Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of

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London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England.

Henry Croft

The practice of wearing clothes decorated with

mother-of-pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...

buttons is first associated with Henry Croft (1861–1930), an orphan

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who collected money for charity. At the time, London

costermonger A costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables in British towns. The term is derived from the words ''Costard (apple), costard'' (a medieval variety of apple) and ''monger'' (seller), and later came to be used to des ...

s (street traders) were in the habit of wearing trousers decorated at the seams with pearl buttons that had been found by market traders. In the late 1870s, Croft adapted this to create a sequin suit to draw attention to himself and aid his fund-raising activities. In 1911 an organised pearly society was formed in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

, north London. Croft's funeral in January 1930 was attended by 400 followers and received national media coverage. In 1934, a memorial referring to Croft as "The original Pearly King" was unveiled in St Pancras Cemetery and in a speech to mark the occasion he was said to have raised £5,000 for those suffering in London's hospitals.

Pearly organisations

The pearlies are now divided into several active groups. Croft's founding organisation is called the Original London Pearly Kings and Queens Association. It was reformed in 1975 and holds the majority of the original pearly titles which are

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, Victoria, Hackney, Tower Hamlets,

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, Dalston and

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

. Other groups have also been established over the years. The oldest is the Pearly Guild, which began in 1902. Modern additions include the London Pearly Kings and Queens Society, which started in 2001and the Pearly Kings and Queens Guild. Despite the rivalries, each group is associated with a church in central London and is committed to raising money for London-based charities. A parade of real-life Pearly Kings and Queens was featured at the

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References

External links

www.thepearlies.co.uk
The Original Pearly Kings and Queens Association
www.pearlies.org.uk
Pearlies of Kings Cross & St.Pancras

The London Pearly Kings and Queens Society

Pearly Kings and Queens Guild
Henry Croft, Pearly King
and other Pearly photos on

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*The Pearly Families
The Hitchen Family - Pearly King City of London
by Mary Braid. ''The Independent'', (16 April 2014). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
"One last knees up: What does the future hold for London's ageing Pearlies?"
by Charlotte Leedham. ''Goldsmiths University of London'', (8 January 2018). Retrieved 13 March 2021.
"What's All This Then? – London's Pearly Kings and Queens."
by John Rabon. ''Londontopia'', (23 February 2017). Retrieved 13 March 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearly Kings And Queens Culture in London Charities based in London Working-class culture in England