Top Hat Terrace

Home of Francis ‘Tanky’ Smith

Top Hat Terrace was originally known as Victoria Terrace. It was built in 1864 for Francis ‘Tanky’ Smith, a former Detective Inspector in the Leicester Borough Police who had a reputation as a master of disguise. With his colleague Tommy Haynes, he infiltrated criminal gangs and gathered evidence to convict them. Francis Smith was said to be one of the people on whom Arthur Conan Doyle based his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

What do the heads on the building represent?

The sixteen heads above the first floor windows represent some of Francis Smith’s disguises. They include a bishop, two jockeys and the top-hatted figure that gave the terrace its popular name. The origins of his nickname ‘Tanky’ are not known but it is suggested it refers to “tanking” or tapping disorderly people on the head with a cane.

A bust of Tanky Smith wearing a disguise

How could he afford such a grand property?

Smith resigned from the police in the early 1860s after a dispute with the Head Constable. In 1862 he was hired by the Winstanley family of Braunstone Hall to investigate the mysterious disappearance of James Beaumont Winstanley, High Sherriff of Leicestershire. A drowned body found in the Moselle river in Germany was identified as Winstanley’s later that year, and Smith was generously rewarded by the family for his efforts. This enabled him to build Victoria Terrace, designed by his architect son James Smith.

Top Hat Terrace today

This building now belongs to Crane And Walton LLP, a long established firm of Leicestershire solicitors. They recently undertook its refurbishment as part of their centenary celebrations to commemorate the founding of the firm in 1910.