Vauxhall Road again

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 87226

All right - some information on the 'Vauxhall Road' issue.

I've had a chance to do some serious research getting down 
to something close to primary sources.

Most of the following information comes from two volumes of 
the 'London County Council: Survey of London' edited by Sir 
Howard Roberts, and Walter H. Godfrey, and published by the 
London County Council in 1951 and 1956.

The relevant volumes are  Volume XXIII (1951) South Bank & 
Vauxhall (Parish of St. Mary Lambeth Part I) and Volume XXVI 
(1956) Parish of St. Mary Lambeth Part II: Southern Area.

Based on these books I can now confirm that Kennington Lane 
was legitimately known as Vauxhall Road. Vauxhall Road 
consisted of what is today Wandsworth Road and Kennington 
Lane. While the newer names have been official for quite a 
long time, the name Vauxhall Road has also been used 
(especially for businesses) until very recently and could 
certainly have been in use at the time, Tom Riddle purchased 
his diary.

So the other question is why he might have been in this 
area.

Several people have already mentioned the Spurgeon Orphanage 
which was very close to the area in question - checking a 
map of London, a short walk of about half a mile down 
Binfield Road and Landsdowne Way would have taken someone 
from the ophanage to Wandsworth Road (part of Vauxhall 
Road). No point on the old Vauxhall Road is more than two 
miles from the orphanage.

So if Tom Riddle had wound up in that orphanage, it's 
perfectly plausible he could have gone to Vauxhall Road.

The Spurgeon Orphanage was evacuated on September 1st 1939, 
and the children were move to Reigate.

If Tom was born in 1927 (which is the Lexicon date), he 
would have potentially started at Hogwarts in 1938. I don't 
think we have any indication on when the diary was purchased 
- but it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume he might have 
obtained it around the time he started at Hogwarts, even if 
he didn't enchant it until a little later.

Now - the question has been asked why would Tom have wound 
up at an orphanage in London - some people feel it would 
make more sense for him to have been in an orphanage nearer 
where he was born and on the face of it that seems quite 
reasonable.

However, I've found the 1881 Census results that list those 
resident at Spurgeon's Orphanage. It also lists where they 
came from. While most do come from areas fairly near the 
orphanage, not all do. Now we know Little Hangleton is 200 
miles from Little Whinging which is in Surrey. Looking at a 
map, that seems to place Little Hangleton, most likely, in 
Yorkshire, Lancashire or Humberside.

The 1881 census shows two of the boys at Spurgeon's 
Orphanage were from Lancashine - now that is close to fifty 
years before Tom would have been there, but it does at least 
suggest the possibility that Spurgeon's Orphanage sometimes 
took children from a considerable distance away.

It's also worth noting another possibility - although I 
doubt this site personally, because it involves the term 
'orphanage' being used very loosely - I just mention it for 
completeness. Just south of Spurgeon's Orphanage is 
Stockwell Road. From 1937 onwards there was a hostel for 
boys between the ages of 14 and 18 who needed accommodation 
in London. It's just vaguely possible, I suppose, that Tom, 
given that he *had* a home at Hogwarts for most of the year 
might have spent his summer holidays in a place like that 
after 1941 or so (when he would have been old enough). I 
don't there's a strong case for this - it's just it came up 
in my research so I may as well mention it.



Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia


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