History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

In 1909 two Latvian anarchists stole the wages from the Downham Mills Rubber Factory, at 3-5 Chesnut Road , Tottenham. Jacob Lepidus and Paul Hefeld lived with other immigrants in Tottenham, which at the time was nicknamed, ‘Little Russia’. The heavily armed anarchists were pursued by hundreds of police and local people. During the chase which lasted two hours and covered six miles, Lepidus and Hefeld fired over 400 rounds. They killed two people, PC William Tyler and a young boy called Ralph Joscelyne. Twenty other people were injured, several critically. This was an extraordinary event and made headlines around the world. PC William Tyler We were very surprised when our research showed that there were strong connections between the outrage in Tottenham and West Hampstead. The West Hampstead Connection PC Tyler who was killed, had been born and brought up in Child’s Hill and a memorial service was held there, at All Saints Church. At the time of the shooting Tyler ...