Louis Macneice in Canonbury, Islington

52 Canonbury Park South, Canonbury, Islington.

 

'LOUIS

MACNEICE

1907–1963

Poet

lived here

1947–1952'

George Orwell in Hampstead and Canonbury

3 Pond Street, Hampstead, now a Pain Quotidien outlet.

 

'GEORGE ORWELL

WRITER 1903..1950

LIVED AND WORKED IN

A BOOKSHOP ON THIS SITE

1934..1935..'

 

The bookshop was Booklovers' Corner run by Francis and Myfanwy Westrope. Orwell used his experience here for parts of his novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936). He wrote about his time at Booklovers' Corner in the essay 'Bookshop Memories' (1936). Unfortunately, vandals have chipped off Orwell's face on the plaque.

 

Orwell was forced to move out of Pond Road early in 1935, and came to a flat here, 77 Parliament Hill, next to Hampstead Heath.

 

'GEORGE ORWELL

1903–1950

WRITER

LIVED HERE'

 

In June 1935 he moved to Kentish Town (see my link at the bottom).

 

And many years later, in Canonbury Square, Canonbury, Islington:

 

'GEORGE

ORWELL

1903–1950

NOVELIST & ESSAYIST

LIVED AT 27B

1945'

 

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George Orwell: 'Bookshop Memories'
George Orwell in Kentish Town

Alexander Cruden in Islington

A Mexican restaurant at 45 Camden Passage, Islington.

 

And on the wall:

 

'ALEXANDER CRUDEN 1699–1770

HUMANIST SCHOLAR AND INTELLECTUAL
BORN ABERDEEN EDUCATED MARISCHAL COLLEGE
CAME TO LONDON 1719 AS TUTOR APPOINTED
BOOKSELLER TO QUEEN CAROLINE IN 1737
COMPILED THE CONCORDANCE TO THE BIBLE
DIED HERE IN CAMDEN PASSAGE NOVEMBER 1st

Whom niether [sic] infirmity not neglect could debase Nelson 1811'

I can't claim to know much about Alexander Cruden at all, although if there is a great deal of truth in Wikipedia's present representation of him (accessed the same date as this post) then he was a very interesting person indeed:

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Alexander Cruden

Fenner Brockway in Islington: London #38

 

'FENNER

BROCKWAY

(LORD BROCKWAY)

1888 ~

LIVED HERE

1908 ~ 1910'

 

60 Myddelton Square, Islington. Brockway (who died in 1988 just five months before his 100th birthday) is well known for his pacifist activities and imprisonment for these views during World War I, and for his role in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, although he supported the fight against fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

 

He was also a Labour Party MP (notably for Eton and Slough in the 1950s and early 1960s) and wrote a number of political books. A statue of him stands in Red Lion Square near Theobalds Road.

Kate Greenaway in Islington: London #37

'KATE

GREENAWAY

1846–1901

–––––––––––––––

CHILDRENS' [sic] BOOK

ILLUSTRATOR AND ARTIST

–––––––––––––––

LIVED HERE

1852–1872'

 

147 Upper Street, Islington.

 

I wonder if Keith Waterhouse and his grammar Nazi cronies in the AAAA (Association for the Annihilation of the Aberrant Apostrophe) ever got round to looking up at this instead of down into their pint pots. Bernard Shaw strove to bring about the apostrophe's demise, but it's still there. These days you can get away with omitting it from signs like these, but use it and you look pretty silly if you in fact misuse it, so how could the London Borough of Islington get it wrong?

Now, Kate Greenaway: there are links to four delightful illustrated books of hers below.

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Language of Flowers, by Kate Greenaway
A Apple Pie, by Kate Greenaway

Marigold Green, by Kate Greenaway

Under the Window, by Kate Greenaway

Thomas Paine at the Angel, Islington: London #36

The Thomas Paine obelisk was unveiled in Angel Square, Islington, in 1991 to commemorate the bicentenary of Paine's book The Rights of Man (1791), which he is said to have written at the (long demolished) Angel Inn near here. The sculptor is Kevin Jordan.

 

 

 

'THESE ARE THE TIMES

THAT TRY MENS SOULS'

 

'MY COUNTRY IS MY WORLD AND

MY RELIGION IS TO DO GOOD'

 

 

'LAY THEN THE AXE TO

THE ROOT AND TEACH

GOVERNMENTS HUMANITY'

 

'IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE

HAPPINESS OF MAN THAT HE IS

MENTALLY FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF'

Musical Coffins – Joseph Grimaldi and Charles Dibdin: London #6

I'd already earmarked the grave of the clown Joseph Grimaldi (1778 –1837) as a must to see and then I discovered from the London Remembers website about the keystone representation of him on this building in Pentonville Road, on either side of which is Joseph Grimaldi Park. Originally there was a church here – Saint James, which London Remembers states was 'for a time [...] the official church of the International Circus Clowns' Club'. The website believes this is the original church and that the keystone was added later.

Today the building is called Veolia House and run by Veolia Environmental Services, a recycling and waste management company.

Grimaldi's grave is opposite the Rodney Street entrance to the park.

'JOSEPH GRIMALDI WAS 3 YEARS OLD WHEN HE FIRST
WENT ON THE STAGE AT SADLER'S WELLS WITH HIS
FATHER AND WORKED THERE FOR 45 YEARS AS
PERFORMER AND PART-PROPRIETOR.

FROM HIS DEBUT IN 1806 AT COVENT GARDEN IN
MOTHER GOOSE HE WAS ADORED BY ALL AND COULD
FILL A THEATRE ANYWHERE. THE NAME JOEY HAS
PASSED INTO OUR LANGUAGE TO MEAN A CLOWN.

HE LIVED HIS LIFE AMONG THE PEOPLE OF
CLERKENWELL AND DIED AT 33 SOUTHAMPTON STREET –
NOW CALLED CALSHOT STREET.

ISLINGTON COUNCIL HAS CALLED THE PARK IN WHICH
HE LIES BURIED THE JOSEPH GRIMALDI PARK TO
COMMEMORATE A GREAT ARTIST AND A GREAT MAN.'

The masks in front of the railings around the grave show the two sides of the clown's nature – the laughter and the tears.

 

This coffin-shaped structure is close to the corner of Pentonville Road and Rodney Street, and is inscribed:

 

'R.I.P

Joseph GRIMALDI

–––––––––––––––––

1778 –1837

Henry Krokatsis 2010'

 

At the side of this is a similar structure with the inscription:

 

'R.I.P

Charles DIBDIN

–––––––––––––––––

1748 –1833

Henry Krokatsis 2010'

 

Dramatist and theatre manager Charles Dibdin (not to be confused with his father of the same name) was also buried here, although I have no idea where.

 

An interesting feature of these coffin shapes is that if you dance on them (as Penny and I did, much to the astonishment of people passing on Pentonville Road) the sound of bells comes out: an interesting experience that I'd recommend anyone else to try.

 

The shape of the park benches also interested me: is it my imagination, or are these really carved in the shape of a tear?

 

The pub The Glass Works about half a mile away in the heart of Islington shows a portrait of Grimaldi, a sketch of him as a child with his father, and another representing his final performance.

ADDENDUM: In case the comment below is unnoticed, I include a link below to a young woman dancing on Grimaldi's grave, apparently to the tune of his 'Hot Codlins'. Thanks, Anonymous.

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Dancing on Joseph Grimaldi's Grave

Two Mystery Females: London #3

The excellent website 'London Remembers' by chance draws my attention to two unidentified memorials in London, of which the above is one. This is a painting of a girl of unknown age which is placed exactly between the semi-detached houses at 17 to 19 Glenilla Road in NW3, but no one seems to know why. My guess is probably wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if this concerns the death of a much-loved adolescent. The date of the mural is obviously 20th century, but that, I believe, is all that is known for certain.

 

The second memorial is a small plaque that simply says 'Anna Fauguet 1878–1939'. This is at 4 Brayfield Terrace, Islington, and again no one knows anything about this person, and the only online references to Anna Fauguet refer to the original post by 'London Remembers'. They suggest that the plaque looks 'continental', and certainly it seems French to me, as suggested by Anna Fauguet's surname. Perhaps we'll never know.

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'London Remembers'

John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, and William Blake in Bunhill Fields, London

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in the borough of Islington is between Bunhill Row to the west, Featherstone Street to the north, and City Road to the east, which is the entrance shown in the above photo. Pevsner called this 'the most celebrated Nonconformist burial ground in England', and it is certainly very unusual that the graves of three famous and major figures of literature can be found within such close proximity.

This monument to John Bunyan (1628–88) is from the 19th century.

'JOHN BUNYAN,

AUTHOR OF THE

PILGRIMS PROGRESS

OBT. 31ST AUGT. 1688,

ÆT. 60.'

An engraving of Pilgrim on the monument.

On the other side of the path, just several paces away, are two more monuments:

This obelisk marks the grave of Daniel Defoe.

'DANIEL DE-FOE.

BORN 1661,

DIED 1731,

AUTHOR OF

ROBINSON CRUSOE.'

'THIS MONUMENT IS THE RESULT OF AN APPEAL

IN THE "CHRISTIAN WORLD" NEWSPAPER

TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF ENGLAND, FOR FUNDS

TO PLACE A SUITABLE MEMORIAL UPON THE GRAVE

OF

DANIEL DE-FOE.

IT REPRESENTS THE UNITED CONTRIBUTIONS

OF SEVENTEEN HUNDRED PERSONS.

SEPR. 1870.'

And right next to Defoe's grave is this monument.

'NEAR BY LIE THE REMAINS OF

THE POET-PAINTER

WILLIAM BLAKE

1757 –– 1827

AND OF HIS WIFE

CATHERINE SOPHIA

1762 –– 1831'

Blake's grave is in fact about 60 feet away from this memorial stone: originally Blake's grave was unmarked, although in 1927, to commemorate the centenary of his death, this stone was placed over his grave. However, the stone was moved here in 1965 when the lawns were created. The Friends of William Blake are now petitioning for a stone to be erected over his grave, and the extremely detailed seven-page link below describes exactly where it is.

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How To Find William Blake's Grave

Occupy London in Finsbury Square

Last October I posted a number of images of the Occupy Boston site in Massachusetts. It was the last of the Boston posts I made because it was the last of the photos I took of our stay in Boston. Perversely, although the last of the images I took of my visit to London (which I concluded yesterday) were of the present Occupy London site in Finsbury Square in the borough of Islington, I make this my first London post of a number. More (usually literary) posts will follow, including a few of Hampshire, which I still haven't finished. Meanwhile, more commentless Occupy images:

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Occupy Boston, Massachusetts.