Vauxhall History
by David E. Coke John Mackay (August 1818 – April 1881), pharmaceutical chemist, the son of Francis and Margaret Mackay of Edinburgh, stayed in London from 9 January 1837 until the end of March 1838, working at Bell’s pharmacy, 338 Oxford Street. On his return to Edinburgh, he started his own pharmaceutical company, which soon […]
A plaque commemorating orchid artist Nelly Roberts (1872-1959) was unveiled on Sunday 16 October 2022 at 92 Loughborough Road by Tracey Gregory of Loughborough Road Histories project and the artist’s great-nephew Chris Roberts, writes Naomi Clifford This colourful event was the second stage in a campaign to remember the remarkable watercolourist and illustrator who was […]
By Ian Beckwith On 5 November 1910, the Essex market town of Great Dunmow held its traditional procession to the bonfire. Led by a brass band, the dummy, perched on a cart pulled by hooded men, moved slowly on its way to immolation. However, the effigy at the centre of the parade was not of Guy […]
The Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens are to hold a week-long exhibition in April to mark the centenary of the war memorial’s Grade 2 listed clock tower and to recalling its history and significance. The clock tower was erected in memory of the over 570 local men who died in the 1914-1918 War. A […]
Artist Phyllis Todd settled in the Oval in 1988 and, as she tells Vauxhall History’s Ross Davies, she found Vauxhall to have a wealth of interesting buildings. But, adds Phyllis, it is also a townscape changing so fast that she was inspired to create an artistic record. Having ‘captured’ Vauxhall’s Fentiman Road in miniature – […]
This month sees the publication in book form of essays on Vauxhall Gardens written by the historian David E. Coke and first published on vauxhallhistory.org, the history arm of The Vauxhall Society. David is co-author with Alan Borg of the monumental Vauxhall Gardens: A History (2011). One of the most painful aspects of preparing that book, David tells […]
By Naomi Clifford Earlier this year, Vauxhall History was made aware of two previously unknown images of the unveiling of Stockwell War Memorial on Wednesday 3 May 1922. The photos were discovered in an album kept by Charles Christopher Patrick (1904-1996), whose father, John Frederick Patrick (1869-1943) was commissioned to build Stockwell War Memorial. The […]
by Ken MacTaggart FBIS A unique collection of unusual art adorns the walls of the British Interplanetary Society’s headquarters in South Lambeth Road. The striking building of yellow Georgian brick near Vauxhall Park, at the corner of Langley Lane, is a familiar sight to passers-by rushing to and from Vauxhall station. But few have stepped […]
Naomi Clifford, co-editor of the vauxhallhistory.org website, has written and self-published two nonfiction history books, each with Lambeth connections. She’s happy to share with you her experience of research, manuscript preparation, print platforms, crowdfunding, ebooks, marketing and sales. Her latest self-published book is Under Fire: The Blitz Diaries of a Volunteer Ambulance Driver, which will be published […]
A collection of six papers on Vauxhall Gardens by David E. Coke, a leading expert on London’s Georgian pleasure gardens and VauxhallHistory.org’s consulting editor, is to be published in autumn 2021 by Caret Press in association with The Vauxhall Society. This book is a selection of essays written following the publication of David Coke and […]
A recent discovery among a batch of printed ephemera from Victorian Vauxhall by Vauxhall History co-editor and co-author of Vauxhall Gardens: A History David Coke throws new light on the life of a remarkable resident of Kennington – the conjuror and collector Henry Evans Evanion (1832-1905). Evanion’s vast and wide-ranging collection of playbills, prints, advertisements and other ephemera […]
In 1883, Louise Michel, a notorious political radical and veteran of the Paris Commune, was invited to view the Lambeth Workhouse. In this article, published to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the last day of the Commune, 28 May 1881, Vauxhall History co-editor Naomi Clifford looks at the context of the visit and its meaning. […]