History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In 1909 two Latvian anarchists stole the wages from the Downham Mills Rubber Factory, at 3-5 Chesnut Road , Tottenham. Jacob Lepidus and Paul Hefeld lived with other immigrants in Tottenham, which at the time was nicknamed, ‘Little Russia’. The heavily armed anarchists were pursued by hundreds of police and local people. During the chase which lasted two hours and covered six miles, Lepidus and Hefeld fired over 400 rounds. They killed two people, PC William Tyler and a young boy called Ralph Joscelyne. Twenty other people were injured, several critically. This was an extraordinary event and made headlines around the world. PC William Tyler We were very surprised when our research showed that there were strong connections between the outrage in Tottenham and West Hampstead. The West Hampstead Connection PC Tyler who was killed, had been born and brought up in Child’s Hill and a memorial service was held there, at All Saints Church. At the time of the shooting Tyler ...

T his very unusual story connects the KKK, a famous haunted house and Kilburn. On 2 May 1957 the MP Fenner Brockway spoke in the House of Commons and said: I think it will be as much of a shock to you as it was to me, to learn that the HQ of the British KKK was in Kilburn! He said there were 253 agents in Kilburn, Shepherds Bush, Birmingham and Liverpool . MPs and other people had been sent a KKK pamphlet and membership form from an address in Kilburn. A Times reporter sent to the address, 80 Kingsgate Road , found it was Green’s Chemist Shop. The chemist said the man the reporter wanted was Ian Shaw, who lived upstairs. After giving the specified three knocks a woman answered the door and said Ian was out. Shaw later phoned the Times and said he would talk with the reporter as long as they did not reveal his name and address.  On the 5 May, the Reynolds News, a paper published by the Cooperative Movement, carried an interview with Ian Shaw. He said he wa...