Camden History

This is an amusing story from the beginning of the Jazz Age about a housewarming party in St John’s Wood which disturbed the next-door neighbour and resulted in two trials. Arthur Bentley had served in France as a driver for the Royal Air Force in the First World War. When he was de-mobbed in March 1919, he took over and ran a teashop in Regent Steet. In June he heard about a house in St John’s Wood which only had a few years remaining on the lease. He was offered a good deal on Number 3 Northwick Terrace, because the Central London Building Company who owned the land, were going to demolish one side of the road to build a large block of flats on the Edgware Road in Maida Vale. Today, this is the distinctive mock-Tudor Clifton Court. Map showing Nos, 3 and 4 Norwick Terrace In July 1919, Arthur negotiated with Edward Hamilton Allen, the current lease holder, and paid him a deposit to buy the lease. On Saturday 16 August the Bentleys held a housewarming party with a small jazz band cons...