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Enon chapel eventually became a dancing venue but was previously a place of worship. The ground floor was used for religious ceremonies while the vault below, separated only by the wooden floor, was used for burials, allegedly packed to the level of the floor above with thousands of coffins. It was claimed that church goers were falling sick owing to the proximity of decaying bodies and that there were bodies floating down drains into the river Thames.

Later investigation by John Snow (famous for identifying the causes of cholera) proved that the various allegations were much exaggerated but in 1847 a prominent surgeon called George ‘Graveyard’ Walker filled four large van loads of skeletons which he transferred from Enon chapel to West Norwood cemetery for burial in a huge single grave.

The building was then occupied by a theatre which advertised ‘dancing on the dead’ but it appears not all the bodies had been removed. Further transfers were required after which a different theatre moved in with a new, rather better insulated, floor.

Talking about West Norwood cemetery there was once a coffin found drifting in the river Effra towards the Thames. It was traced back to a grave in West Norwood cemetery but the relevant location was undisturbed, The coffin had seemingly dropped into the river from the grave. How many others did the same but were undiscovered, I wonder?!

Odette Hallows was an agent for the Special Operations Executive who survived the second world war but only at the cost of repeated interrogation at the hands of the Gestapo during which she lost all her toenails and enduried three months’ solitary confinement in complete darkness on starvation rations in an underground bunker. She witnessed others screaming from torture and cannibalism by starving prisoners.

How did she survive? Perhaps she had been toughened by suffering temporary blindness and paralysis as a child. Her approach was “surviving another minute – that was experiencing another minute of life”

She may also have been saved by her clever deception that she was married to a fellow imprisoned SOE , Peter Churchill, who she claimed was the nephew of Winston Churchill.

Odette and Peter did indeed get married after the war but divorced a few years later and married Geoffrey Hallowes.

Odette was the first living woman to be awarded the George Cross. There is a plaque dedicated to this remarkable woman on the side of St Paul’s church in Knightsbridge.

NB: Thanks to fellow tourist guide Rosalind, for the inspiration. www.wideeyedlondon.com

In 1650 Anne Greene was hanged for supposedly murdering and then concealing her unborn child. The fact she had miscarried at 17 weeks appears to have escaped the prosecution who argued concealment meant an admission of guilt.

When hanged, friends pulled at Anne’s legs and she was also battered with a musket to hasten her death. Her body was then placed in a temporary coffin. The coffin was reopened the following day for dissection to proceed but a faint pulse was detected. Physicians proceeded to administer: an enema of tobacco smoke ‘to warm her bowels’; a poultice; bloodletting; hot cordial; the tickling of the throat with a feather; and vigorous massages. Anne miraculously recovered. The original judge died shortly afterwards and Anne was set free. She later married and had three children.

One of the physicians who noticed her faint pulse was the remarkable William Petty. Despite no formal early education, Petty became a prominent scientist and one of the founding members of the Royal Society. As well as completing a supposedly impossible survey of Ireland he also developed scientific approaches to the study of economics and is said to have influenced Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Not bad for a doctor.

And he was a friend of Samuel Pepys. You see, Pepys is connected to everything and everyone!! Find out more on the walk this Saturday, 25th , 2pm

Samuel Pepys and the Personalities of 17th Century Westminster

In 1656 a man named James Naylor narrowly escaped the death penalty for blasphemy. His sentence was commuted to being pilloried and whipped. He received 310 strokes.

But this punishment was insufficient according to a prominent MP who successfully argued “You ought to do something with that tongue that has bored through God. You ought to bore the tongue through”.

And bored through it was. in front of a crowd of onlookers who stood bare-headed and silent in sympathy.

The name of the prominent MP? It was the man picture above, George Downing. After whom Downing Street is named.

Thank you to Clare Tomalin, biographer of Pepys, for the story.

Learn more about 17th century Westminster on a guided walk, Saturday, 25th February at 2pm

(And a walk on February 25th-see below)

Samuel Pepys’ biographer, Clare Tomalin, wrote of his life:

“A drama start to end….sickness, passion, fire, bereavement, imprisonment, false accusation and revolution….the most ordinary and the most extraordinary writer you will ever meet’

And he lived in the building where I teach! 12 Buckingham Street, where Pepys established his famous library and pioneering bookcases. His library is now in Magdalen College Cambridge.

Pepys later moved two doors down to number 14 Buckingham Street and the next occupant of this house was Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. You may be familiar with the film ‘The Favourite’ which portrays Robert Harley, played by Nicholas Hoult, as a ridiculous bewigged dandy. It is likely, however, that Harley was no fool; his magnificent book collection became one of the core collections of the British Library.

Two houses, two men, two famous book collections.

Discover more on a guided walk at 2pm on Saturday February 25th. It’s a super walk full of great anecdotes about Pepys and life in 17th century London.

England’s first national lottery was launched on 23 August 1567 to raise £100,000 to repair ports. 400,000 tickets were on offer at ten shillings each. There were going to be 30,000 winners, with prizes worth £55,000 and the unlucky 370,000 were to be refunded 25% of their stake. Top prize was worth £5000.

Sounds a great deal and a real opportunity to climb the social ladder but the public didn’t buy it. The draw was repeatedly postponed in an attempt to sell more tickets and finally took place at the old St Paul’s cathedral in January 1569, eighteen months after sales began.

Only about 30,000 tickets were sold. 400,000 counterfoils were entered into one barrel and the 30,000 prizes, their value reduced by 90%, were in another barrel, together with 370,000 blanks. The top prize was now worth just £416.

The draw took months. Interested parties organised rotas of observers to check for malpractice, For the sake of anonymity, many of the tickets were identified not by names but by ‘mottos’, for example, ’The head of a snake with garlic is good meat’ and ‘in God I hope, and a fart for the pope’.

The lottery raised less than £5000. It is rumoured the queen expropriated much of the original prize money to fund her lavish lifestyle.

Been so busy recently and now enjoying a lull before a very busy Christmas week including a tour on Christmas day! Scheduled walks will recommence in the New Year.

If you are struggling for a Christmas present idea then how about a voucher for a walk?

Simply email me: info@walkinglondonhistory.com and I’ll organise a bespoke voucher for you.

Stuck for something to do tomorrow evening? (15th December) Do you live in north London? Why not pop along to the famous Royal Oak pub in Muswell Hill for a quiz hosted by the amazing Marcus Berkmann, one of the leading question setters in the land? Only £1.00 entry fee, 8.15pm start, great value.

An office block and arts centre. A ‘stamping’ ground for bureaucrats. Naval links. Chambers (!) and courtyards. Records and paintings. And staircases. Where are we?

1 What are the distinctive features of a ‘state funeral’?

Much argument about this but the common denominators appear to be a) paid for fully by the state and b) organised by the Earl Marshal

2 What links ‘Hyde Park corner’ , ‘Hope Not’ and the ‘Tay Bridge’

Code names for deaths of prominent people. These were George VI, Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother

3 Whose lying in state was the first to be held in Westminster Hall? William Gladstone PM

4 Whose effigy clothed in black velvet lay in state at Somerset House (then named Denmark House) and after a day or two was moved upright and its glass eyes bizarrely opened, seemingly representing the passing of soul from purgatory to heaven. (There is a story that the body had actually been buried weeks before the funeral owing to ineffective embalming) Oliver Cromwell

5 Whose lying-in-state at Greenwich was attended by large crowds resulting in terrible injuries with the cavalry having to restore order? Horatio Nelson

6 The first died at the battle of Bosworth, the 3rd was uncle to two of Henry VIII’s wives, and the 4th was executed for treason. Who are this catholic family of survivors and what is their relevance to current events? The Dukes of Norfolk (Howards). They have for centuries performed the role of Earl Marshal (see question 1)

7 On Monday Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will be transferred from Westminster Hall to the Abbey on a gun carriage. In which special way will the carriage be pulled? And whence comes the tradition? Apologies -it was actually the procession after the service in the abbey that was pulled by naval ‘ratings’. The tradition dates from when horses which were lined up to pull Queen Victoria’s hearse bolted. A pragmatic solution was found and has continued ever since.

8 In March 2015 Richard III was buried in Leicester Cathedral. What could be said to be rather incongruent about the type of funeral service? The service was the standard Anglican service. Would Richard III have recognised this?!

9 Which monarch demanded her entire funeral, from horses to mourning attire, be arrayed in white? Queen Victoria

10 In 1774 his tomb was opened and inside a Purbeck marble coffin his body was found nearly entire, wrapped in a waxed linen cloth and wearing royal robes of red and gold with a crimson mantle. He had a gilt crown on his head and carried a sceptre surmounted by a dove and oak leaves in enamels. Which king? (He died more than 400 years prior to the coffin being reopened) Edward I

A quiz to help you become familiar with the history of royal and state funerals, and a free tour for the person who scores the highest marks. You may have to do some research! Email answers to: info@walkinglondonhistory.com by Sunday 18th September.

1 What are the distinctive features of a ‘state funeral’?

2 What links ‘Hyde Park corner’ , ‘Hope Not’ and the ‘Tay Bridge’

3 Whose lying in state was the first to be held in Westminster Hall?

4 Whose effigy clothed in black velvet lay in state at Somerset House (then named Denmark House) and after a day or two was moved upright and its glass eyes bizarrely opened, seemingly representing the passing of soul from purgatory to heaven. (There is a story that the body had actually been buried weeks before the funeral owing to ineffective embalming)

5 Whose lying-in-state at Greenwich was attended by large crowds resulting in terrible injuries with the cavalry having to restore order?

6 The first died at the battle of Bosworth, the 3rd was uncle to two of Henry VIII’s wives, and the 4th was executed for treason. Who are this catholic family of survivors and what is their relevance to current events?

7 On Monday Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will be transferred from Westminster Hall to the Abbey on a gun carriage. In which special way will the carriage be pulled? And whence comes the tradition?

8 In March 2015 Richard III was buried in Leicester Cathedral. What could be said to be rather incongruent about the type of funeral service?

9 Which monarch demanded her entire funeral, from horses to mourning attire, be arrayed in white?

10 In 1774 his tomb was opened and inside a Purbeck marble coffin his body was found nearly entire, wrapped in a waxed linen cloth and wearing royal robes of red and gold with a crimson mantle. He had a gilt crown on his head and carried a sceptre surmounted by a dove and oak leaves in enamels. Which king? (He died more than 400 years prior to the coffin being reopened)

The last blog asked whether the following statements were true or false:

a) The Duke of York and Albany is the chap on the top of the column just off the Mall

b) The Duke of York and Albany is the subject of the well known rhyme, ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’

c) The Australian city of Melbourne is named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

The answer is that all are true. Interesting how everyone is familar with the Duke of York from the rhyme but his details are not well known