Obituaries

Herbert Thomas SHAW (1912-2002)

Bertie Shaw is remembered, in particular by his wife Muriel and their three daughters, as a devoted family man. Himself a man of wide interests, he wanted each of them to enrich their lives by discovering and developing their own.

To this end, as soon as the family moved to Croydon from Streatham in 1956, he enrolled them as one full member and four associates in the CNHSS. That done, he encouraged them to attend meetings and excursions and even wielded a spade himself on archaeological digs. He also served as membership secretary for several years.

Without his continued approval and support Muriel could not have pursued her studies in archaeology; nor could she later have become curator of the Society's museum, where he gave a generous amount of assistance for as long as he was able.

His own particular interest was in local history and he contributed many articles on diverse topics to the Croydon Advertiser, the Croydon Society, the Bourne Society and the Beckenham Historical Association. As a member of the Croydon branch of the Historical Association, he helped to arrange several successful joint meetings with the Society's Local History section. He also wrote for the Society's Archaeological Newsletter, the Bulletin and the Proceedings, in which was published his history of Croydon's breweries. He spent many years researching Nalder and Collyer, the High Street brewers, and their public houses, extending his studies down to the South coast.

So, when you come across one of his articles in a publication, either one of ours or of another society, remember him as someone who best exemplified the educational aims of the Society and recall the various ways in which he aided it.

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Roy BILLINGTON (1905-2002)

William Roy Sydney, the son of bricklayer, was born in Croydon on 22 January 1905. Due to serious illness during his early years he received only a limited formal education. He often claimed it was this that enabled him to develop his extensive range of interests, which despite being deaf in one ear from early childhood, included classical and rock music, jazz, film, theatre, art, vernacular architecture, history (both ancient and modern) and politics. However, it was books that remained his consuming interest and pleasure through to the end of his life. His love of books got him the sack from his first job at Thumbwoods, as he spent time reading them instead of working. He became an apprentice bricklayer in 1921 and worked as a master bricklayer until his retirement in 1970, retaining his membership of the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (now UCATT) from 1926 until his death. It was probably the General Strike and meeting his wife-to-be that introduced him to working class politics and membership of the Communist Party. Although he left in 1938, he remained a supported of working class struggles world-wide and an unflinching opponent of capitalism. Throughout his life, his amazing variety of interests was coupled with an exceptional memory, which enabled him to quote endlessly from books and films (particularly those of Alfred Hitchcock). A veritable encyclopaedia.

He joined CNHSS in 1975 and remained a member until 2001, proudly promoting the Society at every opportunity. Although his increasing deafness inhibited his involvement in many of the Society's activities, he nonetheless made many practical contributions, such as constructing shelves at the Library and the newly established Museum at Chipstead Valley, in the company of Stan Treays, before serving as a valued Library Assistant for several years. After the death of his wife Lily in 1991, Roy continued to live in the house that they had occupied since 1931, looking after himself until eighteen months before his death. He died peacefully in the Hill House Nursing Home, Kenly on Sunday, 18 August 2002. His last request to his son Ralph, made the day before he died, was for the return of 'English Stone Buildings' by Alec Clifton-Taylor & A.S. Ireson, bought on his last visit to his favourite Crystal Palace bookshop. He leaves his son, his daughter Jenny and six grandchildren. An astonishing product of the working class.

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Last updated October 2^nd 2002
© 2002 Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society Limited