Hackney Museum

Hackney Museum Sharing the rich, diverse and inspiring histories of our amazing Borough. We hide or delete comments with hate / spam / misinformation / disinformation.

Happy bank holiday weekend!The idea of a trip to the seaside as a popular leisure activity started life in the 1800s, or...
28/08/2026

Happy bank holiday weekend!

The idea of a trip to the seaside as a popular leisure activity started life in the 1800s, originally as a luxury only for the rich. Most of the poorer, working people living in what is now the borough of Hackney had neither the opportunity (working long hours, often six days a week), nor the money to go on holiday. The introduction of the bank holiday changed that. 

Image credits 📷

- Woman and child at the seafront, c.1925-1930. Hackney Museum 1987.39.

- Postcard owned by Stoke Newington resident Leonard G. Abbott of the 'Golden Eagle' paddle steamer. Hackney Museum, 2000.111. 

- ‘Kitty’ (Catherine Ellen) Daines with her friends on a seaside holiday c.1920s. Hackney Museum, 1989.342.

20/08/2026

Hackney Marshes is widely known as the spiritual home of Sunday League football ⚽

With over 80 pitches, Hackney Marshes has one of the largest concentrations of grass football pitches in the world. Over the years, many football competitions have been hosted there, including the Hackney and Leyton Sunday Football League.

Founded in 1946, the Hackney & Leyton Sunday Football League is a historic league based in East London, that has hosted several matches, tournaments and events over the years, primarily played at Hackney Marshes.

Johnnie Walker (b.1933 - d.2020) was the chairman of the Hackney & Leyton Sunday Football League and managed the Premier Champions in Hackney & Leyton. Johnnie started playing in the league in 1949 and later became chairman in 2004. He spent decades working to protect ‘grassroots’ football on Hackney Marshes, fighting for improvements such as better pitch conditions.

📸 Johnnie Walker photograph, Credit to Arnau Oriel 2010.134
📸 Sunday Football on Hackney Marshes 1985, photograph by Alan Denney
📸 Photographs of the Hackney Football Team at Hackney Marshes (1930s) 2008.77



This pass was issued to Kidar Singh Sharma (later known as Kidar Singh Jamdagni) so he could travel during periods of cu...
14/08/2026

This pass was issued to Kidar Singh Sharma (later known as Kidar Singh Jamdagni) so he could travel during periods of curfew in Delhi. The curfew was in place as a way to limit the communal rioting taking place during the partition of India to create independent states of Pakistan (east and west) and India.

Pakistan became independent from British colonial occupation on 14 August 1947 and India on 15 August 1947. This pass was issued to Kidar ten days later on 24 August and then renewed on 21 September 1947.

Kidar later joined his family in Clapton.

📷: Kidar Singh Jamdagni (right) with his brother-in-law Guru Pandit (left) outside Pandit Brothers factory, the family business in Balls Pond Road, 1950s. Photo from the Jamdagni family archive.

To find out more about this family’s story, read our blog **Fashion, Family and Factories: Pandit Brothers of Balls Pond Road**
👉 https://hackney-museum.hackney.gov.uk/2026/07/22/fashion-family-factories-pandit-bros/

06/08/2026

Hackney’s garment industry, often called the ‘rag trade’, was one of the biggest employers in the borough from the early 1900s until the 1980s, when production moved from Britain to countries with lower costs.

Pandit Brothers, a Dalston based family business, was a leading manufacturer of women’s dressing gowns between the 1950s and 1980s.

Read our blog post Fashion, Family and Factories: Pandit Brothers of Balls Pond Road to discover more about this local business. Link in comments.

📷: Studio photo of Mr Devi Pershad Pandit, 1950s, Photo (C) unknown, from the Jamdagni family archive.
📷: Address detail from Pandit Brothers letterhead
📷: Fashion details from Pandit Brothers letterhead
📷: Garment size label
📷: Floral dressing gown made at Pandit Brothers’ factory

Hackney’s garment industry, often called the ‘rag trade’, was one of the biggest employers in the borough from the early...
06/08/2026

Hackney’s garment industry, often called the ‘rag trade’, was one of the biggest employers in the borough from the early 1900s until the 1980s, when production moved from Britain to countries with lower costs.

Pandit Brothers, a Dalston based family business, was a leading manufacturer of women’s dressing gowns between the 1950s and 1980s.

Read our blog post Fashion, Family and Factories: Pandit Brothers of Balls Pond Road to discover more about this local business. Link in comments.

📷: Studio photo of Mr Devi Pershad Pandit, 1950s, Photo (C) unknown, from the Jamdagni family archive.
📷: Address detail from Pandit Brothers letterhead
📷: Fashion details from Pandit Brothers letterhead
📷: Garment size label
📷: Floral dressing gown made at Pandit Brothers’ factory

For South Asian Heritage Month, we want to share one of our favourite objects 🥘 🍽️This tiffin was used to store and tra...
30/07/2026

For South Asian Heritage Month, we want to share one of our favourite objects 🥘 🍽️

This tiffin was used to store and transport meals such as curries, dhal and rice.

In 1946, Mrs Pandit brought it to London from India, when she joined her husband living on Pedro Street, Clapton. Mr D.P. Pandit had arrived in London years earlier to train as a tailor.

Mrs Pandit came to London with her children, and brought the tiffin and other cooking utensils to continue cooking for her family.

This unique tiffin was made in the early 20th Century from peetal (brass). Today, tiffins are usually made of stainless steel.

Mr Pandit and his brothers set up a clothes factory, Pandit Bros Ltd, on Balls Pond Road, Dalston.

📷: Photo of Mrs Pandit taken at a Dalston photography studio, 1947 (C) Photographer unknown. Photo from the Jamdagni family archive

Hackney Museum has two magic lanterns which are over 100 years old! Magic lanterns are a type of projector that was inve...
24/07/2026

Hackney Museum has two magic lanterns which are over 100 years old! Magic lanterns are a type of projector that was invented over 300 years ago. Images painted onto glass slides were projected onto a wall and would be used to tell stories. Some of our magic lantern slides show the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel.

130 years ago, a child called Elsie lived in Hackney. She sent a letter to her school friend Amy who lived in Clapton. In the letter Elsie told her friend about what she had been doing during the Christmas holidays, including going to “a lovely party with a very large magic lantern”.

At Hackney libraries this summer, children can design their own magic lantern slides as a part of The Great Hackney Libraries Quest. Hackney Libraries

🎞️ Lantern slides, Hackney Museum 1990.136 & 1990.137
📽️ Magic Lantern, Hackney Museum 1991.805
📜 Letter, Hackney Museum 1989.111

10 years after its closure, we look back at the legacy of Paintworks, which was based on Kingsland Road, Hoxton.It suppo...
16/07/2026

10 years after its closure, we look back at the legacy of Paintworks, which was based on Kingsland Road, Hoxton.

It supported local emerging artists through part-time employment. Some later became well known figures in contemporary art.

Rising rents and studio closures saw Paintwork’s artist customers being increasingly priced out of Hackney. The building has since become ‘boutique’ flats.

Do you have any memories of Paintworks during its 31 years? Share them in the comments.

We need you help!Vote to chose which of these iconic Matchbox toys will feature in our new permanent displays to tell th...
09/07/2026

We need you help!

Vote to chose which of these iconic Matchbox toys will feature in our new permanent displays to tell the story of the Lesney's factory. React to this post using the emoji shown to let us know your favourite.

Did you own any of these in your own collection? Let us know in the comments.

01/07/2026

On International Reggae Day, we remember: Ital Records

In the late 70s and early 80s, brothers Bert and Pepe Campbell transformed 112 Stoke Newington High Street into an important cultural hub. Through their shop, label and distribution service, Ital Music Force, they sold records that helped define a generation’s sound - blending Jamaican reggae rhythms with soulful influences to contribute to the iconic UK Lovers Rock scene.

From recording artists like Trevor Walters to distributing seminal reggae tracks, Ital Records was an important part of London’s reggae music scene that has left a lasting legacy.

👇Follow the link in comments below and explore the Ital Records story.

📷 12” vinyl record ‘Love Me Tonight’ by Trevor Walters, produced by Bert and Pepe Campbell for Ital Records and released in 1981

📷 Bert Campbell behind the counter at Ital Music Force Record Shop, Stoke Newington 1979. Courtesy of the Campbell family.

📷 Headshot of Bert Campbell. Courtesy of the Campbell family

📷 Bert Campbell carrying out business at Ital Records, 1979. Courtesy of the Campbell family.

📷 Still image from the Blacker Dread documentary ‘Sound Business’ showing Ital Music Force Ltd Record shop front in 1981.

📷 Reggae singer Dennis Brown (left), poses with Pepe Campbell. Courtesy of the Campbell family.

📷 Still image from Top of the Pops, August 2nd 1984 showing Trevor Walters singing ‘Stuck on You’.

📷 Collage of images of record labels owned and distributed by Bert and Pepe Campbell. Courtesy of the Campbell family.

📷 Image of the B side of 12” vinyl copy of Trevor Walter’s ‘Love Me Tonight’ entitled ‘Dub Me Tonight’.

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1 Reading Lane
London
E81GQ

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 8pm
Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

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