16 November 2010

Islington royalty and nobility

Walking from New North Road to Angel tube station via Prebend Street the other day I noticed that most of the pubs I passed were Lord this, Duchess that, Earl whatever.
So I have delved a bit deeper and found that within the N1 postcode there are.... eight Dukes (Cambridge, Clarence, Richmond, Sussex, two Wellingtons and two Yorks), two Duchesses of Kent, an Earl of Essex, the Marquess Tavern and a Marquis of Salisbury and Lords Clyde and Wolseley.
And there are lot of Royals about too – Kings Edward VI and VII, William IV, two George IVs, Charles I and the King of Denmark. Plus Princes Albert, Arthur, of Wales and Regent and a few heads and arms of non-specified Kings and Queens.
So what's all that about then?

These are all fairly self-explanatory except the Balls Pond Road image which used to be the Marquis 0f Salisbury.

7 comments:

  1. Maybe in a few decades time you'll be able to add a Queen Kate to the list. Although one has to admit that 'Kate' sounds a bit plebeian for a royal.

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  2. I think it's an echo of a time when estate developers thought it proper that the working folk should be reminded of the benevolence of the land-owning aristocracy while drinking after work...

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  3. It was traditional to name pubs after the local landowner, or a patriotic hero of the day. Royalty were popular choices, especially around the time of royal weddings.

    The Marquess pub is named after the Marquess of Northampton, the hereditary landowner of much of the land to the east of Upper Street (Canonbury and Angel areas). The first Marquess was formerly the Earl of Essex. The family surname is Compton which also features in a local pub, the Compton Arms.

    Much of this land was developed in the late 18th and early 19th century, and the pub names reflect that period.

    The Dukedoms named (Sussex, Cambridge, Clarence, Richmond, Kent and York) are 'Royal' Dukedoms, given to the various sons of King George III. The Duchess of Kent was daughter-in-law to George III and mother of Queen Victoria. The Regent is George III's oldest son who went on to be George IV.

    Wellington, Clyde and Wolesley were military heros of the day who were ennobled as a reward for their victories. The Duke of Wellington was the hero of Waterloo. Lord Clyde was the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India. Lord Wolesley led armies in India and Africa.

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  4. Jane, this is fabulous. Love this blog. Nice to meet you on Monday! We'll have to have tea or something soon.

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  5. blimey Bridget... thanks, you've saved me a lot of time and effort!
    And thanks to the rest of you... ;-)

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  6. My Grandma and Grandad owned the Kind Edward pub a little while after they arrived from Westport, County Mayo.

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    Replies
    1. Nice. There use to be many more Irish-run pubs back then

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Thanks, Jane