Northfleet History Group - April 2012 Meeting.
CURIOSITIES OF LONDON
Stuart Robinson
Over 80 members and visitors gathered in St Botolph’s church hall on Tuesday 10th April to hear Stuart Robinson talk about the City of London. Stuart, who became a Blue Badge Guide to the City after he retired from his job in the Square Mile in 2007, gave an excellent, fact-filled and often amusing account and revealed that the first Londoner arrived in AD43 when London became a province of the Roman Empire and was called Londinium. He told how the town was completely razed to the ground during the rebellion led by Essex girl Boudicea in AD60 when 15,000 people were killed, and how a protective wall was built around the city in AD200. He went on to explain how the Monument near London Bridge commemorates the Great Fire of London which began in a bakehouse in Pudding Lane during the hot, dry summer of 1666 and swept across the city with devastating speed, destroying over 13,000 houses, 87 churches and much more besides. He also told of the cholera epidemic of 1850 during which Soho doctor John Snow realised the cause was the poor quality of the drinking water and a fresh water supply was established.
He also explained the somewhat gruesome origin of several well-known sayings. A cleric from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre opposite Newgate prison would visit a man in the condemned cell there and recite a religious text whilst the prisoner was being “dropped in the cart” and taken to Tyburn (Marble Arch) for execution, being offered “one for the road” (a pint of beer) to drink on the journey. If the hangman’s rope was too short the criminal’s neck would not break and he would slowly suffocate, so friends known as “hangers-on” were allowed to jump on to him, thus increasing the weight on the rope to ensure a speedier end for the unfortunate victim.
The talk was very interesting and many members said they would be very keen to hear more of London’s history from Stuart on a future occasion.
He also explained the somewhat gruesome origin of several well-known sayings. A cleric from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre opposite Newgate prison would visit a man in the condemned cell there and recite a religious text whilst the prisoner was being “dropped in the cart” and taken to Tyburn (Marble Arch) for execution, being offered “one for the road” (a pint of beer) to drink on the journey. If the hangman’s rope was too short the criminal’s neck would not break and he would slowly suffocate, so friends known as “hangers-on” were allowed to jump on to him, thus increasing the weight on the rope to ensure a speedier end for the unfortunate victim.
The talk was very interesting and many members said they would be very keen to hear more of London’s history from Stuart on a future occasion.