As churches across the U.K. prepare to celebrate Harvest Festival, something I'm sure many cultures do in their own way across the world. London, the real London, not the one tourists visit in the West End, will be celebrating in their own unique way with the Pearly Kings and Queens that will attract crowds of spectators and Pearlies alike.
There isn't much that shouts London more than a Pearly King or Queen but unlike many traditions here, this is a relatively modern one though it still goes back over 150 years when road sweeper Henry Croft covered his finest whistle and flute in shiny white buttons and embarked on the first of many charitable 'whip rounds' for the city's poor, modern day Pearlies continue with their own charitable mission.
Henry Croft, just 5 feet tall but wearing 4,900 buttons and pearls
Henry Croft was born on the 24th May 1861 in the St Pancras workhouse, in King's Road (now St Pancras Way) in Somers Town, north London, where his mother – Elizabeth, the 27-year-old wife of a musician also called Henry – had been admitted that day.
Mother and child were discharged a fortnight later, on 7th June, presumably returning to 10 Fitzroy Market (between present-day Warren Street and Grafton Way), the 'Residence' given in the workhouse records.
Henry and his mother obviously were all but destitute and he must have had a very impoverish young life as it wasn't long before they were both admitted to the workhouse again on the 24th February 1862 and repeatedly in 1863
In July 1864 Elizabeth again appears in the workhouse records, but this time without Henry. At the age of just 3 years old, he had found himself in the St Pancras orphanage where he spent most of his childhood.
It was in the orphanage that he learned the sewing skills which would prove so useful in creating the pearl-button-covered costumes that he later made famous; and it was the orphanage that in 1876 sent him to the roads and sewers department of St Pancras Borough Council to take up a job as a road sweeper, which was to be his occupation for all his working life.
Working around St Pancras at the age of just 14, Henry came across many costermongers – sellers of, particularly, fruit and vegetables from barrows in the street – and became fascinated by their 'flash boy' outfits.
Henry – who was no more than 5 feet tall – used to wear his pearly outfits to stand out in charitable fetes and carnivals to collect money in aid of the children in the orphanage where he had been raised. He and his suit became a great attraction, and he was approached by hospitals, churches and other organisations to collect for the poor, deaf, dumb or blind. Eventually he had more requests for help than he could cope with single-handed.
Tradition has it that Henry's friends the costermongers had a custom of organising a whip-round for any of their number who had fallen on hard times, and Henry now asked them to help him with his charity work. They adopted the same style of costume, and so the pearly monarchy and its practice of raising money for charity began, eventually spreading to every London borough.
They had a row of mother-of-pearl buttons sewn to their outside trouser seams from the ankle to the knee, with more pearl buttons on the flaps of their waistcoat and coat pockets and the front of their caps. A 1904 newspaper article reported that 'Pearl buttons always possessed a peculiar charm for Croft, and when quite a boy he was never happy unless his coat boasted more "pearls" than those of his companions.'
As the Manchester Guardian wrote of Henry in 1934, 'For over forty years he went about the streets, in and out of taverns, threading his way among theatre queues, collecting money for charities. He was twice presented to royalty, and on his own estimate his collection-boxes yielded up to charity over those years the handsome sum of £4,000 [equivalent to about £220,000 today].'
Medals awarded him included one for his work with the Children's Outing Fund and another from the lord mayor of London for raising £72 (about £4,000 today) for victims of the Thames flood of 1928. In 1892 he had married Lily Newton, the daughter of a Kentish Town painter and his wife, and after Henry's death she told the press, 'He was given a ribbon for every collection he made, and we have two thousand of them.'
If anyone might doubt just what an impact he made in his charitable life or how loved he was, then take a look at this old original footage of his funeral in 1930.
The pearly king and queens are still a very visible part of London life largely because of Henry and on Sunday 24th September 2023, the highlight of the Pearly calendar will take place in the Guildhall Yard starting at 1.30pm.
There will be costumes right out of Dickensian times along with Morris dancers, possibly a maypole or too and the sounds of traditional music and likely, more pearls than you've ver seen in your life.
The Pearly Kings and Queens as they are know will then parade their way a relatively short distance to St Mary-le-Bow church, home of the renowned Bow Bells, all laden with gifts, contributions and harvest goods to give to the poor.
You may have to have been born within earshot of the bells to be considered a true cockney, but Sunday's festivities allow everyone the chance to be a cor blimey guv cheeky cockney and have a sing of Knees Up Mother Brown or The Lambeth Walk. The service itself is at 3pm and from experience it will be packed out.
Going all the way back to Henry Croft, Pearly Kings and Queens are renowned for their charitable work, so while the whole event is free, it is encouraged to have some spare cash to plonk down in a pearly cap.
Clive Bennett who is the Pearly King the London district of Woolwich says, "This event is a testament to the enduring spirit of our city and the diverse communities that make London so vibrant. We invite everyone to join us for a day of entertainment, cultural heritage, and unity."
If you want to learn about Cockneys and learn the lingo a bit then take a look at https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2016/12/15/all-about-cockneys-the-150-top-cockney-rhyming-slang-phrases/
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