The History of George Meehan House (formerly Woodside House)
Woodside House was built as a private residence in the ‘Italianate’ style around 1865, when nearby White Hart Lane was a country lane winding towards the village of Tottenham. The house has been known by other names, including Westbury House and Earlham Grove House. In 2018, the house was refurbished and renamed George Meehan House (after the late Councillor George Meehan, a former leader Haringey Council). It now accommodates the Registrars' Department.
Former occupants of this historic building included philanthropist Catherine Smithies (1785-1877), who founded the Band of Mercy animal welfare group (which later merged with the RSPCA). Uniformed RSPCA officers formed a guard of honour at her funeral. She is commemorated by an obelisk and drinking fountain on Bounds Green Road.
Her son Thomas Bywaters Smithies (1817-1883), a publisher and campaigner for Temperance and the welfare of the ‘Working Man’, also edited “The British Workman”. The Tottenham Herald reported that:
when Thomas Smithies died… the working men of England lost one of their best friends.
In 1893 the house was bought by the Wood Green Local Board of Health. In 1892 it became the area’s first public library, and in 1913 a single storey extension was added to incorporate a new council chamber for Wood Green Urban District Council.
The building also became the local police courts. The former police cells were later used as a kitchen.
Woodside House remained the town hall for Wood Green until 1958. Since that time, under Haringey Council, it has been used for different council services.
Photographs:
- Top: The Town Hall, Wood Green, 1911
- Bottom: Woodside House in 1962
Images on this page are used courtesy of Bruce Castle Museum, Haringey Archive and Museum Service.
Address:
- George Meehan House (formerly Woodside House)
294 High Road
Wood Green
N22 8YX
Page last updated:
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