Wandsworth Common

Mr Ellice Hopkins had kindly promised to address a meeting of ladies on Tuesday afternoon, 25 January, in the drawing-room of Bolingbroke House, Wandsworth Common, the object being to promote the formation of a Battersea Association for Friendless Girls. The enterprise was a laudable one and should receive, as no doubt it would, the hearty support of the wealthy residents in the locality.

Advertisement: "EDUCATION — FRENCH and GERMAN (thorough), with sound semi-Classical training. HALBRAKE SCHOOL (estab. 1862), Wandsworth Common. Head Master: Mr Heron-Wall (14 years at Brighton College). About 50 pupils have passed Examinations of various kinds during the last three years. Special foreign testimonials. Lists of English Examinations passed by boys."

On the recommendation of the Building Act Committee, it was resolved that the application of the Rev J.E. Clarke for the approval by the board of a plan for the construction of a temporary iron church in Darley Road, Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common, be granted.

Advertisement: "WANDSWORTH COMMON. BOLINGBROKE GROVE. VILLAS LET. Rent £[illeg.]. Immediately fronts the common in its best part. Gas, bay windows, Venetian blinds, five bedrooms, two reception rooms, kitchen, back entrance, &c. Also Houses, bay windows, gas, &c., £[illeg.]. Many look back on a private park of about 100 acres. 10 minutes from Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction stations. Address Mr Best, Estate Office, 6 Bolingbroke Grove Villas (corner of Darley Road), Wandsworth Common."

The Battersea Local Committee recommended that the clerk be instructed to apply to the Conservators of Wandsworth Common for permission to remove the posts and rails which enclosed a piece of ground at the junction of Falcon Lane and Lavender Hill, with a view to widening and improving the roads there. Mr Tully described the piece of land as "a perfect monstrosity." Mr Hiscox thought it would be illegal to remove the posts and rails without the proper authority. A member asked on whose authority a similar piece of land at Wandsworth Common had been thrown into the road — he believed the work was done by the men in the employ of the board. The recommendation was carried.

[Thomas Carlyle died 5 February 1881. Among the obituary and reminiscence pieces, the Norfolk News London Letter of 12 February preserves this recollection:]

The Parliamentary Committee reported that they had considered the subject of the drainage of the Patriotic Schools, Wandsworth Common, and had been informed that the Metropolitan Board of Works proposed to construct a new main sewer which would pass through the school grounds. The committee had therefore adjourned the consideration of the subject, and directed that the Commissioners of the Patriotic Fund be informed accordingly.

James Sheabey (or Steabey), greengrocer, of Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, appeared at the South-Western Police Court charged with assaulting Mrs Ada Lewis, a lady residing at Star Villa, Bellevue Road. He had called at her house for an account; she told him to call when her husband was at home. He returned at quarter to 12, carrying a long carter's whip, and struck her severely, the thong passing from the shoulder along the breast. He also used abusive language and threatened to murder her. His defence — that he had struck a dog which flew at him — was disbelieved; Mrs Lewis's sister confirmed the dog had been pushed into the room before the whipping occurred. Mr Matthews the surgeon found a mark eight to ten inches long extending from the shoulder to the breast; the skin was not broken but the blow had been severe. Mr Paget fined Sheabey £2 18s. with £2 4s. costs, calling his conduct "very cowardly."

A youth named Walter Jackson was charged at Wandsworth police court with behaving disorderly and damaging a flag belonging to the Salvation Army. Charles Humphreys, a bookseller living in Greenwich, said that on Good Friday he and several other members of the Salvation Army went to Wandsworth Common to hold a meeting. A number of roughs interrupted them, and to avoid a disturbance they proceeded to march back again to the hall. The prisoner rushed at the banner, caught hold of the stick, and broke it.

Sir William Anderson Rose — born 16 August 1820, Lord Mayor of London 1862–63, Colonel of the Royal London Militia 1870–1880, and the sole inventor of the antifriction grease used for railway carriages — died suddenly on Thursday morning, aged 60, while being driven from his residence at Upper Tooting. When almost opposite Cavendish Road, Clapham Common, he fell back as if in a fainting condition; by the time the carriage reached home, life was extinct. The cause of death was the sudden stoppage of the heart's action.

On 14 December 1881, the boys were addressed in the dining-hall by the Chairman of the Committee, Earl Nelson, and a parting supper was authorised for them, "with the amusement of a Magic Lantern." A few months later, the Asylum had disappeared for ever, its place taken by a migrant from Westminster — Emanuel School.