Strand on the Green about 1880
An interpretation of a recently conserved oil painting from the Local Studies Collection. It is a view of Strand on the Green, looking towards Kew Bridge, possibly painted by Frank Albert Gregory, a boot-maker and accomplished photographer.
James Wisdom
Garthowen, Barrowgate Road
The history of what was at the time the most substantial suburban villa in Chiswick, which was threatened with demolition by a housing association in 2018. The original owner was Benjamin Hopkin Morris, a Chiswick Councillor. The Society wrote in its defence to the local authority but it has since been demolished.
Val Bott
Livestock feeding & the Distilling Industry in Brentford
Brentford’s soap-works, breweries and distilleries grew into significant industries in the early part of the 19th century. The author has studied the distilleries in detail, including one which existed by 1685, and examined the use of spent grain from the distilling process as feed for very large numbers of animals.
Jim Storrar
Some Brentford Clockmakers
An account of the watch- and clock-making business in Brentford, covering families such as Aylward, Risbridger, Moor, Atfield, Jullion, Honeybone, Howard and Upjohn. As the owner of a Jullion clock, Douglas How asked via our website for information on this subject. This article is based upon shared research undertaken on his behalf by Carolyn Hammond, Janet McNamara, Celia Cotton, Vanda Foster and Val Bott.
Douglas How and others
Arlington House: a lost Repton Landscape at Turnham Green
Prompted by a mention in Repton in London which marked the bicentenary of Repton’s death, the authors explored the potential location and ownership of this garden. An advertisement for the sale of a “superior residence” in The Times in 1828 mentioned “Mr Repton’s genius presiding over the disposition of the Flower Garden”. This proved to be Arlington House, which overlooked the west end of Turnham Green. The article reveals that Sir John Chardin had lived there, though his home had been said to be the hitherto unidentified “Bolton House”.
Val Bott & James Wisdom
Do you Remember Goodbans?
The offer of a 1921 cartoon biography of Percy Goodban from a member of his family prompted the author, Hounslow Libraries’ Local Studies and Archives Manager, to look at the history of the department store, opened in 1909 and closed in 1974, which bore his name. The author sought local people’s memories of the business to use in the article. The cartoon was used as the back over illustration of this issue of the Journal and is now in the local collection.
James Marshall
The Wisteria at Fullers Brewery
A garden historian who has made a special study of the wisteria plant, Jamie Compton attempts to discover whether the superb wisteria at the Griffin Brewery was, as Fuller’s claimed, the oldest in the country, planted in 1816. Though the plant seems to have been introduced in 1816 it is unlikely that the Brewery’s wisteria was the first, but the author explores possible connections with the gardens at Kew and the Horticultural Society’s gardens in Chiswick in an attempt to date it.
Jamie Compton
Dr David Wolstenholme Budworth MBE
An affectionate obituary of David Budworth who died in 2019. He was awarded his MBE in 1994 for scientific services to Industry but in his retirement his historical skills blossomed and he wrote a great deal about Bedford Park and put on exhibitions as Historical Adviser to the Bedford Park Society.
Val Bott & Sandra Grant
