Figure 1.--Thomas Younghusband who was involved periferly in the Great Exhibition saw to moving the girders and glass pannels of the Crystal Palace to a new location at Sydenham Hill (1854). For this and other services he was given the honor of conducting Queen Victoria and the Royal family on a tour of the newly reassembled Crystal Palacel. We see a well-dressed Thomas, standing on the left with his wife Sarah and their older daughter Matilda in the background. In the center are Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. To the right are Thomas’s son Joseph with his wife Charlotte. The four children in the front are are the Prince of Wales in akilt and Princess Royal Victoria in a white dress. Woth them are Thomas' grandchildren, Joseph and Charlotte. Joseph looks to be wearing a dark blue tunic suit and pantalettes. His sister warsa a pink dress. This was such a nonor that the Younghusband familly commissioned artlist C. Wells to capture the event. Note that bit is mot a masterwork. Younghusband was well-to-do, but not rich.

After the Exhibition, the authorities decided to move the Crystal Palace and restore Hyde Park to its former conditin. The Crystal Palace was painstakingly disassembled and relocated to an area of South London known as Penge Common. Yr move was orgaizied bt Thomas Younghusband, an enterprising fellow who had played a role in setting up the Crtysal palace exhibitions and organising food for the festivities. He owned a tavern/hotel and moving business near Hyde Park. The Crystal Palace was reassembled at the top of Penge Peak next to Sydenham Hill, at the time a toney suburb of large villas (June 1854). It was such a famous landmark that the nearby residential area was renamed Crystal Palace. This came to include the Crystal Palace Park. The Palace was set up in the middle od the Park. The Park also included the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. It was a football stadium that hosted the FA Cup Final (1895 and 1914). Crystal Palace F.C. were founded at the site (1905) and played at the Cup Final venues. The park still contains Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins's famous Crystal Palace Dinosaurs which were moved along with the Crystal Palace in 1854. The Crystal Palace burned down in a fire (November 1936).

Created: 3:43 AM 8/9/2019
Last updated: 3:43 AM 8/9/2019