The Archive holds two copies of this photograph; one gifted by Bridget Cherry, HHS Vice President and architectural historian, and the other by Ken Gay, Muswell Hill’s historian and HHS stalwart who used this image in his book of photographs, Muswell Hill Revisited, (Tempus, 2006) intriguingly not using it in either of his books on the history of Muswell Hill.
Who was Madame Uzcielli?
Madame Uzcielli is a beneficent lady shrouded in mystery. Ken Gay could not shed light on who she was and a trawl through history books and the internet has only come up with an obtuse reference in The Catholic World, Vol. X, October 1869, to, ‘lines on the pontifical hat preserved in madame uzielli’s private oratory’. Perhaps the same lady who had in 1861 generously provided almshouses in Pages Lane for five poor persons? This building was not far from the Mus Well, very dilapidated by the 1860s, but much visited by pilgrims in medieval times when it was believed to have curative powers.
Uzcielli’s Cottages
The almshouses were subsequently known as Uzcielli’s Cottages. They were pulled down in 1937 and a tall white block of flats in the ‘international modernist’ style replaced them, named Whiteall Lodge.
Image credits
Hornsey Historical Society
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