Lewisham

Vigil held for Ella, who died from chronic asthma due to air pollution

A nine-year-old girl who died from chronic asthma brought on by polluted air in Lewisham has been remembered at a vigil. In February 2013, Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived in Lewisham just 25 meters …

Air pollutions was a factor in the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah

Ella Addo-Kissi-Debrah is the first person in the UK whose death certificate lists air pollution exposure as a cause of death. The inquest into her death comes after her mother, Rosamund …

The Battle of Lewisham -1977

The London Borough of Lewisham is a multicultural borough with a large Black and Asian community, as many of the Windrush generation settled in Lewisham from the late 40s onwards. Just like …

Dora Saint aka Miss Read

Miss Read (17 April 1913 – 7 April 2012) Miss Read was the pen name of Dora Saint, who wrote over thirty books from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. Dora Jessie Shafe was born on 17 April 1913 in …

Sybil Phoenix OBE – community leader

Sybil Phoenix is a community leader who has devoted her life to helping other people, especially in Lewisham, the town she made home. Early years She was born Sybil Theodora Marshall on 21 June …

Rosa May Billinghurst – suffragette and women’s rights activist

Lewisham’s famous women: Rosa May Billinghurst ( 1875 – 1953) Rosa May Billinghurst (commonly known as May Billinghurst) was born on 31 May 1875 at 35 Granville Park, Lewisham. She was the second …

Edith Lanchester – socialist and feminist

Lewisham’s famous women: Edith Lanchester (1871-1966) Many people know of the famous Catford born actress Elsa Lanchester, but what do you know of her socialist and feminist mother, …

Clemence Dane (Winifred Ashton) – Novelist and playwright

Lewisham’s famous women: Clemence Dane (1888-1965) Clemence Dane was born Winifred Ashton on 21 February 1888 in Westcombe Park Road, Blackheath. In 1897, the family moved to 22 Westwood Hill, …

Eleanor Marx – socialist campaigner

Lewisham’s famous women: Eleanor Marx (1855 – 1898) Although commonly remembered as the daughter of Karl Marx, Eleanor Marx achieved a great deal in her own right as a feminist, a socialist, a …

Marie Lloyd – music hall star

Lewisham’s famous women: Marie Lloyd (1870-1922) Marie Lloyd is considered to be the greatest and most popular of the music hall artists. She lived for several years in Lewisham between 1887 …

History of Broadway Theatre, Catford

The Broadway Theatre, Catford has had many names over the decades. It started out as a concert hall extension to Lewisham Town Hall called uninspiringly “Town Hall Extension”. In 1926, …

David Michael – Lewisham’s first black policeman

Former Lewisham Labour Councillor David Michael was also chair of the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee. Before becoming a councillor, he spent decades working for the police. David …

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