Hillcroft College, Surbiton KT6 6DF was built in 1877 as a mansion for Wilberforce Bryant, Chairman of Bryant & May, safety match manufacturers. There is a local tradition that there was a tunnel from the mansion to Surbiton Station. Later, Bryant built a theatre lower down on his grounds, and closer to the station, for the benefit of the local community. Known as The Gables, this was in use in 1885. It was established that there was a tunnel between the mansion and The Gables but there was no evidence that this extended as far as Surbiton Station. It is conjectured that this was the basis of the local tradition.
Noel Baddow Pope was born in Toxteth, a sub-district of Liverpool, on Christmas Eve, 1909. He moved with his widowed mother to Surbiton before 1926.
The Kingston upon Thames Debtors’ Prison existed from 1829-1852 and was situated in what is today Bath Passage.
A Fundraising Talk In Support Of The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development [Cafod] Given In The Alexander Hall Of St Raphael’s Church, Kt1 2Na, On Palm Sunday, 24 March 2024 By David A. Kennedy, Phd
The pandemic of 1918-1920 of what was known as “Spanish Influenza” killed about 250,000 people in Britain.