Messrs. Le Gros, Thompson and Bird, crape finishers, had a factory in Love-lane. This was burnt down in the year 1860, and the business was then removed to Norwich. The manager, James Bayliss, lived in the house in the front, which is now used as a Convent School.
Whitehall House stood on the site, now covered with shops and houses, known as Whitehall-terrace, Whitehall-street, and Moselle-street. The estate consisted of between six and seven acres of land. In one part of the pleasure grounds there was a Serpentine Walk. The house was some distance back from the road, and in the front was a beautiful lake, with swans on it. Mr. Charles Soames was the owner and occupier.
WHITE HART LANE.
At one time called Parsonage-lane. At the end of a turning on the right-hand side was the old Roman Catholic Chapel, which was used until the present Church was erected in the High-road. The Grange needs no description, as it still looks as it did in the days when I remember Miss Buckworth living there. After passing several good houses, one came to the Vicarage, which still stands; the senior curate, the Reverend John Saumarey Winter, lived there. Then there were two good houses, the further of which was the scene of a very sad accident—two children being burned to death in their beds. The parents were away from home, and the servants, taking advantage of their absence, gave a party, and forgot all about the poor little ones until too late. Before St. Katharine’s College was built the ground was used for allotment gardens; there is so little alteration in the cottages and houses that follow that no description is needed. Dr. Robinson, who wrote the History of Tottenham, in 1818, lived in the house now known as Trafalgar House. There was a large field opposite, the path through which formed a quick cut to the bend of the lane. On one side was a quick set hedge, and bank; in about the middle the path widened into what looked like a little room, and here, under the shelter of the hedge, poor old Blind Charlie lived for many years. The Rev. Mr. Hall, the Vicar, kindly gave him a mattress to lie on. In the field adjoining the Churchyard a poor, homeless boy dug a hole, near the hedge, where he used to sleep, the opening being covered with a tea-tray. But he was not allowed to stay there long, as children were afraid of passing. The old bridge crossing the Moselle was a pretty, narrow one, and on either side stood a fine oak tree. The trees in the second field were very beautiful.
TOTTENHAM PARK.
The large house covered with ivy which has quite recently been pulled down, was at one time the Manor House of Pembrokes, and called The Parsonage, or Rectory House. I remember when it was called the Moated House. It was built in 1636, and was surrounded by a moat, over which was a drawbridge. In 1797 Henry Piper Sperling, Esq., purchased the Mansion House of Pembrokes, with forty-nine acres of land adjoining, and the whole of the great or rectorial tithes. Soon after he had the moat filled up. The staircase of this house was very fine. There used to be a cheerful air of activity about the old Rectory Farm, with its well-stocked farmyard, and the ducks and the geese swimming on the pond. The pretty little plantation by the side of the road, which a little farther on branched right and left, the road to the right leading to Clay Hill. At the second bend of the lane, on the left stood a pretty, long, low house, with a creeper-covered verandah; this was called Turner’s Farm; the yard and outbuildings of this adjoined those belonging to River House. The New River Company owned the next farm, and here the road ended in a beautiful cornfield, across which was a footpath leading to Tile Kiln-lane. There used to be plenty of water in the river, but it has been gradually getting less and less. There was an echo in one of the fields leading to Beet-lane, White Hart-lane; it was so quiet all round this spot we often amused ourselves with raising it. A little farther on came Snakes-lane, leading to Lordship-lane, and Wolves-lane, leading to Tile Kiln-lane. These lanes were all very lonely, and a practical joker created a scare by roaming round in the evening. He was covered with a white sheet, and walked on high stilts; he was called Spring-heel Jack, but who he was or where he came from was never discovered; everyone was glad when he got tired of this form of amusement. I knew one old inhabitant who was one evening walking along Lordship-lane with his daughters when they saw a white object in the distance. The girls immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was Spring-heel Jack, and were so terrified they screamed so loudly that they were heard in Wood Green; but it was a false alarm, it was someone carrying home a basket of washing. Speaking of the loneliness of the few houses in this lane, Mr. Thomas Fox, who lived there, made it a practice to go into the garden and fire off a gun every evening before retiring to rest in order to let people know he could defend himself against burglars.
MISCELLANEOUS.
In the year 1878 Tottenham High-road was flooded from Bruce Grove to White Hart-lane. One of the sons of Mr. Gripper, of the Bell Brewery, had a boat, and rowed up and down, taking passengers at 6d. each, the money being given to the Tottenham Hospital. The Tottenham Hospital and Deaconesses’ Institution was started by Dr. Laseron in 1868. He worked indefatigably on its behalf, and people were so willing to help him that those who were unable to give money gave their jewellery. It was recognised that a hospital was much needed; the present building shows how this need has gone on increasing.
TRAVELLING
was not such an easy matter when my mother was a child, and people did not expect to take the yearly holiday which is now considered a necessity. Places which now can be reached in a few hours’ time were then quite a long journey, and one had to travel either by post-chaise or stagecoach, which was pleasant for the outside passengers on a fine summer day, but anything but comfortable if the weather was cold or wet. It was very cheerful to hear the guard sounding his horn. For those who could not afford these conveyances there was the waggon—a very slow mode of travelling, this. It was a huge, clumsy-looking vehicle, drawn by four horses, the waggoner walking by the side and occasionally sitting on the shafts for some distance; at night carrying a horn lanthorn. These waggons were used for moving goods from place to place, and were very roomy. I knew a lady who, when she was a child, travelled in this way, under the care of a maid, from Lincolnshire to Tottenham. My earliest recollection of travelling is of going to the sea-side in a post-chaise; two horses were sent on the day before we started. We went either to Margate or Worthing, and left home at four o’clock in the morning. We travelled all day, changing horses halfway, arriving at our destination that evening. For those who liked the water there was a boat called “The Margate Hoy.” Sometimes we varied our holiday and took apartments at a farmhouse at Finchley, which was then beautiful country. On those occasions we went in my father’s phæton. It was a very pretty drive all the way from Tottenham.