History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

T his very unusual story connects the KKK, a famous haunted house and Kilburn. On 2 May 1957 the MP Fenner Brockway spoke in the House of Commons and said: I think it will be as much of a shock to you as it was to me, to learn that the HQ of the British KKK was in Kilburn! He said there were 253 agents in Kilburn, Shepherds Bush, Birmingham and Liverpool . MPs and other people had been sent a KKK pamphlet and membership form from an address in Kilburn. A Times reporter sent to the address, 80 Kingsgate Road , found it was Green’s Chemist Shop. The chemist said the man the reporter wanted was Ian Shaw, who lived upstairs. After giving the specified three knocks a woman answered the door and said Ian was out. Shaw later phoned the Times and said he would talk with the reporter as long as they did not reveal his name and address.  On the 5 May, the Reynolds News, a paper published by the Cooperative Movement, carried an interview with Ian Shaw. He said he wa...