Spotlight - ‘A bit about Morgan’ By Morgan Phillips
Hyde Park 1908. The magnificent suffragette parade had finished , and most of the participants were on their way home. But Kate Cassidy, still wearing the distinctive sash, stayed on to meet her boyfriend. Suddenly a small mob formed, threatening to throw any lingering suffragettes into the Serpentine. That fate might have befallen her if her boyfriend had not arrived on cue.
After this timely rescue, how could she refuse him? In October 1909 she married ex-serviceman William Lusher, and they rented a flat in Biscay Road, Fulham, where their daughter Norah was born.
Some 18 years later Kate, now a leading member of the Fulham Labour Party, introduced Norah to the new political agent, an ex-miner called Morgan Phillips. Apparently it was not love at first sight. She didn't take to him and he disliked her fashionable short hair. The antipathy soon melted, and they got married at the Roman Catholic church in Rylston Road, in March 1930.
Morgan did not arrange a honeymoon as he knew that a by-election was imminent, so the couple got no further than the Palace Theatre in Chelsea. When the campaign started, the press latched onto “the by-election honeymooners” and various celebrities descended on Fulham. Norah found some of them obnoxious but she warmed to George Lansbury, the grandfather of Angela.
The next event in the Phillips family was the arrival of baby Gwyneth in December 1930. Both her parents served on the Fulham Borough Council, and Elinor Ball still has a souvenir booklet of the 1937 Coronation celebrations, which Morgan Phillips arranged in Bishops Park.
In April 1939 young Morgan was born but his/my time in Fulham was interrupted by the War. My father sent us to Oxfordshire where we lived in a farm cottage without gas, electricity or running water. For a toddler it was exciting but when we managed to visit my father in London I was entranced by the metropolis. We came back to Fulham in 1944 and four years later I watched the first of many hundred games at Craven Cottage.
Gwyneth and I could not have had kinder or more considerate parents but we still vied with each other for their affection. One day she carelessly left her diary open and I read her account of a day we had spent in Richmond Park. She was amazed how well we got on together when our parents were not around. I resolved to be more civilised and we became very close.
In 1954 Gwyneth married John Dunwoody, and later they both entered Parliament. My father did not live to see this. As General Secretary of the Labour Party he had masterminded the 1945 election victory and remained a top official until 1960 when a stroke incapacitated him. He died in 1963, aged just 60.
When Harold Wilson became Prime Minister the following year, he offered my mother a life peerage and she became Baroness Phillips of Fulham (what else ?). Tradition allowed me to sit on the steps of the throne during debates in the Lords (though not when HM was present).
Unlike the rest of my family I had no wish to be on centre stage and chose instead to be a schoolteacher. In my spare time I researched the history of Fulham FC and became friendly with the librarians in the archive section. I even asked one to come out with me. She demurred but invited me to have a coffee in a Kings Road establishment where she worked at weekends. I took her at her word one Saturday only to find that it was a brush-off; she had not worked there for months. Rather than go home early I headed for Warwick Road where a school colleague was giving a party. I arrived at the same time as an attractive brunette called Veronica – and we're still together 43 years later. So the librarian did me a very good turn. My history of the club“Fulham We Love You” finally appeared in 1976.
Veronica and I had three marvellous children, Gregory, Catherine and Alex, but sadly Greg died in an accident in 1986. We got through that dreadful time thanks to our families, friends, work colleagues and the priests and laity at Rylston Road.
I was Senior Teacher at St George's Maida Vale until the governors decided to dispense with everyone over 50. I worked at London comprehensives for another seven years, then retired only to find myself helping adult immigrants to learn English – truly rewarding work. So I've been teaching for almost 50 years. In September1960 I gave my first lesson – a total disaster because the kids stole all the pencils, which were meant to last a term.
When Fulham Fielder was launched I offered to write about how St Andrew's FC became the multi-million Fulham club. Fr Martin felt it would be better as a book and the church published “From St Andrew's to Craven Cottage”in 2007. I am pleased to report that it more than covered its costs and still sells the odd copy. Even so I was surprised last Autumn when Fr Martin invited me to write a history of St Andrew's itself.
Overcoming my initial doubts I journeyed to the London Metropolitan Archives and researched the first 100 years or so of the church's existence, uncovering many fascinating and surprising details. For the more recent period (Fr Johnson to Fr Martin) I have already received a lot of help and guidance from present day members of the congregation though I am still hoping for more memories and photos.
We aim to publish the book this year and I am proud that it will appear at such a momentous time in the church's history.