You’ll find dozens of blue plaques all over South London, celebrating the inspiring people who spent part of or their entire lives here. They serve as part of these people’s legacy and remind us of how South London has become part of their history. Today, we venture to Croydon borough and take a deeper dive into the 11 blue plaques that reside there.
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)
Found at: 110 Auckland Road, Upper Norwood SE19 2BY
Raymond Chandler is best known for his career as an American-British crime novelist, publishing his widely loved novel The Big Sleep, which launched his career and popularity. He was born in Chicago and lived in America for the early years of his life before moving to Upper Norwood in Croydon in a bid for a better education for the would-be writer. Chandler has time and time again been regarded as one of the founding fathers of hard-boiled crime fiction, with his other novels Farewell, My Lovely, The Little Sister and The Long Goodbye, now considered masterpieces.
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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913)
Found at: 44 St Peter's Road, South Croydon CR0 1RG
Alfred Russel Wallace was a British naturalist, explorer and geographer whose work is associated with Charles Darwin, as both wrote on the theory of evolution through natural selection. Despite Darwin perhaps being the more well-known of the two, Wallace was actually the one who inspired Darwin to write his famous text On the Origin of Species, and therefore Wallace became a prolific figure in scientific history. Whilst living in Croydon between 1878 and 1881, Wallace continued his work on evolution, publishing Island Life in 1880, a sequel to The Geographic Distribution of Animals, which made him the ‘father of biogeography’. Other scientific theories Wallace has been involved with include the emergence of the round Earth theory, as well as the consideration of life on other planets.
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Peter Cushing (1913-1994)
Found at: 32 St James' Road, Purley CR8 2DL
Peter Cushing was a well known British actor, whose hometown was Purley in Croydon. Avid Star Wars fans will know him for his intimidating performance as Grand Moff Tarkin, Commander of the Death Star. In fact, this character was so iconic that in the 2016 film Rogue One, the actor was resurrected through the use of CGI so his character could make an appearance at the end of the film. Cushing had appeared in over 100 films in his lifetime, including Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), as well as countless other films in the horror genre. Cushing also lived in Dulwich during the First World War before moving to Purley in 1918.
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Croydon Clock Tower And Town Hall CR0 - Giclée Art Print
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912)
Found at: 30 Dagnall Park, South Norwood SE25 5PH
Not to be confused with the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Samuel Coleridge Taylor was an English composer who achieved critical success, particularly for his work on three cantatas on the epic poem Song of Hiawatha. He is also most known for his cantata Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, which was frequently performed in England during the composer’s lifetime and even today to honour his memory and impressive career in music. Taylor was brought up in South Norwood, Croydon, by his English mother and Creole father, who were both musically inclined. Later in his life, Taylor became a professor at South London’s Crystal Palace School of Music, where he conducted the orchestra at the Croydon Conservatoire.
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Emile Zola (1840–1902)
Found at: Queen's Hotel, 122 Church Road, Upper Norwood SE19 2UG
Emile Zola was a French novelist, playwright and journalist, having contributed to the development of theatrical naturalism and being a prominent political figure in the liberalization of France. Theatrical naturalism relates to the creation of illusions on the stage. Even though Zola was born and died in his native country of France, he spent a brief time in Croydon when he was advised to flee to England after a criminal conviction for criminal libel from writing an article accusing the French Army of antisemitism!
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
Found at: 12 Tennison Road, South Norwood SE25 5RT
Perhaps one of the most recognisable names on this list, you’ll know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his career as a crime fiction writer and particularly for his creation of the fictional icon Sherlock Holmes. He published four full length novels about the famous detective, starting with A Study in Scarlet in 1887, as well as having written over fifty short stories. He lived in Croydon from 1891 to 1894, however it is believed he did not use the area as inspiration for his Holmes story The Adventure of the Norwood Builder. Yet, there is a connection between South Norwood and the story as the railway station Norwood Junction was used by the character Jonas Oldacre.
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W. F. R. Stanley (1829–1909)
Found at: Stanley Halls, 12 South Norwood Hill, South Norwood SE25 6AB
William Ford Robinson Stanley (or W. F. R Stanley) was a British inventor, architect and engineer. Stanley made many notable achievements in his career and life, including being the founder of the UK’s first Trades school, as well as designing the beloved Stanley Halls, where you’ll find his blue plaque. He named the trades school the Stanley Technical Trades School in 1901 and was used to educate boys in general studies and trade. The design even included an astronomy tower that opened in 1907! The site is now the Harris Academy South Norwood.
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Frederick George Creed (1871–1957)
Found at: 20 Outram Road, Addiscombe CR0 6XE
Frederick George Creed was a Canadian inventor who worked in telecommunications and was a key figure in the invention of the first teleprinter. He spent most of his adult life in Britain, having moved to Croydon to be closer to the Post Office headquarters in London when he was working on the teleprinter. When Creed retired from his work in printing in 1930, he turned his attention to other projects, which led to the invention of the SWATH (small-waterplane-area twin hull), a water vessel that was named after him and launched in the Netherlands after his death in 1968.
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John Horniman (1803–1893) and Frederick John Horniman (1835–1906)
Found at: Coombe Cliff, Coombe Road, Croydon CR0 5SP
John Horniman and his son Frederick John Horniman were the founders of Horniman’s Tea, a tea business that used mechanical packaging and grew to be the biggest tea company in the world. South London locals may recognise this name as Frederick John Horniman founded the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, a community hub that is still thriving today. Frederick’s father revolutionised the tea trading business by using mechanical devices to speed up the process by using sealed packages to store the tea, as before you could only find loose-leaf tea!
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C. B. Fry (1872–1956)
Found at: 144 St James's Road, Croydon CR0 2UY
Charles Burgess Fry was a jack of all trades, being known as a English sportsman, politician, academic, teacher, writer, editor and publisher! You may know him best for his prolific career as a cricketer on the England team. He was a memorable character throughout his life, having been described by many of his close friends as extravagant, generous, elegant and brilliant. It is even claimed that, at 70 years old, he could still perform his party trick of leaping backwards onto a mantelpiece! Fry was born in Croydon as the son of a civil servant, where he went on to win a scholarship and moved to study Repton School and then at Wadham College, Oxford.
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Will Hay (1888–1949)
Found at: 45 The Chase, Norbury SW16 3AE
Will Hay was an English comedian, actor and film director, whose filmography includes Oh, Mr Porter (1937), Ask a Policeman (1939) among dozens others. Hay is most well known for his comedic sketch of the fictional schoolmaster Dr Muffin featured The Ghost of St. Michael’s (1941). He even performed this beloved sketch for King George V and Queen Mary at the 1925 Royal Command Performance! He lived in Norbury in Croydon between 1927 and 1934, where, in 1933, he discovered a white spot on Saturn from his observatory in his garden. This discovery and general interest led him to publish Through My Telescope in 1935.
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