The Airman Angel at Wallis House, Great West Road
The conversion of this building into apartments by Barratt Homes was completed in 2012. Built in 1939 as the works of Simmonds Aerocessories, subsequent occupiers were BOAC and Beechams (later SmithKlineBeecham). The author studied the building in great detail as co-ordinator of the Twentieth Century Society’s campaign to prevent its demolition. But the sculptor of the important figure at the top of the building remained elusive. Once scaffolding had been installed by a new owner it was possible to see the figure – an airman in complete RAF kit – at close quarter – and the sculptor’s name was carved on the base: Donald Gilbert.
Joseph Mirwitch
Who Lived at Hogarth’s House?
Discussions with visitors before Hogarth’s House closed for refurbishment in 2009 revealed that they wanted to know as much as possible about it as a home and about those who lived there. The author co-ordinated the conservation, refurbishment and re-presentation of the House and in the process identified a large number of past residents helping us understand more about its changing fortunes during almost three centuries. The new displays included information about three particularly important past residents.
Val Bott
The Clothing Club at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick
An untitled volume amongst the parish registers at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick, proved to be the record of a club which enabled people to save during the summer months when they had work in order to provide for the leaner winter months. It includes notes of visits by parish officials to Club member’s homes and comments about their worthiness to receive support. Rachel Robinson analysed the content for her Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies in 2010-11; Carolyn Hammond, Editor of the Journal, helped formulate the article.
Rachel Robinson and Carolyn Hammond
Jonathan Thomas Carr and his Siblings
Access to newly digitised sources enabled the author to establish the previously rather unclear relationships between the Carr family’s ten siblings. Jonathan Thomas Carr was the founding developer of the garden suburb of Bedford Park; David Budworth is the Heritage Advisor to the Bedford Park Society. He has revealed that the connection of the family to the new suburb was stronger that was previously known.
D W Budworth
Chiswick Schoolboys in Nazi Germany in 1933
The author, a former leader of Hounslow Council, has been slowly and carefully working his way through the archive of local newspapers in Hounslow’s Local Studies Collection for some years. This has been part of a wider study of the political history or SW Middlesex. Newspaper reports provided details of a school trip to Germany in 1933; including their sightseeing but also the difficulties they faced on the return journey when Belgian customs officials boarded their train home and discovered the Nazi souvenirs in their luggage.
John Grigg
Moving Burlington Lane
The author’s regular visits the Devonshire Archives at Chatsworth enabled him to gather information about the history of Chiswick Parish. This article looks at the records of the Duke of Devonshire’s project to move Burlington Lane (today’s A316) away from the front door of Chiswick House. The opportunity arose because of the enclosure of the Common Field and re-allocation of land in 1814. The redesign of the entrance included a turning circle for carriages and gave a more impressive approach to the duke’s house.
Peter Hammond
Chiswick Eyot and Oliver’s Eyot
A look at Chiswick Eyot (off Chiswick Mall) and Oliver’s Island (off Strand on the Green) by the author of a new book on Islands of the River Thames (History Press, 20212)
Miranda Vickers
Remembering Gillian Clegg (1940-2012)
A tribute to the former editor of the Journal from 1996 to 2007. Gillian’s career as a librarian, then a journalist, and an amateur archaeologist, gave her the skills to compile local history books on Chiswick and Brentford. Her last book was A History of Chiswick House and Gardens which arose from her work as volunteer archivist at that House.
