Haringey Council votes to rename Black Boy Lane to reflect diversity

A street sign for Black Boy Lane in north London, as London mayor Sadiq Khan said that London's lan
A street sign for Black Boy Lane in the north London borough of Haringey

Councillors in Haringey have voted to rename Black Boy Lane in Tottenham to better reflect diversity in the north London borough.

The road will become known as La Rose Lane after the poet and activist John La Rose who founded the first Caribbean publishing company in Britain.

The council said the change was part of a wider review of monument, buildings, place and street names, "aimed at ensuring that our public spaces across Haringey are reflective and respectful of our wonderfully rich and diverse borough".

A public consultation on renaming Black Boy Lane began in September 2020.

"As part of our commitments to tackling systematic inequalities and responding to the Black Lives Matter movement we will work alongside residents, and stakeholders to celebrate our diversity through commemoration, public artworks, education and more," said Councillor Peray Ahmet, Leader of Haringey Council,

"A road name change is only a small aspect of the bigger picture in our fight against inequality," Cllr Ahmet added.

Black Boy Lane will be renamed 'La Rose Lane'

-Who is John La Rose?

  • John La Rose was born in Trinidad in 1927

  • In the 1940s John La Rose helped to found the Workers Freedom Movement

  • John arrived in Britain in 1961

  • Five years later he founded New Beacon Books, the first Caribbean publishing house and bookshop

  • In 1975 he co-founded the Black Parents Movement from parents involved in the George Padmore Supplementary School incident where a young black schoolboy was beaten up by the police outside his school in Haringey

The council said postcodes and house numbers would not be affected by the change and the Royal Mail would be automatically updated. The National Address database would also be changed.