This is the story of a Brondesbury resident who for many years enjoyed a respectable and prosperous lifestyle but was eventually beset by financial problems that led to bankruptcy and drove him to crime. City trading – prosperity and problems Leon Tauber was born in Lithuania around 1870, where he married and had two sons Solomon Sidney (b. about 1891) and Samuel (b.1892). We don’t know when Leon and his family moved to England, probably around 1900, and he became a naturalised citizen in 1905. He made a lot of money working as a lace and embroidery merchant in the Houndsditch area where he was a well-known and respected businessman. The Tauber family moved into Fern Brae, 5 Brondesbury Park in 1910; previously Leon had been living in Houndsditch. Leon was absent on census night the following year, when his wife and their two sons described themselves as wholesale lace manufacturers. We know all the family were involved in the business. In November 1913 the property was f...
Created on the River Brent with its tributary the Silk Stream to provide water for the Grand Union and Regent C anals , the Brent Reservoir in northwest London is familiarly known as the Welsh Harp, after the nearby Old Welsh Harp coaching inn. For many years, the water was close to and easily accessible from the Edgware Road or the surrounding fields. The reservoir became a popular destination for Londoners, who went to enjoy the many attractions it had to offer. Early pedestrians walked along the main road and visitor numbers increased as bus, tram and train services were all laid on. Their first destination was often the pub at the edge of the reservoir. The heyday of the Old Wesh Harp was in the mid-nineteenth century under the stewardship of enterprising landlord William Perkins Warner. He used both the pub grounds and the waters of the reservoir to stage a huge variety of entertainments. In season, fishing was particularly popular, but bathing, boating and ice skating were all on...