Tag: Local History
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Finsbury Rifles, Away from the Western Front: 19th December to 27th December 1915
In Islington’s Gallipoli we blogged the 1/11th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (the Finsbury Rifles’) War Diary. We followed their often heartbreaking daily log, charting their experiences in Gallipoli. In December 1915 the Battalion left Gallipoli on HMT ALAUNIA. The next two years would see them visit Egypt, Palestine and Syria, experiencing new…
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Islington’s Pride: an archive for the future
We are very excited to be launching a new exhibition at Islington Museum – Islington’s Pride: an archive for the future. Tuesday 31 January – 16 March 2017 Islington Museum, 245 St John Street, Open daily 10am – 5pm (closed Wednesday and Sunday) This exhibition takes a look at some…
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Firefighters in War
Today we were lucky to see some pictures of a children’s Christmas party at Clerkenwell Fire Station in December 1940. They were brought in by Jean Chapman, daughter of William Chapman, who served at Clerkenwell Fire Station during World War II. William Chapman was part of the Auxiliary Fire Service…
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Islington’s Burning
London has had a turbulent and fiery history! It has been burned to the ground many times over in its 2000 year history and yet the London Fire Brigade (LFB) was only formed in 1866. From the destruction of St. John’s Priory, Clerkenwell in 1381, the impact of the Great…
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Visiting HMP Holloway
Roz Currie, Curator Holloway Prison closed this summer -the last prisoner left on 17th June 2016. Until May it was the largest women’s prison in Britain, holding around 450 inmates. Entrance to Holloway Prison just before it closed in June 2016 The prison was established in 1852 on Camden Road in Holloway,…
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Museum of London -Incoming!
Roz Currie, Curator Over the summer we have been working with the Museum of London on their rationalisation project. Following a review of the Social and Working History collections, 6000 objects were identified for disposal … and Islington Museum was one of the lucky recipients! During the 1970s and 1980s…
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Exploring 53 Cross Street
By Martin King, Islington Museum Volunteer I lived in 53 Cross Street from 1989 to 2003 as a member of Black Sheep Housing Cooperative. The house was built in 1785 and there was evidence of subsequent occupation ranging from the remains of a brass engraver’s studio in the backyard to…
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Curating Imagine Islington
Roz Currie, Curator During 2015 and 2016 Islington Museum worked on an Arts Council England project, ‘Imagine Islington‘, exploring objects from the museum collection. Three different artists and six primary school classes were inspired by six objects from our collection. The exhibition brings together the six objects and the artworks they…
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The History of Martin Luther King Playground
By Jordan James In 1968 an Adventure Playground opened for a summer play scheme on some derelict land. It was a 10 acre site surrounded by a high corrugated iron fence, completely empty and unused and there was at the time nowhere for the children to play. The Greater London…
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Musical cabinets of curiosities with St Mary Magdalene Academy
Wunderkammer, or cabinets of curiosities, were the precursors to the modern museum. These cabinets appeared in mid-sixteenth century Europe as repositories for wondrous and exotic objects. In 2014/15 Islington Museum worked in partnership with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) and the music department at Saint Mary Magdalene…
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