Monday (18th May) concluded our Year 8 local History walks. Over the last two weeks, all of Year 8 has walked down to Cesar Picton’s house, just south of Kingston Bridge and back via All Saints’ Church to see his memorial plaque. Inspiring and insightful speeches were delivered on site by Mrs Young, Mr Brown and Mr Bryan Williams, explaining the significance of the buildings in relation to the individual story of Cesar Picton and placing him and the location into the rich history of Kingston.
This fits into Year 8’s enquiry into Kingston’s local history in the Georgian era. This unit focuses on three occupants of Norbiton Place, MP Sir John Phillips, Cesar Picton and MP Charles Pallmer. While Charles Pallmer was an anti-abolitionist, Cesar Picton was an enslaved Senegalese child, gifted to Sir John Phillips in 1761. Both Pallmer and Picton are now buried and memorialised in the same church. Picton was granted his freedom after the death of Lady Elizabeth and Sir John Phillips and became a wealthy coal merchant in Kingston. His coal fuelled the malting industry, part of Kingston’s brewing heritage. This naturally links to Tiffin School too, since the brothers Thomas and John Tiffin were local brewers who left money in their wills for the creation of the “Tiffin Schools.”