Erection date: 1884
{Two faces are inscribed with lead lettering:}
1884.
In affectionate remembrance of Leonard Montefiore who loved children and whom all children loved.
{Below this text is an oblong section of rough granite which we think used to be covered by a bronze plaque.}
L. A. M.
Clear brain and sympathetic heart,
A spirit on flame with love for man,
Hands quick to labour, slow to part,
If any good since time began,
A soul can fashion, such souls can.
We usually try and find an attractive detail for our close-up picture but we failed on this fountain; its design was rather austere, for its time, and what might have been decorative features, such as the spouts, have gone. Similarly we have failed to identify the author of the poem.
2023: responding to these points, researcher Sebastian Bulmer wrote: "Tower Hamlets archive has a picture of it at its original location in Rutland Street School which shows a rather fine metalwork lattice frame that would have sat over the pyramid. I don't know who authored the lines of poetry on the fountain, but they appear at the front of a posthumously published collection of Leonard Montefiore's writing which can be found here." The unattributed poetry appears as an epigraph in place of a frontispiece to the book.
Site: Leonard Montefiore fountain (1 memorial)
E1, Stepney Green
March 2023: Jewish News reported that this fountain has been restored and there's a photo of it actually giving forth water!
VADS gives the history of this fountain: "Was erected in 1884 at Rutland Street School and moved to its present site in 1939." Following this up we found an East London 'Rutland Street' with a Board School on its north side. This is now the section of Ashfield Road just to the west of Cavell Street. See the excellent 1899 MapRoom. 1885 photo of the Board School (no fountain in sight). We imagine the fountain may have been moved when the school was demolished but one wonders why it was moved such a distance, over half a mile.
