History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In 2012 we published an e-book entitled ‘The Marquis de Leuville: a Victorian Charlatan?’ The charismatic Marquis was the lover of Ada Peters who lived in Kilburn. She was the wealthy widow of John Winpenny Peters, who owned a successful coach building business which made coaches for Queen Victoria. John died in 1882 at The Grange, a mansion on the Kilburn High Road, roughly where the Grange Cinema (currently used by the church group UCKG), and Grange Park are today. As was the case with many marriages at the time, John’s will made some personal provision for Ada, but if she re-married, she lost most of her inheritance including the right to live at The Grange, and the house with its extensive grounds would revert to the Peters family. Instead Ada and her Marquis decided to enjoy her considerable fortune and never married but their relationship lasted many years. For more information the e-book can be found here. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marquis-Leuville-Victorian-Fraud

Lily Math é was born in the town of Eger Hungary, in 1910 as Lily Markstein. She began attending a teacher training college but dropped out and went to Budapest to study violin. In 1932 she adopted the stage name Lily Mathé and set up a gypsy band. She first played in Hungary with the group and then settled in Paris for a few years. Here they performed at the restaurant Hungaria, in the Cirque Medrano, and on the radio. The band also toured in Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.   In 1939, Lily moved to the Netherlands after the beginning of WWII, returning to live with her family in Budapest two years later. Following the German occupation of Budapest in the spring of 1944, Lily was arrested with her parents and other family members and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Her parents were gassed soon after their arrival. Lily however, became a member of the women’s orchestra and in the autumn of 1944 they were transferred to the