Autumn 1993

Vo1.1 No.4

Old Ford Road at the end of Wick Lane about /872.

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Letters from our Members

Chris Dixon, Newcastle upon Tyne:

I found plenty of interest in the Spring Newsletter,particularly (1.-^rge Renshav,7's memories. Tun his articlehe mentioned his cousin, Billy Scotchmer - my Dad'scousin was married to a chap named GeorgeScotchmer, and I have never heard of anyone else withthis surname until I read George's article I wonder ifthere is any connection? Many of George'sreminiscences echo the things my Dad used to tell meof his young days, I expect they are of the samegeneration.

Arthur J L Hellicar, Benfleet, Essex:

Perhaps the mention of Poplar Hospital (in the lastNewsletter) should have made clear that the noticeboard, a very large one, was there in the days of thehorse drawn traffic. It was removed when motorvehicles took over from the horse and the latter nolonger galloped along East India Dock Road.

Re Grotto Day: I received a letter from Mrs MarieMorris of Maidenhead in which she states that herbrother-in-law, born in Plaistow, remembers thetradition. It took place on St James's Day, 25th July,and had nothing to do with any local church. MrsMorris suggests that the custom was brought toLondon from Norfolk by immigrants who camelooking for work in the 19th century. Her great-great-grandfather was one. He lodged with his future father-in-law in Barking.

There is n slight error nn jnape 4 of the Ne‘hvsletter. Thecigarette or 'fags' mentioned should have read "PlayersWeights and Woodbines."

George Renshaw's interesting memories about washingday and the mangle took me back to my very earlydays, 1912-13 or thereabouts. We had a contraptionfor mangling or wringing washing in a newly erectedshed in the 'backyard' in Brunswick Road. It was alarge box-like 'machine' measuring (and I am nowtrying to picture it in my mind's eye) about 4 ft long, 2ft wide and a foot or so deep. The inside of the boxwas filled with pieces of slate to give it weight, and itmoved along on rollers.

My measurements might he escaaaerated hut 1 doremember it as a large cumbersome object. Why do I

remember it? It's use gave me a laugh on the day thatgrandmother decided to mangle clothes whilst the shedroof was still being covered with felt, and my dad wasnailing it down. His weight was too much, the roof fellin, and granny was covered in wood, felt andconfusion.

Incidentally, the washing aids that George mentionsshould have been Oxydol and Reckitt's.

(ED: Thank you for the corrections and we hope ourreaders amend their records accordingly).

RkiP SsoldPrc41rP gfeirrl 1-151/npehirP:

The subject of shells and processions brings backmemories of my young childhood in Poplar. We livedin Aberfeld-y Street .and as trams and other traffic wereconstantly using the street I don't recollect any shelldisplays on it. But it was a very different matter in theside streets. Our nearest was Dee Street.

At certain times of the year, it seemed to me in thesummer or at least when the sun shone, Dee Street hadquite a few houses which were beautifully decoratedaround the downstairs front window. Lace curtainswere draped on the street side of the window, colourfullarge religious pictures, crucixes, candles and paperflowers _ the ledge wac widened acing a

small table to take even more religious objects. Idistinctly recollect shells at the foot of some of thetables or on the ground itself, placed in pretty patterns.At given tulle pi oucssiun lined up at the far end ofDee Street and then slowly made its way towardsBrunswick Road and beyond. I presume it was aRoman Catholic procession, but I'm not sure. Therewere a few colourful banners in the procession, clergy,etc but the main body of the procession was made upof little children accompanied by some elders. Thegirls wore all white, and it must have cost their parentsall they had to make sure they were nicely turned out,even to white shoes and socks. Amongst all the othermemories I have of my childhood, this is one whichhas never left me.

As we lived in Aberfeldy Street, we were of coursepart of the the Scottish Estate, of which we were allvery proud; possibly we 'thought it put us a 'oft aboveour friends who didn't have a Scottish street name. Iwas most interested to read about the Scottish familyof MacIntosh and the laying out of the Estate. I alsowent to Culioden Street School where I was extremely

happy, from 1914 to 1940, after which I went on toLimehouse Central School, having just missed passingthe scholarship to go to George Green's School in EastIndia Dock Road. This annoyed me for years as I hadlooked forward to wearing a mortar board, as they didat George Green's at that time. So far I have not readanything about Limehouse Central School.

(ED: could we have some recollections of the aboveschno12 We could do a little feature on it.)

John Gates, Farnham, Surrey:

T.'ne walk round 'Victoria Park eel airilyjogged a lot ofdormant memories for me. Quite a lot of distortions ofrecollections, too, were shown up for what they were.

1 used to get out on my bike quite a lot before schooland, later, before starting the day's work at John Doreand Co. Bromley High Street, in 1939/40. SometimesI would go as far as Woodford or Dagenham, but ifthe weather was less promising the route was oftenconfined to circuits round Victoria Park. I would notlike to venture on those longer public roads today!

It is most surprising to find how little I knew of thesignificance of the events that are now being revealedto me, and especially how close the locations of thosee-vents were.

I enjoyed re-reading "In Letters of Gold" again afterthe walk. Re-acquaintance with the scenes ofchildhood does not immediately clarify the pictureentirely, I find, and several points now present a newaspect.

For example, I somehow had the impression that 198Bow Road was in the vicinity of Bromley Public Halland Fairfield Road, but your (modern) view showsthat it must have been sited within yards of mygrandfather's workshops at the bottom of Finch'sYard. The road widening of 1936-7 (?) removed all ofthat side of the road, including the Brewery. No. 198must hav'e 'own in the middle of 4the road in -yourpicture. As I remember the road before widening, itwas barely wide enough for traffic to pass thetramcars at all point, which may have been one of thereasons for the widening.

The opening up of the towpath on the Duckett's(Hertford) Canal is another interesting opportunity toextend my reminiscent touring. My mother came from

St Dunstan's Road in Stepney, but brought up heryounger brothers and sisters in Beachy Road and 44Candy Street, just by the junction of the canal with theRiver Lea, after her mother died when she was onlyseventeen.

Elsie Shirley, Springfield, Chelmsford:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "In Letters of Gold" andfound it most interestin g, even more so because I knowof all the places named in the book.

I lived in Chad St before being bombed in WWII, andT was niarried in AL Paul's church. I have a sister-in-law who lived in Ford Road before the war, whosemaiden name was FARRELL, so I know she'll be keento see the book.

And finally, some words of high praise about InLetters of Gold, from Bill Field of Basildon, Essex:

It's wonderful, and as a book collector I know acracker when I see one. My mother was probablyone of the (-) girls, since she worked at the factoryfrom the age of ten, until she was fifteen years ofage. It's not possible to imagine the unstintingefforts of your good self, associates and friends, butyou each have my utmost admiration, I hope topersuade my local public library to invest UI somecopies. It is worthy of unstinting praise to allconcerned, and a worthy little gem in any body'slibrary. And a final word, apart from the contentsof the book, the small volume is so beautifullyproduced. Thank you for an item of sheer joy!

q In Letters of Gold, price £4.95 inc. packing andpostage, from Rosemary Taylor, 5 Pusey House,Saracen Street, Poplar, London E14 6HG.

Derek Morris, Harpenden, Herts:

I thought some of your readers may like to have anupdate on my research on Mile End Old Town - 1750elope T gave my t. 11( to the 'PT HS some time ago.asuaaaw

For the past ten years I have been studying MEOT forthe period 1740-1780 and have given talks on thesubject to various societies.

I have now assembiled a data base with over 4500names from the MEOT land tax registers in the aboveperiod. I have not looked at post 1780 yet. Foreach

name I have the start date and the end date of theirpayment of land tax. These have also been crossr:ka.nle 4.1.14 Iv1, ;rhil

o nv-tri A.n+Le• e+‘N/ La A vaa Sinc. 1.5..+0 CLAILA 1LA1 LA

Dunstan's in the East.

I also found it possible to recreate the order in whichthe tax collectors went round the parish and to thenrelate this information to deeds and leases. This meansthat for land tax payers I can locate their propertywithin a few hundred yards. This is very goodconsidering that there are few addresses in the taxrecords before 1780. I can also track families as theymove around MEOT and judge whether they couldafford more or less rent!

I would be happy to do a search in my data base if thiswould help any readers. I ask for £1 plus a SAE tosearch for , iptr, ten names.

I have plans to publish an index to the tax registers.The advantage of the index is that approximately 60%of the tax payers only stayed three years or less inMEOT before moving on. Where they all came from isprobably impossible to prove except in a few cases,hence my interest in contacting anyone else with aninterest in MEOT in the 18th century.If any newsletterreaders have any information relevant to the above Iwould be happy to add it to my data base.

Mr Alf Morris, Bow, London E3 spoke to DoreenKendall, recalling his memories of the dreadful nightof the tube Disaster. He and his Aunt walked ahead,making for the shelter, leaving his parents to lock upthe house.As they walked down Victoria Park Roadthey could see the searchlights in Museum Gardens.He recalls that it was the nonnal procedure forsecuchlights to be switched off when they spotted aplane, and for the guns to open fire. Everything wentdark as the searchlights were switched off, and as theymade their way in the darkness, there was a loudscreech, and people starting shouting, thinking bombswere falling. His Aunt was trapped in the crush ofbodies, and he was rescued by a large, well-built lady,who pulled him out of the pile. His Aunt remainedtrapped on the left hand side of the entrance. She waswearing a black astrakhan coat with large buttons,which rescuers managed to undo and drag her out of,thanks to its shiny lining She wag badly hrnice.d,the unfinished entrance had jagged edges on the roughwalls. Alfs Aunt, Mrs Lilian Hall died in December1992.

Mrs J Fowler, Guildford, Surrey:

My husband --id I were born in Bethnal Green and Iattended St John's School, we were both members ofthe Repton Club and were married at the Church.

Sadly my grandmother and my husband's mother wereboth killed in the (Bethnal Green Tube -) disaster, andwe greatly appreciate the effort made to bring aboutthe memorial service. I understand that the booklet Ihave asked for gives more information about BethnalGreen, which will be of interest to us.

Dorothy Frith, Windermere, Cumbria:

As a serving member of the London AmbulanceService stationed in Wilmot Street, Bethnal Green, Iwas all attendant on the first ambulance to arrive atthe scene of the disaster. Neither the driver nor myselfhad any idea of what to expect and we were bothhorrified when our first four 'casualties' proved to befour dead bodies. Our second run was a similarjourney to Bethnal Green Hospital with four deadbodies. This time it was necessary to go to themortuary to retrieve blankets from the dead and thesight of a pile of bodies of dead children is a nightmarenot easily forgotten.

On our third journey I had one conscious man whowas very disturbed because he did not know what hadhappened to his wife. By this time the doctors from thehospital were outside certifying the dead who werebeing +- 1-en to St James the Less where a temporarymortuary had been hastily set up. At this stage Igrabbed a doctor pleading that I had a man who wasalive on my ambulance and he was taken into thehospital.

Our ambulance station was indeed a sombre place thatnight, we were particularly appalled that suchextensive deaths had occurred when no bombs hadbeen dropped.

This incident reinforced for me my conviction of theutter futility and cruelty of war and when the shelter inBaghdad was bombed in 1991, I relived the nightmareof the 3rd March 1943 although it was 50 years ago.

Ikey Jacob (Late of the Tenterground) enjoyedreading George Renshaw's memoirs, which stirreda few memories of his own:

With the pending demolition of the SpitalfieldsTenterground, my family were, in 1925, rehoused into"Shoreditch Buildings" or to give them their officialtitle, the LCC Boundary Street Estate. This was some25 years after the Prince of Wales, later King EdwardVII had graciously opened the estate.

I transferred almost immediately upon our arrival inthe neighbourhood from the Jews Free School in the"Lane" to Virginia Road School, where I soondiscovered that a large proportion of the 'yobs' were,like myself, Jewish. How, like Mr Renshaw, I toorecall those patriotic flag waving Empire days. Howproud we all were to belong to the Empire upon whichthe sun never set. How we sang those patriotic songsand cheered our Britannia seated on her dais in themiddle of the playground.

One year I remember in particular that glorious ladywas portrayed by none other than Flora Isaacs, likemyself a resident of Sunbury Buildings, and mychildhood sweetheart. Howl loved that girl! Trident,robes, helmet, the lot.

As the family expanded and grew older we moved,because of overcrowding, from Sunbury to Swirlingand thence to Marlow.

Upon my leaving the school that had started its life inthe infamous "Nichol", I at 14 years of age, embarkedon a five year apprenticeship with Sammy Finkelstein,woodcarver to the trade, 7&.8 Marlow Workshops.emerging, once out of my indentures as yet anotherwoodcarver for the furniture trade to support.

I had known Siddy Longcroft, mentioned by MrRenshaw, when he lived in Gascoigne Place, before hismarriage to Ethel. But it was not until the mid to latethirties that we became good friends.

Once out of my apprenticeship I worked for one ortwo local firms to gain more experience with a view tostarting up on my own. during this period Sid offeredme a job working for him in his first floor workshopabove the Gooch Brothers polishing shop in ColumbiaRoad, which I accepted. When, sometime later, hemoved across the road to a shop opposite Columbia

Road School I would on occasion help him out theretoo.

Miring this period of my life I had a spell inDavenport's working with that other fine carver, HarryDeeks. Yes, Mr Renshaw, they certainly did makegood solid furniture:.

As well as grafting with Sid by day we would go outmany an evening 'darting' it in the local pubs where wewould play any two for half a pint each a game, losersto pay. Sid was renowned as a very fine darts playerand as I too was considered to be not at all bad withthe arrows, we would, on occasion, with the backingof the locals at the Royal Oak, Birdcage, orLoggerheads, find ourselves playing a match againsttwo other well-known marksmen - Tony Lloyd, JoeBaker, George Bailey, Jimmy Smith and the like for afiver nr more a side.

The part of Mr Renshaw's story that baffles methough is his telling of seeing a "crowd of foreigners"round the Ban,k.i„nd on Cable Street Sunday. wholived in Marlow Buildings at the time, with itsentrance in Arnold Circus and front room windowoverlooking the Bandstand, cannot recall seeing thisstrange phenomenon at all. But there it is. 1Perhaps myold memory is not what it used to be. Either that or 1couldn't recognise a foreigner even if I fell over one.

The mention of Cable Street and the reason why thatconfrontation took place re-awakens within me Jewry'sdarkest days in modern British history. Withoutwanting to tread on Mr Renshaw's toes - I'm sure hewill comment more fully on the fascist scourge, itbeing an integral part of Bethnal Green's pre-warhistory - I would like to say that, as a Jew, my peoplewere really put under great stress by those black-shifted louts, who stock in trade consisted ofscribbling on walls everywhere "P J" (Perish Judah)and marching rounds the streets chanting, "Yids, Yids,we've got to get rid of the Yids."

I could go on, but in fairness to Mr Renshaw's nextarticle I'll stop here.

ED - I enjoyed reading Ikey's reminiscences somuch I felt I had to include it in full, as it shed lighton several events mentioned in George Renshaw'sarticle, the final part of which will be held over tothe next newsletter.

The Illustrated London News for 1842

Considering the appeal of popular illustratednewspapers today, it is surprising that more wasnot made of the 150th anniversary of the IllustratedLondon News (ILN), the first issue of whichappeared on 14 May 1842. Newspapers before thatdate occasionally carried illustrations, usually awoodcut, and Herbert Ingram got the idea for theILN from observing that more people in his nativeNottingham bought the Weekly Chronicle when itcarried a picture. He also noticed that people likedreading news stories about London. A newspaperthat carried these two essential ingredients -pictures and news from London - could not fail, hereasoned, especially if their presence was evident inthe very title of the newspaper.

He came to London and, with money raised frompromoting a laxative for which he had acquired therecipe, he appointed an editor, writers, engraversand printers to get the venture going. He had thenew newspaper advertised around London by anarmy of men carrying sandwich-boards (there is anengraving of them on the back page of the firstissue.) While it was not an immediate success, itwas soon selling far more than establishednewspapers and by 1863 had a weekly sale of300,000 - the newspaper tax had been abolished in1855. He was able to meet the demands of such arun because the illustrations were engraved on thewood of the native English box tree, wood hardenough to take such a number of impressions fromthe steam-powered printing machines of the time.

I was recently fortunate enough to buy the first 33issues from a stall off Brick Lane. They had beenbound together at the beginning of 1843 andalthough the binding was in tatters the text andillustrations were in reasonably good condition.

What are the contents? Summarising more than 550three-column pages and describing about 1,000illustrations is clearly impossible, so I shall restrictmyself to hurrying through the main items ofgeneral interest that caught my attention andconcluding with some of the contents that related toEast London.

Royal events were well covered, with the subject,clearly, having as much popular appeal then asno, very thblIG there are eight

engravings of Queen Victoria's 'Bal Masque' atBuckingham Palace, with a lengthy accompanyingtext. Throughout thc other issues can be foundillustrations of royal palaces, royal tours, visitsfrom foreign royalty and there is even an engravingdepicting the attempted assassination of QueenVictoria on her way from Hyde Park and, a fewweeks later of the would-be assassin.

There are military scenes, views of interest fromBarcelona to China and, nearer home, illustrationsof construction works of note like PentonvillePrison, newly completed, 'on novel principles ofprison architecture,' the new Hungerford Bridge andthe present Houses of Parliament, then being built.

While the declared editorial policy of the ILN wasto eschew politics, at least in the party sense, socialand political events at home and abroad were notedand illustrated where appropriate. Parliament wasreprimanded for breaking up for the summer recessof 1842 without finding a solution to the distress inthe manufacturing districts and, when rioting brokeout in these districts in August, there wereillustrated reports from towns like Manchester,Preston, Stockport and Halifax. Disasters weredepicted in great detail: a fire in Hamburg wasshown in the first issue and there are twoparticularly vivid illustrations of a fire in Liverpoolin October. Besides news items from home andoverseas, there were regular reports from the courts- at one time, indeed,, Ingram had thought aboutdevoting the new illustratednewspaper exclusivelyto crime reports.

Cultural items included regular features onliterature, science, London churches, out-of-the-way buildings, natural history and fashion, the lasttwo in particular delicately illustrated. There areengravings of McCready at Drury Lane, opera atCovent Garden and ballet at Her Majesty'sTheatre. For those with a taste for display, there isa picture of Mademoiselle Caroline at VauxhallGardens, 'the most graceful, as well as wonderful,lady rider the public has ever beheld.' For sportingenthusiasts, there is racing at Goodwood andcricket at Lord's, and there is a portrait of JimmyLiddy from Wands, worth, winner of the Dogget'sCoat and Badge for 1842 - John Rugg of Wapping,alas, came in a distant fourth.

27

East London makes an early entry in the ILN'smeticulous recording of 'dreadful' happenings in theMetropolis, when a Scottish seaman is reported tohave jumped into the Thames to rescue a womanfrom Ratcliff who 'in a fit of despair, and heated byinebriety _ herself over the swing bridge in

Old Gravel Lane, Wapping.' There was no suchreprieve for Jane Cooper of Hoxton, who hurledherself to her death from the Monument in August.She was a servant girl whose master, when asked,'could assign no reason for the dreadful act.'

Hoxton had featured in a happier context earlier inthe year, when a Mr Green made a balloon ascentfrom the 'Royal Standard Tavern Albert Saloon.' Itwas his 200th ascent and The last preparatory to hisintended voyage across the Atlantic, with the greatNassau balloon, on a visit to America.' Thisinteresting subject was not illustrated, nor was theaccount of a Chartist meeting attended by 10,000people in Stepney, where a resolution was carriedasking the Queen to order the troops to bewithdrawn from the 'disturbed districts' in theNorth.

In October the Thames Tunnel entrance featured ina tiny illustration, which was offered to readers 'less•in the form of an illustration of its subject than as aspecimen of the new system of surface printing.'The following month there were medals advertisedto celebrate the opening of the Tunnel, the 'seventhwonder of the world,' as it was called. (Today itcarries the tube trains between Rotherhithe andWapping.) The 'official' opening was not untilMarch 1843.

There is an engraving of St Dunstan's Church,Stepney, in the series 'Churches of the Metropolis'and there are several views of shipping on theThames that include ondon's riverside and

docks.

An issue in July carries news of the launching of anEast Indianan, 'The Queen , from Biackwaii. Anengraving of the same ship appears in October withthe intelligence that should the Chinese warcontinue, she might be commissioned by thegovernment. The owners would be handsomelycompensated, no doubt, but the East India trade, forall its riches and glamour, had its hazards, as weare reminded in a news item the following month.The 'Reliance', an East Indianian returning from

Canton, was wrecked off Boulogne when theCaptain 'mistook the French lights on the coast forsome others, as one of them had been changed sincehe left England, about twelve months ago.' TheCaptain was among the 110 people lost, with/7,00n boxes often.

One final illustration may be worthy of localinterest. It is an engraving of hop-picking at anunspecified location. in Kent or Sussex inSeptember, with the following comment on the hop-pickers:

They are made up of the most varied materials,and are of all ages and sizes. During the season itis not unusual to see them huddled together andsleeping at night in the open air.

'Varied materials' seems a curious phrase andpresumably means ' all sorts of characters.' Theengraving thnnahis delightfill and I wac remindedof Gilda O'Neill's excellent talk to the Society lastNovember. I wondered if the engraving was basedon observing East Enders in the hop-fields(impossible to prove) and wondered also •if this isthe earliest engraving of hop-pickers (possible toprove?) Does anyone know of an earlier one?

COLM KERRIGAN

BOP PICKING.

The foregoing cut represents a group of hop-pickers, who, at acertain period of the year, flock in hundreds to the counties of Kentand Sussex. They are made up of the most varied materials, andare ...all ages and sizes. During the season it is not unusual to seethenihuddled together, and sleeping at night in the open air. Atthe close of the hop-picking season, now rapidly coming on, they re-turn to their respective homes.

Out and About with the Society

Last August, when the committee had to make thedecision to move from Queen Mary and WestfieldCollege because of the high cost of hiring the room,we were worried that our members would not likethe change. How wrong we were, and how delightedwe are with the arrangement we now have with theLatimer Congregational Church. The venue hasproved to be very successful with old and newmembers, no stairs, comfortable seats, easyparking, tea on arrival and a bookstall. Thecommittee would like to thank everyone for theirsupport. We have tried to maintain a high profile byattending as many of the fetes, bazaars, exhibitions,lectures and walks by other organisations to sell ourSociety, and to spread the message that our historyis our inheritance and is there for everyone.

March 3rd was the 50th Anniversary of the BethnalGreen Tube Disaster. A Memorial Service was heldat the Church of St John, TO a full congregation ofsurvivors, relations and local people. The BishopStepney, the Rt. Rev Richard Chartres conductedthe service, then was escorted by the Mayor ofTower Hamlets to unveil the plaque at the southeast entrance to Bethnal Green Undergroundstation. We are all pleased that after 50 years theworst civilian disaster of the Second World Warhas been identified and placed on record, with afitting memorial. The efforts of local people,following three years of intense lobbying, paid off.

On the 26th March, Rosemary Taylor's book on theEast End Suffragettes, "In Letters of Gold", waslaunched, with a Signing. Tne event was attendedby many supporters and sympathisers of women'srights, who enjoyed a buffet supper and the chanceto meet and exchange news and views. Some of theguests had known Sylvia Pankhurst and her sonRichard during their many years stay at WoodfordGreen.

This was followed by a project on Votes forWomen at the Professional Development Centre inthe first week of April, which was attended byschools from around the Borough . It was voted a

great success by pupils and teachers alike, and theInspector of Schools has suggested another week in1994.

On 8th April the coach set off for Rochester, with alarge contingent of members, thanks to Ann

Lin(S?unsom's recrui+-3nt drive. Besides the Dickensconnection, there was also the history of theMedway, and the Cathedral. The day's enjoymentwas rounded off with a super cream tea, and despitean unexpected thunderstorm, the trip was voted oneof the best.

May the 5th saw us all celebrating the unveiling ofa plaque on the side of the Lord Morpeth Pub inOld Ford Road, commemorating the work of SylviaPankhurst and Norah Smyth at their Women's Halland Cost Price Restaurant, which was opened at thestart of the First World War, to help alleviate thedistress and suffering that conflict had brought tothe East End. Caro:line Benn, author of "KeirHnrdie", (whn will feature new Progragave a well researched speech, and Dave Watsonthe Landlord decorated the Pub in Suffragettecolours, with the addition of a beautifully designedmirror, and even provided a Votes for Womenhorse and cart, to the delight of the local children.Also in attendance was Casimir Isolani, NorahSmyth's nephew, who came to honour his Aunt'smemory.

On the 15th May we took a walk around VictoriaPark, exploring areas of the park not usuallynoticed by visitors, such as the point where CharlesDuckett's canal joins the River Lea, the sites of thewartime cut and cover shelters and the boundarystones between Hackney and Poplar. Somemembers remarked on how small Victoria Park wasin comparison to their childhood memories. Thediversion to the canal proved so popular that it hasbeen suggested we walk the canals from Mile Endto Three Mills. Has any member done this walk, ifso, how long would it take? We thought we'd askbefore your committee tries it out and gets lost,exhausted or never heard of again!

In May a series of lectures were undertaken by theCommittee for Bow Neighbourhood EducationCentre. This really stretched our minds andresources, as we were asked to limit the scope ofour talks to the history of what is presently BowNeighbourhood. This fitted in very well with ourprogramme as it followed on from the end of ourlectures, providing keen historians with anopportunity on continuing their interest in localhistory through the summer.

The Editor of East London Advertiser asked us toguest the weekly local history column, so Doreenand Rosemary obliged with a little cameo on LordMorpeth (of Old Ford Road fame!), otherwiseCommissioner of Parks and Forests in the mid1800's, when Victoria Park was being laid out. Thiswas a coup for us, as it takes a lot of persuasion toget local papers interested in our activities. Theresult of the article was a surge in enquiries formembership and requests from other societies forRosemary to lead walks and give talks on localwomen's history and buildings on the Bow Trail.

On the 15th Tllly we witneccerl ancither cunt-pee A

plaque to commemorate the East London ToyFactory at 45 Norman Grove was unveiled by MrsPaul lsolani-Smyth, the great-nephew of NorahC. _ .1__ _,/ _ _ _ __1_ .1_3111y1.11. Jeverai Miler ITICITMerS or iNoran s Familytravelled from as far away as Cheshire to bepresent on the occasion. We were also delighted tohave Mrs Andrea Silk on hand to describe herexperiences of working at the Toy Factory as a girlof 14. The present owners of the two housesgraciously invited us in to and it was truly a uniqueand memorable experience to find ourselves seatedin the old Toy Factory being served iced punch byMs Rosie Bates, and watching Andrea recapturethe past.

Lark in the Park at Millwa 11 was a huge success,and many local history societies took part. Perhapsnext year we could have some volunteers to help usran a st,all. Any ideas for a theme?

The East End Yesterdays week at Holland Hall sawus again hard at work. Three of the topics we havebeen working on featured as events. In our lastnewsletter we published queries and comments onthe old custom of building grottoes. This was takenup with enthusiasm and a grotto-making day onWeavers Fields proved a great success forschoolchildren and senior citizens alike. Doreen hadan afternoon session on the Bethnal Green TubeDisaster, and we had a morning on Fast FMSuffragettes. All topics were supported byExhibitions which could be viewed throughout theweek.

Finally, our book on Victoria Park has been movingapace, the first draft has been completed, but likeall research, new avenues keep opening up whichjust have to be explored. We are confident,

however, that in the end it will be well worth all theeffort.

DOREEN KENDALL

Books etc....

Catholic Mission and Registers 1700-1880

During the 1700s persecution of Catholics dieddown and many priests began to keep registers oftheir congregation. In the 1800s Catholic missionswere established in all the large industrial towns,many of them replacing the country-house chapelsof the gentry which had been the main centres ofCatholicism in most no the of the co-htr)7 sin-- the.111

Reformation.

In a series of six regional books Michael Gandy,Chairman of the Catholic FHS, gives details ofevery known mission and chaplaincy 1700-1880.As well as register dates for baptism, marriage,confirmation and death, he gives details of copiesand links each mission to its predecessors and to thegreat families who supported them or the 'ridingmissions' of individual priests who travelled aregular circuit lodging where they could This is thefirst such detailed study to appear for any part ofmainland Britain.

The publication is in 6 volumes, wvernig IL.,ondon

and the Home Counties, the Midlands and EastAnglia, Wales and the West of England, North EastEngland, North West England and finally,Scotland.Price: £6.00 per volume or £30.00 for the set + p & p.

Catholic Parishes in England, Wales andScotland : an Atlas.

In a further booklet Mr Gandy has reprinted aseries of maps which were published in the CatholicDirectory in the late 1950s. These show the fullextent of the Catholic parish system which grew upto cater for the new Catholics and the Irish after1850.Price: £2.00 P&P 50p.

Details from Michael Gandy, 3 Church Crescent,Whetstone, London N20

Lord Rothschild and the 4% IndustrialDwellings Co (illustrated) - Clifford Lawton

• Thursday 17 February7.30pm

Cephas Street School Evacuated - theexperiences of Alderman A Kershaw JP -Daphne Glick

• Thursday 17 March7.30pm

Church Life in Mile End - Latimer Chapeland the Roman Catholic Parish of GuardianAngels (illustrated) - Jean Olwen Maynard

• Thursday 14 April7.30pm

The Coming of the Railways to East London- Bob Dunn

• Thursday 28 April7.30pm

Caroline Benn, Author of "Keir Hardie" talksabout her work.

• Thursday 19 May7.30pm

East London Pubs - Reminiscence EveningMembers share their memories andresearch

Note: All lectures are held in the LatimerCongregational Church, Ernest Street,Stepney - nearest Undergrounds StepneyGreen or Mile End.

EXHIBITION at the RAGGED SCHOOL MUSEUMby OXFORD HOUSE and E.L.H.S.EAST END SUFFRAGETTES Oct:Wed:Thurs:10.00-5.00p.m. Sundays 3rd Oct, 7th Nu

5th Dec.13th Oct:History Club Lectureby Rosemary Taylor7th November Walk.BOW BELL and BATTLEAXESMeet Bow Rd Underground 1.00pm

PROGRAMME 1993 - 1994

• Wednesday 15 September6 pm.

Humanities Education Centre, TowerHamlets Professional Development Centre,English Street, E3

• Thursday 23 September7.30pm

George Lansbury and the Bow and Bromleyby-election of 1912 - John Shepherd

• Saturday 2 October

Coach Outing - See details on back page ofNewsletter

• Tuesday 19 Octoberipm

Visit to Queen Victoria Seamen's Rest. 121-1 q1 Fast Ind i o Durk Road, Poplar *1 41. Busfrom Mile End - D6; bus from OxfordCircus/Aldgate - 15.

• Thursday 11 November7.15pm - A.G.M.

7.45pm

Sutton House - excavating Hackney's TudorHouse (illustrated) - Christopher Phillpotts

• Thursday 9 December7.30pm

Toshers on the Thames - Liz Thompson

• Thursday 20 January7.30pm

[-Programme Notes and News

David Behr, our hardworking andconscientious programme organiser reports onhis plans for the next season of lectures:

Thanks to suggestions from members of thecommittee, the new programme has beencompleted. I'm particularly pleased that one ofour members, Bob Dunn, has volunteered tospeak to the Society. But members needn't feelthey have to be so ambitious.

At the Pub Evening in May you might like tospeak for a few minutes on, for example, puboutings.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

The Humanities Education Centre Librarynaturally has a large range of educationalmaterial. It also covers local history of Londonand other regions. So the opportunity onWednesday 15th September to look round from6pm onwards should provide a sociable start tothe programme, especially as cups of tea arebeing provided.

(English Street is close to Mile End Station. Thefirst turning on the left from the station is EricStreet. Go down Eric Street to Hamlets Way,turn left and cross Hamlets Way. English Street isthe next turning.)

In 1912 George Lansbury resigned his Bow andBromley seat to stand as an independent infavour of women's suffrage. On Thursday 23rdSeptember John Shepherd will tell of his researchinto the by-election.

Saturday 2nd October is the day booked for ourAutumn coach trip to The Weald and DownlandOpen Air Museum, which is situated in beautifulcountryside between Midhurst and Chichester. Itpromises to be a lively and interesting trip, and ifyou have a hotline to heaven, please pray for therain to hold oil

As outlined in the last Newsletter, 1993 is the150th Anniversary of the Queen VictoriaSeamen's Rest. On Tuesday 19th October theSociety will visit the building and learn about itshistory.

Sutton House in Hackney dates qPQ from 1sli T. f aq rare example of a Tudor brick house with lateradditions and has been in almost continuousoccupation. Christopher Phillpotts has conductedthree archaeological excavations. He will give anillustrated talk on Thursday 11th November. (Thetalk will be at 7.45pm, preceded by the Society'sA GM at 7.15pm.)

The final event in 1993 will be on Thursday 9thDecember when Liz Thompson speaks on'Toshers on the Thames.' In her own words: "Thebackground to it is the life of my great-greatgrandfather who was a tosher. He made a livingfrom searching the foreshore at low tide for'tosh'- anything made of copper from nails to sheetingused to protect the hulls of the ships againstworms. Toshers also went after anything elsesaleable, but their serious living came fromfinding coins, and lost jewellery, etc., down thesewers. Not much has been written about toshers,apart from Henry Mayhew's interview with one inthe 1850's. There :is so much to learn abouttoshers - their beliefs, superstitions and themedicines they took to keep them healthy in anessentially unhealthy occupation."

Bernard Bressiaw1934 - 1993

All of our members are aware of the death on the11 th June of the well known actor Bernard Bressiaw.

Bernard was for many years a member of E.L.H.S.taking a great interest In our society as befitting aman who spent his childhood In Eric street, attendedCoopers Company School In Bow road. He then served

two years In the army and then went onto R.A.D.A..

He appeared In the 1950's on television In the long

running series "The Army Game" and most of the

"Carry On" films. Later in his career he became avery accomplished Shakespearean actor. It was In his

dressing room at Regents Park Theatre while preparingfor his role In the Taming of the Shrew that he died

The Society on behalf of Its members sent their

condolences to Bernardo wife and family in their

sad loss.

AUTUMN COACH TRIP

This will be on Saturday 2nd October. We will be visiting the Weald andDowniand Open Air Museum, which is situated in beautiful country on theSouth Downs between Midhurst and Chichester.

Over 35 historic buildings have been re-erected here, including a mediaevalfarmhouse which has been restored to its original state, a working water mill,and a 16th century market hall. There are also farm livestock, and craftdemonstrations.

Before visiting the museum we shall have a stop at the attractive old town ofMidhurst for lunch (nwn arrangements) , Tea is available at the Museum.

The coach fare will be £6.90, and admission to the Museum is £3.00 full rateand £2.50 reduced rate. Meet opposite Mile End Underground at 9.30am.

To book please send the coach fare only with the slip below to:Ann Sansom, 18 Hawkdene, London E4 7PP. Tele 081 524 4506.

Autumn Coach Trip n 10 .93

I/we would like seat/s for the trip. I enclose a cheque/PO(made payable to ELHS) for £

Name

ArHrzes,

Tele. No.

Membership Renewal Formfor 1993/1994

Please fill in the form below and return to John Harris, 15 Three Crowns Road,Colchester, Essex, C04 SAD.

Name

Address

Tele. No.