Wednesday 17 July 2024, 2.30 / 3pm

EHHS Open and Members' Meeting

Summer Social

A short talk on an Edmonton Hundred heroine, with wine and nibbles, coffee, tea - and a chance to buy our publications at bargain prices

 

Priscilla Wakefield: Pioneer, Author and Activist for the Poor

An illustrated talk by Margaret Burr

Priscilla Wakefield (1751-1852) of Tottenham, in the Edmonton Hundred, is a largely forgotten pioneer.. A well-connected Quaker, famous in her lifetime, she was actively engaged in social action and the alleviation of poverty in Tottenham. Having to support her own family, Priscilla set her mind to business and one of the few work opportunities open to women at the time – that of writing and publishing books. A successful author of 17 children’s books covering a range of subjects, including natural science, she also wrote about feminist economics, published by a radical publisher in 1798. Her philanthropic activities helped improve the lives of women and children.

Referred to today as the 'Mother of Microfinance', in addition to her business-like approach to writing and publications, Priscilla established local charities and a school, as well as founding the first Penny Savings Bank in England.

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Doors open 2.30 pm for refreshments, 3 pm for meeting.

(Non-members welcome, £2)

 

Wednesday 19 June 2024, 7.30 / 8pm

EHHS Open and Members' Meeting

Robert Paul:

Old Themes and New Discoveries

Illustrated talk by Prof. Ian Christie

Robert Paul was the still under-appreciated founder of cinema in Britain, starting in 1895 and eventually running a major studio in Muswell Hill until 1909. Most of his 800 films are lost (like much early cinema), but happily, surviving prints keep turning up. In this talk, I'll explain how he got into the new 'animated photogrpahy' business, and report on a recent trip to Norway, one of his favouirite destinations, where I was able to retrace his 1903 expedition. And also share some recent discoveries from archives and collectors.

Ian Christie is Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck College.

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments, 8 pm for meeting.

(Non-members welcome, £2)

Wednesday 15 May 2024, 7.30 for 8pm

EHHS Open and Members' Meeting

Ian K. Jones: Recent Research on Enfield Palace

This talk will be an overview of the work being done to produce as detailed an account of the history of the Manor, Palace and School demolished in 1928 and replaced by Pearsons as the limited sources permit and will concentrate on its last 500 years. This covers its refurbishment for the Princess Elizabeth, its occupation by the botanist Robert Uvedale, the cedar and its around 150 years use as a school before becoming a post office and a political club. School pupils ranged from Theophilus Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon and the engineer Frederick Bramwell to a member of the Bazalgette family and an early aviator.

Ian Jones is an EHHS member and Chairman of Enfield Archaeological Society

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments, 8 pm for meeting.

(Non-members welcome, £2)

Wednesday 17 April 2024, 7.30 for 8pm

EHHS Open and Members' Meeting

Fresh Water for London, a history of the New River

Illustrated talk by Peter Stone

Peter Stone will show a video he has made of the New River, much of which flows through the Edmonton Hundred, and will answer questions afterwards.

The New River at Bush Hill

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments, 8 pm for meeting.

(Free to members, non-members welcome, £2 donation)

Wednesday 20 March 2024 at 2pm (doors open 1.30pm)

EHHS Open Meeting

Edmonton Oral History and Reminiscence Session

With Peter Seymour

Former Edmonton resident Peter Seymour will give an informal presentation and 'Memory Lane' session‎ centred on the N9/N18 area in the 1940s and 50s.

This is a joint meeting with The Enfield Society's Edmonton and Eastern Enfield Group. All are welcome. There is no charge for this meeting. Everyone is invited to listen to find out more about their local area, and to ask questions and join in with their own reminiscences. Come along and chat.

At Edmonton Parish Hall, Church Street, N9 9PB (see getting to All Saints Church Hall).
Doors open 1.30 pm for refreshments.

All Saints Parish Hall is alongside All Saints Church, with entry through the gates in Church Street or from all Saints Close by car into the small car park for the hall.  It is within walking distance of both Edmonton Green Railway Station (300 yards) and Bus Station (500 yards). The W8 bus stops at the church and the W6 bus near All Saints Close off Victoria Road.

Wednesday 21 February 2024, 2 pm for 2.30 pm

EHHS Open Meeting

My Singing Career

Illustrated talk by Chris Royall

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).
Doors open 2.00 pm for refreshments. All welcome, visitors £2.

Winchmore Hill resident Chris Royall was for many years a professional countertenor in the choir of St Paul's Cathedral and a founder member of the well-known choral group The Sixteen, as well as singing for other groups and in opera. He now teaches singing at The Latymer School Edmonton. He also leads walks along the New River, which as a member of the New River Action Group he has worked hard to protect. His talk will be illustrated with recordings of musical items and interviews. He may even mention the New River. Members free, visitors welcome (£2 donation).

Monday 15 January, 8.00 pm

EHHS Members' Meeting JOINT with Enfield Society

The Story of Enfield’s Telephones before smartphones

Talk by John Liffen

8.00 pm at Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

The Telephone was introduced into Enfield in 1899 using an exchange in a small room at the side of a pub. Take up was initially slow but by the 1920’s large new exchanges were needed and were eventually automated. Now, however, the mobile phone and social media have almost supplanted the “landline” and new uses may need to be found for Enfield’s existing telephone exchanges. The talk will include recent photos taken by the author with images drawn from BT archives, Enfield Local Studies & Archive and The Science Museum Group.
Free to members of both organisations,
otherwise all welcome for just £1 per person payable on the night at Jubilee Hall.

Wednesday 20 December 2023

EHHS Members' Meeting

Cribs, Cards and Christingles The Origins of Christmas Traditions and Customs Speaker: Mark Lewis

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Doors open 2 pm for seasonal refreshments, meeting starts at 2.30 pm

This meeting is open and free to visitors as well as members, but donations appreciated.
It would be a great present to yourself (!) to join the society at just £9 for a year of meetings, other events and our regular newsletters.

Wednesday 22 November 2023 at 3pm

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).
Doors open 2.00 pm for refreshments, 2.30 pm for meeting.

The Inspiring Mr Howard

Speaker: Margaret Burr

Celebrating the 250th Anniversary Year of Luke Howard, Namer of Clouds, Father of Meteorology and discoverer of the Urban Heat Island effect.by Tottenham historian Margaret Burr.

(Non-members welcome, no charge)

Saturday 18 November 2023

We won the LAMAS Publications Award for our 2022 Newsletters.

Thank you LAMAS @LonMidArchSoc

Our wonderful Newsletter Editor, Kate Godfrey, was unable to attend the #LAMAS Local History Conference on Saturday, so the certificate was collected by Rachael Macdonald.

Wednesday 11 October 2023

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).
Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments. 8pm for meeting.

 London's Secret Canal - The River Lee Navigation

Speaker: Dr Jim Lewis

Dr Jim Lewis has published numerous books on the Lea Valley and its industrial history. He is a Consultant to Terry Farrell & Partners, and a researcher and broadcaster. In 2012, Dr Lewis was appointed Contributory International Professor by the Clark H Byrum School of Business, Marian University, Indianapolis.

(Non-members welcome, no charge)

Wednesday 20 September 2023

EHHS Open Meeting

Wood Green: A Spectrum of Life from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century

A talk by archaeologist  Rosa Greco with Les Capon, AoC Project Manager

8pm, at Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).
Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments. All welcome, no charge for visitors for this meeting.

In 2022 AoC Archaeology carried out excavations at 132 Station Road, Wood Green, in North London prior to development of the site for housing. It is believed this was once the site of 'The Grange', a house and gardens possibly dating from the 17th century. In June 2022 AoC held an open day to show what had been done and to interpret the finds. 

Project Supervisor Rosa Greco gave an excellent, well-illustrated talk on the dig to CoLAS (City of London Archaeology Society), a hybrid talk intended to be viewed via zoom. In the event that didn't happen, but our events organiser was present at the talk and and has arranged a second hearing for EHHS about the site, which was part of the Edmonton Hundred.

Rosa Greco is an Italian archaeologist who specialised in Bologna (Alma Mater Studiorum University) on Roman and post-Roman archaeological settlements. A former AoC Project Supervisor, she is now working with MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) as a Senior Archaeologist, currently on a site as Project Officer.

Les Capon is Project Manager of AoC Archaeology, and has previously given a talk for a joint meeting of EHHS and Enfield Archaeological Society.

Tuesday 5 September 2023

YOUTH MADE PLACE

EHHS Joint Meeting with the Enfield Society's Edmonton and Eastern Enfield Group
7.30pm, at All Saints Church Hall, N9 9AT (getting there).

We have received the following: Victoria Thompson, Founding Director of Youth Made Place, a Community Interest Company, will unveil a visionary project, where the captivating voices of Enfield's youth are poised to take centre stage. Victoria will share her vision to ignite curiosity, spark imagination, and foster a collective passion for preserving our borough's heritage as well as understanding how Enfield is experienced by the younger generations in the borough.

You will learn of Youth Made Place's approach to how young people can be given opportunities for co-designing, consultation, and engagement within the built environment. Don't miss this opportunity to be a part of an insightful conversation that celebrates our shared heritage and shapes a brighter future for generations to come.

It should be an interesting evening. Put it in your diaries now, as there will be no August newsletter.

 

EHHS Summer Social on 26 July 2023

Talk by Nick Dobson: "An Underground Guide to Historical London"

- a virtual tour by tube, stopping off to look at places of historical interest.

Wednesday 26 July at Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ.

Wine and refreshments.

This meeting free to members and guests.

Wednesday 21 June 2023, 7.30 for 8pm

EHHS Open Meeting

Talk: The Story of Friern Hospital

Illustrated talk by author David Berguer

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

The Second Middlesex County Pauper Lunatic Asylum (known to many as Colney Hatch) opened in 1851. The largest asylum in Europe (and with Europe's longest corridor), it had at its height 2,500 or more patients. This talk by David Berguer, author of The Friern Hospital Story, covers the history of the building and the treatment offered to patients, until after 142 years it was closed, as a result of the government's Care in the Community plan, in 1993.

Doors open 7.30 pm for refreshments, 8 pm for meeting.

(Non-members welcome, free to all)

 

Wednesday 19 April 2023, 7.30 pm

EHHS Open Meeting

Talk: Edmonton Girls' Charity School

Illustrated talk by Irene Money

Edmonton, All Saints Parish Hall.

Doors open 7 pm for refreshments, 7.30 pm for meeting.

Free meeting open to all.

Tuesday 21 March 2023

EHHS with Tottenham Clouds

Visit to the Winchmore Hill Quaker burial ground. We shall lay a wreath on the grave of Luke Howard, 'Namer of Clouds' on the anniversary of his death in 1864, followed by a visit to the Meeting House and refreshments.

                               

 

Wednesday 15 March 2023, 8pm

EHHS AGM

Followed by talk:

100 Years of Radio & Television Broadcasting

by EHHS President Dr Jim Lewis

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Dr Lewis will describe 100 years of BBC broadcasting, saying that it would have happened a lot slower without the development of electronic technology in the Lea Valley, the Edmonton Hundred's own Silicon Valley.

 

Wednesday 15 February 2023, 2.30 pm

EHHS Open Meeting

Talk: Turner & the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

(Members free, non-members welcome, £2)

Day Conference on 29 October 2022

Day Conference

Transport in the Edmonton Hundred

(the medieval area now covered by Potters Bar, South Mimms, Monken Hadley, Enfield, Edmonton, Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill, Wood Green, Tottenham)

Programme

 9.45 am     Doors open
10.00 am    Welcome by Chairman Howard Whisker
10.05 am    The Railways of the Edmonton Hundred – David Cockle
11.00 am    Coffee/tea & biscuits (included in price) and book sales
11.30 am    The Aerial War over Edmonton 1914-1918  – Ian Jones
12.30 pm    Lunch Break (bring your own, or there are places to eat locally) & book sales
2.00 pm      The Lee Navigation – Dr Roger Squires
3.00pm       Coffee/tea & biscuits (included in price) and book sales
3.30 pm      Transport in the Edmonton Hundred: an overview – Dr Jim Lewis
4.25 pm      Chairman's closing remarks
4.30 pm      Close

(The cost of attending the conference was just £10)

Wednesday 27 July 2022, 2.15 for 2.30 pm

EHHS Members' Summer Social
and Mini Book Sale

Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane, Enfield, EN2 0AJ (getting there).

Thanks to all who came to the summer social last week  - and thanks too to those who were unable to make it but sent their good wishes. A really enjoyable afternoon. See you all in September. Our August Newsletter will have details of future talks.