Street / road names and their origins

I've have a good look through and the only other information is that there were 25 and young officers. They were also present at the swearing in of a Freeman, Flight-Sergeant Raymond Herbert Loveitt. The mayor explained about the ceremony as they had not seen anything like it before. I can't find anything in any other newspapers. The articles were dated the 1st and 3rd November 1941. There does not seem to be anything else going on at the time.

I grew up in Courthouse Green and had assumed it was named after an obscure composer, along with the other roads in the area, Purcell Road, Elgar Road and Sullivan Road. After 60 years I stand corrected. At the junction with Blackberry Lane I understand that there was a plot of land that the owner would not sell to enable the two parts of Sewall Highway to be connected. At one time it was certainly possible to cross on foot but by 1960ish it was joined and I used to cycle through there to school.

The one that has got me is Hipswell Highway. The only thing Coventry collections say mentions Thomas Epyswell but can't find anything about that family name.

looking at the map before the road was built, there was a small pool with subsequent stream just in the line of the road route. To the east of both was a strange water feature that looks like a sideways mushroom. Might one of then be Hip's well?

I have come across a very obscure website which is something to do with the University of Houston, with long list of plea cases and it is also possible to see the documents in old English. There is a page which I think is 1458 which mentions Thomas Epyswell of Coventry as plaintiff in 2 cases one in Wilts and one in Shefford. I think this may be the origin of the name Hipswell.

The Coventry Collections suggest that Thomas is the origin of Hipswell but why would it be named after a very minor lawyer from the 1460s?

Yes, I can't find anything else with that name or similar so yes, Helen I am also stumped. I have now come across an CET article that in 1936 the names of 2 roads in Wyken were being changed to Lutterworth Road and Balliol Road and it says that Hipswell Highway is so named because John Wycliffe was born in Hipswell in Yorkshire and the names are all connected to him. The article mentions the town clerk who had the problem of selecting appropriate street names inn Wyken. he had previously had the task of naming the thoroughfares after facts and personalities gleaned from the city's past.

That makes much more sense Anne. I thought that some of the road names sounded more like towns than people names.

Helen, ye olde worldly name of Coventry cropped up here in Perth, ie.Coventry Seafood Bar and Grill Pty Ltd. I might give that a whirl sometime.

My fascinating contribution is Jenkins Avenue in Eastern Green which was named after my father's business partner Harold Jenkins. My father built a lot of the houses round there and was most put out that they wouldn't name a road after him "as it would be confused with Whitley Village". I have a couple of dozen photos he took of the estate being built, this I'm fairly sure is Eastern Green Lane.

Hello & welcome, Tony, Thank you for your post & picture. My normal response is to say pull up a chair & make yourself at home.

Hi all just joined after finding and reliving my first 15 years in the lower end of Charter Ave which is now facing the crem but used to face open fields in the late 49 through 60ish. There are so many post on here which remind me of my youth I really did not know where to start so I have started with something I was involved with many years ago. Just to add to the discussion on road names, over 20 odd years ago the rule for naming new roads on estate was no names of living people, developer suggest list of names and the people in the council would check if they could be used. The only time the council people got involved was if the developer wanted help hence Wickmans Drive. There are a few sneaky ones such as Moore close, Peters Walk off Hirst Rd although the Hirst is spelt wrong but it was an existing road. The road names on the estate on Parkside off Mile Lane and the roads on the old Broad St rugby pitches near Morrisons at Binley I think are quite interesting if you are a rugby fan or interested in old measurements.

Hello Evenkeel & welcome, Thank you for your introductory post. Brill! Most of you know that until my retirement as an employee at Courtaulds Engineering, in 1999, after 34 years as an accountant, the drive in to the housing estate there now, off Foleshill Rd, is named after the lady who for many years served as the cleaners' manager. I thought that was a lovely tribute. Cleaners don't often get a good press. Please Google it for the name.