Hannibal Speer
From Dittopedia
Hannibal Speer, grandson of William Speer, became Lord of the Manor of Weston. [1]
The Fountain * (N)
|
 The fountain was presented in 1879 to Thames Ditton by Hannibal Speer, the lord of the manor, and erected on a site likely to have been previously used for the parish stocks. |
As a local benefactor, Speer gave the community in 1887 the Victorian Village Hall in Embercourt Road, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was eventually renamed the Vera Fletcher Hall, the so-called 'theatre in Thames Ditton'. [1]
Hannibal Speer was a great benefactor at the end of the 19th century, responsible for the founding of the old village hall and cottage hospital, granting a 100-year lease for the Tennis Club and of course remembered in the naming of Speer Road. A plaque with his name can be seen in the vestibule of the Vera Fletcher Hall. [2]
References
- 1. Burchett, P. 1984. A Historical Sketch of THAMES DITTON. Surrey: Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association. ISBN 0-904-81120-4.
- 2. John Lyon
