Colonel Samuel Bourne Bevington
The son of the James Buckingham Bevington, he was educated at a Quaker school in Croydon and University College London. In 1851 he joined the family leather manufacturing firm of Bevingtons and Sons, eventually succeeding his father as head of the company.
He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers in 1897-98.[1]
In 1859 he enlisted in the newly formed 1st Surrey Rifles as a private. In 1861 he received a commission as an ensign in the 10th Surrey (Bermondsey) Rifles, and rose to become lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer commanding of the unit, renamed as the the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, from 1884-89.
He also took an active part in local affairs as a justice of the peace of Surrey and the County of London, chairman of the Bermondsey Free Library Committee and member of the council of the Borough Road Polytechnic.
When the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey was created in 1900, Bevington was chosen as the first Mayor of Bermondsey, serving two consecutive terms. He was a Liberal Unionist in politics.
Following his death, a statue of him by Sydney March was erected in Tooley Street by the borough council in 1911. Carved on the front of the stone plinth reads:
"Samuel Bourne Bevington VD, JP, 1832 - 1907. Colonel commanding 3rd V.B. The Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment 1884 - 1899. First Mayor of Bermondsey 1900 - 1902."
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