History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

This is the story of two women who lived in Finchley Road and who made headlines in the early years of aviation. Amy Johnson is the best-known but Grace Drummond-Hay also had a very interesting career. Lady Grace Drummond-Hay In 1929 Lady Grace Drummond-Hay was the first woman to fly round the world in a Zeppelin airship. Born Grace Marguerite Lethbridge in Toxteth Liverpool on 12 Sept 1895 , she was brought up in the West Hampstead area. Her father Sidney Thomas Lethbridge was the managing director and later chairman of Spratt’s, the firm that made dog biscuits and animal food. The Lethbridge family lived at several local addresses; 28 Kingdon Road (1901 to at least 1904), 11 Lydford Road off Willesden Lane (1911), and then at 14 Avenue Mansions, Finchley Road from about 1918 until Sidney ’s death there in 1937.  Lady Drummond Hay In Hampstead on 9 June 1920 aged 25, Grace Lethbridge married the diplomat Sir Robert Hay Drummond-Hay, who was nearly 50 years ...