Question from America

Good Morning from Iowa City, Iowa - home of The Younger Stamfords, a Sherlock Holmes group. Two questions, if I may. First: how and when was Stamford Street named - assuming it was named for a person. Secondly, are there any blue signs in the neighborhood pertaining to the 1892 crimes committed by Dr. Thomas Neil Cream?

Thanks in advance,

Al

I'll now have to google Dr.Thomas Neil Cream! there was many moons ago a large ice cream factory of the doorstep though..Eldorade I think it was called..will check later :-)

Has was born in Glasgow, raised in Canada, fled to the U. S. after his first series of crimes. Handed in Nov 1892 after committing "The Stamford Street Murders."

http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/cream-thomas-neill.htm

This is a partial answer to your questions:-

1. Stamford St. I’ve searched but can’t find an origin. You hint at the next point yourself, but after a previous enquiry here (see Colombo Street, 14.2.13) I found there isn’t necessarily an explanation for street names. There are also past discussions of the street you could locate through Search in case they help.

Here are some avenues/clues you and your colleagues could pursue...

• Several books have been written about London street name origins, by authors including Caroline Taggart, Eilert Ekwall and John Wittich. There are also a number of online SN sites based around an index. The few I’ve tried have drawn a blank, but you could pick this up.
• Stamford Street was one of a series of streets constructed in the period after Blackfriars Bridge opened in 1769. British History Online has a section on the street:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=65335&strquery=stamford street

BHO explains how the street was developed in phases over about 25 years from 1790. One part followed the route of an existing road called Holland’s Leaguer, which is famous for its brothel with moated defences.
• There is/was an aristocratic family called the Earls of Stamford. A street in Ashton-under-Lyne was named after Earl Stamford, arising from his land holdings in the area. I wonder if something similar happened in SE1? You could see if the investors in the post-1769 property schemes included this Earl.
• Finally there used to be a bar/pub called The Stamford Arms at no. 62. Now renamed The Thirsty Bear, you could ask the brewery if they have any information on the source of the previous name. Many British pubs honour royals and aristocrats.

2. Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, transatlantic serial killer. He doesn’t have a Blue Plaque (see Wikipedia). However there are numerous other plaque schemes listed on the English Heritage site:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/other-plaques-schemes/london-schemes/

If Dr. Cream has a plaque anywhere it could be under the black plaque scheme. This has a downloadable app:
http://www.blackplaques.com/

Mucho thanks!

Jan

it was called Elderado's my dad used to work for them