Mrs HC Beardsall wrote the article below to The Herald from her home in Toronto on 18 October 1963. It was in response a negative article about Hampton Square in that newspaper. She was a regular contributor The Herald , writing about her life in Mortlake, and Hampton Square in particular. Many of the people Mrs Beardsall mentions can be found in the 1898/99 edition of Kelly's Directory.

My grandfather Leonard Pike [a bootmaker], with his brothers Walter, William and Alfred, were all born in Mortlake and my grandfather and Alfred stayed there all their lives. When grandfather married, he took his bride to a house in Nelson Terrace and lived there until he died in January 1916. My mother and her six brothers were born in Nelson Terrace. After my mother married, she lived elsewhere for seven or eight years, but when I was 18 months old, we moved into No.3 Sussex Place, which was in Sheen Lane, not Hampton Square. Afterwards, Sheen Lane was numbered, and our house was No.72. It was the fourth house from the Wheatsheaf, and we lived there until I was 12 years old. Granted, the Wheatsheaf was noisy on Saturday nights, but the other six days were quite normal as most of the inhabitants of Hampton Square worked Barker's market gardens and in the summer it was late in the evenings before they got home, and they worked Saturdays too. Saturday night, after pay, was the only time they had. Most of them were not poverty stricken, although their pay was small and, except for one or two exceptions they did not get drunk very often. It was the one or two who started fighting and Mr Holmes [landlord of the Wheatsheaf] would soon get them put out. Then they would fight on the street and, as there was no wireless, television or even movies then, it was all the entertainment they had, and the men would crowd around. I knew Mr and Mrs Holmes and I believe they were both teetotallers. The family belonged to the Congregational Church and all the family, including Mr Holmes, attended church regularly.

Next to the Wheatsheaf was Littlewood's fish shop and they served a lot of the gentry. As there were no telephones, the ladies came down and left their orders for the day, which Mr Littlewood or one of his sons would deliver later by pony cart. I do not think these ladies would have come to Littlewood's if the Wheatsheaf was so bad. I have seen them myself and they were not afraid to walk down Sheen Lane and often did on their way to the station.

Next to Littlewood's was a grocery shop run by Mr Thomas; next to that was the start to Sussex Place, in which lived Mr and Mrs James Brake. Mr Brake was a carpenter and worked for many big houses, including White Lodge. We lived next door in No.3, and in the next house lived Mr and Mrs Hewett. Mr Hewett was a cab driver. Next was a passageway leading to a house that was in line with Hampton Square. In that lived the Green family – Mr and Mrs Green, son Willie and daughter Helen. The elder daughter Carrie had emigrated to the US. Next was a small building which Billie Parker used as an office. He was a stonemason and his yard was next. He sold out and afterwards managed a public house. I believe it was the Jolly Gardeners. [William John Parker was landlord of the Jolly Gardeners from 1899 to 1920]. Spicer's, ironmongers, was built on part of the stonemason's yard. Next again was Mr Gale, tailor, and then Miss Manderson who was a bookbinder. Mr Teece, shoe repairer, had the next place, a wooden shop, and then Blake's shoeing forge, where the anvil would ring all day. There were some cottages at the back and the Bull Yard, where the coach horses were cleaned and stabled until their next trip.

Hampton Square was shaped like a tuning fork, the entrance being the handle and then it branched off both ways. About halfway down the entrance on the right-hand side was Cotsford's fish and chip shop, often called Scotford's or Scotty. In the centre of the front row was one made into a general store and run by a couple named Lee, who were settled gypsies. My mother would send one of my brothers or me, round there when we ran out of bread on early closing day, for a Golden Grain Loaf as they (the Lees) were always open. Another settled gypsy couple were Darky Hook, and his wife, and their two little girls were spotless as new pins always. Darky was one of Barker's foremen.

It was natural in a cul-de-sac like Hampton Square to find some questionable characters – burglars and the like – because there was an easy escape. If the police came round all they had to do was to climb over the wall that separated them from Model Cottages and in no time, they could be in the Upper Richmond Road and jump on a bus.

As for the Mission, my mother told me many times about when she was young, seeing the Duchess of Cambridge accompanied by her granddaughter Princess May (afterwards Queen Mary) regularly visiting round at the Mission. Hardly seems likely that they would have gone there if it had been so bad! I also remember an old organ grinder who used to stop outside the Wheatsheaf and play his organ every afternoon. We called him Friday and it was rumoured that he owned houses in Richmond. Another thing I remember were the Beanfeasts. The brakes loaded with Cockneys would sweep through Sheen Lane, sometimes stopping at the Wheatsheaf, to wet their whistles as they would be singing at the top of their voices accompanied by a concertina and mouth organ. Mostly though, they would sweep through to the Bull or Derby Arms.

Many Mission Halls were founded in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during periods of rapid urban growth and social change. They were often established to serve communities where there was a need for focused support.