Bust

06 Croydon - Charles Darwin

Site: Whitgift and others (17 memorials)

CR9, Katharine Street, Croydon Public Library

Built in 1892 by Charles Henman Jr. this heavily decorated group of buildings makes up Croydon's Municipal buildings complex. The building and the roundels are covered at Ornamental Passions. Each of the five bays of the frieze carries three portrait roundels. The names, wreathed in either oak or laurel leaves, are given along the tops of the windows just below the pediments, listed here left to right. Ornamental Passions assumes they are all the work of Edwin Roscoe Mullins who did other work on this part of the building.

You would have thought that by 1892 the spelling of Shakespeare would have been sorted out. But this is not the first time we have seen it as "Shakespere" on buildings around this date. Perhaps it was a nod to the fashion for historical romanticism. Of course, in the 16th century, spelling had not settled down, to the extent that Shakespeare himself was inconsistent. His marriage certificate (necessary because at 18 he was under-age) has his name spelt as Shagspeare, accidentally, we are sure.

Archbishop Tillotson takes pride of place at the centre of these portraits. He was born almost 30 years after Whitgift's death and, like Whitgift, became Archbishop of Canterbury. Other than that we can find no reason for his honoured presence here.

Improbably, "Croydon" derives from the Anglo Saxon for "Crocus Valley" (ref: The Londonist)

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
06 Croydon - Charles Darwin

Subjects commemorated i

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin, father of the theory of evolution and natural selectio...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
06 Croydon - Charles Darwin

Created by i

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
06 Croydon - Charles Darwin

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Rabindranath Tagore bust

Rabindranath Tagore bust

WC1, Gordon Square, Garden

The poem is from 'Song Offerings' by Tagore. Written in Bengali, he created the English version himself so we guess the plaque is indeed ...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Marcus Garvey - Willesden Library

Marcus Garvey - Willesden Library

NW10, High Road, 95, Willesden Green Old Library Building

The bust was unveiled on Garvey's 129th birthday, and is now inside a glass case in the museum at the library, but we cannot discover who...

1 subject commemorated
T P O'Connor bust

T P O'Connor bust

EC4, Fleet Street, 78, Chronicle House

2024: This whole block is a building site so we have marked these memorials as being lost.  Possibly they will be reinstated when the dev...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Colonial Office - B03 - Gascoigne

Colonial Office - B03 - Gascoigne

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Wimbledon Library - Shakespeare

Wimbledon Library - Shakespeare

SW19, Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon Library

Shakespeare to the left, Milton to the right.

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Keith Richards - Dartford

Keith Richards - Dartford

DA1, Spielman Road, 6

Wonder if Keith's parents were into topiary?

2 subjects commemorated
Sir Philip Sassoon

Sir Philip Sassoon

Sir Philip Sassoon attained prominence in the art world, high society and politics in the first decades of the 20th century. He was ADC to Douglas Haig during the First World War and later Parliame...

Person, Politics & Administration, France

1 memorial