Comments on: In Search Of Flower & Dean St

By: Lee Kohn

Lee Kohn — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 10:28:17 +0000

I was at Flower & Dean Walk Estate yesterday to reminisce. I lived at 146 Nathaniel Buildings when I was born in 1962. My earliest memory is sitting on a small concrete balcony with railings talking to an old man in a cap while looking across to the balconies on the other side. I have never been able to find a picture that represented this but John Allin’s painting does it perfectly.

I met 4 young asian guys sitting in a car yesterday and when I explained why I was there we talked about when their parents came over and moved into the estate in 1984. It was great.

By: Mike Burrows

Mike Burrows — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:14:12 +0000

My great grandfather father Mark Isaacs and his wife Sarah lived at No. 34 Rothchilds Buildings in the 1890’s. Also my grandmother was a young girl here from the age of o-6 years old. I have been result family tree and I took a walk in the area in February this year and all I could find was the old archway.

I believe each of the apartments within the tenement building had its own toilet. This was very modern for its time. I have also read the book by Mr White and found it very interesting.

By: colin

colin — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:19:06 +0000

My ancestors, Robert and Richard Skarratt apparently had a butchers shop in Den st c 1740.
I am surprised about this info knowing the reputation of the street. Would like to know more about this.

By: Gerard McCabe

Gerard McCabe — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 11:11:00 +0000

Grew up in Flower and Dean St, from 1958 to 1965 then moved to North London. Have fond memories of the playgrounds in between the blocks of flats, playing with the cardboard tubes from the material rolls used by fashion industries around.
Also strangely enough I remember Maxi’s the little general shop and Harry’s the newsagents.

By: Julie Walton

Julie Walton — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 07:31:54 +0000

A thoroughly fascinating read, thank you.

My 4th G Grandparents, Thomas Martin and Catherine Williams, were married at St Jude’s Church, Whitechapel on 3rd September 1849. The marriage certificate states that they were living at living at 9 Flower & Dean Street.

By: Mandy O’callaghan

Mandy O’callaghan — Thu, 11 May 2023 08:37:40 +0000

I was trying to go over my life. The earliest picture I saw of myself, I must’ve been about two or three, born 1967 now I’m 55 years old with a great big doll bigger than me on the sofa. I asked my Nan now passed where the photo was taken. Her reply was flower and Dean Street, Whitechapel and the picture was taken from a photographer on the corner of flower and Dean Street. A number of years later I went to find flower and dean Street to find that history of flower and Dean Street, been demolished and now it’s Flower & dean walk. It was quite emotional and upsetting that I wanted to find a piece of my life in the place it’s been demolished. ?

By: Laura V

Laura V — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 17:38:38 +0000

Thanks for this wonderfully detailed piece.

Like Paul Loften, my father’s Yiddish-speaking grandma used to refer to “Flarrydin Street” in her thick accent. It took a while till he worked out that she was referring to having lived on Flower and Dean Street.

And like Lucy Neville, I recommend the book by Jerry White, Rothschild Buildings: Life in an East End Tenement Block 1887-1920 (Foreword by Raphael Samuel), History Workshop Series (London: Routledge, 1980).

By: michael edward hardie

michael edward hardie — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:22:06 +0000

there were 2 brady clubs.
the boys was just of Brady st. Whitechapel and the girls
in Hanbury St.
I knew Flower and Dean St. well and
in the 50s they were slums with people
living in them who deserved better.
Michael Hardie

By: Mandy

Mandy — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 19:00:43 +0000

My mum lived in Nathaniel Dwellings (as she called it) on Flower and Dean Street, approx. 1944 – 1960 I believe. She went to the Brady Girls Club and has many fond memories of it. I’ll print this out for her (and the comments), she’ll enjoy reading it! And if she has any memories to add of Flower and Dean Street I’ll come back to comment. I took her back for a visit a while ago, but of course it had all gone, and that was a sadness. I didn’t know about the arch or that it was available to find.

By: Terry Burns

Terry Burns — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 19:25:24 +0000

I lived in Nathaniel Buildings (born there),from 1957 until Flower and Dean Street was demolished in 1972 (many readers will be familiar with the much loved Garfinkles grocery shop in the street, and I played every day in the yard shown in the cartoon drawing. (I have a lovely actual photo of the inside of that yard). Hardly any research into the street mentions the fascinating fact that the street had a famous resident and I have a photo of the plaque on the wall of the buildings which confirms this. Abe Saperstein, the founder of the famous Harlem Globetrotters, was born there. The plaque reads “Abe Saperstein, born July 4th 1902, died March 15th 1966, Founder of the Harlem Globetrotters Basket Ball team. This plaque was placed by the Amateur Basket Ball Association”.