John Eustace Anderson

John Eustace Anderson was a renowned local historian and prolific author in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is quoted frequently in local publications because of his accuracy and attention to detail; much respected for his local knowledge and was not averse to including amusing anecdotes and snippets of gossip in his writings.

Anderson was born in Southampton in 1844 and moved with his family to Acton House, St Leonard's in 1854. His father, Eustace Anderson, was a solicitor who had been interested in parish affairs from his arrival in Mortlake. His mother Williamina was born in Scotland. John Eustace was the eldest of their seven children: four sons and three daughters. He attended King's College, then became solicitors' clerk, before becoming a partner in his father's City firm of Anderson and Anderson of Ironmonger Lane. From a very early age John Eustace would talk to local people about their memories, writing these up in his notebooks which he later recounted in his detailed and fascinating writings on Mortlake's history.

Anderson senior was for several years Vestry clerk in Mortlake, and it was in that role that he arranged for a secure safe in which the parish records should be kept and preserved. It was these early records, along with those in national libraries and museums, that John Eustace consulted when writing his local history accounts. His first publication was A History of the Parish of Mortlake in 1886 which he dedicated to his father.

Stored in Richmond's Local Studies library is the Anderson Collection; a remarkable collection of 106 drawings of Mortlake and East Sheen. John Eustace commissioned Albert Betts and William Lewis Turner, both local artists, to draw what they saw in the local area. Both artists drew everyday buildings (but rarely included people) that contemporary photographers seldom considered worth recording. Both artists' attention to detail means that there is now have a unique collection of how Mortlake and East Sheen appeared at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.

In 1861 John Eustace joined the prestigious volunteer infantry unit the Victoria Rifles. He retired after 30 years' service with the rank of major. John Eustace was also a prominent freemason.

Anderson was deeply involved in parish matters. He was appointed clerk to the Highways Board in 1889 where he remained until 1893. He succeeded his father as Mortlake Vestry clerk and became the first clerk to the Barnes Urban District Council in 1893 until he retired in 1911 when he accepted the post of solicitor to the Council.

In about 1889 Anderson was approached by a weekly newspaper called the Mortlake Independent to provide regular articles on local subjects. The newspaper did not last long, but he later reproduced the articles in his Rambles of Old Waxam. Towards the end of his life, Anderson published a series of articles in the Richmond Herald entitled Mortlake Memories. There were 32 articles in total, many containing direct quotations from Mortlake Vestry records from the 16th century onwards as well as a wealth of more recent local information. His last article was published on 21 December 1914.

John Eustace's father died in 1889. The 1891 Census records John Eustace as still living in the large 12-roomed house in St Leonards with his widowed mother, his brother Eustace (also a solicitor), two younger brothers and two sisters, none of whom was working. A nurse and three domestic servants were also part of the household. However, in June 1891 John Eustace married Cecilia Stratton in Mortlake. She was the daughter of Anthony Stratton, the Controller of Customs in Jamaica. Cecilia was born in 1851 in Jamaica and was a British subject.

By 1901 there had been major changes in the Anderson household. John Eustace's mother and siblings had moved out of Acton House leaving him with his wife Cecilia and two domestic servants. Cecilia died in June 1902 aged 50 and after only 11 years of marriage. By the time of the 1911 Census, John Eustace was 67 years old, a widower living with two domestic servants.

John Eustace Anderson remained a Mortlake resident and continued to write and work until just before his death on 26 September 1915. His funeral, on 30 September, was attended by many family members, friends and local dignitaries. He was buried in the family grave in the Old Mortlake Burial Ground.

Publications:

Mortlake First Vestry Minute Book 1578-1652, published 1886

A History of the Parish of Mortlake, 1886

A History of the Independents or Dissenters at Mortlake 1662-1902, published 1888

A Short Account of the Mortlake Company of the Royal Putney, Roehampton and Mortlake Volunteer Corps,
   1803-1806, published 1893

Portobello House and its Inhabitants, 1894

A Short Account of the Tapestry Works, Mortlake, 1894

A Short Account of the Mortlake Potteries, 1894

Old Mortlake Watch, 1896

Sheen House and its Inhabitants, 1898

A History of the Parish of Barnes, 1900

The Rambles of Old Waxam (the cobbler), 1909

Mortlake to Stratford-on-Avon, an amusing account of a Barnes Urban District Council outing.

Mortlake Memories, 29 articles for the Richmond Herald, 1912-1914

Anderson writes that "Taking the reader into my confidence, I must say that of all my literary 'children' I like The Rambles of Old Waxam the best."