The ongoing fractious debate and depth of feeling felt over the type of borough war memorial best for Hornsey was highlighted in the first of the series Hornsey in 1919. What happened in the intervening months between January and August 1919? Was Hornsey any nearer deciding on the nature of its borough war memorial?
A notice in the Hornsey Journal, 8 August 1919
His Worship the Mayor requires a FULL LIST of the RESIDENTS OF HORNSEY WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR for inclusion in the War Memorial.
An Armistice had ended the Great War on 11 November 1918. The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly 5 years after Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination triggered the conflict. The other Central Powers signed separate treaties. What was Hornsey’s response to these events and why were the children involved?
On 28 June Hornsey’s church bells rang out in celebration and a special Te Deum was sung at Anglican services of thanksgiving. In the evening, fireworks, crackers and rockets were let off in back gardens and bonfires lit in the streets. Flags and bunting were put up and some houses were decorated with Chinese lanterns and fairy lamps. High streets were full of people after the shops closed.
SCHOOLS CELEBRATE PEACE
An article from the Hornsey Journal, 25 July 1919
The Peace celebrations in Hornsey were mainly confined to the children. On Friday afternoon (18 July) the pupils attending public elementary schools in the borough were given a tea, games and entertainments at public expense and enjoyed themselves as only youngsters can.
An extract from an editorial in the Hornsey Journal, 6 June 1919
The statement was made not long ago that on the removal of the German prisoners from the Alexandra Palace the Government intended to use the premises as public offices.
For many of us it is a shock to read the Tender (Hornsey Journal 30 May 1919) for the supply of provisions to a workhouse. Surely the workhouse, such a spectre hanging over the lives of the Victorian poor, had gone by 1919? If it hadn’t, why was the workhouse in Edmonton not in Hornsey? When did this degrading system end?
A Notice from the Hornsey Journal, 30th May 1919
The Guardians invite Tenders from 1st July, 1919 as follows:-
Meeting at Crouch End
An article from the Hornsey Journal, 11 April 1919
Under the auspices of the Hornsey Conservative and Unionist Association, a meeting for women was held at the Parish Hall, Edison Road, Crouch End on Thursday afternoon last week (4th), when addresses were given by Mr Kennedy Jones MP and Mrs Hudson Lyall, London County Council, on “The Powers and Responsibilities Conferred on Women by the Vote”.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 extended the franchise in parliamentary elections (right to vote) to men aged 21 and over, whether or not they owned property, and to women aged 30 and over who resided in the constituency or occupied land or premises with a rateable value above £5 (or whose husbands did).
At the same time, it extended the local government franchise to include women aged 21 and over on the same terms as men.
An article from the Hornsey Journal, 28th March 1919
At Bow Street Police Court on Saturday, Sir John Dickinson concluded the hearing of the case in which William Foster Watson, 37, engineer’s turner, of Inderwick-road, Hornsey, and Featherstone-buildings, Holborn, under the Defence of the Realm Regulations with having, on 8th February, at a “Hands Off Russia!” meeting at the Albert Hall, delivered a speech calculate to cause disaffection amongst the civilian population.