Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
End of workday Little Russia Tottenham c1910-1920
The title of this image was the caption used as it came to me. I'd never heard of Little Russia before seeing this photo.
"Little Russia was an area of Tottenham, London, England. It was on the straight northern boundary of the London Borough of Haringey, specifically adjoining Edmonton, mainly comprising Pretoria Road, Durban Road, and Lorenco Road (west of the railway line between Silver Street and White Hart Lane).
Wikipedia has the following:
"The area had become known as "Little Russia" in the early 20th century due to the influx of Russian immigrants.[1] Immigration peaked when a large number of Russians settled there after fleeing the 1917 Russian Revolution. It developed into one of the toughest areas of North London and the local constabulary usually only policed the area in pairs. The area was mostly redeveloped in the 1970s."
I know that after the fashionable set had moved on, some of the large houses in Woodberry Down also became home to Russian refugees.
By the 1920's the area directly bordering on to the backs of Lorenco Road had been developed as an area of light industry. This photo may have been taken at the gates to that area from Lorenco Road.
Albums: Historical Images of Tottenham
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Comment by Bruce Castle 13 hours ago
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Hello Hugh, the Little Russia now seen on Google Maps has been added online in recent years. This area became known as Little Russia - and people within living memory who once resided there know it as that around Lorenco Road and Pretoria Road in North Tottenham. But it is not the original Little Russia, for which Tottenham was specifically known. The original Little Russia pre-dates the 1917 Revolution, with its origins in Tottenham from the late 19th century and especially after the 1905 Aliens Act. It was areas nearer to the High Cross in High Cross Road (demolished and now Monument Road) and the High Road. These were totally different groups of settlers in Tottenham at this time compared to the later settlement of the now-impoverished White Russians post-1917 in London. The Tottenham Outrage of 1909 is of course linked to the story of Little Russia and the growing xenophobia and public resentment against the number of immigrants - mainly Russians and Eastern Europeans - coming to Tottenham, drawn by the opportunities of work at local factories like Schnurmanns rubber factory or Lebus during the early part of the 20th century. Many were Jewish and formed an important community around the High Cross, setting up its synagogue there. It is a shame that the BBC3 radio programme that the late local historian Janet Harris, myself I and others were interviewed for in 2009 isn't available - the Ghosts of Little Russia. The novelist Zinovy Zilik carried out the research and the interviews. (incidentally, the Museum & Archive is holding a walk on 25 January about the original Little Russian, as well as one on the Tottenham Outrage on 23 January) BBC Radio 3 - Twenty Minutes, The Ghosts of Little Russia Unfortunately Wikipedia seems to have merged the histories of the two areas to become one. Although calling Lorenco Road etc Little Russia is within living memory, no one actually knows now why it acquired its distinctive moniker. Lorenco Road certainly had a wide range of backgrounds of people living there, many of whom would have been immigrants.
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