This is the final part of the Fairlop chronology. See our page on Fairlop for details.
With the sale of the timber in Hainault Forest in 1852 and the enclosure that the period starts with, the Fairlop Fair of Daniel Day was effectively over. However, the “boats” from East London still made the outing to the area on the first Friday in July as it has become an established holiday. It appears that some land was rented(?) in the Hainault area, particularly at the Maypole public house, on which some fair booths were set up etc., and many of the east Londoners appeared to take it as a pic-nic. Note that enclosure was partial and so some pleasant forest still existed in the area.
Some key points from this period:
1853: Notice of the suppression of the original fair, although various events still took place.
1854: No report of the Fair appears in any of the newspapers. Indirect reports (mainly in court) show something happened.
1855: First mention of something being held at the Maypole.
1858: Notice that the (original?) Fair had been made illegal.
1859: First admission in newspapers that the reporters did not attend the fair!
1862: First mention that the licensed victuallers were “getting in on the act.”
1864: The issue of recreational space for East Londoners are the loss of Hainault and Epping foresters raised in Parliament.
1867: The licensed victuallers stage their own “Fairlop Fair” in London: saves the trouble of the annual trip.
1874: The shadow of the fair.
Suppression of Fairlop Fair.—This time-honoured assemblage of cockneys and country holiday makers is to be altogether suppressed by the meddling hand of modern legislation and improvement. The barn is to supersede the booth, and the plough is to go forth to produce plenty on the spot where thousands have been accustomed to scatter their money in thoughtless dissipation. Notice has been officially given that in consequence of the inclosure and allotments of the forest under the act of parliament no fair will be allowed to be held there after this day; so that the stroke of twelve to night will be the passing knell of Fairlop.
Fairlop Fair.—The above fair was held in Hainault Forest on Friday, although the weather, especially in the afternoon and evening, was anything but favourable, there was a goodly assemblage of persons present to participate in the festivities of Fairlop. There were only two boats on the present occasion, and of a much less attractive character than those we have noticed in former years. From Whitechapel, through the Mile End Road, Bow, and Stratford, the number of persons who had assembled to witness the return of the boats in the evening was very numerous, although the rain descended in torrents from seven in the evening till midnight, almost without intermission. The forest, from the continued rains for several days previous, had become anything but congenial to the wishes of the numerous parties who were wont to shelter themselves under the stately oaks which abound, and which afford a degree of rusticity far beyond that found in any other of the suburban fairs. The gipsies carried on their avocations apparently with much success; while a numerous host of pickpockets reaped a rich harvest, notwithstanding the vigilance of the police. The shows were less in number, but there was little diminution in the number of booths and stalls compared with the last three or four years.
There were no real reports of the Fair this year, with the below being the only substantial account found, which seems to be a minor rewrite of the same report for the previous year.
Fairlop Fair.—Pursuant to annual custom this fair was held on Hainault Forest on Friday, but the number of shows, stalls, and fair-going folk did not equal some previous years. Two boats only passed through Stratford, and the assembly to witness their return was also much diminished. Equipages of all descriptions, from the four-in-hand landau, to the costermonger’s donkey cart, were put in requisition, and trains on the Eastern Counties’ Railway conveyed not a few to Hainault to participate in the festivities of Fairlop. Several pockets were picked notwithstanding the vigilance of the police, but the loses on the aggregate did not exceed those of former years, which of course is of little consolation to the victims of the light-fingered gentry.
There is, however, an indirect account from the Ilford Petty Sessions, reported in the Chelmsford Chronicle, 14 July 1854:
William Waylett was charged with having yesterday evening, at Stratford, played with an instrument of gaming at a game of chance; Joseph Benton, p.c., K division, stated that he was on duty in plain clothes in the Broadway, at Stratford, and there were a great number of people coming from Fairlop fair, many of whom stopped at Stratford; saw the defendant with a table gambling; there were several youths round him who paid him money: he watched his movements some time, and then took him into custody.—Committed for two months.
Joseph Offley, a youth aged 12 years, was charged by Mrs. Hardy, of Stratford, with having picked her pocket of three pence.—Mrs. Hardy stated that about 10 o’clock last night she was standing with her husband in the Broadway, Stratford, looking at the Fairlop boat passing; a great number of people were there, and presently she felt a hand in her pocket, and her husband immediately seized the boy with three pence in his hand, which she missed from her pocket.—Committed for 14 days, and to be whipped.
A Disappointment.—Last week, while a man named William Kemp, of Chigwell Row, was excavating the root of a tree on Fairlop Plain, Hainault Forest, he turned up between 60 and 70 counterfeit shillings, of the reign of King George, dated 1817, all in good preservation, so much so that the finder at once proceeded to Romford to purchase some clothing, where to his mortification the whole were discovered to be spurious metal. He afterwards handed them over to the police, who will no doubt deliver them to the proper authorities, for condign punishment.
The original site no longer being available, it looks like the enterprising landlord of the Maypole rented out his field for a small affair.
Fairlop Fair.—This ancient fair was held according to custom, on the 7th instant, in an enclosed piece of pasture, near the Maypole. There were a large number of stall keepers, showmen, and all the motley group who get a living at such places. Many thousands from the metropolis visited the fair and the forest, and the number present very nearly equalled the palmy days of Fairlop.
Mr. Chas. Stanton, the landlord of the Coach and Horses public-house, in the Mile-end-road, appeared before Mr. Yardley, to answer a summons taken out by Inspector Sullivan, of the K division, which charged him with letter off fireworks on the 6th instant, being the first Friday in July, when the roads from White-chapel Church to Ilford were lined with as many as half a million of people to witness the fireworks and illuminations, and to see the boats, mounted on carriages, return from Hainault Forest, where the fair was held.
The proceeding excited considerable interest, this being the first time any legal proceedings have been taken against any persons for letting of fireworks on the first Friday in July, the anniversary of Fairlop fair.
The court case is then reported in detail and ended with:
Mr. Stanton.—I did not left off any fireworks myself.
Mr. Yardley.—But you sanctioned it. It appears that printed notices were issued by the police, and warning given; and it also appears this dangerous custom has been permitted for a great many years. I shall follow the course adopted by the magistrate elsewhere, and order you to pay 2s., the cost of the summons, but if I have similar cases brought before me again, whether it is the anniversary of Fairlop fair or any other anniversary, I will inflict a severe penalty.
Another year when there was little coverage, presumably because it was not really the original fair any more:
Fairlop Fair.—This fair took place on Friday, and the weather being extremely auspicious for the occasion, there was a large assemblage. The boats, which are always a source of attraction on their return in the evening, drew together large numbers of people on the road from Ilford through Stratford, Bow, Mile End, to Whitechapel. Only one charge arising out of the festivities of Fairlop was made at the police station, West Ham Lane, a circumstance unprecedented since the introduction of the police into that district. It seems a lad named Smith was taken up on Friday night, charged with stealing a cotton pocket handkerchief. He underwent an examination at the Ilford bench on the subsequent day, and was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.
It’s quoting the Athenæum article “The Gipsies” which is the only contemporary article found mentioning Borrow and Fairlop (apart from Borrow’s quote in Lavo-Lil).
The Gipsies.—The etymon of Romani—which Mr. Borrow does not know—Sir Henry Rawlinson enables us to supply. Room, or Romani, is the term applied by the Mohammedans of the twelfth century to the Greek possessions in Asia Minor, where the gipsies so long sojourned. The gipsy language is essentially Turanian. The nursery of the race was the banks of the Indus, where they were known to the Greeks under the name of Getæ or Sacæ, or, as they themselves inflected the name, Jatan and Sagan. They were workers in iron: an evil, restless race. In the fourth century they were moved into Persia; and in 800 were strong enough to defy proselytizing Caliphs. The gipsies were decimated, deported to Bagdad, thence to the Cilician frontier, and in 962 driven back by the Greeks toward Iconium. Thence they dropped down to the Bosphorus, and appear in Bohemia as Zigeuner—whence France knows them as Bohemiens—Holland as Heyden—Spain as Gitani or Zincali—and Hungary as Tzigan. In Moldavia, where they are slaves, they call themselves Pharson, or Pharoah’s people, or—as we know them—gipsies. Throughout Europe and Asia, they number three or four millions. In England, edicts of Henry and Elizabeth—J.P.’s and Bumbles—abolition of Fairlop and Greenwich—have sadly thinned the tribe of swarthy soothsayers.—Athenæum.
FAIRLOP FAIR—NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS.
Yesterday the annual festivities at Fairlop fair, in Hainault Forest, were celebrated according to ancient custom, and on the occasion there were upwards of 7,000 person present.
The gaily decorated vessels of the Watermen’s Society and the Blockmakers’ Association left Wapping shortly after nine o’clock ...
A great number of persons availed themselves of the facilities afforded by the Eastern Counties Railway.
At dusk the boats returned, and on the way to town the members discharged a quantity of fireworks and other combustibles from the cars, which had a very pleasing effect. The displays of rockets, roman candles, &c., were also general from the windows of the houses on either side of the roadway as the procession passed along.
Several persons were knocked down and run over by passing vehicles, and two children were conveyed to the accident wards of the London Hospital.
A large body of police belonging to the H. and K. divisions was in attendance between Whitechapel and Bow, ... whereby a vast concourse of spectators were kept out of danger, and a great number of robberies were prevented.
Several well-known pickpockets were apprehended during the latter part of the evening.
Clearly by now the original fair had faded away. Compare the above with the account in Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, 5 July 1857.
Fairlop Fair.—Friday morning being the first Friday in July, according to ancient custom the shipwrights, caulkers, and watermen of the port of London assembled at Mile-end-gate, where a procession was formed of glass coaches, flies, and several vans. A boat, gaily decorated with flags, was, as usual, a prominent object. The procession at ten o’clock wended its way to Fairlop, proceeded by two vans, and accompanied by some hundreds of pedestrians.
Under “Died”:
19th ult. much respected, in his 80th year, Mr. Joseph Pates, baker, of Great Ilford, who for upwards of 50 years supplied the Fairlop boats with rolls on the first Friday in July.
Fairlop Fair.—Pursuant to annual custom this fair was held on Friday, in Hainault Forest; and the large number of person present showed that it still retained many of its former attractions of shows and swings. The gipsy tribe appeared to reap a rich harvest among credulous maidens and others desirous of having their future destiny predicted. As usual, the “boats” (mounted on wheels, so as to travel “over land”) were objects of great attraction both in going and returning; and in the evening, as the boats returned through Stratford, Bow, Mile End, &c., thousands of persons had assembled to witness their arrival.
Lloyd’s Weekly newspaper, 4 July 1858, fills in the key detail:
On Friday morning, the annual procession of the mast and blockmakers of the port of London took place from Wapping to Epping forest. The men and their wives and children, seated in boats mounted on vans, drawn by teams of horses gaily decorated with flags, and accompanied by bands of music, visited the spot where once stood the far-famed Fairlop oak. The fair having been declared illegal, there was no attempt made to hold it.
When saying the fair was not held, what appears to be the case is that the old “established” fair, organised as such and in one location, could longer be held. However, places like the Maypole and the Bald Hind provided a field and allowed (no doubt for a charge) some booths etc. to be setup. The key tradition of the boats continued, and Fairlop fair became less of a fair than an annual outing with picnics etc. Hence the Chelmsford Chronicle, 9 July 1858, reporting on Ilford Bench, July 3:
Edwin Morris was convicted of cruelly ill-treating donkeys at Fairlop fair, on the evidence of two constables of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and fined 40s. and expenses.
George Smith, apprehended by the police at Fairlop fair, charged with having in his possession a table and playing at a game of chance, and also “prick in the garter,” was committed under the vagrant act for 7 days.
James Mahoney was charged with stealing from the person of Henry Smith, at Fairlop fair, a silver watch, value £2, and committed for further examination on next bench day.
In some very flowery and unclear prose in a article on the fair, the development of the former Hainault forest and death of “Fairlop fair” is prophesied. Note that as with many of the reporters, the person had never been to the fair.
He [Daniel Day] must have bestrode a plump, sleek, well-to-do-looking cob, must that mast and block maker. He must have quartered that cob in the Maypole’s stables, ... the mast and block makers of Wapping, for these hundred years, have been in the habit of proceeding to the annual rendezvous in a full-rigged model of a ship, drawn on a wheeled platform by horses ... into the aggregate we know as “Fairlop Fair.”—There, now it is out—our East end Carnival is Fairlop Fair. True, it cannot claim the European celebrity ... but it owns—or did own—a local importance scarcely inferior. “Did own,” alas! that I must speak of it in the past tense, but, sooth to say, Fairlop’s days are numbered ... The old tree fell years since, and now the pioneers of civilisation—the vanguard of the eastern progressing army of bricks and mortar—have invaded the classic ground, and full soon some convenient semi-detached villa residence will occupy the spot where, whilom, Fairlop’s oak flung forth its branches.
Now I am not going to describe Fairlop Fair, and simply for this reason—I have never visited it; ...
There is no account of “a Fairlop Fair” in the newspapers for this year (see above) but efforts were made at catering for those going to the area in search of one:
Ilford Special Sessions.—(Yesterday) Illegal sale of spirits and beer at Fairlop Fair.—The magistrates at the Court House, Ilford Goal, Essex, were engaged for several hours in hearing summons against a number of persons who were engaged on last Friday fair day on the Forest at Essex in selling large quantities of brandy, gin, beer, &c., against the act of parliament. The informations were laid by Inspector Nightingale, of the K division, and several constables who were on duty at the fair on the day in question. The magistrates told the several defendants that they were liable to very heavy penalties for carrying on such an extensive trade without proper licenses, but as many of them were ignorant of the law in such matters he should only inflict nominal fines, which was done, the various persons summoned left the court by paying a small sum and the usual costs.
The annual day out to Hainault Forest continued, and despite the railway more traditional transport was offered:
FAIRLOP FAIR. A private omnibus will start from Mr. Hinks’s, 69 Fetter-lane, Holborn, July 6th. Fare 2s.
Under an article headed “Fairlop Friday” which queried why the East Enders still went to Fairlop area:
It cannot be for the sake of the “fair,” although numerous placards announced its proportions this year as on a scale of “unusual splendour;” for the glory of Fairlop has departed, in company with the prestige which attached to numbers of like gatherings, suited well enough to the eye which gave them birth, when the standard recreative pleasures of all classes were of an exceedingly weak order, but considerably below the level of what may now be obtained in the shape of pleasure for a day.
We could not help fancying, as we saw the usual cottege winding its way down the road on Friday last, that the flickering embers of enthusiasm amongst the classes from which the frequenters of Fairlop are mainly drawn, must be annually fanned into something like vitality by an energetic combination—a Fairlop Conservation League—with vested interested, endangered by its decay.
... And Fairlop shall flourish, again and again ...
Vain hope! The writing is on the wall, and the days in which hundreds of our higher order of artisans ... shall be remembered as a dream, and recounted as a recorded folly of the age in which we of the present live.
The religious people, who had done a good deal over the years to stop Fairlop, appeared to go on the offensive this year. Note that although titled as “preaching at Fairlop Fair”, the activity was in east London, not Fairlop.
Last Friday an effort was made to bring the Gospel to bear upon this vast mass of human beings. Nearly 100 warm-hearted men took up about fifty stations, and preached Christ to the crowds till a late hour of the night, giving away from 25,000 to 30,000 tracts. Few interruptions took place, and deep attention prevailed. The idea of thus meeting the people seems to have been suggested at the Crosby Hall prayer-meeting, which led to the formation of other meetings, ... The Rev. Wm. Tylor, of Mile End New Town Chapel, and Rev. C. Stovel, took an active part in the movement, and both preached in the streets on Friday night. ...
The Lancaster Gazette of 10 November 1860 repeats the above and adds that they were “stationed along the Whitechapel and Mile End Roads, two and two. ... Of positive results but little could be said ... a collection was made amounting to £1 5s. 9d.”
Again the annual day out is held:
Fairlop Fair.—Pursuant to annual custom this fair was held on Friday last, in Hainault Forest. The morning proved anything but auspicious for the occasion, heavy showers falling from an early hour till mid-day, when the weather cleared up, and the refulgent rays of the sun were somewhat more congenial to the thousands of fair-going folks, anxious to participate in the festivities of Fairlop. The boats, two in number, ... were the chief source of attraction. ...
Again there are few reports of the “fair” and the following implies it had become more of an annual day out to the area, with opportunistic traders lining the route.
Fairlop Fair.—On Friday, the 4th inst., the above fair was held, pursuant to annual custom, on Hainault Forest. The weather was extremely propitious for the occasion, and the visitors may be said to equal that of many preceding years. At Stratford, as usual, the boats, two in number, were the source of great attraction ... In the Broadway there were a variety of amusements, and the number of holiday folks who had assembled in the evening to participate in the festivities of the occasion was larger than ever previously remembered. At the various taverns union jacks, flags, and banners, were hoisted, with green boughs, to denote the first Friday in July on which the fair is held. The boat belonging to the licensed victuallers, the subscribers being principally those keeping houses on the line of road leading from London to the forest, was unusually attractive. A number of watches and purses changed hands, and in the majority of cases the plunderers evaded the vigilance of the police. The rain descended in torrents on the day prior to holding the fair, consequently there were less picnic parties than is usually seen, most of the company availing themselves of the accommodations afforded by the booths and tents erected in various parts of the forest.
In reporting on the Forest Rights and Enclosures debate which had taken place in the Commons on Tuesday:
MR. COX, in seconding the motion, said that thousands of poor persons had signed petitions to that House praying for an inquiry into the manner in which enclosures took place in these forests. Speaking on behalf of those poor persons, he asserted that their only desire was to maintain their rights which the people had enjoyed for centuries in these forests, and that they had no wish to interfere with the rights of others. He claimed for the inhabitants of the metropolis the right of going upon this land whenever they pleased for fresh air and innocent enjoyment. Some years ago he had himself seen large processions of citizens, accompanied by barges fitted upon wheels, going from Mile End Road to Epping Forest and a place called Fairlop—a custom which had existed for two or three hundred years. He maintained that these lands belonged to the Crown; that those who had enclosed parts of them could claim no other right than that of turning out cattle to graze upon them; and that the people ought not to have their right of going there for recreation filched from them. It might be said that these enclosures took place with the consent of the Crown; but in the case of a recent enclosure of 101 acres at Chigwell both the Crown and the Enclosure Commissioners had been set at defiance.
The enclosure referred to appears to have been a trade, with Chigwell reserving 50 acres of land for recreation in order to enclose the 101 acres.
In a short notice (the only one found) it confirms that “This fair was held as usual on the first Friday in July, on Hainault Forest” and as usual gives no other detail except for the boats.
Mr. Cox (see March 1863) again tried to protect the public’s access to the forests:
Mr. Cox rose to move “That in the opinion of this house, her Majesty’s government should at once take the necessary steps to carry into effect the recommendation of the Select Committee on Royal Forests (Essex) in session 1863, and which recommendation was as follows: “To obtain the sanction of parliament for the inclosure of the remaining portion of the forest .. to make provision for securing an adequate portion of the forest for those purposes of health and recreation ... The hon. member said that in 1850 an act was passed for disafforesting Epping and Hainault Forests, and that after the disafforesting had taken place encroachments began to be made on the land. Tenders were absolutely invited by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests for the purchase of the forestal rights of the crown over the land. In February, 1853, an address was agreed to on the motion of the hon. member for Maldon against the enclosure of common lands within 19 miles of the metropolis. Encroachments still, however, continued to go on in Epping Forest, and a committee was ultimately appointed to consider the subject. That committee was nearly [equally] divided in opinion. ... He was convinced that if something were not done there would in a short time be no forest at all to deal with, and therefore, he thought the recommendation of the committee should be carried out ... the crown had in the forest 2,000 acres of land ... He claimed for the country the right of the 2,000 acres. This was the first of July, the day on which Fairlop fair had for centuries been held under Fairlop oak, which was on the very spot that had been sold by the government ...
Again, there’s no account of the fair as such, but the East London Observer, 9 July 1864, noted that “the annual recurrence of Fairlop Fair brought together at least 100,000 people in the Whitechapel and Mile end roads, the vast concourse being kept in order by some fifty police.”
An enterprising merchant sought extra business:
Fairlop Fair. Important Notice. To the inhabitants of Whitechapel, Mile End, and surrounding neighbourhood. The Best Coloured Fire ROMAN CANDLES, and every Description of FIRE-WORKS, to be had as Cheap as Ever at T. THRIDGOULD Old Established Factory, 31 Oxford Street, Mile End, near the Toll Gate.
The account for the year is again gives little attention to what happened in the Hainault area:
Fairlop Fair.—Yesterday morning, shortly after nine o’clock, the boats took their departure to Fairlop Fair, Hainault Forest, Essex, according to ancient custom ... to the forest, where there were shows and swings, terminating in the evening with fireworks.
Again at Ilford Petty sessions, 8th July, shows one thing that went on in the forest:
Gambling.—Thomas King, for having a gambling table at Fairlop Fair, was sentenced to 21 days’ hard labour; as was also James Irvine for a similar offence.
Fairlop had become a tradition, particularly the boats, and these were appreciated outside the Fairlop fair context. In a report about Crystal Palace, there is:
... Then there was the grand procession from the cricket ground, the members of the order, decked with their full regalia, carrying banners, &c., and accompanied by the Deptford brass band, the bands of the Lambeth Ragged School, the Shoeblacks, Duke of York’s School, and the Metropolitan Police, S and D divisions, the memorable Fairlop boat, fully rigged and decorated and being drawn by four grey horses, as the tail of the procession.
Epping Forest.—Though the glories of Fairlop have departed, Epping is still dear to the Londoner; and it is with regret that we find, from a statement put forth by Colonel Palmer, Verderer of Epping Forest, that not only have encroachments been made from time to time upon that ground by the lords of the manor, but that these encroachments have been winked at by the authorities; and as, by the Government bill recently introduced, the control of the forest is to be vested in her Majesty’s Commissioners of Works, who do not appear to have dealt every tenderly with the spot, Colonel Palmer announces his intention to petition against the proposed change, and called upon those who care that the forest should be retained to follow his example.
A “new subscriber” wrote to ask ...
I see placards on wall and window that the “Licensed Victuallerers’ Boat” will go down at such a time and return at such a time. What does this mean? The fair is to be held this year at a spot about half a mile from where the old original oak stood (so I am informed), opposite the Maypole public-house at Barkingdale ...
Although not specifically noted, Fairlop Fair day was often rained out:
Fairlop Fair.—This fair was held on Friday last on Hainault Forest. The weather had the effect of preventing so large amount of visitors as in many preceding years. The boats, three in number ... [on returning] only one of the boats exhibited the lights, as notice had been given that the police would interfere. Throughout the day heavy showers of rain descended, marring the festivities of this fair.
“A. B. C.” who regularly wrote poetry for the newspaper (and had previously written a lament for Hainault forest), wrote a long poem entitled The Gipsies of Hainhault Forest:
About the land they roam and go,
Unmindful of the morrow;
Carless of rain or wind or snow,
Nigh stranger to all sorrow.
Near Romford Road they pitch their tents,
And walk about our village,
In dark Egyptian lineaments,
Watching for pence or pillage.
...
They pitch their tents by Barkingside,
Or near the Fairlop oaks;
Their country is the world so wide;
Their friends, the dogs and mokes.
They nestle all about Hog Hill,
And Havering Atte-Bower;
Their talk is simple, and their will
The same from hour to hour.
etc.
The East End traders who benefited from the annual Hainault excursion thought they could increase trade by avoiding the need to leave London:
Fairlop Fair on a Small Scale. For some few weeks past the Whitechapel and Mile-end districts of the Metropolitan Victuallers’ Association have made effort for removing the ancient and popular Fairlop Fair to this town ... Mr. Lee, of Mawneys, offered the party a commodious field for the erection of shows, stalls, &c., and on Friday between 30 and 40 members of the Licensed Victuallers’ Society entered the town in their gaily dressed and newly decorated boat ... A drinking booth, an overboat, one stall, and a few knock-em-downs constituted the attractions of the fair ... dancing, kiss-in-the-ring &c., being kept up till a late hour.
There were still some who thought of the original Fairlop and honoured the memory of the founder:
The Fairlop Company celebrated the Centenary of the death of Daniel Day on Friday last, having entirely renovated the tombstone in Barking Churchyard.
The Blockmaker’s boat, the “Maggot”, drawn by six grey horses, accompanied by three outriders, arrived at 11 a.m. at the Old Five Bell Gate, of Barking Churchyard, followed by two carriages and pairs, occupied by ladies.
Mr. Thomas Hemingway, of the “Bank of Friendship,” Mile-end, whose ancestry, with himself, has been for years associated with the name of “Fairlop,” delivered the following brief and approach address over the grave:
“Kind friends, we have met this day over the ashes of one who, from the common cause of nature, could not be personally known to any of us—to celebrate the centenary of his death, and to pay a tribute to the memory of a man to whom those now around this grave can never pay again. But let us hope that future generations may at all events follow our example, and that his memory may be as great in 1967 as it is now ...
By way of an obituary and also showing how quickly things faded from popular memory:
FAIRLOP FRIDAY.
Yesterday being “the first Friday in July,” celebrated in the Fairlop song, which used to be known by all East-enders as sung while dancing round the Fairlop Oak on fair day, the “boats” proceeded to Chigwell, according to annual custom. The origin of this custom is not known to every one, but tradition informs us that 104 years ago a shipbuilder, named Day, commenced an annual excursion for his family and workpeople to Fairlop, where there was a celebrated oak. The party proceeded from the shipyard in a full-rigged ship of small dimensions, but sufficiently large for the whole party. The ship was placed on wheels and drawn by horses. In process of time this annual custom made a holiday in the neighbourhood, and more than Mr. Day’s family joined in the “outing.” Indeed, so numerous did the party at last become, and so many inhabitants of the East-end joined in it, that a fair became established, and “Fairlop Fair” was looked forward to with great expectation by Whitechapel, Bow, Bromley, Mile-end, and Stratford, and from thence down to the river side. Fairs, however, at last grew obsolete, and for many years there has been no fair at all at Fairlop. Still, the old plan of the “boats” going down to Hainault Forest is kept up, and the old custom was repeated yesterday. Shipbuilders continue to support the time-honoured rule of old Day, and the blockmakers yesterday morning started their boat from the Builders’ Arms, Popular, at half-past eight. She was a pretty little vessel on a four wheeled carriage: full-rigged, and ready for sea. Certainly she had her complement of men on board. She passed down Stratford to Ilford, thence to Barkingdale, Chigwell, and Woodford Wells, where the party arrived to dine at the Horse and Well, before five in the afternoon. The Licensed Victuallers’ Fairlop Boat left the Earl Grey, Whitechapel, later than the Blockmakers’, and went by the same route to the George, at Woodford, where the company dined. Whitechapel, Mile-end, and Stratford were decorated with flags as if in expectation of a Royal visit; but from Ilford to Woodford, and by the still onward route to Stratford again, there was only here and there an indication that anything out of the common was going on. At Barkingdale there were a few small flags, a party of “negro delineators,” and a gipsy with some “knock’em downs,” which were not set up. At the Bald Hind, Chigwell, there was an attempt at a fair by a lady from Stepney, having a small booth for the sale of gingerbread, and there were some real East-end ladies dancing in front of the Bald Hind to the music of an itinerant band. But for these nothing like an annual holiday, whether of blockmakers or licensed victuallers, might have been going on; though on the “forest” the holiday makers appeared in force.
The boats returned to town with their occupants at the conclusion of the day’s pleasure, and arrived at their destinations at half past ten. Their entry into London, which commences at Stratford, was signalised by a grand display of coloured fires from the boat, and from the “houses” at which it stopped (which were numerous), and from two to three thousand persons must have been congregated along the line of the route to welcome their return. Some “Fairlop Friday services” were projected by some people in the Stratford locality to counteract the “excesses in drinking, swearing, singing, and infamous ribaldry,” which they said abounded on these occasions; but certainly the conduct of the people was not such as to justify such a condemnation.