Forum topic: The Canonbury Tower

The 23 Feb Weekly Newsletter contains a link under “Reported Elsewhere” entitled "You can climb to the top of the Canonbury Tower" which comes from the “Ian Visits” series. This is interesting in itself, but, although it’s not made explicit, it describes events from the life of Sir John Spencer, Lord Mayor of London in 1594-95, “the richest man in England” and owner of Broomfield House from 1599 to his death in 1610.

Ian visits contains one error, linking Sir John Spencer with another Spencer family. Although Broomfield House went to Sir John’s one-time apprentice Joseph Jackson, his fortune (and the tower) went via his only child, his daughter Elizabeth, to William Compton, 2nd Baron Compton who became the 1st Earl of Northampton in 1618.