A prominent local resident living in Gibson's Hill, he donated £3,000 towards the establishment of the Rookery in Streatham. He was also involved in saving Norwood Grove for the public.
Stenton Thomas Covington was born on 4 November 1856 in Norwood, Surrey (now Greater London), the son of Thomas Covington (1822-1869) and Sarah Anna Marie Covington née Saunders (1823-1913). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1856 in the Croydon registration district, Surrey (now Greater London) and he was baptised on 30 November 1856 in Immanuel Church, Streatham, Surrey (now Greater London), where the baptismal register shows the family to have been living in Crown Hill, Norwood. His father was recorded as a gentleman.
In the 1861 census he was shown as aged 4 years, a scholar, residing at 5 Grecian Cottages, Crown Hill, Norwood, with his parents, three siblings: Frederick Brown Covington (1850-1910); Charles John Covington (1853-1872) and Mary Sophia Covington (1854-1942), together with a governess, a nurse and female general domestic servant. His father was described as a banker's clerk.
Educated privately at King's College School, London, he was again described as a scholar in the 1871 census, still living at 5 Grecian Cottages, Crown Hill, Norwood, with his widowed mother, six siblings: Frederick Brown Covington; Charles John Covington; Mary Sophia Covington; Walter George Covington (1859-1939); Sarah Louisa Covington (1861-1907) and Ada Maria Covington (1863-1921), together with a female general domestic servant. His mother was shown as living on dividends whilst Frederick Covington was listed as a banker's clerk and Charles Covington was an insurance clerk.
When the 1881 census was undertaken he was described as an insurance clerk, still living at 5 Grecian Cottages, but Crown Hill had now become Beulah Hill, Norwood. Also at this address was his widowed mother whose income was chiefly derived from dividends, four siblings: Walter George Covington, who was a banker's clerk; Mary Sophia Covington and Sarah Louisa Covington, both of whom had no occupation; Ada Maria Covington, who was a scholar, a cousin called Agnes Mary Hughes (1849-1947), together with two female domestic servants.
The 1891 census shows him aged 34 years, a single man and a clerk in a fire insurance company, still living in the same property but which had now been renumbered to 182 Beulah Hill, Norwood, with his widowed mother who was living on her own means, three sisters: Mary Sophia Covington; Sarah Louisa Covington and Ada Maria Covington, none of which had any occupation listed, together with a cook and a housemaid.
On 16 May 1896 he married Annie Christina Gibbs (1864-1937) at All Saints Church, Church Road, Upper Norwood, Surrey (now Greater London). In the marriage register he is shown as a bachelor and insurance clerk residing in Beulah Hill, Norwood, whilst his wife was described as a spinster also living in Beulah Hill, the daughter of William Bolger Gibbs (1834-1925), a stockbroker.
He was described as a fire insurance manager in the 1901 census, living at 100 Beulah Hill, Norwood, with his wife, his sister-in-law Emily Mary Bucknell née Gibbs (1866-1954), together with a cook.
On 24 September 1903 he was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London by redemption and on 29 December 1903 he was admitted into the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers, giving his addresses as 5 King William Street, London and 27 King Street, Covent Garden, London. His occupation was recorded as The Secretary of the Westminster Fire Office.
On the 1911 census return form he described himself as a Fire Insurance Secretary, living in a fourteen roomed property at The Lodge, Gibson's Hill, Norwood, with his wife of fourteen years, together with a cook, a parlour-maid and a housemaid. His wife was shown as having no children. Telephone directories from 1926 to 1935 list him as a telephone subscriber at The Lodge, Gibson's Hill, London, SW16.
He was on the Council of the National Trust, and gave to the nation both headlands of Fowey Harbour and the woods overlooking the town. He was also a member of the West Indian & Royal Fowey Yacht Clubs and an Honourary Freeman of the Borough of Fowey. He was a Vice-Chairman of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, a member of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and of the Commons Preservation Society. A nearby road, Covington Way, which forms the western boundary of The Grove, was named in his honour.
Probate records confirm that his addresses had been The Lodge, Gibson's Hill, Norwood and Steepholme, Fowey, Cornwall and that he died, aged 78 years on 2 November 1935 at 20 Devonshire Place, Marylebone, Middlesex (now Greater London). Probate was granted on 5 March 1936 jointly to his widow, to a nephew, Crescens Kingsley Covington (1890-1947) who was a company director and to a nephew-in-law, Arthur George Weeks (1883-1964) who was a bank official. His effects totalled £12,299-10s-11d.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk and Andrew Behan.
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