Battersea Multiple Choice Quiz | British Local History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. So you want to 'be beside the seaside'? Don't be misled by appearances! What does the last element of the place-name Battersea mean (etymologically, anyway)?

Answer: island

The last element of the name is -ea (not -sea), which is related to the place-name Eye, found in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire (and elsewhere) and also to 'Eyot' in Chiswick Eyot, the island in the Thames on the course of the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

The name originally meant 'Beadric's island', but at an early stage it was associated with the name 'Patrick'. In the Domesday Book it is called 'Patricesy'. (Information from the "Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names").

2. Which of these accurately describes the civil status of Battersea for most of its recorded history from the Domesday Book onwards?

Answer: Parish

The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was created in 1899. The Penge exclave, which had been part of the old parish, had already been detached ten years earlier, and became an Urban District. In 1965 Battersea was merged with the greater part of Wandsworth to form the new London Borough of Wandsworth.

3. Which famous English poet married his bride in St Mary's Church, Battersea?

Answer: William Blake

The marriage took place in 1782. Blake's wife, Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a local farmer, marked the register with an X as she was illiterate at the time.

Other famous people associated with the old parish church include Benedict Arnold (buried in the crypt), J. M. W. Turner and the eighteenth-century botanist, William Curtis. They are commemorated in modern stained glass windows in the church.

4. In 1838 the London and South Western Railway opened its London terminus at Nine Elms and moved the terminus to Waterloo Station ten years later. In 1863 a major interchange station was established in Battersea. What is it called?

Answer: Clapham Junction

Most lines from Waterloo and about half from Victoria pass through Clapham Junction. With over 2,000 trains passing through on an ordinary weekday, it is the busiest surface station in the United Kingdom and possibly in Europe. (King's Cross Underground Station is a close rival).

It is said that the station was named after Clapham, not Battersea, as the the latter had already acquired a reputation for seediness by the early 1860s.

The 15-track line to the east of Clapham Junction divides Battersea into two distinct areas.

5. With industrialization and a relatively high proportion of skilled workers, Battersea acquired a reputation for political radicalism. In 1892 it was one of the first constituencies to elect a Labour MP. Who was it?

Answer: John Burns

John Burns (1858-1943) stood and won with the support of the local Liberals. This is one of the reasons why Keir Hardie is usually said to have been the 'first Labour MP'. John Burns moved increasingly close to the Liberal Party and became President of the Board of Local Government in 1906. He was one of the very few MPs who objected to Britain's entry into World War I, and resigned from Asquith's government in August 1914. (He also objected to the Boer War, remarking, 'We are khaki clad, khaki mad and khaki bad').

There is a good, though not particularly flattering biography: William Kent, "John Burns: Labour's Lost Leader ...", Williams and Norgate, London 1950.

6. Battersea was the first borough in England to have a mayor of African, or part African heritage. When was he elected?

Answer: 1913

John Richard Archer (1863-1932), born in Liverpool to an immigrant from Barbados and an Irish mother, was elected by a majority of precisely one in 1913.

7. In 1922 Battersea elected a Communist to Parliament.

Answer: True

The MP was Shapurji Saklatvala (1874-1936). He was born in Mumbai (then Bombay) and settled in England in 1905. He was one of the very few members of the Communist Party ever elected to the House of Commons. He lost the seat in 1923, but regained it 1924 and sat in Parliament till 1929, despite being jailed for two months in 1926.

(Note. The Battersea constituency, which had elected John Burns in 1892 was split into Battersea North and Battersea South with effect from 1918. Saklatvala's seat was Battersea North, the area between the railway tracks and the river).

8. Battersea has some very unusual, not to say downright wacky street-names. Which of these is NOT a genuine Battersea street-name?

Answer: Serendipity Street

Field Marshal Sir George Pollock retired to a villa in a pleasant, leafy part of Battersea, and a few streets were named after his exploits in the First Afghan War (1838-42). The spellings with an initial 'C' are those used locally. Incidentally, Candahar Road and Cabul Road are almost certainly the only streets with these names in the British Isles.

9. In 1891-94 a polytechnic college was established in the borough. In the second half of the 20th century it was expanded and upgraded to a university. Which of these did it become?

Answer: University of Surrey

The University of Surrey received its royal charter in 1966 and moved to Guildford, Surrey. Brunel University was also founded in the same year. The University of Essex was one of those founded from scratch in the 1960s. Kingston Polytechnic was raised to university status in 1992.

10. For a long time, Battersea (and especially the northern part of the borough, between the main railway line and the Thames) had a reputation for seediness, even sluminess. In which decade did the 'gentrification' of the area begin?

Answer: 1970s

However, the streets near Battersea Park were always genteel. It used to be said that in Edwardian times army officers in Chelsea Barracks just across the Thames housed their mistresses in very pleasant mansion flats facing Battersea Park. The 'sluminess' of Battersea was exaggerated, for example, in Nell Dunn's 'realistic' work of fiction "Up the Junction", first published in 1963. It focused on 'low life', which undoubtedly did exist, though it was far from universal.

To cap it all, Disney promoted "Davy Crockett" in Britain with this jingle:

'Born on a chimney top in Battersea,
King of the teddy boys when he was only three,
Killed a cop when he only four,
And now he's in Dartmoor for ever more'.

Source: Author bloomsby

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Battersea Trivia Quiz

A potpourri on the part of London where I spent the first twenty years of my life. In those days Battersea was not the trendy place that it has become - quite the contrary. :) Enjoy!

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