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Boss Alley (Billingsgate)

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Boss Alley is situated at the north side of Billingsgate Ward, the ward likewise positioned along the northern bank of the Thames. The name Boss Alley may serve to create some confusion, since it connotates the ruffian bosses or unkind overseers that bullied London’s seventeenth-century working class. However, the boss in the alley simply refers to a waterway.1 In his 1921 text, The Fellowship of Woodmongers; Six Centuries of the London Coal Trade, Hylton Burleigh Dale researches the origins of the name, determining the boss to be a water conduit running out of a gore-bellied figure or a figure with a protruding abdomen (Dale 148). Dale reports that this boss was referred to in the title of a book published by Wynkyn de Worde in 1520 (Dale 148).
The streets and alleyways of seventeenth-century London were organized into a number of sections called wards. Boss Alley was sectioned into Billingsgate Ward, however like much of London, this area was devastated by the Great Fire of 1666. In 1681, Richard Burton describes the governmental structure of the ward, which includes an Alderman, his Deputy, and nine Common Council Men; 11 Constables, 6 Scavengers, and a Beadle (Burton sig. E1r). Undoubtedly due to its location adjacent to the Thames, Billingsgate Ward appears to have played a vital role in London’s economy. According to Charles Knight in 1875, regulation of cargo and trade from the river was managed by fellowship porters Gap in transcription. Reason: (CNE)[…] appointed by the Alderman of Billingsgate Ward, who is ex officio Governor of the Fellowship (Knight 365). This information indicates that Billingsgate Ward was of great import to the bustle of business within London, placing Boss Alley in a hub of economic activity.
The aldermen of London acted as administrators in their wards and were comparable to a Justice of the Peace, although they held greater power. At least one of the aldermen who presided over Boss Alley made his way into fame and folklore. In his 1854 text, The Streets of London, with Anecdotes of their More Celebrated Residents, John Thomas Smith indicates that the Boss of Billingsgate was erected by the executors of Sir Richard Whittington (Smith 378). The historical Whittington was a wealthy merchant of textiles, reaffirming the ward’s association with mercantile London. John Stow describes Whittington in his Survey of London as 3. times Maior, in the yeere 1421. began the Library of Gray Friers in London, to the charge of foure hundred l. his executors (with his goods) founded and builded Whittington Colledge (Stow 1633, sig. I2v). Stow’s account suggests Whittington to be a generous figure, interested in improving life for those in his ward and the residents of London as well.

Notes

  1. I.e., the Boss of Billingsgate (MR)↑

References

  • Citation

    Burton, Richard. Historical Remarques and Observations of the Ancient and Present State of London and Westminster. London, 1681. Wing C7329.

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  • Citation

    Dale, Hylton Burleigh. The Fellowship of Woodmongers; Six Centuries of the London Coal Trade. London, 1921. Remediated by Hathi Trust.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Knight, Charles, ed. London, 1851. Remediated by Hathi Trust.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Smith, John Thomas. The Streets of London, with Anecdotes of their More Celebrated Residents. London, 1854. Remediated by Hathi Trust.

    This item is cited in the following documents: