The Story of the Long Thornton and District Improvement Society

Appendix 4
Map showing the area of the Association

ISBN 1 903899 33 8
Published by Merton Historical Society – March 1995
Further information on Merton Historical Society can be obtained from
Merton Library & Heritage Service, Merton Civic Centre, London Road, Morden, Surrey. SM4 5DX
MERTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
LOCAL HISTORY NOTES – 10
The Story of The Long Thornton and
District Improvement Association
By Christine Munday – 1990
Introduction

The years between the two world wars saw a rapid development of housing in the suburbs
surrounding London and other major cities. Many people of relatively modest income
moved out from the overcrowding of city centres to become owner occupiers on suburban
estates. However, development was frequently so rapid that in the days before effective
planning legislation, whole estates were built before the road system, shops, schools, etc.
were constructed or even planned.

Such a situation existed when the Long Thornton area of Mitcham was developed in the late
1920s and this publication traces the teething problems of the estate and the fortunes of the
residents’ association which was formed to combat them. The events related are in many
ways typical of those occurring in many other similar suburban developments.

The Formation of The Long Thornton Park Ratepayers’ Association

The Long Thornton Park Estate was the original name given to the houses in Northborough
Road and the surrounding roads when they were built in 1926/7. They were constructed
on land which was previously country lanes, or market gardens belonging to the Marchant
and Mizen families.

The houses were built under the terms of The Small Dwellings Acquisitions Acts, which
were measures passed to encourage builders to erect more houses, and to enable people
to acquire ownership of small houses. Builders received a subsidy of £75 per house, and
purchasers of new houses also received a subsidy of £50-£75 towards the purchase price.

Local authorities could advance mortgages on houses with a market value not exceeding
£1200, and Mitcham Urban District Council advanced most of the mortgages for the houses
on the Long Thornton Park Estate which ranged in price from £560-£700, with mortgages of
£495-£630, mostly at 5½% interest. Mitcham UDC advanced a lot of mortgages under the
Acts – by the end of the scheme in 1931 over £2,250,000 had been advanced, with more than
4,000 people buying their houses by this means. A number of different builders constructed
the houses, and the price meant that they were within the means of clerks and skilled workers.
While the houses were reasonably well built, the lack of amenities and local facilities was a
great concern to the original residents – the roads had inadequate temporary surfaces, street
lighting was poor, there were no local bus routes, no local schools and very few shops.

The early residents, after talking between themselves, called an open-air meeting at which
they decided to form a Ratepayers’ Association as a vehicle through which they could voice
their complaints collectively and try to secure improvements to local facilities and amenities.

The Early Days Of The Association

The Association was formed in November 1927, when the estate was still in the process of
construction, and a letter explaining the original aims of the Association and that membership
cost 3s per year went to each householder asking them to join. A copy of the original letter
is in Appendix 2.

The committee extended the area of the Association to include nearby housing developments,
and the area covered by the Association in 1938 is shown on the map in Appendix 4 which
is taken from the Official Guide to Mitcham for that year. The borders of the Association’s
area are outlined with a thick black line.

The Association realised very quickly that they would need representatives on the council
to enable their complaints to be voiced effectively, and politically independent councillors
representing ratepayers’ interests were elected from 1929. In future years Ratepayers’
candidates for the council were often supported by more than one of the Ratepayers’
Associations in the ward.

2

Appendix 3 – Report from the Evening Standard – December 5th 1927

Appendix 2
A copy of the original letter which went to each householder

One of the main problems taken up by the Association in the early days was the state of the
roads and footpaths, graphically described by Miss Turner in Appendix 1. The roads became
so bad that the men living in the area formed voluntary gangs at weekends and attempted to
repair the roads themselves. There is a photograph and report from the Evening Standard of
December 5th 1927 in Appendix 3 which shows how bad the roads were. Throughout 1928
the councillors and the Association continued to press Mitcham UDC about the condition
of the roads and Northborough Road, the road in the Evening Standard photograph, was

finally made up in January 1929, with the other roads following later.

As the estate expanded the Association kept the attention of the Council directed towards the
problem, continually pointing out the poor condition of the roads but they were not usually
made up for some 3 or 4 years after the houses were built. There was a very fast expansion
of housing in Mitcham in the 1920s – from 7,150 houses in 1921 to 13,187 in 1931 – which
caused the backlog in road construction. Other questions taken up during the early years
included street lighting, postal facilities, schools and bus services.

A bus route serving the estate was introduced in November 1929 by the London General
Omnibus Company, the predecessor of London Transport, and this ran from The Horse and
Groom public house to the Greyhound public house at the top of Greyhound Lane. The
route was later extended to follow the current 60 route to Clapham Common.

One secondary school (now Rowan) and an infant and junior school (Sherwood) were opened
in 1930, and the Association kept up pressure for more schools.

The first edition of a free monthly newsletter was published in April 1928 under the name of

the Long Thornton Park Magazine, but this name was later changed to the Long Thornton
Pioneer. When the first newsletter
was published membership had already reached 425,
and it continued to grow until by June 1932 it stood at 2479. Membership declined to
approximately 2000 in October 1934, which is the last year for which figures can be found.

The newsletter had a circulation of 2000 copies in 1934, a level at which it stayed until 1938.

The social aspect of the Association was very important from the start and the Long Thornton
Park Ratepayers’ Association provided a wide range of clubs and activities. This aspect

already features heavily in the first newsletter, with the social secretary listing activities under

consideration which included a tennis club, debating society, orchestra, dances and whist
drives, with suggestions being invited from members for additional activities. Whist drives,
which were to remain very popular, were a major source of fund-raising in the early days.

Articles about health matters, cookery hints and gardening also feature in the first edition

of the newsletter.

3

The Heyday Of The Association

By early 1932 when regular copies of the newsletters are available, the Association was
very well established, with its own hall for social functions, a sports ground, councillors
representing ratepayers’ interests on Mitcham UDC and Surrey County Council, a large
general committee of 46 members and many different clubs, sections and committees. By
this time the name of the Association had been changed to The Long Thornton and District
Improvement Association Ltd.

The activities of the Association can be grouped under the following headings, and I will
describe the work of the Association using these headings:

1
Matters relating to the area which were taken up with the Council and other official

bodies
2 Advice and help for members
3 Social and leisure activities
4 Sporting activities
5 Charitable activities

1 Matters Affecting The Area Which Were Taken Up With The Council and Other

Official Bodies

The officers of the Association and its councillors were very active on behalf of their members

– one candidate for election to Mitcham UDC in 1932 claimed to have written over 600
letters on Association business in the previous year.

The Association, along with other Ratepayers’ Associations in the ward, supported the

nomination of candidates to represent their interests and fight seats in the then East Ward

(the name changed after a re-organisation of the wards in 1938 to the Long Thornton Ward).
They also nominated a candidate for election to Surrey County Council.

The candidates received a lot of support in the area. When describing the Mitcham UDC
election in April 1933 The Mitcham News and Mercury stated that the turnout in the East
Ward was “the biggest in the history of any of the wards in Mitcham” and goes on to describe
how the Long Thornton and District Improvement Association, the Galpins Road Ratepayers’
Association and the East Mitcham Ratepayers’ Association (the other associations in the
ward) had raised more than 60 helpers to canvass voters, had lots of motor cars available
to take people to the polls and that many houses had been visited 3 or 4 times during the
canvassing process.

Mitcham received its incorporation and became a Borough Council in 1934, and the first

elections of the new borough in November 1934 resulted in a Labour majority of 2, there
being 13 Labour members and 11 Ratepayers’ members. The Labour Party adopted some
rather dubious tactics at this election, at the last minute nominating a Mr W Wright to stand.
Many voters confused him with the Ratepayers’ Mr E W Wright, who lost his seat, but he
regained it soon afterwards in a by-election in December. The Labour majority was overturned
in 1936 when the November election produced a council of 17 Ratepayers and 15 Labour
members (including aldermen), and the Ratepayers retained their majority until the war years.

4

Norbury Manor was the nearest school, but it was in Croydon and they would not
have us there so we had to go to Gorringe Park. I was a girl of about 10 when
we lived here. We didn’t go to school if the weather was too bad because it wasn’t
safe – there was a fireworks factory there and we had to go through a copse and
you never knew who was lurking in the copse.
When the fog came down in the afternoon there would be a mass exodus of all the
children who lived this way so we could get home before it got too bad. Sometimes
our mothers would come and meet us because they were worried about us.
Our education suffered – we missed a lot of time because of this, although I went
to work at 14 and worked through until I was 60, so I didn’t do too badly did I?
They built a little temporary school of tin huts with 6 classrooms on the Rowan
Road School site. Until they were 8 or 9 the little ones went to Lonesome School,
then to Rowan. There was the Mitcham Secondary School for boys and girls for
14 to 16 year olds. The boys’ school was at Beehive Bridge. I don’t know where
the girls’ school was.
The community cared a lot about the children – the lack of schools was a great
worry to the Association. When the church was built we had Guides, Scouts and
Cubs. Freda Mizen started the first guide troop around here and I was the first
enrolled guide in the area. It was a good troop – we had 30 to 40 girls and we
gave demonstrations of the work we had done for parents and put on shows too,
which father produced.
We had a sports ground over the back in Middle Way. It is overgrown now but we
had tennis courts and a putting green, fêtes and fairs there. We put on Christmas
shows too. Women had whist drives in the afternoons – the women didn’t work
then. Mother and the other women would make bandages and knit operating
stockings for the Wilson Hospital.
We had very few shops in the beginning, only 3 from where the Post Office is now
to Londis; then they built some more. We had a shoe repairers, haberdashery,
library, fishmonger, hardware shop. Cordwell the butcher has always been there,
and a chemist – that used to be Ellisons. We had a greengrocers – the first owner
was a man called Haggis, but he wasn’t Scottish, and a Post Office-cum-newsagent.
If we wanted a bus in the early days we had to walk all the way to the Salvation
Army place at the bottom of Streatham Vale, but eventually we had a bus route
from the Horse and Groom pub to Greyhound Lane.
I used to go blackberrying in Longthornton Road, and Rowan Road was a muddy
track. My first job was in the cemetery in Rowan Road – when the men went off
to the war I had to run it all by myself. I think things started to change after the
war – the men came home with a bad attitude – “the country owes me a living”
kind of thing.
13

Appendix 1
Transcript of interview with Miss Marjory Turner on 16th November 1989.
Miss Turner is the daughter of the founding chairman of the Long Thornton Park
Ratepayers Association, Mr George W Turner.
We moved into this house in 1927, the Association was formed early in 1928.
Then only Northborough, Avenue, Beckway, and Middle Roads and Middle Way
had been built.
There were no buses, the roads were not made up and we had no schools or
churches. The council were not moving to get things done, so father and others
formed the Association. Everyone was grumbling about the conditions – nearly
everyone on the estate joined.
There were no proper pavements or roads – there were railway sleeper tracks
instead of roads. When it rained the tracks floated. When we walked after it had
been raining you often sank into water half way up your calves.
Avenue Road wasn’t too bad but Northborough Road was the worst because it
took most of the traffic. The men repaired the roads themselves.
It was illegal then to have a car and park it on the street so if you didn’t have a
garage you couldn’t have a car. These houses have not got garages or backways
so no-one had cars then. It wasn’t until after the war when cars became more
common that the government had to bend the rules.
Miss Turner showed me a cutting from the Evening Standard of December 5th
1927 showing local men repairing Northborough Road (see Appendix 3).
A lot of men helped – they gave whatever time they could to help. It was really
dangerous at night – there was little street lighting and you did not know whether
the next foothold would be deep or not.
Father was Chairman of the Association for 10 years – he resigned because some
of the committee wanted to align with political parties, but the Association was
supposed to be non-sectarian and non-political for councillors. My father did
not agree that the Association should be political in any way so he resigned, but
it was him who re-formed the Association after the war, as soon as it had ended.
You needed money to be a councillor in those days – you didn’t get paid. We had
councillors from 1929 – you had to have them argue your case in the council.
Father acted as agent for Mr Field and Mr Harris.
We had committees of twenty then, and for the AGMs the hall was packed and
some people had to stand.
Appendix 1
Transcript of interview with Miss Marjory Turner on 16th November 1989.
Miss Turner is the daughter of the founding chairman of the Long Thornton Park
Ratepayers Association, Mr George W Turner.
We moved into this house in 1927, the Association was formed early in 1928.
Then only Northborough, Avenue, Beckway, and Middle Roads and Middle Way
had been built.
There were no buses, the roads were not made up and we had no schools or
churches. The council were not moving to get things done, so father and others
formed the Association. Everyone was grumbling about the conditions – nearly
everyone on the estate joined.
There were no proper pavements or roads – there were railway sleeper tracks
instead of roads. When it rained the tracks floated. When we walked after it had
been raining you often sank into water half way up your calves.
Avenue Road wasn’t too bad but Northborough Road was the worst because it
took most of the traffic. The men repaired the roads themselves.
It was illegal then to have a car and park it on the street so if you didn’t have a
garage you couldn’t have a car. These houses have not got garages or backways
so no-one had cars then. It wasn’t until after the war when cars became more
common that the government had to bend the rules.
Miss Turner showed me a cutting from the Evening Standard of December 5th
1927 showing local men repairing Northborough Road (see Appendix 3).
A lot of men helped – they gave whatever time they could to help. It was really
dangerous at night – there was little street lighting and you did not know whether
the next foothold would be deep or not.
Father was Chairman of the Association for 10 years – he resigned because some
of the committee wanted to align with political parties, but the Association was
supposed to be non-sectarian and non-political for councillors. My father did
not agree that the Association should be political in any way so he resigned, but
it was him who re-formed the Association after the war, as soon as it had ended.
You needed money to be a councillor in those days – you didn’t get paid. We had
councillors from 1929 – you had to have them argue your case in the council.
Father acted as agent for Mr Field and Mr Harris.
We had committees of twenty then, and for the AGMs the hall was packed and
some people had to stand.
12

The Ratepayers’ councillors pressed many issues affecting the Long Thornton residents.
These included opposing increased rating assessments, and in 1934 the Association engaged
a rating expert to act in the interests of members in this matter. The use of surplus funds
acquired as a result of early repayment of mortgages under the Small Dwellings Acquisitions
Acts, to reduce the general rate over three years in the mid-thirties was also opposed. The
councillors argued that the money should be used as a bonus for those with mortgages rather

than for the benefit of everyone – they did not win the day on this issue, however.

The mortgage interest rate most of the Long Thornton residents were paying (5½%) was
higher than the general rate that prevailed in the mid-thirties, which was around 4%. The
Association tried to have the interest rate lowered, repeatedly bringing the matter to the
attention of the local council and the Ministry of Health. Their cause was taken up by the
local MP, Sir Richard Mellor, in Parliament but the rate remained in force, although the
Ministry did ask local authorities to extend the loans. The Westbourne Park Building Society
did agree to take over the existing Mortgages in 1936 at an interest rate of 4½%, with no
costs to the mortgagor for the transfer.

Another matter taken up by the Association was the cost of gas and electricity. For example,
The Mitcham News and Mercury of April 21st 1933 describes how the Association took
up the question of electric lighting charges being lower in Sutton than in Mitcham, and on
September 7th 1934 when the Long Thornton district was not included in reduced electricity
prices, even though their near neighbours in the London County Council were, they again
took the matter up.

The Association continued to press very hard for improvements to the public transport services
in the area. As mentioned previously, a bus route was initiated which ran through the estate
in 1929, but it was not as regular as the residents needed, especially in the rush hours, and
the Association continuously pressed for improvements. The Mitcham News and Mercury
reports several instances of the Association sending a deputation to, or raising matters with,
the London General Omnibus Company or later the London Transport Passenger Board.
Although not all their ideas or complaints were acted upon they did succeed in gaining
improvements to the service. For example, on September 18th 1936 The Mitcham News
and Mercury stated that “bus route changes are being introduced because of lobbying from
the Long Thornton and District Improvement Association and the Streatham Vale Property
Owners Association”.

The Association also pressed for a bus route to link the area with Mitcham town itself so
that residents could take advantage of new facilities such as the library and swimming baths.
They called themselves “the children of the wilderness” because of their isolation from
them. The problem with running a bus route was that it had to cross Beehive Bridge which
in the 1930s was not strong enough to take the weight of buses. The council eventually
supported the Association’s efforts and applied to the Ministry of Transport for a grant, and

the bridge was finally strengthened in 1939 to enable a bus route to run through to Mitcham.

The Association had been pressing for this at least since 1933, so it is an illustration of the
persistence it showed in tackling problems.

5

The other important matter taken up by the Association was the lack of schools in the area.

Miss Turner described what it was like for the first children on the estate (see Appendix

1). The Association continually pressed the question of the lack of schools. A secondary
school for girls was opened in 1930, one junior and infant school was opened in 1929 and
another in 1935. However, they were greatly concerned that the second primary school (now
Alfred Mizen and Greenwood schools) had been opened before it was ready. It was said to
be “dirty and dusty” inside, the footpaths were reported to be in a deplorable state and the
playground was covered with clinker which the Association considered to be dangerous.
The Association continued to press until these matters were resolved.

The March 1932 edition of the Long Thornton Pioneer records that a “strong” education

sub-committee had been formed because they were profoundly dissatisfied with the existing

facilities and standard of education in Mitcham schools compared to those in the London
County Council (LCC).

The Association also approached the Education Committee of Surrey County Council to
try to persuade them to make a grant, so that children from the part of the Association area
that bordered on to the LCC area should be able to go to the nearest LCC school. The Long
Thornton Pioneer frequently gave information about schooling matters, for example when
the second infant and junior school was due to be opened it gave details about catchment
areas and advised parents to enrol their children to ensure admittance to the new school.

Concern for the children in the area comes through very strongly in the newsletters – the
Association pressed for swings to be put in all the local recreation grounds and strongly
objected to a proposal to allow cricket matches to be played in Rowan Road recreation ground
on Saturday afternoons, saying that playgrounds should be for children only who should be
able to play in safety and without the danger of being hit by a cricket ball.

2 Advice and Help For Members

The Association helped members in a very practical way – it could arrange for members to
sell their houses through reliable estate agents at advantageous rates. If members fell into
arrears with their mortgage the Association would arrange for payments to be brought into
line by instalments. There was advice available on aspects of house maintenance and on

matters like building bye-laws, and in June 1932 they engaged an expert in National Health,

Unemployment Insurance and Workmen’s Compensation Acts to answer members’ questions.

The Association also ran its own Sickness Benefit Club. Members paid a weekly contribution
of 10d for benefits during sickness of 15s per week for 6 weeks and 7s 6d for a further 6
weeks. Death benefit was paid at the rate of 1s per member, with a limit of £10. The surplus

money was shared out in December each year. Membership of the Scheme ranged from 160
in 1933 to 215 in 1937. Examples of the dividend paid out in December in different years are:

£1 9s. 11d. in 1933
£1 11s. 8d. in 1937
£1 13s. 0d. in 1938

6

This amalgamation coincided with economic difficulties which forced the closureof the
Long
Thornton Pioneer after 10 years. The new alliance of Associations published a newsletter
called The Log in which each Association had 6 pages of news. An organisation called
The New Ratepayers’ Association arose from within the alliance which ousted The Long
Thornton Association from The Log, so the Association was but a shadow of its former self.

Local people did miss The Pioneer, however, and requests for its re-appearance resulted

in its re-publication in June 1939. Unfortunately, only 2 issues were published before the

war intervened and the Association closed for the duration. Immediately after the war
the Association was re-formed by Mr G W Turner, the founding chairman of the original
Association.

Ironically, while the social side of the Association was floundering badly in the last couple of
years before the war things like anti-gas lectures, first-aid courses and other measures arranged

by the Association to prepare the residents for the war were generally over-subscribed and
duplicate courses were often run.

It is perhaps fitting that despite the Association’s relative decline it did a lot of very good
work to prepare the people of Long Thornton for the coming conflict, and the area produced

more volunteers for National Service prior to war being declared than any other in Mitcham.

Conclusion

The Long Thornton and District Improvement Association was indeed a dynamic organisation
of “ordinary” people who combined together and achieved remarkable success in a number
of ways.

It is a pity that not all copies of the Long Thornton Pioneer are available – the absence of
issues in the early years means that it is not possible to follow the growth of the Association
and its development, and for the later years it is not always possible to follow through the
resolution, or otherwise, of issues raised by the Association.

These “ordinary” men and women managed to galvanise large numbers in the area not just to
join the Association but to take an active interest in local matters, attend meetings regularly
and work on committees to pressurise different authorities or organisations – not an easy thing
to persuade people to do. They undoubtedly followed through issues with great persistence,
and time and again gained improvements for the local people.

The social side of the Association helped to foster community spirit and great concern was
shown for the welfare of the children and those blighted by unemployment. This indicates
that suburban life, far from producing isolated families, could be a community that cared.

It is perhaps a shame that in the last couple of years before the war things declined so that
the end of the story is not a totally happy one, but the way that the Association helped to

prepare the local community for the Home Front in the Second World War is a fitting finale

to a remarkable chapter of local history.

11

The Treasurer reported at the first quarterly meeting
of 1936 that “the conviction recorded

against us has resulted in the dispersement of the whole of our funds and it is only with the

greatest difficulty that we have been able to carry on.”

Attendances at the quarterly meetings began to fall dramatically. In the early years the hall
would be crowded, with proceedings going on for some time. Apathy had already begun
to creep in before the court case – at the AGM of 1935 which was held in the same week as
the court case the secretary lamented the lack of interest by members, but attendances did
not pick up again.

There was a temporary resurgence of interest in 1937 -100 people attended the July quarterly
meeting, but the first 2 meetings of 1938 had to be cancelled because there were insufficient

numbers at the meetings. At the meeting of 30th April 1938 the only people who turned

up were 1 councillor, 3 officials, 1 member of the public and 2 newspaper representatives.

At the time the Association put forward the theory that the reason for the increase in apathy
could partly be due to the fact that conditions in the area had changed. When the houses
were built most had owner-occupiers living in them, who had a vested interest in the area
and wanted to see facilities improved. By 1936 a lot of the houses had been sold to landlords
or sub-let and some were occupied by 2 or even 3 families who often did not have the same
interest in local affairs.

The Association felt that this was contrary to the spirit of the Small Dwellings Acquisitions
Acts and had changed the make-up of the area resulting in a certain loss of the community
spirit that had been built up among the original residents. It was estimated in 1938 that the
number of houses that were rented was as high as 50%. They felt that this, coupled with
the fact that the amenities and facilities originally fought for had been won, was responsible
for the lack of interest. Another factor which may have affected the Association was that
by this time St Olave’s Church had been built and was very active, which may have taken
some attention away from the Association.

Various measures were tried in an effort to save the day – the social club side was divorced

from the ratepayers’ aspect in an attempt to put both on a more secure footing financially,

and then for the same reason they were amalgamated again in December 1938 under the title
of The Long Thornton Social and Improvement Association Ltd, but nothing really revived
interest in the Association.

At the same time as all this was happening locally, the various Ratepayers’ Associations of
Mitcham were joining together in a Federation which the Long Thornton Association joined
in late 1936, and a Surrey Federation was also formed, which the Long Thornton Association

also joined in June 1936. The emphasis thus shifted from a lot of smaller local Associations

working independently, to larger ones which represented whole areas. It was therefore not
surprising that when the wards of the borough were re-organised in 1938 it was agreed that
The Long Thornton Association should join with the East Mitcham Ratepayers’ Association
and the Pollards Hill Ratepayers’ Association in a new organisation to cover the ward.

10

3 Social and Leisure Activities

The range of social and leisure activities and clubs set up by the Association was very wide

and included:

· dances and socials

· whist drives

· concerts by visiting artistes

· Christmas parties for the children of the estate and also for poor children in the

borough

· day trips – for example a Derby Day trip in 1933

· sports days and fairs – gala days, for example to celebrate the silver jubilee of King

George V

· a licensed bar available to members

· a horticultural society, which put on large shows

· a dramatic society, which put on many successful productions

· arts and crafts classes for children

4 Sporting Activities

The Association had its own sports ground on which there was an 18 hole putting green
which was very popular at 2d per round, and also hard-courts for tennis. Cricket and football
matches were held between the different roads in the Association’s area, and a junior sports
and athletics section was formed in 1937.

5 Charitable Activities

The Association organised door-to-door “penny a week” collections for the Wilson Hospital
and also paid for a cot in the children’s ward there.

One very interesting aspect of the Association’s charitable work is the unemployment
committees which were set up in February 1932. Two committees were formed; one a small
supervising executive of employed members, and the other, a larger working committee of
unemployed members.

The functions of the executive committee were advertising, canvassing employers, the
allocation of funds, and to supply newspapers and trade journals. One person from the
working committee would be at the Association’s premises in Middle Way from 9 until 12
each morning to accept applications from unemployed members, advise of vacancies or
prospects reported, assist with letters of application, copies of references and such like, for
which newspapers, writing paper and envelopes were provided. Employed members were
asked to subscribe weekly to the unemployment fund and two local shops agreed to accept
subscriptions.

All Association members were asked to help by

· telling any employers they knew about the bureau and to give them the address

· telling the committee of any vacancies spotted in trade journals which seemed

to offer good prospects for the unemployed

· letting the committee know of any big building jobs, or new factories opening

· allowing the unemployed in the district to do any household maintenance or

decorating jobs for members.

7

The occupations of the unemployed members in June 1932 included:

Sales Manager Book-keeper Mechanical Engineer
Stock-keeper Typist Canteen Steward
Fur Cutter Clerk Accountant
Engineer Draughtsman Furnishing Trade Manager
Window Cleaner Baker’s Roundsman

In January 1933 the
Long Thornton Pioneer reported that “our own committee has been
instrumental in finding work for quite a few members.” In that month Mitcham UDC decided

to set up its own fund for relief of local unemployment. The Association decided to join in
with the Council’s fund and continued to raise money and send clothing and shoes. In May
however, the Council’s fund closed and the Association decided to resume its previous work.

Events such as a grand sports day and fair, concerts, whist drives, jumble sales, raffles, bazaars

and sales of handicraft work helped to raise money. Fortnightly meetings of the unemployed
were held in order to raise the men’s morale and allow them to swap experiences.

The number of unemployed registered in December 1933 was 57, with 21 acute hardship
cases being handled that month. By February 1934 the number of men registered had
dropped to 41.

Gifts to the unemployed were always in kind – never money. The balance sheet of 31st

January 1934 indicates how the money was raised and spent :

Income £ s d Expenditure £ s d

Subscriptions 97 18 10 Expenses 4 0 7
Donations 8 6 10 Relief 82 7 10½
Ladies’ Section 35 12 9 Cash in bank 122 18 11
Horticultural Section 6 12 7 Cash in hand 5 2 1½
Whist Drive Committee 2 16 6
Choral Section 2 11 0
Entertainment Section 5 10 11
Sports Day and Fair 55 0 1

2149 6 21496

Figures for the amount of relief given out by October in 1934 and 1935 were:

1934 1935
Number of food and milk vouchers 318 600
Value of food vouchers £74 9s 9d £104 3s 0d
Number of pints of milk 1629 3232
Number of eggs 192 260

151 cwt of coal were distributed in the winter of 1933-34 as well as clothes, shoes, etc.
which had been donated. Christmas parties were held for the children of the unemployed
and food parcels were given to the families at Christmas.

8

In October 1935 the Long Thornton Pioneer reported that “it is with great satisfaction that
we are able to record a distinct improvement in the position in this district and it is our sincere
hope that the tide is now turned for the better.” This did turn out to be the case, although
the unemployment committee continued its work until 1937. Unfortunately, subsequent
accounts to show the total amount of aid given cannot be found.

The interesting aspect of this charitable work is that the members of the Association were
not well off themselves – some may well have been on short-time working and many were

finding it hard to meet their high mortgage payments, yet they were willing to work hard to

help their neighbours who were unemployed. The holding of meetings to raise the men’s

morale and the provision of stationery are forerunners of the “Job Clubs” instigated by the

Department of Employment in the 1980s.

The Last Years of the Association

The years up to 1935 were to be the real heyday of the Association, with great interest shown

in local affairs, a lot of support for officers and councillors, large attendances at the quarterly

and annual general meetings and social functions being tremendously popular.

Plans were being made to erect a large new building to cater for social functions, and the
sports ground was being developed with new changing rooms being built, when on three

occasions in mid-1935 three police officers in plain clothes attended Association dances and

obtained alcoholic drinks without being members. This led to the Association being brought
before Croydon County Magistrates Court charged with allowing their premises to be used
for public music and dancing entertainments without a licence. The steward was summoned
for selling intoxicating liquor to non-members without a justices’ licence and the president
and the secretary were both summoned for aiding and abetting the steward in his offence.

The magistrates regarded the offence with gravity, especially in view of the fact that when

a council inspector visited the premises fire precautions were inadequate and the hall was

overcrowded.

The Association was fined £50 with 20 guineas costs

The president was fined £25 with 15 guineas costs

The secretary was fined £25 with 10 guineas costs

The steward was fined £7

The club was struck off the register, but not disqualified.

The revenue from the bar was one of the main sources of income for the Association and its
closure for 3 months proved to be a tremendous blow. As well as the loss of income it led
to a lack of interest in social events which never really revived.

The Association had overstretched itself by borrowing £3,000 to build the new hall as well as
having other building work to pay for, and despite warnings in the Long Thornton Pioneer
that unless more support was forthcoming closure of the Association would be inevitable,

the local people did not rally round and the Association’s finances were never again in the

healthy condition they were prior to the court case.

9