Stories of Basque refugee children who fled to the borough to escape the ravages of the Spanish Civil War will be chartered in a new exhibition.
In August 1937, 22 Basque children arrived in Carshalton in the aftermath of the bombing of Guernica.
A local Basque children’s committee was set up in Carshalton, which persuaded the then urban district council to house the children in the Oaks Mansion.
The children helped raise much needed funding to feed and clothe themselves by putting on concerts and traditional displays of Basque dancing.
When several of the children’s colonies in other parts of the country closed due to a lack of support, the youngsters were moved to Carshalton.
In 1940 the group moved from the Oaks Mansion to Culvers House on the banks of the River Wandle.
The free exhibition will be on show in the Europa Gallery in Sutton Library from November 3 to 30.
Councillor Graham Tope, executive member for leisure on Sutton Council, said: “I think it’s a fascinating and little known fact that the borough offered asylum to these children, with many of them deciding to stay in the country.
“There was no financial support from the government so this is an almost unique example of humanitarian goodwill on the part of local people who donated money to them.
“This excellent exhibition shows us what life was like in the Oaks Mansion and how the children kept their culture and traditions alive.”
Guernica its civilians, later immortalised in a Picasso painting, were the first non-military targets to be deliberately bombed from the air.
In total 4,000 Basque children were evacuated to Britain from the Basque region.
The British Government had decided not to intervene in the Spanish Civil War and refused to provide any funding or support for the children.
When the children arrived in Britain they were told it was for only three months – but 10 years later they were the last remaining Basque colony in the country.
Sutton Library is hosting the exhibition from the Basque Children of ’37 Association during November as part of archives awareness month.
It tells the little-known story of their exodus from Spain, arrival in Southampton and their lives in Carshalton.
The exhibition is part funded by educational project, Your Past Their Future 2.
For more information, contact Kath Shawcross, borough archivist and local studies manager: 020 8770 4745 or email kath.shawcross@sutton.gov.uk.
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