Women's London E-Book

Rachel Kolsky

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 374

Beschreibung

Women's London is the only guidebook that focuses on the women who have shaped London through the centuries and the legacy they have left behind. This new book provides the perfect opportunity to explore sights, statues, plaques and buildings associated with famous and some not so famous women who have left their mark on London's heritage, culture and society. Their stories include scientists and suffragettes, reformers and royals, military and medical pioneers, authors and artists, fashion and female firsts … and more. The author, a popular London tour guide and lecturer, specialises in women's history and has provided a series of original self-guided walking tours taking you to historic areas where important women lived, worked and are commemorated. Illustrated with new full-colour photography and specially commissioned maps, Women's London will inspire visitors and Londoners alike to discover how much London owes to women.

Leseprobe

Published 2018--IMM Lifestyle Books

www.IMMLifestyleBooks.com

IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed in the UK by Grantham Book Service, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 7XQ.

In North America, IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed by Fox Chapel Publishing, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552, www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

© 2018 by IMM Lifestyle Books

Produced under license.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers and copyright holders.

Print ISBN 978-1-5048-0082-2eISBN 978-1-6076-5937-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kolsky, Rachel, author.

Title: Women’s London / Rachel Kolsky.

Description: Mount Joy, PA: IMM Lifestyle Books, 2018. | “In North America, IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed by Fox Chapel Publishing.” | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017047420 | ISBN 9781504800822 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Women--England--London--Description anbd travel. | Women--England--London--Tours.

Classification: LCC HQ1154.K646 2018 | DDC 305.409421--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017047420

Although the publishers have made every effort to ensure that information contained in this book was researched and correct at the time of going to press, they accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies, loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person using this book as reference.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Picture Captions

Front cover top: Boudicca; front cover bottom from left to right: Queen Alexandra; Agatha Christie, Amy Winehouse; spine: Anna Pavlova, Victoria Palace Theatre; back cover top: Red Cross Cottages;

back cover bottom: Rosalind Franklin, Heroes Mural painted by Marlon Brown at New Leaf Educational Gardens, West Dulwich; page here: Violette Szabo, Special Operations Executive (SOE) Memorial; page here: New Dawn, © Parliamentary Art Collection; page here: Almond Cottages, Ranston Street; page here: Women of WWII Memorial.

Contents

Welcome to Women’s London

About the Author

How to Use This Book

The Woman Who Put London on the Map

Round and Blue: Plaques in London

A Timeline of British Female Firsts

Central London Map

Women’s London on Foot

Wonderful Women of Whitechapel

Bonnets and Banners: The Salvation Army Women’s Social Work

In the Footsteps of Henrietta Barnett

Mothers to Militants: Migrant Women

Battling Belles of Bow: In the Footsteps of Sylvia Pankhurst

A Statue for Sylvia

Trade Unions

Mother of World Peace

Suffrage, Science and the Stage: Covent Garden and the LSE

Offspring of The Old Vic

Millicent Fawcett and The Women’s Library

Caring, Campaigning, Brilliant, Bohemian: Bloomsbury Women

In the Footsteps of Virginia Woolf

A Marylebone Miscellany

Cottages to Cadets, Gardens to Green Belt: The Legacy of Octavia Hill

Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s St James’s

Ladies in the Labs: Scientific Women

Royal Ladies

Performers to Reformers: Women at the Royal Albert Hall

Warring, Worthy, Mothers and Martyrs: Women of Westminster

Women in the Palace of Westminster

New Dawn

Ballet, Botany, Soldiers and the Stage: Curious Chelsea

Fabulous Fashion

Women at War

Artists and Authors in Abundance: Hampstead

Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The City

Women in the Frame

The Bluestockings

Women on a Pedestal

Remembering Ada

London’s Female Streetscape

In the Footsteps of Mary Wollstonecraft

Lambeth Lives

Spirit of Soho

Holloway Prison

In the Footsteps of Angela Burdett-Coutts

Literary Ladies

Queen of Crime

Read and View Women’s London

Medical Ladies

The Lady with the Lamp

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Where They Lived

Where They Lie

Further Afield

Culture and Campaigns

Cheers!

Picture Credits

Acknowledgements

32 Cornhill, the Brontës

Anna Pavlova, Victoria Palace Theatre

WSPU postcard album, c. 1911

Mary Seacole, Morley mosaic

Bow Quarter

WELCOME TO WOMEN’S LONDON

This book is for anyone who wants to celebrate the impact women have had – and continue to have – on London’s streetscape, heritage and culture.

It was inspired through my association with The Women’s Library when it reopened in 2002 at the Wash House, Old Castle Street in Whitechapel. Planning a series of walks with its dedicated staff and enjoying the exhibitions opened my eyes to the amazing women who have shaped society and strived for equality. Through the tours, I met academics and students, feminists and family researchers, further inspiring me to discover more, and I cannot thank them enough for sharing with me their knowledge and passion.

The book includes a section titled ‘Women’s London on Foot’, a series of self-guided walks and features, profiling specific women for whom sites in London provide an opportunity to ‘walk in their footsteps’. You will find many familiar names, but also those that deserve greater recognition.

You will also ‘meet’ the women who broke into the male bastions of science, medicine and the military, as well as visit the museums celebrating their achievements. The creative sphere – art, literature, fashion, dance and theatre – has wonderful women to celebrate, and the Votes for Women campaign links to many London sites.

The book also invites you to view the impact of women on London’s streetscape, and the timeline of British Female Firsts shows clearly that barriers are still being broken, well into the 21st century.

I recognize this book contains my personal selection of women but hope that you enjoy my choices; while many may be familiar, you will be introduced to others you’ve not yet encountered. They are found throughout London, encouraging exploration of new neighbourhoods and discovering your own favourites. With London’s female streetscape continuing to change, I look forward to future discoveries too!

Rachel

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Engaging and knowledgeable, Rachel Kolsky is a popular, prizewinning London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Focusing on the ‘human stories behind the buildings’, Rachel’s tours are fun, informative and entertaining. During Rachel’s previous career, over 25 years as a librarian in the financial services industry, she was recognized at industry level with the Information Professional of the Year award in 2006 and the 2008 Membership Achievement Award from her professional organisation, SLA. She was a trustee of her local independent cinema, The Phoenix, East Finchley, for over 20 years and is thrilled to have been a guest cruise lecturer since 2009. Rachel has published four books: the guidebook Jewish London (2012, revised and updated in 2018), Whitechapel in 50 Buildings (2016), Secret Whitechapel (2017), and her newest guidebook, Women’s London (2018).

Holly Village entrance, detail

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Whether a local or a visitor to London, you will find Women’s London informative, entertaining and easy to use. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is up to date and accurate. Postcodes have been given when appropriate to assist readers. Displays at galleries and museums can change, as do opening hours and entrance fees, so website details are provided for planning your visits.

Referencing

Several of the women appear in more than one walk or feature. Page references indicate the key entries for a particular woman, but do check the index for other references.

Abbreviations

Throughout the book several organizations are linked to different geographic areas, themes and personalities. The name is often listed in full at its first mention and subsequently (with a few exceptions) in its abbreviated form. Do also use the index.

Travel Information

For most listings the nearest station is given, whether tube, overground or mainline. If the site is not in close walking distance, additional information indicates walking time or if a bus journey is advised. There are numerous bus routes in London and bus stops are found at or close to all the walking areas and points of interest in this book. Transport for London (www.tfl.gov.uk) is an excellent resource for planning travel by train and bus and checking scheduled line closures.

Maps

Each walking tour includes a map indicating the route and sites. The Central London map on here provides a selection of key sites indicated within the main text of the book using coloured indicators as follows:

Yellow: art, architecture and artists

Orange: statues

Green: plaques

Red: streets

Purple: sites

MAP KEY

Walking route

Place of interest

Tube station

Overground station

Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station

Mainline station

Church

Synagogue

Catherine Booth

National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) meeting 13 June 1908, handbill

THE WOMAN WHO PUT LONDON ON THE MAP

Before the era of mobile phones incorporating maps and automatic location finders, there was only one way of efficiently navigating your way around London… using an A-Z. One of many London gazetteers, the A-Z became generic for ‘a London map’. Published in many sizes, its iconic design and later distinctive red, white and blue cover became ubiquitous on London’s bookshelves and in motor vehicles.

First published in 1936, millions of copies have been sold and it remains in print with a company HQ just outside London. Each new edition includes thousands of amendments, indicating the ever-changing streetscape of London. To compare editions decades apart is to see the dramatic changes where open spaces previously depicted as white, brown or blue have been transformed into tightly knit concentrations of streets.

This London icon was created by Phyllis Pearsall (1906–96). Born in Dulwich, a LB Southwark plaque at her birthplace commemorates the centenary of her birth. Her mapmaker father disappeared to the USA in the 1920s and Phyllis, out of necessity, became an independent young lady. Somewhat eccentric in manner and dress, by the age of 30 she was making a living as an artist. In 1936, her father suddenly reappeared and created the Geographers’ Map Company, giving the shares to Phyllis and her brother. He asked her to run the UK arm of his new venture with a street guide to London. The company was almost immediately known as the ‘A to Z’, and with this catchy title and word-ofmouth reviews, sales soared.

Phyllis researched London’s streets by walking thousands of miles and making copious notes. The early maps were hand drawn, and key components of that style survive today with wider streets clearly lettered using a sans-serif font and rogue detail to trap those tempted to copy these innovative maps. Most importantly, the maps concentrated on the roads and not landmarks, producing a clean visual impression.

In 1966 the company was converted into a trust, and instructions were given to look after the staff and promote from within. Phyllis worked until the age of 93, and employees continue to mark her birthday each year. In 1986 she was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), and in 2014 her life and impact on London was immortalized as a musical, The A-Z of Mrs P.

3 Court Lane Gardens, Dulwich, SE21 7DZ; transport: North Dulwich (Mainline), West Dulwich (Mainline)

Phyllis Pearsall

A to Z, 1938

ROUND AND BLUE: PLAQUES IN LONDON

Many London buildings are adorned with plaques commemorating significant events and the birthplaces, homes and workplaces of well-known personalities. The most numerous are Blue Plaques, and 2017 marked the 150th anniversary of the first to be unveiled, to Lord Byron (site demolished). Originally administered by the Royal Society of Arts, the scheme has subsequently been run by the London County Council (LCC), the Greater London Council and, since 1986, English Heritage. Originally brown and often ornate, since 1938 the blue and white design has been in use. With over 800 Blue Plaques in London, currently just one in eight honours women.

In addition to Blue Plaques, several local boroughs have their own schemes. The Corporation of the City of London has one official Blue Plaque but over 150 Corporation plaques. You will find green London Borough of Islington plaques and brown plaques for Camden and Hackney boroughs, where plaques are often decided by public vote. Organizations, such as the Heath and Hampstead Society, also erect plaques, and some homeowners erect private plaques. For example, there are three blue plaques at No. 22 Hyde Park Gate: one official Blue Plaque and two private (see here).

Many plaques are featured in this book and it is great fun exploring London seeking them out. Some women have several plaques, such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Enid Blyton, who each have four.

Throughout the text, the abbreviation BP is used for an official Blue Plaque and LB for London Borough (when followed by the name of the borough, for example LB Islington).

A TIMELINE OF BRITISH FEMALE FIRSTS

Several of these ‘firsts’ are profiled within the book. Please check the Index for references.

1768 Founder members of Royal Academy – Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser

1876 Blue Plaque unveiled – Sarah Siddons at 27 Upper Baker Street (since demolished)

1876 Qualified as a doctor – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

1885 Oldest surviving Blue Plaque – Fanny Burney at 11 Bolton Street

1893 Qualified as a surgeon – Dame Louise Aldrich-Blake

1895 Qualified as a dentist – Lilian Lindsay

1898 Admitted to Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) – Ethel Charles

1907 Member of the Order of Merit – Florence Nightingale

1918 Elected to the House of Commons – Countess Markievicz

1919 Took her seat in the House of Commons – Nancy Astor

1919 Metropolitan Police Officer – Sofia Stanley

1922 Qualified as a barrister – Ivy Williams (did not practise)

1922 Qualified and practised as a solicitor – Carrie Morrison (three others qualified with Carrie but she passed her articles to be the first admitted)

1923 Practised as a barrister – Helena Normanton

1929 Appointed to the Cabinet (Minister of Labour) – Margaret Bondfield

1930 Flew solo from Britain to Australia – Amy Johnson

1945 Fellow of the Royal Society – Kathleen Lonsdale and Marjory Stephenson

1945 Worked in Central (Meat) Market, Smithfield – Joan Brown

1946 Awarded the George Cross – Odette Samson of the SOE

1949 King’s Counsel (KC) – Helena Normanton/Rose Heilbron

1953 Had a UK No. 1 hit – Lila Ross with How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

1958 Life peers in the House of Lords – Baroness Wootton of Abinger (Barbara Wootton), Baroness Swanborough (Stella Isaacs), Baroness Elliot of Harwood (Katharine Elliot) and Baroness Ravensdale of Kedleston (Irene Curzon)

1960 Won an Olympic Track and Field Gold Medal – Mary Rand in the Long Jump

1971 UK women’s refuge – established by Erin Pizzey in Chiswick

1973 Black MBE – Sybil Phoenix for community work, particularly with young women

1973 Members of the London Stock Exchange – Anthea Gaukroger, Audrey Geddes, Elisabeth Rivers-Bulkeley, Hilary Root, Susan Shaw (first to set foot on the Stock Exchange floor), Muriel Wood

1975 Member of Lloyds of London – Liliana Archibald

1975 Rabbi – Jackie Tabick

1975 Depicted on a British banknote – Florence Nightingale (£10)

1975 British major political party leader – Margaret Thatcher (Conservative Party)

1977 London black cab driver – Marie White (see box below)

1978 London Underground train driver – Hannah Dadds

1979 Prime Minister/Head of State in the Western world – Margaret Thatcher

1981 A St James’s gentlemen’s club admitted women members – Reform Club

1981 Cox in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race – Sara Brown for Oxford

1983 Lord Mayor of the City of London – Mary Donaldson

1987 Black MP – Diane Abbott

1991 Travelled into space – Helen Sharman

1991 Director General of MI5 – Stella Rimington

1992 Speaker to the House of Commons – Betty Boothroyd

1995 Reached the top of Mount Everest without a partner or extra oxygen – Alison Jane Hargreaves

1997 Chief Executive of a Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 company - Marjorie Scardino at Pearson

1998 Muslim woman entered the House of Lords – Baroness Uddin

1999 MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club), known as Lord’s, admitted ten female Members

1999 Chief Cashier at the Bank of England – Merlyn Lowther

2000 Controller of BBC1 – Lorraine Heggessey

TAXI!

Until 1977 the only people who could drive the iconic London black cabs were men. Trainee drivers study ‘the Knowledge’ for years, mastering the labyrinth of over 26,000 streets within a 6-mile radius of Charing Cross. Only then can they gain the coveted London-wide Green Badge. In 1976 Marie White (died 1993), married to cab driver Jack, became the first woman to ‘learn the Knowledge’. She trained using a Mini rather than the usual moped for the first ten months and in 1977 became the proud owner of Badge 25292. She and Jack were the first married couple both to be licensed cab drivers. In 1983 she joined Dial-a-Cab (now Computer Cab) and in 1988 joined their Board of Management, the first woman to do so. Today however, 40 years after Marie’s achievement, it is estimated that just 2 per cent of London cab drivers are women.

Marie White

2001 Chief Executive of London Stock Exchange – Clara Furse

2004 Law Lord – Brenda Hale

2007 Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) at the Tower of London – Moira Cameron

2007 Chef to run a restaurant with three Michelin stars – Claire Smyth

2009 Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea – Dorothy Hughes and Winifred Phillips

2009 Head Cutter in Savile Row – Kathryn Sargent (see box below)

2009 Poet Laureate – Carol Ann Duffy

2012 General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) – Frances O’Grady

2014 Master of a Livery Company – Debby Ounsted, Worshipful Company of Mercers

2014 Master of the Queen’s Music – Judith Weir

2015 Bishop – Libby Lane, Bishop of Stockport

2015 Bishop to take a seat in the House of Lords – Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester

2015 Chair of the National Gallery – Hannah Rothschild

2017 Metropolitan Police Commissioner – Cressida Dick

2017 President of the Supreme Court – Lady Brenda Hale

2017 Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade – Dany Cotton

THE CUTTING EDGE

In 2009 Kathryn Sargent (born 1974) became the first female to rise to the esteemed position of head cutter in the history of Savile Row, the historic street synonymous with gentlemen’s clothing. In April 2016 Kathryn continued to break through the ‘check ceiling’ when she opened her own bespoke tailoring seasonal store on ‘The Row’, the first female master tailor to do so. Her extensive training included 15 years at Gieves and Hawkes, where she later became Head Cutter, and in 1998 she was the recipient of the Golden Shears Award, a symbol of excellence awarded to industry newcomers. Discretion does not allow her to name individual clients, but they include British royalty and A-list celebrities. Today, more women than ever before are commissioning bespoke pieces, and now represent nearly 50 per cent of her client base – www.kathrynsargent.com.

Kathryn Sargent

WOMEN’S LONDON ON FOOT

London is a city best explored on foot. In many areas the networks of narrow streets provide an opportunity to discover less well-known buildings, and the human stories behind them, in a variety of London’s neighbourhoods.

This selection of self-guided walks is from the author’s wide range and covers central, east and north London, areas that visitors and Londoners tend to gravitate towards.

Each walk starts and ends near a station and approximate duration and distances are provided. All routes are flat and wheelchair accessible unless indicated otherwise. Maps outline the route and places mentioned in the text, but do take a detailed London map with you as not all streets are included.

Note that Hampstead Garden Suburb, the City and Soho do not have self-guided walks but the features on here, here and here provide key sites with maps helping you plan your own route.

The map below provides an overview of the location of the walks to indicate proximity and allow for planning your visits.

1 Whitechapel

2 Battling Belles of Bow

3 Covent Garden and the LSE

4 Bloomsbury (with Fitzrovia extension)

5 Marylebone

6 St James’s

7 Westminster

8 Chelsea

9 Hampstead

10 The City

11 Soho

12 Hampstead Garden Suburb

WONDERFUL WOMEN OF WHITECHAPEL

This classic walking tour highlights women who have defined Whitechapel and Spitalfields. Discover stories of significant figures such as Eva Luckes and Dorothy Stuart Russell at the London Hospital; philanthropists Mary Hughes and Miriam Moses; PDSA founder Maria Dickin and social worker Alice Model. The walk also includes contemporary women including artist Tracey Emin and community gardener Lutfun Hussain.

START: Whitechapel tube (District, Hammersmith & City, Overground)

FINISH: Spitalfields Market (near Liverpool Street station – Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Mainline, Metropolitan)

DISTANCE: 4km (2½ miles)

DURATION: 1 hour (allow longer if you are visiting Dennis Severs’ House or browsing Spitalfields Market)

REFRESHMENTS: There is a wide range of refreshments at the end of the tour, with coffee houses and restaurants in Brick Lane, Commercial Street and Spitalfields Market. Popular choices include Pilpel for falafel (38 Brushfield Street, E1 6AT; www.pilpel.co.uk); Ottolenghi (50 Artillery Lane, E1 7LJ; www.ottolenghi.co.uk/spitalfields), the well-known Middle Eastern European fusion restaurant; Canteen (2 Crispin Place, E1 6DW; www.canteen.co.uk) for British food.

Leave Whitechapel tube via the pedestrian walkway, Court Street, towards Whitechapel Road. Note: The Elizabeth Line (previously Crossrail) will open through Whitechapel in December 2018, along with a new station complex. Additional exits and entrances are due to open late 2018.

Cross Whitechapel Road. Turn left and walk alongside the front of the original buildings of the Royal London Hospital (at time of writing boarded up). Stop just beyond the original entrance.

1Through a gap in the blue hoardings you will see a BP toEdith Cavell(see 162, 176), the nurse executed by the Germans during WWI. It commemorates Edith beginning her training here in 1896.

Continue along Whitechapel Road and turn right into East Mount Street. The new Royal London Hospital (known as the London) building is ahead of you. 2 Turn right, and before entering the hospital, compare the look of the old and new buildings.

The London is the UK’s leading trauma and emergency care centre. Founded in 1740 as the London Infirmary, a charity providing medical care, it moved here in 1753. Local industry and nearby docks propelled a rapid growth in Whitechapel’s population, and by 1876 over 30,000 patients were being treated annually. With Royal support and wealthy patrons, millions of pounds were raised, bringing additional facilities. In 1948 the London joined the National Health Service and in 1990 was bestowed the title Royal, commemorating its 250th anniversary. Between 2007 and 2016, a vast new complex was built, replacing 13 previous buildings. Original buildings remaining are due to be converted by LB Tower Hamlets into a new Town Hall.

Enter through the revolving doors and continue down the corridor, exiting on Stepney Way. Cross the road and stop by the statue of Queen Alexandra (1844–1925). 3

The statue commemorates the period of her Presidency at the Hospital between 1904 and 1908 and the Finsen Lamp she introduced in 1899 (Dr Finsen being Danish, as was she). The back of the statue (see following page) depicts Alexandra and her husband, Edward, inspecting the lamp, a treatment for lupus. The Alexandra Wing was completed in 1866. Alexandra was immensely popular and links to her are seen throughout London (see here, here).

Queen Alexandra statue

Finsen Lamp relief, Queen Alexandra statue

Gwynne House

Around the corner to Alexandra is the Luckes Entrance4commemoratingEva Luckes(1854–1919), Matron at the London from 1880 until her death. Trained at the Westminster Hospital, Eva briefly worked at the London and then in Manchester before becoming Matron here. She pioneered sickroom cookery (the provision of better diets for patients), introduced continuous professional development and regular holidays for her nurses and established a training school in nearby Bow (see here). She did not support state registration for nurses, an opinion she shared with Florence Nightingale.

Also at the London wasDorothy Stuart Russell, the first woman in Western Europe to hold a Chair in Pathology (see here). Behind Alexandra is the Cavell Entrance5, named after Edith, and nearby is Cavell Street.

With Alexandra behind you, cross Stepney Way and turn left, continuing westwards. Stop on the corner of Turner Street and look across to the 1934 art deco block, Gwynne House. 6

Between the 1950s and 1980, No. 2 was home toEdith Ramsay(1895–1983). An educationalist, community worker and local councillor, Edith arrived in Stepney in 1920 as a teacher and never left. She visited Whitechapel’s lodging houses and Salvation Army Hostels, arranged English classes for new immigrants and supported initiatives for the growing Caribbean community. During WWII she improved facilities at the Tilbury Shelter and, post-war, provided assistance for local Holocaust survivors and the Cable Street prostitutes in Stepney’s red-light district. Edith Ramsay House on Duckett Street, Whitechapel, is named after her.

If you are interested in learning more and have time, do visit the Royal London Hospital Museum (just a couple of minutes’ walk away). Displays profile the hospital’s history and personalities, plus healthcare in the East End. The Royal London Hospital Museum, St Augustine with St Philip’s Church, Newark Street, E1 2AA; free entry; www.bartshealth.nhs.uk/about-us/museums-history-and-archives

Brady Centre

Turn right into the pedestrianized part of Turner Street. Turn left at Whitechapel Road, cross the road and continue into Vallance Road. Turn left into Hanbury Street, continue down the pedestrian walkway and stop outside Nos. 192/196, the Brady Centre. 7

In 1935 the Brady Centre was opened by the Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth) as purpose-built premises for Miriam Moses’s Brady Girls’ Club and Settlement (see also p. here), established in 1925 at Buxton Street School. The club provided a wide range of activities including elocution, dressmaking and country dancing. During WWII it served as a refuge and shelter, and post-war became a ‘cradle to grave’ social services centre for the Jewish community. In 1975 Brady moved to North-West London and the site was acquired by the LB Tower Hamlets, providing social facilities for the Bengali community.

Nos. 194/196 Hanbury Street were once the site of a Salvation Army refuge for women, with a home for unmarried mothers and their babies next door. The Salvation Army Women’s Social Work operated throughout the East End with groups of Slum Officers, Rescue Homes and Nursing Posts (see here).

Retrace your steps, cross Vallance Road and enter Vallance Road Gardens. 8

A Quaker burial ground between 1687 and 1857, the words ‘Hopetown Salvation Army’ on the railings commemorate William Booth preaching here in 1865. In 1878, his East London Christian Mission was renamed the Salvation Army (see here). The gardens were re-landscaped in the early 2000s.

PDSA, a London dispensary c. 1933

Maria Dickin beside PDSA ambulance c. 1951

Walk through the gardens and exit on Lomas Street. Turn left, and stop on the corner of Vallance Road. 9

In 1917 this was the site of a disused pub called The Grasshopper, acquired byMaria Dickin(1870–1951) to provide free treatment for animals whose owners could not afford veterinary bills. On 17 November 1917, a placard proclaimed, ‘Bring your animals here. Do not let them suffer. All animals treated. All treatment free’. Named the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), it was an immediate success. It moved to larger premises and mobile PDSA units travelled the country in converted caravans. In 1933 Maria founded the Busy Bees Club for children, and author Enid Blyton (see here) was Queen Bee from 1952 until her death in 1968. In 1943 Maria established the Dickin Medal for animal bravery and 66 medals have since been awarded. Her birthplace is commemorated with a BP atNo. 41 Cassland Road, Hackneyand there are currently 51 PDSA Pet Hospitals and over 380 Pet Practices keeping Maria’s vision alive across the UK.

Continue down Vallance Road. Across the road, to your left, a delightful mosaic outside a school depicts a seed germinating in the sun and growing into a sunflower. Continue. Stop at the sign Hughes Mansions on the block of flats to your right-hand side. 10

Built in 1928, the flats are named after social worker and local councillorMary Hughes(see below) and revives memories of one of the most tragic events for the Jewish East End during WWII. On 27 March 1945, a V2 rocket hit the flats at 7am when families were still at home preparing for the day ahead, the eve of Passover. Of the 134 people killed, 120 were Jewish.

Continue and cross Vallance Road, stopping at the corner building.

A BP11commemorates the home ofMary Hughes(1860–1941) from 1926. Mary, the daughter of Thomas Hughes, author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, had a comfortable childhood in Mayfair. However, she devoted her life to the less fortunate, working with her sister and brother-in-law in Whitechapel and the Lester sisters (see here) in Bromley-by-Bow. She returned to Whitechapel and in 1926 transformed a disused pub, the Old Earl Grey, into the Dew Drop Inn. With rooms for social workers and facilities for prayer it became a local social centre. Mary became a Quaker, adopted voluntary poverty and encouraged vegetarianism and temperance while also a councillor and Justice of the Peace. When Gandhi visited London in 1931, he requested to meet her. George Lansbury, the Labour politican, commented, ‘Our frail humanity only produces a Mary Hughes once in a century’.

Hughes Mansions

MOTHER LEVY’S

Carved into the frontage is the story of the Jewish Maternity Hospital, opened here in 1911, and the names of its benefactors, Ada Lewis and Lord Bearsted. Founded by Alice Model (1856–1943), it provided maternity care, midwifery training and an infant welfare centre. Extended in 1928, by the 1930s around 800 babies were born each year. Known as Mother Levy’s after Mrs Sara Levy, the local district superintendent for the associated Sick Rooms Help Society, the hospital was run by Alice from 1911 until her death in 1943. The name changed to the Bearsted Memorial Hospital in 1940, relocated after WWII to Stoke Newington and closed in 1974. Alice was born to an assimilated Jewish family but devoted her life to the mothers and children of the Jewish East End. In 1897 she established the Sick Room Help Society, funding help in the homes when the mother was ill. In 1897 she opened a Jewish Day Nursery in Spitalfields, which soon expanded into larger accommodation in New Road, Whitechapel. Plans to expand further were interrupted by WWII, but fundraising continued. A purpose-built nursery, still operating today, opened on Beaumont Grove, Stepney in 1958 and was named after Alice who had died during WWII.

Mother Levy’s

Bearsted and Ada Lewis Courts

Brick Lane, street sign in English and Bengali

Turn right into Buxton Street. Continue until Spitalfields City Farm.12 Enter and ahead and to your left you will see a sign for the Lutfun Hussain Coriander Club, established by Lutfun in 2000 (see here). Before leaving, take the opportunity to explore the Farm. Further along Buxton Street you will see the sculpture Ram and Magpie by Paula Haughney (see also p. here).

Retrace your steps down Buxton Street and turn right, walking through the parking area of low-rise housing. Reach Underwood Road and stop opposite Bearsted and Ada Lewis Courts13, the site of Mother Levy’s (see box on previous page).

Turn right. Continue down Underwood Road. Turn left into Deal Street, passing the Victoria and Albert Cottages built in 1857 and 1865 by the Metropolitan Association for the Improvement of Dwellings of the Industrial Classes. Turn right into Woodseer Street. Continue. Turn left into Spital Street. Turn right into Hanbury Street. Continue. You are now entering the area known as Spitalfields, and you will notice more shops and a lot of street art.

Stop at the corner of Brick Lane. 14

Brick Lane was the backbone of the Jewish East End, but when the Jewish community moved to the suburbs and their businesses later closed or relocated, the area became predominately Bengali. Today it is increasingly international with pizza, steak, sushi and cupcakes jostling for attention amongst the curry restaurants. Look north and see the Truman Brewery buildings. Opened in 1669 and closed in the late 1970s, the site is now a complex of shops, eateries and galleries.

In 2003,Monica Ali(born 1967) published her first novel Brick Lane. Monica was born in East Pakistan to a white British mother and a Pakistani father and the family moved to Britain due to the 1971 Civil War. After graduating from Oxford, Monica began writing, and her first novel, Brick Lane, was an instant success. It tells the story of the aspirations and dashed hopes of an immigrant Bengali couple, bravely including the racial tensions faced by Asian communities during the 1970s. The book has been translated into over 30 different languages and was adapted into film in 2007.

Cross Brick Lane and continue down Hanbury Street, stopping at Hanbury Hall. 15

Built in 1719 as a French Huguenot chapel, the hall has recently been converted to accommodation and activity spaces. In 1888 the hall was one of many fund-raising venues for the matchgirls’ strike at the Bryant & May factory (see here), commemorated by a pavement roundel decorated with matchsticks.

Susanna Annesley’s (Wesley) birthplace

Continue. You will see Spitalfields Market across the road. Cross Commercial Street and continue down Lamb Street. Enter Spitalfields Market 16 through Mulberry Gate to your left, one of a series of new gates commemorating the heritage and personalities of the area and named for the silk trade. You will find a Wollstonecraft Gate, named for Mary Wollstonecraft (see here, here), who was born nearby in Norton Folgate.

Operating with a Royal charter from 1682, Spitalfields was a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. The gabled buildings with the green paintwork date from the 1880s when the site was redeveloped. The market traded here until 1991 when it relocated to Leyton. Substantial redevelopment has continued and today the market is a lively mix of offices, eateries, retailers and markets. It is particularly busy on Sunday mornings.

Walk through the market to Bishop’s Square. Turn into Stothard Place and turn right into Spital Yard.

There you will see a plaque commemorating the birthplace ofSusanna Wesley17(see here).96

Take time to browse the shops and market, then exit the market onto Commercial Street. Turn right and admire Christ Church, Spitalfields, the 1720s’ church designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor.

Cross the road, turn left and then right into the pedestrianized Puma Court. Turn left at Wilkes Street, one of three adjoining early 18th-century streets: Wilkes, Princelet and Fournier. Stop at the corner of Princelet Street.

2 Princelet Street

At No. 21861a BP commemoratesAnna Maria Garthwaite(1690–1763), a prolific silk designer with a distinct style typically depicting flowers, fruits, buds and plants. Her bound catalogues list details of each design’s mercer, weaver, type of silk and pattern, and provide a fascinating insight into the 18th-century silk industry. You can see examples of dresses made from Anna’s designs at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) Fashion Court (see here) and the Museum of London.

Continue down Princelet Street.

Scenes for the 2015 film Suffragette starring Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan were filmed here, using Nos. 4 and 11 as the interior and exterior of the chemist shop.

Stop opposite No. 17 1981 where a plaque indicates the birthplace of Miriam Moses (1886–1965).

One of 11 children, Miriam’s father died when she was 18 and already a teacher. In 1925 she established the Stepney Jewish Girls’ Club and in 1935 the Brady Centre on Hanbury Street (see here). In 1931 she became the first female Mayor of Stepney and the first UK Jewish female Mayor, and was a founding member of the League of Jewish Women in 1943. During WWII she never deserted the East End and chaired the local shelter committee.

Miriam Moses c. 1931

Continue and turn right onto Brick Lane. Turn right into Fournier Street.

On the corner is the Jamme Masjid Mosque. Look up to the sundial dated 1743 with the Latin inscription, Umbra Sumus (We Are Shadows). It was built as a Huguenot chapel by French Protestants, who fled from persecution in the late 17th century. When they vacated the chapel, it was used by various religious groups, becoming the ultra-religious Spitalfields Great Synagogue in 1898. In 1975 it became a mosque, illustrating the changing demographics of the area.

Toynbee Hall

Golden Leaves, Whitechapel Art Gallery

Continue.

Stop midway to admire the beautifully restored early 18th-century houses20, noting the wonderful doors and shutters. The attic windows formed large, light rooms for silk looms. In the late 19th century, these same houses were home to several families eking out a living in the sweated tailoring trade.

After the Jewish businesses had vacated the buildings, many new residents were artists, using the attic rooms as studios. Gilbert & George, working as a creative duo since the 1960s, were among the first artists in Fournier Street, moving here in 1968. Contemporary artistTracey Emin(born 1963) arrived later. Tracey became famous in the late 1980s as one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). She works in all media and her pieces are intensely personal, notably Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1995) and the Turner Prize-nominated My Bed (1999). She moved to Fournier Street in 1993, and in 2008 bought a weaving works on Bell Lane for her studio and offices.

Turn left into Commercial Street and continue until you come to the entrance to Toynbee Hall21 on your left. Enter the courtyard where some original buildings still remain.

Toynbee Hall, a social services centre and settlement, opened in 1884 as the initiative of Samuel and Henrietta Barnett (see here) who arrived in Whitechapel when Samuel became vicar of St Jude’s (since demolished).

Retrace your steps to exit the complex. Turn left onto Commercial Street and turn left onto Whitechapel High Street. Stop outside the Whitechapel Art Gallery 2221, decorated with Rachel Whiteread’s golden leaves (see here), which now incorporates the Whitechapel Library. Both were also initiatives of the Barnetts.

Your tour ends here at Aldgate East tube. To return to Brick Lane with its wide choice of eateries turn left into Osborn Street, which becomes Brick Lane. From Brick Lane, turn left into Fournier Street to return to Spitalfields Market.

BONNETS AND BANNERS: THE SALVATION ARMY WOMEN’S SOCIAL WORK

In 1865 William Booth founded his East London Christian Mission in Whitechapel, renaming it the Salvation Army in 1878. In addition to religious evangelism, the Salvation Army was committed to helping the socially disadvantaged. Its initiatives included rescue work, maternity homes, a model match factory, brass bands and international activity. It spread the word through its journal The War Cry and promoted equality between its men and women members.

The Army Mother

In 1852 Catherine Booth (1829–90) met William in South London, and they married in 1855 in Stockwell. In 1860, when working in the north of England, Catherine began preaching, and when they established the Mission in London, they were already a formidable team.

Catherine preached, recruited young women into the Army and organized Food-for-the-Million Shops, providing affordable meals. In addition, she supported campaigns for women’s suffrage and a rise in the age of consent, and opposed sweated labour and the use of yellow phosphorus in matchmaking (see here).

With their distinctive bonnets, Catherine’s Salvation Army Lasses were instantly recognizable and, as well as taking an equal role with male officers in ministry, they managed a wide range of social welfare activities under the banner of Women’s Social Work (WSW).

Despite childhood illnesses leaving her incapacitated, she and William had eight children, all of whom were active in the Army. The couple had several London addresses, mostly in Hackney but, with Catherine ill with cancer, they moved to Hadley Wood. She is buried at Abney Park Cemetery (see here) with several other members of her family. Catherine is commemorated in London with two statues, one at William Booth College, and one on Mile End Road, opposite a statue of her husband, near the spot where he began preaching in Whitechapel.

Women Warriors

In 1887 the WSW HQ opened at No. 259 Mare Street, Hackney where it remained until 1908, moving to No. 159 Lower Clapton Road, not far away. In 1910 it returned to Mare Street, at No. 280, opposite Hackney Town Hall. In 1978 the men’s and women’s services merged, operating from the HQ as Social Services. The building is now used as offices.

Catherine’s daughter-in-law Florence Booth (1861–1957) ran the WSW for over 28 years until 1912 when her husband Bramwell became General. The range of work organized from the HQ was breathtaking, the Army tackling all forms of social ills. Their journal, The Deliverer, and alliterative slogans helped spread the message – a 1913 headline proclaimed ‘Women Warriors Wanted to Save Sinking Sisters from Wreckage, Want and Woe’.

From 1902 the WSW Training Institute at Nos. 122/128 Lower Clapton Road ensured a continuous flow of Army workers.

280 Mare Street

Slum Sisters

Groups of Army Lasses, known as Slum Sisters, visited poverty-stricken East London. They operated out of local Slum Posts organizing meals, refuges and nursing facilities. Cheap Food Depots provided children with pre-school Farthing Breakfasts. By 1891 there were 16 Depots in the East End, serving 20,000 meals.

The first WSW District Nursing Post opened in Clapton in 1901, followed by four more by 1911.

In 1881 Elizabeth Cottrell opened a refuge for prostitutes at her home in Christian Street. Three years later the Army opened its first refuge at No. 212 Hanbury Street. It closed in 1885, moving to No. 48 Navarino Road, Hackney. In 1889, the Army returned to Hanbury Street, opening a Women’s Hostel at Nos. 194/196 (later the Brady Centre site, see here), one of six in London by that time. Some nights over 250 women were given refuge there.

Lanark House

Opened in 1896, Lanark House, No. 13 Laura Place, Clapton provides an insight into the extent of the WSW. At different times before it closed in 1966, it operated as a Nursery Home, Childrens’ Home, Receiving Home, Knitting Home, Inebriate Home, Home for Mothers and Infants, Industrial Home, Hostel for Girls and lastly Crossways Maternity Home.

The Big Motherhood of the Salvation Army

The WSW provided refuge for unmarried and poor mothers, homes for the children and opportunities for women to become self-sufficient through selling pieces of needlework and knitting.

The first Salvation Army maternity home was in Chelsea, opening in 1886. In Hackney, Ivy House officially opened in 1890 at No. 271 Mare Street as a rescue home, maternity home and nurses’ training school, and in 1894 became the Army’s first dedicated maternity hospital. It closed in 1913 following Crossways opening at No. 11 Springfield, Upper Clapton. Having moved to Amhurst Park, the maternity home relocated to No. 13 Laura Place, Clapton in 1967, closing in 1980.

The flagship maternity home – the Mothers’ Hospital at Nos. 153/163 Lower Clapton Road – was opened by Princess Louise in 1913. Based in a row of houses with an impressive frontage, it originally served unmarried women and the poor. While remaining a hospital for married and unmarried mothers during WWI, it also admitted wives of serving soldiers. Six bungalow chalet-style wards within landscaped gardens were built behind the houses, and the hospital was incorporated into the NHS in 1948. Having witnessed nearly 124,000 births it closed in 1986, and the site was redeveloped as social housing called Mothers’ Square.

Slum Officers c. 1910

The Mothers’ Hospital

Hopetown and Homesfield

Hundreds of Army homes for women and children were established throughout London. The first refuge in Hanbury Street was later called Hopetown, a name used since for Army hostels throughout the world. In 1912, illustrating co-operation between female social workers, the Salvation Army (on the suggestion of Henrietta Barnett) ran three of five cottage homes she had built in Hampstead Garden Suburb (see here). Named Mary, Emma and Adelaide, the latter honoured Commissioner Adelaide Cox, then Leader of the WSW.

The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre at William Booth College profiles different aspects of the Army from its origins to the present day, including its global reach, musical evangelism, disaster response and commitment to social justice. The Archives are available for research by appointment.

An exhibition space with changing displays at the International HQ in the City of London is open to the public. Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, William Booth College, Champion Park, SE5 8BQ; www.salvationarmy.org.uk/international-heritage-centre; transport: Denmark Hill (Mainline)

Salvation Army International Headquarters, 101 Queen Victoria Street, EC4V 4EH; www.salvationarmy.org; transport: Blackfriars (Circle, District, Mainline)

Salvation Army International Heritage Centre

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HENRIETTA BARNETT

Henrietta Barnett (1851–1936) was a social worker who established Toynbee Hall, campaigned for the protection of open spaces and was the inspiration behind Hampstead Garden Suburb, a co-operative housing development.

Early Life

Henrietta Octavia Rowlands was the youngest of eight children. Orphaned at 18, her father’s legacy allowed for a comfortable living at No. 20 Westbourne Terrace Road, Bayswater.

Visiting workhouses while a schoolgirl inspired Henrietta into a lifetime of social action, starting as a rent collector in Marylebone for Octavia Hill (see here, 204), who in 1870 introduced her to Samuel Barnett (vicar at St Mary’s Bryanston Square) and also to a network of wealthy and influential supporters. Samuel and Henrietta married in 1873, moved to the impoverished parish of St Jude’s, Whitechapel and adopted an orphan, Dorothy Wood, who sadly died from diphtheria in 1901.

St Jude’s Cottage, plaque

St Jude’s Cottage, date unknown