History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

George Hibberd was born in Upper Cleveland Street Marylebone in 1833 and became a carpenter like his father. He joined the Navy as a carpenter in 1851 and fought in the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856 between Russia and the allies of England, Turkey and France. George served on the 120-gun, three-deck battleship HMS Trafalgar from July 1851 to April 1855 and the 14-gun floating battery HMS Meteor from 1855 to May 1856. He was awarded two Crimean medals, one from England and one from Turkey. After he returned home, he married Lucy Hutson Hope in March 1858 and they had eight children, including a daughter Lucy who was born in 1869. In the 1870s they lived at 2 Peel Road Kilburn. The Salvation Army worked in the poor areas of Kilburn. They recognised the value of music in promoting the gospel and recruited and trained people to form bands. Popular tunes were adapted so that ‘Way down upon the Swanee River’ became ‘Joy, freedom, peace and ceaseless blessing’. They used a mission hall in Pembr...