Place Name
Given the claim that the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin has on Enfield (namely that his grandfather Mr Nott used to own a local pub), you may think that this street was named after him. In fact it comes from another, Harold John Turpin (1893 – 1967), the T from Turpin also forming part of the acronym STEN which gave the so-called submachine gun its name. This street was built on the former site where Mr Turpin was Senior Draughtsman of the Design Department of the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF). He along with Major Reginald V Shepherd, the Inspector of Armaments in the Ministry of Supply Design Department at The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich (and the S in STEN) are credited with being the main designers of the weapon that was used widely during the Second World War, the Korean War and numerous other conflicts around the globe. Despite its flaws the gun became incredibly popular and more than four million were made.
