Marion Inell from Friends of West Ham Park on Pearly Kings and Queens

A man and woman dressed as pearly king and queen. — Bob and Sue, the Pearly King and Queen of Forest Gate. (Credit – Nicky Brown)

The ParkFest event at West Ham Park saw local Pearly King and Queen (of Forest Gate) – Bob and Sue – wearing their great outfits. These lovely people had their photos taken with many visitors to the event.

The origins of the Pearly Kings and Queens date back to a workhouse boy named Henry Croft, who was born in 1862. He left the workhouse at 13 to work as a road sweeper for a London Borough.

In the local markets of St Pancras he became friends with the costermongers and he learnt about their way of life, rhyming slang and generosity. Their ‘flash boy’ fashion was to sew smoked pearl buttons on the piped seams of their bell bottom trousers, jackets and waistcoats and also their caps, these showed their status.

The costermongers were caring and looked after their own if sick or in need, and they soon saw that Henry was also a very caring and kind person – never forgetting his origins, he would often take goods the costermongers had given him and pass them on to the workhouse children.

He wanted to do more for charity so he made his first “pearly suit” that was covered in smoked pearl buttons, similar to those worn by his costermonger friends. Henry soon became well known for his charity work wearing his smoked pearl button suit.

He often collected pennies for many charities of London such as hospitals, churches, children’s homes, the sick and those in need. As his popularity grew he needed help so he turned to his friends the costermongers and they didn’t let him down – many costermongers became Pearly families.

Henry died in 1930 and there is a statue of him in the crypt of St Martins in the Field Church,Trafalgar Square. A blue plaque can be seen in Phoenix Rd. London NW1 1SY.

West Ham Park is one of 15 green spaces in London that have been awarded Green Flag status – recognising them as among the very best parks in the world. The Green Flag Awards celebrate conservation, biodiversity, cleanliness and visitor experience and sets the benchmark for the management of outdoor spaces across the UK and around the world

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