 
The Underground Map Added: 8 Dec 2020 00:24 GMT |
Othello takes a bow
On 1 November 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was presented for the first time, at The Palace of Whitehall. The palace was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698. Seven years to the day, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Tempest was also presented for the first time, and also at the Palace of Whitehall.
Reply |
 
Linda Webb Added: 27 Sep 2021 05:51 GMT |
Hungerford Stairs
In 1794 my ancestor, George Webb, Clay Pipe Maker, lived in Hungerford Stairs, Strand. Source: Wakefields Merchant & Tradesmens General Directory London Westminster 1794
Source: Hungerford Stairs
Reply |
Roy Batham Added: 7 Jan 2022 07:17 GMT |
Smithy in Longacre
John Burris 1802-1848 Listed 1841 census as Burroughs was a blacksmith, address just given as Longacre.
Source: Batham/Wiseman - Family Tree
Reply |
Reg Carr Added: 10 Feb 2021 12:11 GMT |
Campbellite Meeting
In 1848 the Campbellites (Disciples of Christ) met in Elstree Street, where their congregation was presided over by a pastor named John Black. Their appointed evangelist at the time was called David King, who later became the Editor of the British Millennial Harbinger. The meeting room was visited in July 1848 by Dr John Thomas, who spoke there twice on his two-year ’mission’ to Britain.
Reply |
Jeff Owen Added: 20 Mar 2021 16:18 GMT |
Owen’s School
Owen Street is the site of Owen’s Boys’ School. The last school was built in 1881 and was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the development which stand there today. It was a “Direct Grant” grammar school and was founded in 1613 by Dame Alice Owen. What is now “Owen’s Fields” was the playground between the old school and the new girls’ school (known then as “Dames Alice Owen’s School” or simply “DAOS”). The boys’ school had the top two floors of that building for their science labs. The school moved to Potters Bar in Hertfordshire in 1971 and is now one of the top State comprehensive schools in the country. The old building remained in use as an accountancy college and taxi-drivers’ “knowledge” school until it was demolished. The new building is now part of City and Islington College. Owen’s was a fine school. I should know because I attended there from 1961 to 1968.
Reply |
Scott Hatton Added: 11 Sep 2020 19:47 GMT |
Millions Of Rats In Busy London
The Daily Mail on 14 April 1903 reported "MILLIONS OF RATS IN BUSY LONDON"
A rat plague, unprecedented in the annals of London, has broken out on the north side of the Strand. The streets principally infested are Catherine street, Drury lane, Blackmore street, Clare Market and Russell street. Something akin to a reign of terror prevails among the inhabitants after nightfall. Women refuse to pass along Blackmore street and the lower parts of Stanhope street after dusk, for droves of rats perambulate the roadways and pavements, and may be seen running along the window ledges of the empty houses awaiting demolition by the County Council in the Strand to Holborn improvement scheme.
The rats, indeed, have appeared in almost-incredible numbers. "There are millions of them," said one shopkeeper, and his statement was supported by other residents. The unwelcome visitors have been evicted from their old haunts by the County Council housebreakers, and are now busily in search of new homes. The Gaiety Restaurant has been the greatest sufferer. Rats have invaded the premises in such force that the managers have had to close the large dining room on the first floor and the grill rooms on the ground floor and in the basement. Those three spacious halls which have witnessed many as semblages of theatre-goers are now qui:e deserted. Behind the wainscot of the bandstand in the grillroom is a large mound of linen shreds. This represents 1728 serviettes carried theee by the rats.
In the bar the removal of a panel disclosed the astonishing fact that the rats have dragged for a distance of seven or eight yards some thirty or forty beer and wine bottles and stacked them in such a fashion as to make comfortable sleeping places. Mr Williams. the manager of the restaurant, estimates that the rats have destroyed L200 worth of linen. Formerly the Gaiety Restaurant dined 2000 persons daily; no business whatever is now done in this direction.
Reply |
Bruce McTavish Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT |
Kennington Road
Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design.
Reply |
 
Bernard Miller Added: 12 Apr 2022 17:36 GMT |
My mother and her sister were born at 9 Windsor Terrace
My mother, Millie Haring (later Miller) and her sister Yetta Haring (later Freedman) were born here in 1922 and 1923. With their parents and older brother and sister, they lived in two rooms until they moved to Stoke Newington in 1929. She always said there were six rooms, six families, a shared sink on the first floor landing and a toilet in the backyard.
Reply |
MCNALLY Added: 17 May 2021 09:42 GMT |
Blackfriars (1959 - 1965)
I lived in Upper Ground from 1959 to 1964 I was 6 years old my parents Vince and Kitty run the Pub The Angel on the corner of Upper Ground and Bodies Bridge. I remember the ceiling of the cellar was very low and almost stretched the length of Bodies Bridge. The underground trains run directly underneath the pub. If you were down in the cellar when a train was coming it was quite frightening
Reply |
 
Tom Added: 21 May 2021 23:07 GMT |
Blackfriars
What is, or was, Bodies Bridge?
Reply |
Richard Roques Added: 21 Jan 2021 16:53 GMT |
Buckingham Street residents
Here in Buckingham Street lived Samuel Pepys the diarist, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling
Reply |
Jude Allen Added: 29 Jul 2021 07:53 GMT |
Bra top
I jave a jewelled item of clothong worn by a revie girl.
It is red with diamante straps. Inside it jas a label Bermans Revue 16 Orange Street but I cannot find any info online about the revue only that 16 Orange Street used to be a theatre. Does any one know about the revue. I would be intesrested to imagine the wearer of the article and her London life.
Reply |
Lena Added: 18 Mar 2021 13:08 GMT |
White Conduit Street, N1
My mum, Rosina Wade of the Wade and Hannam family in the area of Chapel Street and Parkfield Street, bought her first “costume” at S Cohen’s in White Conduit Street. Would have probably been about 1936 or thereabouts. She said that he was a small man but an expert tailor. I hope that Islington Council preserve the shop front as it’s a piece of history of the area. Mum used to get her high heel shoes from an Italian shoe shop in Chapel Street. She had size 2 feet and they would let her know when a new consignment of size 2 shoes were in. I think she was a very good customer. She worked at Killingbacks artificial flower maker in Northampton Square and later at the Halifax bombers factory north of Edgware where she was a riveter.
Reply |
sam Added: 31 Dec 2021 00:54 GMT |
Burdett Street, SE1
I was on 2nd July 1952, in Burdett chambers (which is also known as Burdett buildings)on Burdett street
Reply |
Erin Added: 2 May 2022 01:33 GMT |
Windsor Terrace, N1
hello
Reply |
| LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT |
Katharina Logan Added: 9 Aug 2022 19:01 GMT |
Ely place existed in name in 1857
On 7th July 1857 John James Chase and Mary Ann Weekes were married at St John the Baptist Hoxton, he of full age and she a minor. Both parties list their place of residence as Ely Place, yet according to other information, this street was not named until 1861. He was a bricklayer, she had no occupation listed, but both were literate and able to sign their names on their marriage certificate.
Source: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSF7-Q9Y7?cc=3734475
Reply |
Reginald John Gregory Added: 8 Aug 2022 14:07 GMT |
Worked in the vicinity of my ancestor’s house,
Between the years 1982-1998 (unknown to me at the time) I worked in an office close to the site of my ancestors cottage. I discovered this when researching family history - the cottage was mentioned in the 1871 census for Colindeep Lane/Ancient Street coming up from the Hyde. The family lived in the ares betwen 1805 and 1912.
Reply |
Barry J. Page Added: 27 Jul 2022 19:41 GMT |
Highbury Corner V1 Explosion
Grandma described the V1 explosion at Highbury Corner on many occasions. She was working in the scullery when the flying bomb landed. The blast shattered all the windows in the block of flats and blew off the bolt on her front door. As she looked out the front room window, people in various states of injury and shock were making their way along Highbury Station Road. One man in particular, who was bleeding profusely from glass shard wounds to his neck, insisted in getting home to see if his family was all right. Others were less fortunate. Len, the local newsagent, comforted a man, who had lost both legs caused by the blast, until the victim succumbed to his injuries. The entire area was ravaged and following are statistics. The flying bomb landed during lunch hour (12:46 p.m.) on June 27th 1944. 26 people lost their lives, 84 were seriously injured and 71 slightly injured.
Reply |
ANON Added: 20 Jul 2022 13:36 GMT |
The Square & Ashmore park
The Square and Ashmore park was the place to be 2000-2005. Those were the greatest times on the estate. everyday people were playing out. the park was full of kids just being kids and having fun, now everyone is grown up and only bump into eachother when heading to the shops or work. I miss the good days( Im 25yrs old as im writing this)
Reply |
Added: 18 Jul 2022 13:56 GMT |
Map of Thornsett Road Esrlsfield
Reply |
Carolyn Hirst Added: 16 Jul 2022 15:21 GMT |
Henry James Hirst
My second great grandfather Henry James Hirst was born at 18 New Road on 11 February 1861. He was the eighth of the eleven children of Rowland and Isabella Hirst. I think that this part of New Road was also known at the time as Gloucester Terrace.
Reply |
Richard Added: 12 Jul 2022 21:36 GMT |
Elgin Crescent, W11
Richard Laitner (1955-1983), a barrister training to be a doctor at UCL, lived here in 1983. He was murdered aged 28 with both his parents after attending his sister’s wedding in Sheffield in 1983. The Richard Laitner Memorial Fund maintains bursaries in his memory at UCL Medical School
Source: Ancestry Library Edition
Reply |
Anthony Mckay Added: 11 Jul 2022 00:12 GMT |
Bankfield Cottages, Ass House Lane, Harrow Weald
Bankfield Cottages (now demolished) at the end of Ass House Lane, appear twice in ’The Cheaters’ televison series (made 1960) in the episodes ’The Fine Print’ and ’Tine to Kill’
Source: THE CHEATERS: Episode Index
Reply |
Alsatia Alsatia was the name given to an area lying north of the River Thames covered by the Whitefriars monastery. City Temple The City Temple is a Nonconformist church on Holborn Viaduct. Houghton Street (1906) A greengrocer’s on the corner of Houghton Street and Clare Market (behind The Strand) in 1906 just before demolition. Lisle’s Tennis Court Lisle’s Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. St Andrew The Church of St Andrew, Holborn stands within the Ward of Farringdon Without. Staple Inn Staple Inn is London’s only surviving sixteenth-century domestic building, situated on the south side of High Holborn. Temple Bar Temple Bar is the point in London where Fleet Street, City of London, becomes the Strand, Westminster, and where the City of London traditionally erected a barrier to regulate trade into the city. Thavie’s Inn Thavie’s Inn was a former Inn of Chancery, associated with Lincoln’s Inn, established at Holborn, near the site of the present side street and office block still known as Thavies Inn Buildings. The Temple The Temple is one of the main legal districts in London and a notable centre for English law. Weston’s Music Hall Weston’s Music Hall was a music hall and theatre that opened in 1857. In 1906, the theatre became known as the Holborn Empire. Aldwych, WC2B The name Aldwych derives from the Old English eald and wic meaning ’old trading town’ or ’old marketplace’; the name was later applied to the street and district. Andrews Crosse, EC4A Andrews Crosse stood on the site of the courtyard of the former Andrews Crosse Inn. Ashentree Court, EC4Y Ashentree Court was named after the ashen trees formerly located here at the Whitefriars’ monastery. Bell Yard, EC4A Bell Yard is a small lane off the Strand where the Bell hostel once stood. Bolt Court, EC4A Bolt Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. Bouverie Street, EC4Y Bouverie Street is named for the Pleydell-Bouveries, Earls of Radnor, who were landowners in this area. Bow Street, WC2E Bow Street was first developed by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1633. Brick Court, EC4Y Brick Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Carmelite Street, EC4Y Carmelite Street continues south from Whitefriars Street, which itself is just off Fleet Street. Chancery Lane, WC2A Chancery Lane has formed the western boundary of the City of London since 1994, having previously been divided between the London boroughs of Westminster and Camden. Crown Court, WC2E Crown Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Dane Street, WC1R Dane Street is one of the streets of London in the WC1R postal area. Dorset Rise, EC4Y Dorset Rise is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Drury Lane, WC2B Drury Lane is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Ely Court, EC1N Ely Court is one of the streets of London in the EC1N postal area. Ely Place, EC1N Ely Place is a gated road at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden. Essex Court, EC4Y Essex Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Falcon Court, EC4Y Falcon Court is a courtyard off the south side of Fleet Street between Chancery Lane and Fetter Lane. Fetter Lane, EC4A Fetter Lane is corrupted from ’Fautre’ which was the name for a spear rest - spears were made close by. Field Court, WC1R Field Court is one of the streets of London in the WC1R postal area. Gate Street, WC2A Gate Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Hand Court, WC1R Hand Court is one of the streets of London in the WC1V postal area. Hare Court, EC4Y Hare Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Hare Place, EC4Y Hare Place is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. High Holborn, WC1V High Holborn was part of the old road from Newgate and the Tower to the gallows at Tyburn. Hind Court, EC4Y Hind Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. Holborn Circus, EC1N Holborn Circus is a junction of five highways in the City of London, on the boundary between Holborn, Hatton Garden and Smithfield. Holborn, EC1N Holborn commemorates the River Fleet, also known as the Holbourne stream. Hood Court, EC4Y Hood Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. John Carpenter Street, EC4Y John Carpenter was town clerk of the City of London in the fifteenth century, and founder of the City of London School. Kean Street, WC2B Kean Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Kingsway, WC2A Kingsway is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A Lincoln’s Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder William Newton. Lion Court, WC1R Lion Court is one of the streets of London in the WC1V postal area. Magpie Alley, EC4Y Magpie Alley marks the position occupied by the dorter (dormitory) of the Friary of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, commonly called the Whitefriars Monastery New Square, WC2A New Square is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Norfolk Street, WC2R Norfolk Street ran from the Strand in the north to the River Thames and, after the Victoria Embankment was built (1865–1870), to what is now Temple Place. Old Square, WC2A Old Square is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Orange Street, WC1R Orange Street disappeared from the map to be replaced by St Martin’s College of Art (now Central Saint Martins). Pemberton Row, EC4A Sir James Pemberton was Lord Mayor of London in 1611, and a member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. Pump Court, EC4Y Pump Court is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Red Lion Court, EC4A Red Lion Court forms part of labyrinth of little passages behind the shops on the north side of Fleet Street. Sardinia Street, WC2B Sardinia Street, formerly Duke Street, was a street that ran from Prince’s Street in the south to the western side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields in the north. Shoe Lane, EC4A Shoe Lane is one of the streets of London in the EC4A postal area. Sicilian Avenue, WC1V Sicilian Avenue is a shopping parade that diagonally runs in between Southampton Row and Bloomsbury Way. Southampton Buildings, WC2A Southampton Buildings marks the site of the house of the 4th Earl of Southampton, son of Shakespeare’s patron. Star Yard, WC2A Star Yard is one of the streets of London in the WC2A postal area. Tallis Street, EC4Y This street honours Thomas Tallis, composer whose name is engraved on the façade of the nearby former building of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The Arcade, WC2B The Arcade is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Tweezer’s Alley, WC2R Tweezer’s Alley probably got its name after the tweezers used by smiths to heat items in the forge that stood there.
Watergate, EC4Y Watergate is one of the streets of London in the EC4Y postal area. Wild Street, WC2B Wild Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Cella Karaoke Lounge This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. City of York This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Grand Union This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Hercules Pillar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Inn of Court This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Kanaloa This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Knights Templar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Pegasus Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Penderel’s Oak This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Philomena’s This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Princess Louise This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Secrets This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Secrets This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Slug and Lettuce This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Sway This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Argyle This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Bountiful Cow This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Draft House This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Hack & Hop This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Harrow This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Nick This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Red Lion This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Seven Stars This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Ship Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Square Pig This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The White Swan This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Tipperary This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Ye Olde Cock Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Ye Olde Mitre This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so.
Hol^born is both an area and also the name of the area’s principal street, known as High Holborn between St. Giles’s High Street and Gray’s Inn Road and then Hol^born Viaduct between Hol^born Circus and Newgate Street.
The area’s first mention is in a charter of Westminster Abbey, by King Edgar, dated to 959. This mentions ’the old wooden church of St Andrew’ (St Andrew, Hol^born). The name Holborn may be derived from the Middle English hol for hollow, and bourne, a brook, referring to the River Fleet as it ran through a steep valley to the east.
It was at first outside the City’s jurisdiction and a part of Ossulstone Hundred in Middlesex. The original Bars were the boundary of the City of London from 1223, when the City’s jurisdiction was extended beyond the Walls, at Newgate, into the suburb here, as far as the point where the Bars where erected, until 1994 when the border moved to the junction of Chancery Lane. In 1394 the Ward of Farringdon Without was created, but only the south side of Holborn was under its jurisdiction with some minor properties, such as parts of Furnival’s Inn, on the northern side.
The Holborn District was created in 1855, consisting of the civil parishes and extra-parochial places of Glasshouse Yard, Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents and Ely Place, St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars with St George the Martyr and St Sepulchre. The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn was created in 1900, consisting of the former area of the Holborn District and the St Giles District, excluding Glasshouse Yard and St Sepulchre, which went to the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn was abolished in 1965 and its area now forms part of the London Borough of Camden.
In the 18th century, Holborn was the location of the infamous Mother Clap’s molly house but in the modern era High Holborn has become a centre for entertainment venues to suit more general tastes: 22 inns or taverns were recorded in the 1860s and the Holborn Empire, originally Weston’s Music Hall, stood between 1857 and 1960, when it was pulled down after structural damage sustained in the Blitz. The theatre premièred the first full-length feature film in 1914, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, a 50-minute melodrama filmed in Kinemacolour.
Charles Dickens took up residence in Furnival’s Inn, on the site of the former Prudential building designed by Alfred Waterhouse now named Holborn Bars. Dickens put his character Pip, in Great Expectations, in residence at Barnard’s Inn opposite, now occupied by Gresham College. Staple Inn, notable as the promotional image for Old Holborn tobacco, is nearby. The three of these were Inns of Chancery. The most northerly of the Inns of Court, Gray’s Inn, is in Holborn, as is Lincoln’s Inn: the area has been associated with the legal professions since mediaeval times, and the name of the local militia (now Territorial Army unit, the Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) still reflects that. Subsequently the area diversified and become recognisable as the modern street.
A plaque stands at number 120 commemorating Thomas Earnshaw’s invention of the Marine chronometer, which facilitated long-distance travel. At the corner of Hatton Garden was the old family department store of Gamages. Until 1992, the London Weather Centre was located in the street. The Prudential insurance company relocated in 2002. The Daily Mirror offices used to be directly opposite it, but the site is now occupied by Sainsbury’s head office.
Hatton Garden, the centre of the diamond trade, was leased to a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Christopher Hatton at the insistence of the Queen to provide him with an income. Behind the Prudential Building lies the Anglo-Catholic church of St Alban the Martyr.
In the early 21st century, Holborn has become the site of new offices and hotels: for example, the old neoclassical Pearl Assurance building near the junction with Kingsway was converted into an hotel in 1999.
Holborn station is located at the junction of High Holborn and Kingsway. Situated on the Piccadilly and Central Lines, it is the only station common to the two lines, although the two lines also cross each other three times in West London.
The station was opened by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly Line) on 15 December 1906 with the name Holborn (Kingsway). Kingsway was a new road, cutting south from High Holborn through an area of cleared slums to Strand. The suffix was dropped from tube maps in the 1960s.
This is a street in the WC2A postcode area
