A Cockney Traddition
The London tradition of the Pearly Kings and Queens was begun in 1875, by a small boy named Henry Croft. Henry was born in 1862 and raised in an orphanage in Somers Town, London NW1. At the age of 13 he left the orphanage to become a Municipal Road Sweeper and Rat Catcher in the market of Somers Town.
Henry worked hard in the market and soon made many friends. He was particularly drawn to the Coster Mongers, a tough breed of market trader. The Coster Mongers wore ‘Flash Boy Outfits’ to distinguish themselves from the other market traders. This involved decorating their trousers and waistcoats with a row of pearl buttons down the seams. Their distinctive costumes are said to have sprung from the arrival of a large cargo of pearl-buttons from Japan in the 1860’s.
The Costers looked after one another and often, if another coster was in need, they would have a ‘whip 
round’ (collection) for him. Traditionally, costers elected ‘Kings’ to lead them against bullies seeking to drive them from their pitches. Henry was fascinated by this way of life and decided he would like to help the unfortunates and aswell as the children back at the orphanage. He decided that in order to raise substantial amounts of money he needed to draw attention to himself. He decided to take the concept of the Coster Monger’s outfits one step further, totally covering his suit with pearl buttons. He spent many long nights preparing this suit and eventually emerged, at a local carnival, sporting a suit covered in tiny pearly buttons.
Henry became an instant attraction and was approached by many hospitals and churches to help raise funds for the poor, deaf, dumb and blind. Henry worked very hard for these charities but found himself eager to do more. He asked his friends, and the Coster Mongers, for help. Eventually there was Pearly Family for every London Borough and thus the Pearly monarchy began. It is estimated that when he died in 1930 (aged 68), he had collected over £5000. This roughly equates to £200,000 in todays money.
His funeral was so spectacular it was filmed by Pathe News. All of the Pearlies attended (roughly 400) and followed the coffin to Finchley Cemetery where Henry was buried. A statue was erected over the grave by the many charities he helped, showing Henry wearing his famous buttoned suit.
Today’s Pearlies are dedicated charity workers who are continually assisting with fund raising activities for a multitude of different organisations. The Pearly motto is “One Never Knows”. The Pearly tradition has survived for over 130 years. There are still approximately 40 active families working today across the London boroughs, collecting for a multitude of different charities.
Several of the Pearly families can be traced back to the original generation. Henry Croft’s family for example,continues the tradition with his great-granddaughter wearing the title of` ‘Somers Town’. Sadly the two world wars of the early twentieth century took a heavy toll and many of the original families were lost. In order to survive, the Pearlies needed to recruit new members.
This was achieved by enlisting people who had helped the Pearlies over the years with their charity work. The main succession today of a Pearly is by inheritance. In 1975 the Original Pearly Kings and Queens Association was reformed and now meets every month in the crypt in St. Martins in the Field, Trafalgar Square.
The Pearlies are dedicated to helping the Church of St. Martins and all attend the Harvest Festival Service held on the first Sunday in October. They also hold a Memorial Service for past pearlies on the third Sunday in May. (They choose this date as it is the nearest to Henrys Croft’s birthday, May 24th)
The magnificent suits, hats and dresses, handed down together with hereditary titles, are sewn with mystic symbols, stars, moons, suns, flowers, diamonds, Trees of Life, Eyes of God and fertility designs. Each outfit can have as many as 30,000 buttons on it and can weigh as much as 30 kilograms.
Pearlies continue to work hard raising money for charities and can often be seen around London participating in various Parades and Carnivals.
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