Bruce Grove Pioneers

Number 7 Bruce Grove

No. 7 Bruce Grove is part of a row of stately Georgian houses (nos. 1-16), built between 1789 and 1820. They are all Grade II listed and form Tottenham’s largest group of listed buildings. They are laid out in pairs, with no two sets exactly the same. These elegant houses were once the favoured residences of prominent Quaker families in Tottenham.

(From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Luke Howard (1772-1864)

One of the Quaker families who lived here in Bruce Grove were the Howards. Various family members occupied a few of the houses, including Robert Howard at Number 7. Following the death of his mother Mariabella, his elderly father Luke Howard moved in with his son Robert in 1852. Luke Howard lived there until his death in 1864.

Today, although currently covered by scaffolding and awnings, Number 7 has an English Heritage blue plaque on the building: “Luke Howard 1772-1864 Namer of Clouds lived and died here”. The plaque commemorates Luke Howard who was a pioneering scientist – the Father of Meteorology. It is the only English Heritage blue plaque in Tottenham. 

Luke Howard spent much of his life in Tottenham, recording the weather with his wife Maribella from their homes at Tottenham Green and also at 4 and 7 Bruce Grove. 

(Portrait of Luke Howard by Robert Opie. Courtesy: The Royal Meteorological Society)

A manufacturing chemist by profession, Luke had held a fascination with clouds since his childhood. His studies of the clouds and the weather helped him develop a system of identifying and classifying clouds. He identified the need for a universal language to talk about the clouds. He used Latin to name them, identifying four types of clouds: cumulus, stratus, cirrus, nimbus. This system is still used today, all across the globe. 

As a Quaker in Tottenham, Luke Howard was prominent pioneer in relief work, including the movement for the abolition of slavery and so many other good causes. 

Read more here about his life and work on the Tottenham Clouds website, and how his work has inspired the UK’s first public Cloud Appreciation Park in nearby Lordship Recreation Ground. In 2022-23 the Luke Howard 250th anniversary year saw a wide programme of cultural and scientific events in and around Tottenham to celebrate his life and legacy.

Further resources

Luke Howard Namer Of Clouds 

Tottenham Trades Hall

In 1919 the New Tottenham Trades and Labour Club came to Bruce Grove, with S. H. Halford (1869–1948), a Middlesex County Councillor, as one of the founders. Funds had been raised that helped to buy Number 7 Bruce Grove and subsequently Number 8. 

Offices and meeting rooms were accommodated in No. 7, whist the social club next door at No. 8 assisted in the running costs of both buildings. The site increased in size with the Rear Hall of No. 7 added during the 1930s, and the projecting wing at the front of built in 1937. It was opened by the two Tottenham MPs Robert Morrison (later Lord Morrison) and Fred Messer (later Sir Messer). 

The year 1936 saw the Trades Hall help 40 Jarrow Marchers by offering them a place to sleep. They were on the final stage of their march to London. 

From the 1970s until 1982 the Tottenham Labour Party and local trade union had offices and held meetings there. Outside the building was a display case that held notices and for a number of years a series of political cartoons by ‘Nosey Parker’ – see one of the cartoons below.

(A 1963 cartoon by Nosey Parker that was displayed outside the offices of the Tottenham Labour Party at the Trades Hall. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

The Rear Hall was taken over by Edward Daley to run the Shady Grove Club, a night club and important venue for reggae.

The Artist at Number 8

The artist Beatrice Offor (1864-1920) lived in Tottenham from 1907. She had met and married James Beavan, a local Alderman and resident of Bruce Grove, after she had undertaken a portrait commission of the Tottenham MP Joseph Howard (grandson of Luke Howard) for Tottenham Town Hall. From her studio here in Bruce Grove she left a beautiful and lasting legacy of her artworks in the collections at nearby Bruce Castle Museum and Archive, where you can see a collection of her paintings on display and find out more about her life.

(Circe by Beatrice Offor, painted in 1911 at Bruce Grove. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Beatrice is celebrated as being amongst the first women students in this country who trained at The Slade School of Art, going on to become one of the few commercially successful and popular Edwardian female artists of her day.  She is known for the esoteric nature of her work and for her exquisite portraits and portrayals of the women she painted. She is remembered as an extraordinary and forward-thinking artist for her time. 

Further resources

Explore the collection of Beatrice’s work at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive.

Tragic Young Hero at Number 9

Alexander Maffuniades and his family lived at number 9 Bruce Grove. He was Greek and born in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in 1849. He had married a London-born woman called Jane and they had three daughters (Nelly, Ruby and Euterpe) and two sons (Platon and [Ectos] Alexios). Living with them was his sister Eurydike and her daughter Matilda (both born in Constantinople), as well as one servant, Sarah Waight. Alexander was a master lithographic printer and ran his own printing business in Paxton Road N17.

(Ectos Maffuniades and his Mother in the garden of their family home, 9 Bruce Grove. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

His eldest son Platon worked for him as a manager. His youngest son was known as Ectos. Born in Tottenham in 1896, Ectos attended Tottenham Grammar School from 1905 - 1909. Like many young men his age, he served during the First World War with the 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Ectos saved his Captain's life and was awarded a Military Medal in recognition of his bravery. Tragically, Ectos died just three months later at the Front, in 1916. He was 20 years old.

Find out more about the family and their neighbours in Bruce Grove

Next at Number 9: Hammond’s – a pioneer in optics

Hammond’s The Opticians – considered to be a pioneer in optics – had different premises around London including here at 9 Bruce Grove (and also on the High Road) from 1946. You can read more here about the history of Hammonds from a local perspective (amongst other stories) and their bold way of advertising that raised a few eyebrows in the optics world! 

(From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive).

From Youth Centre to Youth Space  – Number 10 Bruce Grove

During the early decades of the 20th century, many of the large Georgian Houses along Bruce Grove became the premises of local organisations or businesses. In 1922, Number 10 Bruce Grove was the home of the Women’s Temperance Society. In 1940 the Youth Committee of Tottenham Borough Council was considering youth activities in Tottenham. By 1945, the Middlesex County Council had purchased Number 10 for youth activities. They decided to call the building ‘Lynch House’ in memory of the late Cllr Albert Lynch, an advocate and great voice for young people in Tottenham.

(From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive).

There are many fond local memories of going to the youth club at number 10 Bruce Grove. One local Jim Clark (1925-2018) recalls it from its very early days: “No. 10 Bruce Grove housed several youth clubs in the 1940s onwards and still does cater for youth. I recall playing table-tennis in a top room on Saturday evenings, also playing the battered piano that was in the same small room. It was frugal enjoyment but many other youths had less.”

Others remembered Thursday nights during the 1950s doing judo and then sitting in a sub-ground room full of armchairs listening to two brothers playing their guitars, with a sing-song of the latest rock ‘n roll songs. Some even met their future partner there: “used to watch him play snooker upstairs. As I was coming down the stairs he stopped me and said he was going to marry me one day.” And they did.

Sona Mahtani looks back at the days when Number 10 was also home to the Asian Action Group Youth Club which was active from the mid-1980s. After first coming to Tottenham in 1983 she went to Bruce Grove with her sister for the youth activities. She describes the youth club as an escape from home. Recalling the political atmosphere at the time, and the impact of racism in society, the influence of political meetings at 10 Bruce Grove was important to her and others, especially after the Broadwater Farm uprisings in 1984. Sona went on to work with young people and be an advocate for the importance of youth services in and around the borough, giving a voice as well as activities for local teenagers. Continuing the legacy, find out what goes on today at Bruce Grove Youth Space.

(Cover pages of Asian Action Group Newsletter, 1984. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

Blanche Nevile – Advocate for Deaf Children in Tottenham

Blanche Nevile (1871-1962) started a school for deaf children just off the High Road and Bruce Grove at Bruce Grove Primary School on 14th January 1895. The first class had only eight children, but this was the start of a remarkable career with a far-reaching impact on how deaf children would learn to communicate and actively participate in their community.

(The Tottenham Deaf School when it moved to Philip Lane, c.1946. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive)

In 1925, a new dedicated school for deaf children (pictured here) was built in Philip Lane, off the High Road near Tottenham Green. When she retired in 1925, Blanche left Tottenham with a thriving, efficient school known for its outstanding work for deaf children.

The school continues Blanche Nevile’s legacy to this day, now located over two sites – one in Highgate and the other in Muswell Hill.

Further resources

A full history of the Blanche Nevile School. 

In 2014, artist Jennie Pedley worked with students from Blanche Nevile School to produce an artwork exploring its history. For a time, the artwork was displayed on West Green Road.