Wandsworth Common

"Disconsolate One," writing from Wandsworth Common, wished it made known that on the evening of Saturday 30 December a large black tom-cat answering to the name of "Jumbo" had disappeared from his home and had not since been heard of. Readers were warned that Jumbo would easily be recognised by the fact that he had "two white whiskers." An inquiry down Bermondsey way might prove profitable — "they have a habit there of describing feline pets as Ostend rabbits."

"My Dear Peter Pickup, Kindly ask numerous readers to remove the ashes, which I am sure they must have, after reading your paragraph last week concerning my loss. I am pleased to inform you that Jumbo has returned — not the late elephantine favourite of the Zoological Gardens, but the lost feline pet of the 'disconsolate one' of Wandsworth Common. After many roving days, Jumbo is home again, looking much 'leaner' after his ramble, his two remarkable white whiskers establishing beyond a doubt his identity. His owner breathes with relief, now knowing he will not have to contemplate the dreadful possibility of Jumbo appearing on the table of a Bermondseyite in company with a piece of his porcine relation the pig, wrongly called Pork and Ostend rabbit."

"If anybody wants to see what a railway can do for a common, let him look at Wandsworth Common. The line has been curved to run as far as possible over the unenclosed ground, and huge coal sidings have been carved out of it, completely ruining it. About eight or nine miles further on, the same railway has divided Banstead Downs with a deep trench, and has appropriated acres on either side for spoil banks. In neither case was there any opposition. The attack this year is worse than ever, and if only one-tenth of the schemes succeed annually, in a very short time not a single open space worth preserving will be left."

Emanuel School, formerly known as Emanuel Hospital and founded in 1594 by Lady Dacre, Westminster, for the education and maintenance of sons and daughters of poor parents resident in Westminster, had been removed to Wandsworth Common, where the new school had just been opened. The management had been reconstructed by the Endowed School Commissioners. The present headmaster was Arthur Powsey MA, formerly for eleven years an assistant-master at the City of London School. All pupils were now required to pay a moderate sum for their education, though boys from Westminster enjoyed certain privileges.

"NOBLE — Jan. 20, at 68 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, SW, the wife of James Ashcroft Noble, of a son."

A grand fancy costume ball was to be held on 6 February at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the funds of Bolingbroke Hospital, Wandsworth Common — "the first institution of its kind, we believe, yet promoted in the metropolis." The list of patrons secured by Canon Clarke included the Lady Mayoress, Lady Folkestone, Lady Freake, Mrs Millais, Lord Clarence Paget, and others. The band of the Coldstreams would supply the music. The Illustrated London News (17 February) subsequently reported that about 450 ladies and gentlemen in costumes had attended, and that the Bolingbroke House Pay Hospital offered "the advantages of hospital treatment" with the "comfort and privacy of home" at an average cost of two guineas a week.

Edward Wood of 9 Kingsdown Villas, Wandsworth Common, wrote to describe meeting James Baldry, a 63-year-old man in the Workhouse, whose disabled hand had been rendered useless after an operation at hospital. After 16 years at Price's Candle Factory and 6 years at the Battersea parish stables, he had been rendered incapable of work, and he and his wife of 40 years (aged 67) had applied for out-relief. The "house test" was applied, and this couple — who had never previously received parish relief — were compelled to go into the workhouse, where they were now allowed to see each other twice a week in a public hall in company with the other inmates.

The Vicarage House School held its midsummer gathering, now in its 12th year under Miss Crofts as principal. Canon Clarke distributed prizes after an examination by Canon Daniel, who reported: "The girls read with much intelligence and expression, bringing out the meaning of their author with taste and considerable power of appreciation." Among the prize list for Form VI: Phoebe Emily Buckmaster, Reading and Penmanship.