is the property of Sir William Curtis Baronet, the Lord of the Manor, and
he gave a portion of it to the parish for the erection of Holy Trinity
Church in 1829. In May, 1830, Holy Trinity, which was the Chapel of Ease
to the Parish Church, was consecrated. The first minister appointed was
the Rev. George Hodson Thompson. He lived at the corner of Page Green,
and was succeeded by the Rev. George Brewster Twining. In the centre of
the Church were benches which were free, and there were doors to the
pews; there was always a full congregation. The gallery was mostly used
for the children of the Green School on one side, and on the other the
boys from Sherboro House School, Stamford Hill, of which Dr. Williams was
the Principal. Mr. Barton was the organist, Peter Rickard the clerk, and
the pew-opener was Mrs. Perrin. Occasionally the Rev. Mr. Newcome, the
Vicar of All Hallows, would take the service. Once he told the
congregation he would he unable to preach as he had left his spectacles
at home. My grandmother called the pew-opener and sent him hers, which
fortunately suited his sight. In those days a clergyman could hold two
livings at a time. He was Vicar of Tottenham, and also of Shenley, where
he resided. He used often to come and see my father, and always gave my
mother his blessing. I remember once hearing him say, “I give you my
blessing my dear, and oh what a pretty gown you have on!” At one time a
lady living on the Green who was one of the congregation, asked my
father, as churchwarden, to have the middle post at the entrance moved to
make a wider space as she was so stout she could not get through. He at
once complied with her request. I must not forget to mention how
beautifully the churchyard was turfed, and how lovely it looked with the
long-stalked white daisies. On coming out of Church I occasionally gave
way to the temptation of gathering a few, although my mother used to say
I ought not to do so, particularly on Sundays. I used to wonder why it
was worse to do it on Sundays than other days.
I must not forget to mention at one time the organist played a voluntary
between the prayers and the Litany, but it was discontinued as it was not
generally liked.
For a great many years Mr. Twining rented a cottage in “Bull-row” to
provide a home for four poor old women. They had one room each, and were
very thankful for it.
There was always a large bonfire and fireworks on the Green on the 5th of
November. This was discontinued when the traffic increased, as it
frightened the horses. Boys used to play cricket here, and horses and
cows were allowed to graze. On the occasion of the marriage of the
Prince of Wales, now our King Edward VII., we had a captive balloon on
the Green, and anyone who liked to ascend could do so. John Fowler, the
beadle, availed himself of the offer. He did not appreciate the trip, as
it made him feel very ill.
The large tree in the middle of the Green, by the High-road, I well
remember being planted by Mr. Deane, of “The Yews,” a great authority on
parish matters. Some of the trees on the East Green were planted by Mr.
Twining’s son and my brother when they were boys.
We next come to the High Cross Pump. The well was dug and the pump
erected at the expense of Mr. Thomas Smith, the Lord of the Manor, in the
early part of last century, in consideration of his having been allowed
to enclose a piece of waste land, near Grove House, where he resided.
The water from this pump supplied a large portion of the parish, and many
people earned their living by taking it about in barrels upon wheels,
selling it at a penny a pail. In 1883 the well was closed.
The White Swan Inn at the opposite corner of the road had a small
railed-in garden at the side in which stood a high white pole surmounted
by a large white swan. This inn was a favourite resort of Izaak Walton,
the famous angler. He often came to Tottenham to enjoy fishing in the
River Lea, and rested, as one may read in “The Compleat Angler,” “in the
sweet shady arbour which Nature herself has woven with her own fingers;
’tis such a contexture of woodbines, sweet briar, jessamine and myrtle.”
Adjoining were a lot of small, old-fashioned houses; a narrow entrance
called High Cross Court, with cottages in the rear. There was a large
carriage factory next, with a yard and more cottages, and the builder’s
house in the front; three more houses, then the two houses, in the first
of which Dr. Edward Curtis May, father of the present Dr. Edward Hooper
May, lived. Tottenham at that time could only boast of two doctors—Dr.
Holt and Dr. May. I always think with pleasure of the mansion that came
next; it was here I spent such happy days at school, the three Misses
Wilson were such kind and considerate teachers. It was a boarding
school, but my sister and I, with a few others, were day boarders. We
had to rise early, have our breakfast, and be at school at 7 a.m., say
our lessons with the boarders, and then while they were breakfasting we
learnt our lessons for the next day. The house was called “The Elms.”
In front of it stood a magnificent row of elm trees; at the back was a
large garden, and beyond that a meadow. My father sold this estate to
the Drapers’ Company about 1848, when the house was taken down and a
school for boys and two rows of almshouses built.
The houses after this were all small and, I may say, uninteresting, and
reached as far as the field, which Mr. Robert Forster used as a
brickfield. Here there was a pond, and the well, known as St. Loy’s
Well, in a field adjoining, about 500 ft. from the High-road. This well
was said to be always full but never running over, and the properties to
be the same as the waters of the Cheltenham Springs. It was cleaned out
in the sixteenth century, and at the bottom was found a great stone
having certain letters or characters on it, but unfortunately the workmen
carelessly broke and defaced it, so it was not known what the characters
meant.
The houses next were only medium-sized as far as “The Old Ship Inn,”
which was then a long, low, rambling building one story high and attics.
At the corner by Bruce Grove there was Myers’ the builders’ and
stonemasons’ yard and two good houses, one occupied by Miss Keating,
sister to the Keating of cough lozenge fame, the corner one by Dr. Edward
Curtis May after he left the High Cross. These were all pulled down and
the great Eastern Railway Station built on the site.