The Old House in Edward Street.

Little bit of info Deptford Theatre

DEPTFORD THEATRE
1840 Opened
1857 Closed
1868? Demolished

In 1840 an existing building in Church Street, Deptford was converted into a theatre. Its original seating capacity was 900, and it opened with the rather imposing name, the Royal Deptford Theatre. This use of the word “Royal” was
completely without authority, and after official protests the“Royal” was dropped. The theatre was also known as the“one-sided theatre”, Built alongside the Deptford Creek,the site was too narrow to allow for a range of boxes on both sides, so the ones on stage left took the form of images painted on the wall! At various earlier times the premises had been used as a school, a arehouse and a chapel before being used fortheatrical purposes. It opened under the management of a Mr Laws and survived under his control for some tenyears before it changed hands. The new owner, a Mr J.C.Neville, was not so lucky. Within four years he wasbankrupt and the theatre closed. Any plans to revive it came to an end when the nearby Carlton Theatre (see Greenwich Theatre) opened as a replacement in 1864. After it closed it became derelict and was mostly demolished. Part of the structure was retained when a new
storage facility was built, and the site was renamed Theatre Wharf.

Family History from Mary

I have often visited your olddeptfordhistory website and found it both extremely interesting  -  and useful, as I am finally writing up the history of my mother’s family - the rest of the family saying that they find it fascinating but not willing to put the work in  …..

May I ask you some questions?  The family  -  Spillane / Mahoney / Roche ( sometimes Roach ) / Rahilly and Sheehan  -  all came from southwest Ireland, Cork and Kerry, just after the Famine, and settled in the streets mainly in St. Paul, but sometimes in St. Nicholas, and worked as Deal Porters, general labourers in the dockyards, as skin dressers and slaughtermen ( with pigs, I think as they call themselves sausage skin dressers ) and brass finishers.  The female members were laundresses and tin workers.  Would you have any idea where the pork abattoirs and sausage factories were?  My grandfather invented a process for treating sausage skins and patented it, which came in useful when he retired!  Where were the brass foundry and tin works?  I presume the deal porters would have been in the Surrey Commercial  Docks or Greenland Docks at this time - 1880s and 90s?

The streets that they lived in were;  Butcher’s  Row, New St., Czar St., Rope Walk, Prince St., Bailey Rents, Ffinch St., Fairey’s Buildings, Blackhorse Square, Greenfield Place, Grove St., Junction Rd., Gosterwood St., Hood St., New King St., Brunswick Square, Watergate St., and Trim St. 

I have tracked down all of the above except Bailey Rents and Fairey’s Buildings which I think may now be too hard to trace given the general destruction and demolition of Deptford.  The little that the Luftewaffe spared, the LCC finished off!  Mind you a lot probably needed it.

Many thanks for any information that you can offer,
Mary Simpson

Help for David James

Hi,

I am researching my mum's ancestors who lived in Hales (or Hale) Street and nearby Stanhope Street from about 1870 to 1910.  Hales St has 

virtually vanished (a short stub remains off  Deptford High Street) - presumably bombed out during the war, and Stanhope Street has vanished 

completely.

Does any of your readers have any background information about these two streets, or the people that lived there?  My mother's maiden name was 

Watson and her grand mother's maiden name was Jones.  Both families seems to have moved around a lot within the Hales/Stanhope Street area 

and finally moved south to Sydenham in 1909 or 1910.

Your web site (old deptford history) is absolutely fascinating!

The King Of Prussia/ King of Belgium Public House Albury Street.

A Rare photo of the King of Belgium, Formerly The King of Prussia.

The early address is at 4,5 & 6 Union Street. At 5 Creek Road by 1884, and 8 Creek Road by 1891,then 8 Albury Street by 1910. By 1921 (probably by the start of WW1, it is renamed the King of Belguim.

Colins grandfather (Richard Charles Quittenton) bought the lease of the ale house King of Prussia in 1895 for £350 from Thomas Hamilton Fox and his brother Walter St. John Fox, at a ground rent of £40 payable on the "usual quarter days" to Nalder and Collyer, brewers of Croydon. My grandfather did not live there, only the pot-man was resident at that time. In 1902 the ale house was rebuilt as a public house (a foxes head was depicted on each of two facade columns for the Fox brothers). In 1903 my grandfather continued to lease it at £50 quarterly. He also moved into it with his 2nd wife Minnie Elizabeth, nee Walsh and Albert (son by 1st. wife Fanny Ellen, nee Vodden d. 1897). During WWI and as a result of the anti-German riots, the name of the pub was changed to King of Belgium. My uncle Hector was born there (1903-1904), my uncle Leonard was born there (1904-1975) and my mother Ella was born there (1909-2004). In 1924 my grandfather retired and sold the lease of the pub for £600. I believe that the pub did not survive the war as did much of Deptford. On his retirement (to Eastbourne) he bought rental properties 22/24 Clyde St., one of which was rented to Mrs Hill who lived there with her son Reginald and her daughter Marjorie (married Charles Wincup).

In 1905, one of the Stratton brothers was arrested as he exited the pub. He knew that the police were outside waiting for him. My grandmother was alone in the pub behind the bar that night and Stratton offered to help her clean up. My grandmother knew him of old, and refused to let him behind the bar. If she had done, Stratton could have escaped over the back fence and into Pickford's yard.

Colins mother left home when she was 21 from Eastbourne and moved in with Mrs. Hill in Clyde St. The house had only 2 bedrooms with a double bed in each. My mother shared one bed with Marjory and another male lodger (polish artist named Rodolf Krystra (?)) shared the other double bed with Reg. Nobody thought anything about such things THEN! Mrs Hill slept in the kitchen. My mother married my father (born in the Stowage) in April 1939 and moved to a flat in Lewisham owned by Charlie Watson. His family owned two wood yards and a general shop in Deptford and the lease of several houses in Albury St. and still has some of those Grinling Gibbons portico's. I was born in 1940, and was brought up in Lewisham.

Colin E. Bailey.

My thanks to Colin for sharing his families history,  great information especially that photo.