Nathaniel Bentley, 'The dirty hardware merchant of Leadenhall Street'

There is a public house, on Bishopsgate, with a rather curious name: 'Dirty Dicks'.

With such an odd name I knew that there  had to be an interesting story behind it... and there is.

The pub is named after Nathaniel Bentley, who lived a curious life.

Born in, or around, 1735, into the family of a wealthy hardware merchant, Nathaniel was afforded an education that befitted his status.

Dubbed 'the beau of Leadenhall', because of his clothing and impeccable manners, Nathaniel was quite the ladies man and could be seen at many functions in and around the City.

Following his father's death, in 1760, Nathaniel inherited his father's business, which consisted of a successful hardware business, a shop and a fully stocked warehouse in Leadenhall Street. Plus, around 15 properties, some of which were leased out.

In 1764 Nathaniel visited Paris and attended the coronation of Louis XVI, where he was introduced to the king and was lauded as the 'best dressed and mannered English gentleman' at the French Court. His education had resulted in Nathaniel being able to speak French and Italian fluently, allowing him to associate with people of the highest respectability.

He was also a  patron of Vauxhall and Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens, up until the early 19th century.

Now, things get curious and it becomes hard to sort fact from fiction. Following his father's death Nathaniel had moved into the warehouse, which hadn't been cleaned since 1760, and began to let his appearance decline. 

Rumours persist that a lady, whom Nathaniel was to marry, died on the eve of their wedding, while others suggest that the lady in question died on their wedding day. 

Some rumours persist that the lady died before a lavish gathering that Nathaniel had planned, for her and her family, and that the lavish meal was left on the table, behind the lock door of the dining room, gradually deteriorating much like Nathaniel's appearance. 

This rumour appears to have inspired Charles Dickens to write the character of 'Mrs Haversham'.

Either way, Nathaniel stopped washing. He repaired his clothes, until they were no longer fit for purpose, and gave himself just 18p to live on, per day.

If he did go out he still wore fine clothes and was always polite and well mannered, just not very clean.

He became miserly and let all of his staff go, except for one who did his shopping for him. His diet consisted of vegetables and, occasionally, bacon, although that had to be lean as the fat was a waste.

He was also partial to drinking beer, demolishing a gallon of the stuff every three days.

He was no longer known as 'the beau of Leadenhall', but rather as 'Dirty Dick', the dirty hardware merchant of Leadenhall Street.

When asked why he didn't wash his hands, anymore, he replied,

"It is of no use, Sir. If I wash my hands today they will be dirty again tomorrow."

Over time the warehouse became even dirtier, with grime caking the windows, while dust covered his wares, inside the property.

Refusing to light a fire to fight off the cold, as the warehouse became more dilapidated and windows cracked, he would stand in a box of straw to keep his feet warm.

He refused the help of his neighbours who offered to help in repairing and maintaining the building.

One afternoon he damaged his leg, while moving around the warehouse, and employed a lady to supply him with bandages and medicines. However, his leg refused to heal so he was forced to pay to have it treated, otherwise he could have lost it, or worse, died.

People still flocked to his warehouse, especially the ladies, who were fascinated by his unkempt appearance but still polite nature.

Nathaniel continued to occupy the 46 Leadenhall Street warehouse, until his lease expired in 1802. Mr Gosling took over the lease and leased the building to Nathaniel for another year.

In 1804 the lease expired and Nathaniel vacated the premises, leaving it to his successor, Mr Gosling.

Walking with family and friends: Mile End to Old Street... and beyond

Regent's Canal.

Saturday October 12, 2024.

Keilyn and I set off from home at just after 09:05, for a short walk to Watford underground station, where we met my friend Steve. We boarded a train to Baker Street, changing to an Aldgate train at Finchley Road. We alighted at Liverpool Street and headed into the depths to catch a Central line train to Mile End, from where our walk would begin.

Leaving Mile End station we immediately headed to a small independent coffee shop, Coffee London, for some refreshments.

Across the road we noticed a mural and murals would become something that we would see a lot of on this walk, although we were yet to know this. 

With hot drinks in had we crossed Mile End Road, to check pout the mural, before we turned onto Grove Road and began our journey. 

Ahead of us was a railway bridge that carries the mainline from Liverpool Street over Grove Road. It is this mainline that we plan to follow back towards the City of London. However, this bridge was severely damaged on June 13, 1944, when the first V1 'flying bomb' to fall on London destroyed it and severely damaged homes on nearby Antill Road, to the east, and Burnside Street and Belhaven Street to the west. The latter streets were later demolished and a small park is now in their place. Walking through this park we could hear skittering sounds in the undergrowth, which turned out to be mice that seemed unperturbed by our presence as they darted from tree to tree. 

The path led us to the Regent's Canal, where we spotted three metal portraits by the towpath, so we went down to investigate. One of the metal statues was of a Towpath Horse, which were essential to pull boats along the canal, bringing trade and business to the area. The second was of Sylvia Pankhurst, who was a leading member of the suffragette movement and who worked tirelessly for better living conditions in the East End. The final statue is of Ledley King, an East Ender who would go on to play for Tottenham Hotspur FC and represent England at the World Cup.

We then crossed the Regent's Canal and found ourselves entering Meath Gardens, from its southeast corner. This landscaped garden was opened in 18 and has a children's playground, a fitness gym and basketball and football facilities. There is also a large Black Poplar in the centre of the gardens which has been here since the 1840s, making it one of the oldest trees in the area. 

Meath Gardens has an interesting history, too. It originally began life as one of the eight private cemeteries that sprung up in the 1840s. However, Victoria Park Cemetery, which opened in 1846, was so poorly run that it couldn't make money in this poverty stricken area. By 1856 it had fallen into such a state of squalor that calls for its closure soon rang out. It finally closed to burials in 1876, after 1000,000 interments, the majority of which were children. Nearly all of the monuments and gravestones were cleared and the grounds landscaped, with it opening as Meath Gardens in 1894. The bodies were never removed.

Continuing our walk we crossed beneath the mainline and continued west along Bancroft Road, before heading back under the mainline to Three Colts Lane. We crossed Vallance Road, where I took a photo of some newish houses that stand on the spot of some now demolished homes, one of which, 178, was home to Ronnie and Reggie Kray. A little further and we reached 'The Carpenter's Arms'. once the local pub of the Krays.

From here we headed north along St Matthew's Row where we spotted various mosaic designs, affixed to the walls of William Davis Primary School, and a Watch House, opposite, attached to the grounds of St Matthew's Church Gardens. 

This is a much larger Watch House than the one I had previously seen in Rotherhithe. We soon found ourselves on Bethnal Green Road which followed westward, before turning down Chilton Street and onto Cheshire Street. Here trendy cafes and vintage shops filled both sides of the road, which brought us out to Brick Lane. 

On Sclater Street a few market stalls were beginning to unpack their wares, so we stopped for a browse. Keilyn picked up a small 'bum bag', while I purchased two old London bottles and a couple of whisky miniatures, one of which I gave to Steve. Sclater Street soon rejoined Bethnal Green Road and we found ourselves beside Shoreditch Boxpark.

We headed south, along Shoreditch High Street, before heading west along Great Eastern Street until we reached Leonard Street. It was here that we stopped for some refreshments at 'The Griffin'.

Gainsborough Pictures

 

Gainsborough Pictures

Monday, March 28, 2022

Wandering east along the Regent's Canal, from Angel, I soon found myself in Shoreditch Park.

Commemorative Plaque.

To the north of the park are the old Gainsborough Pictures film studios, which were converted to apartments in 2004.

Film Reel sculpture.

There is a sculpture of a film reel, in Shoreditch Park, and a giant sculpture of Alfred Hitchcock's head within the grounds of the apartments, which, unfortunately, I wasn't able to access on this visit.