Southwark’s Blue Plaque nominees 2017: Eric Allandale Dubuisson

July 28, 2017April 23, 2018 / southwarkheritage

Voting has opened for this year’s Southwark Heritage Association Blue Plaques scheme. There are seven worthy nominees, of which only one will get a plaque this year. But who are they and why should they get your vote? To help you decide we’ll be featuring one nominee per week over the next 7 weeks of voting.

This week, read on to discover more about Eric Allandale Dubuisson.

Eric Allendale was born in 1936 in Dominica. He came to Britain in 1954 and settled in Hammersmith, west London, where he took up the post of council surveyor and played the trumpet in the borough brass band. When a jazz splinter group formed outside of the main band Eric discovered that the role of trumpet player had already been filled. He decided to take up the trombone instead and this was to become his signature instrument, leading him on the path to success with his own band, the New Orleans Knights.

After many prolific years in London’s traditional jazz scene Eric moved into the world of soul music with the Foundations, a Motown-inspired group who had top ten hits with “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” and “Build Me Up Buttercup.” The group were renowned for their diverse mix of musicians from different backgrounds, (West Indian, British and Sri Lankan) and musical traditions. Eric wrote a number of songs for the group and for other artists. The first of his songs to be recorded was We Are Happy People”, the B-side to the Foundations third single, “Any Old Time (You’re Lonely and Sad)”.

Pecham Rye in 1981

After the Foundations split up in 1970 Eric spent time in Zambia and Kenya, playing in an African jazz band, teaching music and learning new skills. When he returned to London during the 1970s he ran a shop at number 38 Peckham Rye with his partner Olive. This three storey Victorian terraced building is still standing and is now a furniture shop. At other times he also lived in Hollydale Road, Peckham Hill Street and St Mary’s Road.

In summary:

A talented and ambitious musician who travelled the world but called Peckham home. Will you #VoteEricAllendale?

Voting ends on 15 September 2017. You can vote by emailing Southwark Heritage Association: admin@southwark.org.uk or the Southwark News: owen@southwarknews.co.uk. You can also vote in person at all Southwark libraries and at both the Mayflower, Rotherhithe Street and Half Moon, Herne Hill.

Southwark’s Blue Plaque nominees 2017: Thomas Middleton

July 21, 2017April 23, 2018 / southwarkheritage

Voting has opened for this year’s Southwark Heritage Association Blue Plaques scheme. There are seven worthy nominees, of which only one will get a plaque this year. But who are they and why should they get your vote? To help you decide we’ll be featuring one nominee per week over the next 7 weeks of voting.

This week, read on to discover more about Thomas Middleton.

Thomas Middleton (1580 –1627) was a prolific playwright and poet. T.S. Eliot described him as ‘second only to Shakespeare’, but he has not always been given the credit that he deserves. Until relatively recently Middleton’s play, The Revenger’s Tragedy was thought to have been written by his contemporary, Cyril Tourneur. Modern analysis of the style and language has dispelled this myth. More recently, evidence has emerged that Middleton was the co-author of All’s Well That Ends Well with William Shakespeare. His work continues to fascinate and surprise researchers in the field of Jacobean theatre.

Middleton was born in the City of London in 1580 and moved to Newington Butts sometime between 1603 and 1608, soon after his marriage. His new home was near the theatres of Southwark and far enough away from London to avoid a recent outbreak of the plague. His time in Newington was very productive. In addition to his writing he took on the role of City Chronologer (a position that was something like the City of London’s official historian) and for a time he was also responsible for producing the Lord Mayor’s shows.

The biggest success of Middleton’s career was his play, A Game of Chess, which was performed by the King’s Men at the Globe Theatre for nine consecutive days in 1624. It would have gone on even longer but closed in response to a complaint by the Spanish ambassador. In fact, its allegorical portrayal of party politics upset quite a few people and Middleton had to go into hiding. His son Edward was arrested and brought before the Privy Council. Middleton himself was held for a time in the Fleet prison.

Middleton died in 1627, probably in somewhat reduced circumstance, having lost his position with the City of London. He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary Newington.

Newington Butts

St Mary’s Churchyard before redevelopment

In summary:

A talented playwright with a rebellious side who gave Shakespeare a run for his money. Walworth should be proud! Will you #VoteThomasMiddleton?

Tales from the Mystery Object Group

July 21, 2017April 23, 2018 / southwarkheritage

By Wes White, Library Development Officer

Canada Water Library’s Mystery Object Group meets around once a month to explore a different artefact from the borough’s collections or with relevance to the history of the area. The item chosen for each session is a secret until it is unveiled to the group. We encourage members to respond creatively to the items – in writing, artwork, creative photography, or however they might be moved to do so. In this post we are sharing some of the creative work that has been inspired by our mystery object sessions since the group was incepted at the beginning of the year.

Click on an image to see the details.

The Printworks

In June the group went outside of the library on a field trip to the Printworks building. This space is best known currently for hosting dance music and film-inspired events, but it retains an original newspaper press – a huge machine – and we made that our mystery object that month (slightly too big to bring into the library!) Group members sketched, wrote about and photographed the space.

‘All’s Well’

In this session we focused on the Camberwell coat of arms, of which we had a painted wooden carving. We were struck by the heraldic symbolism, particularly the wounded deer on its crest, which is an emblem of St Giles – Camberwell’s patron saint.

Roman Southwark

In March there was a display of the Cuming’s artefacts from Roman Southwark at Morley College, and to complement it at the end of February the museum’s curator Judy Aitken brought us a whole range of original Roman objects to draw and explore.

McAndrew’s Models

In January, we had a selection of models from the Cuming Museum’s handling collection. We don’t know a great deal about the origins of these apparently handmade figures, which seem to depict characters from life in Victorian London. They are marked with the name McAndrew. Among them, group members identified a tailor complete with measuring tape; the self-styled ‘Royal Ratcatcher’ Jack Black; and one of the rats he had caught!