mitcham, in which J Chuter Ede won the
seat for Labour, but was MPfor only a matter of months before losing the seat in the General Election later
that year. At that time the constituency extended from Tooting almost to Croydon, and included Carshalton,
Wallington and Beddington. Work so far, based largely on national and local newspapers, showed the
importance of the work of women as both voters and workers in the campaign. An earlier account of this
by-election appeared in MHS Bulletin 186 (2013).
♦ John Sheridan mentioned an email from The National Archives about some useful online resources for
Local and Community History Month – https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/how-to-research-the-historyof-
a-place/?utm_source=e-shot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Campaign+2024_05_09_1
John had drafted an article charting Morris &Co‘s piecemealdisposal of land on its Merton Abbey site in the
firm‘s decliningyears. Morris & Co closed in 1940, but in a coda to the story the Sanderson Design Group
acquired and revived the brand and designs, generating £19m of sales and licensing income per annum by
2023.

♦ Christine Pittman had attended a behind-the-scenes tour of the Pathology Museum or Museum of Human
Diseases at St George‘s, University of London, funded by the Royal College of Pathologists. It holds over
2000 pathology preparations (human organs and tissue showing examples of different diseases) dating back
to the early 19th century, from the time before antiseptics, antibiotics and anaesthetics. Regulated/licenced
by the Human Tissue Authority, only pre-1923 tissue is available for public visitors, over the age of 18.
Between 2017 and 2021, thePostMortemProjectwas funded by theWellcomeTrustto conserve, digitiseand
catalogueStGeorge‘s post-mortemcasebooks,1841-1946.Books for1841-1920 areavailable,giving name,
gender, age, and occupation of patient; date of admission and death; name of doctor treating or examining
patient; diseases, cause of death, post mortem notes. These are not available for 1921-46 for obviousreasons.
St George‘s opened in 1733 in Lanesborough House, Hyde Park Corner, as
a voluntary hospital, dependent on donations. It formally moved to Tooting
in 1980, although patients moved in 1951 to the Grove Hospital site and the
Fountain Children‘s hospital adjacent.

Their website shows pathology collection highlights with photos and
explanations, archives and special collections -https://www.sgul.ac.uk/about/
our-professional-seryices/information-services/library/about-the-library/
archives. (Christine showed us a photo of a PM casebook cover and a page
(right & below).) They also have a YouTube channel: Museum of Human
Diseases.

♦ Peter Hopkins reported on two email enquiries received by the Society. The first was from an art dealer
who had purchased an original watercolour of Mitcham Grove which matches an engraving on Merton
Memories. He wanted to confirm the date of the engraving, which he thought was 1796. Peter had found a
very faint photocopy in Eric Montague‘s files, which seemed to give the date as 1788, and googling ‘art in
1788‘found one at http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/12282. This revealed that the original watercolour was
by Rev Robert Nixon, curate of All Saints church, Foots Cray, Kent, from 1781 to 1804. The engraving was
published in Picturesque views of the principal seats of the nobility and gentry in England and Wales, which
is accessible on Internet Archive. The watercolour can be purchased for £485 if any reader is interested.
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 10

Another email had been about an 1820s proposal for a ship canal to connect Portsmouth to the Thames at
Rotherhithe, to be navigable by line of battle ships. Peter had seen references to one such proposal of 1823
that wasto passthrough Tooting, Mitcham, Morden, and Ewell, at 150ft wide and 30ft deep. The enquiry was
about a similar
project – the Grand Imperial Ship Canal, to run through Wandsworth, Merton Abbey, West
Barnes, Malden, Tolworth, Epsom, Leatherhead, Dorking and on to Portsmouth -and included photographs
from the original proposal, now at West Sussex Records Office in Chichester, with extracts from a huge
map showing the precise fields that it would pass through. The extract (below) shows ‘Barnes‘, ‘Canon Hill‘
and, long before John Innes, ‘Merton Park‘. We are grateful to Geoffrey Harding, a former resident in West
Barnes, for alerting us to this information, which would merit further examination, though one can only
breathe a sigh of relief that neither plan was implemented.

♦ Andrew Douglas had been put in contact with us via member Dick Bower, who volunteers at Morden Hall
Bookshop. Andrew had visited there while researching an ancestor, William Gore of Morden (1601-1662).
As William had purchased the magnificent Barrow Court in Somerset in 1659, Andrew had assumed he had
owned a comparable property in Morden. However, the only Morden records found so far are a couple of
entries intheparishregisters -theburialofhis infantdaughterin1641andthebaptismofasonin1642-and
a tax assessment, also from 1641, of goods in Morden assessed at £8 per annum. Had he been a landowner
here, he would have been assessed on that, so he must have leased a property, but we were not able to help
Andrew identify which that might have been. William‘s daughter was married in Morden 1656, so it seems
likely that they lived here until he purchased Barrow Court, though during the Civil War he spent several
years in Poland, where he had business interests as a merchant in the Eastland trade. Confusingly, his wife
was named as Jane in the 1630s and at his death in 1662, but as Margarite in the Morden registers.
♦ David Luff
had been looking at the report on the watching brief of the recent work done on the collapsed
section of the priory wall, sent to us by Geoff Potter of Compass Archaeology. It includes photos from 1996,
before the section had collapsed, but David has seen a display of photos of the wall from 1973, taken by
Evelyn Jowett and now in the Wimbledon Society collections, which show that the same section of wall
was also fallen then. Presumably it was repaired during the interval, but not to a satisfactory standard, as
it had collapsed again by 2008. The current planned rebuilding has been put on hold by the National Trust
because of technical and financial issues. One can only hope that, when completed, the rebuilt wall will be
more stable than its predecessor – especially as there are plans to create a public linear park alongside the
wall. David has grave concerns for the safety of passersby.
Peter hopkins

WaNDLE FOrTNiGhT
A celebration of the Wandle Valley run by the community for the community. The ninth Wandle Fortnight
runs across three weekends from 14th to 29th September 2024.
More details at http://www.wandlevalleyforum.org.uk/wandle-fortnight.html
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 11

Friday 28 June 2024 Seven present – Peter Hopkins in the Chair

♦ David Luff
has a long document in preparation about the Merton Priory precinct wall, containing notes,
diagrams and photographs.
♦ Joyce Bellamy regretted the destruction of old stables
and associated fittings at the White Hart Inn and Morden
Hall Park. Joyce had lobbied the National Trust to save the
stables in Morden Hall Park, and a couple of examples of
stable fittings had been retained in the bookshop. The Trust
now use carthorses to mow Morden Hall Park, but Joyce
does not know where they are stabled. Stable flooring was
often of Staffordshire Blue bricks: Joyce had once rescued
an example from an old slaughterhouse near Church Road,
but a builder had removed it from her property along with
other rubble and she was now looking for a replacement.
(Thestable stalls at nearby Morden Lodge were still in place
when Peter Hopkins photographed them in 2021 (right).)

♦ Dave Haunton had come across the delightful film details website www.reelstreet.com (see p.14).
♦ John Sheridan reported further research on the Merton Priory commemorative stone (forthcoming) and
described the protracted negotiations between 1956 and 1959 between the Merton and Morden Historical
Society (MMHS), the Merton and Morden Urban District Council (the UDC) and the Wimbledon School of
Art which led to the unveiling of the stone in July 1959. In the late 1980s builders on the site of the Colliers
Wood Savacentre broke the stone while moving it the few yards to the site of the Chapter House.
John also recounted that MMHS minutes dated July 1959 had noted that a copy of Paynell‘s Pandects of
Holy Scripture, written by a Merton Priory canon, had come on the market for £25. Adiscussion ensued
about raising funds to purchase the book with a view to offering it to the John Evelyn Society (now the
Wimbledon Society) on loan. In September MMHS noted that Miss Evelyn Jowett (the Hon Secretary) had
purchased the book herself in order that it may be kept in the district. Wimbledon Museum still has the book,
and mentions it in: https://wimbledonsociety.org.uk/museum/our-collections/books/

Human remains were found on the Merton Priory site from time to time. One instance was reported to the
UDC in December 1957. Astone coffin containing human remains had been found during the digging of a
trench on Station Road on the site of the priory sanctuary. It had been agreed that the human remains should
be reinterred in the priory site and that the now-emptied coffin should be placed in St John‘s Church on long
loan. The coffin was eventually moved to the Chapter House Museum, where visitors may now view it.

♦ Rosemary Turner brought in a page from In Merton which showed an artist‘s illustration of the new homes
to be built on the site of Farm Road Mission. This is opposite where the entrance to the mansion known as
The Lodge and its farm (formerly Merton Priory‘s Spital Farm) lay, Farm Road having been originally the
driveway to the house. The road consists of private houses which are sandwiched between the houses of the
St Helier Estate in Faversham Road and Abbotsbury Road. Work is due to start in 2026.
Rosemary had intended to look into the land on which her house is built but had forgotten that Keith
Penny was already researching the area. Rosemary had lent him her deeds some years ago. They are full of
information including the Will of a one-time owner of the land. His daughter inherited his estate but if she
married her husband had to take the name Stanford. She married three times and each husband hyphenated
their name to include Stanford. There are streets near Norbury named after them. Keith had sent her some
of the maps that he had for the area and Rosemary was surprised how few buildings or roads there were on
a map of 1919, though a brick field and kiln were shown -a sign of development underway in the area. The
Stanford Road which changes to Stanford Way once it reaches the Merton boundary, stops approximately
where the Merton boundary is today. The Westminster Bank Sports Ground is there but neither Stanford
Road nor the Sports Ground appear on the 1894 map. Originally Rosemary‘s house came under Norbury
but is now Merton albeit with a SW16 post code. The 1919 map shows that her house was in the middle of
a golf course. Another map shows the 1910 Valuation tax number but given it was a golf course Rosemary
didn‘t think the records would show very much.

♦ Christine Pittman had sent a message which Rosemary read in her absence. ‘As I was checking MHS
Facebook on 19 May, I saw that we had a message from Mark Hastings, saying “I nicked this sign (top of
facing page) about 1972 where Heath Drive meets Cannon Hill Common…. and I was wondering if this
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 12

would be of interest to you”. In the messages that followed, I
found out that Mark had been a stroppy teenager who rode his
bike along forbidden paths, to do some illegal fishing in the pond.
I explained that we already had a similar sign, which we were
trying to dispose of. It turned out to be an identical sign, donated
by Miss Evelyn Jowett, although I doubt that she nicked it when
she was riding her bike on the way to do some illegal fishing.
Mark had lived in Carshalton from 1964 to1975, and after several
moves now lives in Pearland, Texas. He said he would see if a
local ‘British‘pub would like the sign for its walls. Thanks to the
power of Facebook.‘

♦ Peter Hopkins circulated a transcript of a 17th-century pamplet describing the suffering of Quakers in
Mitcham in May 1659. This recounted three occasions when the ‘rude people‘of the town buffeted, punched,
kicked, and threw dirt, dirty water and cow-dung on ‘the people of God‘who were meeting peaceably ‘to
wait on the Lord‘. On the third occasion, after the rude people had driven the Friends through the town,
some of the Friends headed for a Justice‘s house, but were sorely beaten and in danger of their lives as the
rude people cried out ‘Let the Justice kiss their breech.‘Extracted from A DECLARATION of some of the
SUFFERINGS OF THE People of God CALLED QUAKERS. (1660) pp. 14-15. See http://name.umdl.umich.
edu/A37361.0001.001 and http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A39880.0001.001
John Sheridan

Next Workshops Fridays 27 September, 8 November 2024
from 2.30pm at Wandle industrial Museum. all welcome.

‘ThE PhySiC GarDENS OF MiTChaM‘
a Display by Merton historical Society

The display was on view at the Heritage Centre, Morden Library, for
three weeks from Saturday 20 April to Friday 10 May 2024. It comprised
a collection of original drawings and watercolours (see p.1), mostly by
Irene Burroughs, together with ‘vintage‘ and current photographs and
well-researched information on Mitcham‘s medicinal plant heritage. The
whole was assembled by Irene, whose idea it was. She wrote the text and
‘borrowed with permission‘ illustrations from the Merton Memories
website (sample right). Tony Scott proof read the text and helped with
putting up the display (while neglecting to photograph Irene beside it).

The display contents form an interesting and rather charming booklet,
currently in final preparation.

William Mitchell aged 94
The last lavender grower in Mitcham

POTTEr aND MOOrE‘S ‘POWDEr CrEaM‘

In May this year rosemary Turner saw on her Facebook group a reproduction of
a single-column wide advertisement for this oddly-named product, picturing and
endorsed by Gracie Fields. While Gracie opened Potter and Moore‘s new factory
in 1937, the same cannot be said for various other well-known film actresses,
who feature in similar adverts in 1939. They include Margaret Lockwood, Merle
Oberon, Adrienne Ames (an American, whose films were all made in the 1930s)
and Irene Ware (also American, filmed 1932-1940). In 1940 the famous faces
were supplanted by the more patriotic but anonymous ‘The Nurse‘ (left). See

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Potter_and_Moore for more examples.

The strap-line was often ‘Surface Beauty is not enough‘. The product description
‘Powder Cream‘
seems to have become ‘Foundation‘
later in WW2, but Irene
Burroughs remarks that the original name was taken up by other firms long after
the original one had disappeared.

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 13

rEELSTrEET.COM.UK

While I was chatting to an acquaintance close to Merton Park tram stop, he mentioned that Merton Park railway
station had appeared in a film, and referred me to the above website. It is one of those sites run by enthusiasts
(or ‘single-issue fanatics‘) for an obscure corner of modern life; in this case the identification of the location of
external scenes in British films, however brief the scene depicted. In most cases several stills from the film are
featured, each with a brief plot or scene summary and an identification of the site. Intrigued, in April 2024 I
searched the website for ‘Merton Park‘ with the following results:

Hidden Homicide (1959) Produced by Bill & Michael Luckwell

Contains scenes on Merton Park Station platform and of
some local streets, including Watery Lane, Kenley Road,
Kingston Road, Hartfield Crescent, Wilton Crescent,
Goodenough Road, Russell Road, and Merton Hall Road,
as well as Wimbledon Chase station (the scene framed to
avoid showing the station name) and Mitcham Hospital.
Particularly interesting from our point of view is a scene
at the Mostyn Road end of Kenley Road with a pillar box
(still there) and a white-painted telephone booth (long
gone) (right).

Solo for Sparrow (1962) Produced by Merton Park Studios

This is a jewellery raid movie, with a kidnap that goes wrong. Contains views of Merton Park Station entrance,
prominently labelled ‘Harland Park‘ (perhaps a joke on Holland Park, or a nod to the family of Phipps Bridge
varnish manufacturers), and the footpath leading east from the station. The victim, followed by a plotter, leaves
the station and enters the footpath. The pretend far end of the footpath is actually the exit from Mostyn Gardens
onto Mostyn Road, where the kidnap occurs. Other local views are of Highbury Road, Wimbledon, and West
Side Common, Mitcham.

Accidental Death (1963) Produced by Merton Park Studios

Contains scenes on Merton Park Station platform and
at the station building entrance, this time relabelled
‘Aldbury Halt‘.

The Frozen Dead (1966) Produced by Gold Star

Productions
Contains scenes on Merton Park Station platform
and in Rutlish Road (right).

Horror Hospital (1973) Produced by Noteworthy
Films
Contains scenes on Merton Park Station platform.

All are obviously cheap B-pictures, in three cases produced by short-lived companies that produced very small
numbers of films (Gold Star and Noteworthy in the Horror category, Bill & Michael Luckwell in more normal
subjects; Michael Luckwell had a separate, successful, career as a film director). The films of Merton Park Studios
are, of course, more fully detailed in Clive Whichelow‘s 2019 book Lights, Camera, Merton!

All the films contain locations elsewhere in London, notably Bayswater and warehouses near the river, while
some have cars travelling through open countryside in places not yet identified. In the period these films were
made, Merton Park station had one central, triangular platform, serving two single-track lines, one to Croydon,
the other to Tooting. (Another, narrow, platform, which led to ticket office and exit, was no longer in use by
trains.) Notably, all scenes on the station platform are filmed looking south, down one or other of the branch-
lines, while none face north towards the level crossing and Kingston Road, with its heavy traffic. The southerly
views contained (as today) flourishing vegetation (hedges and trees) beside the railway lines, and included not
a single building, to give the audience the impression of the action being at a remote country station, nowhere
near suburbia. Conveniently, at this period the only British Rail station name sign on the platform was near the
level crossing, behind the camera. Dave haunton

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 14

NOrMa COX has found an unusual path to specialisation at one of our firms
rEiD CaMEraS

In 1939 the Reid and Sigrist factory at Shannon Corner made advanced training aircraft, as well as performing
the assembly and repair of aircraft. After WW2 the firm designed and made a smaller, two seat trainer, the

R.S.3 Desford. The business also made accurate 35mm cameras in their Leicestershire factory using Leica
camera-plans seized by the Allies in WW2, the patents of which had been declared invalid. The cameras were
called Reid cameras and nicknamed ‘British Leicas‘. The Reid cameras, including some of their recent sales
prices, are recorded in this article.
Production

The author had written about the factory of Reid and Sigrist, Aeronautical Engineers, of Kingston Bypass
Road, Shannon Corner, in MHS Bulletin 227.1 The factory location was described as New Malden but it is
in fact also in the borough of Merton. The article noted that after WW2, the German patents of the Leitz
company, who made Leica cameras before WW2, were seized by the Allies and made available to the public
under the 1946 London Agreement, where all German patents were declared invalid.2 Reid and Sigrist had
been given permission by the British Government to manufacture a limited number of 35mm cameras,
which would be the British equivalent of the German Leica camera. The cameras were produced at the Reid
and Sigrist factory in Braunstone Leicestershire. The Reid camera was announced in the British Journal
of Photography in 1947 but it was not until 1951 that the Reid 111 was being sold, as seen in an advert by
Turners of Newcastle on 9 April 1951, which stated ‘Production is now in hand but supplies are very limited,
interested customers should place their orders now for delivery in strict rotation. Price £118/12/6d or on
terms‘.3 [ie. at least £4500 today – Editor]

The company produced cameras until 1964. The Reid 111, which was based on the Leica 111 series, had a
production run of 1,600 cameras from 1951. The early models of Reid 111 lacked flash synchronised sockets
but a flash synchronised version followed in late 1953. The next model was the Reid 1, a simplified version
similar to the Leica E. This camera was on sale from 1958 with a production run of about 500, mainly to the
British Military. The Reid 11 was a proposed model announced in 1959 which was basically a Reid 111 with
a faster speed.4

In all there was a series of six Reid Prototype cameras made and they looked like a real Leica, right down
to the Leica script engraving, but they were manufactured with imperial rather than metric measurements.
These cameras were the 1, 1a, 11 and 111 (types 1 and 2). The model 1a and 11 are the rarest and very few
are in existence. The Reid camera had been made ready for presentation at the 1947 British Industries Fair.
The only remaining metric measurements were the 39mm lens screw-thread and 28.8mm lens mount to the
film-plane distances. After a series of production difficulties, government interference and problems with
deliveries and quality from the many subcontractors, Reid and Sigrist took over the tooling and production
themselves.5 A white military marking on the camera-backs showed that many Reid cameras were produced
in Army workshops; the markings were embossed on some standard ER cases (Ever Ready, a frequent
attribution for camera cases) and equipment cases. There was some production in the early 1950s of the so-
called O cameras, which were engraved with ‘R and S‘ in an oval with ‘Reid and Sigrist Ltd London‘ below in
capital letters, and had a serial number starting with capital A. Reid camera production continued until 1964
when the company finally abandoned the task.6

Our photograph of a Reid 111 Rangefinder camera is
from the Science Museum. Their website states that this
Reid 111 is one of two models of the Reid marketed
commercially. This Reid 111 is fitted with a Taylor
Hobson Anastigmat lens F: 2f/2-16, Serial No 3288987
and has fabric focal plane shutters. The image is part
of the Kodak Museum Collection donated circa 1956
by Reid and Sigrist in Leicester, now in the Kodak
Collection at the National Media Museum, Bradford.
(The Science Museum encourages the use and reuse
of their collection data and details are released under
Collective Commons Zero, the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 licence.8)

MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY – BULLETIN 231 – SEPTEMBER 2024 – PAGE 15

Prices of reid cameras

A Reid/Leica Prototype Serial number 291955 was sold at Christies Auctions, South Kensington, on 19 November
2002. It was one of the Reid prototypes made at the Reid and Sigrist factory at Braunstone Leicestershire from
1947 and was sold for £1880. It had come to Christies via a David Stevens, former employee at Reid and Sigrist,
and then to the present vendor. Another Reid Prototype, unmarked, sold at Christies on 11 June 2002 for
£2350.9 Another internet reference gave values in US dollars for the Reid and Sigrist Reid 111: with lens and
in average condition the price tag would be $1600-1700; in very good condition the price tag would be $22002400
and in mint condition the price tag would be $3800-4000. The prices given for the camera body only were
$380-400 for average condition, $520-540 for very good condition and $1000-1100 in mint condition.10

Prices from E-bay viewed on 22 June 2024 showed two Reid cameras for sale. Reid Reed 111 Type 1 with a
price-tag of £1,985.11 plus £33 shipping. The other Reid camera was ‘A Super Rave Camera‘ Reid 1 Military
with Taylor Hobson Anastigmat £3,742.17. 11 [Presumably these odd prices are translations from Euros or US
dollars – Editor.]

Interestingly the author had recently seen on the BBC1 Antiques Roadshow, a section high-lighting a Leica
camera which was valued at £10,000. There was also an Antiques Roadshow website with information which
mentioned a gold-plated Leica with a six-figure price-tag.12

Conclusion

Leica cameras were made at the Wetzlar factory Germany until WW2; the business was founded in 1869 by
Ernst Leitz.13 Leica cameras have achieved high values in the twenty-first century. The British Reid cameras
have also attained good prices.

The Reid cameras were made in Braunstone, Leicestershire, and not in Shannon Corner, but the information
about these cameras is all part of Reid and Sigrist‘s heritage. It is prudent that these details are recorded in the
Bulletin, just as the Reid and Sigrist factory details at Shannon Corner were recorded.

acknowledgement: Thanks to Graces-guide for their information on Reid and Sigrist and Taylor Hobson.

1
2
3
4
5
Cox, Norma. ‘The factory of Reid and Sigrist Ltd at Shannon Corner’ in MHS Bulletin 227 September 2023 pp.14-16
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Reid_and_Sigrist
https://www.l39cambase.co.uk/about_reid.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_and_Sigrist
As note 3
6 As note 3
7
8
9
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Taylor,_Taylor_and_HobsonTaylor Hobson was founded in 1886 in Leicester by William Taylor and his brother Thomas Smithies Taylor. HerbertHobson joined the business in 1887 for the sales department. The firm originally called Taylor, Taylor and Hobson
made lenses for still cameras and cine cameras. The firm became Taylor Hobson in 1924, and by 1939 made 80% of
world‘s lenses for film studios. In 1949 the business invented the world‘s first roundness measuring instrument. In
1998 there was a Management Buy Out of Cooke Optics who made lenses. In 2004 Taylor Hobson was taken over by
Ametek Inc, but the Taylor Hobson website https://www.taylor-hobson.com is still in use. The business specialises
in precision surface metrology.
https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8206217/reid-iii-rangefinder-camera-35mm-camera
As note 3
10
11
12
13
https://www.collectiblend.com/Cameras/Reid-&-Sigrist/Reid-III.html
https://www. ebay.co.uk/
https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1299861/Antiques-Roadshow-expert-mistake-370000-valuation-leicacamera-
Marc-Allum-BBC-video/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leica_Camera