Street in London, famed for its association with the book trade From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paternoster Row is a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade,[1][2] with booksellers operating from the street.[3] Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade.[4] It was part of an area called St Paul's Churchyard. In time Paternoster Row itself was used inclusively of various alleys, courts and side streets.
A mounted officer of the City of London Police entering the pedestrian area on New Change and Paternoster Row in November 2004.
The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during World War II. In 2003 the area was pedestrianised with Paternoster Square, the modern home of the London Stock Exchange, at the west end and a paved area around St Pauls' Coop and an entrance to St Pauls tube station at the East, bounded by St Pauls Churchyard, New Change, Cheapside and Payner Alley. The route of Paternoster Row is not demarcated across the open areas, although there is a road sign at the south of the eastern area, perhaps designating the area as Paternoster Row. Between Payner Alley and Queen's Head Passage/Cannon Alley the road is clearly marked as Paternoster Row. The building to the south, Paternoster House has an address in St Pauls Churchyard (the pedestrian way north of the bounds of the churchyard proper), where its south face is. There are no signs on the next segment up to Paternoster Square, nor around the square. The exit from the south-west corner of the square, along, or very close to. the previous route of Paternoster Row, debouching on Ave Maria Lane - Warwick Avenue opposite Amen Corner, is signed as Paternoster Lane.
The street is supposed to have received its name from the fact that, when the monks and clergy of St Paul's Cathedral went in procession chanting the great litany, they would recite the Lord's Prayer (Pater Noster being its opening line in Latin) in the litany along this part of the route. The prayers said at these processions may have also given the names to nearby Ave Maria Lane and Amen Corner.[5]
Another possible etymology is that it was the main place in London where paternoster beads were made. The beads were popular with the laity, as well as illiterate monks and friars at the time, who prayed 50 Paternoster prayers (Latin for "Our Father") three times a day as a substitute for the 150 psalms recited a day by literate monks.[6][7]
The name of the street dates back at least to the sixteenth century.[citation needed]
Houses in St. Paul's Churchyard were damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, burning down the old St. Paul's Cathedral. When the new St. Paul's Cathedral was erected, booksellers returned after a number of years. At the same time Pissing Alley which linked Paternoster Row to St. Paul's Churchyard was rebuilt and renamed Canon Alley the name it still bears, although it was also referred to as Petty Canons.
It was reported that Charlotte Brontë and Anne Brontë stayed at the Chapter Coffeehouse on the street when visiting London in 1847. They were in the city to meet their publisher regarding Jane Eyre.[10]
A fire broke out at number 20 Paternoster Row on 6 February 1890. Occupied by sheet music publisher Fredrick Pitman, the first floor was found to be on fire by a police officer at 21:30. The fire alarm was sounded at St. Martin's-le-Grand and fire crews extinguished the flames in half an hour. The floor was badly damaged, with smoke, heat and water impacting the rest of the building.[11]
This blaze was followed later the same year on 5 October by 'an alarming fire'. At 00:30 a fire was discovered at W. Hawtin and Sons, based in numbers 24 and 25. The wholesale stationers' warehouse was badly damaged by the blaze.[12]
On 21 November 1894, police raided an alleged gambling club which was based on the first floor of 59 Paternoster Row. The club known both as the 'City Billiard Club' and the 'Junior Gresham Club' had been there barely three weeks at the time of the raid. Forty-five arrests were made, including club owner Albert Cohen.[13]
On 4 November 1939, a large-scale civil defence exercise was held in the City of London. One of the simulated seats of fire was in Paternoster Row.[14]
Trübner & Co. was one of the publishing companies on Paternoster Row.
The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during the Blitz of World War II, suffering particularly heavy damage in the night raid of 29–30 December 1940, later characterised as the Second Great Fire of London, during which an estimated 5 million books were lost in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs.[15]
After the raid a letter was written to The Times describing:
'...a passage leading through "Simpkins" [which] has a mantle of stone which has survived the melancholy ruins around it. On this stone is the Latin inscription that seems to embody all that we are fighting for:- VERBUM DOMINI MANET IN AETERNUM' [The word of God remains forever].[16]
Another correspondent with the newspaper, Ernest W. Larby, described his experience of 25 years working on Paternoster Row:[17]
…had he [Lord Quickswood] worked for 25 years, as I did, in Paternoster Row, he would not have quite so much enthusiasm for those narrow ways into whose buildings the sun never penetrated… What these dirty, narrow ways of the greatest city in the world really stood for from the people's viewpoint are things we had better bury.
—Ernest W. Larby
The ruins of Paternoster Row were visited by Wendell Willkie in January 1941. He said, "I thought that the burning of Paternoster Row, the street where the books are published, was rather symbolic. They [the Germans] have destroyed the place where the truth is told".[18]
The Brazen Serpent (1627–1650) – Robert Dawlman (1627–1635, 1635–1638, died 1659), Luke Fawne (1635–1638, 1639–1641), Samuel Gellibrand (1639–1641, 1641–1650)
The Golden Ball/Ball (1650–1675) – Samuel Gellibrand (1654, 1655, 1656, 1661, 1667, 1669, 1673) (died 1675), two of his sons Edward Gellibrand (1676, 1678, 1679, 1680, 1681, 1685), John Gellibrand (1679–1685),[21] F.? Gellibrand (1683)
No. 59 - Junior Gresham Club, opened and destroyed by fire in 1894
No. 60 – Friendly Female Society, "for indigent widows and single women of good character, entirely under the management of ladies."[39]
The Siege of Paternoster Row was an anonymous 1826 booklet in verse, attacking the reliability of bankers.[69]
The Paternoster Gang are a trio of Victorian detectives aligned with the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who, so named because they are based in Paternoster Row.
In the episode "Young England" of the 2016 television series Victoria, a stalker of Queen Victoria indicates that he lives on Paternoster Row. (Coincidentally, the actress playing Victoria in the series, Jenna Coleman, had appeared in several episodes of Doctor Who that featured the above-mentioned Paternoster Gang.)
The novel, The Last Bookshop in London, makes numerous references to Paternoster Row, and it mentions the destruction of the street during World War II.
Captain Charles Johnson (1724). A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates (seconded.). London: T. Warner. p.title page.
Smith, Sydney; Jeffrey, Francis Jeffrey; Empson, William; Napier, Macvey; Lewis, George Cornewall; Reeve, Henry; Elliot, Arthur Ralph Douglas; Cox, Harold (1817). The Edinburgh Review: Or Critical Journal. Vol.28. A. Constable.
The London catalogue of periodicals, newspapers and transactions of various societies with a list of metropolitan printing societies and clubs. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 1856. p.3, of wrapper.
Plain truth: or, an impartial account of the proceedings at Paris during the last nine months. Containing, Among other interesting Anecdotes, a particular statement of the memorable tenth of August, and third of September. By an eye witness. 1792.
Fox, William; Raikes, the Younger, Robert (1831). Ivimey, Joseph (ed.). Memoir of W. Fox, Esq., founder of the Sunday-School Society: comprising the history of the origin … of that … institution, with correspondence … between W. Fox, Esq. and R. Raikes, etc. George Wightman. (See also: Sunday School Society)
Samuel Richardson (1818). Abduction of M. G. The trial of J. Bowditch and nine others on the prosecution of G. L. Tuckett, for conspiracy, assault and false imprisonment at the assizes for the County of Dorset July 25, 1818. Taken from the short hand notes of Mr Richardson. 46 Paternoster Row, London: Baldwin, Craddock and Joy.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (January 1872). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. p.1.
Grey, Zachary (1740). A Vindication of the Government, Doctrine, and Worship, of the Church of England: Established in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Paternoster Row, London: C. Davis.
Edward Hall (1809). Henry Ellis (ed.). Hall's Chronicle: Containing the History of England, During the Reign of Henry the Fourth, and the Succeeding Monarchs, to the End of the Reign of Henry the Eighth, in which are Particularly Described the Manners and Customs of Those Periods. J. Johnson.
Master, Trimmer (1826-08-12). The siege of Paternoster Row: a moral satire, unfolding in heroic metre, certain secrets concerning literary trading … funds … the exchequer … and … other subjects. G. Richards. OL20352160M.