Place Name
Named in honour of Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew (January 1761 – September 2, 1834), who in 1828 inherited the estates of the Carew family, which included a large part of Croydon. He was a senior officer in the Royal Navy and one of the select group of officers, referred to by Lord Nelson as his Band of Brothers, who served with him at the Battle of the Nile. He is probably best known as the man who made Nelson a present of what would become his own coffin. Following the Battle of the Nile he sent Nelson a note with the box explaining: “Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made from the main mast of L’Orient, that when you have finished your military career in this world you may be buried in one of your trophies. But that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell.” He adopted the name Carew as a condition of the inheritance from a cousin.
