History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In the 1950s and 60s I read articles by the highly regarded jazz writer, Leonard Feather in Down Beat and Melody Maker. From his detailed knowledge of numerous New York musicians, I always assumed he was American, but in fact he was born in 1914 at No.93 Teignmouth Road, just off Walm Lane in Willesden.    In his autobiography he said his father Nathaniel Feather owned a chain of clothing stores and he was brought up in a strictly conformist upper middle class Jewish family. When he was eleven the family moved to No.18 Bracknell Gardens Hampstead. While business was good, they had servants, and a Daimler car driven by a chauffeur.  Leonard studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age while secretly loving popular music. About the age of fifteen he came across Louis Armstrong’s recording of ‘West End Blues’. He said: ‘I was hooked. Though I was not to realize it for many years, this episode in the listening room of the record shop, not long before I turned fiftee...

Lizzie was born as Eliza Catherine Smith on 12 June 1870 in Marylebone, probably at 14 Charles Street which was re-named and numbered in 1880 as 22 Mortimer Street. Several Internet sites wrongly claim she was born in Dalston Hackney, or Abbey Road Mansions St John’s Wood.  Her father was W.A. (William Augustine) Smith (1827 to 1909). He was an important picture frame maker for leading artists such as George Frederic Watts and John Singer Sargent. On 13 July 1847 William married Hester Heath at St Andrew, Holborn. They had three daughters and five sons between 1849 and 1870. Eliza (Lizzie) was the youngest child.  The Smith family moved several times: 1871 census, 14 Charles Street (later renamed as Mortimer Street). 1881 census, 10 Grove Terrace, Kentish Town. 1901 census, 7 Regent’s Park Terrace, St Pancras. Eliza is shown as a harpist in this census. Her father William Augustus Smith died on 28 Nov 1909 at 5 Fleet Road, Hampstead.   William Augustine Smith 1895, by Joh...

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...