15 Charleville Circus

Date: 1888 [unknown]
Location: Sydenham, London, England, United Kingdom
Surname/tag: Serowka

One Place Study: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

This property is part of the wider 'One Place Study' of Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

This study describes the street and immediate area of Upper Sydenham within a short distance of the prior location of the famous Crystal Palace (1854-1936). ...

Property Timeline

Work-in-progress (currently gathering census data)

1888

Property built by this date as corroborated by street plans showing street numbering, in the National Archives. [1]

1891 Census Sunday 5 April 1891

Around five properties including No.15 in Charleville Circus were missing from this Census.

1891

Meyer, Misses – Name of person listed at this address Kelly's Directory of Kent, Surrey & Sussex

1901 Census Persons residing at 15 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London on Sunday 31 March 1901

Name	Relation	Status	Sex	Age	Born	Occupation	Birth Place
Emma Prescott Hiller	Head	Widdow	F	64	1837		Greenwich Kent
Addison Prescott Hiller	Son	Single	M	36	1865	Manager Chemical Manufacturer	Camden Town London
Margaret Prescott Hiller	Daughter	Single	F	34	1867		Camden Town London
Charles Prescott Hiller	Son	Single	M	32	1869	Bookkeeper	Kentish Town London
May Bradman	Servant	Single	F	27	1874	General servant domestic	Croydon Surrey

1903

Prescott-Hiller, Mrs. – Name of person listed at this address Kelly's Directory of Kent

1911 Census Persons residing at 15 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London on Sunday 2 April 1911

Name	Relation	Status	Sex	Age	Born	Occupation	Birth Place
Henry Clarke	Head	Married	M	69	1842	Retired merchant	New Parks Leicester
Laura Maria Clarke	Wife	Married	F	60	1851		Colyton Devon
Margaret Laura Clarke	Daughter	Single	F	37	1874	Legal clerk	Hinckley Leicester
Henry Elliot Clarke	Son	Single	M	36	1875	Clerk to army agents	Hinckley Leicester
Ethel Lydia Seal	Servant	Single	F	18	1893	General servant domestic	Peckham Surrey

Requiring further study: Is Henry Clarke the same joint family member of the gunmaking business of Messrs. H Clarke & Sons, Gallowtreegate, Leicester? Mentioned in: Double Gun Shop Forum

1914

Clarke, Hy. – Name of person listed at this address Post Office London County Suburbs Directory

1918 24th May

Notice in – Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette

Sale of Freehold houses By Order of Executors. SYDENHAM NOYS and HOWES will SELL by AUCTION at the GREYHOUND HOTEL, SYDENHAM, on WEDNESDAY, 19th June, at 7 o'clock p.m., in separate lots, the Eleven FREEHOLD HOUSES – Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25 CHARLEVILLE CIRCUS. Mostly Let at £40 per Annum each, and Plot of Land laid out as tennis lawn.

Solicitors, R. F. Jackson and Bawles, 167, Fenchurch Street, E.C. Auctioneers' Office: 4, Sydenham-road, S.E.

1921 11th February

Notice in – The Streatham News and Borough

Sale of 15 Charleville Circus on Leasehold

F. C. SQUIRE AND CO. 46 Kirkdale, Sydenham

Will sell at the Greyhound Hotel, Sydenham, on Tuesday evening, February 22nd, at 7 p.m., the semi-detached Residence, 15 CHARLEVILLE CIRCUS, Sydenham. In splendid high position, near Crystal Palace Park, stations and 'buses. Five bed, three reception, bath (h. and c.). Lease 86 years at £12 12s. Ground rent. POSSESSION ON COMPLETION. Particulars of solicitors, Messrs. Russell, Son and Fisher, 3 Serjeants Inn, E.C.

1921 Census Persons residing at 15 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London on Sunday 19 June 1921

Name	Relation	Status	Sex	Age	Born	Occupation	Birth Place
Alfred E Sickel	Head	Married	M	44	1877	Printing Machine Minder Raphael Tuck & Sons*	Southwark London
Julia A Sickel	Wife	Married	F	43	1878	Household Duties	Vauxhall London
May E Sickel	Daughter	Single	F	18	1903	Clerk Stationers (City EC4)	Kennington London
Rosina A Sickel	Daughter	Single	F	14	1907		Kennington London
Francis E Sickel	Son	Single	M	9	1902		Kennington London

*Raphael Tuck & Sons (1870-1959) were a well known London printing company

1926

Hendrickson, Arthur V., F.I.C., F.C.S. – Name of person listed at this address Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society

The Freehold of the house was purchased from Mrs. Hendrickson in 1958. Did Mr & Mrs Hendrickson purchase the Freehold in 1921 and let the property to the Sickel family? But why was Arthur Hendrickson listed at address in 1926?

1931 Census Public records will not be available until 2031

1939 Wartime National Register Persons residing at 15 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London on Friday 29 September 1939

Name	Relation	Status	Sex	Age	Born	Occupation	Birth Place
Alfred E Sickel	Head	Widowed	M	44	1857	Colour Printer
No other residents

Date of birth given as: 1857-01-16 which differs from last census.

Youngest son aged 9 in 1921 census would have been 27 in 1939. Alfred may possibly lived in the house alone after wife passed away and presuming all children left home, possibly serving in the forces.

Last official record of residents. Next Census (1951) to be made public in 2052.

1958 March

The freehold of 15 Charleville Circus was sold to Mr Marian John Serówka & Mrs Joan Serowka for £1,750. Private mortgage with former owner (Mrs. Hendrickson) with a loan of £1,425 for ten years with interest fixed at 7% per annum. Monthly payments were calculated at: £16/18/2 (lsd) = £16.91.

Between 1958 and 1965 four sons were born during the family's residence, the second of was born in the actual property in 1960.

The family lived on the lower and upper ground levels and let the two floors above to short term tenants.

1960s

Telephone numbers in Sydenham in the early 60s were four digit long but were even shorter before that.

Our Charleville Circus telephone number was '7472' which is all you dialled from within the SYDenham area. A truck call made from outside the area would require the caller to use the SYD prefix, which when dialled on an old rotary dial went like this: S (PRS)= 7, Y (WXY)= 9, D (DEF)= 3. The complete number was '793 7472'.

The montage image below shows an extract from an old printed directory and a telephone of the same style as the one we had at home. There was a little drawer at the bottom with a note pad for writing down numbers.

1966 6th April

Freehold of 15 Charleville Circus sold for £4,500 + £200 for fixtures and fittings to E. G Barnard.

Source: Serowka Family Archive and from profile manager of this WikiTree

Memories: 1