Tag Archives: 1917

Seaton Road

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Road on western edge of the Mitcham Gas Works, and north of Fox’s Path.

On the 1952 OS map there are two rows of houses, numbered, from south to north, 1A to 18A on the west side and 1 to 16 on the east side.

On the 1910 OS map, there were two more houses on the east side, at the corner with Portland Road, numbers 17 and 18. These may have sustained bomb damage during World War 2, and were demolished. In 1995, planning permission was approved to build two new houses, numbered 17 and 18.

The road was built around 1902, as shown in the council minutes:

From the minutes of the
Croydon Rural District Council
Roads and Buildings Committee
Volume VIII 1902 – 1903
21st June 1902
page 217

2. Deposited Plans. – The Buildings Sub-Committee reported that they had carefully examined al the plans of new streets and buildings deposited since the last meeting, and on their recommendation, it was Resolved:-
(a) That the undermentioned be approved:
No. 2165, Jordan, T, 18 houses, Seaton Road, Mitcham

and on 20th November 1902
page 572:

No. 2313, Jordan, T, 20 houses, Seaton Road, Mitcham

Maps

1952 OS map

1952 OS map

1932 OS map

1932 OS map

1937 aerial view looking to east. At top of photo is the Mitcham Gas Works. On the right, the footpath is Field Gate Lane. On the bottom of the photo can be seen part of the factory roof of Standard Upholstery.

1937 aerial view looking to east. At top of photo is the Mitcham Gas Works. On the right, the footpath is Fox’s Path. On the bottom of the photo can be seen part of the factory roof of Standard Upholstery.

Occupants from Street Directories
1925

South Side
1, William John SMITH, junior
2, Amos SMITH
3, James ROBINSON
4, Alfred ALLEN
5, Thomas DREWETT
6, Mrs POWELL
7, William W BIRD
8, John CHALLIS
9, George CRESSWELL
10, Bertram YEATES
11, Charles John DOLBY
12, Arthur KING
13, Alfred DEACON
14, Frederick MATTHEWS
15, James WILLCOCK
16, Harry NEW
17, Augustus STANDING
18, A.M. TOLHURST & Sons (grocers)

North Side
1A, John TIBBLES
2A, Henry JAMES
3A, Alfred HUDSON
4A, Leonard DIXIE
5A, Bernard JEWELL
7A, George HATFIELD
8A, Samuel CHAMBERS
9A, Mrs Louisa CRESSWELL
10A, Reginald F. WILLIAMS
11A, Arthur RUSSELL
12A, George CAIN
13A, George Albert BENNETT
14A, Abraham BATES
15A, John COYLE
16A, David LUXSON
17A, Thomas POWELL
18A, Arthur DREW

A total of 30 men from this road joined up in World War 1, with 6 not returning.

Of the six that died, it’s possible that Frederick Matthews lied about his age. On the Surrey Recruitment Register his age is shown as 19 when volunteering on 30th October, 1915, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has his age as 20 when he died in March 1918. His elder brother had volunteered on the 3rd June 1915.

The names of the six fallen are on the Mitcham War Memorial.

World War 1 Connections
From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission:

Private H Bennett

Rifleman W E Cook

Private John Hopkins

Private Frederick Matthews

Ordinary Seaman William New

Private James Walsh

From the Surrey Recruitment Registers:

F A BEARD of 7a Seaton Road, aged 24 Years 2 Months, Labourer. Conscripted on 13 June 1917 to the 84th Training Reserve Batn.

G T BUCKFIELD of 5 Seaton Road, aged 21 Years 6 Months, Greengrocer. Joined on 8 March 1917 to the Royal Field Artillery.

S CHAMBERS of 8a Seaton Road, aged 25 Years 7 Months, Labourer. Conscripted on 7 August 1917 to the Labour Centre.

C F CHAPMAN of 6a Seaton Road, aged 30 Years, Carman. Volunteered on 21 April 1915 to the Army Service Corps.

T DEACON of 6a Seaton Road, aged 19 Years, Hawker. Volunteered on 1 November 1915 to the Royal Fusiliers.

J ENEVER of 11a Seaton Road, aged 33 Years 9 Months, Labourer. Volunteered on 6 July 1915 to the Royal West Surrey Regiment.

C H FLINT of 11a Seaton Road, aged 30 Years, Labourer. Conscripted on 25 June 1917 to the 301st Labour Coy (5th Batn).

J W GREEN of 4 Seaton Road, aged 19 Years, Carman. Conscripted on 28 February 1917 to the Royal West Surrey Regiment (labour Coy).

J H HICKS of 1 Seaton Road, aged 45 Years, Painter. Volunteered on 2 June 1915 to the Middlesex Regiment.

D. HOLDFORD of 5 Seaton Road, aged 25 Years 1 Months, Carman.
W. G. HOLDFORD of 5 Seaton Road, aged 23 Years 5 Months, Labourer. Both volunteered on 16 January 1915 to the Royal Field Artillery.

D E LUXON of 16a Seaton Road, aged 25 Years 4 Months, Fitter. Volunteered with the Derby Scheme on 10 December 1915 to the Royal West Kent Regiment (5th Batn).

H MATTHEWS of 14 Seaton Road, aged 26 Years 5 Months, Hawker. Volunteered on 3 June 1915 to the Royal Fusiliers.

F MATTHEWS of 14 Seaton Road, aged 19 Years, Hawker. Volunteered on 30 October 1915 to the Royal Fusiliers.

J PAGE of 15 Seaton Road, aged 27 Years 3 Months, Labourer. Volunteered with the Derby Scheme on 09 December 1915 to the East Kent Regiment (9th Batn).

P J REEVES of 3 Seaton Road, aged 29 Years 7 Months, Carman. Volunteered on 13 March 1915 to the Army Service Corps (ht).

D RILEY of 1a Seaton Road, aged 24 Years 11 Months, Labourer. Conscripted on 26 June 1917 to the 105th Training Reserve Batn.

W RILEY of 1a Seaton Road, aged 31 Years 2 Months, Labourer. Volunteered on 21 December 1915 to the East Surrey Regiment (4th Batn).

W S SELBY of 11 Seaton Road, aged 31 Years, Porter. Conscripted on 7 June 1916 to the Reserve Household Batn.

C SMITH of 3a Seaton Road, aged 20 Years 2 Months, Carman. Volunteered with the Derby Scheme on 1 March 1916 to the Royal Field Artillery.

W SMITH of 3a Seaton Road, aged 23 Years, Labourer. Conscripted on 1 March 1917 to the Royal West Surrey Regiment (labour Coy).

H SMITH of 2 Seaton Road, aged 18 Years 2 Months, Hawker. Conscripted on 2 February 1917 to the 24th Training Reserve Batn.

H SUMMERS of 4 Seaton Road, aged 29 Years 11 Months, Carman. Volunteered on 4 June 1915 to the Royal Field Artillery.

J TIBBLES of 1a Seaton Road, aged 41 Years, Carman. Volunteered on 14 July 1915 to the Army Veterinary Corps.

N F WILLIAMS of 10a Seaton Road, aged 25 Years, Handy Man. Volunteered with the Derby Scheme on 27 March 1916 to the Army Service Corps (mt).

From the Mitcham Urban District Council minutes,
Volume 3, page 120, Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting of 11th September, 1917, Mr Rabbetts reported contraventions under the Shop Act of Mrs H. Evens of 14A, Seaton Road, for serving a customer after closing time. Also Mr Carmino Tortolano of 18, Seaton Road, who at 7.15pm served a customer with pickles.

The 1911 Shops Act dictated the half-day closing of Wednesdays, in order to give staff time off.

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

Minutes of meetings held by the Croydon Rural District Council, and Mitcham Urban District Council are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.

1917 War Allotments

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From the minutes of the Mitcham Urban District council
Volume III 1917 to 1918
19th June, 1917
Pages 51 to 53

8. WAR ALLOTMENTS.
—The following report of the War Allotments Sub-Committee was submitted :—

The Committee have since their report made to the Council on the 27th February last held eight meetings. and beg to report to the Council as follows :—

ALLOTMENTS.
The number of applicants for the allotments have been 530. The number of applicants satisfied who have taken up the land and are in possession of their allotments is 349; the rents received in advance for the half-year to Michaelmas amount to £49 5s 1 1/2d. The land acquired provided 417 plots. With some few exceptions, each allotment consists of 10 rods. This included land offered by the Wandsworth Gas Company, on which 20 allotments were set out, but only 7 were found to be capable of cultivation to advantage ; and on the estate of Mr. Ollerhead, where 35 allotments were set out, only 14 were taken up on account of the indifferent condition of the land. The only land acquired and set out for allotments which is suitable but has not been taken up is in Tamworth Lane, on Mr. Wise’s Estate, where 24 plots were set out and only 13 have been taken up, and 1 on St. George’s Road (Mr. Jones’s Estate), notwithstanding the fact that special handbills were printed and distributed around the district inviting applications.

These allotments are distributed throughout the Council’s district as follows:-

In the North Ward

Gorringe Park 62
Tooting Junction 10
Links Estate 9
81

In the South Ward

Elmwood Estate 59
Ollerhead’s Estate 14
Francis’s Meadow 7
Gas Works Land 7
Simmons’ Land 13
100

In the East Ward

East Fields 20
Graham Road 9
St. George’s Road 28
Tamworth Lane 11
Mitcham Lodge 7
75

In the West Ward

Colliers Wood 9
Byegrove Estate 25
Fortescue, Courtney and Devonshire Roads 21
Christchurch Road 17
Phipps Bridge 21
93
Total 349

A considerable number of applicants for allotments declined to take their plots up for various reasons: some because they were not close enough to their abode, some because of their working hours have been increased by their employers, others on account of their own or son’s enlistment, others because they were afraid of work, some never troubled to reply at all to the reminders sent them, and personal applications had to be made in the evening and frequently on Sundays, the only time the applicants could be found at home.

SEED POTATOES.

The arrangements made by the Board of Agriculture for the supply of seed potatoes has been most unsatisfactory. Through the County Committee the applicants were requested to state the quantity they required, and a choice of three sorts in two qualities were offered them, and your Committee upon receipt of the applications made request for the supply of 12 tons, which more than covered the quantity applied for up to the given date, Feb. 10th. The seed potatoes were delivered in instalments, and no definite information could he obtained its to whether the total quantity applied for would be delivered or not, or on what date they would be received. The first delivery of 2 tons was received on March 31st, the next delivery of 7 1/2 tons on April 11th, and a third delivery of 2 1/2 tons on April 17th. In the meantime additional applications were received, and the Committee applied for a further 4 tons (which they were informed would not probably be supplied), and the 12 tons were distributed, priority being given to all allotment holders ; but eventually another 4 tons arrived on April 27th, entailing a second distribution and going over the same ground a second time.

This procedure complicated the distribution, as the seed potatoes did not correspond either with qualify, description or price with the applications ; and as some applicants had already paid, some money had to be returned, whilst from others additional amounts had to be collected, whilst many of the applicants were found to have obtained their supplies elsewhere, entailing very considerable number of letters of explanation and visits to the applicants.

The potato seed was distributed to 265 persona, the amount received being £240: 0 : 6.

The Committee organised a course of three lectures on Potato Culture and the Cultivation of Allotments, the lecturer (Mr. Burgess) being supplied by the Surrey County Council.

In compliance with the request of the Board of Agriculture (Food Production Department) the Committee have resolved to undertake the spraying of potato crops of allottees at a charge of 3d. per rod of the crops sprayed, and issued a notice inviting applications. In order to secure the supply of sprayers and chemicals the Committee found it necessary to apply at once to the Board of Agriculture and pay for the sprayers and chemicals without which there appeared to be no certainty of obtaining them in time, and accordingly they recommend, That the Clerk be reimbursed the sum of £25 : 4 : 0 advanced by him.

the sprayers have not yet come to hand, but the spraying will be commenced on receipt thereof.

W.J. Hill,
Chairman

June 12th, 1917

Resolved, That the report be received and adopted.

Minutes of meetings held by the Mitcham Urban District Council are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.