100 Years of a South London Suburb by Jill Whitehead

Much has been written about pre-20th century history in the London Borough of Sutton, but little after 1900, except perhaps the two world wars. Much has also been written about the suburbanisation of North London, and very little in South London. It is assumed that South London followed on from North London and that development started later in the 1930s. But this is far from the truth – South London was a leader in suburban development as attested by the mad scramble to build new housing estates in the period between 1924 and 1930. This was helped by two key sets of movers of different types of homes namely the Suenson-Taylor family who built middle class housing and the Carshalton Ex-Servicemen’s Housing and Provident Society who built homes that the working man could afford to buy – with the help of government which provided very generous subsidies.

The growth of different modes of travel and transport was the key to the development of the South London suburbs. In 1926, the Northern line was extended from Clapham South to Morden, which was accompanied by the electrification of the Southern Railway south-central routes to Sutton between 1927 and 1930. This was further enhanced by the construction of the Wimbledon to Sutton train route which opened in 1930.
 
Train electrification of both the Underground and Overground routes led to a massive increase in suburban housing development in the Sutton, Morden and surrounding areas between 1926 and 1930, and the accompanying huge increase in population between the wars in the areas making up the Outer South London suburbs today.

Lloyd George’s Coalition government post WW1 was acutely aware it had to provide for those coming back from the war, and to keep a population satisfied that could otherwise fall prey to revolution, as had happened in Bolshevik Russia in 1917. His aim was for a healthy, well-housed, well-educated and gainfully employed workforce. And so new household units were built which catered for smaller families, women workers who needed labour-saving devices, and leisure space for their families. It was all about modernisation – not only of homes, but of jobs and the workforce, and transport and communications etc. Above all, it was about upward mobility.

Jill’s book, published by The Friends of Honeywood Museum, describes the evolution of the new estates, and the people who built or lived in them, and where they came from (all parts of the UK, and beyond), to be part of this 1920’s explosion of “suburbia”. 

The book is available at Honeywood Museum’s shop.

Paperback, 24.6cm x 18.9cm, ​174 pages, £16