The Fairy Lamps of Cricklewood

The Gas Works

In 1869 the Childs Hill Gas works was built off Cricklewood Lane at the Childs Hill end of the road. Over time, they provided gas to homes and businesses across an area from The Hyde Edgware to Golders Green, including Cricklewood and parts of Kilburn. The name of the gas works changed several times as they expanded their coverage.

The proprietor, Henry Skoines, a gas engineer, advertised his improved and patented method of producing gas in 1873 which was in use in Tenby and his own Kilburn and Cricklewood Gas Co. Shares were issued for his Coal Economy Gas Co. in Nov 1873.

In early 1876, the Midland Railway built their own gas works at Hendon to supply gas to their stations from Hendon to St Pancras. So Skoines lost his main contract. In May 1877 he sold the 10 miles of mains and meters for £3,750 (today worth about £380,000) to the very large Gas Light and Coke Co. which supplied gas to most of London.

Clarkes Patent Pyramid and Fairy Lamp
At the same time Clarkes candle makers bought the site from Skoines. The local Childs Hill builders Messrs Baths and Sons made extensive alterations to the old gas works to turn it into a candle factory.

Samuel Clarke had established the company in the 1840s. His son Samuel Birdsey Clarke joined him. He was born in February 1857, one of eight children. Birdsey was his mother's maiden name.

There were Clarke showrooms at Nos. 75, 123, and 132 Regent Street. They only made the candles, and commissioned a large range of shades from various glass manufacturers which were stamped with the Clarke logo of a fairy.

They made a slow burning candle and light called Cricklite (named after Cricklewood).

Their patented Pyramid candle had a thick plaster shell which allowed it to burn alone for hours without the protection of glass.

One of their best sellers was called the Burglar’s Horror.

They made the candles from tallow and rendered the animal fat in the Cricklewood works. Samuel B. Clarke, aged 24, is shown as manager there of the ‘Pyramid Night Light Factory’ in the 1881 census.

The company were very good at promotion and marketing. For example, they provided 23,000 Fairy lights for the Botanical Gardens at Kew for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Fete in 1887. Clarke exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 as well as other exhibitions.

The company vigorously protected their patent and there are numerous records of legal actions taken against those who infringed the Clarke patents, logo, or trade names.

Eventually, as profits declined, the company was wound up in July 1910 by Samuel B Clarke.
He sold out to the rival Prices Candle Company who continued to use the name Clarkes Pyramid Works into the 1920s. The name was changed to Francis A Tucker and Co Ltd, candle makers of 31 Ashley Place Victoria Street and Cricklewood. They are shown in Cricklewood from at least 1928 to 1954. In fact, the company was still under the control of Prices Candles who had bought the renowned church candle maker Tucker and Co. in 1911.

The un-named candle factory is still shown on 1950s OS map.

Francis Tucker and Co. was there until Hendon Council built the Longberrys estate.

Today, there are Fairy Lamp collector clubs who value the many Clarke models.

Kilburn National Club

This popular music venue was at 234 Kilburn High Road, on the corner of Messina Avenue. Many famous musicians including Johnny Cash and David Bowie played there. We look at the original building which was the Grange Cinema, and what happened when the National closed and was taken over by two different church groups. Grange Cinema The Grange was a large mansion standing in grounds of nine and a half acres and with a frontage to Kilburn High Road. It was the home of Ada Peters the widow of a wealthy coach builder who made coaches for Queen Victoria . Following Ada ’s death in 1910, the property was sold. The new owner was Oswald Stoll, a major name in the entertainment world who had already built the London Coliseum in St Martin ’s Lane, near Leicester Square . Stoll wanted to erect another Coliseum theatre in Kilburn. In fact, progress overtook him and instead of a theatre, the 2,028 seat Grange cinema opened on 30 July 1914 . This remained the biggest cinema in Kilburn until th

Smith’s Crisps

This is the story of how Frank Smith and his friend Jim Viney, began in a small way in Cricklewood and built the large and successful company of Smith’s Crisps. Early years Frank was born in 1875, in Hackney. His parents had left their native Suffolk by the mid-1860s for London, where his father ran a fruiterer and florist business. By 1881 the family were living over their corner shop at 128 Stoke Newington High Street, moving to Kingsland Road by 1891. Frank started working when he was 10-years old and went with his father to Covent Garden each morning to buy produce for their shop. Frank married Jessie Minnie Ramplin in Southwark in 1902. The couple and their six-year old daughter Laura were living in Mona Road Deptford in 1911, when Frank gave his occupation as ‘commercial traveller, confectionery’. Soon after this he went to work for a wholesale grocer by the name of Carter, in Smithfield. Carter had a side-line making potato crisps and Frank saw great potential in the product and

Clive Donner, film director

Clive Donner was born in the Priory Nursing Home at 43 Priory Road West Hampstead, in January 1926. He grew up in 31 Peter Avenue, Willesden Green, where his parents Alex and Deborah Donner, lived for most of their lives. Alex was a concert violinist and Deborah ran a dress shop. Clive attended Gladstone Park junior school and Kilburn Grammar school. He became interested in film when he accompanied his father to a studio recording session. While at Kilburn Polytechnic he made an 8mm film about a boys’ sports club. In 1942 he was working as a shipping clerk when his father who was recording the music for The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), asked Michael Powell the director, if he could find a job for Clive at Denham Studios. After several rejections he got a job as a junior assistant editor for the Sydney Box film On Approval (1944). He gained experience and formed a close friendship with Fergus McDonell, who later edited several of Donner’s films. Clive wa

History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

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