tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64573839314986348372024-03-13T05:02:23.753-07:00Kilburn and Willesden HistoryDick Weindling and Marianne Colloms's website for history stories about this area of London.Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-73820817889193941842018-05-22T07:17:00.000-07:002018-05-25T04:11:01.617-07:00The Quadruple Life of Frederick Monks<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">By day an accountant’s
clerk and by night, a professional bicycle rider, debonair man-about-town and a burglar,
the highly versatile Frederick Monks was sentenced to twelve months’
imprisonment for robbery in 1904. At the time he was the only man ever known to
the London Police who had lived a ‘quadruple life’ and his story is a romance
of roguery. He lived four widely divergent lives, mingled in four different
classes of society, had four sets of friends, and maintained four
characteristics. He was arrested in his lodgings in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> (no number was given in the reports).</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEtohBy0SYg/WwQlPmu7bzI/AAAAAAAAAT8/YIAofLiAKOc_Qd60qQrXJzPQCUM-C4lZwCLcBGAs/s1600/Quadruple%2Blife%252C%2Billustration.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="1600" height="570" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yEtohBy0SYg/WwQlPmu7bzI/AAAAAAAAAT8/YIAofLiAKOc_Qd60qQrXJzPQCUM-C4lZwCLcBGAs/s640/Quadruple%2Blife%252C%2Billustration.jpg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The
Clerk</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">In the morning
Frederick Monks, dressed like all the other clerks, took a seat at his desk in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Wilson</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Co.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">
a firm of accountants at Nos.37 and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">39 Essex Street</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Strand</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">. His demeanor was modest and unassuming. He was
deferential to his employers and congenial with his colleagues. He ate his
modest lunch alongside them, chatting about girls and sport - subjects which
clerks often talked about. ‘That bicycle rider?’ he would say in response to
the good-natured banter of his friends who asked him about the professional
athlete who had won the three-mile race at the ring the evening before. ‘No, I
don’t know him. He’s no relative of mine, even if his name is Frederick Monks. If
I could win £50 for riding around a race track in eight minutes, do you think I
would add up figures for 35 shillings a week? Not me!’ At the end of the work
day Frederick Monks would close his ledgers, carefully hang his threadbare office
coat on a peg, and leave the office to catch a bus to </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> where he rented a single room. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The
Athlete</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Fred trained at a
gymnasium, where he put himself through an hour’s hard exercise with dumbbells,
weights and pulleys, and Indian clubs. Then after a shower bath and a rub down,
he would don a suit of riding tights, put on his outer clothes and a heavy
sweater, and go to the Paddington Recreational Ground. There he would ride his
bicycle for an hour. A sponge bath, another rub down, this time by his trainer,
a substantial supper, and Frederick Monks, professional rider, was ready for a
race. At the gymnasium and in the riding rink Frederick Monks was no longer the
modest, unassuming clerk. He was loud-voiced, hearty, bluff and a good fellow.
He swore much, drank nothing, and smoked a little. No one dreamed that he could
and did transform himself into a humble bookkeeper during the working day. Frederick
Monks was well known in sporting circles in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">London</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> and his name often appeared on the sports pages.
He won many races and was undisputed champion of his class.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Man
about Town</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">On the evenings when
Monks was not riding in a race or training he adopted his third persona. His
dress suit, top hat, and patent leather shoes fitted him as well as his racing
togs, and he wore them with the easy grace of a society idler. He had a wide
circle of friends in Haverstock Hill and other parts of </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">London</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> who were ignorant of his life in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> and on the cycling track. This Frederick Monks was
known as a man of means, from a good family background and with a lucrative position
in the city. As such, he was frequently invited to parties and receptions.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Monks was especially fond
of the company of young women. In turn he attracted them: as he was very good
looking with an athletic build, always fashionably dressed, well-educated and
refined. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Frederick</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> was such a success with the opposite sex, that
at the time of his arrest he was engaged to marry not one but four women,
living at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Salisbury</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">, Fulham, Lambeth and Maida Vale. Their
photographs were found in his rooms at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> and with each photograph was a packet of love letters.
After his arrest Monks boasted that he had made ardent love to many women,
giving them presents and promising to marry a number of them. Monks was well able
to maintain his role as a man of leisure from his winnings as a professional
bicycle rider; but he had another and far more sinister source of income. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">A Burglar
by Night</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">In the early hours of
the morning Frederick Monks became a burglar - and the police testified that he
was as skillful and daring a man who ever wore a mask and used a jimmy. He
disguised himself: <i>slouching through the
darkness, he passed unknown, friends who knew him well during his day periods
of respectability</i>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">For two years there
were a series of unsolved burglaries in Hampstead, Paddington and Kilburn.
Detective Inspector Pollard of X-division carried out the investigations with
DS Gill and DS Burrell. In almost every instance the houses were entered between
2 and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">3
o’clock</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> in the morning,
just a few days after the family had given a party. This coincidence, however,
did not occur to the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">London</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> detectives until DS Burrell took a list of guests who had
been at a party in a house robbed the following evening. All the names seemed
to be those of men above suspicion. But when he obtained guest lists from a
dozen or so other householders who had been robbed under similar circumstances,
the detective realized the name ‘Frederick Monks’ appeared on all of them and he
was the only common link. Seemingly Frederick Monks, whoever he was, was on
intimate terms with a dozen different social circles.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">DS Burrell copied the
names and addresses of dozens of ‘Frederick Monks’ listed in the Post Office
directory and began a discreet investigation into all of them. At the accounting
firm, his employers gave Monks the best of character references. The detective watched
the clerk at work at his desk, followed him to his lodgings in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> and found nothing suspicious. Then Monks’
complicated life began to fall apart when Burrell spotted an advert for a
100-mile bicycle race. Frederick Monks was listed as competing, so Burrell
secured a seat near the rail at the Princess track. For a long time he was
unable to get a clear view of Monks, but when he did, he became convinced that
Monks the rider and Monks the clerk were one and the same. The detective’s next
discovery was that Frederick Monks, of </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">, frequently came home late at night. When his
landlady complained about his late hours, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Frederick</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> told her he could not refuse invitations. <i>I am out at so many parties, balls and
dances, it is the result of being so popular</i>. Burrell kept watch and followed
his suspect to a private house in Maida Vale, where, in evening dress, he made a
social call on a young woman. The evening clothes identified Monks as the society
man who appeared on the party lists, and from that time on he was carefully
shadowed by the team from X-division.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1EArerY3ACI/WwQlvDgtwDI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Pvunbq2bzv0OLHoRok13usuA56JgYwntwCLcBGAs/s1600/Kilburn%2BPark%2BRoad%2Bpostcard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="478" height="380" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1EArerY3ACI/WwQlvDgtwDI/AAAAAAAAAUE/Pvunbq2bzv0OLHoRok13usuA56JgYwntwCLcBGAs/s640/Kilburn%2BPark%2BRoad%2Bpostcard.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kilburn Park Road, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">with the spire of St Augustine's in the distance</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The detectives soon
learned that Monks was engaged to more than one young woman. DS Burrell spoke to
the girl in Maida Vale who gave him a letter she had received from Freddie only
the day before. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Dearest:
I am thinking of you always, and your ‘good little talks’ are influencing me in
the right direction. Never have I realized so much as last night the power for
good possessed by one who is blameless. I cannot see you tomorrow night, as I
promised, for I have an invitation, which I cannot refuse, to a party at
Haverstock Hill. With love and kisses, - Freddie</span></i><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The
Real Frederick Monks</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The police learned that
Frederick Monks was an assumed name, and that the man with four lives was in
reality the twenty-year old son of a wealthy, well-respected and prominent tradesman
in Paddington. To protect his family, the press reports only gave his real name
as Frederick S. Incredibly, he was even charged in the name of Frederick Monks,
and despite considerable effort, we have not been able to work out who he
really was.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Frederick</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> was well-educated at a private school in </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Westbourne</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Park</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">, receiving every care and attention at home, but he carried
out a series of petty thefts as a young man. In April 1902 the police arrested
him on a charge of handling a silver cigarette case and other items stolen
during a Maida Vale burglary, but he was released because there was
insufficient evidence against him.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">On </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">16 June
1904</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> some knives and an
ornamental writing desk were stolen in a burglary at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">98 Shirland Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">. The desk was found in the possession of one of
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Frederick</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">’s young ladies, who said her sweetheart had
given it to her. Following another burglary at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">178 Portsdown Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">, Monks was arrested by Detective Sergeants
Burrell and Gill at </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2am</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">
on </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">21 September 1904</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> in his </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Kilburn Park Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> lodgings. A case of mother of pearl knives taken
from </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Portsdown
Road</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> was
found in his room. At first Monks tried to brazen it out, but finally admitted
he was Frederick S, and that he had committed the two burglaries. The police
described him as <i>a stubborn, crafty and
skilful burglar</i>, responsible for over a dozen crimes. They charged him with
the two burglaries and at the Clerkenwell magistrates court he pleaded guilty
and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Frederick</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;"> served his time with hard labour at Wormwood
Scrubs, but after that he disappeared and we don’t know what happened to him,
as he probably changed his name again.</span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-26264107152917286682018-05-18T03:31:00.000-07:002018-05-18T08:08:58.899-07:00The Murder of the Merry Widow of Willesden<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On 31 Oct 1967,
59 year old Doreen Flintham was murdered at her home 62
Chambers Lane Willesden Green by Maldwyn Robert
Gordon. Although there are many books about London
murders, for some unknown reason this one has not been covered before.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Doreen was the widow of George
Henry Flintham. He started as a plumber and became a very successful building
contractor who was better known as the ‘Aga Khan’ of greyhound racing. He bought
his first greyhound in 1929 and went on to become the owner of the largest
number of dogs in the country and serve as the Chairman of the British Greyhound Breeders’ and Owners’
Association. When he died on 31 May 1964 aged 71, he left Doreen and the family
£526,365, (worth over £10M today). </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gh7oG4BC874/Wv6p7a7Te7I/AAAAAAAAATo/PM_nnCQLWIU7HQeWNefJmF6xePJxARmPQCLcBGAs/s1600/White%2BCity%2BGreyhound%2BTrack%252C%2B1927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="571" height="444" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gh7oG4BC874/Wv6p7a7Te7I/AAAAAAAAATo/PM_nnCQLWIU7HQeWNefJmF6xePJxARmPQCLcBGAs/s640/White%2BCity%2BGreyhound%2BTrack%252C%2B1927.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">White City Greyhound Track, 1927</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the 1940s and 50s, George would
get his usual taxi to the </span><span style="color: black;">White</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">City</span><span style="color: black;"> stadium to watch his dogs race and then dash across town to
other tracks.</span> In 1959 when his dog Dunston Warrior won at Catford he was
given the prize by film star Diana Dors. Puffing on a cigar, he told a reporter
he loved dogs and had spent £200,000 on greyhounds. Doreen said they had about
400 cups in the house, ‘I wish he spent a tenth of what he spent on dogs on
me!’ They married in Willesden in 1943 and for many years lived at 102
Clarendon Court in Sidmouth Road NW2.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1967 Maldwyn Robert Gordon was aged 22 and unemployed. He
was living at Queens Park Court,
Ilbert Street Kensal Green, when he met Doreen in a local cinema and she invite<span style="color: black;">d him home. They had sex and he told his friends all about
the wealthy ‘merry widow’ and said he was going to rob her. Soon afterwards Doreen
was found battered to death with a statuette. Neighbours said she was well
known in the area as a keen gambler in the </span><span style="color: black;">West End</span><span style="color: black;">
clubs, who made frequent trips abroad. Police conducted </span>a four hour reconstruction
of the crime, and Detective Superintendent Alfred Napier of Willesden Green
police station, said they were keen to trace her young men friends who had
stayed at the house in Chambers Lane.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lfrsGGJix1s/Wv6qpiDHbrI/AAAAAAAAATw/rwF43S5nx8QD2uagMk8cNIs-Qn-XB-4PwCLcBGAs/s1600/Maldwyn%2BRobert%2BGordon%2Bpicture%252C%2B1970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="813" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lfrsGGJix1s/Wv6qpiDHbrI/AAAAAAAAATw/rwF43S5nx8QD2uagMk8cNIs-Qn-XB-4PwCLcBGAs/s400/Maldwyn%2BRobert%2BGordon%2Bpicture%252C%2B1970.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Maldwyn Robert Gordon, 1970</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From their enquiries, t<span style="color: black;">he police
arrested </span>Maldwyn Robert <span style="color: black;">Gordon on </span><span style="color: black;">8 November 1967</span><span style="color: black;">. In February 1968 at the Old Bailey he said he had hit
Doreen to knock her out so that he could rob her, but had not meant to kill
her. The jury found him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to life imprisonment
in Wormwood Scrubs. His</span> friends were found guilty of receiving a diamond
ring and other stolen property belonging to Mrs Flintham. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">While serving his sentence, in October 1970, Gordon was escorted
from prison to the Hammersmith Hospital,
after he had complained of stomach pains. When he finished dressing after the
X-r<span style="color: black;">ay, he suddenly pushed the two guards aside and
ran out of the building. After crossing a railway line, he disappeared in a row
of back gardens and stayed on the run for three weeks until he was re-captured in
Notting Hill and sent back to prison. It is not known when he was released. </span></span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-45459419800443599982018-05-11T01:29:00.004-07:002018-05-11T06:14:07.271-07:00Where was Kilburn Wells?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Today, No.42 Kilburn High Road at the corner of </span><span style="color: black;">Belsize Road</span><span style="color: black;"> is a branch of the Franco Manca pizza chain. The </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and South Western Bank opened here on </span><span style="color: black;">31 December 1874</span><span style="color: black;">, and next door were two small shops, numbered 44 and 46,
now reunited as a single premise, No.44, Rush Hair Salon. When the bank was
expanded and rebuilt in 1898 to form the present building, a stone plaque was
placed at first floor level saying this was the site of Kilburn Wells. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_9g0ZTDqp0/WvVN7PcoUJI/AAAAAAAAASc/rYE_GChOUzcOalVEc6i9TDJ6kOUJ65mbwCLcBGAs/s1600/Site%2Bof%2BKilburn%2BWells%2Btoday%252C%2Blow%2Bres%2B%25288%2BMay%2B2018%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="1200" height="553" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_9g0ZTDqp0/WvVN7PcoUJI/AAAAAAAAASc/rYE_GChOUzcOalVEc6i9TDJ6kOUJ65mbwCLcBGAs/s640/Site%2Bof%2BKilburn%2BWells%2Btoday%252C%2Blow%2Bres%2B%25288%2BMay%2B2018%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kilburn High Road today, </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">showing the Wells plaque, (May 2018)</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The exact location of the Kilburn
Wells has long been disputed, but after considerable research we now believe it
was situated behind today’s pizza restaurant and Rush hair salon. The best
evidence we have is that when local builder Henry Oldrey was demolishing some old
houses to build a new photographic studio for George Nesbitt in April 1891, he found the remains of a brick
arch and a tiled passage way behind what was then No.46 Kilburn High Road.</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-884kH3dlIEw/WvVQTn-AQHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/6O4aXHr4D-UxygJQMlWioz-zauaHQi7twCLcBGAs/s1600/Kilburn%2BHigh%2BRoad%252C%2BNesbitt%252C%2Bc1895.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="1600" height="452" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-884kH3dlIEw/WvVQTn-AQHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/6O4aXHr4D-UxygJQMlWioz-zauaHQi7twCLcBGAs/s640/Kilburn%2BHigh%2BRoad%252C%2BNesbitt%252C%2Bc1895.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">The corner with Belsize Road showing </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">the Bank and an advert for Nesbitt's studio, (c1895</span>)</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the 18<sup>th</sup> century,
Kilburn gained a reputation among Londoners as a pleasure resort, known as
Kilburn Wells. It grew up around a medicinal spring of fresh water in Abbey
Fields, near the site of the old Kilburn Priory and in the grounds of The Bell,
or Kilburn Wells public house as it was called at the time. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cnNrHD1NK3s/WvVPFYxOLWI/AAAAAAAAAS4/MKTgx3rtOSs_0-bdfrcanef8qQc3-asQwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bell%2BInn%252C%2B1750%2Billustration%2Bfrom%2BWalford%2B1878.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1200" height="494" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cnNrHD1NK3s/WvVPFYxOLWI/AAAAAAAAAS4/MKTgx3rtOSs_0-bdfrcanef8qQc3-asQwCLcBGAs/s640/Bell%2BInn%252C%2B1750%2Billustration%2Bfrom%2BWalford%2B1878.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Gardens and the Well were </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">entered through the archway</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">On a 1762 map drawn by James
Ellis, The Bell and the Wells are owned by Holton Vere. Successive generations
of the Vere family held the land and rented out the pub. Soon after he became landlord,
Joseph Errington, placed an advert in The Public Advertiser in July 1773 which lists
its many attractions:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">‘Kilburn
Wells, near Paddington. The waters now are in the utmost perfection: the
gardens enlarged and greatly improved; the house and offices re-painted and
beautiful in the most elegant manner. The whole is now open for the reception
of the public, the great room being particularly adapted to the use and
amusement of the politest companies. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Fit either for music, dancing or
entertainments. This happy spot is equally celebrated for its rural situation,
extensive prospects, and the acknowledged efficacy of its waters; it is most
delightfully situated near the site of the once famous Abbey of Kilburn, on the
Edgware Road, at an easy distance, being but a morning’s walk, from the
metropolis, two miles from Oxford Street; the foot-way from the Mary-bone
across the fields is still nearer. A plentiful larder is always provided,
together with the best of wines and other liquors. Breakfasting and hot loaves</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">.’</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4WZJfc2bK9E/WvVOoQqg1fI/AAAAAAAAASs/Ru-rHDo8UKYz49Y3WwWnhfzju6AFg10gQCLcBGAs/s1600/Long%2BRoom%252C%2BKilburn%2BWells%252C%2Bby%2BVivares%2Blower%2Bres%2B%2528c1773%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1336" height="443" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4WZJfc2bK9E/WvVOoQqg1fI/AAAAAAAAASs/Ru-rHDo8UKYz49Y3WwWnhfzju6AFg10gQCLcBGAs/s640/Long%2BRoom%252C%2BKilburn%2BWells%252C%2Bby%2BVivares%2Blower%2Bres%2B%2528c1773%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cover of Handbill</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">He commissioned the French artist
François Vivares (1709 to 1780), to draw the Long Room (the great room
mentioned above), and Errington produced a handbill to promote the sale of the
Waters which cost 3d a glass. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But despite his efforts to
publicise the Wells, Errington went bankrupt in May 1795 and the Kilburn Wells
with its tea gardens and medicinal springs was put up for sale. After further
renovations, the Bell Tavern -‘usually known as Kilburn Wells’, was put up for
sale again in 1807 and had a succession of landlords over the years. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3pFGNPFfjW8/WvVOIPyiBsI/AAAAAAAAASg/gB3hJFI84EsUdxXO2YObPs3uQrSbg8zOgCLcBGAs/s1600/Kilburn%2BWells%2BSpa%252C%2Blower%2Bres.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1164" height="448" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3pFGNPFfjW8/WvVOIPyiBsI/AAAAAAAAASg/gB3hJFI84EsUdxXO2YObPs3uQrSbg8zOgCLcBGAs/s640/Kilburn%2BWells%2BSpa%252C%2Blower%2Bres.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kilburn Wells viewed from behind the High Road across the footpath from Abbey Road. The white building on the right could be the Long Room, (c1800s)</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At its height it rivalled the more
famous Hampstead Wells. </span>In 1801 Dr John Bliss analysed the water from
both Kilburn and Hampstead Wells. Writing about Kilburn he said: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">‘The spring
rises about twelve feet below the surface and is enclosed in a large brick
reservoir, which bears the date of 1714 on the key stone of the arch over the
door. The water collected in the well, is usually of the depth of five or six
feet, but in a dry Summer it is from three to four, at which time its effect as
a purgative is increased. When taken fresh from the well a few inches under the
surface it is tolerably clear, but not of a crystal transparency: at first it
is insipid but leaves an evident saline taste on the tongue. At rest, and even
on slight agitation, no smell is produced but on stirring the water forcibly
from the bottom of the reservoir, it becomes turbid from impurities which have
been collected in it, and a considerable odour is emitted like that from the
scouring of a foul gun barrel.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The description of the well given
by Dr Bliss matches the remains which Oldrey found in 1891. The use of the water
for curative purposes appears to have generally ceased in the early part of the
19<sup>th</sup> century. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The popularity of the Wells suffered a further blow
after the </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and North Western Railway from </span><span style="color: black;">Birmingham</span><span style="color: black;"> to Euston cut through the pleasure gardens in 1838. The
area where the well existed, across the rail tracks and only accessible from
the High Road, was made into a kitchen garden.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaD1mCpwAvM/WvVQozMSMVI/AAAAAAAAATY/8h0XDFKBrRMfbQ1LbCt2It_b4sMiC0Q0QCLcBGAs/s1600/London%2Band%2BBirmingham%2BRailway%2Band%2BKilburn%2BWells%2B%2528c1837%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="1226" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaD1mCpwAvM/WvVQozMSMVI/AAAAAAAAATY/8h0XDFKBrRMfbQ1LbCt2It_b4sMiC0Q0QCLcBGAs/s640/London%2Band%2BBirmingham%2BRailway%2Band%2BKilburn%2BWells%2B%2528c1837%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">After the London and North Western Railway cut through the grounds. The Bell is on left, the Wells on right, (c1838)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Although the tea gardens were now
confined to the grounds behind the public house, it continued to attract
visitors. There were several tea gardens on the fringes of the </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">, offering a day’s outing and entertainment in the country
just a short walk from its congested city streets. Dickens in his ‘Sketches By
Boz’ includes an essay called ‘London Recreations’, first published in the
Morning Chronicle 15 April 1835, which describes a visit to a tea garden. He mentions
Kilburn, but the essay is probably an amalgam of various gardens. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There was a shooting butt in the
grounds of the Kilburn Wells pub, hired to volunteer corps who would spend a
day there, to practice or shoot for a prize, before dining and then marching
back to town.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Wells attracted other
visitors, seeking a secluded location. Although frowned upon by the
authorities, numerous duels of honour took place in the 18<sup>th</sup> century
and were well publicised; (duelling was only made illegal in 1819). Duels were
particularly prevalent among young military men who often selected isolated
neighbourhoods just outside Town, and Kilburn Wells was a favourite venue. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At </span><span style="color: black;">7am</span><span style="color: black;"> on </span><span style="color: black;">2 July 1792</span><span style="color: black;">,
James Maitland the 8<sup>th</sup> Earl of Lauderdale and General Benedict
Arnold met here after Lauderdale made an insulting remark about </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> in the House of Lords and had been challenged to a duel. It
was agreed they would both fire their pistols together. </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> fired and missed, but Lauderdale declined to return </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;">’s shot saying he had no desire to kill </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;">. After consulting their seconds, the duel was considered
over. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KMPTiMw2Us/WvVPU0ecisI/AAAAAAAAAS8/Pvr5FhmYRIMdlNNxjLntdu9qhQbB1LHcACLcBGAs/s1600/Benedict%2BArnold%2B%2528Wiki%2BCommons%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="487" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KMPTiMw2Us/WvVPU0ecisI/AAAAAAAAAS8/Pvr5FhmYRIMdlNNxjLntdu9qhQbB1LHcACLcBGAs/s320/Benedict%2BArnold%2B%2528Wiki%2BCommons%2529.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Benedict Arnold has been called, ‘</span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;">’s first traitor</span><span style="color: black;">.’ He was an officer in the American Army in the war
against the British, and George Washington promoted him to Colonel in 1775. </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> achieved some military success but made enemies in
Congress. He and his wife lived well beyond their means and </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> entered into some shady deals that included the use of
government supplies for his own personal needs, for which he was court
martialled. </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> had fought gallantly for his country and felt hurt by the
way he had been treated. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In retaliation, he secretly approached Sir Henry
Clinton, the British commander-in-chief in </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;"> and asked for £20,000 if he was successful in surrendering
</span><span style="color: black;">West Point</span><span style="color: black;"> and its garrison (where </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> was now in command), to the British, and £10,000 if he
failed. </span><span style="color: black;">Clinton</span><span style="color: black;"> agreed to pay £20,000 but only £6,000 if </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> was unsuccessful. The plan went wrong and </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> defected to the British in </span><span style="color: black;">New York</span><span style="color: black;">, where he received the promised £6,000 (today worth about
£750K), followed by later payments from King George. In December 1791 the </span><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> family sailed for </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> and lived comfortably in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. </span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Arnold</span><span style="color: black;"> received good publicity after the duel with Lauderdale at
Kilburn Wells. He tried but failed to get a government post, so in 1794 he
returned to his maritime trade, working for the British in the </span><span style="color: black;">West Indies</span><span style="color: black;">
against the French. But in 1801 he became ill and died in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> on 14 June while living at </span><span style="color: black;">62 Gloucester Place</span><span style="color: black;">, where a plaque to his memory describes him as an
‘American Patriot.’</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pugilism, sometimes called ‘the science of boxing’, was also
very popular and ‘mills’ or fights were frequently held at Kilburn Wells. At
this time there were no timed rounds, the men fought until they were knocked
down and the fights lasted for hours. In August 1781 George Ring ‘a battling
baker from Bath’, beat a butcher
called Edwards in a fight where ‘no bottom was wanting on either side, and a
great number of knock down blows were given’. In 1783 Daniel Mendoza beat John
Matthews at Kilburn Wells after fighting for two hours. Mendoza
was the first Jewish prize-fighter to become a champion and he was England’s
Heavyweight Champion from 1792 to 1795.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w6q_Xocwkno/WvVPeupmjhI/AAAAAAAAATE/ytzvRXCDEuwVJL39QcZWmdfjX0GdhzNmQCLcBGAs/s1600/Daniel%2BMendoza%2B%2528on%2Bthe%2Bright%2529%2Band%2BRichard%2BHumphries%252C%2B1788%2528NPG%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="576" height="500" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w6q_Xocwkno/WvVPeupmjhI/AAAAAAAAATE/ytzvRXCDEuwVJL39QcZWmdfjX0GdhzNmQCLcBGAs/s640/Daniel%2BMendoza%2B%2528on%2Bthe%2Bright%2529%2Band%2BRichard%2BHumphries%252C%2B1788%2528NPG%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Daniel Mendoza (on the right) fighting Richard Humphries, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">(1788, NPG) </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1863 the Old Bell was pulled
down and the present public house was erected on the site. The Ordnance Survey
map published a few years later shows the development of the area, and i</span>t
is now impossible to find any remains of the once famous Kilburn Wells, which
disappeared in the Victorian building boom, giving us today’s Kilburn streets. However, 1a West End Lane is called Wells Spa House.</span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-14598821615513808772018-04-02T07:19:00.000-07:002018-04-03T03:32:45.344-07:00The Great Diamond Raid: Freddy the Fly and Screwie Louie<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On 16 July 1956 Mrs Mullins collected hundreds of cut
diamonds worth £100,000 from the London Diamond Bourse, then at 57 Hatton
Garden, as she had done every week for the past six years and got into the
chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce of her employer, Moses Wijnberg. They were taking
the diamonds to his office in Kimberley House, Holborn Viaduct where Wijnberg
traded diamonds twice a week on Monday and Wednesday. The unsold stones were
returned in the evening to the </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Hatton</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Garden</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
vaults. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Just after </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">11.00am</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
driving along </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">St Cross Street</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> into
the </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Farringdon Road</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, the
car was stopped in traffic. Suddenly a man wearing a cap and blue dungarees
opened the back door, snatched the attaché case from Mrs Mullins and ran off.
The driver, Frank Baker, chased the man but slipped and fell just as he was
about to tackle him. The robber jumped into a waiting black Ford Zephyr car in </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Clerkenwell
Road</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and sped off. The Flying Squad
soon found the car abandoned in a cul-de-sac nearby. They issued a description
of the robber as 5 feet 9 inches tall and aged between 20 and 30.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Later in court Moses Wijnberg said that Mrs Mullins had
worked as his secretary for 40 years and Frank Charles Baker of </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">High
Wycombe</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, had been his driver for over six years. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On Tuesday 17 July, acting on information, the police
searched the three-room flat of 22 year old Phyllis Betty Clark in </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Greencroft</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Gardens</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> (no
number was given in the reports). She was described as a needlewoman who shared
the flat with one Frederick Harmsworth. On the 26 July he was arrested in his
pyjamas at </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">5am</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> by 30
armed officers, while he was hiding out in a boarding house at Westcliff-on-Sea.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">At the end of August, four men appeared at </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bow
Street</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> court charged with stealing the diamonds.
Frederick Joseph Harmsworth described as a bricklayer aged 30 of </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Greencroft</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Gardens</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">; John
Morley Kelly, 37, a deck hand of Landsdown Lane Charlton; Leslie Beavis a 26
year old salesman of </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Church Road</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Acton</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and
William Cyril Manning an electrician aged 29 of Chichester Mews in Paddington
(now demolished). Phyllis Clark was charged with receiving the registration
book of a car, a TV, six ounces of plaster gelatine explosive and four
electrical detonators. She appears to have cooperated with the police and the
case against her was dropped. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The prosecution barrister Mr Nugent said the Ford car had
been stolen outside Park West in the </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Edgware Road</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> area
in May. Manning admitted he had taken the car and fitted it with false number
plates on Harmsworth’s instructions. The finger prints of Harmsworth and Kelly
were found in the car. Kelly left the country the day after the robbery,
sailing to </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">South Africa</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> as a
deck hand. Detectives flew there and arrested him as he arrived in </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cape
Town</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> on the liner ‘</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bloemfontein</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Castle</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">’. </span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4rZuVe3PBPc/WsI7hLQW3II/AAAAAAAAASM/4EC09XBH9tMG9Kd2fEoGo1KVYpNPQiSKACLcBGAs/s1600/Kelly%2Band%2BHarmsworth%2Bpicture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4rZuVe3PBPc/WsI7hLQW3II/AAAAAAAAASM/4EC09XBH9tMG9Kd2fEoGo1KVYpNPQiSKACLcBGAs/s1600/Kelly%2Band%2BHarmsworth%2Bpicture.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">19 November 1956</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> the
men originally charged at </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bow Street</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
appeared at the Old Bailey. The Daily Mirror revealed that the blonde
girlfriend of a petty criminal known as ‘Screwie Louie’ had been jilted. To get
her revenge, she went to the police and told them about Louie who was arrested
for buying a suit in the </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">West End</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> with a
stolen cheque which had been left in the stolen Zephyr car. When questioned
Louie said, ‘Why are you bothering about me? You should look at the big boys
like Freddy the Fly’s gang’. He said the gang worked out of a garage in
Chichester Mews in Paddington. He told the police that Freddy the Fly was
Frederick Harmsworth the best ‘twirler’ (skeleton key maker) in the business,
who was living with his girlfriend Phyllis Clark in Greencroft Gardens. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In court DCS Sheppard said Harmsworth had 11 previous
convictions, mainly for housebreaking. Harmsworth was sentenced to 7 years for
the diamond robbery, even though the police admitted he had not planned the
raid, nor was he the man who grabbed the diamonds. John Morley Kelly who had
three previous convictions, received three years, and William Manning also got
three years for stealing the car. Leslie Beavis was bound over for being an
accessory. Passing sentence the Judge said to Harmsworth, ‘You are one of those
people who choose to be a criminal and to lead a criminal life. You prefer it
to any honest way of getting a living’. To Kelly he said, </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">‘</span></span></span>I am satisfied that
you fell under the influence of Harmsworth. It was he who induced you to commit
these crimes’.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Chief Superintendent Robert Lee, head of the Flying Squad in
1954, and Detective Chief Inspector Tom Sheppard were in charge of the case. In
an amazing outburst at the Old Bailey, John Kelly shouted out, ‘There is
corruption going on in this case, I am innocent</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">’</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk510174879"></a> Kelly
said he had met a man called Amos in Brixton, who worked with criminal gangs.
Amos told him the diamonds had been sold to a fence for £65,000 and Lee and
Sheppard had each been bribed with £13,000 to keep people out of court. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The following year on </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">2
August 1957</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, Kelly’s case was raised in Parliament by his
MP Mr Price, who said that Kelly had not been driving the getaway car during
the robbery. His prints were only found on the stolen number plates which he
admitted to. Kelly’s alibi, supported by his mother, was that he was home in
Forest Gate at the time of the robbery. The MP said that the driver was a Mr
Gosling now in prison, who had made a statement exonerating Kelly. Amos had told police that the two Dunn brothers had planned the robbery. They were
arrested but then released, (we couldn’t trace the Dunns). One of the two
officers accused of receiving bribes had resigned shortly afterwards. A police press
statement said this had nothing to do with the case, rather that his wife
objected to his irregular working hours. This could have been Chief
Superintendent Robert Lee, known in the underworld as ‘one of the smartest
bogies in the business’, who announced his retirement in 1957. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the House, Mr Simon the Joint Under Secretary of State for the Home
Office, replying to Mr Price said that Kelly’s appeal had been turned down on </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">11
February 1957</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and that a senior police officer had
carried out an investigation of the claims made by Kelly but not found
sufficient evidence to proceed. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The press speculated that diamonds were passed to ‘Mr Big’
or ‘The Phantom’, the man who had planned the robbery. It was generally believed he was
Billy Hill, known as ‘the Boss of the Underworld’, but he always denied it. Mr
Big was not named and the diamonds never found. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">After serving his seven year sentence, Freddy Harmsworth,
now a street trader living at </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Birchington Court</span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> in </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">West
End Lane</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">, was arrested in September 1963 for the theft
of £13,000 from the Sheerness Co-operative Bank. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He and Dennis James Hawkins
from Clapham, had spent 18 hours over a weekend hidden in the bank, and had
burned through the steel strong room door using an oxy-acetylene cutter. We were
not able to find out how long Harmsworth was imprisoned for this crime. </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-81963306956462182322015-08-08T04:18:00.000-07:002018-04-27T07:20:47.841-07:00An IRA funeral march and the bomb at Biddy Mulligan’s Pub<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This story looks at both sides of the ‘Irish Troubles’ in
the 1970s and two major events in Kilburn.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The Victoria Tavern and Alec Keene, prize fighter</span></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">About 1862, the Victoria Tavern
was built on the south corner of Kilburn High Road and </span><span style="color: black;">Willesden Lane</span><span style="color: black;">. Alexander Findlay, better known as champion prize
fighter, Alec Keene, took over the license of the Victoria Tavern in 1866 and
stayed until 1879. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Alec Keene’s first recorded fight
was on </span><span style="color: black;">20
June 1848</span><span style="color: black;"> against ‘Sambo Sutton’
(real name Thomas Welsh). </span><span style="color: black;">Keene</span><span style="color: black;"> was described as ‘the young and fresh light weight’ while
Sutton was called, ‘an old stager who has always conducted himself well’. </span><span style="color: black;">Keene</span><span style="color: black;"> won the fight in ‘masterly style’ and the 200 sovereigns’
prize money went to his backer Jem Burn, an ex-fighter.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Keene</span><span style="color: black;"> fought successfully through the mid-1850’s but then
retired and like many ex-boxers, opened a pub, ‘The Three Tuns’ in </span><span style="color: black;">Moor Street</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;">. Exhibition matches were held there and he continued to act
as a second for other boxers such as his friend and world champion, Tom Sayers.
When he moved to Kilburn, </span><span style="color: black;">Keene</span><span style="color: black;"> held boxing matches at the Victoria Tavern, and its
semi-rural position allowed him to promote pigeon shooting competitions which
proved popular.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Alec and his partner George Brown also
provided mass catering for crowds at race meetings, such as the annual
three-day Barnet Fair and Races. They set up a booth, or “canvas hotel” as they
called it, for the sale of hot joints of meat, chicken and vegetables. And to
wash it down there was: ‘Moet’s champagne, wines and spirits, Bass’s pale ale
and Guinness’s stout’ with ‘cigars and the fragrant weed of the very best’ to
round off the meal. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Keene</span><span style="color: black;"> moved to another pub in East Mosley for a few years before
his death in 1881. His body was returned to Kilburn for burial at </span><span style="color: black;">Paddington</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Cemetery</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">Willesden Lane</span><span style="color: black;">, just a few hundred yards from the Victoria Tavern.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Origin of the Name
Biddy Mulligan</b></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The pub was re-named Biddy Mulligan’s in the 1970s. The name
was taken from the best known character of Irish comedian Jimmy O’Dea. Highly
popular from the 1930s onwards, O’Dea dressed in drag as Biddy Mulligan, a female
Dublin street seller. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To see his act there is a film clip of Biddy on YouTube.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSt3v9c02Po">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSt3v9c02Po</a></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Support for the IRA</b></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1971 Michael Gaughan, a member
of the IRA Active Service Unit in London, was sentenced to seven years for
attempting to rob a bank in Hornsey with two revolvers. In March 1974 he and
four other IRA men went on hunger strike in Parkhurst Gaol on the </span><span style="color: black;">Isle of Wight</span><span style="color: black;">.
They were force fed, a horrible process used earlier on Suffragette prisoners: ‘six
to eight guards would restrain the prisoner and drag him or her by the hair to
the top of the bed, where they would stretch the prisoner's neck over the metal
rail, force a block between his teeth and then pass a feeding tube, which
extended down the throat, through a hole in the block.’ Gaughan’s weight
halved, and after a hunger strike that lasted 64 days, he died on </span><span style="color: black;">3 June 1974</span><span style="color: black;">, aged just 24 years old.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The IRA wanted to maximum publicity. Four days later crowds
of over 3,000 people lined the streets, as Gaughan’s coffin was taken from The
Crown at Cricklewood through Kiburn to the RC Church of the Sacred Heart in Quex
Road for a Requiem Mass. The slow procession was
led by a piper and an IRA guard of honour wearing berets and dark glasses. The
next day his coffin was taken to Dublin
for another parade and burial. The eight men who escorted the coffin in Kilburn
were <span style="color: black;">charged by the police with unlawfully wearing
uniforms. They came from the </span><span style="color: black;">Birmingham</span><span style="color: black;"> and</span> Manchester
areas rather than Ireland
or Kilburn, and were each fined £60. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QD6b6XZ7HXk/VcXjvXTrRoI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/NvbO--FlPBo/s1600/Michael%2BGaughan%2Bfuneral%2Bin%2BQuex%2BRoad%252C%2BJune%2B1974%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QD6b6XZ7HXk/VcXjvXTrRoI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/NvbO--FlPBo/s640/Michael%2BGaughan%2Bfuneral%2Bin%2BQuex%2BRoad%252C%2BJune%2B1974%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Michael Gaughan's funeral march in Quex Road, leaving the Sacred Heart Church (Getty Images)</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Biddy Mulligan’s
Bomb</b></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the 1970s Biddy Mulligan’s was
a popular drinking place among Irish residents in Kilburn. The writer Zadie
Smith talks about going there with her mother when collections were regularly
made for the IRA. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">On the evening of </span><span style="color: black;">Sunday 21st December
1975</span><span style="color: black;"> a young man seemed to be
acting suspiciously. He was carrying a holdall but when the manager, John
Constantine, challenged him to open the bag, he refused and was asked to leave.
The man was described as around 18 years old, slim with fair hair, wearing a blue
denim jacket and jeans. About an hour later, the pub was shaken by a large
explosion. Luckily, only a few of the 90 people in the bar were hurt and none
of them badly. An old lady of 82, who had been a regular for almost 50 years,
said there was a very large explosion and a lot of glass splinters went into
her hair.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The bomb squad estimated that
about three to five pounds of explosive had been left in the</span> holdall
outside the pub in the doorway. Scotland Yard said that a phone call had been
received by the BBC the previous night from an Irish man claiming to be from the
‘Young Militants’, a splinter group of the Protestant Ulster Defence
Association (UDA). He said they were going to carry the War against the IRA
onto the mainland. Leaders of Sinn Fein in London
said they collected about £17,000 a year in Kilburn and they were concerned
about this UDA backlash. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OqoS0x7Thnw/VcXkTMEuOZI/AAAAAAAAARE/V_H1TMru6xQ/s1600/Biddy%2BMulligans%252C%2BDec%2B1975%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OqoS0x7Thnw/VcXkTMEuOZI/AAAAAAAAARE/V_H1TMru6xQ/s640/Biddy%2BMulligans%252C%2BDec%2B1975%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Biddy Mulligans in 1975 (Getty Images)</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The following day landlords of the
other pubs in Kilburn put guards on the door to check people’s bags as they
entered. Locals were very concerned that ‘the Irish Troubles’ had spread to
Kilburn.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The police acted very quickly (presumably with accurate
intelligence), and arrested six people on the 23 December, a man and woman in London
and four men in <span style="color: black;">Glasgow and Renfrewshire. In October
1976 four of the men appeared at the Old Bailey and they were all found guilty.
Samuel Carson, 31, a store man of </span><span style="color: black;">Bangor</span><span style="color: black;">, was found guilty of organising the plot and was sentenced
to 15 years. Alexander Brown, 18, a chef also from </span><span style="color: black;">Bangor</span><span style="color: black;">, indentified as the man who planted the holdall, was given
14 years. Noel Moore Boyd, 20, an electrician from </span><span style="color: black;">Belfast</span><span style="color: black;"> who made the bomb circuit, got 12 years. Archibald McGregor
Brown, 40, a lorry driver of Cumbernauld, who stole the gelignite and provided a
safe base in </span><span style="color: black;">Scotland</span><span style="color: black;">, received 10 years. In sentencing it was said the men were
Protestants who were determined that IRA sympathisers should not meet in the
pub without retribution. The judge said, ‘It should be clearly understood
whatever political, religious or social feelings people may have, a crime of
vengeance is not allowed. What is more, the use of explosives, with all the
implications of danger to life and limb, is totally unacceptable.’ </span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Later the pub name was shortened
to Biddy’s. For a few years it traded as an Aussie sports bar called the
Southern K, but in closed about 2009 and today the building is a Ladbrokes
betting shop.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mWSdbBpe5Tw/VcXkku9wpII/AAAAAAAAARM/1kjNHFDFSUo/s1600/Biddy%2BMulligans%2B%252827%2BJuly%2B2015%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mWSdbBpe5Tw/VcXkku9wpII/AAAAAAAAARM/1kjNHFDFSUo/s640/Biddy%2BMulligans%2B%252827%2BJuly%2B2015%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The site of Biddy Mulligan's today (Dick Weindling, August 2015)</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Singer-songwriter Sean Taylor was
born and still lives in Kilburn. He has played at the Glastonbury Festival four
times. Sean released seven albums between 2006 and 2015. One of the tracks on
his 2013 album ‘Chase the Night’, celebrates ‘Biddy Mulligans’. You can hear it
on YouTube:</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7a4GJR3JiE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7a4GJR3JiE</a></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-44201688481601800842015-07-15T01:09:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:41:53.799-07:00From Forger to Journalist<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This intriguing story looks at a young man who travelled
round the world, but there is a Kilburn connection.
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Queens Arms Hotel</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This pub at the end of Maida Vale
and the beginning of Kilburn High Road was opened about 1843. It was a major
coach stop with stabling at the back for the horses.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqJsZPqvq7M/VaYSzl2Y1hI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/gKJW6DqQAzk/s1600/Queen%2527s%2BArms%252C%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GqJsZPqvq7M/VaYSzl2Y1hI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/gKJW6DqQAzk/s640/Queen%2527s%2BArms%252C%2Blow%2Bres.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Queens Arms Hotel, about 1900</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The original building survived until 1940 when it was hit by
a bomb on 26 September and at least 14 people were killed. Left as a bomb site,
local children played in the large crater until it was rebuilt in 1958. Today it is managed by singer Rita Ora's Albanian father.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Queens Arms today</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Archibald Cole</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In May 1861 a young man rented a
room for a few days at the Queens Arms Hotel.</span> John Kempshaw, the
landlord<span style="color: blue;">, </span>said that the man gave him a leather
bag to look after which contained 400 to 500 gold sovereigns. He saw the same
man at the races with a young woman who was very nicely dressed, and Kempshaw
served them with a hamper. The next day Kempshaw went with the man to Oxford
Street to buy a portmanteau bag as he said he was
going abroad. Kempshaw advised the man to put his money somewhere safe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The young man was Archibald
Hamblin Lillingstone Cole, who was born in Whitchurch, </span><span style="color: black;">Shropshire</span><span style="color: black;"> in
1841, the eldest son of Reverend William Graham Cole. Archibald worked for four
years as a clerk for the long established navy agents Messrs Stilwell and Co, at
</span><span style="color: black;">22 Arundel Street</span><span style="color: black;">, the </span><span style="color: black;">Strand</span><span style="color: black;">. In 1860 he was given a month’s leave to study for the
Civil Service Exam. But Cole suddenly left the company in November 1860 and
they did not hear from him until they received a letter in May 1861, saying he
was going abroad and asking for a loan of £5 as he was penniless. The company
did not pay him the £5. A few days later he went to the bank of Willis and
Percival in </span><span style="color: black;">Lombard
Street</span><span style="color: black;">, where
Stilwell’s had their account, and asked for a cheque book. The clerk knew Cole worked
for Stillwell’s and gave him the cheque book. On 27 May a cheque for £603 was
presented by Cole at the bank, apparently signed by Stilwell’s, and they gave him
the money, which he immediately exchanged at the Bank of England for gold
sovereigns. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Cole left his home in </span><span style="color: black;">Upper Portman Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and hired a courier, John Mattos, a black Jamaican, who
was known in the </span><span style="color: black;">West End</span><span style="color: black;"> as ‘Kangaroo’. Cole paid him to accompany him and a young
woman to </span><span style="color: black;">Paris</span><span style="color: black;"> and act as his interpreter. He asked Kangaroo to get cards
printed in the name of Livingstone. This was similar to his middle name of
Lillingstone and the name of the great explorer. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When they met at the station Cole
handed Kangaroo a leather bag which contained gold sovereigns and a cheque
book. The party travelled to </span><span style="color: black;">Paris</span><span style="color: black;"> where they stayed for four days. As they left Cole asked
Kangaroo to count the money to see how much remained, which was 330 sovereigns.
They had lived luxuriously and he had spent about £200 on food and jewellery
for the unnamed young lady. Mattos said he was given £7, with expenses all paid,
for his work. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Once they discovered the fraud, Messrs
Stilwell’s took out a warrant for Cole’s arrest, but he’d fled to the continent
where he was convicted for an offence and jailed for two years. The English
warrant was still active and Detective Joseph Huggett spotted Cole as he
boarded a steamboat in </span><span style="color: black;">Rotterdam</span><span style="color: black;"> in October 1863. When they got out to sea Huggett arrested
him and he was prosecuted for forgery at the Old Bailey on 26 October. The bank
clerks and Stilwell staff told the court that the handwriting on the cheques
was that of Cole. Publican John Kempshaw and ‘Kangaroo’ also gave evidence
about what they knew about Cole. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He was found guilty by the jury. The judge said that the
forgery was for a large amount of money and up until a few years ago Cole would
have been hanged. (£603 in 1861 is equivalent today to about £50,000). He was
sentenced to ten years and transportation. The 22-year-old was transferred to
Portland Prison and onto the convict transport ship ‘Racehorse’ for the long
trip to Western Australia. After
leaving England
on the 19 May the ship berthed at Fremantle on 10 August 1865.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Australia</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Convict records indicate that Cole was stoutly built, about
five feet seven inches tall. His hair was brown and eyes grey. On his left arm
there was a tattoo showing the letter “C”. A Charlotte Graham of Camden
Town was nominated as his next of
kin. Perhaps she was his lady travelling companion on the trip to Paris?
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Apart from a couple of minor
misdemeanours after his arrival in </span><span style="color: black;">Western Australia</span><span style="color: black;"> - disobeying orders and drinking with a free man - his
conduct was sufficiently good for him to receive a ticket-of-leave in February
1869. For just under a year he was employed as a clerk by Henry Gillman, a
storeman in the coastal town of </span><span style="color: black;">Bunbury</span><span style="color: black;">. Gillman, also an ex-convict, had flourished in </span><span style="color: black;">Australia</span><span style="color: black;"> since the expiration of his sentence for housebreaking in
1851.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From January 1870 Cole worked for himself, first as a clerk,
then from mid-1870, as a schoolmaster in Bunbury, earning £100 per annum. In
June 1871 he was granted a conditional release, effectively making him a free
man. By 1872 he was an accountant but in the following year he was employed as
a reporter on the Fremantle Herald. Looking for adventure, he sailed to Singapore
in December 1873, where he soon found work as a journalist.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Singapore</b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> and </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Japan</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Before leaving </span><span style="color: black;">Western Australia</span><span style="color: black;"> he had met Catherine Briggs. She was born in </span><span style="color: black;">Calcutta</span><span style="color: black;">, where her father was a veterinary surgeon attached to the
British army. She had come to </span><span style="color: black;">Australia</span><span style="color: black;"> as a child. Her parents disapproved of her association
with the ex-convict Cole, who was eleven years her senior. But love won out and
she joined him in </span><span style="color: black;">Singapore</span><span style="color: black;"> where they married in May 1874. The wanderlust continued
to affect Cole. By 1878 the family, now including two daughters, had gone to </span><span style="color: black;">Japan</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdt3B00lJOk/VaYTXd4NyyI/AAAAAAAAAQc/bq8NRrfL44Y/s1600/Archibald%2Band%2BCatherine%2BCole%2B%2528Ancestry%2BTree%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdt3B00lJOk/VaYTXd4NyyI/AAAAAAAAAQc/bq8NRrfL44Y/s400/Archibald%2Band%2BCatherine%2BCole%2B%2528Ancestry%2BTree%2529.jpg" width="270" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Archibald and Catherine Cole</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was only 25 years since Commodore Matthew Perry of the US
Navy arrived in Japan
to begin the process of opening the country up to the West. Yokohama
had become a boom town. But foreigners were still a novelty, mainly working as
engineers, legal advisers, coastal pilots and teachers. They were required to
remain within a 43 kilometre radius of the treaty ports unless they held a
special passport. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lv4420kZxoo/VaYTkk0cYDI/AAAAAAAAAQk/v9ppXZmQSfQ/s1600/Merchants%2Bof%2BYohohama%2B%2528Kuniteru%2BII%252C%2B1870%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lv4420kZxoo/VaYTkk0cYDI/AAAAAAAAAQk/v9ppXZmQSfQ/s640/Merchants%2Bof%2BYohohama%2B%2528Kuniteru%2BII%252C%2B1870%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Merchants of Yohohama (Woodblock by Kuniteru II, 1870)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">From August 1878 the Cole family
lived in </span><span style="color: black;">Yokohama</span><span style="color: black;">, where Archibald worked as a journalist and editor of the
Japan Gazette and Japan Mail. Although he went to </span><span style="color: black;">China</span><span style="color: black;"> as a correspondent for the New York Herald, Cole was based
in </span><span style="color: black;">Yokohama</span><span style="color: black;"> for the next six years, during which time three sons were
born.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their home was on The Bluff; a residential area overlooking
the harbour, favoured by foreign merchants. At the time Yokohama
was described as a low swamp, criss-crossed by drainage canals, spanned by
rather rickety wooden bridges. The town comprised warehouses, some elegant
western shops, one or two good hotels, as well as bonded and free stores,
custom-houses, banks, shipping offices, grog shops and money changing premises.
There were two churches, pleasant bungalows with attractive gardens, an
assortment of lodging-houses, a large railway station and a good shipping
anchorage. All this was overlooked by the magnificent Mt Fuji, topped in a
snowy cloak for much of the year. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XzCJ9621fMc/VaYT7qj4BtI/AAAAAAAAAQs/tKyF3hup-oA/s1600/Yokohama%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2BBluff%2B%2528Beato%252C%2B1869%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XzCJ9621fMc/VaYT7qj4BtI/AAAAAAAAAQs/tKyF3hup-oA/s640/Yokohama%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2BBluff%2B%2528Beato%252C%2B1869%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yokohama from The Bluff. </i>(Very early photograph by Felice Beato,1869)</i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After living and working successfully in Yokohama,
Archibald Cole died there on 18
January 1884. A local newspaper reported:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Mr. Cole was pursuing his usual duties yesterday, but in the evening
he was seized with a fit of apoplexy, this was succeeded by another this
morning, from which he never rallied.’</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His descendants believe the fit of apoplexy (which at the
time meant a sudden unconsciousness and death), was caused by an overdose of
opium, a fittingly dramatic end for such a flamboyant character. He was buried
in the foreigners’ cemetery in Yokohama
and soon afterwards his widow and children returned to live in Australia.
Catherine died there in 1916.</span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-63911366482046079772015-07-07T06:35:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:42:26.795-07:00The 1939 IRA Campaign and the Kiburn Social Club<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A largely forgotten IRA campaign was
carried out in </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> just before the outbreak of World War II. In April 1938
the IRA in </span><span style="color: black;">Dublin</span><span style="color: black;"> drew up a document called the ‘S (for Sabotage) Plan’. It
was decided, for the sake of correctness, that a formal declaration of War should
be presented to the British Government. The ultimatum, which demanded the
removal of all British troops from </span><span style="color: black;">Ireland</span><span style="color: black;">, was delivered to Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, on </span><span style="color: black;">12 January 1939</span><span style="color: black;">. Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and the Government unwisely
treated this as just another idle threat. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Carrying out the S-Plan </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">On the 16 January eight bombs
exploded simultaneously in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Birmingham</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Liverpool</span><span style="color: black;"> and Alnwick in Northumberland. There were further bombs over
the next six months. Suspects in known centres of Irish population, such as Kilburn,
were subjected to intense questioning and their homes searched by the police
and Special Branch. But the IRA was one step ahead, having previously located their
Active Service Units outside these areas as sleeper agents. The newspapers vied
with each other in estimating how many people were involved, with figures fluctuating
wildly from 2,000 to as many as 20,000. In fact the real number was probably only
a few hundred, including those who supported the bombers. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The police were fortunate when
they discovered a copy of the S-Plan in the </span><span style="color: black;">Harrow</span><span style="color: black;"> home
of Michael O’Shea, a 24 year old labourer. Special Branch was surprised by how
detailed and well thought out the plan was. Drawn up by Jim O’Donovan and Sean
Russell, the IRA Chief of Staff, the key targets were revealed as public
utilities such as transport and gasworks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was considerable public concern after the newspapers published the
information that March. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A major breakthrough happened by
accident, when an inquisitive plumber called Charles Heap from </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;"> was on a job in </span><span style="color: black;">Chorley</span><span style="color: black;"> on Medlock. He saw several bags and other suspicious material
in a cupboard. When the police searched the premises, they discovered a large
amount of explosives, gelignite and detonators. Four people were arrested. The
police also found a receipt from a lorry driver in Old Trafford which said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘For going to </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> and bringing back
a cargo of stuff to be used on the 16 January. Paid £6 10 shillings’.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When they contacted him, the driver
told the police that he’d been paid to transport what was described as a
quantity of beeswax on </span><span style="color: black;">31 October 1938</span><span style="color: black;">.
He understood the beeswax was going to be used to polish a dance floor. He
couldn’t remember the address he had been given but thought it was in Kilburn.
From there an Irishman had directed him through a maze of backstreets to a
garage in another part of </span><span style="color: black;">North
London</span><span style="color: black;">. Detectives took the
driver round the area until on the third day, he recognised a garage and house
at </span><span style="color: black;">75 Fordington Road,
East</span><span style="color: black;"> Finchley.
The house was owned by John Healy, who had a furniture shop at </span><span style="color: black;">332 Hornsey Road</span><span style="color: black;"> and allegedly dealt in beeswax. Jack Healy was nothing
like the IRA bombers portrayed in the newspapers. He was forty years old with a
wife and two children. In his youth he had played Gaelic football in his native
</span><span style="color: black;">Derry</span><span style="color: black;"> before coming to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> twenty years ago and settling down. As well running his
business, Healy was also the proprietor of the Kilburn Irish Social Club. When police
searched the Club they found two tons of potassium chlorate and a drum of
aluminium oxide, which when mixed together could be used to make explosives. Gelignite
was hard to come by so the IRA used other explosives such as potassium chlorate
mixed with paraffin wax. This was nicknamed ‘Paxo’ after the well-known chicken
stuffing mix. Healy argued that he had bought the chlorate from a </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> chemist to make throat pastilles in </span><span style="color: black;">Ireland</span><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Gradually, the police traced and
arrested other IRA members. On </span><span style="color: black;">29 March 1939</span><span style="color: black;">,
Healy was the oldest of the nine men (the rest were all in their 20s), found
guilty and sentenced to a total of over 90 years at the Old Bailey. Healy got
ten years for supplying material to make the explosives.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The attacks continued almost
weekly and the Government introduced The Prevention of Violence Bill. This gave
the police new powers of detention, and required all Irish nationals to
register with the police just as other aliens had to do. In July when the Home
Secretary introduced the Bill to Parliament, he said there had been 127
terrorist incidents since January 1939. One person had been killed, 55 injured,
and 66 people had been arrested. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The most serious attack occurred later
at the end of August when an IRA bomb exploded in the centre of </span><span style="color: black;">Coventry</span><span style="color: black;"> killing five people. The police quickly made arrests and
two men were convicted and sentenced to death. But anti-Irish feelings ran high:
John Healy and a dozen IRA men in </span><span style="color: black;">Dartmoor</span><span style="color: black;"> were set upon by fellow prisoners. Healy was badly hurt
and developed pneumonia. His situation was critical and he spent five weeks in
hospital in </span><span style="color: black;">Plymouth</span><span style="color: black;"> before recovering and being returned to </span><span style="color: black;">Dartmoor</span><span style="color: black;">
prison. We do not know what happened to him after he served his sentence.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Kilburn Club</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The ‘Kilburn Irish Social Club’
only lasted a few years and may have just been a front for Healy. It took us
considerable research to work out where it was. We eventually found Vale Hall in
</span><span style="color: black;">Bridge Place</span><span style="color: black;"> near the Queen’s Arms pub at the bottom of Kilburn, numbered
as 15b Kilburn High Road. Its original name was Kilburn Hall, built by Charles Hurditch
as an Evangelical Mission Hall about 1868. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Charles Russell Hurditch was born
in </span><span style="color: black;">Exeter</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1840. Aged 20 he came to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and joined the YMCA. In 1864 he became secretary of
Stafford Rooms, a YMCA centre in </span><span style="color: black;">Tichborne Street</span><span style="color: black;">, just off the </span><span style="color: black;">Edgware Road</span><span style="color: black;">. Here he met William Holmes, a stationer and bookseller, whose
family had been involved in one of the mass conversions held at the Stafford
Rooms. Charles married Mary Holmes on </span><span style="color: black;">11 May 1865</span><span style="color: black;"> and they moved to </span><span style="color: black;">164 Alexandra Road</span><span style="color: black;">, only a few doors from the Holmes family at 156. Charles
left the YMCA and established himself as a preacher. He built or rented halls
across </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> to spread his message to the poor, as well as producing
magazines, books and composing hymns. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4-6uFhMRMJ8/VZvUuOnWc8I/AAAAAAAAAP0/3sTIDmNvwLU/s1600/1930%2B-%2Bmap%2BOS%2BKilburn%2BVale%2BHall%2Bcoloured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4-6uFhMRMJ8/VZvUuOnWc8I/AAAAAAAAAP0/3sTIDmNvwLU/s640/1930%2B-%2Bmap%2BOS%2BKilburn%2BVale%2BHall%2Bcoloured.jpg" width="452" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1930s map showing the position of the New Vale Hall</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">From 1904 the Kilburn Hall was
used as a cycle works, then for motor cycles and as a motor garage into the
1920s. It was destroyed by fire early one morning in June 1928, watched by
hundreds of women and girls, who had to leave their homes in the neighbouring
houses dressed only in their night clothes. It was re-built as the New Vale
Hall and in the 1930s it was used for whist, dancing and for boxing and
wresting matches. Originally run by Max Lerner, it was taken over by entrepreneur
and showman </span><span style="color: black;">Harold
Lane</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1936. He had
began by organising whist drives, and in the late 1920s he hired </span><span style="color: black;">Olympia</span><span style="color: black;"> where 16,000 people played cards for a world record £1,000
top prize. He went on to open his Lane’s London Clubs. Number 1 was at </span><span style="color: black;">7-9 King Street</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Baker
Street</span><span style="color: black;">; Number 2
was at 11a </span><span style="color: black;">Queen
Street</span><span style="color: black;">,
Hammersmith and Number 3 was at The New Vale Hall, Kilburn. </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NIMAP1qAFJY/VZvU_9k4haI/AAAAAAAAAP8/L_KTUj34qY4/s1600/Harold%2BLane%2Bshaking%2Bhands%2Bwith%2Bwrestlers%2Boutside%2Bhis%2Bclub%2B30%2527s%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NIMAP1qAFJY/VZvU_9k4haI/AAAAAAAAAP8/L_KTUj34qY4/s640/Harold%2BLane%2Bshaking%2Bhands%2Bwith%2Bwrestlers%2Boutside%2Bhis%2Bclub%2B30%2527s%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Harold Lane (in the centre) with wrestlers outside his Baker Street Club in the 1930s (Getty Images)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Lane introduced All-in wrestling
to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> about 1930. This proved very popular but he ran into
trouble by organising matches on a Sunday. In 1935 Lane was summonsed under the
ancient Sunday Observance Act. A solicitor’s clerk said he paid 2/6 and went to
the Hammersmith club on the evening of 6 October where he saw three well-attended
contests. Repeated police raids on his clubs forced Lane to close permanently in
1938. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">By the 1950s the Hall was being
used as a factory to manufacture steel cabinets. Along with nearby bomb damaged
properties, it was demolished in the 1960s and today lies under the </span><span style="color: black;">Tollgate</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Gardens</span><span style="color: black;"> estate, owned by Westminster Council.</span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-88652387911570531332015-06-13T06:40:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:42:52.988-07:00The Murder of Tommy ‘Scarface’ Smithson<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In this story we enter the sordid world
of gangland </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in the 1950s and investigate the murder of Tommy ‘Scarface’
Smithson in Carlton Vale, Kilburn.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">After the War, the vice and
gambling industries in </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;"> were run by gangs: the main ones were the Maltese Messina
Brothers, and the </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> born Billy Hill and Jack Spot. They controlled their
interests by bribing the police, with the threat of a razor attack for anyone
who stepped out of line. As one gang member coldly put it: </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">‘People were paid a pound a
stitch, so if you put twenty stitches in a man you got a score. You used to
look in the papers next day to see how much you’d earned.’ </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">One person who dared to defy the gangs
was Tommy Smithson. Born in </span><span style="color: black;">Liverpool</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1920, the sixth of eight children, his family moved to
the East End of London two years later. Tommy served time for theft in a reform
school where he learned self defence and boxing. During the War he joined the
merchant navy as a stoker and served on ammunition ships to </span><span style="color: black;">Australia</span><span style="color: black;">. He returned to Shoreditch in 1950 and was soon sentenced
to 18 months for a robbery. In prison he got to know people who ran the </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;"> gambling
clubs. By 1954 he had his own gang which included the young Kray twins, Ronnie
and Reggie, who looked up to Smithson as a hero. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Maltese gang members had taken
advantage of subsidised passages to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> for as little as three pounds to establish a network of
gambling and drinking clubs, servicing a string of prostitutes. Smithson
decided to target the Maltese. He began by working as a croupier for George
Caruana in one of his clubs in </span><span style="color: black;">Batty Street</span><span style="color: black;">, Stepney. Caruana and his Maltese colleagues were keen to
avoid trouble and when Smithson set up a protection racket he was soon taking a
regular share of the takings in all their ‘spielers’. The club owners paid him
a shilling in the pound, it doesn’t sound much but Tommy was making up to £500
a night. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRsEuS-AtLw/VXwxojQf1pI/AAAAAAAAAPU/1L66W45Qlyw/s1600/Tommy%2BSmithson%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRsEuS-AtLw/VXwxojQf1pI/AAAAAAAAAPU/1L66W45Qlyw/s320/Tommy%2BSmithson%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" width="206" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tommy Smithson (Getty Images)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">He opened his own clubs, such as
the Publishers Club (supposedly for authors – but nobody was fooled!) Then
following police raids, he went to Brixton prison until a whip round of his
friends paid the fine. He started to seriously annoy people when he set up as a
bookmaker in </span><span style="color: black;">Berwick
Street</span><span style="color: black;">, in
competition with Billy Hill and Jack Spot. Then he got into a fight and cut
Freddie ‘Slip’ Sullivan in French Henry’s club. Sullivan had a brother in the
Hill-Spot gang and retribution was swift. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A week later Smithson was told a
peace offering was on the table and that there was no reason the gangs couldn’t
get along. He went to meet Spot and Hill behind the Carreras ‘Black Cat’ cigarette
factory in </span><span style="color: black;">Camden</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Town</span><span style="color: black;">. He was carrying a gun, but surprisingly handed it over when
asked by Billy Hill. The signal for the attack on Tommy was a cigar butt being
thrown on the ground. He was slashed in the face, arms, legs and body, then thrown
over a wall into </span><span style="color: black;">Regents</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Park</span><span style="color: black;"> near Park Village East, to bleed to death. Amazingly, he
survived and 47 stitches were put into his face. As a reward for honouring the ‘code
of silence’ he was paid £500 from Billy Hill and earned his nickname of
‘Scarface’. Tommy opened clubs and fenced stolen goods for a time but he got another
set of stitches when the word spread that he was a ‘grass’. This ended his
entry into the big time and he decided it was safer to work as a protector for
the Maltese. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Tommy fell in love with Fay
Richardson, a mill girl from </span><span style="color: black;">Stockport</span><span style="color: black;"> who came to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> to work as a prostitute. The press described her as a ‘gangster’s
moll’ and a ‘femme fatale’. She was certainly dangerous to know; three of her
lovers were murdered and others suffered severe beatings. In his memoirs Commander
Bert Wickstead of Scotland Yard said: ‘She couldn’t have been described as a
beautiful woman by any stretch of the imagination. Yet she did have the most
devastating effect on the men in her life, so there must have been something
about the lady.’</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sQvlCLCww9c/VXwxz6QNmXI/AAAAAAAAAPc/OrndR2Ls_Fw/s1600/Fay%2BRichardson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sQvlCLCww9c/VXwxz6QNmXI/AAAAAAAAAPc/OrndR2Ls_Fw/s320/Fay%2BRichardson.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newspaper picture of Fay Richardson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The handsome and dapper Smithson
appealed to Fay and they began living together. When she was held on remand for
buying clothes and records with bad cheques, Tommy raised money for her
defence. He collected £50 from his former employer, George Caruana, but complained
bitterly that it should have been a £100. On </span><span style="color: black;">13 June 1956</span><span style="color: black;"> Smithson and two other men confronted Caruana and fellow
Maltese Philip Ellul (who ran a small prostitute racket) and asked for more
money. In the ensuing fight, Caruana was cut on the fingers as he protected his
face. Another £30 was produced at gunpoint and in line with standard gangland
practice, Ellul was ordered to start a collection book for Fay’s defence</span>.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Tommy had gone too far this time.
Just two weeks later on </span><span style="color: black;">25 June 1956</span><span style="color: black;">, he
was found dying in a Kilburn gutter. The rundown Number 88 Carlton Vale near
the junction with </span><span style="color: black;">Cambridge
Road</span><span style="color: black;">, was a
brothel or ‘boarding house’ owned by Caruana. Smithson thought he’d been sent there
to collect protection money. He was in the room of ‘Blonde Mary’ Bates when
Philip Ellul, Vic Spampinato and Joe Zammit came in. Ellul shot him in the arm
and the neck but the .38 revolver jammed. Smithson crawled down the stairs into
the street. Bizarrely, his last words to the people who found him were said to
be; ‘Good morning, I’m dying.’ He was a hard man. He was taken to </span><span style="color: black;">Paddington</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Hospital</span><span style="color: black;"> but died shortly after he arrived.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The hit men, who fled to </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;">, were reassured they’d only be charged with manslaughter if
they turned themselves in. But it was bad advice, they had been stitched up and
they were tried for murder. Spampinato told the court he was only defending
himself when Smithson attacked him with a pair of scissors. ‘Blonde Mary’
confirmed the story and he was acquitted. But it later emerged that Blonde Mary
was Spampinato’s girlfriend. Ellul was sentenced to death for murder. Then 48
hours before his execution, the sentence was commuted to life, of which he
served eleven years in prison. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3XouaewI1DQ/VXwx_oNAZqI/AAAAAAAAAPk/GSCicx5FDaY/s1600/Philip%2BElluh%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3XouaewI1DQ/VXwx_oNAZqI/AAAAAAAAAPk/GSCicx5FDaY/s320/Philip%2BElluh%2B%2528Getty%2BImages%2529.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Elluh (Getty Images)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">After he was released, Ellul came
to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> to collect the money had been promised by the organization.
Sixpence was thrown on the floor and he was ordered to pick it up. Then he was
taken to Heathrow for a flight to </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;"> and warned, ‘Don’t ever come back. If you do we have a
pair of concrete boots waiting for you’. He did as he was told and stayed in </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Smithson’s funeral was an old
style gangster one: Rolls Royce hearses, elaborate floral tributes and members
of ‘the firm’ attending. Thousands watched as the coffin was taken to St
Patrick’s Cemetery in Leytonstone. The young Kray twins were there but Fay was
still under arrest and wasn’t allowed to attend the funeral. She sent a wreath
saying, ‘Till we meet again, Love Fay’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
was put on probation that August and ordered to live with her mother in </span><span style="color: black;">Stockport</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Pathe News has a film clip of the
funeral, (but there is no sound). About three and a half minutes into the clip,
the hearse has a flat tyre and has to be replaced!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.britishpathe.com/video/tommy-smithson-funeral/query/smithson">http://www.britishpathe.com/video/tommy-smithson-funeral/query/smithson</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Later, Smithson’s dear old mum who
was well respected in the </span><span style="color: black;">East End</span><span style="color: black;">, had a large statue of an angel put on the grave. One of
the firm said, ‘I had to laugh, a villain like Tommy Smithson with an angel
over his grave!’ </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As crime reporter Duncan Campbell
graphically says in his book, ‘The Underworld’, ‘There were almost as many
theories as to why Smithson had died as there were scars in his face’. And the
background behind Tommy’s killing didn’t become clear until 17 years later. In
October 1973 ‘The Old Grey Fox’ Bert Wickstead, one of the Big Five at Scotland
Yard, was leading the Serious Crime Squad. He decided to move against the
Syndicate who had taken over most of the vice in </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;"> after
the </span><span style="color: black;">Messina</span><span style="color: black;"> brothers had been deported. Said to be earning as much as
£100,000 a week, the organization was run by Bernie Silver (the only
non-Maltese member), and 18 stone Big Frank Mifsud. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Just as the police raids were due,
Silver and Mifsud had taken off on an ‘extended holiday’ after being tipped off
by a member of Wickstead’s team. So Wickstead went through an elaborate
pretence of having the warrants withdrawn and leaked a story to the press that
he had given up the case. The papers responded with stories along the lines of,
‘The Raid That Never Was’. The ruse worked and members of the Syndicate started
to return to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. Bernie Silver was arrested while he was having dinner
with his girlfriend at the Park Tower Hotel on </span><span style="color: black;">30 December 1973</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Other members of the gang were seized
at the Scheherazade Club in </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;">. In the early hours of the morning, Wickstead had stepped
on stage to announce that everyone was arrested. One person shouted out, ‘What
do you think of the cabaret?’ and another wit replied, ‘Not much!’ The guests,
staff and even the band, were taken to Limehouse police station where the band
continued playing and everyone sang songs. A total of 170 members of the
Syndicate were taken into custody but Frank Mifsud had been warned about the
raid and fled abroad. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Wickstead said that Silver and
Mifsud had ordered the murder of Tommy Smithson. The argument was that when
Smithson had demanded money for Fay Richardson’s defence and an increase in his
protection rate, it came at a bad time for Silver who was preparing to expand
his empire. He couldn’t afford to be seen as a weak man by giving in to a small
time crook like Smithson, so he told Ellul and Spampinato to get rid of him. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Wickstead and his team traced Spampinato
to </span><span style="color: black;">Malta</span><span style="color: black;">. Elluh was run to ground in </span><span style="color: black;">San Francisco</span><span style="color: black;"> after ‘The Old Grey Fox’ had appeared on an American TV
show and a photo of Elluh appeared in the magazine, ‘True Detective’. Both men agreed
to return to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and testify against the Syndicate in return for police
protection. Spampinato gave useful evidence at the committal proceedings but
refused to attend the Old Bailey trial. Elluh did not give any evidence in
court. He managed to slip away from the police who were protecting him and returned
to </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;">. The grapevine said the price of their silence was at
least £35,000 apiece. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Frank Mifsud was extradited from a
Swiss clinic after claiming he was mentally unfit. In December 1974 after a
long trial, he and Bernie Silver were given six years for living off immoral
earnings. Then in July 1975 Silver was sentenced to life imprisonment for Smithson’s
murder but a year later the Court of Appeal squashed the conviction, as they
said that the case had been built on the evidence of unreliable witnesses.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1976 Mifsud was also tried at
the Old Bailey for ordering Smithson’s killing. He said he was a property and
club owner earning £50,000 a year. He claimed that he was a friend of Smithson
and was sorry to hear he had been killed. When asked if he knew that Billy Hill
had occasionally employed Smithson as a gangster, Mifsud simply said that Billy
Hill was, ‘a kind gentleman who lent money’. Mifsud was acquitted of the murder
but sentenced to five years imprisonment for living off immoral earnings. This
was overturned by the Court of Appeal the following year.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In January 1977 the Thames TV programme
‘This Week’, broadcast a film called ‘An Exercise in Law’. They had interviewed
Elluh and Spampinato who both said they didn’t know Bernie Silver and that he
had nothing to do with Smithson’s murder. The programme implied that Commander Wickstead
had wanted to destroy the Syndicate and had falsely linked Silver and Mifsud to
the Smithson murder.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Friends close to Smithson always
maintained that the Maltese had become tired of paying him off and organized
his killing. One said the message to British gangsters was, ‘Watch out for the “Epsom
Salts” (Malts), they will retaliate.’ </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But according to Philip Elluh, the
motive was far more mundane. After Smithson had attacked him and George
Caruana, Elluh heard that Tommy was going to shoot him. So he went looking for
him, and when he found Tommy in Carlton Vale he simply shot him first.</span></span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-11715406331497903232015-06-09T00:46:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:43:24.478-07:00Horace Brodzky, Kilburn artist<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This famous painter and
illustrator lived in Kilburn for much of his life, and the neighbourhood and its
people feature in several of his paintings.</span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXaF4UORxlc/VXaWU4lC-tI/AAAAAAAAAOc/ygt5Ehy9YPA/s1600/Horace%2BAsher%2BBrodzky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXaF4UORxlc/VXaWU4lC-tI/AAAAAAAAAOc/ygt5Ehy9YPA/s400/Horace%2BAsher%2BBrodzky.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horace Asher Brodzky</td></tr>
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</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Horace Brodzky had many local
addresses. In 1926 he was at 22a </span><span style="color: black;">St George’s Road</span><span style="color: black;"> (later renamed Priory Terrace) having moved to Number 26 by
1928. In 1930 he was in </span><span style="color: black;">Mowbray Road</span><span style="color: black;">
and a year later, at 102 Brondesbury Villas. After a period in </span><span style="color: black;">Furness Road</span><span style="color: black;"> in Willesden he returned to Kilburn, to </span><span style="color: black;">9 Oxford Road</span><span style="color: black;"> from at least 1939 to 1959, before shifting a few doors
down the street to Number 37, where he lived from 1963 to 1965. The last few
years of his life were spent at 19 </span><span style="color: black;">Warwick</span><span style="color: black;"> Crescent W2, where he died in 1969.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBO3Lfghcwc/VXaXFdOZWkI/AAAAAAAAAO0/7ef0edzNYyE/s1600/Artist%2527s%2BHouse%2Bin%2BKilburn%252C%2B1931%2Bsketch%252C%2BHorace%2BBrodzky.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBO3Lfghcwc/VXaXFdOZWkI/AAAAAAAAAO0/7ef0edzNYyE/s400/Artist%2527s%2BHouse%2Bin%2BKilburn%252C%2B1931%2Bsketch%252C%2BHorace%2BBrodzky.JPG" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Artist's house in Kilburn, Brodzky 1931, (probably 102 Brondesbury Villas)</b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Horace was born in </span><span style="color: black;">Melbourne</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1885, into a literary and intellectual family. His
Polish father Maurice was a journalist with several Australian newspapers
before he founded the magazine, ‘Table Talk’. This was a weekly mixture of
politics, finance, literature, arts and social notes, and was highly successful
during the 1880s and 90s. But when Maurice became more outspoken about
corruption in business and government, he was sued in 1902. He lost the case
and the damages forced him into bankruptcy. The family moved to </span><span style="color: black;">San Francisco</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1904.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Four years later they came to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. It was here that Brodzky’s career as an artist really
began. In 1911 he briefly attended the City and </span><span style="color: black;">Guilds</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> in Kennington. More important, however, was his meeting
with Walter Sickert at the Allied Artists’ Association in July 1908. He
regularly attended the ‘Saturday afternoon’ held by Sickert in his </span><span style="color: black;">Fitzroy Street</span><span style="color: black;"> studio and before long he was part of the artistic and
literary set which met in the Café Royal. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During this time Brodzky travelled to Rome,
Naples and Sicily
with his friend the American poet John Gould Fletcher. Here he encountering the
works of Piero della Francesca who he always said was the greatest influence on
his art. Brodzky held his first exhibition in his Chelsea
studio, entitled ‘Paintings and Sketches of Italian and Sicilian Scenes’, and
one of these was chosen for inclusion in the British representation at the
Venice Biennale of 1912.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1914, a work by Brodzky was
included in the Jewish section in the </span><span style="color: black;">Whitechapel</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Art</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Gallery</span><span style="color: black;">’s survey of developments in contemporary art. By now he
was part of an important group of Jewish artists living in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> that included Jacob Kramer, David Bomberg, Alferd Wolmark,
Mark Gertler and Jacob Epstein. But his most important friendship was with the French
sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska who made a bronze bust of Brodzky in 1913, (now
in the Tate collection). Twenty years later Brodzky wrote a major biography of
Gaudier-Brzeska.</span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-avs3eGpsL60/VXaWe6csVyI/AAAAAAAAAOk/Xy7BsZ0tOL8/s1600/Bust%2Bby%2BGaudier-Brzeska%252C%2B1913%2B%2528Tate%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-avs3eGpsL60/VXaWe6csVyI/AAAAAAAAAOk/Xy7BsZ0tOL8/s400/Bust%2Bby%2BGaudier-Brzeska%252C%2B1913%2B%2528Tate%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Horace Brodzky, bronze by Gaudier-Brzeska, 1913 (Tate)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Brodzky worked in three media: painting, draining and
printmaking. In addition to woodcuts, Brodzky also used <b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">linoleum for his printing
blocks and was</span> </b><b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the first to do so in this country</span></b>. He
produced bold, powerful black and white images.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1915 after the death of Gaudier-Brzeska, he moved to New
York, with letters of introduction to the lawyer and
art patron, John Quinn. The next eight years were stimulating and productive.
At Quinn’s request he acted as Clerk of Works to the <span style="color: black;">Vorticist
Exhibition held at the Penguin Club in 1917. Brodzky’s portfolio of 21 linoprints
was published in </span><span style="color: black;">New
York</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1920. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">His work was remarkable for its
diversity: caricature (an advertisement for a book on G.B. Shaw), humour (cover
designs for the magazines Playboy and The Quill), and stylish designs for book
jackets (these included works by some of the leading writers of the day, including
Eugene O’Neill, Theodore Dreiser and Upton Sinclair). Nevertheless he was struggling.
He worked as a waiter, an artist’s model and journalist to make ends meet,
editing the magazines Rainbow and Art Review.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In December 1919 he met and married
Bertha Greenfield who was working as a nanny in </span><span style="color: black;">New York</span><span style="color: black;">, and they had three sons. They moved to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1923 and he was included in the London Group
Retrospective in 1928 and in Claude Flight’s ‘First Exhibition of British
Linocuts’ in 1929.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nk7RTJUMPhQ/VXaXsmxHOAI/AAAAAAAAAO8/t-O5aNach30/s1600/Bridge%2BStreet%2BKilburn%252C%2B1947%2Bby%2BHorace%2BBrodsky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nk7RTJUMPhQ/VXaXsmxHOAI/AAAAAAAAAO8/t-O5aNach30/s400/Bridge%2BStreet%2BKilburn%252C%2B1947%2Bby%2BHorace%2BBrodsky.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridge Street Kilburn, by Brodzky 1947</td></tr>
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</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 1920s and 30s were a particularly
difficult time for Brodzky, when for ten years he taught art two nights a week
at an L.C.C evening school in Bermondsey. After financial problems contributed
to the breakdown of his marriage to Bertha in 1934, Brodzky carried on working
and the following year critic and art historian, James Laver, published ‘Forty
Drawings by Horace Brodzky’. In 1937 Brodzky shared an exhibition with <span class="st">David Bomberg and Margarete Hamerschlag</span> at the Foyle Gallery.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1946 saw the publication of his
book on the painter Jules Pascin and in 1948 he became the art editor of the
Antique Dealer and Collector’s Guide, a magazine founded by his brother Vivian.
This provided a small but regular income until 1962.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sRJCALtaK6s/VXaX3yE_bkI/AAAAAAAAAPE/7OP4xgvkagA/s1600/Kilburn%2BRoll-Call%252C%2B1956%252C%2BHorace%2BBrodzky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sRJCALtaK6s/VXaX3yE_bkI/AAAAAAAAAPE/7OP4xgvkagA/s400/Kilburn%2BRoll-Call%252C%2B1956%252C%2BHorace%2BBrodzky.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilburn Roll-call, 1956 (probably men waiting to be chosen for casual labour)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1963 the writer and art collector,
Ruth Borchard bought a pen and ink self portrait of Brodzky for 12 guineas. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI7X7m5SeOw/VXaW1DfzJtI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tvnDqXUd8s4/s1600/Self%2Bportrait%252C%2B1963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OI7X7m5SeOw/VXaW1DfzJtI/AAAAAAAAAOs/tvnDqXUd8s4/s320/Self%2Bportrait%252C%2B1963.jpg" width="228" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Self portrait, Brodzky, 1963</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He wrote her letters which set out his difficult
circumstances: </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘I am living more like a recluse with advancing age’. (He was then
seventy-eight). He continued: </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Since 1911, I have been connected with the </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">London</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> art world and have exhibited at all
important exhibitions… and have worked for modern art. … For a long time I have
sold none of my work and have had to rely on selling items by other artists
that I have collected… This letter is not an angry complaint but just the plain
facts that I thought you might like to know.’</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Brodzky lived long enough to see a
revival of interest in his work and he died on </span><span style="color: black;">11 February 1969</span><span style="color: black;">. The Times published an obituary on the 17th. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today his work is in many collections around the world,
including:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tate Gallery, London</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Victoria and Albert
Museum</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">British Museum,
London</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Arts Council, London</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Museum of Modern Art,
New York Public Library</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra, and other many regional
galleries</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-9709502101132351022015-05-25T08:08:00.002-07:002018-04-03T06:43:47.480-07:00The Home for Homeless Infants<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During the latter part of the nineteenth century, London
streets were home to a variety of small residential institutions: hospitals,
schools and orphanages. Some grew and prospered such as Hampstead
General Hospital,
which began in a single house, later moving to a large site off Haverstock Hill
and was absorbed into the Royal Free after WW2. Others were short lived,
lasting as long as there were funds or interest in the project. This is the
story of one charitable home for children in Kilburn.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">143 Carlton Road</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">143 Carlton Road
(later renamed Carlton Vale) was a Victorian villa, built in the late
1850s/early 1860s. It stood close to the junction with Peel
Road. This area has been comprehensively
redeveloped and most of the old houses, including number 143, have been
demolished. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Fm2qRynFFI/VWM5K4wXiyI/AAAAAAAAAN0/H54JX6APQtc/s1600/1890s%2BMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Fm2qRynFFI/VWM5K4wXiyI/AAAAAAAAAN0/H54JX6APQtc/s640/1890s%2BMap.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1890s map showing the position of 143 Carlton Road in red</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1869, a young Hubert von Herkomer who was to become Sir
Hubert, a noted painter, engraver and etcher, was lodging with the family of a
fellow student at 143 Carlton Road.
He exhibited his first picture at the Royal
Academy, ‘Leisure Hours,’ from this
address. It was a portrait of his friend’s sister, in an old fashioned silk
dress, looking at a sketch held at arm’s length. Herkomer attended the Royal Academy
soiree in a dress suit rented for the evening from a pawnbroker for ten
shillings and sixpence. The lodgings didn’t work out and he soon left Carlton
Road for new digs in Chelsea.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUX5EfMZJIo/VWM5c1GqXDI/AAAAAAAAAN8/If2nm7XqJAY/s1600/Self%2Bportrait%2Bof%2BHerbert%2BHerkomer%2B%2528c1880%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUX5EfMZJIo/VWM5c1GqXDI/AAAAAAAAAN8/If2nm7XqJAY/s320/Self%2Bportrait%2Bof%2BHerbert%2BHerkomer%2B%2528c1880%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Herbert Heckomer, self portrait c1880</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The 1871 census has a bus driver and his extended family
living at number 143. Properties in the south Kilburn area often experienced a
regular turnover of tenants, many of whom are untraceable as they don’t appear
in either the Rates or the Census. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1881, the house stood empty but soon after, it became a ‘House
for Homeless Infants’. There’s little surviving information about this
establishment; for example, the <span style="color: black;">entry criteria: was
the baby abandoned or orphaned? An 1887 report said, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">babies who have fallen on evil times are received and nursed back into
health and strength’</i>, which could reflect either of these possibilities. It
continued: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This little home is the
special care of Lady Stanley and has for six years past been principally</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> dependant upon her for the funds necessary
to carry on this good but unpretending work.</i>’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lady Stanley</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It seems likely that Lady Stanley set up the Home. Her level
of support strongly indicates this was the case: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lady Stanley is at the Home, eleven to one, every Wednesday morning,
and is especially pleased to show the Home and its little inmates to all who
care to call between these hours</i>.’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Lady Stanley was born Lady
Constance Villiers. She married Frederick Arthur Stanley in 1864. He was known
as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of </span><span style="color: black;">Preston</span><span style="color: black;">
between 1886 and 1893, when he succeeded his brother as the 16<sup>th</sup>
Earl of Derby. </span><span style="color: black;">Constance</span><span style="color: black;">, described as an ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">able
and witty woman</i>,’ was on the first Grand Council of the Ladies Branch of
the Primrose League, an organization dedicated to upholding the Conservative cause
and spreading its principles. She supported her husband in his political
career, in particular as Governor General in </span><span style="color: black;">Canada</span><span style="color: black;">. In this</span> age before women’s suffrage, Constance
needed her husband’s permission to involve herself in the Home. She was in a
strong position to forward its aims: in 1886 the funds received a welcome boost
from the proceeds of an evening’s theatrical performance. The following year a
fund raising concert was held at the Stanley’s
home, 5 Portland Place, a
large, double fronted property close to Langham Place.
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvl1nOkN_oI/VWM5rp2rfnI/AAAAAAAAAOE/eHN632EHHfI/s1600/Lady%2BConstance%2BStanley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvl1nOkN_oI/VWM5rp2rfnI/AAAAAAAAAOE/eHN632EHHfI/s400/Lady%2BConstance%2BStanley.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The 1887 Fundraiser </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Several of those on Lady Constance’s concert list also
performed and if they didn’t directly support Lady Stanley in her patronage of
the Kilburn Home, part of their work involved children. Alfred Scott-Gatty was
a composer with a special interest<span style="color: blue;"> </span>in promoting
music for children. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mrs Henrietta Stannard not only recited, she also sold
tickets for the event. Henrietta wrote stories, mainly centred on army life,
under the pseudonym of ‘John Strange Winter’. Her reputation was established by
‘Bootle’s Baby’ and ‘Houp-La,’ both of which appeared in
The Graphic in 1885.<span style="color: magenta;"> </span>For the Kilburn fund <span style="color: black;">raiser Henrietta read ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
death of Houp-La’</i>. The setting was the Egyptian campaign of</span> 1882.
Houp-la is a poor uneducated boy devoted to his master, who has the difficult
task of delivering some important dispatches. Houp-la takes the dispatches and
after overcoming many dangers, he delivers them safely and is much praised for
his bravery. But on returning to camp, Houp-la is ambushed by the enemy; ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a search party organised for his relief, find
him, but too late. Houp-la returns to die in the arms of his master</i>.’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Such sentimental tales were very popular at the time. In ‘Bootle’s
Baby,’ an abandoned baby is eventually reunited with its mother who marries Captain
Algernon Ferrars, otherwise the ‘Bootle’ of the title. Two
million copies were sold during the ten years following its first publication.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What happened to the
Home and Lady Stanley?</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Home had closed by 1891, when number 143
Carlton Road is shown in the census as subdivided
and occupied by four families. Its closure is likely to have coincided with Constance’s
departure from England
in 1888, when her husband took up his post as Governor General of Canada.
She continued her charitable work there, founding the Lady Stanley Institute or Trained Nurses, the first nursing school in Ottawa. The couple
returned to the England
in 1893 where Constance died in 1922. Her obituary in
the Times made no mention of her philanthropic works. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IOptqgUNDFs/VWM58HG2cqI/AAAAAAAAAOM/xKGV2a-ZmRY/s1600/Lord%2BStanley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IOptqgUNDFs/VWM58HG2cqI/AAAAAAAAAOM/xKGV2a-ZmRY/s320/Lord%2BStanley.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lord Stanley </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What happened to the infant inmates after the Home closed is
not known. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-89716793267222453532015-05-01T04:26:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:44:48.677-07:00The Mysterious Doctor Du Brange<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">During a search of the British
Newspaper Archive we found reports of a man with the unusual name of Du Brange
who lived in Kilburn. We were intrigued when we discovered that he appeared
several times in court.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Indecent Handbills</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The first time that he is shown in
the newspapers was in October 1869 when Gilbert Du Brange of 99 Seymour Street,
Euston Square, (which is now called Eversholt Street), was charged in the
Marylebone Police Court with causing indecent handbills to be distributed by
Timothy Leonard.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Sergeant Martin, a plain clothes
detective of S Division, said they’d been observing Du Brange for some time and
that his real name was Charles Tiffin, a native of </span><span style="color: black;">Scotland</span><span style="color: black;">. Du Brange said this was a lie. Another detective, John
Robertson, said he was in </span><span style="color: black;">Seymour Street</span><span style="color: black;"> at </span><span style="color: black;">8.30pm</span><span style="color: black;"> on the
4th August and he saw Timothy Leonard go into Du Brange’s house. He came out
again with a handful of small bills and he gave one to every person he met. He
gave two to Detective Robertson who followed him as far as Camden High Street.
Here Robertson took Leonard’s name and address, which turned out to be false
and he was later apprehended on a warrant. On 20 Oct Detective Robertson went
to Du Brange’s house. Eventually Du Brange admitted he had asked Leonard to
distribute the bills. He said he also gave out handbills under the railway
arch at </span><span style="color: black;">Camden</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Town</span><span style="color: black;"> when Du Brange had gone there to lecture about the
medicinal properties of his pills. Detective Martin said Tim Leonard had told
him he was paid 1s 6d a day to hand out the bills. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Du Brange said he was well known
and he had been selling pills in the open air for about two or three year until
about nine months ago when his business had increased and he stayed in his shop.
When he sold a box of pills he wrapped them in a handbill to advertise his
products. When he sold them to a woman he wrapped them in plain paper. He said
he sold about three or four gross of pills every day. The magistrate asked if
he was a qualified medical man. Du Brange said he was a graduate of medicine
from </span><span style="color: black;">Giessen</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Germany</span><span style="color: black;">. The court clerk explained that anyone could get a diploma
there for 10s. The police said that from their enquiries Du Brange was not in
any way connected with the medical profession and the case was brought under
the Metropolitan Streets Act of 1867, a section of which prohibited the
distribution of handbills. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The magistrate concluded there
were no doubts about the case and Du Brange would pay a penalty of 40s and
Leonard 10s or they would be imprisoned for 14 days and seven days
respectively. Du Brange paid the fines and said the case would be his
ruin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Following the report in the Times,
Dr Wilbrand of the </span><span style="color: black;">University</span><span style="color: black;"> of </span><span style="color: black;">Giessen</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">Germany</span><span style="color: black;">, wrote a letter to the editor saying they were repeatedly
been accused of selling diplomas of medicine. This was not true and neither Charles
Tiffin or Gilbert Du Brange was a graduate of the University. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Selling pills</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It’s clear that the bad publicity didn’t
stop Du Brange from peddling his pills. In March 1871 he was summoned at the </span><span style="color: black;">Marlborough Street</span><span style="color: black;"> court with unlawfully representing himself as a member of
the Royal College of Surgeons. He had now moved his business to </span><span style="color: black;">36 Gilbert Street</span><span style="color: black;">, off </span><span style="color: black;">Oxford Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and he was living at ‘Salisbury House Kilburn’. He saw
patients in </span><span style="color: black;">Gilbert
Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and in
Kilburn. Police Sergeant Micklejohn said he went to </span><span style="color: black;">36 Gilbert Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and it had the appearance of a doctor’s shop. A diploma in
the name of Dr Peskett was displayed in the window while ‘Du Brange’ was on the
door. He had observed Peskett go into the shop numerous times and he witnessed Du
Brange making up medicines and selling them. He also saw what he called ‘several
disgusting medical representations’ in the shop. Micklejohn returned with the
summoning officer Costigan, who asked Du Brange if he was the doctor. Du Brange
replied that he was. The secretary of the Royal College of Surgeons gave
evidence in court and said Du Brange was not on the register. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In summing up the magistrate said
unqualified practitioners were ‘common pests in large towns’ and he imposed a
full fine of £20 with costs, saying he wished it could be more. The next
edition of the Lancet congratulated the Royal College of Surgeons for successfully
bringing the prosecution against Du Brange and ‘having at last awoken to a
sense of its duty’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Medical quacks had been common for
years and Du Brange’s name appeared on a list of 26 quacks ‘practising’ in
London in a book called ‘Revelations of Quacks and Quackery’ by Francis Burdett
Courtenay. Punch in their review of the book said: </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The vile practices, the monstrous impudence,
the cruel rapacity, and the enormous gains of the obscene tribe of quacks, the
mischief they do, the ruin they work, even to the causation of suicide, are
fully set forth in "Revelations of Quacks and Quackery."</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WDhuvYyLPyU/VUNh-Ys1-sI/AAAAAAAAANk/z1Poj_G_zlo/s1600/The%2BQuack%2BDoctor%2C%2Bby%2BFOC%2BDarly%2C%2BEvery%2BSaturday%2C%2BBoston%2BJan%2B1871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WDhuvYyLPyU/VUNh-Ys1-sI/AAAAAAAAANk/z1Poj_G_zlo/s1600/The%2BQuack%2BDoctor%2C%2Bby%2BFOC%2BDarly%2C%2BEvery%2BSaturday%2C%2BBoston%2BJan%2B1871.jpg" width="616" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Quack Doctor, by FOC. Darley from 'Every Saturday' a Boston Magazine, 1871</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Despite his fines Du Brange remained
undeterred and was summoned for the distribution of handbills in August 1874
and again in June 1875. His address was now given as the ‘Medical Institute’ </span><span style="color: black;">36 Gilbert Street</span><span style="color: black;">. At the 1875 hearing Du Brange, behaving in a very excited
manner, said the bills had been previously judged by Sir Thomas Henry (the
chief magistrate at </span><span style="color: black;">Bow
Street</span><span style="color: black;">), not to
be obscene and there was no case to answer. The magistrate told him his manner
was offensive and ungentlemanly and to conduct himself better. The case was
proved and Du Brange was fined 10s. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The indecent bills were most likely adverts
for medicines claimed to cure the pox, other sexual diseases (usually called
‘secret diseases’ by the quacks), impotence, and abortion remedies for women,
but we haven’t been able to find descriptions of Du Brange’s potions and pills.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Who was Gilbert Du Brange?</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Obviously, he was a man operating
on the edge and it proved difficult to find out who he really was. The only
time he appears in official documents is on the 1871 census which shows a Gilbert
Du Brange, at </span><span style="color: black;">19
Salusbury Road</span><span style="color: black;">,
Kilburn. He is 32 years old, a ‘medical botanist’, born in </span><span style="color: black;">Carlisle</span><span style="color: black;">. His
wife is shown as Sarah Du Brange, 44, a skirt maker, born in Benson, Oxfordshire.
Four children are listed: Robert Francis Greenwood, son, 18, a shopman to a
medical botanist (presumably Gilbert), born in Islington; </span><span style="color: black;">Alice</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Greenwood</span><span style="color: black;">, daughter, 14, born in Islington and Clara </span><span style="color: black;">Greenwood</span><span style="color: black;">, daughter, 11, born in St Pancras. There is also a one
year and nine month old son, Gilbert Du Brange, born in St Pancras; which
indicates they had only recently moved to Kilburn.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The older children were Sarah’s.
She was previously the wife of Robert Greenwood, a ‘chemist’ who made ‘laundry blue’
used to wash and whiten clothes, of </span><span style="color: black;">Upper Seymour Street</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">Somers</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Town</span><span style="color: black;">. On </span><span style="color: black;">17 January 1861</span><span style="color: black;">
they baptised five children who had been born between 1850 and 1857 but they
only got married in Lambeth on </span><span style="color: black;">6 March 1859</span><span style="color: black;">. Robert
Greenwood died in April 1866 and Sarah and her children later moved in with
Gilbert Du Brange. There is no record of them marrying. Du Brange may have met
Robert Greenwood through the manufacture of his pills.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In April 1875 Robert Francis
Greenwood, Sarah’s eldest son, married Ellenor Tiffin in </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;">. Her father was Joseph Tiffin a blacksmith born in Penrith
Cumberland. This set us thinking. During the first court case the police had claimed
Gilbert Du Brange was really Charles Tiffin. As </span><span style="color: black;">Tiffin</span><span style="color: black;"> is rather an usual name, this seemed too much of a
coincidence. We believe that </span><span style="color: black;">Tiffin</span><span style="color: black;"> came to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and began selling pox medicines under the name of Gilbert
Du Brange. A linking fact was that a Gilbert Tiffin was born in 1869 in St
Pancras, surely the boy called Gilbert Du Brange in the 1871 census. We sent
off for his birth certificate which showed that Gilbert Tiffin was born on </span><span style="color: black;">11 August 1869</span><span style="color: black;"> at </span><span style="color: black;">99 Seymour Street</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Euston
Square</span><span style="color: black;">. His
father is shown as William Tiffin, ‘herbalist master’. His mother is Sarah
Tiffin, late </span><span style="color: black;">Greenwood</span><span style="color: black;">, formerly Warner (her maiden name). So it is clear that Gilbert
Du Brange was really William Tiffin.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Dr William Richardson and the Greenwoods</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There is an unusual newspaper
report from May 1873, when surgeon William Richardson of </span><span style="color: black;">24 Southampton Street</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Strand</span><span style="color: black;"> was charged with indecent behaviour to two girls in </span><span style="color: black;">Hyde Park</span><span style="color: black;">. In
the </span><span style="color: black;">Marlborough
Street</span><span style="color: black;"> court,
Clara Greenwood aged 13 of </span><span style="color: black;">36 Gilbert Street</span><span style="color: black;"> said her father was a doctor. She gave evidence that the
previous afternoon she was in </span><span style="color: black;">Hyde
Park</span><span style="color: black;"> with her younger brother (probably
Gilbert but not named), and an eight year old friend called Caroline Plante.
They were sitting on a seat when the prisoner came and sat beside them. It was
raining but he told them not to go as the rain would soon be over. Clara said
that when she attempted to leave he grabbed hold of her jacket and indecently
assaulted her. He did the same to Caroline who confirmed the story. PC Berry who was on duty in the Park, saw the incident and immediately arrested </span><span style="color: black;">Richardson</span><span style="color: black;">. Despite evidence of </span><span style="color: black;">Richardson</span><span style="color: black;">’s good character, the magistrate said the case should go
to trial and he released Dr Richardson on bail of £500 and two sureties of £200
each. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Unlike William Tiffin alias Gilbert
Du Grange, William Richardson had qualified as a doctor in 1859 and was a
member of the Royal College of Surgeons. In the 1871 census he was a GP, born
in </span><span style="color: black;">York</span><span style="color: black;"> and living at </span><span style="color: black;">13 New Bridge Street</span><span style="color: black;">, Bridewell in the City with his wife Louisa. In 1873 his
practice was at </span><span style="color: black;">24
Southampton Street</span><span style="color: black;">,
</span><span style="color: black;">Strand</span><span style="color: black;"> as he said in court. But we couldn’t find a record of his
subsequent trial and perhaps he came to a financial agreement with Du Brange/Tiffin
and the case was dropped? Dr Richardson continued to practice as a GP and live
with his wife until he died in 1890 aged 54. He left Louisa £94, worth about
£8,500 today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>After 1875</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Despite our best efforts, it is
frustrating that we were unable to track Gilbert Du Brange or William Tiffin
beyond 1875, but he probably changed his name again and continued selling
potions. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">For an interesting book about the
subject see, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘The Quack Doctor’</i> by
Caroline Rance, The History Press, 2013. Caroline also writes a regular blog; <a href="http://thequackdoctor.com/">http://thequackdoctor.com/</a></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-18320732702004318792015-03-26T08:18:00.002-07:002018-04-03T06:45:12.448-07:00Riches to rags – the story of Leslie Crotty and Georgina Burns<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The streets of West Hampstead and
Kilburn were home to hundreds of performers and musicians in the late
nineteenth century: from acrobats to actors, music hall turns and singers. Some
lived with their family, others rented accommodation; some stayed for many
years, others were transient. When they were out of work, they placed adverts
in The Stage and the Era newspapers, informing the profession they were
‘disengaged’ and seeking a company to work for, or a tour to join.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is the story of two performers, husband and wife
Leslie Crotty and Georgina Burns. Leslie was born in Galway
in 1852, the son of a Presbyterian minister; Georgina
was born in 1859 at 17 Porteus Road
Paddington, the daughter of George and Eliza Burns. He was a printer.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Burns family lived in Paddington and Kilburn for more
than forty years. Baptist Minister Jabez Burns was the first to arrive in 1835,
when he accepted the post of minister at the Aenon Baptist Chapel in New
Church Street (later Church
Street) Marylebone. His son George was living at 17
Porteus Road Paddington by 1851. The property was
occupied by either Jabez or George, until George died there in 1884. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Golden Years</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Georgina Burns and Leslie Crotty were superb singers; she was
a soprano and he a baritone. A performance in 1877 prompted the comment, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘he</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">promises
to be one of the best baritone singers of the day’, </i>this was one of
hundreds of superlative reviews he received. Georgina was
nicknamed ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the English Patti’</i>, a
reference to Adelina Patti, born in Spain
to Italian parents and described by Verdi as possibly the finest opera singer who
ever lived.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Both were discovered by Carl Rosa, (the founder of the
successful Carla Rosa Opera Company). Leslie was working in Dublin
as a bank clerk while making a reputation for himself as an amateur singer. Rosa
liked his voice and advised he go to Italy
to be tutored, which he did. Georgina’s talent was
obvious to her friends and they too urged her to go abroad to study but she
refused: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I have only had about a dozen
lessons in my life</i>’ she later told a reporter. Employed by Rosa after he
heard her sing a duet with sister Caroline, whose professional name was Cora
Stuart, Georgina was already a rising star in the Company by the time Leslie was
signed up and arrived in London in 1878. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 212.65pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Both Leslie and Georgina’s
careers blossomed as they became popular and important members of the troupe,
enjoying successful tours and rave reviews. They were married in St Mary’s
Church Paddington on 21 June 1882;
Carl Rosa was one of the witnesses. Their daughter Norah Leslie was born the
following year.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 212.65pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E0sEdZhv8ws/VRQhq95kw9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/GJ8uRba4B7I/s1600/Georgina%2BBurns%2C%2B1879%2B(Wiki%2BCommons).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E0sEdZhv8ws/VRQhq95kw9I/AAAAAAAAAM8/GJ8uRba4B7I/s1600/Georgina%2BBurns%2C%2B1879%2B(Wiki%2BCommons).jpg" width="355" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Georgina Burns, 1879</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Crottys didn’t have a permanent home, probably because
they spent so much time on tour. So they arranged to use the addresses of
relatives as a contact point and to receive mail. By 1890, Georgina’s brother Thomas
was living at 57 Brondesbury Villas Kilburn with his family, while his sister
Mary Jane and husband were only a few doors away at number 75. The Crottys used
both addresses while Thomas and Mary Jane remained in Kilburn. It’s also likely
they stayed with their relatives when they were to London.
In the 1891 census their daughter Norah was living with her uncle Thomas at number
57 Brondesbury Villas. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07-CVzT6Xkc/VRQh84lSrKI/AAAAAAAAANE/jykUsiwPTaY/s1600/Leslie%2BCrotty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-07-CVzT6Xkc/VRQh84lSrKI/AAAAAAAAANE/jykUsiwPTaY/s1600/Leslie%2BCrotty.jpg" width="232" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leslie Crotty</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Independence</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After enjoying more than a decade of adulation and success, Georgina
and Leslie left Carl Rosa and set up their own opera company, known as the Georgina
Burns Light Opera Company or the Burns-Crotty Opera Company. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The timings are complicated by an April 1891 report, saying
they had signed for the Carla Rosa 1891-1892 season. The press had already
leaked the couple’s intention to tour with their own troupe that summer in what
Georgina and Leslie described as an ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">operatic
aside’ </i>that did not conflict with their contract. But by May 1891, Georgina
and Leslie were appearing independently of Carla Rosa, indicating they’d
already left the Company. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There was an agreement with Carl Rosa that the tours of his
and the new company would not conflict, which extended to the repertoire on
offer. A very young Henry Wood (later the famous conductor of the Proms for
over 50 years), was hired as musical director (his parents were old friends of
the Crottys). Georgina and Leslie took to the road with
a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lavish production’ </i>of Rossini's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cenerentola </i>(Cinderella). This work had
never featured in the Carla Rosa repertoire and had last appeared on tour in
1870. It took some time to prepare; music from another composer was incorporated
and the whole performance was directed by Cora’s husband, the actor manager T.W.
Robertson. He revised and condensed the libretto to bring the opera up-to-date
for modern audiences.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>After a few
trial performances, the first tour began in August 1892 at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle
on Tyne. The review described it as ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a fairy story poetically treated and free
from vulgar excrescences, with the strongest claims as a musical production’</i>.
Henry Wood departed for an engagement in London
and was replaced as conductor by Eugene Goossens, junior.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bzeKvQxBg3M/VRQiJhKaqmI/AAAAAAAAANM/FZNNCfYNcgo/s1600/Cinderella%2BHull%2Bprogramme%2B1893%2B(Arthur%2BLloyd%2Bwebsite).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bzeKvQxBg3M/VRQiJhKaqmI/AAAAAAAAANM/FZNNCfYNcgo/s1600/Cinderella%2BHull%2Bprogramme%2B1893%2B(Arthur%2BLloyd%2Bwebsite).jpg" width="492" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cinderella Programme, Hull, 9 January 1893 (The Arthur Lloyd website)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On Christmas Eve 1892, the Burns-Crotty Opera Company’s autumn
tour closed in Cardiff, the 100<sup>th</sup>
night they had performed. Georgina was given <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘lovely presents, including a handsome
sliver slipper, a case of toilet requisites and more than a dozen beautiful
bouquets.</i>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was only a short
break before the spring tour began with a performance in Hull
on 9 January 1893, a
punishing regime. Georgina gave an interview to a Blackburn
reporter the following month. She told him that she was familiar with numerous
minor and at least 55 principal roles: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if
a part were put in her hands one day she would be almost ready to play it the
next</i>.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had played to packed
houses, reluctantly turning away disappointed customers and the Company was
fully booked until May; ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">then they may
rest awhile and in August, when they start again, the public may expect to see
some novelties produced by them.</i>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Failure</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Unfortunately the Crotty’s success was short lived and the
company closed inside the space of two years. Touring was expensive (theatre
hire, train tickets, publicity, salaries and accommodation to name but a few expenses),
and despite positive reviews, perhaps the piece was not as popular as
anticipated; a report of the first night in Birmingham said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘the attendance was not so good as the
production merited, but is sure to improve during the week</i>.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At their peak with the Carla Rosa Company, Leslie and Georgina
had shared a substantial salary of £100 a week, equivalent to about £9,000
today. But they lost it all trying to make a success of their company, condemned
by one reporter for attempting, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a wild
scheme to popularise Rossini’s ‘Cenerentola’ in the provinces</i>.’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Beginning of the
End</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By April 1894 Georgina was ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">disengaged for concerts and operas</i>.’ The
couple were advertising their availability in the trade papers, giving 75
Brondesbury Villas (her sister Mary Jane’s home) as their postal address. It’s
likely they were almost bankrupt. Added to issues of the possibly unwise choice
of opera to tour, Georgina’s health was poor and there were
hints that it had been failing for some time; a report of the Dundee
performance of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cenerentola </i>in August
1892 noted she had only recently recovered from a severe illness. She was eventually
diagnosed as suffering from ataxia, which manifests as a lack of muscle
co-ordination which can affect speech and walking. It can be inherited and is
incurable. As one report put it when their company failed, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madame Burns fell seriously ill and Mr
Crotty’s voice lost its freshness</i>.’</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We can’t know if they were offered any work, but their names
(plus the Kilburn address) appear in the columns of The Stage in August 1894
and again June 1895: in previous years there had been no need to advertise. Now,
aside from a few performances, their singing careers were over.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The marriage broke down and Leslie and Georgina
went their separate ways: he to Newcastle
where he worked as a teacher and she to Liverpool. We
think their daughter remained with relatives until she was old enough to lead
an independent life, as no mention is ever made of Norah in the various press
reports that chronicle the couple’s later years. By January of 1896 Georgina
was living in Liverpool, still unable to perform but her
health had improved. Her illness seems to have experienced periods of remission
sufficient to give her and friends hope that Georgina
might once again assume her role of a Prima Donna. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leslie was also in a bad way. In November 1898, under the
headline: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Famous Baritone, Sad
Position of Mr Leslie Crotty’</i>, he appeared before Newcastle
magistrates on a charge of insanity. Clearly lacking sufficient funds to be
treated privately, and thought to be in danger of committing suicide, he’d been
taken to the Workhouse to receive medical care. His state of mind was put down
to heavy drinking. Leslie told the court he was ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perfectly sane at the moment’</i> and asked to be released into the
care of a friend, but the magistrate took the advice of a doctor who said
Leslie must return to the Workhouse to be treated for at least another week.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When a performer was down on their luck, their colleagues often
rallied round by holding a ‘benefit concert’ where the venue made no charge and
performers gave their services for free. The takings were donated to a named
recipient. In March 1899, a successful benefit was held for Georgina
in Liverpool. She’d now been ill for nearly five years,
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the victim of prolonged sickness, sorrow
and unmerited trouble</i>.’ She attended the concert, even mounting the stage where
a colleague spoke for her: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I appear
before you this afternoon as the mouthpiece of Madame Georgina Burns, who,
unfortunately, is not yet strong enough to address you and say all she would so
dearly love to say on her own account.</i>’ Another benefit was held in
September; but this time Georgina was absent. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leslie was given his benefit concert in Newcastle
in May 1900; it raised £145. He sang a couple of songs and was well received. A
reporter noted Leslie hadn’t performed publically for some years due to ill
health, but the event must have encouraged him to plan a come-back. He placed
what was probably his last advertisement that July: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Late Principal Baritone, Carla Rosa Opera Company. Mr Crotty is
desirous of joining a good Light or Grand Opera Company going out in the
Autumn.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The 1901 census finds him still giving his profession as
that of an ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">operatic singer’</i> and
occupying two rooms in a lodging house in Newcastle,
while Georgina was now a patient at the National
Hospital for Incurables in
Finchley. Her illness was progressive but a year later, in May, when she was
planning to give two concerts in Dublin,
it was publicised that ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her glorious
voice retains its brilliance.</i>’ We haven’t been able to find a review, just
an advert for the night of the 27<sup>th</sup>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5YPqJl3U7w/VRQimhdzC4I/AAAAAAAAANU/z67Mlk9-7LY/s1600/Georgina%2BBurns%2C%2Badvert%2B1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l5YPqJl3U7w/VRQimhdzC4I/AAAAAAAAANU/z67Mlk9-7LY/s1600/Georgina%2BBurns%2C%2Badvert%2B1902.jpg" width="302" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Advert 1902</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Sadly, there was no recovery for Leslie
and he died suddenly on </span><span style="color: black;">18 April, 1903</span><span style="color: black;">
at </span><span style="color: black;">31</span> Grantham
Road, Newcastle. His drinking
problems must have been known in the opera world, so it’s unlikely he received
any serious offers of employment in response to his advertisement. At the
inquest, his landlady said;</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He had been in the habit of drinking, and had suffered pains at the
heart. On Saturday morning he was recovering from the effects of intemperance,
(a drinking bout that had begun on Thursday), and she left him for a time, but
he called her and said he had fallen. She found that he had slipped on the
floor with his legs doubled under him. He was conscious for a few minutes, and
tried to pull himself up by the bed, but failed</i>. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By the time a doctor arrived, Leslie was dead. A verdict of
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">death from heart failure, accelerated by
drinking’</i> was given. His funeral was conducted by his brother Albert, who
was a rector in Ireland.
Sadly, there’s no report of any other family member attending. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Poor Georgina suffered continuing ill
health and persistent poverty: given his circumstances, it’s fairly certain she
didn’t benefit from Leslie’s death. Things were looking very bleak and there
was a good chance she too would also be sent to the <span style="color: black;">Workhouse,
when in February 1907, Dora Bagot took up her cause. Dora was married to an
ex-MP and lived at Levens Hall, Westmoreland. </span>Dora wrote about Georgina
to the Daily Chronicle and her ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pathetic
appeal’</i> was reprinted by several other papers. At the time Georgina
was living in Milnthorpe just a few miles from Dora’s home, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘forsaken, forgotten and destitute.</i>’ Dora
further describes Georgina as a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">widow with not a single relative in a position to support her</i>’, yet
she had relatives financially able to help her. Perhaps her nursing
requirements were overwhelming.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Why Georgina had left Liverpool
for Milnthorpe isn’t mentioned, but Dora wanted to raise enough money to send
her back, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to where she is known and much
respected</i>.’ After a couple of weeks the fund stood at £250, headed by two
donations of £5 each from the Prince and Princess of Wales.
That July Georgina made what was probably her first appearance on a music hall
stage, a far cry from her Carla Rosa opera days. The 1911 census finds her back
in London at a boarding house on
Brixton Hill. She probably stayed in the neighbourhood, as in 1914 she was admitted
to the British Home for Incurables at Streatham. Yet another appeal for help was
launched, this <span style="color: black;">time by Major William Houghton
Gastrell, the MP for North Lambeth. </span><span style="color: black;">Georgina</span><span style="color: black;"> may</span> have been one of his constituents. But she died
at the Home on 24 May 1932;
her death certificate indicates she died of heart disease.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">James Joyce, a keen opera fan, who may have seen her perform was aware of Georgina's decline. A character in 'The Dead', his last story in 'The Dubliners' (1914), says that she remembers 'poor Georgina Burns'. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This is a sad story of two
talented singers who achieved great adulation and praise before illness,
depression and drink, brought them crashing down.</span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-12011539997862533522015-02-24T08:23:00.000-08:002018-04-03T06:45:37.286-07:00James Curtis, a crime writer<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 2007 London Books republished <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gilt Kid</i>, a book written by James Curtis in 1936. This was
followed by two more of his books, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They
Drive By Night</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There Ain’t No
Justice </i>which were republished in 2008 and 2014.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During the 1930s James Curtis became popular for his gritty
novels of the London underworld.<span style="color: black;"> The reviewers praised his use of slang, his hardboiled style
and the refusal to romanticise his protagonist. He was later compared with Patrick
Hamilton and American crime writers such as David Goodis and James T. Farrell.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There are more than a thousand
words and phrases attributed to Curtis by lexicographer, Eric Partridge, in his
‘Dictionary of Slang’. For example the expression, ‘Gordon Bennett’ was used in
his 1937 novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’re In the Racket Too</i>.
James Curtis was writing about working class life twenty years before the
‘Angry Young Men’ of the 50s.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Two of his books were made into films and Curtis wrote both
the screenplays. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They Drive By Night</i> (1938)
starring Emyln Williams was directed by Arthur Woods. Woods was an
established director who made 26 films. When Alfred Hitchcock left the studio
for America,
Woods was scheduled to take over from him, but he was killed in WWII. The whole
of the film is available on YouTube:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-KpJzFl8BM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-KpJzFl8BM</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The second film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There
Ain’t No Justice</i>, was made in 1939. The leading role of a young boxer was
played by Jimmy Hanley who becomes involved with a crooked promoter. The champion
boxer, ‘Bombardier Billy Wells’ plays <span style="color: black;">an unaccredited
role in the film. The director was Pen Tennyson, the great-grandson of Lord
Tennyson. He made three films in two years, but like Woods, he too was killed
in the War.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are two short clips of the film on YouTube.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBRsJGebPJ8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBRsJGebPJ8</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8SR3dztkIw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8SR3dztkIw</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Geoffrey Basil Maiden</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">James Curtis was the pen name of
Geoffrey Basil Maiden. He was born on </span><span style="color: black;">4 July 1907</span><span style="color: black;"> at Sturry in </span><span style="color: black;">Kent</span><span style="color: black;">, the youngest of the five children of Joseph (Joe) Maiden
and his wife Bertha Laura von Fabricius. His parents had run a hotel in </span><span style="color: black;">Delhi</span><span style="color: black;"> for about ten years when his mother came back to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> for Geoffrey’s birth. She stayed for 18 months before
returning to </span><span style="color: black;">India</span><span style="color: black;">. In 1912 they sold the hotel and the family settled in
Hertfordshire, where they acquired the Aldenham Lodge Hotel. Joe Maiden also
bought the Foley Arms Hotel in Great Malvern which he ran until the late 1930s.
Geoffrey followed his two elder brothers as a border at the </span><span style="color: black;">Kings</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">Canterbury</span><span style="color: black;">. It was probably here that he developed his dislike for
the Maiden surname after being teased about it.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">After leaving school Geoffrey
spent a year in </span><span style="color: black;">France</span><span style="color: black;"> rather than going to university. Back in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> he got a job in the Reuters News Agency at the London
Stock Exchange. But in 1932, he was in court, pleading guilty to stealing £460
of jewellery (today worth about £26,000), from his friend Mrs Magdalen Blanche
Gillilan. She was a member of the very wealthy Curzon family and had just been
granted a divorce. A detective said that Maiden was short of money, and had
taken the jewellery when he’d been left alone in Magdalen’s flat for an hour
and half. He’d travelled straight to </span><span style="color: black;">France</span><span style="color: black;"> and sold it. Geoffrey was sentenced to six months hard
labour and his experience of jail provided background material for some of his
books.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Geoffrey went to </span><span style="color: black;">Spain</span><span style="color: black;"> during the Civil War and then taught English in </span><span style="color: black;">Barcelona</span><span style="color: black;"> for a short time before returning to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. He was outraged by the social inequality he witnessed in </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> and this led to his commitment to left-wing politics. He
was a member of the Communist party for a short period.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xrJbeZ9SoUo/VOyjQX97E9I/AAAAAAAAAMM/JDHoSDJ1nzs/s1600/Geoffrey%2BMaiden%2B(Nicolette%2BEdwards).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xrJbeZ9SoUo/VOyjQX97E9I/AAAAAAAAAMM/JDHoSDJ1nzs/s1600/Geoffrey%2BMaiden%2B(Nicolette%2BEdwards).jpg" width="282" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Geoffrey Maiden (Nicolette Edwards)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A handsome and charismatic man, he
socialised with bohemian artists and writers in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. During a visit to a bookshop in </span><span style="color: black;">Chelsea</span><span style="color: black;"> he met Shirley Finlayson (born Finklestein), the daughter
of a jeweller. She became pregnant and they were married on </span><span style="color: black;">2 September 1936</span><span style="color: black;"> at the Chelsea Register Office. At the time he was working
as a screenwriter at Pinewood Studios. The same year his first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gilt Kid</i>, was published under the
pen name ‘James Curtis’. He wrote four other novels in the 30s which received
praise from the critics and sold well.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1939 Geoffrey volunteered for
the British Army before War was declared and was posted to </span><span style="color: black;">France</span><span style="color: black;"> as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He later
served in </span><span style="color: black;">Burma</span><span style="color: black;"> where he attained the rank of major in the Intelligence
Corps. Much of his time was spent with Lord Mountbatten screenwriting the film </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Burma</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> Victory.</span></i><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eOZK0DFvgrU/VOyjhBstTBI/AAAAAAAAAMU/1j-vwn1OYqo/s1600/Maiden%2Bstill%2Bfrom%2BBurma%2BVictory%2C%2B1946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eOZK0DFvgrU/VOyjhBstTBI/AAAAAAAAAMU/1j-vwn1OYqo/s1600/Maiden%2Bstill%2Bfrom%2BBurma%2BVictory%2C%2B1946.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from Burma Victory (1946), where Geoffrey appears in a cameo role and detonates a stick of dynamite</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">His daughter Nicolette (Nicky) was born while he was
abroad. But the enforced separation during the war hastened the break-up of the
marriage and there was no further contact between Geoffrey and Shirley after
her parents split up. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When Geoffrey returned to civilian
life, his literary career ground to a halt as his drinking and gambling
escalated. Nicky told us that her father worked as a night porter at some of
the big </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> hotels, including Brown’s and the </span><span style="color: black;">Dorchester</span><span style="color: black;">.
This meant he was able to carry out his research at The British Library during
daytime hours. Geoffrey published his sixth and last novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look Long Upon a Monkey</i>, in 1956. The
title forms part of a longer quote by the poet <span class="st">William Congreve.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From 1959 Geoffrey lived alone in a bed-sit at 179
Kilburn Park Road for several years. Nicky said: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">He was completely unmaterialistic and saw
possessions as unnecessary. His sense of outrage about social injustice was
always with him to some extent. He developed an obsessive interest in the IRA
and spent his days frequenting Irish pubs in </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">North London</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> where he was very
generous buying drinks for his pals.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t02pz8kjM-8/VOyj8TdJLvI/AAAAAAAAAMc/jAnuybaSKSQ/s1600/179%2BKilburn%2BPark%2BRoad%2B(2014).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t02pz8kjM-8/VOyj8TdJLvI/AAAAAAAAAMc/jAnuybaSKSQ/s1600/179%2BKilburn%2BPark%2BRoad%2B(2014).jpg" width="480" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">179 Kilburn Park Road, today</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When Nicky was a teenager she got
her father’s address from his sister Naomi, a private secretary with a flat in </span><span style="color: black;">Chelsea</span><span style="color: black;">. Naomi supported Geoffrey both emotionally and financially
through his difficult times. Nicky wrote to her father and arranged to meet,
which they did periodically for some time after. Geoffrey took her on daunting
cultural tours of </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> and she was always sent home with a second hand copy of a
classic book from a shop in Tottenham Court Road. Every year he sent a
Christmas card and wrote to her on her birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By 1973 he moved to 122 Gloucester
Road for a brief period. The following year his
address was Flat 4, 73 Rochester Place, Camden
Road. But Geoffrey had developed late onset diabetes and was unwell. S<span style="color: black;">adly, he suffered a heart attack while in a local chemist shop,
and died in the ambulance on the way to the </span><span style="color: black;">Royal</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Free</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Hospital</span><span style="color: black;"> on </span><span style="color: black;">26 August 1977</span><span style="color: black;">.
Nicky and her husband Brian Edwards were the only mourners at his funeral in St
Pancras cemetery in </span><span style="color: black;">East Finchley</span><span style="color: black;">. His death was not reported in the national newspapers. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We leave the last words to Nicky who said:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He was an intelligent, intellectual man frustrated by leading a mundane
life. I am so glad he hasn’t been forgotten and that the re-launch of his books
has created new interest in his life, which became very sad, particularly after
his sister died.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">We are very grateful to London Books and particularly to
Nicolette Edwards, for help with this story of a pioneering novelist of
the underworld.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-64822453124565260802015-02-03T06:23:00.000-08:002018-04-03T06:45:59.018-07:00Theft due to Influenza!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In January 1892, Joseph Hall who
lived in </span><span style="color: black;">Birchington
Road</span><span style="color: black;">, Kilburn,
appeared at the Middlesex Magistrate Sessions. He’d been on remand since the
previous October when the jury, after a hearing that lasted five hours, was
unable to agree a verdict. Hall had been charged with stealing £5 from his
employers, the Grand Junction Waterworks Company. He had worked as a rate
collector for nine years, at a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">large
salary</i>’ during which time he spent every Friday at the Ealing office. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Mr Atlas, the chief collector at
Ealing, had noticed money had been going missing for some time, so he decided
to mark some sovereigns and leave them in the till. He went out for a few
minutes and when he returned, found five of the marked sovereigns had gone. He
asked Joseph if anyone had come into the office and Joseph said no, no one had.
Mr Atlas called a detective who searched Joseph and found the sovereigns and a
£5 note in his pocket. Joseph changed his story, saying he now remembered
giving change for a £5 note. He had taken coins from Mr Atlas’s till, but forgotten
to put the note into the drawer. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In court, Joseph didn’t deny
taking the money, but his unusual defence was that after recently suffering a
severe bout of influenza he had become forgetful. He even produced two doctors
who gave evidence to support this idea. Mr Littler, the magistrate in his
summing up, said that if this was the result of influenza, it was a most dangerous
disease! This time, the jury found Joseph Hall guilty but recommended him for
mercy. He was sentenced to three months hard labour and £25 costs, with an
extra month to be added to his sentence if he didn’t pay. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Two weeks later newspapers carried
reports that Joseph had committed suicide in Holloway Goal. But the next day
they said this was a mistake, he was alive and well and serving his sentence in
Wormwood Scrubs!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Joseph Kennedy Hall was born in
Islington in 1856, the son of a Parliamentary Association clerk. In the 1881
census Joseph was living with his parents at </span><span style="color: black;">89 Windsor Road</span><span style="color: black;"> Islington, and working as a clerk for a colonial broker.
In 1887 he married Ella Margaret Alice Elliott at St Mary’s Church in Kilburn.
When their daughter was born the following year, they were at </span><span style="color: black;">11 Kingsley Road</span><span style="color: black;">, Brondesbury. By 1891 they had moved to </span><span style="color: black;">27 West End Lane</span><span style="color: black;"> and later to </span><span style="color: black;">Birchington Road</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When Joseph came out of prison
they lived for many years with Ella’s parents at </span><span style="color: black;">160 Belsize Road</span><span style="color: black;">. Her father, James William Elliott, was a Professor of
Music who composed hymns, anthems and two operettas. Arthur Sullivan invited
him to be the editor of ‘Church Hymns’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>James was also a collector of nursery rhymes and in 1870 he published,
‘Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs Set to Music.’ He was the
organist at All Saints, </span><span style="color: black;">St.
John’s</span><span style="color: black;"> Wood and then
St. Mark’s, in Hamilton
Square</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Joseph Hall died in 1908. His
widow, Ella and her three children were living at 2</span> Linacre Mansions,
Willesden Green at the time of the 1911 census. She and one of her daughters
were working from home as writers for a benevolent society. Her elder brother
Edward Elliott who lived with her, was a clerk at the office of the same society.
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Influenza Epidemics</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The reason Joseph Hall gave in court for his ‘forgetfulness’
was probably because he knew about the influenza epidemic which had started in
1889 and spread throughout the world. This is also why he was able to produce
two doctors to give evidence in his defence. Influenza had arrived in London
at the end of 1889 and this was followed by a second and then a third wave
which hit London in 1892. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lots of patent medicines were advertised, some more lethal than others!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3QUOEWWhI6E/VNDYo-d4uiI/AAAAAAAAAL0/DktmUOf-n0Y/s1600/Godfrey%27s%2BInhaler%2C%2B1890s%2Badvert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3QUOEWWhI6E/VNDYo-d4uiI/AAAAAAAAAL0/DktmUOf-n0Y/s1600/Godfrey's%2BInhaler%2C%2B1890s%2Badvert.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Godfrey's Amonium Inhaler, 1890's advert</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Illustrated Police News of 20 February 1892 reported a new form of influenza from Hungary.
People suffered a very high fever and terrible stomach cramps. They became frenzied,
struck out at people, and even tried to throw themselves out of windows. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The paper then told the tragic story of Charles Evans, a 22
years old architect who shared an apartment in Kensington Court Place. Suffering
from influenza, he had woken up at 2 am
shouting, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘I am Mad, Mad’</i>. Evans tore
his nightdress to pieces and had a terrible fight with his friend. Evans said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘I shall have the strength of a madman in a
few minutes. I do not want to hurt you, but I am afraid I shall.’</i></span></span> </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHpb5Uod0DY/VNDYpMpQPsI/AAAAAAAAAL4/04-rSxlaSB8/s1600/IPN%2C%2B20%2BFeb%2B1892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHpb5Uod0DY/VNDYpMpQPsI/AAAAAAAAAL4/04-rSxlaSB8/s1600/IPN%2C%2B20%2BFeb%2B1892.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Front page, Illustrated Police News, 20 February 1892</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His friend Campbell Moore ran to get help, but when he
returned he found that Charles had thrown himself out of the window. On being
taken to hospital, it was found that his spine was broken and he died shortly
afterwards. On the 19 February, the inquest jury returned a verdict of suicide
during temporary insanity. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Various strains of influenza have spread across the world.
The worst was the so called ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic of 1918 which killed huge
numbers of troops as they returned from War. This pandemic killed more people
than any other disease outbreak in history. Contemporary accounts believed that
21 million people died across the world, but more recent estimates suggest that
it was much higher, between 50 and 100 million deaths. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It had started in what just looked like a mild spring fever,
but then the number and severity of infections rose quickly and some people
died within hours. It attacked young adults and the symptoms were so unusual that
it was misdiagnosed as cholera or typhoid. The original site of the virus is
unknown, but is now thought to be America.
It probably came from a variant of a bird virus and the later 1957 and 1968
epidemics were found to have links to an avian strain. </span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-38198054556176701072015-01-23T06:01:00.000-08:002018-04-03T06:46:27.408-07:00The Famous Folly from Kilburn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Pelissier’s Follies</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry Pelissier was born in 1874,
in Finchley, the son of a diamond merchant who wanted his son to join the
family business. But after only six months working at the office, Harry realised
that he preferred music and the stage. With friends he formed ‘The Baddley
Troupe’ and in 1894, they were giving performances for charities in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">, including ones in Hampstead. Soon after turning
professional, Harry saw that his Pierrot style of entertainment was replacing negro
minstrels as the most popular seaside show. Pierrots wore a type of clown
costume derived from the 17C Italian Commedia dell’Arte. The following year
Harry bought control of the show, renamed it Pelissier’s Follies, and reduced
the number of performers from ten to six. He believed a more sophisticated set
of sketches would have greater appeal than the seasonal pier show and could
tour all year round in theatres and music halls.</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFhvbxP0VCA/VMJSj0LszXI/AAAAAAAAAK8/nerA1Bjygdk/s1600/H%2BG%2BPelissier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFhvbxP0VCA/VMJSj0LszXI/AAAAAAAAAK8/nerA1Bjygdk/s1600/H%2BG%2BPelissier.jpg" width="419" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Harry Pelissier</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1898 Pelissier’s Follies supported
the famous music hall star Albert Chevalier; (who wrote the popular humorous
tune, ‘Appy ‘Hampstead’). Over the next few years the Follies became very
popular, appearing in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> at the </span><span style="color: black;">Alhambra</span><span style="color: black;">, the
Palace Theatre and the </span><span style="color: black;">Tivoli</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Music Hall</span><span style="color: black;">. In 1903 the group consisted of Harry, Lewis Sydney,
Marjorie Napier, Dan Everard, Ethel Allandale and Gwennie Mars. </span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Their show combined parodies and
skits on opera, Shakespearean plays and current </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> dramatic and musical successes, which Harry called ‘potted
plays.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December 1904 Pelissier’s
Follies were one of the acts chosen to perform at </span><span style="color: black;">Sandringham</span><span style="color: black;"> before
the King and Queen, to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. They established a
regular show at the Apollo Theatre in </span><span style="color: black;">Shaftsbury Avenue</span><span style="color: black;"> and also toured the provinces: it was a relentless
schedule. One of their most popular sketches was ‘The Wild West Kilburn
Shooting Act’, a parody of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. (It would be
wonderful to see this performed in Kilburn today!)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Gwennie Mars, the Kilburn Folly</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Gwennie Mars was the stage name of
Gwenllean Mary Evans who was born at 75 </span><span style="color: black;">Southampton</span><span style="color: black;">
Row </span><span style="color: black;">Bloomsbury</span><span style="color: black;">, in 1880. Her father Ebenezer Evans was a Welsh musician,
who came to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in the 1850s. He worked as a piano tuner and gave lessons
on the harp and piano. Gwennie’s brother Herbert was a comedian, and her sister
Maud also joined the Follies, where she played the piano. In 1890 the family
were living at </span><span style="color: black;">6
Fordwych Road</span><span style="color: black;"> and
by 1897 they had moved to </span><span style="color: black;">26 Kilburn Park Road</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G3JnCwaG7FI/VMJSze0p4fI/AAAAAAAAALE/ujbvnHDss5o/s1600/Gwennie%2Bas%2Ba%2BPierrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G3JnCwaG7FI/VMJSze0p4fI/AAAAAAAAALE/ujbvnHDss5o/s1600/Gwennie%2Bas%2Ba%2BPierrot.jpg" width="256" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Gwennie said she first appeared on
stage at the age of six in a duet with Maud. In her teens she joined a concert
party and then became a principal girl in touring pantomimes. She developed a
comedy routine playing piano and singing songs in broken English, which
culminated in a seven week engagement at the </span><span style="color: black;">Alhambra</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When Harry Pelissier saw Gwennie
perform, he asked her to join his Follies troupe. She became one of its most
popular members with her imitations of the music hall star Harry Lauder. Following
one of Lauder’s many visits to the </span><span style="color: black;">USA</span><span style="color: black;">, she changed the words of his most famous song, “I love a
lassie” to “I love the Yankees.” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Smiling and slim, she made her entrance with
the Harry Lauder walk, leaning on a replica of his crooked stick, and brought
the house down. In make-up, in voice and in manner, Miss Gwennie Mars gives a
resemblance which is astonishingly true. And she has, more marvellous still,
got Mr Lauder’s exact expression.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oca3JAMyp9U/VMJS6cazyMI/AAAAAAAAALM/CxcRxEdvecM/s1600/Gwennie%2BMars%2Bas%2BHarry%2BLauder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oca3JAMyp9U/VMJS6cazyMI/AAAAAAAAALM/CxcRxEdvecM/s1600/Gwennie%2BMars%2Bas%2BHarry%2BLauder.jpg" width="281" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Gwennie Mars as Harry Lauder</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The audience also loved her parody
of Ophelia, who in the Follies version of Hamlet, fails to drown. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Marriage and a new life for Gwennie</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">By the 1901 census, the Evans
family had moved again, to 26 Kilburn Priory, near Maida Vale. Ebenezer died here
in May 1909 and was buried in </span><span style="color: black;">Hampstead</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Cemetery</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Fortune
Green Road</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 1911 census shows Gwennie and
her mother had crossed the Kilburn High Road, to 143 Brondesbury Villas. That April
she married Henry Burkinshaw, a civil engineer who worked in </span><span style="color: black;">India</span><span style="color: black;">. The fact the wedding was to take place was widely known,
but no-one knew where. The service was held at </span><span style="color: black;">Holy</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Trinity</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Church</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Brondesbury
Road</span><span style="color: black;"> and attended
by close friends and family only. Described in one report as ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exceedingly pretty</i>,’ Gwennie wore a
beautifully embroidered white silk dress made in </span><span style="color: black;">Calcutta</span><span style="color: black;">, a present from her husband. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OHTulhoCmrM/VMJTYLeMPGI/AAAAAAAAALU/TMPtnDc3WBg/s1600/Gwennie%2BMars%2C%2Bc1911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OHTulhoCmrM/VMJTYLeMPGI/AAAAAAAAALU/TMPtnDc3WBg/s1600/Gwennie%2BMars%2C%2Bc1911.jpg" width="255" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Lewis Sydney, a fellow Follies
star, was the best man. Harry couldn’t attend but his brother Fred took his
place. One of the wedding presents was a handsome clock with diamond studded
hands. The note said it was from ‘The Claque’ a group of four well known
gentlemen, one of them a Cabinet Minister, who were frequent visitors to see
Gwennie whenever she appeared at The Apollo. The honeymoon was spent in </span><span style="color: black;">Eastbourne</span><span style="color: black;">; Gwennie
then intended to rejoin the Follies for the remainder of the season, before
leaving </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> in October to be with her husband. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Burkinshaw’s son, John Hugh,
was born on </span><span style="color: black;">3 September 1913</span><span style="color: black;">
and baptised in </span><span style="color: black;">St Paul</span><span style="color: black;">’s Cathedral in </span><span style="color: black;">Calcutta</span><span style="color: black;">. Sadly Gwennie’s health was badly affected by the Indian
climate and although sent to recuperate in the cooler and fresher air of hills,
she never recovered. She died the following year aged only 33 and was buried in
</span><span style="color: black;">Mussoorie</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Cemetery</span><span style="color: black;">, leaving £1,545 in her will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">John Hugh Burkinshaw was sent back
to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> to be educated. He became a consultant paediatrician,
serving as a surgeon lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve during the Second
World War. Later appointed a consultant at St James Hospital in Balham, John
wrote academic papers and a popular book called ‘Your Book of the Human Body’
(1961). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">What happened to the Follies?</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The loss of Gwennie, one of its
leading members left a role to be filled in the troupe, which was booked to
appear for years ahead. When the Follies opened at the Apollo in August 1911, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in some respects not so happily inspired as
usual</i>.’ Harry knew he had to wow his public, so he came back with a new
programme and a new recruit, Miss Fay Compton, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who has a pleasant voice and shows considerable aptitude for mimicry</i>.’
Fay’s brother, Compton Mackenzie (who became a well respected and prolific
author) was writing for the troupe. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
review in ‘The Stage’ praised individual performances (including those of Harry
and Fay), but criticised some of the material: one skit was described as ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">weak and laboured’</i> while another was
said to be ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rambling</i>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In September 1911 Pelissier
surprised his fans and fellow performers by getting married. It was surprising
because he was regarded as a confirmed bachelor, wedded to his work.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ‘He has declared again and again that he
would dare all things but one – get married</i>.’ </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A tireless composer, with
sixty-two published songs to his name by 1911, Harry had several pianos in his
home, including one at the end of his bed, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for
fear of loosing a bright musical inspiration before he could reach the
instrument</i>.’ </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Many were also surprised when they
found out who the bride was: his new recruit, Fay Compton. They’d been engaged
for just seven weeks. One photo appeared with the caption ‘Two Follies married’
and several reports made much of the fact that he was 37 and she just 16, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a pretty young lady still in her teens</i>.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It was a quiet affair and would
have been even quieter, had not the press got wind of it the day before, laying
siege to Pelissier’s Finchley home. But only one reporter discovered the
church, St Peter’s in </span><span style="color: black;">Great
Windmill Street</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Soho</span><span style="color: black;">. The
congregation numbered just five, family and close friends. Fay wore a large
hat, a cream serge dress and there were no bridesmaids. The couple appeared on
stage at the Apollo as usual that day, at both the matinee and evening
performances. In honour of the occasion, Harry introduced a few bars of the
wedding march in one of his skits while Fay received enthusiastic applause from
the audience. Their son Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier was born in July 1912. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Fay and Harry continued performing
in the Follies. In April 1913, Harry appeared to good reviews in </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;"> and but he was not a well man and hadn’t been for some
time. Some thought he’d had a breakdown but it was more serious than that.
Uncharacteristically, he missed performances and rehearsals. In July, the </span><span style="color: black;">Cheltenham</span><span style="color: black;"> local
paper reported the Follies were booked to perform there the following month, but
Harry was unlikely to appear as he was extremely ill. In fact, all his
immediate engagements had been cancelled. A restorative voyage to </span><span style="color: black;">Madeira</span><span style="color: black;"> and weeks
spent convalescing in the seaside resorts of Ramsgate and Hythe had little
effect. He returned to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in mid September where he died at his father-in-law’s home
on the 25<sup>th</sup>. The cause of death was reported as cirrhosis of the
liver and heart failure. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry’s funeral service took place
at Golders Green Crematorium. One of the tributes took the form of a Follies’s
skull cap, made of white flowers with black buttons down the side, and dedicated
to ‘the great white chief.’ Harry’s ashes were buried in his mother’s grave at
St Marylebone Cemetery.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In his will Harry left £13,098,
worth over a million pounds today. It was reported that sales of his music had
brought in well over £1,000 a year, while for six years his income had topped
the £6,000 mark, rising to £12,000 during one particularly profitable year. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There were many obituaries at the
time (and later tributes), all praising Harry’s unique talent.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">So Pelissier is no more. What a world of wit
dies on that phrase! How much laughter will be buried in the grave! Pelissier
gave us fun without fatuity. All his humour had an edge but he never cut too
deep. He was a master of parody, satire, mimicry, song and everybody knows how
cleverly he accompanied himself on the piano.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Shortly before his death, Harry had
arranged the Follies should continue under the management of one of the
original members, Dan Everard (real name Everard Daniel). He was the only
surviving member from the heyday of the Follies. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In November 1913 they opened at
the Coliseum. One of the reviews said:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">It was – we could not help finding it – in
one aspect a melancholy event. Continually one felt one was waiting for
something, that the performance had not really begun … only with an effort
could one remember that henceforth the Follies could never give us more than
the sprit of H.G. Pellissier and echoes of his mirth and music.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the end, comments were
generally favourable with the belief that, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">when
the troupe have put the requisite “snap” into their work, they will have an
entertainment that should vie in popularity with the old one.’</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But sadly, the Follies never recovered
their former glory.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Fay Compton</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Fay’s full name was Virginia
Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie; her father Edward was a successful actor
manager and her mother was an actress. Fay was a versatile and talented actress
who appeared on the </span><span style="color: black;">West End</span><span style="color: black;"> stage in every type of production, ranging from drama and
pantomime to comedy to Shakespeare. During her successful career, Fay made over
40 films and also featured in TV and radio productions. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MwOp3xBAWn4/VMJTlhG_J7I/AAAAAAAAALc/BnveOYjxaQA/s1600/Fay%2BCompton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MwOp3xBAWn4/VMJTlhG_J7I/AAAAAAAAALc/BnveOYjxaQA/s1600/Fay%2BCompton.jpg" width="218" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Fay Compton</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But she was unlucky so far as her
married life was concerned. Her first marriage was cut short by Harry’s
untimely demise. Then in June 1914, Fay’s engagement was announced to fellow
actor and comedian, Lauri de Frece. They were married on 20 September, a week
short of the first anniversary of Harry’s death. In the spring of 1916, Lauri
told Fay to he didn’t want to live with her any more but in October the couple
reconciled, though they still had problems. He told her to leave for the second
time in 1917 and while she wanted the relationship to continue, he flatly
refused<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. </i>De Frece died within months
of a court ordering a ‘restitution of conjugal rights’ in May 1921. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The following year Fay married the
talented actor Leon Fred Quartermaine and they appeared together in many
productions. He was granted a divorce in December 1941 on the grounds that Fay
had deserted him for over three years. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Fay’s fourth and last husband was Ralph
Champion Shotter, whose stage name was Ralph Michael. This marriage was
dissolved in 1946, on the grounds of her husband’s adultery with actress Patricia
Roc; Ralph was seventeen years younger than Fay. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Fay died in 1978; there are
several silent clips of her on Pathe News and you can hear her singing on
YouTube:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XXfU9eWIKY"><span style="color: black;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XXfU9eWIKY</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk0ZleUr5QE/VMJVK50r7sI/AAAAAAAAALk/eVBT0rkR0Kw/s1600/Sickert%2BBrighton%2BPierrots%2C%2B1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gk0ZleUr5QE/VMJVK50r7sI/AAAAAAAAALk/eVBT0rkR0Kw/s1600/Sickert%2BBrighton%2BPierrots%2C%2B1915.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Walter Sickert's Brighton Pierrots, 1915</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-88674595142002898492015-01-10T07:37:00.000-08:002018-04-03T06:46:53.192-07:00The Grange Furniture Shop, Kilburn High Road<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the 1950s and 60s </span><span style="color: black;">West Hampstead</span><span style="color: black;">
was full of reasonably priced accommodation</span> to rent as bedsits and
flats. Both our parents rented out rooms and Marianne remembers trips to
Kilburn to buy new and (even more) second hand furniture. A favoured emporium,
when funds permitted, was the Grange Furnishing Stores. This was a very large,
well known store. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The business occupied part of Trinity House at 127-129
Kilburn High Road. The three storey building still
stands, its curved fascia wrapping round the corner with Victoria
Road and displaying the name ‘Trinity House’ at
roof level. The name recalls this was previously the site of Holy
Trinity School.
When you sat in the coveted front seat of a Routemaster 28 bus, Trinity House gradually
filled your view as you drove towards it, down Quex
Road. Customers generally abbreviated the name of
the shop saying, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we’re going to Grange
to look for furniture.’</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Astrinsky Family</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The business was started by Hyman Astrinsky who came to England
at the turn of the twentieth century. The 1911 census gives Russia
as the birthplace of 38 year old Hyman, his wife Rachel and their two eldest sons,
Wolf (12) and Isaac, (10). The two youngest children, Marks and Joseph, were
born in England.
The family were then living in four rented rooms at 11
Boreham Street, Bethnal Green. Hyman was a cabinet
maker (like his father) and a furniture dealer, and his lodger Percy Astrinsky,
probably his brother, followed the same trade.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fhf_hdtjqU0/VLFFW2gBzzI/AAAAAAAAAKU/nggLa9GBYpI/s1600/Astrinski%2BBros%2B(Jewish%2BMuseum).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fhf_hdtjqU0/VLFFW2gBzzI/AAAAAAAAAKU/nggLa9GBYpI/s1600/Astrinski%2BBros%2B(Jewish%2BMuseum).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Astrinsky's shop in the East End (Jewish Museum)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The photo is dated 1912 and shows the family shop, Astrinsky
Bros, number 136 in an unknown street, probably close to Brick Lane. Hyman was
surely the man in the apron. He’d worked for various cabinet making firms
before setting up on his own and this was his first shop selling second hand
rather than new furniture. Maybe it’s Wolf and Percy on the left?
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By 1914, Hyman had moved his business from the East
End to 86 Willesden Lane.
After Germany
torpedoed the ‘Lusitania’ and
used poison gas at Ypres, anti-German feeling became
widespread. Along with all foreign born shopkeepers, in May 1915 Astrinsky was ordered
to display his passport in the shop window. He accompanied it with a note: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am one of the Allies. Here is my Russian
passport.</i>’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 1924 and 1925 electoral
registers for the house show four people eligible to vote: the list is headed
by Hyman followed by Harry, Ray and Wolf Astrinsky. Harry was one of Hyman’s other
sons, using an anglicised forename. Harry and Wolf<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>had already applied for and been granted British citizenship,
taking the Oath of Allegiance on </span><span style="color: black;">31 December 1923</span><span style="color: black;">. Probably because of the problems the family had
experienced during WW1, in June 1925 both young men adopted the surname ‘</span><span style="color: black;">Austin</span><span style="color: black;">’ instead of Astrinsky. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Hyman Astrinsky prospered and by
1917 he had opened another shop on the Kilburn</span> High Road, number 215, opposite
Messina Avenue. This became
the ‘Grange Furnishing Stores.’ Almost certainly, the inspiration for the name
came from a large mansion, ‘The Grange,’ which stood on the other side of the
main road. It was demolished after Mrs Peters the last occupant, died in 1910
and its grounds were converted into Grange
Park. This opened in 1913 with an
entrance on Messina <span style="color: black;">Avenue</span><span style="color: black;">. Hyman also established branches in Croydon, </span><span style="color: black;">Harrow</span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;">Watford</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By March 1928 Hyman had moved his headquarters into the
newly completed and very large premises of ‘Trinity House’ which had replaced Holy
Trinity School.
That month the business advertised they were looking for a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really smart, keen young lady; only first
class Bookkeeper need apply; able to do typewriting</i>.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">’</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The business did very well and became a landmark in Kilburn.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1968, the BBC made a thirty minute film of John Betjeman,
taking a journey from Marble Arch to Edgware. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rzwzq">http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rzwzq</a></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lYAYJTR9j-M/VLFGePS5IEI/AAAAAAAAAKs/alv8ueWXIJI/s1600/Grange%2BFurninshings%2Bslill%2B(BBC%2Bfilm%2B1968).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lYAYJTR9j-M/VLFGePS5IEI/AAAAAAAAAKs/alv8ueWXIJI/s1600/Grange%2BFurninshings%2Bslill%2B(BBC%2Bfilm%2B1968).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Still from BBC film, 1968</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the opening shot Betjeman is shown seated, reading the
Daily Telegraph. He gets up, checks the time and walks towards a table of
drinks. Then the camera pans out to show this apparently domestic scene in his
house is in fact a room setting in the main window of the Grange furniture
shop. The name ‘Grange’ is prominently displayed on the curved frontage to Victoria
Road.
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the 1911 census, the Astrinskys said they had been
married for 11 years. Then on 4 August
1929, 57 year old Hyman and 50 year old Rachel were remarried at
Willesden Register Office. They were living at 14
Blackstone Road near Gladstone
Park. The certificate records the
date of their previous marriage as 18<sup>th</sup> August 1897 (a couple of
years earlier than indicated on the 1911 return). The ceremony had taken place
at Zaludok, Vilna, in Poland.<span style="color: black;"> By 1929, Hyman’s father Joseph (a cabinet maker) and</span>
Rachel’s father, Simon Shneyrovitz (a cattle dealer), were both dead. Hyman
signed the certificate and Rachel made her mark with an ‘X’. One of the
witnesses was their eldest son Wolf. We haven’t been able to establish why this
remarriage took place.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1934, Grange Furnishing Stores were sued by the
wonderfully named Buoyant Upholstery Company based in Sandiacre near Nottingham.
The name probably reflects their use of a patented upholstery system called
‘lace web springing’. Grange was accused of ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">passing off</i>’, in other words selling non-branded items as Buoyant products.
The Kilburn Company produced no defence and ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before looking into the matter,’ </i>agreed to stop the practice immediately.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During WW2, rationing was extended to furniture. This
explains a series of adverts placed by Grange Furnishing Stores in 1943 and
1944, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anxious to purchase bed-room and
dining-room furniture, carpets, pianos’</i> and offering the ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">best market price</i>’ for ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">furniture and household effects.</i>’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jcbO6_pyTBU/VLFGDbvvZNI/AAAAAAAAAKk/Cfs9b37fFBI/s1600/Grange%2Bchair%2B1952%2Badvert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jcbO6_pyTBU/VLFGDbvvZNI/AAAAAAAAAKk/Cfs9b37fFBI/s1600/Grange%2Bchair%2B1952%2Badvert.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Grange Furnishing advert, 1952</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1966, following financial problems, the business went into
receivership and were eventually bought up by United Drapery Stores in 1973.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Both Dick and<span style="color: red;"> </span>Marianne had bought
furniture there. A 1975 bill from Grange Furnishing Ltd, Trinity House, notes
that Marianne placed a ‘valued order’ for a Relyon Orthorest divan and
mattress, cost £165. Businesses were more trusting then; a small deposit was
paid with the balance due after delivery!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h_NAQidr75U/VLFFy8IzvvI/AAAAAAAAAKc/w3w3qTsS9hc/s1600/Trinity%2BHouse%2B(Jan%2B2015).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h_NAQidr75U/VLFFy8IzvvI/AAAAAAAAAKc/w3w3qTsS9hc/s1600/Trinity%2BHouse%2B(Jan%2B2015).jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Trinity House today</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Grange Furnishings had closed by 1981. Today, Trinity House
is occupied by branches of MacDonalds, Corals the bookmakers and Halfords.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-25209853559711583982014-11-13T03:08:00.001-08:002018-04-03T06:47:22.495-07:00The Suffragettes in Kilburn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In January 1910 the Suffragettes
opened a shop and office for the North West London branch of the Women’s Social
and Political Union (WSPU) at </span><span style="color: black;">215 High Road</span><span style="color: black;"> Kilburn. The Hon. Secretary and treasurer was Mrs Eleanor Penn
Gaskell. They were at this address until 1913, when they moved across the road
to </span><span style="color: black;">310 High Road</span><span style="color: black;">. Eleanor continued
in post until 1915 and the WSPU had left Kilburn by 1917. </span></span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">An amusing story appeared in the
newspapers. Under the headline ‘She wanted to see the Show’, a little girl had
gone into the Kilburn shop soon after it opened, placed a penny on the counter
and said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Please may I see the
Suffragettes?’</i> At the time some people certainly regarded them as a side
show. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The WSPU was an important element
in the campaign for woman’s suffrage. Formed in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and
her daughter Christabel, the headquarters moved from </span><span style="color: black;">Manchester</span><span style="color: black;"> to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1906. The organisation became skilled at arranging
rallies and demonstrations, taking a militant stance in the fight to get votes
for women; for example, their members opted to go to prison rather than pay
fines or carried out acts of criminal damage that also resulted in being sent
to gaol.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGDwE9Bcl9o/VGSOBxmkp1I/AAAAAAAAAJs/4wo5gOpBgas/s1600/WSPU%2Bposter%2C%2B1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uGDwE9Bcl9o/VGSOBxmkp1I/AAAAAAAAAJs/4wo5gOpBgas/s640/WSPU%2Bposter%2C%2B1909.jpg" width="425" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">WSPU poster 1909</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Mrs Gaskell</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Scottish-born Eleanor Charlotte
Lindsay had married George Edward Penn Gaskell, a barrister and secretary of
the National Society for Epileptics, at </span><span style="color: black;">All</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Souls</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Church</span><span style="color: black;">, Harlesden on </span><span style="color: black;">14 July 1891</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">By 1907, Eleanor was secretary of
the Willesden branch of the London Society for Women’s Suffrage and she became
an active speaker for the WSPU. Although she was willing to participate, George
may have restrained her from taking part in militant activities. She was only
arrested once, on the </span><span style="color: black;">19<sup> </sup>October 1908</span><span style="color: black;">, for causing an obstruction in </span><span style="color: black;">Piccadilly Circus</span><span style="color: black;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That afternoon, Eleanor
and Annie Smith had been handing out leaflets for a meeting where Mrs Pankhurst
and her daughter were guest speakers. The police claimed they were causing an obstruction
as a crowd gathered and traffic slowed down to see what was going on. When
asked to move on for a second time by a constable, Eleanor replied, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why don’t you take us now?</i>’ The two
women were promptly arrested and appeared later that day at Marlborough Street
Police Court. Eleanor told the magistrate that she’d been joking, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never dreaming that she would be arrested</i>.’
They were released on bail and it seems likely Gaskell paid, as the money was
put up by ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a barrister</i>.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At their second court appearance,
the two women again denied causing any obstruction, saying that they had been walking
in the gutter and not on the pavement, and only one or two people stopped to
watch. The magistrate disagreed and they were bound over, on their own
recognizance of £10, to not repeat this sort of behaviour again during the next
six months. Eleanor told the court, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
protest most bitterly against the injustice</i>.’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both women refused to pay but they were
released. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">George wrote many letters to the
Home Office, complaining about the conditions under which his wife and Annie
Smith were held before their first appearance at the Police Court. The matter
was raised in Parliament a week later when it was argued that the matter could
have been dealt with by a summons, rather than a court appearance. It was said
that Eleanor and Annie had been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘imprisoned
in a small cell-like room, together with a woman charged with being a
prostitute, for some two hours. The ladies complained of having been subjected
to many other indignities while awaiting trial</i>.’ The allegation was summarily
dismissed: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">these ladies were, in fact,
treated with special consideration’</i> and held<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>in an unlocked waiting room. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But symptomatic of the official
attitude to such matters was the Prime Minister’s comment. When asked if he
would, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">afford facilities for discussing
during the present session a motion relating to woman’s suffrage’</i> Mr
Asquith replied, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Sir; as I have
already stated, time cannot be found for the discussion of contentious matters.’
</i>His comment was<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>greeted with ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">laughter and cheers</i>.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In the 1901 and 1911 census George
and Eleanor were living at </span><span style="color: black;">12 Nicoll Road</span><span style="color: black;"> in Willesden. The only name on the 1911 form is George’s
but his wife was probably at home. He wrote a long comment to the authorities.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">A number of women suffragists spent the night
of 2<sup>nd</sup> April (census night) in my house. As members of a disenfranchised
sex they object to giving any particulars concerning themselves for the purpose
of enumeration under a census act in the framing of which their sex has had no
voice. They base their objection upon the principle that government should rest
upon the consent of the governed, and as I myself uphold this democratic
principle I do not feel justified in filling up any particulars concerning them
against their will.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The enumerator who collected the
form commented: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I interviewed Mr
Penn-Gaskell in order to obtain the necessary information, but was politely,
but firmly, refused.</i>’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A large number of women boycotted
the census, some refusing to fill in the form and registering a protest. Others
spent the night away from home. Eleanor was a close friend of suffragette Emily
Wilding Davison who hid in a cupboard in the House of Commons on the night of
April 2, to avoid the census. (In all, she concealed herself three times in the
House). Emily was immortalised on film when she famously stepped into the path
of the King’s horse at the 1913 </span><span style="color: black;">Derby</span><span style="color: black;">:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LN9EPeK9-w/VGSOTRzmXqI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/mMuTsdBvFNY/s1600/Derby%2B1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LN9EPeK9-w/VGSOTRzmXqI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/mMuTsdBvFNY/s640/Derby%2B1913.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Emily Wilding Davison after being hit by the King's Horse at the 1913 Derby</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: black;">The
horse struck the woman with its chest, knocking her down among the flying hoofs
. . . and she was desperately injured . . . Blood rushed from her mouth and
nose. The horse turned a complete somersault and fell upon his jockey, who was
seriously injured.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Q</span><span style="color: black;">ueen Mary’s first thought was
for ‘poor Jones’, the jockey and she referred to Davison as ‘the horrid woman.’
Sadly, Emily died from a fractured skull four days after the race. The previous
year she had been nursed back to health at Eleanor’s home, after being on
hunger strike and forcibly fed in Holloway prison. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NGHxwOE_m8/VGSO5MSSEDI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/xEPHQcqdI5M/s1600/Forced%2Bfeeding%2C%2BVotes%2Bfor%2BWomen%2B1918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NGHxwOE_m8/VGSO5MSSEDI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/xEPHQcqdI5M/s400/Forced%2Bfeeding%2C%2BVotes%2Bfor%2BWomen%2B1918.jpg" width="617" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Kilburn WSPU campaigned
locally against the Liberals during the General Election of 1910.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The woman suffragists have been taking a more
active part than in most of the </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> contests. Their
committee-room in the Kilburn High-road with its gruesome representation of a
suffragist being force fed in prison, has attracted a great deal of attention,
and on Sunday their speakers were to be found arguing with not particularly
responsive crowds at every street corner.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Messina Avenue</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> meeting</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But on occasion the WSPU speakers
met with a far more robust reception. On </span><span style="color: black;">17 June 1911</span><span style="color: black;">, the Times reported a typical case which again illustrated
how much resistance there was to the issue of votes for women. On the evening
of May 13, Miss Marie Naylor, a well-known WSPU activist, had been talking to
an attentive crowd of about 40 people in </span><span style="color: black;">Messina Avenue</span><span style="color: black;">, opposite their office on the High Road. Suddenly a first
floor window was thrown open. This was above a sporting goods shop, </span><span style="color: black;">232 Kilburn High Road</span><span style="color: black;"> on the corner with </span><span style="color: black;">Messina Avenue</span><span style="color: black;">. Richard Annenberg who worked in the family business with
his elder brother, along with two or three other men, lent out of the window
and started making a ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hideous noise with
horns, whistles, bells, tin plates, and yells</i>’ to disrupt the meeting. A
large crowd of about 500 people gathered, blocking the pavement and street,
holding up the traffic. In this instance it wasn’t the WSPU who were summonsed,
but the shop assistant, for causing an obstruction to the</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: black;">highway. When he appeared
in court, the police said the noise from the window had continued for half an
hour, with Annenberg shouting, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">We are doing this as a protest. These people
come here and spoil our business. Why don’t they go away? This is not done as a
joke; we don’t want suffragettes here spoiling our trade. Do we want the
suffragettes?</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">He and his companions chanted, No!
No! No!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This was obviously not the first
meeting the WSPU had held on the corner of </span><span style="color: black;">Messina Avenue</span><span style="color: black;">, one of the closest convenient pitches to their office.
Annenberg said he had a petition signed by the majority of residents and
shopkeepers of the neighbourhood complaining of the annoyance caused by the
meetings that drove customers away. He denied objecting to the suffragettes
because they ceased to patronise him, saying they had never bought anything
from him, apart from a croquet ball. Why a single croquet ball? Perhaps it
might be explained in the context of one of the WSPU’s most common protests,
that of breaking windows! Richard was fined 20s with 2s costs.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Annenbergs, with a main shop
in King Street Hammersmith, ran the sporting outfitters shop in Kilburn from
1910 until 1934. Today, showing how the High Road has changed, number 232 is a
Speedy Cash Loans. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">George and Eleanor Penn Gaskell
lived at </span><span style="color: black;">14 Mapesbury
Road</span><span style="color: black;">, Brondesbury
from 1929 to 1937, where she died on </span><span style="color: black;">8 May 1937</span><span style="color: black;"> at the age of 76. George resigned from his post as
secretary to the National Society for Epileptics, and moved to Chalfont St
Peter where he died on </span><span style="color: black;">12 June 1946</span><span style="color: black;">. His
Times’ obituary notes his pioneering work in helping epileptics lead a normal
life but makes no mention of his wife or his support for the suffrage cause. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Miss Marie Naylor</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Marie Naylor, the WSPU speaker in the
</span><span style="color: black;">Messina Avenue</span><span style="color: black;"> incident, was born about 1866, the daughter of a wealthy
clothier who lived in Barnes. An artist, she studied and exhibited at the </span><span style="color: black;">Royal</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Academy</span><span style="color: black;"> and had a one-woman show in </span><span style="color: black;">Paris</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1898. She joined the WSPU in 1907 and became a regular
and eloquent speaker at their meetings. One of 58 women arrested during a
demonstration that year outside Parliament, she was released without charge.
But her commitment to the cause was unwavering and she wrote an article
published in the WSPU’s paper, ‘Votes for Women’, where she vowed to<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ‘follow these women to prison or to death’.
</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-50n-Us5g27M/VGSPDyBVppI/AAAAAAAAAKE/GLnzwEW3QBQ/s1600/Miss%2BMarie%2BNaylor%2C%2B1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-50n-Us5g27M/VGSPDyBVppI/AAAAAAAAAKE/GLnzwEW3QBQ/s400/Miss%2BMarie%2BNaylor%2C%2B1909.jpg" width="296" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Miss Marie Naylor</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In February 1908 she was arrested
again and this time sentenced to six weeks in Holloway Prison. In November 1911
she broke a window in the Home Office and spent five days in prison. Marie
lived at 1 Stamford Bridge Studios off </span><span style="color: black;">Fulham Road</span><span style="color: black;">, from 1899 until her death in 1940 during a bombing raid
while visiting friends in Petersfield, Hampshire.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Right to Vote</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The long battle of the suffragettes finally brought about
change. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act allowed women over the age
of 30 who met a property qualification to vote. Although 8.5 million women met these
criteria, it only represented 40 per cent of the total population of women in
the UK.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The same act abolished property and other restrictions for
men, and extended the vote to all men over the age of 21. Additionally, men in
the armed forces could vote from the age of 19. The electorate increased from
eight to 21 million, but there was still huge inequality between women and men.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was not until the Equal Franchise Act of 1928 that women
over 21 were able to vote and women finally achieved the same voting rights as
men. This Act increased the number of women eligible to vote to 15 million.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-47058824573100525672014-10-30T08:34:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:47:50.065-07:00The Moneylender, the Actress and 'Lady Silk Tights'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><b>Lodene, Shoot up Hill</b></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">‘Lodene’ stood on the corner of Shoot
up Hill and </span><span style="color: black;">Walm Lane</span><span style="color: black;">, a large detached house which was later renumbered as 77
Shoot Up Hill. The first occupant was Daniel Jay who moved there after his
marriage to Carlotta Jacobs in 1889. On the 1891 census he described himself as
a bill broker and in 1901 as a financier, but in reality, he was a money lender.
We couldn’t trace his birth until we saw someone</span><span style="color: black;"> who was researching the family history of Carlotta Jacobs.
She suggested that Daniel Jay may have been Daniel Jacobs, which was indeed the
case; we discovered he was born in </span><span style="color: black;">Gloucester</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1859, the son of Henry ‘Harry’ Jacobs. Daniel had
changed his name to Jay before he married Carlotta Jacobs (no relation) in the
West London Synagogue. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu9XDWqXTOE/VFJXkkiW36I/AAAAAAAAAI8/X6mH6De14Oo/s1600/Jay%2Bdrawing%2C(Lloyds%2C%2B10%2BApril%2B1898.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu9XDWqXTOE/VFJXkkiW36I/AAAAAAAAAI8/X6mH6De14Oo/s1600/Jay%2Bdrawing%2C(Lloyds%2C%2B10%2BApril%2B1898.jpg" width="297" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Daniel Jay in court in 1898</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">‘The Little Dustpan’</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">For many years his father Harry
Jacobs ran a shop at 35 and </span><span style="color: black;">36 Westgate Street</span><span style="color: black;"> in the centre of </span><span style="color: black;">Gloucester</span><span style="color: black;"> called oddly ‘The Little Dustpan’. Apparently he used the
name because the house furnishings he sold there were ‘dirt cheap’.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CNsB3qZpATc/VFJXkqQNJSI/AAAAAAAAAJc/IIY-wUbCAFw/s1600/Jacobs%2Badvert%2C%2BGlouchester%2BJournal%2B18%2BApril%2B1857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CNsB3qZpATc/VFJXkqQNJSI/AAAAAAAAAJc/IIY-wUbCAFw/s1600/Jacobs%2Badvert%2C%2BGlouchester%2BJournal%2B18%2BApril%2B1857.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry
Jacobs’ name cropped up in the press when he was involved in an investigation
by a Select Committee of MPs who looked at the buying of votes in the 1859 </span><span style="color: black;">Gloucester</span><span style="color: black;"> election. Several witnesses said that they had gone to the
shop where Jacobs gave them £5 to vote for Charles James Monk. He was elected
to one of the two seats in April but unseated in August, after a complaint was
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this, Monk was re-elected as
an MP several times after 1865. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Committee inquiry found that
Jacobs had been given £177 from a total of £1,000 (today worth about £85,000)
from the Reform Club to spend on their candidate, Mr Monk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Reform Club was set up by Liberal and
Whig MPs to counter the Tory Carlton Club. For many years, it was common for political
parties to pay people to vote for their candidates and to stop this, Parliament
brought in the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act of 1854. In December 1859 Harry
Jacobs was charged under the Act, but the judge threw out the case, because
Jacobs had given full details of the people he’d paid and been given a
certificate of exemption by the Select Committee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry Jacobs’ ‘Little Dustpan’ was
very successful and he opened another shop in </span><span style="color: black;">Cheltenham</span><span style="color: black;">, while
a relative ran a third shop in </span><span style="color: black;">Maidstone</span><span style="color: black;">. Then after 23 years he announced in the Gloucester
Journal on </span><span style="color: black;">5 August 1876</span><span style="color: black;">
that he was selling up and moving to </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Money lending in </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry’s new enterprise was very
different to the ‘Little Dustpan’. He set up a money lending business with jeweller
Samuel Albert at the fashionable address of </span><span style="color: black;">128 Jermyn Street</span><span style="color: black;">. The first advert we found for ‘S. Albert and Co’ was in
May 1879. Jacobs, like many other </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> dealers, lent money on a promissory note. The notes were
payable at the end of three months at a rate of one shilling per pound per
month, or 60% per annum. But if the money wasn’t repaid at the end of each
three month period, the interest was added in and so the sum owed increased
rapidly. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Harry Jacobs’ first </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> home was </span><span style="color: black;">27 Randolph Crescent</span><span style="color: black;">. By 1885 he had moved to 18 Greville Road at the Kilburn
end of Maida Vale, where he died in 1903 leaving £16,261 (about £1.5M today), to
his sons Daniel Jay and Harry Vincent Jacobs. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">About 1883 Daniel Jay had started
his own money lending business near his father at </span><span style="color: black;">90 Jermyn Street</span><span style="color: black;">. His clients were often ‘young bucks’, who gambled and ran
into debt. Other clients were married woman who overspent their allowance and
relied on their husbands to pay their debts to Jay. Like his father, Daniel
made money from the business but he had to resort to the law to recover unpaid
loans; in all, between 1891 and 1912, he pursued nineteen cases through the
courts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">‘Lady Silk Tights’</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">One of these court appearances was
a very high profile case. In January 1898 Jay sued Sir Tatton Sykes and his
wife Lady Jessie for repayment of several promissory notes. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Sir Tatton Sykes, the 5<sup>th</sup>
Baron was born in 1826, the son of a wealthy landowner at Sledmere near </span><span style="color: black;">Hull</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">East Yorkshire</span><span style="color: black;">. As a sickly child he was bullied by his father who said
he was good for nothing. As an adult he became eccentric, wearing many layers
of overcoats to maintain his body temperature. He was also obsessed with his
health, eating a daily diet of milk puddings produced by a cook who accompanied
him wherever he went. Tatton’s only real interests were breeding racehorses and
building churches. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2MDkD1RdCo4/VFJXlLuZodI/AAAAAAAAAJE/5WZUXZFsyGM/s1600/Sir%2BTatton%2BSykes%2C%2Bby%2BSpy%2B1878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2MDkD1RdCo4/VFJXlLuZodI/AAAAAAAAAJE/5WZUXZFsyGM/s1600/Sir%2BTatton%2BSykes%2C%2Bby%2BSpy%2B1878.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Tatton Sykes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">He was painfully shy but knew that he needed to marry and
produce an heir to the estate. Despite his enormous wealth, he was turned down by
several prospective wives. Then, when he was 48, he married the dashing 18 year
old Jessie Cavendish-Bentinck, a granddaughter of the Duke of Portland.
Jessie’s mother, Britannia, ensured that ‘the wedding of the season’ was a high
society event. Held on </span><span style="color: black;">3 August 1874</span><span style="color: black;">,
Vanity Fair wrote, very tongue in cheek, </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">I hear there was a quiet little marriage
between Sir Tatton Sykes and Miss Bentinck, assisted by a 1,000 or so other
people, at a suburban retreat called </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Westminster</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> Abbey.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Although Jessie tried her best and
threw herself into becoming the mistress of a great country house and travelled
with her husband on journeys around the world, the marriage simply did not
work. Jessie confided to a friend that it had taken Sir Tatton six months to
consummate the marriage, and then only when she’d got him drunk. Not
surprisingly, after a few years the couple decided to live apart: she at </span><span style="color: black;">46 Grosvenor Street</span><span style="color: black;"> in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> while he stayed at Sledmere on his 34,000 acre estate.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Jessie quickly spent her £3,000 a
year allowance (worth about £280,000 today) as well as several lump sums which
Sir Tatton gave her. She ran up huge gambling debts, and was called the ‘greatest
woman Plunger’ of the century, (a plunger was the term for a reckless gambler).
The situation got out of hand and in December 1896 Sir Tatton was advised by
his lawyers to put an advertisement in the papers which said he would not be
responsible for any of Lady Sykes’ debts. He was the first husband to do this
by using an interpretation of the 1882 Married Woman’s Property Act, which ironically,
was actually designed to improve married women’s rights. Unfortunately for Sir
Tatton, the advert alerted all of Jessie’s debtors and they took him to court
to try to get the money they were owed. In court Tatton said Jessies’ debts currently
totalled £69,000, equivalent today to £6.5 million.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Daniel Jay sued Sir Tatton in January 1898 for £15,872 (about
£1.5M today) owed on promissory notes, and the five-day case was reported in
all the papers. The public were given an insight into the excessive spending
habits of Lady Sykes, which <span style="color: black;">demonstrated that she had
no control over money. Sir Tatton’s barristers brought in a stream of witnesses
to show that the signatures on the five promissory notes given to Jay were not
those of Sir Tatton. The jury decided in Sir Tatton’s favour and Jay lost the
case. But if Sir Tatton had not signed the notes, then who did? The obvious
candidate was Lady Sykes, but the jury astonishingly never raised the idea that
she had forged his signature. It was believed, though never admitted, that Sir
Tatton later quietly paid Jay the money that Jessie owed him.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3qKugN9FtD4/VFJXlQ7Q0lI/AAAAAAAAAJM/nbKhBpTb_VM/s1600/Sir%2BTatton%2Band%2BLady%2BSykes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3qKugN9FtD4/VFJXlQ7Q0lI/AAAAAAAAAJM/nbKhBpTb_VM/s1600/Sir%2BTatton%2Band%2BLady%2BSykes.jpg" width="308" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Sir Tatton and Jessie were certainly
an odd couple. After fighting each other in the court, they would ride home to </span><span style="color: black;">Grosvenor Street</span><span style="color: black;"> in the same carriage and sit down to dinner together. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the next morning, after breakfast, they
would return to court for another day of controversy. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But occasionally, when Sir Tatton
became exasperated by Jessie, he could be vicious. When their 16 year old son
Mark was returning to Sledmere from boarding school for the Easter holidays,
his father ordered the gamekeeper to kill Mark’s beloved terriers. A groom took
Mark and showed him the bodies of the dogs hanging from a tree. This terrible
act of cruelty was meant to upset Jessie rather than punish Mark.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Jessie had many lovers and held
lavish parties at her smart </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> house. On
her first trip to </span><span style="color: black;">New
York</span><span style="color: black;"> she was called
‘the most spirited Lady Sykes’. But later, behind her back, she was dubbed ‘Lady
Silk Tights’ and lost her standing in society. She began to drink heavily and became
an alcoholic. Her loyal maid, Gotherd, was forced to hide her scent bottles as
Jessie would drink perfume if nothing else was available. Apparently, the maid
even had to conceal Jessie’s corsets, to prevent her drunken mistress from
going out and making a fool of herself.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But Jessie also had another and
creative side. She edited two weekly journals and wrote several novels. In
November 1899 she travelled to </span><span style="color: black;">South Africa</span><span style="color: black;"> with her son Mark who by then was an officer, and nursed
the wounded in the Boer War, writing a book about her experiences which sold
well.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Jessie died in </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> in January 1912 and was buried in Sledmere. Sir Tatton was
overheard leaving the church saying, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Remarkable
woman, but I rue the day I met her.</i>’ Jessie was however, loved by the
people of </span><span style="color: black;">Hull</span><span style="color: black;"> for her good works and charitable gifts. She had delivered
Christmas treats to children in </span><span style="color: black;">Hull</span><span style="color: black;"> for 25 years. Sir Tatton Sykes died in May 1913
leaving £289,446, worth about £24 million today, to his only child, Lt Colonel
Mark Sykes.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">For a very good book about his family see Christopher Simon
Sykes book, ‘The Big House’ (2004)</span></i><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The Actress</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A few months after the ‘Lady Silk
tights’ case, Daniel Jay found himself on the other side of the court as a
defendant. He was sued in November 1898 by an American-born actress with the
stage name of Jenny McNulty. She said Jay had illegally taken furniture and
other items of hers and sold them in her absence. Since 1885 Jenny had been a
successful actress on the </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> stage and earned a good salary, ranging from £10 to £30
per week. In a review of a show at the Gaiety Theatre she was described</span>
as, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘a young and pretty damsel who was
greatly admired in ‘Adonis’ and is said to have drawn more money to the show
(when it was in New York).’</i></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1893 Mary McNulty (her real
name) had met William Victor Paulet, who told her he was a wealthy gentleman. After
a year they married and stayed at her flat in Iddesleigh Mansions, </span><span style="color: black;">Caxton Street</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Westminster</span><span style="color: black;">, where she had lived since 1885. After the marriage, Jenny
discovered that far from being independently wealthy, Paulet was in debt. She tried
to pay back some of what he owed, but finding it too expensive to stay in
London the couple moved in September 1895 to the large 14-room Spencer House in
Aylesbury. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1896 Jenny received a telegram saying
her father was ill and she sailed to </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;">. Her father died in May and after Jenny had received no
letters from her husband for five months, she wrote asking William to send
money so she could return to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;">. But she still got no reply and could only afford to
return in April 1897. She made enquiries at his club ‘The Orleans’ in </span><span style="color: black;">King Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and was told her husband had gone away. She asked Jay, who
had loaned William money, if he knew where William was. Jay said no, and
explained that while Jenny was in </span><span style="color: black;">America</span><span style="color: black;">, Paulet had sold him most of the furniture from Spencer
House for £500 to pay off his debts. Jenny then discovered that her home had
also been sold. She located some of her expensive stage dresses in the
Pantechnicon Repository (a storage facility), but they’d been thrown in a heap
and were ruined. Jenny was forced to return to the stage where she struggled to
make a living. Jay agreed to lend her more money, because he said the silver plate
she still owned was worth £150. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUVMH02Tjpk/VFJXkrvb7eI/AAAAAAAAAJA/ZzAqPp5-egY/s1600/Jay%2Band%2BMcNulty%2C%2B(Lloyds%2B20%2BNov%2B1898).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUVMH02Tjpk/VFJXkrvb7eI/AAAAAAAAAJA/ZzAqPp5-egY/s1600/Jay%2Band%2BMcNulty%2C%2B(Lloyds%2B20%2BNov%2B1898).jpg" width="459" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sketches from the court case</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Jay told the court that he had
known Mr Paulet since 1891 and had made him many loans. In 1897 about £2,000
was still outstanding. Jay said he had also made loans to Mrs Paulet, at a zero
rate of interest. He said he’d become the couple’s friend and that Jenny had
confided in him on her return from America that she was penniless and so he
lent her small sums of money. But when he refused to lend any more, she threatened
him, saying she’d <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘make it hot for him’</i>.
Jay denied that he had ever made any improper suggestions to Jenny, such as
using her beauty to obtain money from men. He believed that she was blackmailing
him and that was what this case was really about. Unfortunately for Jay, after
four days of evidence the jury decided in favour of Jenny McNulty and she was
awarded £1,000 (worth over £93,000 today).</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">William Paulet </span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">William Paulet was a man of
mystery. We think he was born about 1849 in Hornsey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he does not show up on any of the birth
records, so perhaps (like Jay), this was not his real name. Paulet first
appears on the 1871 census when he was living in </span><span style="color: black;">Howland Street</span><span style="color: black;">, St Pancras. In 1875 he had travelled to </span><span style="color: black;">New York</span><span style="color: black;"> where he married Ada Louise Smith who came from a wealthy </span><span style="color: black;">Connecticut</span><span style="color: black;"> family. Their first child, Maude, was born in Newquay in </span><span style="color: black;">Cornwall</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1876. Then their son Henry was born in Saltzburg </span><span style="color: black;">Austria</span><span style="color: black;"> in 1880 where </span><span style="color: black;">Ada</span><span style="color: black;">
died seven years later. William Paulet returned to </span><span style="color: black;">England</span><span style="color: black;"> and he appears on the 1891 census as a lodger in </span><span style="color: black;">34-35 Jermyn Street</span><span style="color: black;">, ‘a widower, aged 41 living on income’. It’s interesting
that Paulet was then living very close to Daniel Jay who was at number </span><span style="color: black;">90 Jermyn Street</span><span style="color: black;">. Jay said this was when he first met Paulet and lent him
money. Paulet went bankrupt in July 1898 and disappeared before Jenny’s court
case against Jay. It’s believed that he returned to </span><span style="color: black;">Austria</span><span style="color: black;"> and died in </span><span style="color: black;">Vienna</span><span style="color: black;">, but we haven’t been able to prove this. We could also not
find out what</span> happened to Jenny McNulty after she won the case, but we
think she continued acting.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Money Lending</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Money lending at high rates, or
usury, had been an issue for centuries. Concern grew in Victorian England and
when Edmund Yates set up ‘The World’ in 1874, it contained an article by Henry
Labouchere (known as ‘Labby’) attacking the so called ‘West-End Usurers’. He
named Henry Beyfus and Albert Boss of </span><span style="color: black;">7 Sackville Street</span><span style="color: black;"> who had charged an annual interest rate of 60% on loans to
Lord Albert Clinton. Beyfus and Boss prosecuted the paper for libel. The case
was defended by solicitor George Lewis who called moneylenders ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">base, vile and contemptible’</i> and it was eventually
adjourned. A few years later Labby set up his own paper called ‘Truth’ in which
he campaigned against fraudsters. In 1884 he named Daniel Jay and his father Harry
Jacobs as usurers. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1898 Parliament set up a Select
Committee to look at money lending. That April Jay was asked to give evidence.
He said he started his business in </span><span style="color: black;">Jermyn Street</span><span style="color: black;"> fifteen years ago with £2,000 and had turned this into
£50,000 - £60,000. But he denied that he charged excessive interest rates or
put undue pressure on people to pay. Sir George Lewis, the most powerful lawyer
of his time, also gave evidence. He put a strong case against the West-End
usurers and pointed out their practice of sending out circulars advertising
their services. He was particularly annoyed about a new trend whereby Jay and
others, such as Samuel Lewis of </span><span style="color: black;">Cork Street</span><span style="color: black;">, preyed on married women and lent them money without their
husband’s knowledge. Other targets were young undergraduates who got into serious
debt and then relied on their fathers to pay off the loans. The confidant of
high society and royalty, Lewis gave examples of the many cases he had defended.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Committee suggested that controls
needed to be tightened and this led to the Moneylenders Act of 1900 which
required registration of all lenders and allowed courts to dissolve unfair
agreements. A second Act in 1927 forbade money lenders employing agents or
sending out adverts. Today we have the Consumer Credit Act (1974) where traders
must have full licences with the Office of Fair Trading which can be revoked in
the event of irregularities. But similar concerns about payday loans still
exist. Wonga was recently forced by the new City financial regulator to wipe
out about £200 million on loans to 330,000 people, and scrap interest and
charges owed by a further 45,000 customers.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Jay leaves </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">About 1909 Jay moved to ‘Lodene
Cottage, later ‘Lodene Greys’, Cookham in </span><span style="color: black;">Berkshire</span><span style="color: black;">
where he died in 1935. He was a rich man and left Carlotta £88,842 (equivalent
to £4.7 million today). She died there in 1941.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">His old house on Shoot Up Hill was
taken over by </span><span style="color: black;">Clark</span><span style="color: black;">’s College which had a head office in </span><span style="color: black;">Chancery Lane</span><span style="color: black;">. The company was begun by George E. Clark in 1880 and
initially prepared people for the Civil Service Examination. The branch at
Cricklewood continued as a college at least into the 1960s. Today the building
has gone and the site is now a block of flats. </span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-76527079987116168192014-10-27T04:24:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:37:12.142-07:00Abduction or Seduction? The Kilburn Salvation Army Case<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Salvation Army worked in the poor areas of Kilburn. They
recognised the value of music in promoting the gospel so they recruited and
trained people to form bands. Popular tunes were adapted so that ‘Way down upon
the Swanee River’
became ‘Joy, freedom, peace and ceaseless blessing’! They used a mission hall
in Pembroke Road (later
called Granville Road),
before they opened a barracks in nearby Percy Road
in 1889. Today this area is called South Kilburn and
there has been substantial redevelopment so many of the Victorian streets have
been demolished.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jTbEwbPrf7U/VE4qc3UL91I/AAAAAAAAAIk/YtfdMI4QAgE/s1600/Salvation%2BArmy%2BKilburn%2B1894%2BMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jTbEwbPrf7U/VE4qc3UL91I/AAAAAAAAAIk/YtfdMI4QAgE/s1600/Salvation%2BArmy%2BKilburn%2B1894%2BMap.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilburn Salvation Army Mission Hall, 1894</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
In January 1886, Richard Hillier and Arthur Artis from
Kilburn were convicted at the Old Bailey on a charge of;
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unlawfully taking Lucy Ada Hibberd, aged 16 years and two months, and
Amelia Brodie, aged 17, out of the custody of their parents, and carnally
knowing them.</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Kilburn scandal featured in many papers and reporters repeatedly
drew attention to the fact the men had attended services at the local Salvation
Army hall with headlines such as: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Abduction by Salvation Army Men. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the case was not as simple as the court ruling and headlines
would have us believe. Richard and Arthur were 22 year old labourers living at 123
Herries Street, off Kilburn
Lane. We could find little information about the
men before 1886. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Hillier had been in court on at
least two occasions for theft; in 1883 when he was</span> sentenced to three
months in prison for stealing boots and in 1884 when he served two months for
stealing a belt valued at 6 ½ d. We could find little about Arthur Artis who was
the London-born son of a bricklayer and builder who moved to the capital from Suffolk.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lucy Hibberd and Amelia Brodie had known each other for
years as school friends and neighbours. Their families lived in Peel Street,
one of a network of narrow streets fringed by small terrace houses, south of
Kilburn Lane and close to Herries Street. Lucy’s father George was a carpenter
and Amelia’s dad, Henry Brodie, worked as a cutler, making or selling cutlery. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The court was told that Lucy and Amelia had met Richard and
Arthur in May 1885 at the Salvation Army Hall in Pembroke
Road, where Richard played the big drum in the
band for a while. This was just a round the corner from Peel
Street. All four of the young people attended
services but they became increasingly disruptive and were regularly ejected. It
seems that they only used the Hall as a convenient means of meeting one another,
as they had paired off and were ‘walking out’: Lucy with Arthur and Amelia with
Richard. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rO_3ckDNSfQ/VE4q1SVOSVI/AAAAAAAAAIs/AWcPUjQqU8M/s1600/Kilburn%2C%2BSalvation%2BArmy%2BBand%2Bphoto%2Bfor%2Bblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="403" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rO_3ckDNSfQ/VE4q1SVOSVI/AAAAAAAAAIs/AWcPUjQqU8M/s1600/Kilburn%2C%2BSalvation%2BArmy%2BBand%2Bphoto%2Bfor%2Bblog.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilburn Salvation Army Band at a later date, the bass drum player is on the right</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Arthur gave a rather different version of events. He said
the girls had first attracted his (and other men’s) attention by beckoning to
them from their window and saying their parents were out. This was probably
Lucy’s house as her father said Amelia spent a great deal of time there.
According to Arthur, the girls next ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">divested
themselves of their clothing’</i> and exposed themselves to the audience in the
street below. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So - not only was the Salvation Army link a very tenuous
one, but far from being abducted, the girls appear to have been more than willing
participants. As George Hibberd said, his daughter often refused to tell him
anything about her social life or lied about what was happening. On 14 October 1885, Lucy told both
Richard and Arthur she had no intention of going home that evening. Arthur said
he tried to dissuade her - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">she was being very
foolish</i> – but when Amelia arrived, she agreed to accompany Lucy and the two
men to a coffeehouse in Golborne Road,
Notting Hill. The owner Edward Holkam rented the couples a room for the night,
clearly without asking too many questions. The court was told that it was ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a matter for future consideration’ </i>as to
whether the police would take action against<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i>Holkam, presumably for running a disorderly house. The next morning George
Hibberd and Henry Brodie went to the police to report their daughters missing.
But the girls both came home, Lucy bought back by her brother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a few weeks George kept his daughter a virtual prisoner
in the house as he didn’t want her associating with either Artis or Hillier.
Matters came to a head on 5<sup>th</sup> November. It was the habit for
neighbourhoods to put on a procession on Bonfire Night, with decorated floats
touring the streets and collecting money for charity. Hampstead’s parade was well
known, and for some reason, George allowed Lucy to go. He must have known who
she’d go with. Sure enough, Lucy and Amelia met Arthur and Richard and together
they climbed the hill to Hampstead. The bonfire procession was delayed and it
was around 11pm before the couples arrived
back in Kilburn. Lucy said she was too scared to go home, so Arthur solved the
problem by renting another room for them to share. The following day he asked Lucy
to marry him and they spent the night above a coffeehouse in Praed
Street, Paddington. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next morning Arthur took a room in<span style="color: blue;"> </span>Frederick Street
near Kings Cross, for himself and his ‘wife’ under the names of Mr and Mrs
Williams. Richard and Amelia took a room a short walk away, at 60
Tonbridge Street, also under an assumed name of Mr
and Mrs Wilson. On 13 November Arthur told Lucy he had no more money and she
should go home. Richard and Amelia’s liaison lasted slightly longer, until the
16<sup>th</sup>, when her father, accompanied by a policeman, arrived at Tonbridge
Street to take Amelia back to Kilburn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As both girls were under 18 and their fathers told the
police no one had been given permission to take their daughters away, warrants
were issued for the arrest of Richard Hillier and Arthur Artis on a charge of
abduction. They were taken into custody on 20 November in the Market Place, part
of Canterbury Road which
led from Kilburn Bridge
on the High Road towards Kilburn Lane.<span style="color: blue;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When they were arrested Artis was silent. Hillier said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All right</i> and then, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They asked us to take them</i> and finally, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s false</i>, when the charge was told to him. The men appeared at
Marylebone Police Court. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Meantime the Salvation Army wrote to the newspapers to
disassociate themselves from the case:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As the treasurer and the secretary of a congregation of poor people who
are likely to be blamed in connection with the Kilburn abduction case, it is
necessary for us to correct the impression that either of the defendants were
members of the Salvation Army at the time when they began to have improper
conversation with these girls.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the headlines persisted. The Northern Echo, under ‘The
Abduction by Salvationists’ described Arthur Artis and Richard Hillier as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">two rough-looking young men</i> at their Old
Bailey trial. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The men asserted in the strongest manner that the girls asked them to
take them away and they alleged they were both above eighteen. The Recorder (the
court official) said that was no answer to the charge and recommended the
prisoners to plead guilty, which they did.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The jury had no option but to find Artis and Hillier guilty
but added a plea for mercy, because the jurors; ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believed the girls to have been as bad as the prisoners’</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Artis and Hillier were sentenced to three months hard labour
apiece. In Victorian prisons this meant harsh punishment, such as the Treadmill
where men were forced to walk for most of the day. Or the Screw, which meant
turning a handle where the warders could increase the resistance – hence their
nickname of screws. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The girls were not charged and appeared as witnesses in the
Police Court. There was some discussion about what all parties had thought to
be the legal age to leave home without permission, but at no point did either
Lucy or Amelia say they’d been coerced or duped by Arthur and Richard to run
away with them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What happened to
Richard, Arthur, Lucy and Amelia?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s often impossible to trace people through official
documents, when they aren’t famous or have distinctive names. This is the case
with Richard Hillier, the reliable trail stops with his Old Bailey sentence. We
fared better with Arthur Artis. After coming out of prison, he worked as a
house painter and got married in 1888. He stayed in the Kilburn neighbourhood,
moving to another house in Herries Street
(number 104) by 1891, with his wife Ellen and two young sons. The family (now
with four children) was at 223 Kilburn Lane
in 1901. Arthur died the following year, aged 38. His widow remarried,
ironically, a coffeehouse keeper in Southwark. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the girls? Both got married. Lucy’s husband was stonemason
William Banks. The 1901 census shows them at 80
Glengall Road in Kilburn, with two young
daughters. By 1911, Lucy’s home was 66 Northern Road,
Aylesbury. There were now five children and William was absent on census night.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Amelia’s husband was George William Dean, a soldier who she
married in 1888. Three years later, the census shows her living with her
parents in Kilburn at 128 Carlton Road,
along with her 1 year old daughter, also called Amelia. At the time George was
at Aldershot Barracks. By 1911 they were living at 100
Holly Lane in <span style="color: black;">Willesden
with five of their six children; their seventeen year old daughter was born in </span><span style="color: black;">India</span><span style="color: black;">, so Amelia had seen quite a bit of the world as a
soldier’s wife. By 1911 George was a carman. He died in 1926.</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">This story gives an interesting
insight to life in the poor parts of Kilburn and shows how the press turned a
case of two misguided couples running away together into a sensational story
involving abduction. </span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-81796575314161537192014-10-06T04:28:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:37:30.401-07:00Death of Lynsey de Paul<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->The well known singer-songwriter died suddenly on 2 October 2014 in Barnet
Hospital. She had complained of
severe headaches and it is thought that she may have had a brain haemorrhage.
She lived at 6 Fairfax Road West
Hampstead, for many years before moving to Mill Hill.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ea0N_yBNJx4/VDJ8aQWHHbI/AAAAAAAAAIU/E9kolfLMPK0/s1600/Lynsey%2Bde%2BPaul%2Bphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ea0N_yBNJx4/VDJ8aQWHHbI/AAAAAAAAAIU/E9kolfLMPK0/s1600/Lynsey%2Bde%2BPaul%2Bphoto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She was born as Lynsey Monckton Rubin in 1948. Her parents
Herbert and Meta Rubin lived at 98 Shoot up Hill in Cricklewood. Herbert was a
property developer. 96-98 Shoot Up Hill is now called the People’s Centre For
Change. In 1983 it was a community home for young people.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After leaving the Hornsey
Art School,
Lynsey designed album covers and then began writing songs. In 1972 she
performed her own song ‘Sugar Me’ which reached the UK
top 10 and it was covered in the US
by Nancy Sinatra.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lynsey became the first woman to win an Ivor Novello award
for songwriting with her 1973 hit ‘Won't Somebody Dance With Me’. She received
a second Ivor Novello award the following year for ‘No Honestly’, which was
also the theme tune to the ITV comedy of the same name, starring Pauline
Collins and John Alderton. She also wrote the theme tune for Esther Rantzen’s
BBC One series ‘Hearts Of Gold’. Lynsey represented the UK
in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest with the song she and Mike Moran wrote and
performed, ‘Rock Bottom’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2007 Lynsey gave an interview to the Daily Mail about her
abusive father. She said:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I knew what it was like to be very frightened when I was a small child.
I never knew what my father was going to do - slap me, yell at me, criticise me
or just ignore me. Once he hit me so hard that I felt sick and dizzy for three
days. In the end I had to go to the doctor, who told me I was suffering from
concussion. I was 19 then and I knew I had to save up enough money to get
out of that house as quickly as possible, which is exactly what I did.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She changed her name from Reuben to de Paul to dissociate
herself from her family when she left home. But Lynsey didn't totally escape
abusive behaviour, when she entered into relationships with men with histories
of violence such as George Best and Sean Connery. Even the great love of her
life, Hollywood actor James Coburn, threatened her with violence during the
four years they lived together in the late Seventies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 1989 she had an affair with Sean Connery which lasted
several months. Although he never hit her, Lynsey was upset after discovering
the truth about his abusive first marriage to actress Diane Cilento, and
because he had spoken out against domestic violence. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lynsey said she had five offers of marriage, including one
from James Coburn, and she continued to wear the engagement ring that Chas
Chandler, bassist with The Animals and manager of Jimi Hendrix, gave her. She
said she also had 'flings' with Ringo Starr and Dudley Moore. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is just a coincidence that before they became famous,
both Dudley Moore and Sean Connery lived in Kilburn for short periods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Lynsey's experience with abuse led to her presenting a documentary in 1992
about women's self-defence, called ‘Eve Fights Back’, which won a Royal
Television Society award. In 2007 she released her own instructional
self-defence video, ‘Taking Control’, which teaches women how to protect
themselves mentally and physically against an assailant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Following the news about her sudden death at the age of 66,
numerous tributes have been paid to her.</div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-18506932583052434122014-09-25T03:35:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:37:48.079-07:00The Lady in the Long Silk Gloves<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->Margaret Cooper was a very popular music hall entertainer at
the piano in the early part of the 20th Century. She and her husband lived in Dartmouth
Road Brondesbury.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GA0cgfEOlh8/VCPtdN06OeI/AAAAAAAAAG8/tUPfUCO3ldk/s1600/Miss%2BMargaret%2BCooper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GA0cgfEOlh8/VCPtdN06OeI/AAAAAAAAAG8/tUPfUCO3ldk/s1600/Miss%2BMargaret%2BCooper.jpg" width="403" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Writing in ‘The Melody Lingers On’ his book about the music
hall, Walter Macqueen-Pope described Margaret;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beautifully dressed, she would sail on to the stage …. Then she would
seat herself, take off her elbow length gloves with great care and in the most
leisurely manner, and then proceed to remove her numerous rings and bracelets,
which she placed one at a time on the top of the piano. The audience watched
spell bound. And then she would begin. … Although her voice was neither strong
nor powerful, she had the knack of making every syllable heard, every word tell,
even in the largest building; and that without a microphone, which she would
have scorned. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Margaret Gernon Cooper was born on 28 June 1877, the daughter of James Cooper, a
baker, and his wife Isabella Catherine Gernon. When she was baptised they were
living at 403 Walnut Road, Newington,
Peckham. In the 1881 census the family were still at this address and James was
a baker employing four men. By the 1891 census he was still a baker but they
had moved to 16 Chilworth Street
in Paddington. James died 27 March
1909 and he had obviously done well, as the London Gazette for 1
June shows he had three shops at 16, 17 and 19
Chilworth Street. Margaret was left £4,827, worth
about £420,000 today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">The following year, Margaret
married Arthur Maughan Humble-Crofts. Arthur was born on </span><span style="color: black;">18 November 1883</span><span style="color: black;"> in Waldron </span><span style="color: black;">Sussex</span><span style="color: black;">, the fourth son of the wealthy Reverend William John
Humble-Crofts. Seemingly it came as a surprise for the Waldron community. One
paper noted Margaret was ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">married as
quietly as possible</i>’ with only a few family members present. Margaret wore
a grey satin dress, her father-in-law performed the ceremony and her mother-in-law
played the organ. All the bell ringers were given a signed photograph of the
bride. The couple met at a concert at a school where Arthur was teaching. They
married soon after and Arthur gave up his work to support his wife’s career. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">They moved to ‘Framba’ </span><span style="color: black;">103 Dartmouth Road</span><span style="color: black;"> and he is shown there in the phone books from 1911 to
1918. They didn’t have any children and in the 1911 census, Arthur described
himself as ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">private secretary and agent
to wife.’</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Margaret was a very talented
musician and composer, playing the piano, violin and organ. After attending the
Royal Academy of Music, she worked as an accompanist and sang at concerts and
dinners. But there were an awful lot of good performers. Her lucky break came
when she was spotted playing at a charity concert by theatre manager Sir Alfred
Butt. In the early years of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century most theatre managers
saw songs at the piano as predominately a male act. But Sir Alfred realised here
was the potential to attract a new audience to the Palace Theatre and
approached Margaret. At first rather dubious about appearing on the variety
stage, she took the plunge in October 1906 - and never looked back, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘she was an instant and overwhelming success</i>.’
When she appeared later that month in </span><span style="color: black;">Bristol</span><span style="color: black;">, she was billed as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘The
Latest </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> Sensation, in her
Inimitable “Songs at the Piano”.</span></i><span style="color: black;"> Her
largest fee was £100 for a single performance, which is equivalent to about
£8,000 today. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HA-Zav5NNhA/VCPtrZba1zI/AAAAAAAAAHE/6SJfAKHx3Ro/s1600/Folkestone%2C%2B1906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HA-Zav5NNhA/VCPtrZba1zI/AAAAAAAAAHE/6SJfAKHx3Ro/s1600/Folkestone%2C%2B1906.jpg" width="348" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1906 Folkestone</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue;"></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">At first her songs were
sentimental, but gradually she introduced some tasteful light humour. She
played all over the country and in 1912 she successfully toured </span><span style="color: black;">Australia</span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;">New Zealand</span><span style="color: black;">. Equally at home at the Coliseum or the Queen’s Hall, she
was also in great demand for private parties, where she sang before King George
V and Queen Mary and visiting royal dignitaries. </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSLKaxxdpnE/VCPujH6EooI/AAAAAAAAAHs/z3dqsBw7aMI/s1600/Margaret%2BCooper%2BLancers%2C%2B1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sSLKaxxdpnE/VCPujH6EooI/AAAAAAAAAHs/z3dqsBw7aMI/s1600/Margaret%2BCooper%2BLancers%2C%2B1909.jpg" width="484" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="color: black;">There is sheet music online,
including ‘Catch Me!’ (1915), with lyrics by Arthur and music by Margaret. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waltz me around again, Willie</i>’ was one
of her best known songs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9drW7KLr-tY/VCPvOvTPg1I/AAAAAAAAAH0/ep4-rmnS81I/s1600/Waltz%2Bme%2Bround%2Bagain%2BWillie..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9drW7KLr-tY/VCPvOvTPg1I/AAAAAAAAAH0/ep4-rmnS81I/s1600/Waltz%2Bme%2Bround%2Bagain%2BWillie..jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpRaUQTGIWA/VCPt1rgVxAI/AAAAAAAAAHM/DzOOag2xulI/s1600/Lyrics%2C%2BWaltz%2Bme%2Bround%2BWillie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpRaUQTGIWA/VCPt1rgVxAI/AAAAAAAAAHM/DzOOag2xulI/s1600/Lyrics%2C%2BWaltz%2Bme%2Bround%2BWillie.jpg" width="486" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Margaret’s career was helped by
the parodies of her by H.G. Pelissier and his ‘Follies’. Pelissier impersonated
her by exaggerating her preparations before starting to play: carefully placing
a handkerchief and the book of words on the top of the piano, then meticulously
adjusting the music stool. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjgozi3dFO0/VCPuIWdBJTI/AAAAAAAAAHc/2oK_d8rEbW4/s1600/HG%2BPelissier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jjgozi3dFO0/VCPuIWdBJTI/AAAAAAAAAHc/2oK_d8rEbW4/s1600/HG%2BPelissier.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HG Pelissier performing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"></span></div>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">World War One</span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">During WWI Margaret entertained
wounded soldiers in hospitals. All four Humble-Croft brothers joined up. Her
husband Arthur joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916 as an Able Seaman and
worked in the Admiralty Offices. He made Lieutenant in May 1917 and was sent to
</span><span style="color: black;">Dover</span><span style="color: black;"> that August, where he worked in joint charge of the Naval
Exchange for the R.A.F. He died in the </span><span style="color: black;">Military</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Hospital</span><span style="color: black;">, Castle Mount, </span><span style="color: black;">Dover</span><span style="color: black;"> the day after his 35<sup>th</sup> birthday, on </span><span style="color: black;">19 November 1918</span><span style="color: black;">, from pneumonia following influenza. He is buried at All
Saints Churchyard, Waldron, </span><span style="color: black;">East
Sussex</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">What happened to Margaret?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">The death of her husband Arthur in
1918 was a severe blow to Margaret and her appearances in the </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> variety theatres became less frequent. She died four years
later from heart failure at </span><span style="color: black;">103 Dartmouth Road</span><span style="color: black;"> on </span><span style="color: black;">27 December 1922</span><span style="color: black;">.
Although she’d not been in the best of health after suffering breakdown a few
months earlier and more recent asthma attacks, Margaret’s death was unexpected.
She hadn’t made a will and her brother Alexander David Cooper inherited her
£5,032 estate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Margaret was cremated at Golders
Green on </span><span style="color: black;">2 January 1923</span><span style="color: black;">. The ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vast congregation’</i> crowded into the
chapel. There were many floral tributes from the musical world, including one
from Henry Wood dedicated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘to a great
artist’</i> and the theatre tributes included those from Sir Oswald Stoll and
Ellen Terry. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Margaret’s obituary in the Times
29 Dec 1922, says she established a reputation, ‘almost in a night’, for eminently
‘clean’ entertainment and succeeded in retaining this to the last. The many obituaries
lamented the loss of a great performer with only a few mild criticisms. One reporter
wrote, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her erratic behaviour off the
stage led to some curious results on occasion</i>’ but he gave no details, and ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miss Cooper never sang a song twice in the
same way’</i>,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>but the latter may
have been part of her appeal. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Several obituaries agreed her death
evoked a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘peculiar pathos’</i> as
Margaret was planning a new life, having agreed to marry actor and singer Harry
Welchman in February 1923. But the related scandal that could have damaged Margaret’s
image was something the papers chose to ignore, presumably out of respect for
the lady.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Harry Welchman </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">Born in </span><span style="color: black;">Devon</span><span style="color: black;"> in
1886, he went onto the stage immediately after leaving school. He was spotted
at a pantomime in 1906 by Robert Courtneidge who went on to manage Harry and
helped establish a successful career for the actor/singer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L45wIiFb4Mk/VCPuBzP4VfI/AAAAAAAAAHU/82fR4xZWqmQ/s1600/Harry%2BWelchman%2C%2B1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L45wIiFb4Mk/VCPuBzP4VfI/AAAAAAAAAHU/82fR4xZWqmQ/s1600/Harry%2BWelchman%2C%2B1922.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black;">At the time of Margaret’s death Harry
was appearing to good reviews in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lady
of the Rose</i>. Up to then, their engagement hadn’t been made public and there
was a good reason for this. Margaret’s obituaries fail to mention the fact Harry
was going through a divorce. In July 1922 his actress wife Joan, (professional
name Joan Challoner), had been granted a decree nisi, on the grounds of Harry’s
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">statutory desertion and adultery’. </i>This
was made final in January 1923, a month after Margaret’s death. Her role is
open to speculation, as she is never named in the newspaper reports as the
‘other woman.’ Harry later married the actress Sylvia Forde. He enjoyed a long
stage and film career, was featured in the BBC’s series ‘This is Your Life’ (1960)
and died in 1966, aged 79.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bhNlxn9JVr0/VCPuS4QJK_I/AAAAAAAAAHk/yi1IWxhGyXE/s1600/Harry%2BWelchman%2Bin%2BPrincess%2BCaprice%2C%2B1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bhNlxn9JVr0/VCPuS4QJK_I/AAAAAAAAAHk/yi1IWxhGyXE/s1600/Harry%2BWelchman%2Bin%2BPrincess%2BCaprice%2C%2B1922.jpg" width="481" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;">There are clips of him performing on
YouTube – including in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lady of the
Rose</i>. </span><br />
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<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfR237bRLlY"><span style="color: black;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfR237bRLlY</span></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-74284086973752482912014-09-11T07:55:00.001-07:002018-04-03T06:49:10.700-07:00The History of Netherwood Street, Kilburn<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Netherwood
Street</span><span style="color: black;"> was a poor
street running off </span><span style="color: black;">Kilburn
High Road</span><span style="color: black;">, as
shown at the top of this 1935 Map. The Mission Hall and the </span><span style="color: black;">Board</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> can be clearly seen on the right hand side. Today, most of
it has disappeared and is covered by Webheath, a large block of council flats.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dLDM08fymP0/VBG3TfGMLuI/AAAAAAAAAGs/uY_cQf2KsaI/s1600/Netherwood%2BStreet%2C%2B1935%2BOS%2BMap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dLDM08fymP0/VBG3TfGMLuI/AAAAAAAAAGs/uY_cQf2KsaI/s1600/Netherwood%2BStreet%2C%2B1935%2BOS%2BMap.jpg" width="594" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1935 Map of Kilburn</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The United Land Company auctioned off
plots of land to various small builders and </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> was constructed between 1871 and 1880. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were at least thirteen different
builders at work in the street. Some were based in Kilburn, but addresses of
others range from Holloway and Notting Hill to </span><span style="color: black;">Berkeley Square</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The properties in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> were for the most part three-storey terraced houses, some with
a basement. A few had shops at street level. They were generally owned and
rented out by absentee landlords, who regarded the properties as an investment
but often lacked the funds to manage them properly. As soon as they were built,
the houses were multi-occupied by poor families and disease and deaths were
common in the area. Frequently four families shared a house so there were 20-30
people in each. As was the case elsewhere in Hampstead, until enough houses
were built, the roadway remained a dirt track, which caused more problems for
the residents and owners. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The Vestry Minutes of Hampstead (the precursor of the
Council), show examples of disease and poor housing in </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Netherwood
Street</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1874 November </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The ‘new buildings’ in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> are in bad sanitary condition. There are many complaints
to the Medical Officer of Health about illness in the street.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1877 October</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">There are three deaths from
scarlet fever in one house.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1879 May</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Owners and occupiers press the
Vestry to pave the road, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">also stating it
would be a great improvement if the name were altered to ‘Netherwood Grove’,
trees having been planted on both sides.’</i> (The use of such descriptions as
‘Grove’ or ‘Avenue’ put people in mind of more rural and upmarket properties). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1881 August</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The house owners had to pay the
cost of paving and kerbing the road in front of their properties. Francis
Holmes was a newsagent with premises in </span><span style="color: black;">Chapel Street</span><span style="color: black;"> near </span><span style="color: black;">Cavendish Square</span><span style="color: black;">. He owned several properties in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and was being taken to court for failing to pay his share
of the paving and kerbing costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1882 August</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Two deaths from measles. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1884 June</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;"> smallpox epidemic. There are seven cases at </span><span style="color: black;">29 Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;">, one adult and six children. The 1881 census shows 25
people living in this house.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1884 October</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Rent collector G. H. Cooper was
summonsed for failing to carry out repairs on four tenement houses in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;">, owned by a Mr Holmes who did not appear in court. But no
further action was taken, as work was being carried out. Cooper went on to
describe the ‘serious state of things’ in the road, notably the main sewer,
which was the responsibility of the Parish. He said that one of Mr Holmes’s
tenants had complained several times of a flow of sewage into his basement, and
this had also happened in other houses. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1885 March</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The rent collector again appeared
in court on behalf of his employer. The sanitary inspector had investigated Cooper’s
allegations. Unfortunately for Mr Holmes, the main sewer was fine. The overflow
was down to a defective drain at Number 31, one of the houses he owned in the
street, and the landlord’s responsibility to repair. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The sanitary inspector described
visiting Number 31, home to four families, on 5 February. He found ‘the drain
stopped up and sewage floating about in the front area’ and despite issuing an immediate
order for repairs, the drain remained partly blocked. The road and pavement had
to be dug up at the cost of the landlord, which probably explains why the work hadn’t
been done. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1886 January</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Two measles and one scarlet fever
death.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1886 March</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A measles death.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1886 July</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Infant deaths from diarrhoea. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1896 the Hampstead Medical
Officer of Health reported that an epidemic of measles had attacked the streets
in the vicinity of the new </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Board</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;">. Eleven fatal cases occurred between </span><span style="color: black;">25 December 1895</span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;">8 January 1896</span><span style="color: black;">.
Most of the children were under two years of age, the eldest was five. The
deaths were caused by secondary infections of bronchitis and pneumonia. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The disease was only fatal to the children
of labouring classes, a fact which points to a want of either care or of means
in its treatment.</i>’ At the time there was very little free medical care. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1898 June</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The late Victorian standards of
what constituted adequate housing were far less exacting than today’s. This is
shown in a report by Hampstead’s Medical Officer of Health on conditions in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and neighbouring </span><span style="color: black;">Kelson Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;">Palmerston Road</span><span style="color: black;">. He concluded most were in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘fair sanitary condition and not overcrowded.’ </i>The houses were
almost all in multiple occupation with sanitation largely dating from the day
they were built. The water supply was now judged ample as was the number of
toilets, (no figures per house were given). ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The best kept houses were those which had a responsible landlord, that
is one who rents the house and carefully sub-let it. The worst kept were those
where the owner did not reside on the premises, but called to collect the rents
weekly by self or agent.’</i> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">A total of 160 houses were
examined, home to 2,264 people of whom 668 were children under 10 years of age.
</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In May 1910, during a campaign to
purchase the grounds of ‘The Grange’ as a much needed open space for Kilburn,
the following appeared in the Times.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The death rate in Hampstead generally is the
lowest of any borough in </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">London</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">, 9.5 (per 1,000)
but the death-rate in the </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> area just
adjoining The Grange, with a population of 3,049, is 16.8. The phthisis (TB)
death rate in Hampstead<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>generally is
0.74, while in the Netherwood-street area it is 2.09.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The 1881 census</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Most people in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> were working class. In the 1881 census the men worked as;
tailors, cab and omnibus drivers, gas fitters, or in the building trade as
plumbers, bricklayers and carpenters; others worked for the railway as porters,
signalmen, or platelayers. The women had jobs such as; laundress, barmaid,
domestic servants, charwomen, and dressmaker. Many families rented space to lodgers
or boarders.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">But there were a few people with more
unusual occupations such as the following:</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Honourable Francis Henry
Needham was sharing Number 2 Netherwood Street. He was the son of 2<sup>nd</sup>
Earl of Kilmorey. The Earl went by the nick-name of ‘Black Jack’ and
sensationally ran off with his ward and had a child by her. Francis married
Fanny Amelia Hubbard<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>in 1840 and
they had six children. She died in 1884. It is not clear why Francis Needham
was living in Kilburn in 1881 and 1891. By the 1901 census he had moved to
Paddington, now aged 82 and shown as ‘feeble minded’. He died the following
year.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At Number 10 was Kate Middleton,
an actress listed as ‘retired tragedian’.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Henri d’Archimbaud, a Professor of
French Literature, was sharing Number 49.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">William Wallace Leitch,
watercolour artist, was at Number 67. He was the son of a famous </span><span style="color: black;">Royal</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Academy</span><span style="color: black;"> artist, William Leighton Leitch, who lived at </span><span style="color: black;">124 Alexandra Road</span><span style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Two Nottinghamshire born men, Charles
Boot and Tom Gregory, were lodging at Number 81. Both gave their occupations as
bootmakers – which was their original trade - but they were also talented
cricketers, employed as groundsmen at Hampstead Cricket Club.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Child Neglect</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">We found two sad newspaper reports
of child neglect due to poverty, and one case which legally involved neglect but
had a positive outcome. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1880 Thomas Gregory, a
commission agent, was accused of deserting his three children and jailed. They’d
been pupils at what was described as a ‘boarding school’ run by Emily Mayes at </span><span style="color: black;">49 Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;">, (where Henri d’Archimbaud above, also lived). The fees were
a guinea a week and Thomas failed to pay. He didn’t answer any of Emily’s
letters so when he was ten weeks in arrears, she asked the parish authorities
to have the children taken to the Workhouse. A warrant was issued for Thomas’
arrest. He told the magistrate it was all a mistake, he’d been travelling and
not received any letters. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Upon the
children being brought into court there was an affectionate greeting.’</i> They
left the court together, after Gregory’s debts were settled – by his friends. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In May 1884 a tragic case was
reported, when nine month old Jane Shepherd, who lived with her family at </span><span style="color: black;">16 Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;">, died. She was a twin, one of five children. Her father
was in regular employment as a bricklayer and did all he could to feed them but
her mother <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘was in the habit of giving
way to drinking bouts lasting four or five days at a time, and during those
periods the children were very much neglected’</i>. As a result Shepherd kept
his eldest child (a boy aged only 8 years), at home to look after the others. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When baby Jane developed
bronchitis, her mother applied a poultice and got some medicine from a doctor.
But then she disappeared for three days on another drinking binge. Even though
her father continued giving her medicine, Jane died. She only weighed 7lbs 6oz,
roughly the weight of a new born infant. At the inquest the mother said she
hadn’t gone home because she’d lost her purse and was afraid of her husband.
The jury decided the baby had died of exhaustion and wasting following
congestion of the lungs, and that Jane’s death was accelerated by the neglect
of her mother, for which she was answerable. The coroner told her she’d had a
narrow escape from being committed for trial. The father put all the other
children into the workhouse. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In October 1887 James </span><span style="color: black;">Crawley</span><span style="color: black;">, 35,
a coal porter living in Cambridge Mews was charged with deserting his four
children aged 2-15. They were found ‘in a very neglected and dirty condition’ in
a house in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood
Street</span><span style="color: black;">, where
they had been living on their own for 10 days. Neighbours had been feeding them
and told the magistrate the mother had run off with a man, no one knew his name.
The children had been removed to the Workhouse, where now only one remained.
The oldest girl Catherine, said to be ‘rather simple’ had been found a job and
two of her siblings had been sent away to school. So far the children had cost
the parish £5 15s 3d. Sergeant Forde 43S, said he apprehended the prisoner,
James Crawley, on Rosslyn Hill. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Crawley</span><span style="color: black;"> said he hadn’t deserted the children, but left them in Catherine’s
care with a 1s or 1s 6d a day to pay for their food. He promised to pay back
all the money owed to the parish, if the magistrate allowed him time to do so, and
his parents were willing to look after the children. </span><span style="color: black;">Crawley</span><span style="color: black;"> was
sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. No record of what
happened to the children survives, but the 1891 census has a Catherine Crawley
of the right age, working as a laundress in St Michael’s Convent near </span><span style="color: black;">Southampton</span><span style="color: black;">.
This could well be James’ daughter.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Netherwood</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Street</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Board</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">School</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">This opened in November 1881 and was
built by the London School Board, a body established to make certain even the
poorest children got an education. There were 18 classrooms, for about 1,000
girls, boys and infants. The first headmistress was Mrs Adams, whose husband
was the headmaster of </span><span style="color: black;">Fleet</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Road</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;">, Hampstead’s first </span><span style="color: black;">Board</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;">. Netherwood was the second </span><span style="color: black;">Board</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> to open. Inspector’s reports on </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> were good. In 1883 The London School Board Inspector said,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘the school was in excellent order’</i>,
having passed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘a very creditable
examination’</i>. After two years Mrs Adams left to become headmistress of the
newly formed Junior Mixed Department at </span><span style="color: black;">Fleet</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Road</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;">, where her husband became head of the senior school. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1891, Emma Brennan was in
court, accused of assaulting the headmistress, Harriet McGregor. Emma lived
nearby at 1a </span><span style="color: black;">Hemstal
Road</span><span style="color: black;">, (where the six
members of the Brennan family occupied just two rooms). The headmistress said Emma
had come to the school and abused her daughter’s teacher, Mrs Rowland. When asked
to leave, Emma had twisted Mrs McGregor’s arm so badly she had to wear a sling
for several days. She left but returned later in the day, saying this time, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">20 gentlemen would not put her out</i>’. Why
was Emma so angry? She told the court her daughter had gone to school as usual
but been sent back to collect her school fees. Emma decided to keep the child
at home until it was time for afternoon classes. Meantime another pupil from
the school arrived at the Hemstal Road house, with a message demanding Emma’s
daughter return immediately, bringing the fees she owed, otherwise Mrs Rowland would,
‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cane her until she could not see</i>.’ Emma,
indignant at receiving this message, said she went to </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> to confront Mrs Rowland, but she denied the assault. The court
was told the message was incorrect and the magistrate ordered Emma to find a
surety of £5 to keep the peace for three months, with 21 shillings costs. He
further remarked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘that teachers required
protection against some mothers, but (he recognised the irritating nature of
the message Emma had received.</i>’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Warwick Edwards attended the
school in the years before WWI. He wrote:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">We were a very mixed but pretty happy lot
there. The Headmaster Mr Lembleby, was short and stocky but of considerable
dignity. He was assisted by an able, hard-working staff. I had the good fortune
to be for several years in Alfred Oakley’s class. He was one of the most
outstanding men I have ever known. In addition to the basic three ‘R’s he told
us much about English history, Bible history and even Church history, He also
taught us geography, singing and a smattering of science. He was in his forties,
well-built and was a good swimmer, a good footballer and a wonderful bat. The
schoolmaster was there to do a job – to teach us the elements of knowledge, and
by heaven, he did it well. Wrongdoers were dealt with in a firm manner, of
course, but there was much less recourse to the rod than some people believe. I
had the cane on two occasions only; first, when with perspiring hand and a
rubber that went berserk, I made a ghastly mess and rubbed a hole in my drawing
book; and second, when I persisted in talking to the boy sitting next to me, I
do not disagree with the judgment of the court in either case.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The school was reorganised and
renamed ‘Harben Secondary School’ in 1931. In 1961 it became the lower
school of </span><span style="color: black;">St George’s</span><span style="color: black;"> Roman Catholic Comprehensive, </span><span style="color: black;">Lanark Road</span><span style="color: black;">, Paddington. After </span><span style="color: black;">St George’s</span><span style="color: black;"> left, the building was damaged by an arson attack and in
1996 was sold to developers by Westminster Council. It is now ‘Oppidan
Apartments’, but plaques on the exterior remain, reading ‘School Board for </span><span style="color: black;">London</span><span style="color: black;">’ and ‘</span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Street</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;">’.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">The St James Mission Hall</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As early as 1869 the London City
Mission had appointed a man to work in the poor Kilburn streets of St Mary’s
parish which later formed part of St James’s parish. In 1875 St Mary’s opened a
mission room in a house at </span><span style="color: black;">7 Palmerston Road</span><span style="color: black;">. The 1881 census shows Annie Elizabeth Beattie, a 55 year
old ‘mission woman,’ was living there. That year St Mary’s commissioned a
mission hall, designed by Arthur Blomfield, which was built at the corner of </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and </span><span style="color: black;">Kelson Street</span><span style="color: black;"> by the firm of Samuel Parmenter of </span><span style="color: black;">Braintree</span><span style="color: black;">, </span><span style="color: black;">Essex</span><span style="color: black;">. The cost was £4,531, which is equivalent to about
£360,000 today. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The mission hall was taken over by
St James Church in 1888 when the new parish in the rapidly growing area was
created from St Mary’s. It was called ‘The Mission Rooms and Institute’ and the
manager was Rev. James William Hoste, a curate from St James.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1890 at a meeting in the
Mission Rooms, local MP Bodie Hoare said the object of the Institute was to,</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">get
hold of the strength and vigour of the youths, and to train them into leading
wholesome, proper and useful lives.</i>’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The Hon Alfred Lyttleton who was
the President of the Federation of Working Boy’s Clubs, said that boys, </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">were not to be discouraged if in connection
with other clubs they were beaten, but to win victories without swagger, and to
take their ‘lickings’ with generosity</i>.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The 1891 census shows husband and
wife Clifford and Isabella Nairn, as the caretakers of both the </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Board</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">School</span><span style="color: black;"> and the Mission Rooms.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The </span><span style="color: black;">Mission</span><span style="color: black;"> was also active in the Temperance Movement, as the
following article from the Middlesex Courier of </span><span style="color: black;">27 January 1893</span><span style="color: black;"> shows. At the time, the ‘demon drink’ was a major problem
among the poor and working classes, and the Church encouraged ‘temperance’ or
abstention from all alcohol. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Perhaps one of the most, if not the most
successful branch of the Church of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>England Temperance<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Society (CETS)
is that held in St. James’ Mission Hall, Netherwood Street, Kilburn. In this
large hall entertainments for members and their friends are held every Monday
evening and are well patronised and thoroughly appreciated by the neighbouring
residents. Situated as this hall is, in the very midst of a densely populated
portion of Kilburn, that includes many of the very poor, it is no wonder that
these entertainments are so thoroughly appreciated by every one. Concerts,
lectures and dioramic views are all given and all form a source of great
pleasure to many. It was our privilege last Monday to be present at one of
these entertainments. We found the large hall crowded to its utmost, many
having to stand, but all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. The
audience was composed almost entirely of the poorer working men and their
families. The entertainment on this occasion was a series of dioramic views,
illustrating life in East and </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Central Africa</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">. The views were
explained very graphically by the Rev. J. Hayes who succeeded in combining
instruction with amusement. Illustrated by another series of views, an
admirable object lesson on the value of Temperance was read by Mr Carrodus.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Warwick Edwards remembered the
neighbourhood in the years leading up to WWI.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street and Palmerston Road were
distinctly plebeian, even tough, in the 1900s. One could not help feeling that
those who had built the Mission Hall did so in the spirit of those earnest
Victorians who sought to bring enlightenment to darkest </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Africa</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">. If so, their
success was limited. Beer was cheap and the shortest if only temporary escape
from a drab existence was, for many, through the door of the public bar. Street
brawls, particularly on a Saturday night, were a regular feature. Domestic
squabbles were not always carried out in the seclusion of the home but
sometimes in the street, to the amusement (or embarrassment) of passers-by. The
police did not intervene unless grievous bodily harm seemed imminent. A sad
feature of the time was the occasional unceremonious dumping, by the broker’s
men, regardless of season or weather, of the pitifully scanty household effects
of the feckless or unfortunate families that would not or could not pay their
rent.</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">During the 1950s, the Mission Hall
housed a popular youth club and local resident Dan Shackell said he played
table tennis there with the ‘Tennyson Club’. In February 1958 he vividly
remembers hearing over the Tannoy about the Manchester United disaster at </span><span style="color: black;">Munich</span><span style="color: black;"> airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Other youth organisations also
hired space. There wasn’t much for young people to do locally that didn’t cost
money, and there were few outlets for their energy. Sometimes there were problems. On
</span><span style="color: black;">22
October 1958</span><span style="color: black;"> the vicar of St James
reported that he was appalled by the damage (unspecified) caused by members of
the ‘Achilles Club’. The parish church committee agreed the Club had to leave. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The ILEA Phoenix Youth Club took
over the St James Mission Hall with a full-time leader on weekdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On </span><span style="color: black;">27 June 1960</span><span style="color: black;"> the police were called when members of the ‘Phoenix Club’
were fighting and using bad language. Miss Shepard, the club manager, said the
incident happened when a group of youths from outside the district were refused
Club membership, but turned up at the Hall and weren’t allowed in. She denied
that fighting took place. In June there were reports from neighbours about
noise from the Club’s record player on summer evenings because the windows were
open. On </span><span style="color: black;">7 September 1960</span><span style="color: black;">, when
members caused more damage, the Club was asked to pay for the repairs, (no
figures are given). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In July 1966 the vicar reported
the sad loss to the Mission Hall caused by the death of the caretaker, Kathleen
Mann. It was also reported that the Council were negotiating to buy the site.
Mrs McKenzie, who ran a nursery there, said she would leave at the end of July.
The Church gave up the Hall on </span><span style="color: black;">15 May 1967</span><span style="color: black;">
and it was demolished, its site absorbed into </span><span style="color: black;">Camden</span><span style="color: black;">’s redevelopment of </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> and the surrounding neighbourhood.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Murder or Manslaughter?</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">In 1961 Arthur Lewis Vincent
Wells, aged 18 was charged with murdering his girlfriend, Josephine Holditch,
also aged 18, a typist living locally with her family in </span><span style="color: black;">Kelson Street</span><span style="color: black;">. Vinnie Wells had grown up at Number 61 Netherwood Street
and had become a merchant seaman. At the time he was sharing a flat with his
friend Terry Phillips in </span><span style="color: black;">Gascony Avenue</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Detective Chief Inspector McArthur told the magistrate’s court
that o<span style="color: black;">n Thursday night 26 January, Josie had come to
the flat and Vinnie had pointed a gun at her head. Josie had told him to put it
down, but he pulled the trigger twice and she died from a bullet wound in the
head. Vinnie, horrified at what he had done, went to the police station and
gave himself up. As CI McArthur was giving evidence, Vinnie </span>seated in
the dock cried out, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Oh my Josie, my
Josie’.</i> He was sent to Brixton prison on remand. But that night Vinnie was
found unconscious in a room in the prison hospital after trying to hang
himself. He died three days later.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When his barrister, Edgar Duchin appeared at Marylebone
Court four days later, he said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Wells had taken his life out of remorse
rather than fear. I was satisfied that, had he lived he would have had a full
answer to the charge of murder’.</i> The magistrate agreed that the murder
charge be withdrawn.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Les Smith, who lived at Number 26 Netherwood Street, where his
parents ran a general shop, and who knew Vinnie well said:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The accepted story was
that Vinnie and Terry acquired the guns and ammo in order to rob a bank, Josie
was unhappy about the guns and visited Vinnie to break off their relationship,
quick to anger he shot her once in the head then gave himself up to the Police.
He hanged himself in his cell while on remand and died shortly after. Terry
went to gaol for possession of firearms and ammo.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Redevelopment</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Today </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;"> is covered by Webheath, the large council estate, which
took many years to get approval. In August 1957 there was a heated debate
between Labour and Conservative members of Hampstead Council, over the ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">damp and decaying houses</i>’ in Netherwood
Street, Kelson Street and Palmerston Road, home to more than 1,000 persons, 200
of them children under 5 years old. The properties were still in multiple, floor-by-floor
occupation and persistent flooding had resulted in some basements being bricked
up. ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The slime used to get up to the
mantelpieces in some places’ </i>said Alderman Florence Cayford, a long-time
campaigner for improving the living conditions of Kilburn residents. She asked the
meeting,</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">I don’t know how many members of the Council have visited
these houses. Can you imagine a tiny sink in the corner of the stairs that has
to be used by two or more families? It’s all the water they’ve got. You wonder
how these families can go out looking so neat and tidy and clean. There are
still homes with only one lavatory for all the families to use.</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Redevelopment didn’t get underway
until May 1968, when Dame Florence (as she then was), watched the foundation
stone being laid. Two years later, she opened the first stage named in her
honour as the ‘Florence Cayford Estate’, later becoming ‘Webheath’. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Dave Unwin who worked as a Council
surveyor remembers working on the redevelopment.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Dave Unwin’s memories of Netherwood Street</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">By 1966 I had qualified and left
Brent to work for the London Borough of Camden as an Assistant Builder’s
Surveyor. Around 1972 we were undertaking a redevelopment in </span><span style="color: black;">Netherwood Street</span><span style="color: black;">. The site boundary was the front garden walls of the
houses on the north of </span><span style="color: black;">Palmerston
Road</span><span style="color: black;"> and the
other side of the road was still occupied. The houses were three stories plus a
basement with a 'flying' staircase up to the front door. They were built in
what we called ‘cross wall construction’. The roof sloped from each of the side
cross walls forming a V valley across the house</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At the time we had had a long hot
summer and one weekday in August around </span><span style="color: black;">four o'clock</span><span style="color: black;">
we heard a terrible rumble which we immediately realised was the collapse of a
building. We raced round to </span><span style="color: black;">Palmerston Road</span><span style="color: black;"> to find that in the hot summer the cross walls had
expanded and pushed the front parapet walls down. As they fell they landed on
the front door staircase and took those out as well.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">We called the Emergency Services
and barricaded off the street. God works in mysterious ways. Half an hour
earlier there had been 12 - 15 kids playing in the street, but luckily they had
all been called in for their tea, and the street was empty. When the Fire Brigade
arrived one appliance parked in front of the damaged houses. The Fire Chief was
on the opposite side of the road making notes. I noticed that where the parapet
walls had broken away the parapet was leaning, and suggested to the Chief that
he should move his appliance. He had just started writing in his book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'At the suggestion of Mr Unwin, Surveyor for
</i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Camden</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;"> Council...' </span></i><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I heard “Jesus
Christ” and the driver ran down the road and shifted the vehicle.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">If such an occurrence happens in
most Boroughs it is the responsibility of the Council Building Surveyors to
decide what has to be done to a house to make it safe. But this is not the case
in the old London County Council area, where the District Surveyor (DS) is
responsible. We phoned him and when he arrived he used our site office as his
headquarters. We also supplied men and materials to carry out emergency works.
That led to problems for me when we came to charge him - but that’s another
story.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">One of his jobs is to notify all the
owners and tenants if a building is 'unfit for human habitation' and also what
work, if any, he has had to do to it. That is when the fun started. The DS told
us that this could take a long time because he had to trace owners, their
agents, estate agents etc. But after four weeks everything had been sorted
except the basement tenant of one property (I will call it number 48 for ease
of telling the story). When the DS eventually got hold of the tenant of 48 he
asked who his Landlord was. “I don't know” came the reply. Do you have a rent
book, “Yes”. It must be on that. “No the landlord’s name is blank”. “Who do you
pay the rent to?” “To Bill next door in No 46”. But when they went to No 46,
Bill had no idea who the landlord was either. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It seemed that seven years earlier
Bill’s mate was emigrating to </span><span style="color: black;">Australia</span><span style="color: black;">, he knew Bill was looking for accommodation so Bill moved
in. He was told about the arrangement with the basement flat in No 48 and was
given a Post Office Savings Bank Book in which to deposit the money which he
had been doing for seven years. The Account was in the name of the man who
emigrated, and from the amount in it he, too, had been paying money in
regularly for years.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As a Brent councillor, I was
sitting next to James Goudie (now QC), who was the Deputy Leader of the Council
and I recounted the above story. 'Oh yes' said James, 'That is what we call a
Tenancy At Will'.</span></span></span></div>
Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-8971930484946237262014-09-05T05:35:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:49:40.510-07:00Joseph Acworth, the Cricklewood factory, and Spirit Photographs<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was looking at the 1891 census for Shootup Hill and was
intrigued to find someone who called himself an ‘experimental chemist’. This
was Joseph Acworth who played an important part in the development of
photographic dry plates. </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dry Plates</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1871 Richard Maddox had coated a glass plate with a
gelatine emulsion of silver bromide and found these could be stored until they
were needed. After exposure in the camera, they were taken to the darkroom for
development at leisure, unlike the existing wet plates which had to be
processed straight away.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Acworth family</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joseph Acworth was the son of Joseph William Acworth, a
tallow chandler in Chatham High Street in the 1850s. The business was successful
and Joseph senior retired to a large house in Shootup Hill called ‘Sheldmont’. This
was one of several houses that were built on the hill out of Kilburn and down
to Cricklewood in the 1880s. Joseph senior died there in 1885 and his widow
Mary stayed in the house until her death in 1892. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joseph Acworth junior was born in Chatham
in 1853 and was interested from boyhood in the experimental sciences. He began
working in the laboratories of the Royal College of Chemistry in South
Kensington, (now part of Imperial
College).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His first academic paper on the action of nitric acid was
published in 1875. Then he worked with Professor Armstrong at the London
Institution in Finsbury Circus and they published a joint paper two years
later. From then on he became fascinated by the photographic dry plates which
Maddox had invented, and he worked in the labs of the newly created Britannia
Dry Plate Company at Ilford. He went to the University
of Erlangen in Germany
where he completed his PhD in 1890. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Acworth returned home and lived with his widowed mother at ‘Sheldmont’
this was later numbered as 14 Shootup Hill, near Garlinge
Road. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Imperial Dry
Plate Works</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Acworth built a private laboratory in Cricklewood to
continue experimenting with dry plates. Seeing the commercial potential he set
up the Imperial Dry Plate Company. The factory was built by George Furness at Ashford
Road in Cricklewood in 1892. Furness was the major
builder and developer in Cricklewood. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KzdZZgF4lA0/VAmsDWHOKXI/AAAAAAAAAGE/mI811DHEdD0/s1600/Imperial%2BFactory%2BCricklewood%2C%2B1894%2BOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KzdZZgF4lA0/VAmsDWHOKXI/AAAAAAAAAGE/mI811DHEdD0/s1600/Imperial%2BFactory%2BCricklewood%2C%2B1894%2BOS.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Imperial Dry Plate Works, Cricklewood, 1894</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">With clever advertising and by sponsoring photographic
competitions around the country, Imperial dry plates began selling in huge
numbers and the factory had to be enlarged several times. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--DIeA78XJfc/VAmsaapz91I/AAAAAAAAAGM/PWT9iLkEedA/s1600/Imperial%2Badvert%2C%2B1901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--DIeA78XJfc/VAmsaapz91I/AAAAAAAAAGM/PWT9iLkEedA/s1600/Imperial%2Badvert%2C%2B1901.jpg" width="467" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1901 Imperial Advert</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Each year they
produced a handbook which gave advice and tips about photographic techniques. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gTBQZVql8KE/VAmspd6mzAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/e9kT0Xurhqc/s1600/Imperial%2BHandbook%2C%2B1902.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gTBQZVql8KE/VAmspd6mzAI/AAAAAAAAAGU/e9kT0Xurhqc/s1600/Imperial%2BHandbook%2C%2B1902.jpg" width="396" /></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In 1893 Acworth married Marion Whiteford Stevenson in
Kensington. She was also a scientist and had completed the Associateship course
at the Royal College of Science and was the first woman to receive the diploma
in physics in 1893. She and Joseph published joint papers at a time when it was
unusual to see a woman’s name in a scientific journal. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After their marriage they moved to ‘Braeside’, later
numbered 98 Shootup Hill. ‘Braeside’ had been put up for sale in March 1892 and
the advertisement provides details of the house; Elegantly fitted by Liberty
and Co. Five bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms, conservatory, large
gardens, electric lift. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">About 1903 Joseph and Marion moved across the road to
‘Thornbank’ (Number 35 Shootup Hill). The 1911 census shows them there with two
of their four children and four servants. They visited Egypt
several times and became fascinated by the early civilisation. In 1939 Marion
donated their collection of 600 pieces of Egyptian scarabs and bronzes to the British
Museum. They are still there as the
Acworth Collection. Joseph and Marion were leading figures in the founding and
management of Dollis Hill House military convalescent hospital during WWI. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their eldest daughter Winifred was a professional architect
in Acworth and Montagu. They designed Neville’s Court in Dollis
Hill Lane, opposite the corner of Gladstone
Park. This is a large block of 60
flats which was built about 1935.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Imperial flourished and bought up two smaller companies so
that it became one of the largest producers of dry plates. But Acworth’s health
suffered badly from asthma and in 1917 he sold out to Ilford and retired. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joseph John William Acworth died on 3 January 1927. The company had proved extremely
profitable and he left £562,026 to his children, Angus and Winifred. Today this
worth an astonishing £28 million. Marion
stayed on at 35 Shootup Hill, which was on the corner with Mapesbury
Road, and in the 1936 directory she is shown there
as a JP. She died on 6 October 1964
and was buried at Hampstead. At the time she was living at 65 Frognal and she
left £125,675 (worth £2 million today), to her son Angus. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ilford took over the Cricklewood factory and continued with
the famous Imperial Dry Plate name.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spirit Photographs</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Imperial Dry Plates played an important part in a famous
case of spirit photography. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A former docker called William (Billy) Hope had been showing
‘spirit’ photographs since 1905 and he was supported by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
a fervent advocate of spiritualism. The Illustrated London News rather snootily
described Hope as, ‘a niggardly, coarse-mouthed man’, whose photos appeared to
show ghostly apparitions with real people. To prove his case, in 1922 Hope surprisingly
agreed to be tested by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Harry Price,
the famous ‘psychic detective’ was asked to conduct the experiment. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hope wrote to Harry Price asking him to bring a packet of
dry plates - “Imperial or Wellington Wards are considered preferable”. Hope
said he would have to use his own camera in the experiment. Price visited the
Imperial Dry Plate factory in Cricklewood and discussed with them the best way
of making an incontrovertible test. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Price wrote to the SPR:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I have spent the
morning at the works of the Imperial Dry Plate Co Ltd Cricklewood, discussing
and trying out various tests by which we can invisibly mark the plates which
will be handed to Hope. We have decided as the best method that the plates
shall be exposed to the X-Rays, with a leaden figure of lion rampant (the trade
mark of the Imperial Co) intervening… Any plate developed will reveal a quarter
of design, besides any photograph or ‘extra’ that may be on the plate. This
will show us absolutely whether the plates have been substituted</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On 28 February 1922
Price and his assistant arrived at Billy Hope’s studio at 59 Holland
Park where Price handed him one of the marked Imperial plates. After taking the
photographs, in the darkroom Price saw Hope put the plate into his breast
pocket and then apparently pull it out again. When they developed the plates
one showed Harry Price with a ghostly woman looking over his shoulder, but
without the Imperial trademark of the Lion.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-so6czvw0J9s/VAmtIN8F8uI/AAAAAAAAAGc/kXLP8HO-ti8/s1600/Harry%2BPrice%2Bwith%2B%27spirit%27%2Bimage%2Bby%2BBilly%2BHope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-so6czvw0J9s/VAmtIN8F8uI/AAAAAAAAAGc/kXLP8HO-ti8/s1600/Harry%2BPrice%2Bwith%2B'spirit'%2Bimage%2Bby%2BBilly%2BHope.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Photograph of Harry Price with a ghostly figure by William Hope, 1922</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After thanking Hope for the
sitting, they left and later carefully examined the plates. They found these were not
the same thickness as the Imperial plates and did not have the trademark which
clearly showed when they developed their remaining plates. Hope had obviously
switched the plates and had faked the spirit image with a double exposure. The
results were published in the SPR journal in May. The report created a
worldwide sensation and gave Harry Price his first experience of celebrity
status. Billy Hope went into hiding and refused to answer the critics. The
controversy raged on with Harry Price on one side and Conan Doyle on the other.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Imperial factory in Cricklewood was again expanded in
the 1940s to cope with the increased popularity of photography. But it no
longer exists today and Ashford Court
now covers the site.</span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-54154081691478277742014-07-06T02:35:00.001-07:002018-04-03T06:50:20.139-07:00Did she fall or was she pushed? A Victorian melodrama<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1898, the story of a newly married young woman’s unresolved
death and her husband’s suicide appeared in the papers. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On 30 March, Edward Emilius Joseph Possel, known as Joseph, married
Eleanor Gertrude Beckett at St Augustine’s
Church in Kilburn. Eleanor was 25 years old and her father John had been a
clerk at the Bank of England until his death in 1894. Eleanor lived with her
widowed mother at 61 Clifton Hill, off Abbey Road. Under the stage name of Nellie Beckett she was a member of the chorus at a
London Theatre. She was beautiful, blonde, tall and graceful.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the end of 1897, a young man from France
who had come to learn English, lodged with the family as a paying guest. Eleanor
fell in love with the dark, good looking young man who claimed to be the
Marquis de Gondoville. Joseph even persuaded her to break off her engagement to
her fiancée, much against her family and friends’ advice. They didn’t like Joseph
who was prone to violent rages and after attacking her had been asked to leave
the house. But Nellie was infatuated; before their wedding day, she handed over
£1,400 to Joseph in return for what he called a ‘bond’ worth £3,000, payable on
his father’s death. The family believed she was marrying a French Marquis.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Their honeymoon was spent travelling round Europe.
By mid-July they were staying in the Hotel Sirena in Sorrento, where every day
they would ride out in a carriage driven by Joseph. On 21 July they again visited
a viewpoint at Colli di Fontanelle, where the cliffs drop steeply 200 feet down
to the sea. The hotel keeper was very surprised when Joseph returned alone that
afternoon and he asked where Eleanor was. When Joseph said nothing, the
hotelier was suspicious and informed the police. They arrived at Colli di
Fontanelle at 2am the next morning. It
was impossible to see the base of the cliffs in the dark and too dangerous to
try and climb down. Returning at dawn, they discovered Eleanor’s mangled body at
the base of the cliff. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Joseph was arrested and questioned. How had Eleanor died?
Apparently Possel gave various explanations. To the police he said the horse
had bolted and poor Nellie was thrown from the carriage, over the precipice to
her death. Her sister and mother maintained he’d told them that Eleanor had sat
on the edge of the cliff, overbalanced and fallen. What was irrefutable was the
fact that he had taken out a massive life insurance policy on Eleanor with a
French company in early July. Worth £10,000, it was payable to her husband. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But with no convincing evidence to hold him further, Joseph
was released on bail after four days of questioning. Although told he had to
stay in Italy,
he immediately travelled to Paris
where he tried to persuade the insurance company to pay out on his policy. When
they refused, he returned to London
to see Eleanor’s family. Then he left again on 2 August for Paris
where he went to the Hotel Durand in the fashionable Place de La Madeleine and
asked to rent a room. He explained that he wasn’t expecting guests, but he
wanted somewhere quiet to eat and write letters during the afternoon. Lunch was
served and writing materials delivered to his room. Around 2pm, the guests in the restaurant below heard a gun shot.
The staff rushed upstairs and found Joseph on the floor. He’d shot himself in
the right temple but was still alive, with some of his brain protruding through
his head. He had just enough strength to point at two letters he’d written and
ask for them to be posted. One was addressed to his mother in Amiens,
the other to Police Commissioner Gavrelle. The shot was fatal and Possel died
in hospital without regaining consciousness. In his letter to Gavrelle, he
declared he was committing suicide because of the foul accusations made against
him since his wife’s tragic death. But he did not admit that he pushed her over
the cliff. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bizarrely, a few days later Commissioner Gavrelle had just finished
his report and gone home for dinner when he collapsed unconscious at the table
and died. Three people had now died in this incident.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The fact Nellie died only 13 days after taking out the
insurance policy, along with Joseph’s attempt to get the payment quickly,
raised many doubts. The New York Times said Joseph had been seen at the cliff
top ‘rehearsing’ his crime, throwing large stones over the edge and watching
how they fell. One reporter had no doubts about what had happened: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in order to avoid recapture, Possel
committed suicide</i>.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jI8cEYlGCOI/U7kXhhEsaTI/AAAAAAAAAFo/e_J5C-Moe10/s1600/Image,+(IPN,+3+Sept+1898).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jI8cEYlGCOI/U7kXhhEsaTI/AAAAAAAAAFo/e_J5C-Moe10/s1600/Image,+(IPN,+3+Sept+1898).jpg" width="430" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was discovered that around 1895, Joseph had spent several
years in the St Anne and Ville d’Array lunatic asylums. Possel’s mother said
Joseph may have been ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a neurotic subject</i>’
but maintained he had not murdered his wife. She said her son lived in
considerable style in London and
that 7,000Fr were found on Joseph’s body. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He was buried in St Ouen Cemetery, Paris
after a simple service at the church
of St Phillippe du Roule. Eleanor was
buried in the cemetery at Positano, near where she died.</span></span></span></div>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457383931498634837.post-33784254319334044622014-07-02T02:09:00.000-07:002018-04-03T06:50:58.488-07:00The Great Crush at Hampstead Heath Station<h4>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hampstead Heath station opened on 2 January 1860, with staircases to both platforms and a
ticket collector’s booth at the bottom of each staircase. The station was used
by Londoners who flocked to ‘Appy ‘Ampstead’ at weekends and Bank Holidays,
when stalls and barrows lined the roadsides. Today it is on the London
Overground line and is the stop for the Royal
Free Hospital.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Easter Monday, 18
April 1892, about 19,000 adults and children came to the station. The
weather was fine until 6pm when a
dark cloud came over and it looked like rain, so many people decided to go home.
They piled into the station, down the stairs for the City-bound trains. In the
rush it seems that someone fell, causing an obstruction and the ticket booth
created a bottle neck so that, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
people were all entangled in one mess</i>.’ Sadly two women and six boys were
crushed to death and thirteen other people were seriously injured. Claude
Scott, a medical student who tried to give help, saw the boys ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wedged up in a corner behind the box</i>’
and two women ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">struggling frantically</i>,’
all going blue in the face. William Exton, the ticket collector, said the
crowds were jammed on the stairs leading down to his booth and they were
singing, ‘Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay’ when suddenly a boy’s head was forced through
the side of the booth with his throat trapped over the broken glass. The
collector shouted out, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Stand back or you
will kill him’</i>. Hundreds of people crossed the lines to escape up the other
staircase. Some of the injured were taken to Hampstead Workhouse infirmary and
the dead to the mortuary opposite. Newspapers reported the story and it quickly
spread around the world.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The inquest returned verdicts of accidental death by
suffocation. The local connection is that one of boys caught up in
the crush was 14 year old errand boy Thomas Langford from Kilburn. His father John,
a labourer and painter, identified his son’s body, saying the lad had gone to
Hampstead Heath ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with some playmates for
the Easter holiday</i>.’ The Langfords lived at 101
Granville Road, near the Kilburn High Road. This
area of Kilburn was redeveloped after WWII and aside from a corner property
with Cambridge Road, which
was once The Duke of Cambridge pub but are now flats, all the houses have
demolished. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WpPdxSAxzp4/U7PLjFTeExI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/mAEGFlcBKz8/s1600/IPN+1892+April+30+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WpPdxSAxzp4/U7PLjFTeExI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/mAEGFlcBKz8/s1600/IPN+1892+April+30+a.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The official enquiry into the accident ruled that Hampstead
Heath station was unfit to deal with such large crowds. In early June 1892 many
modifications were carried out, including removing the ticket booths from the
bottom of the staircases. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B2_1rtMaNMk/U7PLsqF1u8I/AAAAAAAAAFY/BTftaGlC2Bo/s1600/1892+30+April,+Penny+Illustrated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B2_1rtMaNMk/U7PLsqF1u8I/AAAAAAAAAFY/BTftaGlC2Bo/s1600/1892+30+April,+Penny+Illustrated.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A more detailed article
by Robin Woolven, ‘The Hampstead bank holiday crush of Easter Monday 1892’,
appeared in the Camden History Review Number 36 in 2012.</i></span></span></h4>
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Dick Weindlinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03925375725957130925noreply@blogger.com0