Category Archives: Blog

Where Is Wandsworth’s Museum?

by Philip Bradley

At our next meeting we will be hearing about the history of Wandsworth Museum and the 10,000 objects that make up the collection. The doors closed in 2015 and apart from the occasional outing, the objects have languished in the former West Hill Library basement (Photo above).

Where has the collection been previously displayed? What is in the collection from Tooting?

Come and find out next Tuesday 9th May at 7.30 at The United Reformed Church, Rookstone Road, Tooting, SW17 9NQ. (Tooting Broadway tube).

Dr. Gully And The Balham Murder Mystery

by Philip Bradley

The Charles Bravo murder in April 1876 continues to fascinate people 147 years after the event. Long suspected of the poisoning of Charles Bravo, Dr. James Gully was a society doctor and former lover of Charles Bravo’s wife.

Come and hear Colin Fenn  speak about the rise and fall of Dr Gully and his role in the murder at The Priory in Balham.

We are meeting on Tuesday 14th March at 7.30pm at the United Reformed Church, Rookstone Road, SW179NQ.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Homes Fit For Tooting Heroes?

by Philip Bradley

After the First World War, the Government promised to build “Homes Fit For Heroes”. And Wandsworth Council swung into action, buying land and building houses on four sites across the borough. Where were they built in Tooting? Who designed them? And who lived in them?

Our next meeting on Tuesday 14th February at 7.30pm will answer these questions. We meet at the United Reformed Church in Rookstone road, Tooting, SW17 9NQ. We look forward to seeing you there.

Home Truths: Uncovering The History Of Your Home

by Philip Bradley

Our next Tooting History Group meeting is a talk entitled “Home Truths: Uncovering The Secrets of Your Home” by Danielle Wilde,  house historian and Tooting resident. The meeting is next Tuesday 10th January, 7.30pm at The United Reformed Church, Rookstone Road, Tooting , SW17 9NQ.

So if you have ever wondered when your house was built, who used to live there or what was there before your house, come along and hear the history of a Tooting House and how it was researched.

Caroline Ganley: A Battersea Political Superstar

by Philip Bradley

Our next monthly meeting on Tuesday November 8th is a talk about Caroline Ganley, a leading political figure in Battersea from the 1910s to the 1960s.

Come and hear Sue Demont (Battersea Society) speak about her life and times.

“Caroline Ganley (1879 – 1966) was the ultimate multi-tasker long before the term was invented.  A hard-up mother of three who left school aged 14, she went on to become one of the first female magistrates in Britain, the first female President of the London Co-operative Society, and Battersea’s first woman MP. Her achievements were acknowledged during her lifetime, but her remarkable story is strikingly absent from the history books of the 20th century.  Drawing on Ganley’s own unpublished memoir, this short book is a first step toward reclaiming that story. “

You can order Sue Demont’s book here.

The meeting is at our usual venue: United Reformed Church, Rookstone Road, Tooting, SW17 9NQ.

(Tooting Broadway Tube, 280 264 57 270 355 44 77 333 G1 buses)