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Permalink Reply by Hutch Woodward on January 24, 2018 at 23:57

Just the name of places i should think - Wakefield, Bosworth, Lancaster, York, Warwick (formerly Jone's Lane before area was developed) Natal, Maidstone.

Built about 1905 - the name of the estate may shed some light on the choice of names but so far have never found that out.

Oh forgot - hello Chris welcome to the area.

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on January 25, 2018 at 11:03

Hi Chris, Welcome to the neighbourhood!

Given the age of the housing in the area I woud guess the road was named after the South African province of Natal. During the second Boer War, Natal saw some fierce fighting, and was the location for a few significant battles - Including the Battle of Spion Kop (which gave Liverpool FC the name for one of their stands) and the sieges of Ladysmith and Mafeking. It is likely that this military campaign was remembered in the name of the Road (athough not a particularly glorious chapter in British Imperialist adventure!)

I had a look at a couple of excellent local history books by local historian Albert Pinching, he doesn't reference Natal Road's origins - but does include a fascinating note that Comedian Tony Hancock (1924-1968) lived for a short time in Natal Road.

In an earlier post on this site there was discussion of another celebrated resident of Natal Road - Roland Emett a cartoonist and designer, who was born at number 94 (full details here). 

If you wanted to follow up on local history I would suggest visiting Bruce Castle Museum where there is an excellent local history collection - and the Hornsey Historical Society have published several local history books and have regular local history talks.

If you find out anything else about Natal Road please do share your research on here!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Smith on January 25, 2018 at 13:57

Thanks so much both for replying. I was fascinated by the name - it looked so incongruous stuck alongside York, Lancaster, Wakefield, Bosworth and Warwick which are so obviously on a Wars of the Roses theme! You must be right Richard, it's a Boer War reference. If I find out anything else I'll post again.

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