The Queen’s Promenade Bandstand, Surbiton, and a glimpse of the local musical band movement, 1893-1910.
The site of the bandstand that was once on Queen’s Promenade, Surbiton, has been identified. Installed in 1893, it was the gift of Rufus Martin Boniwell, a Surbiton auctioneer and estate agent. Band concerts were funded out of the rates by the Corporation of Kingston upon Thames and for many years Magnus George Moatt, Mayor of Kingston, 1899-1900, was responsible for the management in the summer months of band performances on Queen’s Promenade. The research provided a glimpse of the local musical band movement, 1893-1910, and the need for more work in this area was identified.
Audrey Giles’ new book evolved from the research of a family anecdote about a railway accident in 1904 in which her grandfather, George Spencer, was seriously injured.
The pandemic of 1918-1920 of what was known as “Spanish Influenza” killed about 250,000 people in Britain.
The memorial commemorates six men: two officers and four other ranks who died in the Great War, 1914-1918.
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.