Geoff Wilkinson writes on Wanstead Daily Photo: “Something I have noticed and often thought about wandering the streets of Wanstead is why do older houses have names, usually carved above the front door. This said, on the above picture they are much nearer the roof line. I think I have resolved the thought. My friend Alex, a fountain of knowledge about all things Wanstead told me that prior to approximately 1906 carving a name above the house was the norm. After that date the post office insisted on numbers. I wonder no more.”
Naming houses was a late 19th/early 20th century marketing ploy. Rather than try to sell yet another brick terraced house, the names were intended to convey individuality and prestige. I live in the Bushwood area of Leytonstone which was laid out during the 1890s/1900s and most of the houses were named. I have been researching my road through census returns to try to find the original name of our house: some of them were amazingly grand.