James Edmondson (builder)

Last updated

Topsfield Parade, Crouch End. Crouch End, Tottenham Lane, N8 - geograph.org.uk - 988060.jpg
Topsfield Parade, Crouch End.
London Borough of Islington plaque at Highbury Park. James Edmondson plaque (10854524436).jpg
London Borough of Islington plaque at Highbury Park.
Topsfield Parade in 1914. Topsfield Parade 1914.jpg
Topsfield Parade in 1914.

James Edmondson (27 August 1857 – 7 June 1931), known as "the Highbury builder", was an English property developer who was responsible for the creation of the Sotheby Road area in Highbury and the development of several notable shopping parades in suburban north London. With William J. Collins, he was instrumental in the creation of modern Muswell Hill.

Muswell Hill suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey

Muswell Hill is a suburban district of north London. It is mainly in the London Borough of Haringey with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It is between Highgate, Hampstead Garden Village, East Finchley and Crouch End. It has many streets with Edwardian architecture.

Contents

Early life

James Edmondson was born on 27 August 1857 in Clerkenwell, London, to Isaac Edmondson, a carpenter from Penruddock, Cumberland, and Hannah Edmondson of Westmorland. In 1881, the family were living in a sizeable house at 40 Petherton Road, at which time James was probably working in his father's business. [1] [2]

Clerkenwell area of inner north London in the London Borough of Islington

Clerkenwell is an area of central London, England. The area includes the sub-district of Finsbury.

Cumberland Historic county of England

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England that had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. It was bordered by Northumberland to the east, County Durham to the southeast, Westmorland and Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria.

Westmorland historic county in England

Westmorland is a historic county in north west England. It formed an administrative county between 1889 and 1974, after which the whole county was administered by the new administrative county of Cumbria. In 2013, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England's 39 historic counties, including Westmorland.

Career

James at first worked with his father in his building firm. One of their first large projects was a commission with Charles Herbert Shoppe to build a parade of shops at The Broadway in Highbury Park. Their first large solo project was the development of the streets of the Sotheby Road Conservation Area in Highbury. In 1894, trading as the firm of I. Edmondson and Son Limited, they took offices at 8 The Broadway (now 86 Highbury Park). With James in the lead, they developed a formula of residential houses fronted by uniform shopping parades with flats above that they repeated in Crouch End, Muswell Hill, Golders Green, and elsewhere in London. With William J. Collins, James Edmondson was instrumental in the creation of modern Muswell Hill. He retired in 1923 and moved to Bournemouth. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Highbury Park, London

Highbury Park is a street in Highbury, London, that runs from Blackstock Road in the north to Highbury Grove in the south.

Personal life

Edmondson married Isabel (or Isabele/Isabelle) Anne (or Annie). His eldest son, Albert James Edmondson, joined the family business in the 1920s and later became a Conservative Party member of Parliament and was ennobled as a Baron Sandford in 1945. [1] Their other children were Percival H., Elsee M. and Cyril A. [5] James Edmondson was active in congregationalist circles and worshiped at the Congregational Church in Highbury Quadrant. He was a donor to other non-conformist churches and established the Dudley Lawn Tennis Club. His home was "North Holme" at 12 Aberdeen Terrace (now 52 Aberdeen Road), Highbury. [2]

Conservative Party (UK) Political party in the United Kingdom

The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. The governing party since 2010, it is the largest in the House of Commons, with 313 Members of Parliament, and also has 249 members of the House of Lords, 18 members of the European Parliament, 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament, 12 members of the Welsh Assembly, eight members of the London Assembly and 8,916 local councillors.

Congregational church religious denomination

Congregational churches are Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs.

Death and legacy

Edmondson died at 29 Wimpole Street, London, on 7 June 1931, leaving a widow, Isabel Anne Edmondson, and an estate of £248,170. [6] In 2013, a plaque was placed on his former offices at Highbury Park by members of the Sotheby Road Conservation Society for the London Borough of Islington. [2]

Wimpole Street street in City of Westminster, United Kingdom

Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, completed in 1912 by architect John Belcher as the home of the Royal Society of Medicine. 64 Wimpole Street is the headquarters of the British Dental Association.

Selected developments

Crouch End Hippodrome former theatre in Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, Haringey, London

The Crouch End Hippodrome, originally the Queen's Opera House, was a theatre that once stood in Tottenham Lane, Crouch End, London.

Golders Green suburban area in the London Borough of Barnet

Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th-century and early 20th-century suburb with a commercial crossroads. The rest is of later build. It is centred approximately 5.5 miles (8.5 km) north west of Charing Cross on the intersection of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.

Tottenham Lane

Tottenham Lane is a street in Crouch End and Hornsey in the London Borough of Haringey. The street runs from the centre of Crouch End at the clock tower, north to the junction of the High Street and Turnpike Lane (A504).

Related Research Articles

London Borough of Islington Borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London, England. The borough includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has an estimated population of 215,667. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury.

Holloway, London inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington

Holloway is an inner-city district of the London Borough of Islington, 3.3 miles (5.3 km) north of Charing Cross, which follows the line of the Holloway Road (A1). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head commercial area which sits between the more residential Upper Holloway and Lower Holloway neighbourhoods. Holloway has a multicultural population. It is the home of Arsenal F.C.. Holloway is in the historic county of Middlesex.

Islington Area of London

Islington is a district in Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy High Street, Upper Street, Essex Road, and Southgate Road to the east.

Highbury & Islington station London Underground and railway station

Highbury & Islington is a London Underground and National Rail interchange station in the London Borough of Islington, north London. It is served by the London Underground's Victoria line and the Great Northern's Northern City Line, as well as the London Overground's East and North London Lines.

Holloway Road

Holloway Road is a road in London, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The road starts at the Archway, near Archway Underground station, then heads south-east, past Upper Holloway railway station, Whittington Park, past the North London campus of London Metropolitan University near Nag's Head, past Holloway Road Underground station, and the main campus of the university, and then becomes Highbury Corner, near Highbury & Islington station.

Herne Hill a town in London Borough of Lambeth, United Kindom

Herne Hill is a district in south London, England, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Denmark Hill, Dulwich Village, Loughborough Junction and Tulse Hill. It overlaps the boundary between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. There is a road of the same name in the area.

Archway, London district on the edge of inner north London

Archway is an inner neighbourhood of London, forming part of the London Borough of Islington. It is located 3.8 miles (6 km) north of Charing Cross and is identified as a district centre in the London Plan, surrounded by mixed-density residential development. It straddles the A1 in London and is named for an erstwhile local landmark, the high single-arch Archway Bridge which crossed the road in cutting to the north. It has a modern commercial hub around Vantage Point and Archway tube station.

Parkland Walk 2.5-mile linear green walkway in London

The Parkland Walk is a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) linear green pedestrian and cycle route in London, which follows the course of the railway line that used to run between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace, through Stroud Green, Crouch End, Highgate and Muswell Hill. It is often mistakenly described as 4.5 miles long, but even taking in the gap between the two sections it still only totals 3.1-miles (5.0km). The route follows the bridges and cuttings of the line, but avoids the closed surface section of Highgate station and its adjoining tunnels, which are closed to walkers for safety reasons. The walk is almost all in Haringey, but a short stretch between Crouch Hill and Crouch End Hill is in Islington, and this section incorporates Crouch Hill Park.

Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Islington

The London Borough of Islington is short of large parks and open spaces, given its status in recent decades as a desirable place of residence. In fact, Islington has the lowest ratio of open space to built-up areas of any London borough. The largest continuous open space in the borough, at 11.75 hectares, is Highbury Fields.

Stroud Green railway station

Stroud Green railway station is a former station in the Stroud Green area of north London. It was located between Finsbury Park station and Crouch End station on a bridge over Stapleton Hall Road. The station had platforms cantilevered from the bridge structure and a wooden station building at ground level under and on either side of the bridge, with a station master's house to the north of it. The bridge still exists, and now carries the Parkland Walk cycle and pedestrian path, whilst the station master's house serves as a community centre.

Albert James Edmondson, 1st Baron Sandford was a British Conservative Party politician.

A1 in London specific portion of highway in the capital of England

The A1 in London is the southern part of the A1 road. It starts at Aldersgate in the City of London, passing through the capital to Borehamwood on the northern fringe of Greater London, before continuing to Edinburgh. The road travels through the City and three London boroughs: Islington, Haringey and Barnet, which include the districts of Islington, Holloway, Highgate, Hendon and Mill Hill, and travels along Upper Street and Holloway Road, crossing the North Circular Road in Hendon, a district in the London Borough of Barnet.

John Cathles Hill British architect

John Cathles Hill was an architect and property developer who was influential in the development of parts of suburban north London.

History of Stroud Green

Stroud Green in London, England, is a suburb adjacent to Finsbury Park in the northern part of Greater London. While most of the area is in the London Borough of Haringey, a very small part is in the London Borough of Islington. The Stroud Green Road not only forms the boundary between the two boroughs but is also the area's principal thoroughfare and a busy local shopping street, with many popular restaurants and bars.

107–123 Muswell Hill Road Haringey, Greater London, N10

107–123 Muswell Hill Road is a grade II listed parade of shops in Muswell Hill Road, Muswell Hill, London.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Recent Plaques. London Borough of Islington, 22 March 2015. Archived at WaybackMachine. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 New People’s Plaque pays tribute to James Edmondson, the ‘Highbury Builder’. Andrew Johnson, Islington Tribune , 18 October 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  3. ↑ London will soon become home to only the very rich and the poor. Ian Jack, The Guardian , 19 October 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Living in Muswell Hill: area guide to homes, schools and transport. Anthea Masey, London Evening Standard , 19 February 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  5. ↑ James Edmonson England and Wales Census, 1901. FamilySearch. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  6. ↑ 1931 Probate Calendar.. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Crouch End Hippodrome – The Theatres Trust". theatrestrust.org.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Bridget Cherry. (2002). The Buildings of England: London 4 North. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. p. 559. ISBN   0300096534.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.