Camden History

The Home was founded in 1829 in east London but moved to Hampstead in the mid-1850s. Its supporters believed that the needs of sailors were seen by the public as less pressing than those of soldiers.  An appeal of 1853 said that orphans of sailors in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Merchant Service were eligible for entry, but this was the only Home that also took in orphans of men who served in the mercantile marine.  The girls were educated and supported until they were 15. Donors voted and ‘elected’ girls to the Home; the more money you raised, the more votes you were entitled to. In 1867, each lady who collected five guineas was enrolled as a Life Governor with two votes at all elections. Alternatively, single payments for support could be made. In common with most homes, the sailors’ orphans were trained for domestic service; situations were found for them, and outfits provided. In the case of this Home, proof of the father’s service, parents’ marriage and child’s birth...

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...

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...

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 ...

Emily Elizabeth Dimmock was born in 1884 in the village of Standon, Hertfordshire, near Bishops Stortford. She was employed as a chambermaid and in a straw hat factory in Luton before running away to London at the end of 1904. Here she adopted the name ‘Phyllis Dimmock’ when she began working as a prostitute. By 1906 she was living with Henry Biddle, a sailor from Portsmouth. The photograph shows her in Henry’s ‘Prince of Wales’ uniform, but their relationship didn’t last long. The following year Phyllis moved in with Bert Shaw in Camden Town, first living at 50 Great (now Royal) College Street and then 29 St Paul’s Road, (now Agar Grove). Bert worked as a cook on the Midland Railway, preparing food in the buffet car on the train from London to Sheffield. He left for work in the afternoon, returning the following day. This left Phyllis free to socialise in local pubs such as ‘The Rising Sun’ on the Euston Road and ‘The Eagle’ at the corner of Great College Street, opposite the present ...