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Copers Cope Farm
- Part I
Copers Cope Farm
- Part II
Copers Cope Farm
- Part III
Eden Farm, Eden
Lodge and Eden Cottage
How Beckenham
High Street changed between the Wars
THE
CLUB
Part
1 - Its beginning
By
Pat Manning
The
foundation stone for the new Public Hall opposite
St George's church, Beckenham was laid by Sir
Chas Mills MP on 13 October 1883 concealing in a
small hollow (according to Borrowman page 73) a
current set of the coins of the realm and a copy
of The Times for that date. Meanwhile, a small
group of upper middle class gentlemen was
planning and plotting for a quiet place away from
the influence of their womenfolk.
Architect
George Vigers provided the plans for the builders
Messrs Brown of Camberwell and in March 1884 the
Public Hall was ready. A notice was posted at the
back of the hall inviting the gentlemen of
Beckenham to become the founder members of The
Club where they would have billiards, smoking and
reading rooms.
Twenty
nine gentlemen had voted in a provisional
committee comprised of ten members.
The
would-be President was Frederick Prat ALLISTON
from The Ferns at 28 Copers Cope Rd. He and his
first wife, Elizabeth Loader, according to the
census returns were born in Margate but they
married at St Pancras on 18 May 1854. Their
daughter Florence was born in 1856 and her
brothers Paul and Clement were born Wanstead in
1861 and 1864. By 1871, Frederick was widowed and
living in Edmonton but shortly to marry his first
wife's sister, Mary Loader, with whom he had
three more sons, Claud, Oscar and Norman born
Kensington in 1873, 1876 and 1877. Moving from
Kensington to Beckenham in the early 1880s, Ralph
and Geoffrey were born in Beckenham in 1883 and
1885 .The census records tell us that Frederick
was an Inspector and Wholesaler of cotton goods.
Florence died aged 30 in Eastbourne in 1886 when
Frederick had been the Club President for two
years. He became the Club President again in 1897
and died in office after 14 years in the Spring
of 1912 but exciting events were coming his way.
In
1896 Beckenham was in the news when Frederick
Alliston proposed that the Union flag should be
flown at all Elementary Schools on special
occasions and this became the rule throughout the
country. This was reported by Robert Borrowman of
page 85 of his book Beckenham Past and Present.
The Beckenham directories record that Frederick
was one of nine members of the school board and
by 1899 he was Sheriff of the City of London and
later granted a knighthood by King Edward VII.
The Club President was Sir Frederick Prat
Alliston still from 28 Copers Cope Rd but the
house was now Kamesburgh instead of The Ferns.
This is a
town on the Scottish Isle of Bute and a 42 roomed
house in the Kamesburg Gardens, Melbourne,
Australia but I suppose either could have
suggested the name to the Allistons.
At
least two of his sons assisted him in his
business; Claud was an agent in cotton goods and
Oscar went to France to learn the techniques of
dyeing cotton where he
met his future wife Marie Berthe Weiss whom he
married in 1902. They had two sons, Lawrence and
Rex.
Paul's
son, Cyril George Prat, also lived in Copers Cope
Rd at Thornecroft, number 52.
The
treasurer in 1884 was Robert Bertie LEMON from
Moat Lodge of The Avenue and the Hon Secretary
was George SCHOFIELD, son of Thomas Schofield
merchant
of Kinlock, Foxgrove Rd.
The
other members were Arthur Henry BAKER from
Elderslie in Wickham Rd (now South Eden Park Rd),
William M BULLIVANT, a wire rope manufacturer
from Willestrow in Rectory Rd and Ambrose P CARR
from Boyston House at 4, The Avenue. In 1902, his
daughter Ethel Carr was the Ladies Hon Secretary
of the Beckenham Baths Swimming Club.
Charles
V Hollibone, stockbroker, also lived in Rectory
Rd at Deepthorne, number 17. Alfred P INGLIS,
bank clerk was living with his family in
Binfield, 16 Hayne Rd, W B Pattison was at
Graylings, Cedars Rd and later at 6 The Avenue,
Chas R Pilcher, insurance secretary lived at
Colebrook, The Avenue and G T Rait from Milton in
Hayne Rd was also the Hon Sec of the Beckenham
Lodge of Freemasons 2047 who met in the Public
Hall too.
The
Cator Lodge of Freemasons 2266 met in the Public
Hall together with the Beckenham Orchestral
Society and the Amateur Dramatic Club but The
Club occupied an extensive suite of rooms at the
back of the hall, including a fine billiard room
with two full-sized tables by Thurston & Co,
reading smoking and card rooms.
In
1898, there were 150 members, non-political,
including the principal men of the district.
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