No 195 of the CAMDEN HISTORY SOCIETY Jan 2003 the Institution Cottage, Swains Lane, tucked behind Lighting up Camden the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution, still Thurs. 16 January, 7.30pm sporting a ceiling gas lamp. Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church (in the Church itself) As it happens, two of the old component parts of 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2 Camden were at the forefront of municipal supply of (Bottom end of Gower Street) electricity - both were vestries which had been very dissatisfied with the operations of the various private We now take lighting, public and domestic, for granted. gas companies. Enabled by Act of Parliament to set up It is difficult to imagine our streets at night lit only by their own generating stations, St Pancras was the first oil or gas lamps and without the aid of shop window in the London field, obtaining an Electric Lighting illumination and the generally brighter night sky that Order in 1883, and Hampstead was not far behind. we have today in London. Electricity transformed our The first experiments by St Pancras consisted of arc neighbourhoods and made them safer, but the enor- lights placed centrally along the centre of Tottenham mity of the task may be imagined. Court Road, and a large stretch of Euston Road. Electricity also made a vast difference in lighting at The story of the development of electrical supply in home, where gas or oil supplies were supplemented Camden is the subject of our January talk, to be given by candles. A visit to Sir John Soane's Museum on by Dr Brian Bowers. certain nights of the month, when the rooms are lit by candles, will give you a flavour of the problems of reading or sewing without electric light. The intro- Decay and Resurrection in duction of electric lighting in the home did not hap- pen quickly - our picture below, taken in 1980 when Camden's burial grounds conversion was about to take place, shows a room in Thurs. 20 Feb, 7.30pm Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church (as above) Camden has numerous burial grounds, for not only did each of the parish churches have its own but other parishes, much more overcrowded at the time, opened new ones in the abundant fields of St Pancras parish. These too in time became overcrowded and were eventually closed, to be grassed over and left with token tombstones and monuments to pronounce the original purpose of the open spaces. For some years these spaces, invaluable quiet places usual}y hidden away from traffic, have been deterio- rating from a mixture of poor maintenance and wilful vandalism, but of late there has been a revival in their fortunes - this is the subject of our February talk, to be given by Dr Roger Bowdler of English Heritage. Hampstead church, of course, still has what you might call a proper burial ground, but that around St Pancras Old Church has been whittled down during the build- ing of railways, as too was the adjacent burial ground of St Giles-in-the-Fields. Peaceful burial grounds, now public gardens, include those of St Martin in the Fields off Pratt Streetin Camden Town, and that of St George the Martyr, Holborn and St George Bloomsbury, occu- pying a joint space off Handel Street. There is also an Helen Clifford, Honorary Fellow of 18th-century Stud- interesting ground off Gray's Inn Road, near Wren ies at Warwick, turned to London itself in the same Street, formerly the extra-mural burial place for St century. She noted the development of the West End- Andrew's Holborn. Members unfamiliar with these the increasing prosperity of the country at the time spaces may like to visit them before the talk. raised demand. Books, shoe buckles and trinkets sold well. ADVANCE NOTICE Please put these dates in your diary: Down to the 19th century. Alan Cox, Assistant Editor 20 March: Gillian Tindall on Wenceslaus Hollar, 'The of the Survey of London, gave a comparative study of Man who drew London'. At Bloomsbury Central Bap- two Knightsbridge neighbours, Harvey Nichols and tist Church. Harrods. Whereas the first was always a draper's, 17 April: Prof Gary Crossley, on the History of the Harrod's began as a grocer's and supplier of items Central School of Speech and Drama at the Embassy such as brushes and cleaning materials. It was cer- Theatre, Swiss Cottage. At the Embassy Theatre. tainly not a luxury store, being described by one 15 May: Visit to the Museum of London's Archaeo- diarist as a "dirty place but cheap". No credit was logical Resource Centre at 46 Eagle Wharf Road, Nl. given until Edwardian times, the idea being that 19 June: AGM and Diane Clements on the History of cutting the cost of servicing accounts enabled Harrod's the Freemasons' Hall in Great Queen Street. At Free- to compete with the middle-class co-operative stores masons' Hall. such as Army & Navy and Civil Service. The develop- 17 July: Marilyn Greene on Burgh House Now and ment of the two stores - Harvey Nichols in baroque Then. At Burgh House. and Harrods in Renaissance style - was noted. The August: Outing to Hughenden Manor. latter had many domes and wells, some filled in when 18 Sept: Ann Saunders on 'A day in the life of a electric light became practicable. There was a "mov- Merchant Taylor'. At Burgh House. ing staircase" for a time. Harrods developed into a sort 16 October: Researching the history of your house - at of 'universal provider', organising funerals, finding the Local Studies Centre at Holborn Library. domestic staff and procuring theatre tickets, as well as 20 Nov: Launch of Streets of Camden Town. Venue to having its noted food hall and all possible other de- be notified. partments. It acquired many other stores, mostly keep- ing their own names and characters. Lamas looks at London Patricia Clarke of Pinner Local History Society went Shopping back in time for shopping in medieval Pinner and Shopping - buying and selling in metropolitan Lon- Harrow. The two manors were close and in both there don - was the theme of November's London & Mid- were victuallers, spicers, tailors and bakers. It was dlesex Archaeological Society's Conference. John noted that the spicers sold things like currants and Schofield, the Museum of London's Curator of Archi- sugar. Many victuallers also brewed and the bakers tecture, opened. He covered the period 1200-1700, would do good business cooking loaves and joints at concentrating on plans and designs for buildings, and a time when home cooking was difficult and few those for the various exchanges and markets. Where people had ovens. There was much concern with shops were concerned he looked mainly at lock-up quality, often with weak ale sold as a stronger brew. shops, rather than those where the proprietor lived Once someone was penalised for brewing with filthy above the premises. water, but this seems to be almost the only instance of concern with hygiene. In those times, fairs were held Claire Walsh, Leverhulme Research Fellow at War- in each neighbourhood year. The Harrow Fair has wick, covered 17th-century London, looking at the long ceased, but the Pinner one is still held annually. distinction between shops and galleries -the latter were places to look round and in which to be seen, and mostly Back in the 19th century, with Caroline Cooper of had small booths. Shops were larger and were places Camden History Society. She spoke of Primrose Hill where the proprietor would make an effort to sell. as it developed between about 1850 and 1860. In the latter year there were 100 shops or workshops in the Coming to the 18th century, Nancy Cox, working on area, which was mostly prosperous, though because a project at Wolverhampton, turned to distance shop- of the nearby railway, it became scruffy. In 1868, there ping. This meant sending to London from out of town. were three milliners, three tailors, three haberdashers She made the point that provincial shopping was not and one Berlin wool shop. Records are scarce, though as inadequate as is sometimes believed. Nevertheless, it is believed that the richer residents did their clothes there was much sending to London for items specially and fashion shopping in the West End department wanted. Many of the gentry had friends and relatives stores. There were, however, local dressmakers and there, and they wrote to them for material or some- one juvenile outfitiers-perhaps servicing the needs at thing specially required. It seems that there were the nearby Boys' Home and the Orphan Working catalogues, some kind of mail order being possible. Schooi. One should also note a bootmaker and Cash sometimes had to be sent before a purchase staymaker. Ms Cooper noted a recent increase in the would be delivered. number of clothing shops in the area. Lastly came two grocery chains. Brian Bloice, of Streatham Local History Society, spoke about David A Gospel Oak model Greig and Sainsbury' s, the first now vanished and the Member Richard Franklin is planning a model of second playing a considerable part in Camden life. Gospel Oak station in the period prior to its rebuilding David Greig was a Scotsman who came to London in the 1950s. He would be grateful for any photo- wit!:1- the intention of emigrating, but while waiting graphs or other information members may have, includ- his wife started a provision shop. Their son, refused a ing neighbouring buildings at the time. He may be partnership, went off on his own and developed his contacted at Flat 2, 30 Bold Street, Southport, PR9 OED.