General Chat

I have received some information today about an ancestor - on the 1861 Census the family address is 5 Labour in Vain Street, Shadwell. The mind boggles at whoever thought of this as a street name!. Jean

We have a Labour in Vain yard in Norwich.

I've just thought - I wonder if a pub stood on the sites originally. It sounds like a pub name.

There's also a 'Labour in Vain' in St Just, Cornwall. I tried googling it to see if I could find the origins of the name, but no luck unfortunately.

Well blow me down!! I know where the yard is situated in Norwich and have walked down it many times. I just googled it thinking there might be something to do with Quakers there, as it is the kind of name they might adopt? and found that the old Fire Station stables were there. My maternal grandfather who died a few months before I was born, apparently moved with his wife ,my grandmother who I never met either, and some of his family from the countryside outside Norwich into the centre of Norwich to care for the horses who pulled the fire engines! I was told this by a relative and have tried to find out more but there is no one responsible for the old records at the fire station so can't get access to find anything out. I will have to go to the yard soon and have a scout around, I know it is within a few minutes walk from the house my mum grew up in, so fits perfectly. What a turn up for the book, thanks for posting this thread! Liz

There was a public house in Reigate, in the 18th century, called 'Labour in Vain'. Presumably it originates from the Biblical verse, or proverb, which goes something like this, 'Unless the Lord build it they labour in vain'. The public house was demolished in 1752.

Only potential?

There was a pub near where I once lived called 'The Labour in Vain' - the pub sign depicted 2 women scrubbing a black child - the sign was removed after complaints of potential racism. See w w w*midlandspubs*co*uk/innsigns/l*htm

Strangely enough Fiona, the coloured clientele did not have a problem with it - in fact they felt that the taking down of it was ridiculous as it was obviously an historical thing.

Ah well, I'm a stroppy Londoner.

I think that is funny, shows the two women weren't over clever trying to scrub a child's skin to change the colour. What a shame it was removed, pc gone mad again.