please empty your brain below
The eve road you wrote about as E13. Is actually in E15.

dg writes: Fixed, thanks.

That guy Again. | 31.12.17 - 7:19 a.m. | #

There is a Napier Road in Belvedere, Bexley that is named after "several
distinguished naval and
military commanders" and is on the same little mostly Victorian "estate" as Nelson Road, Wellington Road, Raglan Road and Havelock Road. So it must have been quite a common thing to do at the time. Can't help you with Eve though. It might be worth seeing if there is a connection with the builders of the houses.

Kathryn | Homepage | 31.12.17 - 7:41 a.m. | #

I favour the explanation Kathryn gave, the short road was given a woman's name, perhaps the daughter or wife of the contractor - it's unlikely that these sort of records would be online anyway, or if they are, they may be unsearchable scanned pdfs.

Still Anon | 31.12.17 - 7:57 a.m. | #

The houses in E15 were probably purpose built for two households, so they had two front doors, and may not have been council properties. The Warner estate in Walthamstow was built by a developer of the same time that Stratford was being built up, and consists of similar terraced buildings, with two front doors and a distinctive arch over the porch.

amber | 31.12.17 - 8:25 a.m. | #

Is there a Steele Rd near the E15 Eve Road?

dg writes: There used to be. It's been entirely demolished.

It might be considered an irresponsible use, but you could always send FOI requests to some of the relevant councils in case they have the records.

Madison | 31.12.17 - 8:25 a.m. | #

could they have been built by the same builder, and the names reflect their interests?

Could try local history groups?

Ranelagh and Napier have lots of pubs named after them but the others are clearly less famous which is why I wonder if the one thing linking them all is the builder.

| 31.12.17 - 9:04 a.m. | #

A quick search also finds Eve Roads in Woking and Bristol. From Google maps both look Victorian as well, and the Bristol one is also parralel to a Belton Rd. There is no Napier or Ranelagh roads near either as far as I can see but both have a Walton Road nearby so that may be another connection.

CP | 31.12.17 - 10:12 a.m. | #

In Bristol there is an Eve Road with a Belton Road next to it, plus a Napier Road nearby.

So maybe this discounts the idea of the same builder.

Cliffh | 31.12.17 - 10:29 a.m. | #

Got it, I think.

The directors of the United Land Company, Limited in 1883 were Lord Ranelagh, K.C.B. (Chairman), Col. E. Chaplin, E. Eve, Hon. M. Napier, Lieut. - Genl. A. F. Steele, N. W. J. Strode, and G. F. Talbot. and the company secretary was C. Belton.

Andrew | 31.12.17 - 11:23 a.m. | #

That sounds 100% convincing, thanks!

And an astonishing burst of corporate nepotism.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 31.12.17 - 11:26 a.m. | #

Isn't the web a wonderful thing?

Joho | 31.12.17 - 11:37 a.m. | #

Wow!! Who'd have thought it!! I wonder if anyone else would have noticed this pattern?

I wonder why Col. E. Chaplin missed out on a road named for him!

Cornish Cockney | 31.12.17 - 11:43 a.m. | #

This is an excellent post on which to end the year. Well done Andrew for solving the mystery.

ganching | Homepage | 31.12.17 - 11:54 a.m. | #

There's a Chaplin, together with a Talbot, a Napier and a Ranelegh in Wembley near Sudbury station where Union Land operated.

ActonMan | 31.12.17 - 12:03 p.m. | #

What a surprising and absolutely fascinating piece on which to end the year!

Dominic h | 31.12.17 - 12:07 p.m. | #

Aha, there's a (very short) Chaplin Road in E15, just off Ranelagh Road. And another in N17.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 31.12.17 - 12:11 p.m. | #

There are Ranelagh, Napier, Chaplin and Talbot Road in East Ham.

Sprout Eater | 31.12.17 - 12:22 p.m. | #

wow
well done DG for spotting the sequence of names and brilliant that Andrew "solved" the puzzle
this is what makes your posts so fascinating
all the best for 2018 to everyone

Caz | 31.12.17 - 12:23 p.m. | #

Fascinating, thank you Andrew and DG!
I wonder if the directors of the United Land Company paid themselves bonuses like the directors of Persimmon?

RogerB | 31.12.17 - 12:24 p.m. | #

Good research work from Andrew,well done! 👏🏻👏🏻
May I wish you,DG and all your commenters a very happy and hopefully,peaceful 2018. 🎉🍾🎉🍾

Jo W | 31.12.17 - 1:21 p.m. | #

I have learned a lot in the comments today.

As far as Eve Road goes, these *were* actually built as council homes by the West Ham Corporation c.1900 - rarely reported on but these were some of the first in the county. Some are subdivided into two but the bulk are now single houses (I think some of these may have been de-converted during their lifespan). Most have been sold on under RTB so their municipal heritage is hard to spot, but Newham Homes-issue brightly coloured modern UPVC doors and gold numbering adorn a handful.

There are other streets in the area with these houses: Elbury Drive and Boreham Avenue in Custom House, Wise Road and Corporation Street in Stratford and Bethell Avenue in Plaistow. There are a good number of other streets in the area with similar Warner-style subdivided houses (Ripley Rd, Ling Rd, Bisson Rd and others). I don't think there is any connection to Courtenay Warner other than stylistically.

I would get out more etc etc.

Nico | 31.12.17 - 1:46 p.m. | #

The Board meetings must have been brief. "What shall we call the roads on this new estate?"
"Well, just use the names of those attending the meeting"
Meeting closed. Pass the port.

I wonder what happened to their company. Maybe they did not move with the times, much like their road names.
They were also buying land in Bathside Estate Harwich, but I cannot see any nepotistic names there

scrumpy | 31.12.17 - 1:56 p.m. | #

Happy new year and thanks for the stuff. x

Milo | 31.12.17 - 2:04 p.m. | #

Wow, what a great post on which to end the year, and great work by dg for noting the possible connection and to Andrew for putting the clues together.
One of the names that Andrew mentions in terms of that 19th century board, Strode, appears to have been overlooked in respect of the four localities visited, while the names of his fellows were commemorated with some regularity: that is not to say that his name has gone completely forgotten, inasmuch as a quick Google search for roads called Strode did yield a number of results.
There are, apparently, Strode Roads in SW6, N17 and NW10. And - almost as if to reinforce the 'West Country connection' ... it appears that at Clevedon (not so far from Bristol) there's a Strode Leisure Centre.

RogerW | 31.12.17 - 2:14 p.m. | #

What a great way to end the year, thanks to DG and Andrew, it also shows how hard it is to leave your mark - even if you name roads after yourselves, any meaning is lost over time, especially if the surname is a common one, the roads on the estate that replaced West Ham Stadium are named after well known (at the time) speedway riders.

Still Anon | 31.12.17 - 2:16 p.m. | #

Absolutely intriguing...

Gerry | 31.12.17 - 2:18 p.m. | #

A classic post to end the year.

Dave | 31.12.17 - 2:51 p.m. | #

The United Land Company, Limited was finally dissolved in 1975.

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/46592/page/7294/data.pdf

ap | 31.12.17 - 4:11 p.m. | #

In the Wembley group of roads, alongside the Chaplins, Napiers and Ranelaghs are a bunch of roads all named after villages or towns in Lincolnshire: Eagle, Scarle, Swinderby, Lincoln. I've often wondered why.
Could it be that the company was based there? Does anyone know?

Geoff Lumley | 31.12.17 - 5:19 p.m. | #

Just tuned in to see if the mystery had been solved, so congratulations Andrew.

However, DG did you specially use the word 'insignificant' to stimulate interest, as the occupiers wouldn't see it that way.

Ken | 31.12.17 - 6:10 p.m. | #

Talbot Road in N15 too

Chris Roberts | 31.12.17 - 6:21 p.m. | #

Today summarises what I love about this blog: A seasonal jaunt to a random location, acute observation about the location, then pedantic and inquisitive feedback by other observers.
Bring on 2018. Happy New Year !

Q: Where were United Land Company based, and why did they go skint? Was it a similar story to Thames Ironworks?

scrumpy | 31.12.17 - 10:12 p.m. | #

Maybe for 2018 you should pay a visit to these clusters in N17, E11, E15, NW2, TW7, E6, and HA0. In fact, there's another idea for 2018: visiting all the "0" postcodes in the country, which will send you as far as BL0 in Bury.

Happy 2018, DG!

TheLupineOne | 31.12.17 - 11:57 p.m. | #

You are welcome, all. My online evidence was a snippet in Google books from the Stock Exchange Yearbook for 1883. Here.

Some are quite obscure, but several of them are peers or sons of peers, or MPs, or both, with the occasional lawyer or accountant. Napier is Ralelagh's son in law.

Naming new streets after directors seems to be their common practice so no doubt there were other sets of street names that will also be be familiar. For example, see this, which mentions roads named after Netherwood, Kelson, and Linstead, in Kilburn.

There are a few mentions in the FT archive, when the company seems to have gone bust in 1889 or 1890, owing lots of money to the Conservative Benefit Building Society. I wonder if this was anything to do with the 1890 banking crisis. (Similar names seem to have been reused several times, and I suspect the one dissolved in 1975 was a different company.)

Andrew | 01.01.18 - 9:57 a.m. | #

A Happy New Year to you all. This was a classic blog to end the year on - a splendid piece.

And so much more uplifting than last year's item on the miserable New Year's Green.

Keep up the great work DG and responders alike.

Petras409 | 01.01.18 - 10:10 a.m. | #

Looking at Andrew's link to the Stock Exchange Year book leads me to wonder whether any of Ranelagh's developments originally featured pavements made of Asphaltic Wood blocks.

An even more obscure investigation for our intrepid blogger to consider.

Petras409 | 01.01.18 - 10:19 a.m. | #

I probably ought to stop digging now, but it seems the Conservative Benefit Building Society (also known as the Conservative Land Society) was formed to enable its subscribers from the "labouring and industrious classes" to acquire enough freehold land, when that was necessary to qualify for the vote. It seems to have evolved into a source of funds for the associated United Land Company, until they both went bust together.

Andrew | 01.01.18 - 10:19 a.m. | #

I live on the E15 Eve Road. This information has been really interesting; thank you DG &Andrew. My own feeble attempts at tracing the name lead me to associate it with the, now long demolished, Adam and Eve pub - where Abbey Road DLR now stands (and shown on the map DG provides)

michael | 01.01.18 - 11:50 a.m. | #

British Land, which is now a huge property company, similarly grew out of the National Freehold Land Society, which had the same aim of making small freehold plots available to more people so they could have a vote. Once enfranchisement was extended, these companies either gave up or became normal property companies.

DG might want to visit some of the Chartist villages set up for the same purpose, eg Heronsgate near Chorleywood.

ActonMan | 01.01.18 - 12:50 p.m. | #

"Backbone of the capital's housing stock" and approx 130 years old. Just wonder what their life expectancy is, since there are indeed so many of them in London.

I've spoken to a couple of builders about this. They were both of the opinion that as long as the air bricks aren't blocked up and the roof is looked after, they'll go on and on. One of them added that it's the not-to-buildings-regs refurbs and loft extensions that are the likeliest cause of long term problems.

Pimlico Pete | 01.01.18 - 5:54 p.m. | #

@Petras409: there are some interesting things to be said about wooden pavements, but it refers more to the road surface than the sidewalks. There we long debates about th relqtif merits of cobbles, granite, wood, tarmac or asphalt, improved wood (with asphalt), etc. Can't find a post where DG has hunted for remnants of wooden roads, but IanVisits has a long exposition here.

And there are some extracts from original sources here.

Andrew | 02.01.18 - 11:19 a.m. | #

Andrew,
Many thanks for following up on this side track. I will have a proper read of the wooden block road surfaces when I have a few more minutes. But in skimming the IanVisits article, I was amused to see the reference to Lord Alan Sugar.

Not a natural connection to have made with this subject, but one never knows where these stories will take you !

petras409 | 02.01.18 - 10:59 p.m. | #











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