The Brentford Mortuary Book
by Janet McNamara
A recent find at a local car boot sale, the Brentford UDC’s Mortuary book was added to Hounslow’s Local Studies Collection. It records the 250 deaths reported to the Coroner between 1899 and 1909, each with a page to itself with details of the victim along with the Coroner’s verdict.Janet McNamara’s short article mentions some examples of causes of death, including drownings in the Thames and the Canal, as well as the Coroner’s concern about the number of children who had died. It is a moving and shocking record.
The story of the boy, the brothers and the house called Grove End
by Kirk Lake
This is an account of Grove End, a turretted riverside mansion built about 1860, and the people who lived there. An archive at the Borthwick Institute (University of York) reveals the most unusual residents, Maud McCarthy and her husband John Foulds who acquired the house in 1932 to establishe a Temple of Healing of mind and body. Homeless men were invited to live and work there, helping with the restoration of the neglected house. They also rented out furnished or unfurnished rooms with full board (including vegetarian catering), the quiet of the garden as well as activities such as boating bathing, tennis and dancing. Maud’s Phono-Therapy Clinic treated humans and pets, a means of healing through vibration. Bad press coverage saw their funds dwindling and they had left for India by 1935. Hartington Court was built on the site
The skeletons on the wall
by Val Bott
Newspaper reports from 1826 described “wonderful sketches on a wall” in Chiswick prompted research into what they could be and revealed that they had been recorded on prints now in the collection of the British Museum and Yale University’s Lewis Walpole Library. They may have been executed on the local wall of Stile Hall. The artist was Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet, born in 1799. After a period of financial difficulties, he and his family emigrated to Australia in 1839. The article describes their arrival and how they became established there.
From paper boats to heritage craft: a history of Maynard’s Boatyard, Chiswick
by John Llewellyn
Smart gentlemen’s yachts, early racing boats and a rugged tripping boat that saved 3,000 men from the Dunkirk beaches all had their origin at Maynard’s boat yard on Strand on the Green which continued until the early 1950s. The author describes the origins and early years of this family business, its innovative designs (including a waterproof paper boat and early motor boats). Accounts of a number of boats made by the Maynards include a few that survive today.
When the War began . . .
by John Grigg
The author’s research focussed on local newspapers from 1914 reveals the impact of the outbreak of World War 1. He covers suspicions of spies and secret agents, aliens being interned, panic buying in Chiswick High Road. Some reacted with anti-German xenophobia which caused difficulties for those thought to be German. he describes reports about military recruitment and the way local people patriotically cheered the trains carrying troops and volunteers. Women’s groups met to make socks and shirts for Middlesex Regiment soldiers and poignant letters from local men serving at the front appeared in the local newspapers.
H J Mulliner & Company of Bedford Park
by George Butlin
This celebrated firm of coach-builders occupied premises in Bath Road, close to the Tabard, from 1905 to 1961. The firm already had Brook St showrooms in London and supplied vehicles by Royal Appointment before this date. The Bedford Park premises and the business were sold to John Croall and Sons in 1910 who traded under the Mulliner name. The firm’s reputation rose steadily and for the last 16 years here they specialised in providing the finest bodywork for Bentley and Rolls Royce chassis. Before the days of the motor car the Mulliners were coach builders in Northampton, Leamington and Liverpool, moving to Grove Park in Chiswick in the 1870s. The author draws upon H J Mulliner’s 55-page autobiography, My Life, published in retirement in Bexhill on Sea in 1955 and an album in Chiswick Local Studies Collection.
The District & Piccadilly Lines of Bedford Park
by D W Budworth
Since the railway first came to Turnham Green station in 1869 there have been three major changes which have resulted in today’s District and Piccadilly Line services. These changes can be seen most clearly through the impact upon the local landscape with a massive embankment and bridges.The author describes the coming of the District Line, its electrification in 1905 and widening in 1911. Th biggest change was the construction of the Piccadilly Line which required rebuilding at Turnham Green and, more substantially, at Chiswick Park Station.