Plaque

Rough, the Bishop family dog

Erection date: /12/1880

Inscription

Beneath this ground was buried our little dog Rough, for many years the faithful friend and companion of A. Bishop and family. December 1890.

Victorian Gs and Cs are often indistinguishable, so the dog could be Rough or Rouch. We've gone with Rough because that's the noise dogs make, isn't it?

Initially we read the date as 1830 which was puzzling, since the street was not developed (by Henry Rydon) until 1851, and old maps show this address as just fields in 1830. But our tireless genealogy consultant, Andrew Behan, found Alfred and Sarah Bishop who, with their two sons (one of whom was also named Alfred), moved in between 1873 and 1876 and remained until Alfred died in 1886 and Sarah, his widow in 1891. On re-examination, using fingers, the date was found to be 1890.

So Sarah had been widowed 4 years when the family dog died, and herself survived less than a year. 15 years would be a long life for a dog so, if Rough joined the family as a puppy, that would have been shortly after they moved to this address.

The inscription does not make it clear but we think the plaque was probably erected by Sarah, and that the 'A. Bishop' referred to was the paterfamilias, her late husband, not their 32-year old son.

Site: Rough, the Bishop family dog (1 memorial)

N5, Highbury New Park, 16, Severn Villa

The plaque is on the boundary wall between the two houses in our photo. That section of wall now forms one wall of the garage to no.16 but we imagine that when the plaque was erected it was in the open.

This unusual memorial was brought to our attention by the current owners of no.16, Davey and Hilary, who kindly allowed us access for photographs. They only discovered the plaque when they renovated the garage and found it half buried, which explains why the top half is so distressed.

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:
Rough, the Bishop family dog

Subjects commemorated i

Rough

Rough, the little dog of A. Bishop and family.

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Rough, the Bishop family dog

Created by i

A. Bishop and family

Researched by Andrew Behan: Alfred Bishop was born in Stourport, Worcestersh...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

King of Corsica

King of Corsica

W1, Wardour Street, St Anne's Soho

The weather-worn stone above this plaque is, we guess, the original gravestone. Perhaps someone with legal training could explain the me...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Cripplegate

Cripplegate

EC2, Wood Street, Roman House

In our photo the plaque is almost lost in the strong shadow but can just be seen, below the lettering "Roman House".

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Sir William Perkin

Sir William Perkin

E1, Cable Street

Sir William Henry Perkin, FRS, discovered the first aniline dyestuff, March 1856, while working in his home laboratory on this site and w...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Clayhall Tea House

Clayhall Tea House

E3, Blondin Street, 50

Clayhall Tea House stood near here - a famous place of refreshment in the 18th century. Bow Heritage Trail

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

E11, Wallwood Road, 141

This is the one 1930s house in a terrace of Victorian properties. It's smaller both in height and floorplan - not a development that woul...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator