The 1912 streets of Spitalfields

The fascinating story of one man’s random walk in 1912.

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Article · * · E1 ·
JANUARY
7
2022
The fascinating story of one man’s random walk in 1912

On Saturday 20 April 1912, a man by the name of C.A. Mathew - a resident of Brightlingsea, Essex - came out of Liverpool Street Station carrying his camera. There’s no telling why he decided to walk the streets of Spitalfields and take photographs on that day - it may well have been a commission but, over a hundred years later, nobody really knows.

NOTE: Many writers about C.A. Mathew’s tour of Spitalfields, including the gentle author



, have assumed Liverpool Street station’s involvement in the story. This is a safe assumption - the London terminus of the route from Brightlingsea but is not a definite! But we’ll run with it too...


Matthew only took up photography in 1911, the previous year. Eleven years later, he died. He produced no other known work and little else is known about him.

Certainly, these beautiful photographs are one of the most evocative views of the London world of 1912. Mathew had a different approach to photography - other contemporary photographers preferred staged photos which meant that subjects never took a true interest in the camera. Mathew’s pictures have spontaneity and allow us to look at those depicted as if we were there in the street.

April 1912 had been a very dry, rather cold but extremely sunny month in London. The Titanic had sunk days before, shocking the world.

On that April 20th, across busy Bishopsgate lay Spitalfields, then a strongly Jewish neighbourhood.

C.A. Mathew crossed the road. It was the Sabbath, yet the Spitalfields streets were full of people, especially children. Mathew meandered along a seemingly random route, stopping mainly at junctions to take photographs. As he did, he attracted the attention of the locals who appear throughout the photos - people were simply not used to cameras in those far-off days and gathered around.

It is wonderful to see so many children playing in the street - unimaginable now in Spitalfields. The people are well-dressed on the whole. They do not look as poor as we might imagine at this remove in time - nearly all the kids are wearing shoes. And they are comfortable in their lives lived on the streets.

The old streets are fascinating - some are unrecognisable, while others are familiar.

If you wish to take a look at the original photographs, they ended up in the possession of the Bishopsgate Institute where they can still be seen.

Note: All photographs below attributed "C.A. Mathew/Bishopsgate Institute". All benefit from clicking on each to view them in detail.






Devonshire Square looking south over the Inner Circle Railway
(click image to enlarge)


Assuming a start and a finish at Liverpool Street station for Mathew's walk, there are only two photographs taken in the south of the area and the first is the most boring of the whole set. This maybe is because Mr Mathew was testing his camera.

Attempting to recreate the walk in the order that he made it, we have made simply an educated guess. Alas he did not number his photos (apart from no.92 - Middlesex Street)  so we cannot find out for sure.

However, to get to Devonshire Square is simply a crossing of Bishopsgate from Liverpool Street and straight down the first street - Devonshire Row (then called Devonshire Street).

Rather confusingly there are, in the 21st century, two Devonshire Squares. The original still has the railway running underneath it. The second - not so far away - is pretty windswept and part of a modern development.

Cutler Street is a turning off of Houndsditch but for Methew, a simple walk along an alleyway from Devonshire Square. The alleyway has its own name - Boner's Passage. A bit rude for modern tastes.






View south along Cutler Street (White Street) towards Aldgate station down Back Gravel Lane. The brick structure encloses the Circle Line tracks
(click image to enlarge)


This point in Cutler Street is the farthest south that Mr Mathew ventured. We assume Devonshire Square (a camera test) and then Cutler Street. This is truly a photo which rewards clicking on it to see more detail - look at the posters!

This photo has the longest caption in the set, labelled "Viewing south towards Aldgate Station, showing space occupied by the Inner Circle Railway, taken from Cutler St. at the corner of Harrow Alley, looking down Back Gravel Lane".

The residents are mildly interested in the camera but we haven't yet reached the section where children come to the fore.

This section of Cutler Street has only recently spring into existence. It was called White Street for a good couple of century until the name was suppressed and Cutler Street took over.

Mathew is taking photos in these two photos here of the marvel that was the Metropolitan Railway/Inner Circle. From now on, he loses interest in railways.






Middlesex Street with Sandy’s Row to the right
(click image to enlarge)


Just up Harrow Alley (Harrow Place) from the previous photo is the next location - where Middlesex Street becomes Sandy's Row. The northern section of Middlesex Street had only been renamed as such in the previous decade - Sandy's Row once began at the junction of Harrow Place but by 1912, further north.






The corner of Sandys Row and Frying Pan Alley
(click image to enlarge)


Mathew had been left alone thus far but from here on, the local children are becoming curious at this stranger and his weird contraption. In 2022, there's a culture shift whereby the Instagrammer can be self-obsessed but strangers leave a photographer alone, not getting involved. In 1912, people want to be in the shot.








Frying Pan Alley
(click image to enlarge)







Widegate Street looking towards Artillery Passage
(click image to enlarge)


We think that Mathew briefly turned left into Widegate Street for this image before returning to Sandy's Row, crossing it and proceeding down Artillery Passage to the next location.








Looking down Artillery Lane towards Artillery Passage. If you enlarge the photo, the poster in the newsagent window notes the sinking of the Titanic.
(click image to enlarge)


Once of the more amazing photos of the set.

There is a lot of detail but very interestingly we can see a newsagent dead ahead here. A poster in the window talks of the Titanic tragedy, news of which had only come through that very week.

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

The details on the shopfronts are also quite fascinating, And why simply one adult in the scene?








Bell Lane looking towards Crispin Street
(click image to enlarge)


Just some tens of yards further and we reach the top of Bell Lane. There's a bit of activity in tis scene including a horse behind the kids in the street. Mathew will next walk up Crispin Street...




[caption id="" align="alignright" waswidth="600"]



Crispin Street at the corner of Duval Street (click image to enlarge)


The original is labelled Duval Street but the corner with the pub (the Horn of Plenty) is that of Dorset Street which just then was changing its name. The photo was taken from outside the Convent of Mercy looking north-east. The Horn of Plenty was demolished in 1928 to make way for additions to Spitalfields Market.

Duval Street  will also disappear from the map in due course.




[caption id="" align="alignnone" waswidth="800"]



At the junction of Seward Street and Artillery Lane. The buildings in front had been demolished in 1907. (click image to enlarge)


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Sandy’s Row looking south from Artillery Lane (click image to enlarge)


These latter days, Wheler Street still exists but not this section. Now demolished, this was north of Spitalfields market.


[caption id="" align="alignnone" waswidth="893"] Wheler Street (click image to enlarge)


x


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Spital Square showing posts at the eastern end and Spitalfields Market in the distance (click image to enlarge)



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This north-facing view of Norton Folgate shows the recent road widening at this point (click image to enlarge)


Let photo forensics run wild at this point. Mathew may have walked up to White Lion Street (now called Folgate Street) from Spital Square. Then along White Lion Street/Folgate Street up to the main road - Norton Folgate. He briefly turns left. Why assume this? Because he's on the eastern - Spitalfields - side of the main road. We takes the shot and turns north, crossing the main road at some point since in the remaining shots he's on the western - station - side of the main road and probably walking south back towards the station.


[caption id="" align="alignnone" waswidth="1334"]



White Lion Street (now Folgate Street), photographed from Norton Folgate (click image to enlarge)


We are now on the other side of the road and starting a journey south.


[caption id="" align="alignnone" waswidth="1340"]



North end of Bishopsgate and Norton Folgate, showing the Primrose pub and the entrance to Spital Square on the right (click image to enlarge)


This shot and the next photo - are roughly taken from the same location. This one is looking north.


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Spital Square as viewed from Bishopsgate (click image to enlarge)


This photo and the remaining photos east along each street from Bishopgate in turn.


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Brushfield Street as viewed from Bishopsgate (click image to enlarge)



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Artillery Lane as viewed from Bishopsgate (click image to enlarge)


 


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Middlesex Street seen from Bishopsgate (1912) (click image to enlarge)





Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence


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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Comment
Christine D Elliott   
Added: 11 Jun 2023 14:50 GMT   

Spitalfields
Charles Blutte came to Spitalfields from Walincourt, Picardie, France for reason of religious persecution. His brother Pierre Phillippe Blutte followed the following year. Between the two brothers they had eventually 20 children, they worked as silk weavers around the Brick Lane area. Member’s of Pierre’s family resided at 40 Thomas Street for over 100 years. Another residence associated with the Blutte family is Vine Court, Lamb Street, Spitalfields, number 16,17 & 18 Vine Court was owned by John Kindon, the father in law of Charles Blutte’s son Jean (John) who married Ann Kindon. This residence appears several times in the census records.

Source: Quarto_52_Vol_LII_La_Providence

Reply
Born here
jack stevens   
Added: 26 Sep 2021 13:38 GMT   

Mothers birth place
Number 5 Whites Row which was built in around 1736 and still standing was the premises my now 93 year old mother was born in, her name at birth was Hilda Evelyne Shaw,

Reply
Lived here
margaret clark   
Added: 15 Oct 2021 22:23 GMT   

Margaret’s address when she married in 1938
^, Josepine House, Stepney is the address of my mother on her marriage certificate 1938. Her name was Margaret Irene Clark. Her father Basil Clark was a warehouse grocer.

Reply
Comment
The Underground Map   
Added: 8 Mar 2021 15:05 GMT   

A plague on all your houses
Aldgate station is built directly on top of a vast plague pit, where thousands of bodies are apparently buried. No-one knows quite how many.

Reply

Pearl Foster   
Added: 20 Mar 2023 12:22 GMT   

Dukes Place, EC3A
Until his death in 1767, Daniel Nunes de Lara worked from his home in Dukes Street as a Pastry Cook. It was not until much later the street was renamed Dukes Place. Daniel and his family attended the nearby Bevis Marks synagogue for Sephardic Jews. The Ashkenazi Great Synagogue was established in Duke Street, which meant Daniel’s business perfectly situated for his occupation as it allowed him to cater for both congregations.

Reply

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

Reply

Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

Reply

NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

Reply
Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

Reply
Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

Reply
Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

Reply



LOCAL PHOTOS
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Byward Tower, 1893
TUM image id: 1556882285
Licence: CC BY 2.0

In the neighbourhood...

Click an image below for a better view...
The Great Synagogue of London (1810) The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue and Jewish life in London. It was destroyed during the Blitz.
Credit: Thomas Rowlandson
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The Boar’s Head was located on the north side of Whitechapel High Street. The Boar’s Head was originally an inn, which was built in the 1530s; it underwent two renovations for use as a playhouse: first, in 1598, when a simple stage was erected, and a second, more elaborate renovation in 1599.
Credit: Unknown
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The Aldgate Pump (1874) Aldgate Pump is a historic water pump located at the junction where Aldgate meets Fenchurch Street and Leadenhall Street. The pump is notable for its long, and sometimes dark history, as well as its cultural significance as a symbolic start point of the East End of London. The term "East of Aldgate Pump" is used as a synonym for the East End or for East London as a whole.
Credit: Wellcome Images
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Bevis Marks Synagogue
Credit: John Salmon
Licence: CC BY 2.0


St Katherine Cree, City of London St Katharine Cree is a Church of England church on the north side of Leadenhall Street near Leadenhall Market. The present church was built in 1628–30, retaining the Tudor tower of its predecessor. The church escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666 and suffered only minor damage in the London Blitz.
Credit: Prioryman
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St James Duke’s Place The church survived the Great Fire of London, but fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1727, retaining much of the original woodwork. The poverty of the Aldgate area made it increasingly difficult to raise funds to maintain the church; Godwin described it as being "in a very dirty and dilapidated state". In 1874, under the 1860 Union of Benefices Act, it was demolished and the parish joined to that of St Katherine Cree. The site of the church is now occupied by the Sir John Cass School.
Credit: Robert William Billings and John Le Keux
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The Third Goodmans Fields Theatre, Great Alie Street (1801)
Credit: W. W. Hutchings
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Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) addressing a "smoking debate" at Toynbee Hall (1902)
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A drawing published in 1907 of the west front of the Church of Holy Trinity, Minories
Credit: Uncredited
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Petticoat Lane in the 1920s
Credit: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)
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