History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

George Berthold Samuelson, known as ‘Bertie’ was born in Southport Lancashire in 1889. By 1910 he had started the Royal Film Agency and was one of the first film renters. In late December he had moved the successful business to 270 Corporation Street in Birmingham. With his acquired capital, he decided to make a patriotic film about Queen Victoria called ‘Sixty Years a Queen’ at Will Barker’s Ealing Studio in 1913. The film cost the huge sum of £12,000 to make, but it was extremely popular and made Bertie a profit of £40,000 (worth over £4M today).  With this success, Bertie decided to buy his own studio to make films. The Samuelson Film Manufacturing Company Ltd was set up on 30 May 1914 with £2,000 in £1 shares. He heard that Worton Hall, a 40-room house with nine acres of land in Isleworth, was for sale. Samuelson bought it in 1914 and the official opening of the studios was held on 1 July, where the guest of honour was the famous music hall star Vesta Tilley. Samuelson employed...