History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In May 2008, the Irish researcher Breandán Ó Corráin, was in Hampstead Cemetery Fortune Green Road, looking for a grave. He found row number J8 and worked his way along the line checking the numbers on the back of the stones to the position of grave number 35, but there was nothing visible. Having travelled so far, he decided to dig and eventually found a small headstone covered with six inches of soil. It said:  ‘In Loving Memory of Darrell Figgis, died October 25th 1925. Not gone from memory or from love, but to our Father’s home above’. This was the grave he was looking for which had remained hidden for over 80 years and Breandán wrote a letter to the Irish Times about his discovery.   Figgis grave stone This is a very tragic story with three interlinked deaths between 1924 and 1925. Darrell Figgis was at the heart of the fight with Britain to establish the Irish Free State, but divisions within the movement and his early death made him a forgotten man.  He was born at...

Arthur Prince, with his dummy Sailor Jim, was the most famous ventriloquist of his era. Arthur was married three times, all to actresses and singers who had been partners in his stage act. When he died in 1948, he was buried locally in the Hampstead Cemetery in Fortune Green Road. This is the most detailed account of his life. Most sources say Arthur Prince was born in 1881, but he gives his date of birth as 17 November 1880 in the 1939 Government Register used to record everyone in England and Wales when registration cards were issued just before the War.  In interviews he said he was born in Marylebone, and started by performing conjuring tricks in public at the age of 13. A few years later he began his professional career with another comedian as the Elrabi Brothers, an act with humorous songs, card tricks and magical illusions. Arthur took up ventriloquism after seeing the well-known Fred Russell’s act with his dummy Coster Joe. Fred gave 17-year-old Arthur advice, and introduc...

There have been over 60,000 burials in Hampstead Cemetery in Fortune Green Road since it was opened in 1876. But this sad story is about four bodies that were found above ground, the result of suicide and perhaps, murder. Alfred Chambers In 1884, the body of Alfred Pierpoint Chambers was discovered by a grave digger lying face downwards on the grave of his wife. Alfred was a photographer with a studio in Clapham. Alfred and Ellen were married in 1867, but since her death in 1882, Alfred had been very depressed. The post mortem revealed he had taken cyanide which was used in processing photographs. Henry Butterworth In December 1885, an inquest was held on Henry Butterworth, the owner of a chemist’s shop at 70 Tottenham Court Road. Today it is CEX electronics store, one of the few surviving original properties, immediately south of Goodge Street underground station. His widow Elizabeth told the inquest court that Henry had left home on the 26 November, saying he...

To commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, we tell the story of Arthur Townsend Johnstone, a naval officer who was killed that day on HMS Defence. He is remembered on a family memorial in Hampstead Cemetery , Fortune Green Road . The Battle of Jutland took place on 31 May 1916 , off the west coast of Denmark . It was the only major fleet action of World War I and was the largest naval battle of all time. It only lasted 12 hours, but more than 6,000 British sailors were killed and 14 ships were sunk. The German loses were 11 ships and over 2,500 men. HMS Defence The battle cruiser Invincible had disabled two German light cruisers and Defence and Warrior from the First Cruiser Squadron were attempting to sink them when they were hammered by fire from the German battleships. The Defence was hit by two salvos and the rear magazine exploded, sinking the ship killing 900 men. The Warrior was set on fire, but managed to escape. Recent studies show ...