1904 | Mitcham History Notes

Road named possibly after the Robinson Crusoe story. Crusoe Dairy Farm was named by its owner on the possible residence of nearby Tooting Hall by Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe.

1911 OS map

Builder Taylor & Kensett had building plans approved in 1903 for 12 houses, and in 1904 for 16 houses. They also had a woodyard in Crusoe Road, which caught fire in 1921:

EXCITING FIRE SCENES Whole Street in Danger. There were remarkable scenes at Mitcham yesterday — a portion of a street being in flames. Fire broke out at the timber yard of Messrs. Taylor and Kensett in Crusoe road, and burned fiercely that adjoining houses caught fire, and the whole street seemed in danger. Householders in considerable alarm carried their furniture and valuables out into the street, and there was scene of great confusion. The combined efforts of the brigades, however, succeeded in preventing the spread of the flames, but not before four houses adjacent to the timber yard had been considerably burned.

Source: Hartlepool Mail – Friday 02 September 1921 from the British Newspaper Archive

Number 52 was damaged by this fire. Minutes of the Urban District Council show that the tenant was Mr F. HAWTHORN, and the landlord was Osmasten Ltd of Barnes.

G. F. Hedges had building plans approved in 1904 for 13 villas.

World War 1 Connections
Sapper William Charles Crisp

Private Ernest Frank Hogg

Driver Horace Walter Hogg

Private George Francis Quin

Gunner Horace Concannon Richardson

Saddler Harry Stanley Wright

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Imperial Works
Morden Road

Litho Printing on Steel and Metal Sheet Processing

Source:
Borough of Mitcham List of Factories,
Town Clerk’s Department,
July 1963.
Available at Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.
Reference L2 (670) MIT

From the Mitcham News & Mercury, 30th April 1971

From the ‘brewery trays’ website (link not working 27/12/2018):

WWI ‘The Great War Years’ 1914 – 1918

In 1914 business was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. Much of HCW Ltd’s continued success during this period was not due to tray manufacturing. Metal printing was put on hold and for the next four years the Imperial Works produced millions of items for the British Forces. One of the biggest successes, and HCW Ltd’s speciality, was water-bottles which were pressed on the machines which had previously produced showcards and waiter trays. These same bottles were then covered in khaki by the factory’s considerable female labour force who became disrespectfully known as “the sewing party”.

Current company contact
21 High Street
Ewell Village
Surrey. KT17 1SB

Tel: 0208 394 2785

From Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History – 1914 Who’s Who in Business

HANCOCK & CORFIELD, Ltd., ColourPrinters (Posters, Showcards, &c.). Imperial Works, Mitcham, near London.
Hours of Business: 8 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Established twenty-three years ago to take over the patent rights from the Embossed Metal Tablet Co., Gray’s Inn Road, E.C., for Printing and Embossing Metal for advertising purposes, and in 1904 acquired the business of Messrs. Waller, Willis & Co., Colour Printers.
Incorporated as a Private Limited Company.
Directors: John Corfield (Managing Director), Reginald Corfield, William Henry Waller.
Premises: Large Factory with floorage covering about three acres at the Imperial Works, Morden Road, Mitcham.
Staff: 300.
Branches: Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Manchester, Den Haag, Holland, and Australia.
Specialities: Artistic Colour Printing on Metal, Aluminium and Paper, Steel, Iron, Tin, Zinc, &c. Are Manufacturers of Embossed Iron Advertisement Tablets, General Printing and Lithography. Are well known for the excellence of their work, and for the introduction of novelties in designs. Specialize in all Advertising Novelties.
Connection: World-wide. Contractors to H.M. Government (Admiralty, War Office, Post Office).
Telephones: Nos. 1202 and 1203 Wimbledon.
Telegraphic Address: ” Corfield, Mitcham.”

From the Imperial war Museum online collection:

Mitcham History Notes

Some notes about history of Mitcham, Surrey

Tag Archives: 1904

Crusoe Road

Hancock, Corfield and Waller