Mystery plaque dumped in Hornchurch, Essex

I think you're right Pete, I can see the same.

 

it says Florist's labourer



Living at 2 Ely Cottage, Edmonton

Not having much luck deciphering the handwriting on this one.

 

Does the first one actually say car man?

Maybe a delivery driver....did they deliver flowers in 1914? Interflora...

Possibly cart rather than car.

Must have been close though, back to Kellys to look for florists!

 

Does the first one actually say car man?


A very common occupation. more usually horse drawn delivery.

 

Actually, carman was the term used for someone who drove a horse drawn carriage or tram for transporting goods

modern day translation would be whitevanman :p

 

Found 4 possibilities for this chap. I have attached 2 of them - the other two had middle names so I discounted them for now.

We'll probably never know until we trace the origin of the memorial and some details of who should be on it. Could be impossible to know.

 

modern day translation would be whitevanman :p
With 'also available in white' written on the dirty panels.

 

not to mention the obligatory 'i wish my wife was this dirty' hehe

 

Guys,

Just heard back from the sports centre at Willoughby Rd - the outline on the wall matches exactly the dimensions of the recovered memorial.

I firmly believe we have identified its location, if not the nature of the collection of names.

They will e.mail me some photos on Monday for confirmation.

We know for a fact that the memorial from the Memorial Hall went to Whitewebbs - and the groundsman from Whitewebbs is locating some photo's of the memorials in situ there.

It is possible, if not likely, that British Gas removed the memorials from Whitewebbs - I will look into this.

As to the names on the memorial - well, they werent gas men, and they werent from the same parish, so there is another connection.

The minutes of the Tottenham Gas Club still exist, and are stored in an archive in Warrington. I think the only definitive answer - if one is possible - as to what the lads did together, will be found in the minutes of the committee.

Working on the basis that one volunteer is worth ten pressed men......is anyone willing to take on this stage of the enquiries (sorry, couldnt think of another word and old habits die hard..) - this almost certainly means visiting the archive and reading the minutes in person, as the archive is not well staffed.

Almost there, almost there.

Regards

Pete

 

Hi guys,
After a mare of a day yesterday, running into a VERY late night/morning I was at TNA today for several hours researching other things.
Those went very well and after being chucked out of TNA at 5pm retired to a pub next to Kew Gardens station with an Australian archaeologist I had arranged to meet in TNA. Enough said, I got home a bit late tonight, 2 hour train jouney each way.
Best news of the day though was a phone message I got from Pete Keane relating the above news about the 'true' home of this plaque.

It seems very convincing and I am pretty sure this is the solution but until we have 'cast iron' proof (if such a thing exists) I for one will not be throwing my hat in the air just yet. We have had a couple of false alarms before.

So I think we just carry on - remembering that even if we have identified the original home we still have names and history to research to put this Memorial into a real historic and community context.

I know I have done very little on this thread in the last couple of days, hope to address that Saturday.

Very best wishes all, and continued thanks,

Mike

 

Hi all,
Have updated files for WELLMAN, KING and READ.
Chris, have emailed copies to you to update your copies.

I thought about collating a file for the research into the possible original location of the plaque. Anyone think this is worthwhile?

Mike

 

Apparently a local newspaper, The Post, has devoted their whole front page to this story - amazing! And I haven't even seen it yet.

Mike

 

Just seen it, link here:
http://www.haveringpost.co.uk/e-edition/romfordandhaveringpost/

Mike

 

Mike,

Well done and super publicity for the forum.

Some new leads may come about as the result of the newspaper article.

It would be nice if a National also picked up the story.

Regards
Tom

 

Well produced article there. Well done to all involved.

 

Mike,

Great article.

I wonder if we can get the local Edmonton / Tottenham paper interested, I know we havent tied down the reason for the memorial yet, but we do have lots of Edmonton names - maybe there are still relatives about!

If it is one of the Gas Club memorials there may even still be Gas employees who remember it. I have so far spoken to about 5 ex-William Press employees (William Press had their offices on the industrial estate immediately below the sports club, the company took over the British gas offices in the very early 90's when they subcontracted work from British Gas.) All of them are familiar with the memorial pavilion, but none can identify the memorial specifically.

Will post the photos of the pavilion and memorials at Whitewebbs as soon as they arrive, fingers crossed!

Cheers

Pete

Ps I am happy to make the calls to the paper but dont want to duplicate work that may already be in hand - Archant Newspapers do publish a paper that covers both Tottenham & Edmonton, maybe your Hornchurch reporter could get them on the case?

 

Hi all,
Just sent this to Jane, the reporter who wrote the article:

Hi Jane,
Thanks very much for putting that article up. We were expecting a few lines in the Recorder perhaps but the whole front page of the Post - fabulous.
I have added a link to the paper on the WW2talk thread and the guys there are eccstatic with the publicity. They are always seeking a bit of help with advertising to keep the forum a 'free to join' affair.
If you take a look at the thread now you will see that we are pretty sure the original location has been found. We are awaiting further confirmation though before we can say the riddle has finally been solved.
The guys doing the research (and they are spread all over the country) have all agreed that, even once the original location has been identified, they will continue their research until all 17 names listed have been identified (if possible after so many years) as a mark of respect for their ultimate sacrifice. The guys doing the research really are a great bunch (I am just acting as 'collator' at the moment) and have put a huge amount of time into finding information. I have only ever contacted them through the forum except for a couple that I have emailed privately and spoken to on the phone.
To help with enquiries is it possible to get your article - or a similar one - placed in papers local to Tottenham, Edmonton and Waltham Abbey? I would have no problem with you putting my mobile number 07989 129972 (and 07538 362675) in such an article as a contact point for responses.

Thanks again for this news coverage, best regards,

Mike

Hope that is ok with everyone. Hope to get some feedback from this.

Cheers,

Mike

 

Top bloke.

 

Mike,
An excellent reply and I just hope that a National paper may pick it up.

Regards
Tom

 

Smudge, you're right - should have asked her to submit it to the nationals. I've got her phone number, will call her tomorrow, no - later now!

Mike