History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This is a long forgotten Edwardian crime, but the astonishing story is worth recalling. We found it while researching Harlesden but the scam concerns banks around south London.   The Scam On the morning of 23 September 1908, a smartly dressed young man with a top hat and gold rimmed glasses hired a motorised taxi at Victoria Station and asked the driver, Albert Pendrith, to take him to a branch of the London and South-Western Bank and wait outside. In all they visited eight branches around South London: Vauxhall, Clapham, Balham, Streatham, Tulse Hill, Dulwich, Forest Hill and Catford. The fare was 22 shillings, and he gave the driver a sixpence tip. Each bank manager had received an advice note from Edwin Leopold Cox who had been manager of the Harlesden branch for about six years. The note said Mr Davitt S. Windell of 93 Craven Park Harlesden was transferring his account from the Harlesden branch to the other bank. The notes were on headed paper, stamped with the Harlesden branch...

Stammering or stuttering (as it is called in America), is a condition that disrupts the normal flow of speech and when acute can profoundly affect a person’s life. During the late Victorian and Edwardian period, a house in Willesden played an important role in helping people who stammered. Tarrangower Tarrangower was named after a gold field in Australia. A large, detached house in Willesden Lane, it was built by John Marrian probably using money inherited from his wealthy father John senior, who died on 13 September 1881 leaving £69,089 (worth about £9.6M today). But John Marrian junior did not live very long to enjoy his new house as he died there on 28 March 1886. When it was offered for sale in June, it was described as ‘a very perfect modern residence’ having 10 bedrooms and a billiard room and library. The gardens and grounds with a tennis court were about an acre. Later the house was numbered 178 Willesden Lane.    Tarrangower By 1891 Sir Bradford Leslie was in residenc...

This is the story of two tragic events from the 1960s and 1930s which occurred near to each other in Willesden. The Willesden Plane Crash At 7.10 on the evening of Wednesday 29 May 1963 people saw a light aircraft flying erratically low over Willesden. It attempted to climb before it suddenly plunged, and with a loud explosion and tremendous flash crashed into a large three-storey block of flats called Marlow Court at 224 Willesden Lane.  The emergency services quickly sent eight fire engines and three ambulances to the scene. They found the aircraft had crashed on the roof, breaking through the ceiling of Flat No.31. The fuselage of the red and white Auster was embedded in the lift shaft, leaving the tail intact. Firemen had to use a portable crane and cutting equipment. It took over an hour to reach the two passengers who tragically had died on impact.    Photo on the roof of the flats (Getty Images)  Fortunately, the occupant of Flat 31 had just gone out for dinne...

In 1905 the Wesleyan Methodists erected a corrugated iron church in Neasden Lane on the corner with Verney Street.    OS Map of 1912 showing the position of the iron church in Neasden Lane These could be bought as kits, and many were used as a temporary meeting place by the local congregation until money could be raised to build a permanent brick building. A major supplier was Humphreys Ltd who made churches, hospitals and other iron buildings.    Humphreys advert from 1902 In 1928 the lease on the land expired and the Wesleyans were offered a site on the eastern side of the newly-built North Circular Road. A contractor said he could move the intact church the short distance of a quarter of the mile along Neasden Lane and six men worked for a week preparing runners under the building.  On Wednesday 27 March 1928 it was towed by motor lorry towards the North Circular but it had only travelled a short distance when the church partly collapsed, slipped off the runn...

George Hibberd was born in Upper Cleveland Street Marylebone in 1833 and became a carpenter like his father. He joined the Navy as a carpenter in 1851 and fought in the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 between Russia and the allies of England, Turkey and France. George served on the 120-gun, three-deck battleship HMS Trafalgar from July 1851 to April 1855 and the 14-gun floating battery HMS Meteor from 1855 to May 1856. He was awarded two Crimean medals, one from England and one from Turkey. After he returned home, he married Lucy Hutson Hope in March 1858 and they had eight children, including a daughter Lucy who was born in 1869. In the 1870s they lived at 2 Peel Road Kilburn. The Salvation Army worked in the poor areas of Kilburn. They recognised the value of music in promoting the gospel and 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 Pembr...

The Cake Walk was a fairground machine invented in Warrington by Samual Plinston and his brother Frederick and patented in July 1907 by Walter Taylor from New Brighton Wallasey. It consisted of two walkways with handrails which fairgoers used as they tried to maintain their balance while the platform, powered by a steam machine, pitched and tossed. The first ride was built near Birkenhead and after being shown at venues in Cheshire, it was a great success at the Hamburg Fair in December 1908. The idea proved popular, and Cake Walks were operated in Earl’s Court, Crystal Place, Blackpool and Weston Super Mare.  The original machine from an advert in Billboard 9 Sept 1908 A limited company was set up in April 1910 with £5,000 in 10-shilling shares and an office at 94 Farncombe Street Bermondsey. The same year a factory was opened at the Kingsley Works, Grange Road Willesden Green. In 1911 the Plinston brothers were living nearby at 6 Lewington House, 150 Chapter Road.  Kingsley ...