Camden History

From 1915 the well-known actor-manger Gerald Lawrence lived at 11 Ornan Road Haverstock Hill. He had a distinguished stage career as a Shakespearian actor and had worked with Sir Henry Irving. The handsome Lawrence appeared in several silent films such as ‘Captain Nighthawk’ (1914).   11 Ornan Road, Haverstock Hill Gerald toured in South Africa and America and in 1906 he married the American actress Fay Davis. Their daughter Marjorie Fay Lawrence was born in 1908, when they were living at 15 Gardnor Mansions Church Row in Hampstead. Gerald and Fay in Romeo and Juliet, 1909 Marjorie wanted to try acting, so in June 1930 Gerald staged ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Hamlet’ at the Embassy Theater in Swiss Cottage and Marjorie received praise for her performances. On Sunday 6 July 1930 Gerald Lawrence and his family were at home in Ornan Road. About 11.00 in the morning his daughter received a telephone call from her husband Eardley Cottrell saying he was coming to the house.  Abou...

Hopefully, we are coming to the end of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. In the UK by the beginning of August 2021 we have had 5,982,581 cases which tragically resulted in 130,086 deaths, or a mortality rate of 2.17%. This is the story about the smallpox pandemic which hit Britain 150 years ago. The first state hospital to try to deal with the disease was built in Hampstead, near Haverstock Hill and Pond Street. The site is now covered by the Royal Free Hospital. What is Smallpox? Smallpox is a variola virus, worldwide killing a third of those it infected, and in the 20th Century alone an estimated 300 million people died from the disease. The initial symptoms of the painful disease included fever and vomiting. This was followed by formation of ulcers in the mouth and a skin rash over much of the body. Soon the skin rash turned into characteristic fluid-filled blisters. The cause of death from smallpox is not clear but involves multiple organ failure. Those who survived were often left ...