Plaque

New Lansdowne Club

Inscription

The Elizabeth Fry Refuge, 1849 -1913, to help women in need.
Elizabeth Fry, 1780 - 1845, reformer of conditions for female prisoners. 
London Borough of Hackney 

Site: New Lansdowne Club & Elizabeth Fry (1 memorial)

E8, Mare Street, 195

The Hackney Society has done a thorough job researching the history of this building, with lots of pictures.  A brief summary: Built about 1699. Possibly home to a clock-maker (someone has a clock, with "C. E. Carter 195 Mare St Hackney" on its face). 1849-1913 Elizabeth Fry Refuge. We believe Fry had no connection with this building: she had recently died so they named it in her honour. In 1913 the house became The Lansdowne Liberal and Radical Club, later The New Lansdowne Club). Described as a bustling working men's club from the 1950s - 1970s. Club closed in 2004, when planning permission was received for a  Vietnamese Community Centre. This never happened. Bought by Dunbar Bank. Has a reputation as a drug den but the squatters in occupation in 2009-10 were looking after it and holding community events such as bicycle workshops.

2023: Spitalfields Life have more details and lots of photos of the derelict interior.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
New Lansdowne Club

Subjects commemorated i

Elizabeth Fry Refuge

Otherwise known as the Elizabeth Fry Institute for Reformation of Women Priso...

Read More

Elizabeth Fry

Prison reformer.  Born as Elizabeth Gurney in Norwich into a Quaker banking f...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Sir Joshua Reynolds - Great Newport Street - lost

Sir Joshua Reynolds - Great Newport Street - lost

WC2, Great Newport Street, 5, The Photographers Gallery

April 2016: Our colleague Alan Patient reports that this plaque is now lost, or, at the very least hidden, behind the large "White Space...

1 subject commemorated
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson

Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson

WC1, Bedford Square, 22

Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, actor, lived here. Born 1853, died 1937.

1 subject commemorated
Sir Alec Guinness - WC2

Sir Alec Guinness - WC2

WC2, Upper St Martin's Lane, Guild House

The building is offices for Equity, the actor's union.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Dame Katharine Furse

Dame Katharine Furse

W1, Stanhope Gate, 15

{Beneath the WRNS badge:} On this site in January 1918 Dame Katharine Furse GBE established the first headquarters of the WRNS. Women's R...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Douglas Macmillan - SW1

Douglas Macmillan - SW1

SW1, Ranelagh Road, 15

Douglas Macmillan, 1884 - 1969, founder of Macmillan Cancer Relief, lived here. English Heritage

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator