Bulletin 233

Chair: Christine Pittman
BULLETiN No. 233 MarCh 2025

This photograph was taken by David Luff recently, depicting two unusual buses in Haydons Road Depot. They have no
number plates or identifying paintwork, but they do feature large windows, perhaps implying a tourist function.
David Luff would be interested in any information.

CONTENTS
Ceramic finds from St Lawrence’s – Peter Hopkins 2
Programme March – april 2025 3
50 years on the stage 3
Wimbledon Chase Co-op frontage 3
The Labour movement and the 1919 local elections in Mitcham – Bill Bailey 4
is anything known? 6
‘history of dogs of London’ 7
‘West Barnes and Motspur Park 1920 -1940’ 7
Visit to St Bartholomew’s churches and hospital 8
The Burn Bullock pub, Mitcham – Tony Scott 10
aGM: a launch and an advertisement 11
rubber industries of Mitcham 1845-1963 – Norma Cox 12
Michael Nethersole 16
Exhibition ‘Blueprinting history’ 16

PETEr hOPKiNS gives more details of

CEraMiC FiNDS FrOM ST LaWrENCE’S

[This note adds to my report on the 2 August 2024 Workshop in Bulletin 232 p.11]

In the summer of 2024 the Rector of Morden sent me a photo of
possible medieval tiles and other items discovered during renovation
work to the church tower and west window at St Lawrence. When the
window was removed for conservation work the wooden sill below the
window was lifted. Instead of the expected solid wall beneath, a void
was discovered, into which odd bits of rubble had been deposited. A
cursory search among these disclosed an almost complete floor-tile
patterned in blue and white (right), which from memory I would say
was about 6in square and at least an inch thick, together with a piece
from an identical tile (but not broken from it).

The Rector used Google Visual Search and discovered a tile of a similar design, now in the V&A, though smaller
than the St Lawrence tile, and red rather than blue – https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O281672/tile-unknown/ The
online catalogue describes it as: ‘Red earthenware tile 4¾in square with stamped decoration inlaid with white
slip. Diagonal patterns of alternating geometrical bands. Design resembling an heraldic gyrony of eight. 15th-
century of French origin.’ I have since searched through the V&A and British Museum online catalogues and
found other examples, of English manufacture and from the 14th century – the time that we know the medieval
church was being rebuilt, in the 1350s.

A smaller tile of a different pattern was also discovered in the void – a 6-petal
flower design (right), familiar from my schooldays as formed by intersecting arcs
drawn with compasses. Again, there are several examples at the two museums, of
English manufacture and of similar date. Some curved roof tiles were also found,
as well as a small bottle, a clay pipe and some glass. It is likely that further finds
would be discovered were the void to be completely cleared. It is behind a plaque
commemorating previous repairs to the tower in the 1880s.

y

Q2 (1150-1325)
Q2 (1150-1325)
Roman
Q2 (1150-1325)

WW1 (1240-1550)

Q2 (1150-1325)

Over the years, Bill Rudd also discovered oddments of
broken pottery on various spoil heaps in the churchyard,
some of which he identified as ‘possibly medieval’.
Christine took them to the Surrey Archaeological
Society Medieval Pottery Workshop and has had them
identified. Seven sherds were Classification Q2, dated
1150-1325, another was Classification WW1, dated
1240-1550, while one sherd was Roman – much to
Christine’s delight!

Bill gave the location of some of these finds, referring
to the adjoining grave plot numbers. Plot 239, where

two Q2 sherds were found, is in the far western corner of the churchyard, whereas plots 622 and 703, between
which one Q2 and the single WW1 sherds were found, are in the eastern section, roughly half way between the
lych gate and the present Rectory drive, just inside the original churchyard boundary along the London Road.
The Roman sherd and one Q2 are only described as being in the north-eastern sector, while no location is given
for the remaining three Q2 sherds.

The earliest known reference to the church is from 1157, and a document of 1331 states that the vicar ‘will have
a mansion house with a curtilage and garden, adjacent to the same church, which the priest of the parish was
accustomed to live in from ancient times, freely pertaining to his vicarage forever … or a more suitable one or at
least one of equal value’. By 1416 the vicarage was in Central Road, so the medieval sherds found probably came
from the former vicarage/priest’s house, perhaps on the then boundary facing the road. The projected route of
Stane Street runs some 90 yards to the north of the church, across Morden Park, reaching the present London
Road near the entrance to the college and the adjoining entrance to the main car park for the Park.

Some 500 yards to the south-east of the church, in Green Lane between Glastonbury Road and St Helier station,
Bill discovered numerous Romano-British pottery sherds. These are currently with Surrey Archaeological
Society awaiting classification. Had settlement here, or its arable fields, extended as far as the later churchyard?

PrOGraMME MarCh – aPriL 2025

TaLKS

Saturday 8 March at 2.30pm ‘Liberty of London’s time at Merton abbey Mills’
a talk by John Sheridan of MHS and Wandle Industrial Museum
Please note change of speaker and topic because of illness of our advertised speaker

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

No meeting will be held in May

ViSiTS

Details of our summer visits and events will be advertised in our June Bulletin

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 14 March, 2 May, 13 June, 25 July, 5 September, 17 October 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.

Visitors are very welcome to attend any of our events.

Michael Norman-Smith has written a book on his…
50 yEarS ON ThE STaGE

[Published privately via Charmschool of English, £10 from the author, with
proceeds to a charity for retired actors]

Michael grew up in Wimbledon, 1950-1973. He then worked, mainly in education, successively in Sussex,
Bristol and Barnet, returning in 1992. His great grandfather Henry Peck was a member of the British Empire
Shakespeare Society who performed the role of Shylock at the age of 80. This partly inspired Michael’s attachment
to the amateur stage, and thus this book, an autobiographical jaunt through his varied experiences, acting in
theatres many and various. During the book launch, Michael was interviewed by local crime author Joy Kluver,
whom he knew through her writing group at West Barnes library.

He first trod the boards at Wimbledon Library (now Merton Artspace) in Compton Road. His adult acting
debut was in 1974. He has performed in about 100 shows; many times since 2004 with Carlton Dramatic Society
at Wimbledon Studio Theatre and Merton Abbey Mills, as well as in libraries at Mitcham and West Barnes. Most
recently, last May, he was in Merton Park Parish Players production of When We Are Married by J B Priestley.
‘It has been very therapeutic as a pastime’ he muses.

WiMBLEDON ChaSE CO-OP FrONTaGE

The plastic panels that covered this 1938 three-shop frontage have recently been removed and the original cleaned
to show its pleasant jade green, black and white colouring. ‘Wimbledon Chase Branch’ appears at each end.

BiLL BaiLEy has been exploring the limited sources mentioning
ThE LaBOUr MOVEMENT aND ThE 1919 LOCaL ELECTiONS iN
MiTChaM

My interest in the 1923 by-election in Mitcham led to a search for sources with information about any activity
by the Labour Party and trades unions in Mitcham around that time. Chuter Ede, Labour Party candidate at
the 1923 by-election, told the Manchester Guardian that, when he arrived in Mitcham, he discovered that the
local Labour Party, founded in 1918, took the form of a secretary and what few trades unions there were in
the division.1 A search showed that the local Labour Party holds no records from that time. It seemed unlikely
that a constituency which included parts of Colliers Wood and Tooting would not have seen some activity
by the Labour movement. This made the local press an important source. However, the film for the Mitcham
Advertiser for 1918 is missing at the Heritage and Local Studies Centre, so the Mitcham and Tooting Mercury is
the only press source for that year.

The Labour Party in the years after WW1 was slowly becoming a national party with local branches, building up
its individual and trade union membership and developing its electoral organisation. This growth was gradual
and locally variable, meaning that in some places the party was battle-ready when an election was called, while
in others it was not, or existed only minimally. Often the presence of a large industry or employer meant there
were trades unions which could provide the people and funding to undertake a campaign. The £150 deposit
required at the time was about what the head teacher of a big elementary school would receive as their annual
salary.

Three recent and significant changes were affecting the administration and politics of Mitcham in 1918-19.
Firstly, in the 1918 General Election, Mitcham was a new parliamentary constituency, having been separated
from Wimbledon during the war. Secondly, it had been given the status of Urban District Council from 1915,
meaning that its local government in 1918 was still run by the members of the parish council last elected in 1913.
The population of Mitcham parish had doubled between 1901 and 1911, growth concentrated largely in the
north. Thirdly, the electorate of the new constituency increased further in 1918 as a result of the Representation
of the People Act (1918). The Mitcham and Tooting Mercury reported the victory in the 1918 General Election
of Dr Cato Worsfold, the Unionist/Coupon candidate, with a turnout of 44% of the approximately 28,600
registered voters.2

During December 1918 the press carried no mention of any campaigning on the part of Labour-connected or
any other groups. In fact, the Advertiser reported that there was a ‘lack of interest’ in the first election in the
Mitcham Division, and that the campaign had been ‘dull to the extreme’ and ‘not a patch’ on what had been seen
in some parish elections.3 This verdict was supported by the Mercury which reported that: ‘Polling at Mitcham
was extremely quiet and dull and remarkable apathy was displayed throughout the day’.4

So far rather disappointing, but local elections were due to take place in April 1919 for places on what was now
the 24-member Urban District Council (UDC) and here the Advertiser becomes a more helpful source.5 First,
it published a report which appears to have misled the local Labour Party and others. This report, based on a
reliable source, stated that, as part of the transition to the UDC, all the members would stand down in 1919,
and that in these circumstances there was ‘the possibility of the Labour Party attempting a “flutter῍’.6 This was
the first mention of the Party in my reading of the Advertiser. However, when it was learned that the Local
Government Board in Whitehall had decided that only one third of the members would stand down, Labour
was said to be ‘up in arms’ since they believed that the councillors could be seen to have outlived the mandate
given them in 1913, an argument that could be seen to have some force.

Towards Monday 7 April 1919, the date of the UDC elections, there were reports in the Advertiser that trades
unions had recently made ‘great strides’ locally in terms of the recruitment of members. This was probably a
reference to the recent formation of a branch of the Workers Union at the Mitcham gas works, a large local
employer.7 In the years immediately before and after the end of WW1 the Workers Union had grown to become
the largest general union in the UK (its membership was 500,000 and growing in 1920).8 Its membership
was miscellaneous in that it recruited skilled and unskilled workers in many areas of employment including
agriculture, brickworks, power stations and gas works, and the civil service.

There is mention of no other union in Mitcham in the local press to support Ede’s speaking of there being a few
unions, but the Workers Union and the Labour party did make their presence felt on the result of the 1919 UDC
election. During the weeks leading up to the UDC elections the Mitcham Advertiser carried no advertisements of

public meetings, while reporting ‘no great excitement’ on the ‘renewal of hostilities’ in the first post-War council
election. It did, though, mention that there had been a keen contest in the West Ward where the supporters of
the Workers Union worked hard in the campaign to get out the vote for their candidates.

The result, according to the Tooting Mercury, was ‘startling’. Members of the ‘old brigade’ lost their seats, and
Workers Union/Labour candidates were returned. J R Chart, the ‘father of the Council’, lost his seat to Labour
in the East, as did Dr Love in the South, while the North Ward returned two Labour Councillors. The Advertiser
regretted the loss of the experienced members and, while welcoming the ‘sons of toil’ to the Council, undertook
to follow closely the actions and words of the ‘new brooms’. It did, though, regret the small number of local
citizens who had taken the trouble to vote.9 While 44% of registered voters had voted in December in the
General Election, only 15% voted in the UDC election in April 1919.

My initial survey has not found any reasons given at the time for this low turnout, but it appears that the Union
and the Labour Party benefitted from the lower level of turnout by other groups and because of the campaign
they sustained. This was notable in the West Ward where there was a ‘scramble’ to get out the vote, showing the
success resulting from local organisation. It can also be suggested that, although the result showed at least one
gain for Labour in each Ward, the turnout was especially strong in the North and West of the parish, especially
in the new Links estate in Tooting and the working-class cottages around Colliers Wood. These were the new
areas of Mitcham, where the residents were both new to the district and travelled to work, not in Mitcham, but
in other parts of London. Their ‘new’ votes had helped to provide this ‘startling’ result in 1919, but this did not
foreshadow a revolution in the Vestry Hall, as these new members would form a minority in the 24-member
Council mainly elected in 1913.

1 Manchester Guardian 28/2/1923
2 Mitcham & Tooting Mercury 3/1/1919
3 Mitcham Advertiser 3/1/1919
4 Mitcham & Tooting Mercury 20/12/1918
5 Mitcham Advertiser 14/3/1919
6 Mitcham Advertiser 7/3/1919
7 Mitcham Advertiser 14/3/1919
8 R Hyman, The Workers Union (1971, Clarendon) pp.128-9
9 Mitcham Advertiser 11/4/1919

results of the 1919 Local Election in Mitcham

* Workers Union/Labour candidates ** ‘Old’ members losing seats
North Ward East Ward
*Spackman, E W. 260 *higgs C. 264
*Flower, J G. 241 Jones G F 112

Turner J P. 215 Chart J R 103**
Brewer J 173** Total 476
Burt J 135
McCaul L R. 41 West Ward
Total 1065 *Chapman a G 290

*Baker S. 289
South Ward Hurley A J 238
*a G Brown 306 Woods C 219
J D Drewett. 240 Thomas H. 213
H Love 233** Bland W M 196**
W Carlton 74 Total 1445
Total 853

iS aNyThiNG KNOWN?

We present some photographic puzzles. If you know anything about any of the subjects, please write or email
to the Editor. We were sent several photographs, which all came from the same set of glass negatives. They may
have a Mitcham area background, and were almost certainly taken before the First World War. Does the same

man / boy appear in each one?

1st Mitcham Scouts (right)

This is the only photo that is inscribed ‘Mitcham’. Some
of those Scouts look awfully young. Three are equipped
with drums and two with cymbals, but none seems to
have a bugle.

Silverdale FC (left and below)

The photo with only nine players (and a mascot?) includes
a plaque (?) labelled ‘Silverdale FC 1911-1912’, and shows
interesting variations in shirt design – possibly they are
home-made, rather than commercial productions.

The thirteen players (sporting similar design variations)
in the other picture are posed in the same location, but
look a little older. Do we have Senior and Junior teams?

Note that the present-day Silverdale FC has been in
existence for only about 40 years.

Family Party (left)

An unknown family of at least three generations, an
unknown location and an unknown celebration, perhaps
a first-birthday for the child in arms? Evidently this is in
the back garden of a terrace house with a small scullery
out-shut -but where? The clothing styles would date this
before the First World War.

Pub Outing (right)

Again, this is before WW1, both from the clothing and
the classic char-a-banc. Two or three boaters indicate
summer-time or at least warm weather. The public
house, alas, is not yet identified, but Clive Whichelow,
our resident expert, confirms that it is not in Merton.
Rosemary Turner has found a St Thomas Road in
Chiswick.

‘hiSTOry OF DOGS OF LONDON’

The first Merton Historical Society meeting of the winter season took place
on 12 October with a talk by Chris Burton (right), a London Tour Guide. She
told us of dogs past and present with connections to London in many different
contexts. Dogs depicted in advertisements and on coats of arms were covered,
as were dogs in literature from Charles Dickens’ time onwards (notoriously, Bill

Sikes’ Bull’s-eye). Real dogs famous in their own

right were mentioned, such as Nipper, the model

for the HMV logo (left). (He was portrayed in an

1899 painting titled His Master’s Voice, adopted

by the Gramophone Company as a trademark

1909, and the company name changed to HMV

in 1921.)

Two other dogs which feature in portraits of their owners are William Hogarth’s pug Trump, and Elizabeth
Barrett Browning’s spaniel Flush. A more modern London dog is Pickles, a collie, which in 1966 discovered the
stolen Jules-Rimet World Cup wrapped in newspaper, beneath a hedge in South Norwood, and later starred in
a film, The Spy With The Cold Nose.

We heard about the canine helpers in the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade and their origins.
The subject would not have been complete without mention of Crufts Dog Show and Battersea Dogs and
Cats Home. Finally, Chris told us about dogs in pet cemeteries and, in human cemeteries, the faithful friends
depicted on their owners’ graves. It was altogether a very unusual, interesting and informative talk.

irene Burroughs

‘WEST BarNES aND MOTSPUr ParK 1920 -1940′

A talk by Toby Ewin to Merton Historical Society on 14 December 2024

In 1825 there was a plan to build a canal to Portsmouth via West Barnes and Motspur Park but that did not
happen. In 1839 the railway line was built through New Malden, with a crossing near Blue House Farm which
eventually became the site of Motspur Park station, opened in 1925. Charles Blake leased land in Malden from
Merton College and bought freehold land on the Merton side. In 1923 Sidney Parkes bought 120 acres in Malden
from Merton College and also land from Charles Blake, which may have been left in his will. Parkes gave £1000
and some land to have the station built. The main line was electrified in 1915-16, while the Motspur Park line
electrification followed in the 1920s. Sadly, on 6 November 1947 there was an accident on the Chessington line
near Motspur Park station in which four people were killed and 100 injured.

The population of Merton and Morden was just 5,470 in 1901. The area had few houses until 1920, one of
them being Ivy House, which was demolished in 1970. (It was near the station where Blossom House is now.)
However, in 1921 Holy Cross Church was built, and the Kingston bypass from Robin Hood Gate to near Esher
was built between 1923 and 1937, with the official opening in 1926. In 1925 the first houses were built in Phyllis
Avenue, and in 1930 the gas holder was added.

In 1928 London University paid £18,000 for a sportsground in the area. The BBC also bought land for a
sportsground nearby. On 28 August 1937 Sidney Wooderson broke the one-mile world record at the London
University ground.

By the late 1920s, the Merton side was fairly developed but there was little on the New Malden side. The
development on the New Malden side started when Parkes sold land to Wates, the builders. The Wates 1930s
brochure featured houses and the recently built Beverley School. This was Beverley Boys school, now Coombe
Boys, which opened in 1931. The TV personality Robert Robinson lived in West Barnes Lane and attended
Raynes Park School.

[The Editor writes: In his covering note to us, Graham claims that this is not a complete report, as he mentions
only items that interested him. I insist that a personal view is the essence of a report, as it is likely to draw
members’ attention to points they may have missed. See the various and varied views expressed in this issue,
which allow us to escape from ‘dull conformity’.]

Graham Mills

ViSiT TO ST BarThOLOMEW’S ChUrChES aND hOSPiTaL

Unusually, this report is a joint effort. On Friday 20 September 2024 the final
visit of this year’s MHS programme was to the St Bartholomew’s complex at
West Smithfield in the City of London. Our tour guide was Richard Smart
(right) (who in 2023 spoke to MHS on ‘The Salvation Army in Wimbledon’).
Currently the church raises money for its upkeep partly by using it for film
sets (which have included Four Weddings and a Funeral). And we had to make
a hasty visit to the church as there was a wedding scheduled soon after. The
four photos (below) of the interior of St Bartholomew the Great Church show
some of its charming romanesque / Norman architecture . The tomb is that
of the founder, Rahere, a jester to Henry I, who, the guide suggested, had
been a Muslim before converting to Christianity in order to build the hospital,
founded in 1123.

The 2.5 metre bronze sculpture
entitled Exquisite Pain, covered
in ‘a blingy gold coating’ (left),
is by Damien Hirst. It depicts St
Bartholomew having been flayed
for his faith.

A modern grey stone plaque,
by sculptor Emily Huffnung,
commemorates the Peasants’
Revolt of 1381, bearing a quote
from John Ball (as reported by
Froissart) ‘Things cannot go on
well in England …’ Narrow side
panels contrast the likely weapons
of the peasants (on the left) and
of the authorities (on the right).

The church of St Bartholomew the Less, inside the hospital
grounds, features modern stained glass windows with medical
references, such as the staff of Aesculapius and Nightingale’s
traditional lamp. Finally, the fountain in the middle was built
in a refurbishment, possibly in the eighteenth century (right).

Janet holdsworth (who also took our selection of photos)

Jenny allen adds her own memories:

Sixty-three years ago, the ancient church of St Bartholomew
The Great played a memorable role in the life of myself and
my husband Richard; it was there that we had the privilege
of being married on 14 January 1961. The Rev Wallbank
officiated, delivering a beautiful address to us after ‘the knot
had been tied’.

As I walked up the aisle, on my father’s arm, to the
accompaniment of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March (corny,
clichéd, but why not?!), I was overawed by the sense of
antiquity and wonder, that thousands of worshippers
throughout nearly a thousand years had knelt in prayer, been
baptised, married, and mourned in that holy place. A temple
which had served Christians not only as a place of worship,
but as a community itself, treasured by Londoners over centuries. Looking back, I think it was the start of my
lifelong love affair with London, not to mention my new husband of course! Our wedding breakfast was held in
the historic Charterhouse – yet another privilege.

Many years later, something like fifty years or thereabouts, we revisited St Bartholomew’s at a weekend. The
church was busy with visitors; we noted the many initiatives that had taken place, and, whilst we were enjoying
coffee in the cloisters, we started chatting to a gentleman dressed in a clerical gown who appeared to be there in
some sort of semi-official capacity, perhaps as a verger. We mentioned that we had been married in the church
in 1961, whereupon he enquired whether we had had a choir. ‘Yes, we did …’: to our delight and amusement
he told us that it was more than likely that he had sung at our service as a young chorister. A truly lovely
coincidence. This gentleman has devoted years as a volunteer, travelling up from Sussex at weekends to give
his services to his cherished church. It is such tiny moments like this which can have a disproportionately huge
effect on our journeys through our lives. It was a golden moment for Richard and me! The church, with its wise
old walls, has survived the Great Fire of 1666, the bombs of WW2, and who knows what else in the future? It
is an inspiration.

TONy SCOTT gave a presentation at the aGM on
ThE BUrN BULLOCK PUB, MiTChaM

The Burn Bullock, or to give it its earlier name, the King’s
Head, was clearly based upon a Tudor building, with the
timber framed construction appearing to date from the late
16th or early 17th century. According to Eric Montague,
much of the structural timber appears to have been reused,
since by Tudor times good structural hardwood was
scarce and expensive. The 1975 photo of the rear of the
building shows some of this timber framing (right).

There is a reference to a farmhouse on this site, in a
lease dated 20 March 1604/5 relating to a neighbouring
property. The rear wing with its gables, oriel window
and massive chimneys indicates late Elizabethan rather than Jacobean origins. The King’s Head was certainly
one of the earliest meeting places of the Mitcham Vestry after the Restoration. The Surrey Quarter Sessions
records of 1661 mention meetings at a very large alehouse in the village, which we conclude was the King’s
Head. In the mid-18th century, stage coach travel and the establishment of Turnpike Trusts produced the need
for inns that were of sufficient size to be able to provide sustenance and facilities for stagecoach passengers. The
opening of Westminster Bridge in 1755 encouraged this passing trade in Mitcham, so the front part of the King’s
Head was rebuilt in the symmetrical Georgian style.

On 20 January 1941 Burnett (Burn) Bullock and his

wife Lily took over the licence of the Kings Head.

They were local people and Burn was a reasonably

distinguished Surrey cricketer. The pub became the

home of Mitcham cricket and the locals identified the

building as ‘the Burn Bullock’. Burnett Bullock died in

1954 and the licence was continued by his wife, Lily.

(Coincidentally, the building was Grade II Listed in

that year.) In his honour and to accept its common

name, the public house was officially re-named the

Burn Bullock in 1975, soon after Lily Bullock retired as

licensee. A 1975 photo of the front shows the King’s Head sign (above right), while the side view, also 1975,
is of the renamed Burn Bullock (below left). This view
clearly shows the two top (roof) windows that were
blocked up to avoid paying window tax on them, a
tax that was instituted in 1797.

The Burn Bullock finally closed in 2009, after which
the building slowly deteriorated, probably aided
by squatters who took up residence there. At one
time the lead from the roof valleys was stolen, and
English Heritage compelled the owner to replace it,
as belonging to a Listed Building.

At about 7.30pm on Friday 17 April 2024 the alarm was raised that the building was on fire. A team of 80-strong

fire crew fought for three hours to bring the fire under control. Four people were resident in the building, all of

whom escaped safely, but their dog perished. The damage was very extensive, most obvious in the aerial view

(facing page). The remains of the building are probably structurally unsafe and English Heritage has ordered

that they need stabilising with scaffolding as well as a temporary roof needing to be put in place to protect what

remains from further deterioration.

We are left with a number of unanswered questions and even after seven months they are still unanswered.

Do we know who raised the alarm of a fire in the building? Was it an occupant or was it a passer-by?

What was so flammable in the building that caused such a fast spread of flame and took three hours to extinguish?

Were flammable substances stored there? Was an accelerant used?

The photographs look as though there were multiple sources of fire. Does the forensic evidence agree with this

assumption?

aGM: a LaUNCh aND aN aDVErTiSEMENT

After the formal business of the AGM, we gave a formal launch to Irene Burrough’s The Physic Gardens of
Mitcham. This included a short interview of Irene conducted by Peter Hopkins, and surprise boxes of chocolates
to share among the assembled members.

Christine Pittman had googled ‘Mitcham mint’
and found there was a farm in Hampshire still
growing it. She emailed them to ask what she
should buy to cater for a meeting of 30 or so
people, to give them a taste of Mitcham black
peppermint. Their marketing manager said she
loved the back story and would send a box of
samples, free of charge, so we received a pack
of three boxes of chocolates, two boxes of tea
bags, some hand cream and hand wash (right).
Christine sent them a copy of Irene’s book and
some photos from the day, with our thanks. So
we hereby publicise www.summerdown.com for
all minty tastes.

PS Happily, the booklets have proved very popular and already more than 100 copies are in circulation.

MaKiNG MErTON: MiTChaM

A free and friendly craft workshop to mark 60 years of Merton heritage, learning to block print fabric for a
textile artwork. Aspects of local and personal histories will be used to create a distinctive artwork for display.
No experience necessary. This session is aimed at adults and young people aged 14+.

8 March, 2 – 4pm. Canons House, Madeira Road, Mitcham.

Bookings: https://merton.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=206857

NOrMa COX has been looking at the rather varied
rUBBEr iNDUSTriES OF MiTChaM 1845-1963

In Bulletin 232 I wrote about the advertising products made by Hancock, Corfield and Waller, of Morden Road,
Mitcham, under their brand name Hancor. One of the Hancor products was the Ram model which advertised
Young’s Ram Ales for the Wandsworth brewer. It was made of a rubber substance named Beritex; this was pink
and looked like pottery, it was firm yet light, and may have been produced in Mitcham, as the town had eight
rubber factories in the years 1845-1963. This article looks at the history of these Mitcham industries.

rubber history in Mitcham

I had discovered that there were five rubber factories and three chemical manufactories in Mitcham during the
years specified, where the chemical factories produced the chemicals needed for the vulcanisation of rubber, as
well as rubber. Pure rubber, the latex exudate from the bark of the rubber tree, has little strength and elasticity;
it is hard in cold weather and sticky in hot weather. However, by the addition of certain chemicals to the latex
and heating it in controlled conditions, the rubber is rendered elastic. Sulphur was one of the chemicals added
to pure rubber for vulcanisation, while another method used Carbon Black. Synthetic rubber was a rubber
substitute obtained from the petro-chemical industry.1

The earliest Mitcham rubber works had begun by the mid-nineteenth century at the Mitcham parish workhouse
on Mitcham Common, after the workhouse became disused. It had been planned in the late eighteenth century,
when the Lords of the Mitcham Manors of Ravensbury and Biggin and Tamworth were approached by the
parish vestry officers, to seek consent to enclose part of Mitcham Common for a parish workhouse.2 Mitcham
Histories Vol.10 notes that the workhouse was built on Mitcham Common in 1782.3 Rubber had not been
used much in the early nineteenth century, until 1823, when a man named Charles Macintosh developed a
means of waterproofing cloth by using a solution of rubber in naphtha.4 Historian Eric Montague suggested
that a chemical manufactory existed in the disused parish workhouse in 1855, but does not mention its name,
and after 1855 the factory was taken over by Hooper and Fry.5 However, according to Graces Guide, William
Hooper (1817-1877) set up a factory in 1845 at the old Mitcham Workhouse, Mitcham Common.6

The firm of Hooper and Fry manufactured rubber groundsheets and waterproof clothing for troops in the
Crimean War (October 1853 – February 1856). After the Crimean War ended, William Hooper (Fry had already
left the partnership) expanded the works and established Hooper’s Telegraph and India Rubber Company. His
first products were rubber goods for the medical profession. He also carried out experiments for insulating
electric cables using rubber and devised a continuous manufacturing process for this. Hooper’s firm flourished
on the site on Commonside East for a further 30 years.7 The factory was in sight of The Cedars, a large villa in
Mitcham, home of Mr and Mrs G Hooper, who were related to William Hooper, the Managing Director of this
India rubber factory. William Hooper came from Devonshire and he gained a reputation as a manufacturer of
rubber water-beds for invalids in 1840.8 Graces Guide gives details of William Hooper’s career; his business later
developed into a company with a world-wide reputation by producing vast quantities of submarine telephone
cables. His first order was from the Indian Government in 1857, followed by another order for cable to link
India and Ceylon. By 1860 the company was trading using his name. In 1870 he formed Hooper’s Telegraph
Works Ltd to undertake the manufacture and laying of submarine cables. The first order for the new company
was from the Great Northern Telegraph Company for a cable connecting Vladivostok to Hong Kong. In 1873
Hooper’s laid cable off the south coast of South America. In 1877 the company went into liquidation and
Hooper died soon after. The company reformed in 1933 and continued until 1953, with the headquarters then

listed at King William Street London in Graces
Guide.9 These factories are the first two in this
study.

After 1877 the parish workhouse site then
became the India rubber factory site of the
Woodite firm (fig 1 right).10 Part of the crenelated
parish workhouse wall remained until it was
demolished in 2017. The Woodite Company
produced India rubber and steam packaging.
This was the third factory of the study.

The fourth rubber factory was mentioned in
Bulletin 197, where a report noted the Southern

Industrial Rubber Co of 1867, as seen on the O/S map of Western Road, but the author has not found any
further details of this factory.11

The fifth rubber factory in Mitcham, named as Thomas Forster’s India rubber and chemical works, was listed
in the Post Office Directory for 1855, yet there was no similar entry in the 1862 edition. The name Forster
had been incorrectly spelt as ‘Foster’ (see Mitcham history notes).12 The Forster family had been experienced
in manufacturing India rubber waterproofed goods since 1838.13 The Forster’s factory was established in the
old silk mill on Streatham Common, but this site was not in Mitcham. The Forster family had set up another
rubber and chemical factory and it developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. This factory was
Thomas Forster’s 1853 ‘new’ factory, sited at Lonesome Farm,14 and was mentioned in the vestry minutes of
1853. The Lonesome Chemical Works of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries lay west of Rowan
Road and south of Greyhound Terrace today. It was actually part of Mitcham Urban District although the
address was Streatham.15 In 1857 Forster’s Streatham Common rubber factory was purchased by Peter Brussey
Cow (founder of P B Cow Ltd), who had manufactured India rubber goods in Cheapside for the previous nine
years. Thomas Forster became manager of Cow’s new Streatham factory and in 1868 Forster was taken into
partnership.16 However, Graces Guide says the year when Thomas Forster entered into partnership was 1863.17

Thomas Foster had lived at Sparrow Hall, Streatham, and died in 1880 aged 72 years. His youngest son, Emerson,
who died in 1895 at Sparrow Hall, was associated with the Lonesome Chemical Works for 30 years. The eldest
son of Thomas Forster, who was named William George Foster, was a manufacturing chemist and he had
joined in partnership with Edwin Gregory in the business of Forster and Gregory, manufacturing chemists,
at Lonesome in the 1850s.18 A poster of Forster and Gregory from the Chemist and Druggist of 1883, from the
Mitcham History website, is shown below.

The poster shows the date of 1852 when the business started.19 Unfortunately Edwin Gregory of Lonesome
Chemical Works died on 17 December 1878 aged 43, as reported in the Croydon Advertiser & East Surrey
Reporter for Saturday 4 January 1879.20 Graces Guide agrees this partnership was established in 1852, and
further states that William George Foster was married in 1880 at Croydon to Jessy Jane Rosa Blake.21 In the 1901
census they lived in Croydon along with their four children and William’s sister Eliza. In the 1911 census they
lived at Tankerton, Whitstable. Further details of this successful company are given in Graces Guide. It was also
mentioned on the Graces Guide website that an Alfred Thomas Forster of Tooting (late of Lonesome Chemical
Works) who died on 6 May and was mentioned in the Norwood News Friday 15 May 1942, was possibly a son
of William George Foster. The Lonesome works was the fifth factory in this study of Mitcham rubber factories.

The sixth industry involved in the production of rubber in Mitcham was the rubber and chemical works
of Typke and King, located at the Crown Chemical Works in meadows around Tamworth Lodge, between
Commonside East and Tamworth Lane on Mitcham Common. Today this site is near Marlowe Square, Johnson
Close and Donne Place.22 There is a slide by Eric Montague showing Marlowe Square in 1975 on the Merton
Historical Society website; the caption mentions that Marlowe Square and Tamworth Lane were built in the
1950s on the site of the Crown Chemical Works of Typke and King.23 The business of Typke and King was
established in 1883 and supplied chemicals such as Antimony Sulphate used in the rubber industry.24 Typke and
King vulcanised pure rubber by mixing it with sulphur and heating the mixture under definite conditions. The
factory used large Lancashire boilers, a smaller vertical type and several gas engines driven by gas produced on
the spot. They specialised in a red compound which was used in the manufacture of inner tubes and football
bladders, which gave a pleasing colour and prevented the rubber from perishing. Typke and King also used
carbon black in the manufacture of tyres and rubber shoe-soles. The business also made Factice, a rubber
substitute, which was a vulcanised vegetable oil. Its principal use was waterproofing and in Macintoshes, where

the concentration of rubber substitute could be 75%. The
rubber substitute gave a smooth silky feel to the rubber,
prevented rapid perishing and allowed the material to be
added to the cloth with greater ease. The rubber substitute
also acted as a lubricant for vulcanised rubber. Typke and
King also had a research laboratory. One of their posters is
shown here (right), courtesy mitchamhistorynotes.25

However the fumes produced by the Typke and King
chemical industry became a nuisance in the 1930s when
Mitcham was being developed, so by 1940 the business was
taken over by the Newcastle Zinc Oxide Company Ltd of
Birtley, County Durham, and the company relocated to
Birtley.26

The seventh Mitcham rubber company was unoriginally
named the Mitcham Rubber Company. It started in 1916
as a subsidiary of the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber
Company with a rubber factory located on the south side
of Morden Road, as seen on the 1953 O/S map shown on
facing page. This site was very close to the Hancock, Corfield
and Waller factory site. The Mitcham Rubber Company
moved from Mitcham to Leyland in 1963 and their factory
site today is a trading estate. Part of the firm produced latex
products before the business was transferred. The business
was ‘a big local employer in the 1950s and it called workers
back to work with an air-raid siren’. This information was
reported in Mitcham History Notes.27

Finally the eighth factory in this study was the rubber business of North’s Rubber Co, who produced bathing
caps and surgical items in 1953. The business was located on James Factory Estate, Mitcham, and was part of the
Holborn Workhouse on Western Way as recorded in Mitcham History Notes.28 It is not clear if the rubber was
produced on the premises or if it was purchased-in as sheets of rubber. A view of the James Industrial Estate is
seen in a slide by Eric Montague on the website of Merton Historical Society.29

A smell of rubber emanating from nearby Mitcham rubber-factories was mentioned by Michael Reed in
his memories of his Mitcham childhood Growing up in Mitcham 1939-1963. He was born in 1939 and lived
above his grandparents shop at 114 Christchurch Road which is at the boundary with Colliers Wood. The
documentation of his childhood memories gives historical evidence that rubber factories were in production
in Mitcham during the period 1939-1963.30

Conclusion

The historical evidence shows that the Mitcham rubber industry was well established by 1845 and continued
until 1963. The local rubber industry had in fact started in 1838, seven years earlier, in the adjoining borough
of Streatham. The Young’s Ram model was made in the 1930s but there is no direct evidence of whether the
rubber used to make the model came from a Mitcham factory. Yet manufacturers often used factories close
to their premises for their supplies, as was seen in the business of lenses supplier Taylor Hobson of Leicester
who supplied the lenses to the Reid’s Camera factory in Braunstone, Leicestershire. (This information was
recorded in the author’s article about the Reid Camera in Bulletin 231 June 2024).31 There were two factories
producing rubber in 1930s Mitcham: Typke and King of the Crown Chemical Works, Mitcham Common,
and the Mitcham Rubber Company, Morden Road. Typke and King specialised in a red compound which was
used in the production of inner tubes and football bladders. Beritex the substance used to make the Young’s
Ram model was also red and it was also used in the production of football bladders. Another feature favouring
Typke and King as the possible supplier of the Beritex rubber compound was the fact that Typke and King
had a research laboratory which was a complete miniature rubber manufacturing plant and here they used
various powders to modify the rubber. The actual powder used depended on the purpose for which the rubber
was intended. Typke and King therefore made new rubber compounds in small amounts and this would be
beneficial for the small purchaser.

acknowledgements

To Sarah Gould and London Borough of Merton for the use of Figure 1. To Graces Guide for information about
the British rubber industry in Mitcham UK.

1 History of rubber. https://factsanddetails.com/world/cat52/sub329/entry-8260.html

2 Mitcham Common workhouse: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 1 (2001) p.45

3 Mitcham Common workhouse: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 10 (2013) p.119

4 Macintosh: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 3 (2002) p.20
See Note 4

6 https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/ William_Hooper (1817-1877)

7 See Note 4

8 Macintosh: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 3 (2002) p.64

9 https:www.gracesguide.co.uk/Hoopers_Telegraph_and_India-Rubber_Works
Woodite/workhouse wall: https://www.mitchamhistorynotes.com/tag/woodite. Also https://photoarchive.merton.gov.
uk/collections/buildings/workhouses/35339-the-workhouse-on-mitcham-common

11 MHS Bulletin 197 (March 2016) page 6

12 https://www.mitchamhistorynotes.com/tag/1894/page/9

13 See Note 4

14 See Note 4
https://www.mitchamhistorynotes.com/2015/06/02/lonesome-chemical-works

16 See Note 4

17 https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/P._B._Cow_and_Co

18 Forster and Gregory: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 3 (2002) p.21

19 Chemist and Druggist poster: https://www.mitchamhistorynotes.com/tag/1894/page/9
Obituary of Edwin Gregory: See Note 19

21 (and the rest of this paragraph) https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_George_Forster

22 Tamworth Lodge: Montague E N, Mitcham Histories 3 (2002) p.70

23 Montague E N, SLIDE: https://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/pollards-hill-commonside-east-and-lonesome-e-nmontagues-
slides/mhs-em-ph-l-56/

24 https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Typke_and_King
https://www.mitchamhistorynotes.com/tag/rubber

26 Newcastle Zinc Oxide Company: See Note 26

27 Mitcham Rubber Morden Road https://mitchamhistorynotes.com/tag/1918/

28 North’s Rubber Co: See Note 27

29 Montague E N, SLIDE: https://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/upper-mitcham-and-western-road-e-n-montagues-slides/
Reed, Michael Growing up in Mitcham (1939-1963) MHS Local History Notes-16 (2000)

31 Cox, Norma, The Reid Camera MHS Bulletin 231 June 2024, pp.15-16

MiChaEL NEThErSOLE

We regret to report the death of Michael Nethersole, who may not have been quite one of our founder
members, but was one of our earliest, youngest, most enthusiastic and ubiquitous.

For example: he played the part of Diggory, servant to Mr Hardcastle, in the Merton and Morden Historical
Society Players’ production of She Stoops to Conquer, performed in the British Legion Hall, Kingston Road,
on 3-6 November 1954. He joined groups of MHS members on summer rambles to such places as North
Holmwood (2 June 1957, photo in Bulletin 162, June 2007). As noted recently, in May 1962 the Society
decided to build a model of Merton Priory. Using data supplied by Miss E M Jowett and Mr Dennis Turner,
this model was constructed by Mr J H Burchett of Morden Library and painted by Michael.

He painted in watercolour throughout
his life, his subjects mainly depicting
landscapes and sky studies (right).
Most of the Society’s excavations in
the 1960s included Michael, as he
had early developed an interest in
archaeology.

Painting in watercolour of a Landscape

near ‘Midgham, Berks’ (Sulis Fine Art)

We have a recollection of his about the Short Batsworth dig of 1966-68:

‘The December 1966 part of the dig was cold and the trenches were damp. The finds were
small and, as I had come back from a summer holiday in Greece and Crete, I had hoped to
uncover jewels and gold – but no such luck! However, we were a cheerful bunch who worked
well together as a group. Over lunchtime sandwiches we told tales of yore, about ‘interesting’
people such as Jeremy Bentham and Bess Throckmorton.’

Michael remained a member of our Society until he died in 2024. He even kindly remembered us in his
will, from which the Society benefits to the tune of £220.

EXhiBiTiON ‘BLUEPRINTING HISTORY’

Society member Cathy Corbishley Michel is having a one person retrospective exhibition of her Cyanotype
Textiles and Prints in the Stableyard Exhibition Space at Morden Hall Park, from 1 March to 27 April.

Open daily 10.15am – 4pm. Entry is free.
The display will include large pieces from her Exploration series (Shackleton, Scott and Captain Cook),
and the Green Man, Muybridge in Motion, the Lewis Chessmen, Nelson in Merton and Apollo 13 pieces.

Small pieces and cards will be for sale in the bookshop, with all proceeds going to the upkeep of the Park.

MHS is bound by the UK General Data Protection Regulation.
Please see the MHS website regarding how this concerns your personal data.

Letters and contributions for the Bulletin should be sent to the hon. Editor
by email to editor@mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk.
The views expressed in this Bulletin are those of the contributors concerned
and not necessarily those of the Society or its Officers.

website: www.mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk email: mhs@mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk