Vauxhall/Vogsal

[vittoria]

I have been thinking about this for a while but I am not sure how to ascertain: What is the origin of the word Vauxhall as in Vauxhall Station, London SW8, England? Is there a connection with the word vogsal which, if I remember correctly, is Russian for Station?

[sgs]

Vauxhall is named after someone named Falkes de Braute, who had a house on the site. Thus it became known as Falke's hall, etc. The usual Russian word for station is stantsyr, but, you're right, voksal is an alternative. If there's any relation . . . I'll look into it.

[allen ives]

Click on the link below for a fuller explanation of the two usual explanations of why Vauxhall is Russian for station. Briefly, it is as follows. Russian diplomats were very impressed with the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The first stop on the newly-built Russian railway after St Petersburg was thus named Vauxhall, and it became a generic name for a 'station'. Alternatively, a bunch of non-English-speaking Russian diplomats travelling on an English railway asked 'what is this called' when stopping at Vauxhall station. The reply 'Vauxhall' was taken to mean 'station', and so it passed into Russian as another borrowing. (Russian is an even bigger borrower of foreign words than English). http://www.vauxhallandkennington.org.uk/springgardens.html

[sgs]

Beat me to it, allen ives.

[vittoria]

I am impressed by the answers, thank you. It also explains why when I change trains at Vauxhall, a balloon can sometimes be seen nearby. Thanks, Vittoria

[incitatus]

Just to muddy the waters a bit...some of the Vauxhalls in London are named after the Vaux family, rich Catholic recusants who had huge influence in the court of James I.

[allen ives]

No offence intended, SGS, all I did was a quick google search. I assumed you'd be writing a thousand word essay about the etymology of vogsal and the history of odd borrowings in Russian and English, etc... And anyway, who is this Incitatus dude?

[sgs]

None taken, allen ives. Anyway, here's an essay - not quite 1,000 words - on the origins of the names of the London boroughs article 2299