History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In December 1942 William Lilley and his business manager Arthur Richards, were refused a licence by the LCC to run their new treatment centre in Bulstrode Street Marylebone. Despite this ruling and losing an appeal in January 1943, the clinic continued there until 1948. At the time Lilley was living at 142 Cholmley Gardens in Mill Lane.   William Henry Lilley He was a well-known spiritual healer who had been born in Oulton, a village on the outskirts of Leeds in 1914. When he was ten , his mother Sarah (Sally) Ellen took him to a monthly spiritualist meeting held in room above a pub in the neighbouring village of Kippax. Here he was taken over by his control White Hawk and began speaking in a strange voice. After a few more sessions William began holding regular spiritual healing meetings at his home, now controlled by an Indian called Dr Letari. In 1930 William was employed at the Yorkshire Copper Works in Leeds when he met seamstress Nancy Overton. They married in 1...

  Portrait by Richard Buckner When Laura Thistlethwayte died quietly at her home, ‘Woodbine Cottage’ in West Hampstead, in 1894, most people had no idea of the adventurous and notorious life she had led. Born Laura Bell in Dublin about 1829 she was the daughter of Robert Henry Bell and Laura Jane Seymour. Her mother was the illegitimate daughter of the 3 rd Marquess of Hertford and her father was the bailiff for the 4 th Marquess. Young Laura grew up at Bellbrook House, Glenavy, County Antrim. When she was 14 Laura went to Belfast and got a job as a shop assistant. As a very attractive girl she soon found a more lucrative living as a courtesan, and her affairs with wealthy men made her notorious. After a few years she moved to Dublin where she drove around the town in a coach with a pair of white horses. One of her lovers was Dr William Wilde, a well-known Dublin dental surgeon and the father of Willie and Oscar Wilde. Having accumulated gifts and money from her l...