Place:Tottenham, Middlesex, England

Coordinates51.601°N 0.076°W
Located inMiddlesex, England
Also located inGreater London, England     (1965 - present)
Contained Places
Wood Green ( - 1894 )
source: Family History Library Catalog


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Tottenham is one of the ancient parishes of Middlesex. In 1894 it became an Urban District, and it 1934 it was incorporated to become a Municipal Borough. Tottenham Municipal Borough was abolished in 1965, becoming part of the London Borough of Haringey.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Tottenham is an area of north London in the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia


Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Toteham.

Early history






Modern era


An incident occurred on 23 January 1909, which was at the time known as the Tottenham Outrage. Two armed robbers of Russian extraction held up the wages clerk of a rubber works in Chesnut Road. They made their getaway via Tottenham Marshes and fled across the Lea. On the opposite bank of the river they hijacked a Walthamstow Corporation tramcar, hotly pursued by the police on another tram. The hijacked tram was stopped but the robbers continued their flight on foot. After firing their weapons and killing two people, Ralph Joscelyne, aged 10, and PC William Tyler, they were eventually cornered by the police and shot themselves rather than be captured. Fourteen other people were wounded during the chase. The incident later became the subject of a silent film.

During the Second World War Tottenham also became a target of the German air offensive against Britain. Bombs fell within the borough (Elmar Road) during the first air raid on London on 24 August 1940. The borough also received V-1 (four incidents) and V-2 hits, the last of which occurred on 15 March 1945. Wartime shortages led to the creation of Tottenham Pudding, a mixture of household waste food which was converted into feeding stuffs for pigs and poultry. The "pudding" was named by Queen Mary on a visit to Tottenham Refuse Works. Production continued into the post-war period, its demise coinciding with the merging of the borough into the new London Borough of Haringey.

In 1985, the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham was the scene of rioting between the police and local youths following the death of Cynthia Jarrett, a resident of Tottenham but who lived about a mile from the estate who died of heart failure after four policemen burst into her home. The response of the members of the black community in Tottenham and surrounding areas culminated in a riot beginning on Tottenham High Road and ending in the local Broadwater Farm Estate. One police officer, Keith Blakelock, was killed; 58 policemen and 24 other people were injured in the fighting. Two of the policemen were injured by gunshots during the riot, the first time that firearms had been used in that type of confrontation.

The Mecca Dance Hall was demolished in 2004 to make way for local housing.

The 2011 England riots were precipitated by the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man in Tottenham, Mark Duggan, by officers of the Metropolitan Police Service on 4 August 2011.

The railways

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