Caius College Mission Battersea

[blopeman64]

For anyone else out there who is ineterested, this mission was set up in Battersea [by Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge] in 1892. The buildings which still exist today as Caius House, Harroway Road are shortly to be pulled down and a new Community and Youth Centre still to be called Caius House will be built on the land. My grandfather William Charles LOVETT [1873-1954] who lived in Battersea all his lfe had connections with the Mission in that he set up a boxing club there in 1912 and the Caius Boxing Club was famous in its day sending boys to major championships, Commonwealth and Olympic Games. In the existing building on the first floor where the chapel still exisits, there is a beautiful Burne-Jones Memorial window. It commemorates 4 young men who died tragically in a drowning accident in Rottingdean in August 1912, while the Caius Summer Club was in session down there. The names in the stained glass are GEORGE HENRY ALLEN, FREDERICK BEDFORD, CONRAD THOMAS ANCRUM BETTS AND FREDERICK JOHN TAYLOR. They were all aged about 20 at the time and the tragedy was widely reported in the local press both in Battersea and Rottingdean. Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones had a home in Rottingdean and, upset by the tragedy, offered to release an Edward Burne-Jones design for the window [E B-J had died in 1898].
Frederick BEDFORD was the oldest child of my Great Aunt Alice Illett BEDFORD [nee LOVETT] and my father aged only 9 attended the funeral.

Anyone with any links to the place or the names I'd be happy to hear from.

Carole

[sdw1363]

I have a photo of plaque in church at Rottingdean (near Saltdean) if you are interested

[JaneyPoos]

Hi there,

I wanted to ask you about this thread but appreciate that you have not been online in awhile so do hope you are available to help.

I was trying to find out where my grandfather use to box and found an old trophy he won which says "Caius Amateur Boxing Club, Jan 21st 1926, Heavyweight Open, Novice Competition" and I wanted to find out a bit more about the place and the people and to try and find some pictures of the place and people boxing if nothing else. My grandfather's name was Fred Bagley and I believe his spaing partner was his friend Jim Delaney.

If you could help me in anyway I'd love to hear from you.

Thank you,

Jane

[veronica7]

I have been recently reading a number of my grandfather’s diaries from 1903 to 1916. I came across his entry for 4th Aug. 1912 about the tragic drowning of George Allen, Fred Bedford, Conrad Betts and Fred Taylor at Saltdean. My great grandfather, Thomas Eyre and his two sons, Albert Horace and Frank Eyre were much involved with the Caius Mission for many years, particularly with the religious worship side. My Aunt Margaret had told me about the accident. My grandfather’s diary records how he was unwell and sent his daughter Margaret with her grandparents to Rottingdean on Sat.3rd Aug and she returned with her grandmother on Tues. 6th Aug. Great grandfather Thomas had returned on the Monday with Vic Allen. He records the funeral service at Caius and attending the internment of the remains of the lads at Morden and Streatham. My Aunt Margaret told me that her grandfather Thomas Eyre felt responsible in some way for this accident and never recovered from the shock. He died himself just 6 months later of pneumonia and pleurisy at 55 years of age.
The 1913 diary also records the death in March of Charles Edward Broughton of the London Committee of the Caius Mission. He was found dead at the foot of the cliffs at Kingsdown, Deal. My grandfather’s entry for 10th Feb. comments on the fate of his Caius friend, Dr Wilson with Captain Scott on the Antarctic expedition.
In June 1911 my grandfather’s brother, Frank Eyre had married Maude Funnell from Rottingdean. Her father was master of the Rottingdean hounds and she was a friend of Lady Burne- Jones. I don’t know how Frank and Maude met. I wonder whether it was through a Caius visit to Rottingdean or perhaps Caius selected Rottingdean because of this link. We still have Lady Burne- Jones’ wedding gift to Maude and Frank and her covering letter.

[edwardtjones]

i was a member of Caius boxing club 1949-1951, Don Cockell who fought for the world heavyweight title was a former member of the club. I have just goggled don cockell, lots of info about him and his family and his ties with battersea.
I lived in Clapham SW8, next door was SW11 BATTERSEA

[Tony Sanders]

Hello to one and all,
I happened upon this page quite by accident and I'm so pleased that I did. I'm one of the Directors at what is now Caius House, formally the Caius College Mission.

We are alive and well and still serving the community, especially the young people, of Battersea. We have built a brand new, state of the art, super club and we still have a boxing club!

Please take a look at our website... www.caiushouse.org

We have a number of plaques that we rescued from the old building, these are dedicated to former champions and mentors at Caius, we also have a war memorial and the original foundation stone... all these items are on display in the new building.

We also still have a window that commemorates the lives of four young men who died tragically in a drowning accident in Saltdean in August 1912 while the Caius Summer Club was in session at Rottingdean near Brighton. Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones had a home in Rottingdean and, upset by the tragedy, offered to release an Edward Burne-Jones memorial window to the memory of the four boys (Edward Burne-Jones had died in 1898). This is on loan to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. We are in the process of having a copy made ready to install.

If any of this is of interest to you guys, please don't hesitate in getting in touch.

Tony

Tony Sanders Community and Outreach Director
Caius House 2 Holman Road, Battersea, London SW11 3RL

T: 020 3818 6211
E: [email protected]
W: www.caiushouse.org