Conservative Prime Minister Tackles the Housing Shortage

: Image via Wikipedia

Sir Edward Heath, Conservative Prime Minister from 1970 – 1974, specified in his will that his home (Arundells in Salisbury Cathedral Close) should be a museum as a monument to his life and work.

So few people visited this dead monument to the man who took us into Europe that on Wednesday of this week (27th Oct) it will be closing its doors to the public for the last time.

Image by Peter Ashton aka peamasher via Flickr

The beautiful house is now to be sold, so that it may revert to residential use, and the proceeds of sale will be applied to other charitable purposes for musical and other educational charities. At last it can be said that the Tories are waking up to the country’s housing crisis. An empty home returned to use, thus returning it to the land of the living, and a homeless family housed. A journey of a thousand miles starts with but a single step.

Perhaps a shame that the money couldn’t be put forward to help solve our approaching Housing Crisis, but it is good that Sir Edward Heath can be the first Conservative Prime Minister since Harold MacMillan to recognise and act on the needs of the population for housing. Perhaps David Cameron could now follow his lead?

Tags: History, Prime Ministers, Property
Posted in Property on October 25th, 2010 |

One Response to “Conservative Prime Minister Tackles the Housing Shortage”

Richard says:

November 22, 2010 at 6:57 pm

Looks like the perfect accommodation for a homeless family (of 60)

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Pimlico – what’s in a name? £1,151.75!

Old Pimlico Map

£1,151.75 – I don’t think it’d buy you enough real estate to sit down on in modern Pimlico, but in 1623 it was King James I’s asking price for the freehold of the entire Manor of Ebury – the area of London that became modern day Pimlico.

By 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, Ebury was owned by one-year old heiress Mary Davies. Her estate was collectively known as The Five Fields, and included not only Pimlico, but most of what is now Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair. Mary was married at the age of twelve to Sir Thomas Grosvenor. At that time, the Grosvenors were a rather obscure Cheshire family, but their management of Mary’s property brought them enormous wealth. In 1874 Queen Victoria made Hugh Grosvenor, Sir Thomas’ great-great-great-grandson, a Duke, and his great-grandson, the current Duke of Westminster, is one of the richest men in Britain. All thanks to Pimlico.

The origin of the name Pimlico is a bit more obscure. Most writers are agreed that Pimlico was originally a person, most likely a publican famed for his nut-brown ale. Some cite his first name as Ben, but not much more seems to be known about him, except that he probably gave his name to the Pimlico Pleasure Gardens, which were situated in what is now Bacchus Walk. Hoxton Street itself was at one time known as Pimlico Path, and there is still a Pimlico Walk in the area.

In the late 1600s and early 1700s, Ebury was also “a district of public gardens much frequented on holidays” at that time, and it seems to have borrowed the name Pimlico from the Hoxton gardens. Perhaps the word became a general one for pleasure gardens, just as Hoover’s name has become used for any vacuum cleaner or Biro’s name for any ballpoint pen today.

There are Australian Pimlicos in Queensland and New South Wales, and American Pimlicos in South Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland. County Laois in Ireland has a Pimlico and so does South Africa.

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Tags: Ebury, Great Fire of London, History, London, Pimlico, Property, Real estate
Posted in London on January 27th, 2010 |

Pimlico Blogging Victorian Style 1846

Pimlico Flats – the Premier Blog, but not the First!

Whilst a quick check on Google confirms that Pimlico Flats (this blog) is the premier Pimlico Blog on the internet it is forgotten that people like Samuel Pepys have been blogging for centuries, and in fact there was another Pimlico Blog nearly 200 years ago. The blog of Nathaniel Bryceson runs from 1 January to 12 December 1846 and gives a fascinating insight into the daily life of a Victorian clerk, including details of his job at the coal wharf which you can still see from the embankment, and the diverse places he visits across London, the numerous mentions of family ailments and his assessment of the weather, local events (especially murders, sudden deaths of famous people and the execution of criminals).

Illegitimate Scandal

The Blog is being serialised by Westminster City Council Archives service who have been a little coy about Nathaniel’s provenance - he was born in St Marylebone on 5 June 1826 – his mother Mary (born in 1797) had been married to John Bryceson who had died two years previously, and from Nathaniel’s baptism entry on 4 July 1826 we can see that his father was Nathaniel White, a pauper in the St Marylebone Workhouse. Mary was married again in 1841 to Matthew Ward (‘Mattie’), a tailor 13 years her senior, and it would appear that in pre-Victorian times, as now, legitimacy was not the stigma it later became.

The Pimlico Blog of 1846

During the time of the Blog Nathaniel is employed as a clerk at Lea’s Coal Wharf (Eccleston Wharf) situated off Buckingham Palace Road – about 200 yards from Pimlico Flats. He was related to the proprietor, George Lea, through his grandmother, and the coal business at Eccleston Wharf was established in 1844. The blog suggests that it was not a flourishing enterprise, partly due to George’s neglect of the wharf in pursuit of a good social life. In 1851 the business failed and George was declared bankrupt.

The blog is written in longhand, interspersed with Pitman’s shorthand entries embracing private matters such as his financial affairs, his observations on the proprietor, colleagues and activities at Eccleston Wharf, and most of all his relationship with Ann Fox, his only regular companion. Some of the references to his sexual behaviour with her are written in surprisingly explicit language!

To follow his Blog click on the picture below.

Diary of a Pimlico Wharf Clerk

Tags: Blog, History, London, Pimlico
Posted in General, London on January 10th, 2010 |

2 Responses to “Pimlico Blogging Victorian Style 1846”

aisha says:

January 10, 2010 at 11:17 am

Thank you for pointing me to Nathaniel’s diary — amazing!

Reply
Marty Hilsden says:

May 27, 2010 at 12:30 pm

Why is it being called a blog??? It’s a diary. Nathanial kept a diary. I doubt such a word “blog” even existed in those days.

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Conservative Prime Minister Tackles the Housing Shortage

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Pimlico – what’s in a name? £1,151.75!

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Pimlico Blogging Victorian Style 1846

Pimlico Flats – the Premier Blog, but not the First!

Illegitimate Scandal

The Pimlico Blog of 1846

2 Responses to “Pimlico Blogging Victorian Style 1846”

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