History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

The story begins with the opera singer ‘Arturo Salvini’ who was born as Arthur Alexander Borrows in Glasgow. His family moved to New Zealand and in 1875, aged about 18, Arthur first performed in Sydney. In 1879 he went to Italy to study singing and he made his Italian debut as the tenor Arturo Salvani on 26 July 1881 in La Scala, Milan.  Following this success, he came to England and worked with the Royal Opera Company in Covent Garden. Here he met the actress and singer Agnes Delaporte and they married in Belfast while on tour in 1883. They had two daughters: Rita (Agnes Marguerite Borrows) who was born on 27 July 1884 at 83 Albert Street in Camden Town, and Enid (Lilian Enid Addelshaw Borrows), born on 30 July 1887 at Hersham Road, Tooting. Miss Agnes Delaporte, 1886 But the marriage was not a happy one, and by 1891 Arthur had left Agnes with the two young children and returned to New Zealand. Agnes and the daughters were living with her father at 6 Clifton Villas in St John’s Wo...

It was May 1942 and London was in the middle of the War, when Pauline Barker was murdered at 184 Belsize Road . The story did not receive much attention in the press. Here we use the Metropolitan Police files from the National Archives to look at the stories of the main participants in this sad crime. The house has since been demolished as part of the Council redevelopment in the area. Pauline Barker was born in Islington in 1899, the daughter of Frederick Charles Barker and Lydia Care. He was a solo harpist and she was a leading contralto with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, they married in London in 1898. But the marriage did not go well and Frederick left Lydia in 1910 and she sued for divorce in 1911. Frederick said in the divorce papers the reason he left her was because of: Her violent temper and ungovernable behaviour and constant and habitual use of filthy, disgusting and obscene language and constant disagreements for ten years which have rendered his married life...

On the corner of Belsize Road and Kilburn Vale, opposite the Priory Tavern, is a large building which has been refurbished to house modern offices. If you look up at the roof you can see on the two parapets signs for ‘LGOC’ and ‘1892’. This is the date when the London General Omnibus Company stables were built. Omni House today Today the building is numbered as 252 Belsize Road but it was previously called Priory Mews. In 1866 Thomas M’Craken had a small livery stables called Priory Yard in the road. The 1871 census showed Alfred Richards in Priory Mews as an omnibus proprietor employing four men. The stables and yard were run by several owners until the LGOC took it over in 1890. It was a good site for horse cabs and omnibuses as it was opposite Kilburn Station, which at this time had its main entrance in Belsize Road . The first railway passed through Kilburn in 1838 en route from the Midlands to Euston, but a station was only opened in 1852, with the entrance in Belsiz...