Comments on: H W Petherick’s London Characters https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Sat, 16 May 2020 00:33:31 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Graham Clayton https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1338301 Sat, 16 May 2020 00:33:31 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1338301 What type of job is a beadler?

]]> By: Pamela Traves https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1338018 Mon, 11 May 2020 23:24:57 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1338018 Great Vintage Paintings, I Love Them!! Thank You.????????

]]> By: Jill Wilson https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337648 Wed, 06 May 2020 07:39:01 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337648 More great illustrations of real people – thanks GA.

The cat’s meat man was also the one that particularly caught my attention. My cat Potty is named after Catsmeat Potter-Purbright, one of Bertie Wooster’s chinless wonder friends as she has a white chin which ‘disappears’ against her white bib.

Hmmm… I wonder if I should enter her into Larry the Cat’s next cat name competition? (I was sorry to see that Schrodinger was pipped in the recent final – but perhaps it is appropriate that he should disappear at the last minute..?)

]]> By: Di Corry https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337616 Tue, 05 May 2020 19:58:38 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337616 I agree with Paul we are fortunate indeed to have the Gentle Author to brighten our days. I am also reading some previous wonderful blogs as an antidote to the sobering daily news.
These portraits are beautifully done and the ‘cat’s meat man ‘ is of particular interest to me.
Like Gillian Tindall’s ancestors mine also lived in the area known as ‘The Old Nichol’ and there were hawkers and cat’s meat sellers amongst them. I’m not sure the meat they sold for cats would have been as succulent as that shown in the picture!
Thank you Gentle Author for sharing your delightful findings with us all, keep well and safe.

]]> By: Lynne Perrella https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337596 Tue, 05 May 2020 14:43:30 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337596 An ideal project for the pandemic……..print out these images, glue them to cardstock, carefully trim around the outer edges of the figures, and install them in a paper theater. Just imagine it:
the street boy cartwheeling around, zooming past the earnest costermonger (“now, see HERE my boy — I’m trying to do a bit of business…….”) and the other characters in full-on working mode.
The backdrop? – Why the street of old Spitalfields, of course. Exactly as YOU have shown us, GA.
The cobbled streets, the wooden overhangs and downspouts, the “Room For Rent” sign in an upstairs window, and a cat on the awning. All of that in glorious paper.

Stay safe, all.

]]> By: Jennifer Newbold https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337595 Tue, 05 May 2020 14:33:26 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337595 These are beautiful. Each one is an individual portrait of a person with a life beyond their employment, and I could happily spend time dreaming up stories about each one if I had nothing more pressing to do!

]]> By: Chris Webb https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337581 Tue, 05 May 2020 08:52:45 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337581 I wonder whether anybody is doing anything like this these days, either drawing or photography. It would probably be difficult as it seems to me there are few distinct “types” these days, everyone had merged into a single nondescript mundanity.

]]> By: paul loften https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/05/h-w-pethericks-london-characters-x/#comment-1337575 Tue, 05 May 2020 06:54:18 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=181217#comment-1337575 The Gentle Author is indeed the lamplighter who shows us the way. Are we not the most fortunate people with these daily journals to brighten our day in these dark times? Not only do these wonderful illustrations of honest to goodness Victorians about their daily work give us fortitude and hope but they cast light upon the shadows and mysteries and unanswered questions that disturb our peace of mind.
Such is the case at times Whisky or Brandy should take leave of the house for longer than usual and worry fills my mind and sleep is no longer possible. Relief is instantaneous at the early morning click of the catflap but the mystery remains as to where they have spent the missing hours. All is revealed in the picture of the Cat Meat Man wherein the image of my cheeky companion appears in the background after the succulent steaks offered for sale. Never have I seen such wonderful fare on offer and no doubt neither has he! I have little doubt that cats are capable of time travel.

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