tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post3012360985476050974..comments2024-03-20T23:43:28.613+00:00Comments on Caroline's Miscellany: Croydon's fishy facadeCarolineLDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00197813252586559665noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-40179293313226533482014-03-04T20:38:26.600+00:002014-03-04T20:38:26.600+00:00Pete, thank you for the Kingston hint - that would...Pete, thank you for the Kingston hint - that would make sense, although I see that they should be horizontal rather than vertical. CarolineLDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00197813252586559665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-78519418880995320652014-03-03T22:00:17.570+00:002014-03-03T22:00:17.570+00:00If anyone is still in the mood for identifying obj...If anyone is still in the mood for identifying objects on the fronts of bookshops, here is something that has baffled me for years: the building in Westbourne Grove which is now the premises of Al Saqi Books, specialising in Middle Eastern literature. It was clearly built as a bookshop, probably in the 1880s, and is ornamented with nine stucco portrait heads of writers, plus loyal likenesses of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Some of the people are identifiable, others not -- at least not by me.<br /><br />I have put pictures of all of them on a web page <a href="http://www.hancock.dircon.co.uk/saqi.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, with a comments form at the bottom in case anyone has any ideas about who these people are.<br />Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-63435963917210070682014-03-02T19:20:20.776+00:002014-03-02T19:20:20.776+00:00Thank you both!
With your help, I've even f...Thank you both! <br /><br />With your help, I've even found a hint of a local connection. Some Googling shows that the De Lucy family had the manor of Walkhampstead at Godstone, Surrey, which isn't all that far away; Anthony De Lucy was appointed to the office of justiciary of Ireland by Edward II at Croydon. All fairly tenuous, but perhaps they were struggling for a third coat of arms. <br />CarolineLDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00197813252586559665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-52509296591198470022014-03-02T18:59:03.311+00:002014-03-02T18:59:03.311+00:00Although most of the coats of arms have been colou...Although most of the coats of arms have been coloured correctly, the De Lucy one has not: it should be gules, three luces haurient argent, which means red with three silver pikes swimming upwards.<br /><br /><a href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rickmansworthherts/webpage10.htm" rel="nofollow">This page</a> gives the history of the De Lucy family, who are of Norman origin. I can see no reference to Croydon on this page.<br /><br />The three luces also appear on the coat of arms of the Earls of Northumberland, I think because an Alice De Lucy married into the family around 1155. The later surname of the Northumberlands (later Dukes) was Percy; although their coat of arms is now quite different, that of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (1449-1489) includes the luces, so there is a faint chance that the window might refer to someone with this surname.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-24647622397638235992014-03-02T17:24:31.211+00:002014-03-02T17:24:31.211+00:00The three fish are most likely a link to Kingston,...The three fish are most likely a link to Kingston, the location of Surrey County Council. I always assumed the WH Smiths building was designed to be sympathetic to the Whitgift School Building nearby.<br /><br /> - Pete of London.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-2946173083254912132014-03-02T16:29:34.095+00:002014-03-02T16:29:34.095+00:00My husband is from Croydon and I asked him about t...My husband is from Croydon and I asked him about this but he does not know about the three fishes either!<br />From the little that I found, the three fish are PIKES and an old word for Pike is LUCY, so this is called THE ARMS LUCY, could be a family name? <br />Love these windows, thanks for sharing!Kay G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07228498846814735537noreply@blogger.com