Vauxhall Road and the Elixir of Life ( was The Diary (just where did V get

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 86957

As the person who originally started this thread in message 86517, I 
am stunned at the things which have been dug up (quite literally) in 
the Riddle diary investigation. Here are some more very strange 
things to add to the cauldron:

1. On a history of Vauxhall website I found the following explanation 
of the origin of the name 'Vauxhall'. Apparently it derives from 
someone bearing a griffin on his coat of arms..any echoes of 
Gryffindor here ?? And he seems to have lived in a Fawkes Hall...

'the young widowed daughter of the Fitzgerold family, Margaret de 
Redvers, had a house in what is now Vauxhall. She married a mercenary 
soldier Fulk le Breant who was hired to do some of the dirtier 
military deeds of King John (1166-1216). Fulk thus acquired 
Margaret's London house whose site gradually came to be known as 
Fulk's Hall. This became corrupted over the years to Fawkes Hall, 
Foxhall and then Vauxhall.

In return for his dirty deeds, Fulk was granted the manor of Luton by 
King John. He was also given the right to bear his own coat of arms 
and chose the mythical griffin as his heraldic emblem. The griffin 
thus became associated with both Vauxhall and Luton in the early 13th 
century.'

(http://www.storyoflondon.com - and search on Vauxhall in menu on 
left of home page)

2. Stockwell Orphanage

Next, Lexicon Steve has contributed to the discussion by suggesting 
that Voldemort's orphanage has been 'convincingly' identified as 
Stockwell Orphanage. Actually, 'convincing' only turns out to mean 
that this orphanage is the only one identified in the Vauxhall area 
at this period. This argument also presupposes Riddle had to have 
been living in Vauxhall in order to have bought the diary, which is 
not necessarily the case. Unfortunately for Steve, I found the 
following footnote on a site about the founder of the Stockwell 
Orphanage, a religious philanthropist called Spurgeon:

NOTES: 
With the outbreak of World War II and the evacuation of children from 
London, the London history of Spurgeon's Orphanage came to a close. 
At the end of the war the trustees decided to build at Birchington 
where they owned some forty acres of land. In 1953 the new buildings 
were ready for occupation. The orphanage has been named Spurgeon's 
Homes and still maintains links with the tabernacle.
	
(see: http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/bio12.htm)

This note supports one of my original contentions (set out in post 
86637), that the authorities made every effort to get children out of 
London during the war, and certainly an official children's home of 
good standing, such as this orphanage, would have been one of the 
first to be cleared. I'm afraid Tom Riddle could not have been living 
there after the outbreak of war in 1939.

3. Also, in support of my point that this area of London was very 
badly damaged in the war, and was a major target for the bombers, I 
found these two comments:  

- Vauxhall, Kennington and the Blitz. About 2,500 bombs and rockets 
fell on Lambeth during the Second World War, many of them in Vauxhall 
in an attempt to hit the railways and the Thames bridges. 

- Vauxhall Bridge Road was constructed in 1816 as an approach to the 
new Vauxhall Bridge. Only a few of the original properties remain. 
(these comments are on: http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/)

So, what's really going on here ? My thoughts are:

4. Its possible that Tom Riddle lived at the Stockwell orphanage 
before the war. He was born in 1927, and would have been 12 at the 
outbreak of war in 1939, ie he had started at Hogwarts. Although the 
orphanage children would have been relocated somewhere safer, he 
would then have been familiar with that area of London. 

However, I don't know why he ended up there in the first place; 
justcarol67 suggested (86841) that his parents met and lived in 
London, but this isn't the case. In the re-birthing scene in the 
graveyard, Riddle says about his parent's relationship:  'my mother, 
a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him.' (GOF 
p560 UK edition)

5. Now what if Tom Riddle was sent back to Little Hangleton for 
safety, wherever that is ? Wartime evacuees were sent hundreds of 
miles from their homes - there are many sad stories of loss and 
misery. The orphanage would have kept records of where its children 
came from, perhaps they were dispersed back to their original 
geographical locations during the war ? And young Tom Riddle was 
recognised by his striking looks by the people who took him in, and 
the death warrant of the Riddle Snrs was sealed....... Like Harry, he 
may also have resembled his mother as well as his father, prompting 
people to talk about who he might be.

6. Then there is the mysterious and extremely fascinating reference 
found by linocow200 to   the illustration by Phiz of the 'The Ruined 
House in Vauxhall Rd', for a book entitled 'Auriol or the Elixir of 
Life' by William Harrison Ainsworth (described as a 'king of 
historical potboilers', whose other novels include one 
called 'Rookwood' - great catch this !). Although this was drawn in 
1844, could the young Tom Riddle, with his latent magical powers have 
discovered a wizarding site at this location, whilst playing truant 
from the orphanage ? Could this be the same site as Fawkes Hall, 
mentioned earlier in this post ? 

7. I am still convinced there is a convoluted, and age-old story to 
emerge of muggle/wizard lineages and bloodlines - as outlined in post 
86517. I still think it is no accident that all the roads we have 
investigated in this vicinity are no more than a shortish walk from 
Westminster, the seat of the British government and the House of 
Lords. Post after post on this list come to much the same conclusion 
about Voldemort - as we have seen him - he really seems quite 
incompetent. 

So who is pulling the strings ? Who was supporting Tom Riddle, paying 
for his education all those years ago, and wanted a little chat with 
his protege, but had to make Riddle come back to London in dangerous 
wartime conditions to do it ? Not a wizard, or he could have 
apparated anywhere. No, someone who needed to be within sound of the 
division bell in the Houses of Parliament, I think. 

Carolyn