East End Photographs and Drawings

[Sam Flynn]

This 1903 film of 'Petticoat Lane' might have been seen here before but if so, here it is again for those who missed it......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJwKGpgLNk

And here in 1926 and in colour!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzeBDcmrjjY

Missed them the first time round, so thanks for pointing out those splendid clips, Stephen.

[Suzi]

Brilliant Stephen!!!!!!!!!! The 1903 Petticoat Lane led on to watch after watch and then re-watching the wonderful Mr Mason in the Salvation Army Hostel....Aaaaaagh got to go out now but will certainly be back for more!!!
Thanks again!!

Suzi x

[Stephen Thomas]

Thanks Suzi and Sam

Yes, it's incredible isn't it. I'm sure that's the nearest we'll ever get in movie terms to what people looked like in late Victorian Spitalfields.

Here's a more sedate scene showing Blackfriers Bridge in 1896...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABILtla_lE

[claire]

Fab youtube clips...will definitely cheer me up after seeing that horribly depressing Middlesex Hospital pic of scala's...I was born there and, later, my mother was very sick there. Seeing that photo makes me feel like someone took away part of myself. Effity effity...anyhow, back to youtube

[Chris Scott]

many thanks Stephen for the YT clips - they are great
For my own archive I have converted them to avi and have enhanced (see comparsion below)
If anyone wants enhanced copy of either then message me
Chris

[Stephen Thomas]

I was born there and, later, my mother was very sick there. Seeing that photo makes me feel like someone took away part of myself.

Hi claire

I know what you mean. My wife and I had major operations there and our son was born there also. But both the Middlesex Hospital and the nearby University College Hospital were really not fit for purpose anymore and the demolition has helped fund the magnificent new UCH Hospital on the corner of Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road.

[Sam Flynn]

Fab youtube clips...will definitely cheer me up after seeing that horribly depressing Middlesex Hospital pic of scala's...I was born there and, later, my mother was very sick there.

Humble apologies, Claire (and Stephen), if my aunt was responsible for any of your woes. She was a maternity nurse at the Middlesex from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s.

[claire]

Humble apologies, Claire (and Stephen), if my aunt was responsible for any of your woes. She was a maternity nurse at the Middlesex from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s.

Excellent! She may well have wedged a bottle into my greedy mouth, then

Stephen: Yes, the building was in pretty poor shape, and the new hospital is more than needed. Sad, though, to wander round and miss those landmarks, this and so many others.

[Stephen Thomas]

Here's Blackfriars Station in a pea-souper fog, November 1926.

[Rob Clack]

I bought this cdv the other day (the photographer took the photo of Stephen White and his brother took the majority of the victims photos). There is the name 'Harry' on the back of the photo and I would think this is more than likely a surname. It's possibly Magl Harry, listed in the 1891 census as a living at 59 Greenfield Street, he was a boarder at that address and his occupation is 'Dyer' and he was born in Russia. If this is him he may possibly have known some of the Kosminski/Abrahams family but that's just a guess.



I'm not sure if his first name was transcribed correctly, but this is the section from the census page.



Rob

[Chris Scott]

Hi Rob
Nice pic and many thanks for posting
Other instances I have seen in the census data which are in this format (i.e. where the final letter is small and raised above the line) are usually instances where the name has been shortened. An example of this is where I have seen Margaret as Margt, where the final t is small and raised above the line.
I would suggest that this man's name was Mag......l, though what the missing letters may have been I cannot guess
It is possible that the third letter is not a g. If on the same page you look at the g at the end of Golding (the name above Harry) and the g in Engineer, the trade of William Walker, the name below Harry, they look significantly different, to my eye, from the third letter of Harry's forename
Chris

[Rob Clack]

Thanks Chris, that seems reasonable. 'Magl' doesn't sound like a proper name to me, I've never come across anything like it.

Rob

[RJM]

Nice find, Rob!

Always nice to see a John Martin photograph. I wish we could find a Joseph Martin photograph. When I contacted the Jewish Museum of London, they had a few Martin & Son photos but none by Joseph. They suggested a few places to look, but to date have drawn a blank.

Sorry I can't help with the name.

Robert

[George Hutchinson]

Hi Rob. As Robert says, great find. These Martin shots are always little gems.

However, I would personally dispute the probability of the relevance of the name on the back. I have hundreds of CDVs and cabinet cards and some of them have names on the back, always the first name - I have never found a CDV with just a surname. These are put there in antiquity or more recently by relatives. To have a surname alone would only be within the confines of formality - some official documentation or archive. I would say I am 95% sure that this is someone whose first name was Harry and whose surname is unknown. Sorry!

PHILIP

[Rob Clack]

Hi Robert,

I'm always on the lookout for any of the Martins family and even Gumprecht photos and it's always good to hear from you.

Hi Philip,

Your probably right, I thought it could be written so the photographers knew which customer it was for.

Here's the name on the back:



Rob