Hi there everyone. New to the area and I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on the name Natal Road. Where does it come from? Are we talking natal, as in ante-natal classes, or Natal province in South Africa, or what? Thanks and hello Bounds Green!

Views: 535

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

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.

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!

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.

RSS

Connecting the communities of Bowes Park and Bounds Green in north London.

Featured Content

Translate this website

© 2024   Created by Richard McKeever.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...