The Clapham Society Local History Series
44. Clapham Scientists – adding to the tally
By Timothy M M Baker. Clapham’s status as a fashionable suburb in the great era of amateur science in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, perhaps combined with its… Read more43. Henry Cavendish’s Clapham Observatory
By Timothy M M Baker Derrick Johnson, in his 2018 article for the South London Press, also published in the Clapham Society’s Local History Series, ‘Eccentric Scientist Who Weighed the… Read more42. John Peter Gassiot, James Clerk Maxwell and the Speed of Light
By Timothy M M Baker The Lawn, home of the Gassiot family 1836-1877, Clapham Common Southside (63) (Lambeth Archives) One of the most significant physics experiments of the nineteenth century… Read more41. Daniel Gould, Surveyor
Lost maps of Clapham: The story of Daniel Gould, surveyor and map-maker, 1769-1843 by Mike Tuffrey Fig 1. Portrait of Daniel Gould in 1841 by Clapham artist, William Tyrrel Thompson… Read more40. Hanbury Brothers
Clapham Connections: The Hanbury Brothers and the Wider British World By Andrew Hillier Returning from China, Thomas Hanbury arrived in Marseilles on 25 January 1858 and, before boarding the train… Read more39. Marie Kendall
Marie Kendall, 1873 -1964: Penny Gaffs to Royal Performance By Janet Johnson “Just like the Ivy” One of the most famous, and certainly long lasting, stars of the music hall… Read more38. Lady Atkins
Clapham funerals in the seventeenth century By Timothy Walker 17th century mourning procession Funerals could be extravagant affairs, occasionally costing as much as £700 – a massive sum for those… Read more37. Greeneland
By Peter Jefferson Smith Graham Greene In 1935, an up-and-coming novelist and his young family came to live at 14 Clapham Common North Side. After years of variable success, Graham… Read more36. John Francis Bentley
By Derrick Johnson John Francis Bentley (1839-1902) painting by William Christian Symonds John Francis Bentley (1839 – 1902) was the son of a lawyer who became a wine merchant -… Read more35. Battley Brothers Printers Clapham
by Alyson Wilson Battley Brothers, 40 Queens Road, Battersea c. 1910 In October 1897 17-year old John Battley and his 20-year old brother George set up a printing press in… Read more34. Christmas Memories
By Peter Skuse In the 1940s and 1950s Peter Skuse and his parents shared a terraced house in Abbeville Road with another family. His two close friends, Bruce and Norm,… Read more33. Clapham and The Mayflower
By Timothy Walker Edward Winslow Many of the merchants who moved to Clapham in the early 1630s had strong connections to North America and two of them, John Beauchamp and… Read more32. The Venn family in Clapham
By Anne Wilson The Venn Street plaque A plaque in Venn Street in Clapham on the wall of Barclays Bank explains the naming of the street and records just two… Read more31. Eccentric Scientist
By Derrick Johnson One of the most distinguished, and eccentric, former inhabitants of South London was Henry Cavendish, who is remembered in the name of Cavendish Road off the South… Read more30. Making Sweets in Clapham
by Alyson Wilson Advertisement for Chinese Figs 1934 In 1748 Miss Batger, a member of a leading family of sugar refiners, started a confectionery company in East London, which was… Read more29. Two American Visitors
By Peter Jefferson Smith Benjamin Franklin in London in 1767 In the 1770s, two Americans visited Clapham, one of them a respected if controversial public figure, the other a teenage… Read more28. Letter Bomb Inventor
Martin Ekenberg by Derrick Johnson The Clapham Society recently received an enquiry, through its website, from a Swedish TV producer, Tobias Bjorling. He requested information on a house called ‘Fairlawn’…. Read more27. Murder In Clapham: the cabman’s story
by Peter Jefferson Smith Steinie Morrison in the dock, March 1911. New Year’s Day 1911. In the early light PC Joseph Mumford set out from Cavendish Road Police Station for… Read more26. Clapham Involvement In The Slave Trade
by Timothy Walker Bilboes It is well known that the Clapham Sect played a key part in bringing the slave trade to an end. What is much less well known… Read more25. From Ross To Experian: lenses to computers
by Alyson Wilson Mid-20th century Ross advertisement In 1829 Mr Andrew Ross (1798-1859) founded Ross & Co, Manufacturing Opticians, the first company to manufacture photographic lenses in England. In 1851… Read more24. Granville Sharp
by Anne Wilson Granville Sharp by George Dance Granville Sharp was a significant member of the 18th century Evangelical group of Clapham abolitionists. In 1787 he was one of the… Read more23. The Duke Of Danzig
by Peter Jefferson Smith “A view on the Royal Exchange”: a cartoon of Richard Thornton in 1823 The Thorntons of Clapham were a pious, respectable lot. At Henry Thornton’s house… Read more22. A Fast Lady
A Fast and Mysterious Lady from South Londonby Derrick Johnson Violet Piercy Nowadays we are used to the sight of ladies of every shape and size running along the streets… Read more21. Pepys Moved To Clapham
by Timothy Walker Samuel Pepys by Sir Godfrey Kneller Samuel Pepys’ connection with Clapham is well known and he visited it over a period of forty years. Naval connections brought… Read more20. From Bankruptcy To The Thunderer
by Anne Wilson John Walter (1738-1812) John Walter was born in 1739 and inherited his father’s coal trade business in 1755. He bought 113 Clapham North Side in 1772. In… Read more19. Pressing Time History Commemorative Medal
by Alyson Wilson Advertisement for Churchill Medal, 1965 In 1836 young John Pinches, who had trained with his father as a silversmith, which included replating and engraving, moved from his… Read more18. Clapham Mystery for Fu Manchu Fans
by Derrick Johnson Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu The article in the paper of 6 January about the real Professor Moriaty reminded me that another criminal mastermind once lurked in… Read more17. Richard Salwey A Clapham Puritan
by Timothy Walker Richard Salwey by Gerald Soest In the middle of the seventeenth century, 20 or more merchants lived in large houses clustered round the old Clapham church… Read more16. The Case of Dr Ward
by Derrick Johnson A Victorian Wardian Case It may be difficult to believe that this strange piece of Victorian furniture changed the face of horticulture and the plants which… Read more15. Flaming June
In the Middle of Winter Flaming June Returns by Alyson Wilson One day in 1962 builders restoring a house on Clapham Common found a painting behind some panelling over a… Read more14. The Real Moriarty
by Peter Jefferson Smith Adam Worth, believed to be the inspiration for Conan Doyle’s Professsor Moriarty In 1886, a new tenant arrived at West Lodge, an old house on Clapham… Read more13. The First Clapham Saints
By Timothy Wlker The map below shows the various village outside London in the early seventeenth century. The yellow circle shows the area within four miles of London Bridge, roughly… Read more12. Friezes in Culmstock Road
by Derrick Johnson, photographs by Dana Kubick. In 2014 the Society was approached by the owner of a house in Culmstock Road about two painted friezes above picture rail level… Read more11. The Bonds of Clapham
by Joan Bond Barrett Canadian family researcher Joan Bond Barrett unearthed family roots in 18th century Clapham while writing a history of her Bond family. The following is drawn from… Read more10. Clapham, SW4: Sixty Years Ago An Outsider’s View
by Peter Hopkins Reminiscences sent to The Clapham Society in December 2013 by a former, temporary resident I first arrived in Clapham in March 1955 at the age of 19… Read more9. Geophysical Surveys of Clapham sites by Stratascan in 2011
by Michael Green RIBA FSA Fig. 1 Clapham Geophysical Survey BACKGROUND This important archaeological exercise took place as a direct result of the discovery of foundations in the manor house… Read more8. Francis Kilvert and Charles Pritchard: Clapham Connections
by John Toman BA BPhil DASE DipEd. They talked of Planets as they roll, Of Nature’s wise mysterious whole. [Sophia de Chièvre, writing of her husband’s friends in the Bath… Read more7. Mount Pond, Clapham Common
Mount Pond, Clapham Common: Archaeology and History by Michael Green RIBA FSA PREHISTORIC BURIAL MOUND Fig. 1 Barrow field on the north-west of Clapham Common Fig. 2 Roque map of… Read more6. The Oldest Inhabitant
by the Revd Henry Whitehead Editor’s Introduction by Peter Jefferson Smith On 15 April 1859, Henry Whitehead, a curate at Holy Trinity Clapham, delivered a lecture on the history of… Read more5. The Clapham Deep Shelters
by Derrick Johnson and Alyson Wilson. Part I — Derrick Johnson The Construction and wartime use of the deep shelters With the rise to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933… Read more4. From Farmyard to Factory Floor
From Farmyard to Factory Floor: a brief history of the QAS site at Clapham Common by Michael Green RIBA FSA Introduction The unravelling of the history of the QAS site… Read more3. Jack Hobbs
by Derrick Johnson A talk given at the Clapham Society’s meeting on 20 November 2001 For its millennium edition Wisden, the cricketer’s almanack and bible, asked 100 of the… Read more2. Ada Alice Pullan (Dorothy Dene)
by David Perkin A talk given at the Clapham Society’s meeting on 20 November 2001 The Road to Clapham This is the story of a working class girl from Victorian… Read more1. Eric Smith and the Historians of Clapham
by Peter Jefferson Smith The Eric Smith Lecture 2005, delivered to the Clapham Society on 20 April 2005 For some 50 years, Eric Smith was the Hon Secretary of the… Read moreThe Clapham Society’s Local History Series is a vehicle for publishing research by members of the Society, and other material not otherwise readily accessible, relating to the history of Clapham.
Copyright in all articles published in this series is vested in the authors and The Clapham Society. No article may be republished in any form without prior permission of the author.
Opinions or statements of fact in these publications are the responsibility of their authors and not of the Society.
For questions or comments about Clapham history please contact history@claphamsociety.com
The Clapham Society is a registered Charity no 279595