Liza Picard

Liza Picard has died in London at the age of 95. Liza was orginally a lawyer and worked until her retirement in 1987 for the Inland Revenue. She then moved to Cranham Street in Jericho where she become a popular member of the community.

It was while in Jericho that Liza started her second and more famous career as a social historian of London. Liza researched and vividly recorded the everyday lives of all classes, rich and poor, using precise quotations from multiple sources laced with gentle humour –  covering everything from begging to bear-baiting, from cosmetics to codpieces. The bursting out of London beyond  its city walls, for example, she describes as a “like a fat lady taking off her stays”.

As a neighbour and technical assistant, I would get an early view of these drafts which sometimes had to be rescued from multiple computer crashes. At first, I thought all this was was a casual hobby but was almost as pleased as Liza was when her first book Restoration London jumped into the Sunday Times best-seller list and was followed by four more books which were just as fascinating.

Liza became an active member of the Jericho Community Association and used her legal skills to great effect, not least in drafting a new constitution. She then took on the role of treasurer and did much to straighten out our accounts!

She was also a keen gardener and a gifted artist. Visitors to her house were delighted to see in addition to her still-life pictures the elaborate murals in her hall and kitchen. 

Liza was a regular contributor to the Jericho Echo which has now become Jericho Online. See, for example Trimming your Trees and Spare a thought for Victorian Goths.

Liza left Jericho about ten years ago when the house become more difficult to manage and so she could live closer to her family. But one Christmas card which I treasure consisted of her colouring in the familiar Jericho skyline that had been drawn by Jim Needle and which is now used on the home page of this website.

Peter Stalker