Next Thurs 16 April @ 7.30pm we’re looking fwd to hearing Claire Weiss & Geoff Nicholls talk about their book (w Peter Ashan) “Slave-Trade Abolition & Leytonstone House: the Sansoms, the Buxtons and Black History”. Book to watch online. Venue details on link too www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/slave-trad...

Apologies for late reply. The illustrator is A Colbert, whose name is seen more clearly in this image. We think this is Anthony Colbert: www.theguardian.com/news/2007/se...

Photographic portrait of Zillah, daughter of Rodney Smith, in Gipsy costume. From 'Gipsy Smith, his life and work', the autobiography of Rodney Smith (1903).

Photographic portrait of Rodney Smith. Frontispiece from 'Gipsy Smith, his life and work', the autobiography of Rodney Smith (1903).

Portraits of Rodney Smith and his daughter Zillah, from 'Gipsy Smith, his life and work' the autobiography of evangelist Rodney Smith (1860-1947), born to a Romani family in Epping Forest. Published in 1903, this work is a significant source for Romani life & customs. #RomaniDay

St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Chingford. Early 20th century postcard. Designed by Lewis Vulliamy, the new parish church was built in 1844. Sir Arthur Blomfield designed eastern additions in 1903. #ImageoftheMonth

Minstrels, William Morris (1834-1896) & Morris and Co. William Morris was born in 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow. 🖼️ The Stained Glass Museum. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on music for A Grand Chorus: The Power of Music at the Foundling Museum. artuk.org/discover/art...

Leyton Midland Road Station roundel, Artyface [Maud Milton]. The roundel made of glazed mosaic tiles comprises a narrow outer blue edge framing a wide orange circle around the central white area. The station name appears in white lettering on a blue background, across the centre of the roundel, which is placed on a weathered brick wall. Via ArtUk https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/leyton-midland-road-station-roundel-674435

Leyton Midland Rd Station roundel, Artyface. A classic London underground station logo recreated in mosaic tiles. ©the copyright holder. 🖼️ David Ovenden/Art UK.
artuk.org/discover/art... For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on tiles for The Arab Hall: Past and Present at Leighton House

Portrait of Helen More [Gertrude]. Source Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gertrude_more_nun.jpg

Leyton House gates c.1933. From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom

Helen More [Gertrude] (1606-1633), born in Leyton #OTD 25 Mar 1606. A Benedictine nun, in 1623 she co-founded Our Lady of Comfort, Cambrai, later Stanbrook Abbey. Our image shows gates of mid 17th cent Leyton House, c1933. The earlier house at this site was the More family home. ##WomensHistoryMonth

Typescript signed letter from Frances Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick, regarding arrangements for Socialist lectures in autumn 1912. Dated 27 May 1912.

Photographic portrait of Frances Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick, 1930. From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Letter from Frances Greville, Countess of Warwick, regarding Socialist lectures in 1912. Born Frances Maynard in 1861, she held Walthamstow Toni manor from 1865. A society hostess & later a campaigning socialist, she lived at Shern Hall, Walthamstow as a child #DocumentoftheMonth #WomensHistoryMonth

Cover and page from 'The Knockabout Show', poems for children by Gerda Mayer (1978). This page shows the poem Hide and Seek: Once I used to hide in the open recess under the first floor balcony, (and always, my father remarked, in the same place). Where can she be? Where can she be? Here comes my aunt searching and thin and walks past me the first time; this being the ritual. Forty years later and the recess has shrunk to under my chin; and is full of old lumber now and a better place to hide in. I look into the shadows and ask and ask where are they?

The Knockabout Show, poems for children by Gerda Mayer (1978). Born in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia, Gerda Mayer (1927-2021) escaped to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939. Her family died in Auschwitz. Later a celebrated poet, she lived in Margaret Avenue, Chingford. #WorldPoetryDay #BookoftheMonth

Photographic portrait of Halszka Wasilewska. Image via Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halszka_Wasilewska_1899-1961.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Colworth Road, Leytonstone, from Gainsborough Bridge c.1895. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Halszka Wasilewska, one of the first women to become a major in the Polish Armed Forces. Born at sea #OTD 21 Mar 1899, her birth was registered in London. In early childhood she lived at 67 Colworth Road, Leytonstone, then home of Boleslaw Jedrzejowski, secretary of the Polish Socialist Party.

The Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford in early 1900s. Postcard from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Waltham Forest heritage plaque commemorating Eid prayers at the Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford in 1894. Photograph by Spudgun67 2019, via Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Site_of_the_first_known_Eid_prayers_in_London_-_Royal_Forest_Hotel_Ranger%27s_Road_Chingford_London_E4_7QH_1.jpg

The Royal Forest Hotel, Chingford, early 1900s. Then in Essex, in 1894 this was the location for the first known Eid prayers in what is now the London area. A local heritage plaque now commemorates this event, with thanks to AbdulMaalik Tailor for his research. Eid Mubarak to all celebrating today!

Gulielma Lister standing by an open window at rear of Sycamore House, High Road, Leytonstone c.1930. 📷 From VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Gulielma Lister (1860-1949) at Sycamore House, Leytonstone c1930. Mycologist, naturalist & world expert on slime moulds, she was a co-founder of British Mycological Society & 1st woman president of Essex Field Club 1916-19. Sycamore House was her lifelong home. #ImageoftheMonth #WomensHistoryMonth

Rocks d’Antibes by Richard Sorrell, Royal Watercolour Society. © the artist. Image credit Royal Watercolour Society via ArtUK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/rocks-dantibes-237866

Rocks d’Antibes by Richard Sorrell,
Royal Watercolour Society. © the artist. 🖼️ Royal Watercolour Society. artuk.org/discover/art... Richard Sorrell studied at Walthamstow School of Art. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on land and sea for Of Land and Sea @scarbsmuseums.bsky.social

For #ValentinesDay, a loving book inscription from Ambrose Barker to his partner Eliana Twynam, 1924. Barker was a local teacher, anarchist activist, and secretary of the Walthamstow Working Men's Club, publishing the Club's history in 1933. He died in Walthamstow #OTD 14 Feb 1953.

A Victorian Valentine's card, with a printed verse in the centre. This is framed by an oval wreath of white and purple violets, framed in turn within a rectangle of silver paper lace. A small posy appears below. At the top is a girl in a green dress. From the VHM image collection, available in our Searchroom.

Adoration, a verse forming the centrepiece of this Victorian Valentine's card. #ValentinesDay

Sorry for late reply. Yes, it was named after Valentine McEntee.

Church Lane, Leytonstone in 1886. On the left is a row of two storey buildings, one displaying a sign for Tea & Coffee. A two storey house is in middle distance. On the right tall trees overhang a long wall. Image from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Church Lane, Leytonstone in 1886. Occupied from 1851, Church Lane was one section of a much longer old road from Leytonstone to Ruckholt House, Leyton. Street history information thanks to @wfwalkingpast.bsky.social #ImageoftheMonth

Photographic portrait of Lady Catherine McEntee when Mayor of Walthamstow, 1955-56. Photo from Vestry House Museum collection, available in our Searchroom.

Biographical details for Lady Catherine McEntee, from printed programme for the Presentation of the Freedom of the Borough of Walthamstow, Jan 1948.

Remembering Lady Catherine McEntee who died #OTD 1 Feb 1962. She was twice mayor of Walthamstow, and Walthamstow's first woman councillor in 1921. Her lifetime of public service was recognised by the award of Freedom of the Borough in 1948 alongside her husband Valentine McEntee, 1st Baron McEntee.

Portrait of Eleanor, Lady Wigram by Charles Turner. Mezzotint. Source Creative Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Turner_-_Lady_Wigram_-_B1970.3.475_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg

Page from the burial register of Walthamstow, St Mary's, recording the burial of Eleanor, Lady Wigram on 29 Jan 1841.

Eleanor, Lady Wigram (1767-1841), of Walthamstow House. Mother of 17 children & stepmother to six, she was influential in developing education & welfare provision in Walthamstow, founding the Walthamstow Female Benefit Society, 1815. Lady Wigram was buried at Walthamstow, St Mary's #OTD 29 Jan 1841.

Study of Light, by Frederick Cuming (1930–2022), Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead. © the artist's estate. Image credit Williamson Art Gallery & Museum via Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/study-of-light-68241/search/actor:cuming-frederick-19302022/page/2/view_as/grid

Study of Light,
Frederick Cuming (1930–2022), Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead. © the artist's estate. 🖼️ Williamson Art Gallery & Museum. Fred Cuming taught at Walthamstow School of Art. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on light and dark. artuk.org/discover/art...

Page recording women residents of Walthamstow workhouse in Jan 1826. From Walthamstow workhouse admissions register for Jul 1821-Feb 1827.

From 200 years ago, entries from Walthamstow workhouse admissions register listing women residents in Jan 1826. They range from Ann Burrell aged 95, to Elizabeth Webb aged 19, admitted when pregnant. Entries for several long stay inmates include Mary Pickett, recorded as Blind. #DocumentoftheMonth

...That is why, at sixty, and some publisher asks me for biographical details, I still carefully give the year of my birth, the name of my hometown - Gerda Mayer, born 27 in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia.
Write to me father.'
Make Believe, by Gerda Mayer. #HMD26

...Say my verse was read in some distant country and say you were idly turning the pages, the blood washed from your shirt, the tears from your eyes, the earth from your bones....

Gerda Mayer (née Stein) as a child, with her father Arnold. Source: https://youtu.be/vXezsVs8WZI?si=HjhkxCfRqY6IvF7L

Remembering poet & Chingford resident Gerda Mayer (1927-2021) evacuated from Prague on a Kindertransport flight in 1939. Her father probably died in a Soviet labour camp. Her mother died in Auschwitz. Her poem Make Believe:
‘Say I were not sixty, say you weren’t near a hundred, say you were alive...

Cover of 'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977).

Mid 19th century view of High Road, Leyton. Illustration in 'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977).

'Rosa Lewis, an Exceptional Edwardian' by Anthony Masters (1977). This biography tells Rosa's remarkable story from birth in Leyton and domestic service at one shilling a week from age 12, to esteemed society cook, then owner of the Cavendish Hotel, London from 1902-1940s. #BookoftheMonth

Flyer for 2019 exhibition by Kirstin Sibley and Rachel Gomes: 'Beryl Swain - Need For Speed'.

Today is the 90th anniversary of the birth of Beryl Swain in Walthamstow on 22 Jan 1936. A motorcycle road racer, she was the first woman solo rider in the Isle of Man TT in 1962. Her life is celebrated in Kirstin Sibley's The Need For Speed 2019
issuu.com/invisiblenum... We hold related ephemera.

Mother and Child by Frank Dobson, Kirklees Museums and Galleries. © the artist's estate. Image credit: Kirklees Museums and Galleries, via Art UK https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mother-and-child-257781/search/actor:dobson-frank-18861963/page/3

Mother and Child, Frank Dobson, Kirklees Museums & Galleries. © the artist's estate. Frank Dobson went to Harrow Green School & Leyton Technical School. For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange, motherhood for Anna Ancher: Painting Light at Dulwich Picture Gallery. artuk.org/discover/art...

Apologies for late reply. We can confirm that the memorial was moved from Lloyd Park because increasingly heavy traffic in Forest Road made it very difficult to hold the annual Remembrance service there safely. The first service was held at the Town Hall location on 11 Nov 1961.

Pimp Hall Farm, Chingford, c.1890. Photo from VHM collection, available in our Searchroom.

Pimp Hall Farm, Chingford, c.1890. This was a working farm until the mid 1930s. The farm house was subsequently demolished and the site became a Council run nursery and allotments. The 17th cent Dovecote survives and is Grade II listed. #ImageoftheMonth

Knot, by Bernard Cohen 1962, Ulster Museum. © the artist/Flowers Gallery. Image credit National Museums NI, via Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/knot-121780/search/actor:cohen-bernard-b-1933/page/3

Knot, Bernard Cohen,
Ulster Museum. ©the artist/Flowers Gallery. Bernard Cohen grew up in Leytonstone & went to South West Essex Technical College. 🖼️ National Museums NI. artuk.org/discover/art... For @artukdotorg.bsky.social's #OnlineArtExchange on bold & colourful art for Colour at Tullie Carlisle