The Kaiser’s Own

Interesting article in Great War London blog about  the role of German born and/or naturalised Londoners including Lewisham residents in the Great War 1914-18

"The Kaiser’s Own:
... In 1916, Army Orders established two new battalions in the Middlesex Regiment. These would contain recruits who were British citizens but the children of immigrants from nations with whom Britain was at war; the men were promised that they would not have to bear arms against the enemy. The units were named the 30th and 31st battalions and they served only in the UK. Some additional similar Labour Companies were also formed in 1917 and served in France. The units were known (rather cruelly) by some as “The Kaiser’s Own”.

Several Londoners served in the 31st Battalion – which ended the war based in Croydon.

"Hugo Max Norman Hotopf was born in Northumberland in 1881, the son of Hugo and Johanna who were German immigrants naturalised as British citizens in 1895. By the start of the Great War he was married, living in Lewisham, and had a son – William Hugh Norman Hotopf, born June 1914. Norman was working as a dye expert for the rather Germanic-sounding Badische Company in Brunswick Place near Old Street ....."

Read more on the Great War London blog
Posted from Great War London

James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 – 3 January 1915)

English poet James Elroy Flecker died on this day in 1915. He was born in Lewisham at 9 Gilmore Road, SE13 on 5th November 1884. His most famous works include "To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence" and "The Golden Journey to Samarkand".

He was commemorated by the GLC in 1886 and you can see details of his Blue Plaque on the London Remembers website

You can read his works on Project Gutenberg at Works by James Elroy Flecker

Deptford pubs added to local listing

Article by The Deptford Dame on the proposal to add some Deptford and New Cross pubs to the local Council heritage list - read the whole article at http://deptforddame.blogspot.com/2012/12/deptford-pubs-added-to-local-listing.html

"As part of its ongoing strategy to protect pubs in the borough (better late than never) and categorise its heritage assets, the council has proposed half a dozen pubs in Deptford and New Cross to be 'locally listed', part of a total of 26 buildings in the borough picked out to be added to the existing list. The existing list can be downloaded from the council's website. ...."

Deptford pubs added to local listing
Posted from The Deptford Dame

Brian Barnes – Autumn Talk Reviewed, by Ben Kaufmann - London Mural Preservation Society

Interview with Brian Barnes - one of whose creations was the New Cross 'Riders of the Apocalypse' mural. You can read the whole piece on the blog of the London Mural Preservation Society

"Back before the clocks had shifted and we had all resigned ourselves to the persistent greys of the London winter, muralist Brian Barnes was kind enough to give a talk for the London Mural Preservation Society....."


"In a recent interview Barnes described New Cross’ Riders of the Apocalypse as his last political mural. In it he depicted Ronald Reagan, Michael Hesseltine, Margaret Thatcher and Yuri Andrapov riding about the world on cruise missiles with a sinister, demented madness reminiscent of the concluding scene of Dr Strangelove. From their exhausts permeate fumes of money and greed whilst trees and landscapes trail from the forces of peace riding to meet them in the opposite direction. Executed in Keim paint (which Barnes recalls the laborious difficulty of working with) the work remains as fresh to this day as it ever was..."

Brian Barnes – Autumn Talk Reviewed, by Ben Kaufmann
Posted from London Mural Preservation Society

Lewisham's art collection now part of the national online collection at Your Paintings

Today the Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) and the BBC completed their hugely ambitious project to put online the United Kingdom’s entire collection of oil paintings in public ownership. This makes the UK the first country in the world to give such access to its national collection of paintings. In total, 3,217 venues across the UK have participated in the project and 211,861 paintings are now on the Your Paintings website at bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings.

162 oil paintings from Lewisham's art collection have been included and go live today on the Lewisham Pages.  You can browse the collection, search it by artist or subject and help develop the collection by tagging individual paintings.

This is only part of Lewisham art collection stored in the Archives. We have watercolours, prints and photographs of the area - all collected because of a local connection through the artist, the subject or the donor. We are digitising and uploading these to our Picasa site - Lewisham Heritage - where you can browse the albums and comment on the images.

For further information about the PCF collection of Lewisham images or our collection generally please contact local.studies@lewisham.gov.uk

The Great Smog Of London, Tweeted

Another interesting heritage Twitter project -

"Wednesday is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Great Smog, which lasted 5-9 December 1952. Cold weather (and the increase in coal-burning to keep warm) combined with still weather caused pollutants to settle over London. Up to 12,000 people are thought to have died from the effects and 100,000 were made ill.  Starting at 7am, the Twitter account @ClimateActio2n from the Climate Action campaign group will start ‘live’ tweeting the #greatsmog in the voice of an ordinary Londoner. It’ll be sharing real anecdotes and factual information...."

The Great Smog Of London, Tweeted
Posted from The Londonist

Lewisham Central Public Library opens 23rd November 1901

On 23rd November 1901 Lewisham Metropolitan Borough opened Lewisham Central Library next to Colfe's Almshouses in the High Street. The 1917 borough guide describes it as a red brick and terracotta building with a lending department, reference room, news room and magazine room. In the entrance hall was a tablet commemorating Alfred the Great, a previous Lord of Lewisham. This was installed in the new Central Library when it replaced the original in 1994.