Victoria Road was developed in the early 1860s and life in Sutton was considerably different then. The following will give you an idea of mid victorian life in the early years of the road.

In June 1853, Thomas Alcock who owned the parcel of land in which Victoria Road is now situated, made an agreement to lay out the land into building plots and designate new roads The new roads were to be Myrtle, Greyhound, New, Albert, Alfred, Victoria and Victoria Terrace. Up until 1853, this arable land was being farmed by William Wilson, who lived in an extensive farm off Angel Road .

Thomas Alcock had already started laying out the Benhill estate north of the Carshalton Road now called Newtown, the north part of which was designated for large middle class housing and the southern end for the working classes. It was estimated that the cost of building the new houses in labour and materials alone would be at least £150 for a semi detached and £200 for a detached house!

The key for this rapid development was the opening of the railway lines. First was the Croydon to Epsom line in 1847, then the Mitcham Junction line in 1868. This new ability to commute to London brought about a massive expansion in Sutton's population which grew from 3186 in 1861 to 17000 by the turn of the century.

In 1869 Victoria Road was more developed than all the neighbouring streets. Albert Road had 3 houses, Alfred Road 5 and Carshalton Road had 11 on the north side and just 6 on the south, all of which had been completed in the last year. Moreland Road had yet to be developed.

Shopping for the Victoria Road residents would have mostly been in Jenny Lind Road which was now the centre of activity for Newtown and had a wide range of shops and traders offering their wares.

On both sides of the Carshalton Road were pits which had been excavated in the previous centuries for Chalk and Lime. Mr Clowser the Lime Burner of Lind Road lived and worked in the pit on the north side which was commonly called 'Clowsers Pit'. This pit also housed the Sutton and Cheam Water Works, which supplied water to the whole area. The pits were reputed to have been the source of the Lime for the construction of St Pauls Cathedral although this cannot be verified. They were also a good source for fossils and many sharks teeth and 'Shepherds Crowns' had been unearthed. The Watergardens Estate on the north and B&Q on the south now cover these sites.

The High Street was a world apart from the bustling town centre of today as the total population of Sutton was only about 6,500, some 170,000 less than today! The roads in the summer would be watered by the horse drawn water cart to keep the dust down. Shopkeepers would hang out their goods on open display and it would not be uncommon to see a fishmongers also showing locally caught produce such as a string of skylarks, lapwings, hares, ducks and pigeons. Butchers would hang out whole carcasses of meat in and outside their shops. The shoppers in the High Street would also occasionally be entertained by brass bands, dancing bears or an organ grinder with his red jacketed monkey. The ladies may have been entertained by Italian women using their fortune telling love birds to select a card perhaps foretelling of a handsome stranger coming their way! In 1869 Sutton had the following number of traders: 15 drapers / milliners, 4 fishmongers, 12 greengrocers, 3 hairdressers, 1 horse dealer, 25 inns, 2 saddlers, 2 shoeing smiths, 9 tailors and just 1 tobacconist.

Local Services

Gas was being produced locally by burning coal and gas mains were now being laid out throughout the town. This was powering the 130 gas lamps around Sutton which each used about 5 cubic feet of gas per hour from sunset till 2 a.m.

The Sutton Water Company was founded in 1864. It began laying pipes to supply the homes of Sutton residents with fresh water from the chalk pits where they were based. Victoria Road had mains supply installed to all houses by 1868.

There were several doctors operating in the town but not all could afford their services and occasionally one could see the roadside padded with straw bedding where a person would be laying seriously ill! The nearest dentist was in Epsom but once a week Mr Bailey a surgeon/dentist would visit John Westlake's Chemist shop offering his services. He could offer a set of false teeth on vulcanite from £5 or set on gold from £10 and he also offered 'Stopping, scaling & extraction at moderate charges'. Whilst in Westlake's one could purchase trusses, enemas or syringes for home use, or a liniment called 'Westlake's own Working Man's Friend' or perhaps digestive pills made from dandelion, chamomile and rhubarb.

These 1869 pills were apparently not only 'specially adapted for the use of females at all periods of life, they remove the cause and effect of complaints peculiar to the sex' but they were 'invaluable for families, emigrants and colonists!'

W R Church's would tempt you to purchase 'Gold or silver pencil cases,…rich and costly presents, music at half price'

If you were in a position to buy a property, the Sutton and East Surrey Mutual Benefit Society had just been formed in 1868 and could offer financial help. Its aims were 'to enable its members to build or purchase a dwelling house…..for every £100 advanced it charges £1 per month to be repaid over a period of 12 years, these payments are for interest and capital'

The working men of Sutton had just started a Co-operative Society for the sale of household commodities. Morgan's Directory of Sutton in 1869 says: "It is satisfying to see that the working men of Sutton have sufficient thrift and business capacity to inaugurate and sustain a movement which, if properly conducted, will not only benefit them pecuniarily, but will foster habits of self help and self reliance in place of that dependence on the wealthier classes which is the great bane of poverty"

In 1869 the election for the Member of Parliament was held in Sutton for the first time for the newly created division of Mid Surrey. The votes cast from eligible Sutton men were: Conservative 147, Liberal 93, did not vote 25.

The worshippers in the Lind Road Chapel were described thus in the Directory of Sutton of 1872 : "The Primitive Methodists have also built during the last 18 months a neat Iron Chapel in the Lind Road and in their own peculiar way are endeavouring to do good".

The Sutton and Sutton Montpelier Cricket Clubs merged and were using the field in Cheam Road then owned by Sir Edmund Antrobus.

The world in 1868

Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister, but resigns during the year and is succeeded by William Gladstone.

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

Beginning of Boshin War in Japan, here samurai warriors from 1868 plot the campaign.

Beginning of 10 year war in Spain

Baron Napier lands in Abyssinia with 32,000 troops and marches 400 miles to release British men in Magdala.

Tokyo becomes capital of Japan.

Lt. Col. Custer led his 7th Cavalry against the Cheyenne in the Battle of Washita River.

Civil war in Afghanistan .

Sophia Jex-Blake shocks the medical establishment by announcing that she wants to become a doctor.

The first Trade Union Congress was held.

Louisa May Alcott wrote 'Little Women'

The war of the Triple Alliance was being fought by Paraguay against Brazil and Uruguay which ended with Paraguay losing 60% of its population.

Oxford won the Boat Race.

The last public execution in London took place outside Newgate Prison.

The first overseas tour of cricketers to England took place with a team of Australian Aborigines visiting. They apparently played to a high standard but were marketed as 'a team of racial freaks'.

The All England Tennis and Croquet Club was formed in Worple Road Wimbledon.

If you know of any other interesting events from this year, please let me know and I will include them.

If you have any other information which could be included, then please use the contact form..