thestreetnames

Over a year without updating the site is pretty bad, even by my standards. I have no excuses. I am, however (you may have noticed) trying to freshen up the look of this blog and am playing with layouts, so please forgive the appearance while my tinkering is underway.

My ongoing research into London and its street names has been slightly sidelined of late by research into Mandell Creighton, one-time Bishop of London, and a favourite of Queen Victoria’s. And the uncle of hubby’s grandfather, Basil Creighton. More of all of that another time, but the point of this is the letters.

Mandell Creighton wrote many letters to Basil, who was orphaned at an early age. Sadly, when Basil passed away, the letters disappeared (either taken by carers or by a relative who claimed they had been given to them by Basil). Among these (and hubby remembers seeing them) were letters written by Queen Victoria to the bishop, who in turn gave them to his nephew.

To cut a longish story shortish, I learned that photocopies of some of the bishop’s letters to Basil (but none of Queen Victoria’s letters) had been given to Fulham Palace, residence of the Bishops of London. The curator at the Palace kindly scanned them and sent them to me.

These letters are a delight to read: the fact that a busy bishop with seven children of his own took the time to write regularly to a young nephew at boarding school is charming enough, but the content is laced throughout with humour and little snippets of the bishop’s life in Victorian London.

In one letter, the bishop writes: “I went to Windsor the other day, and was made a member of the Privy Council. It was not very inspiring . We crowded into a small room, & then I knelt & took an oath to the Queen & then kissed her hand. Then I got up & took an oath to the Privy Council & then shook hands with off of those present, chief of whom was the Duke of Devonshire. That was all.”

In another: “We are just going to have a garden party. At the last we had 1200 people – that was a lot to provide with ices & strawberries, was it not? Such is life in London – everything is so big. We are all feeling quite tired after the excitement of the last week & we have not yet settled down. Oswin came from school on Tuesday & is going to be reviewed by the Queen next week as a member of the Marlborough Rifle Corps. Is he not growing very distinguished?

“Now I must go to my party. Be sorry for me.”