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Kensington
Kensington maps
Historic maps of Kensington and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Kensington maps
Kensington area books
Displaying 1 of 13 books about Kensington and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Kensington
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Kensington.
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Barkers Department Store
I remember my father-in-law taking me to Barkers to look at a commerative board of the employees of Barkers who fought in either the South African campaign or the First World War. The board was on the right hand side of the entrance above a staircase. My father-in-law's father, Robert John Cook, was on the board. I have been unable to find any information about this. I hope that someone else will remember this and may even know where the board went. Jennifer Cook
Mother And 10 Siblings Born Here
My mother was one of 13, 2 died in infancy, all born at 28 Dartmoor Street. Have been to the house 3 times, but the street is no longer Dartmoor and I can't find out what the name is now! I took a picture I have of grandparents (Mary and John Howard) and my mother back in the 1920s and stood by their front fence and had my picture taken in the same spot. Awesome feeling!
Royal College of Music
My memories refer to 1955 through 1959.
I remember these years with affection - being taught 'cello by Harvey Philips, piano by Hilda Klein (excellent use of swearwords, I remember!!), composition by Herbert Howells (lovely man). I remember that ineffectual conductor Richard Austin and a visit to the College by Herbert von Karajan who was refused, by Ernest Bullock, his request to take a First Orchestra rehearsal as 'it might upset Mr Austin'! I well remember Harvey fuming when he learned of it.
I remember Sir Malcolm Sargent coming into the College on numerous occasions (after all, he lived just over the road in Albert Hall mansions!) and expecting to be treated like royalty.
I am not in touch with anyone who was at College with me so if anyone is out there ... make contact! Our twilight years prompt the need to share memories, perhaps.
My e mail address is : rayl@waitrose.com
Underground -
When a was a small girl my parents used to take me to visit my Grandparents, in Kensington where they lived at No. 29 Kelso Place. As the underground trains pass deep under the houses there, I was often to be found in their sitting room laying on the floor with an ear pressed against the carpet listening for the deep rumbling noise! I also remember my parents taking me into one of the large Department stores in the High Street, Derry & Toms, to see Father Christmas. I still have the photo taken of myself with 'him' receiving a present.
Greater London memories
The Howard Family at Hammersmith And Barnes
My Great-Great-Grandad, Henry Howard, lived in the early 1800’s - a time of great rural depression - and so he left his Devon home to look for work in London with the result that several generations of my family lived in the Hammersmith area.
The story is that he walked all the way. No doubt the stage coach fare was beyond the means of an unemployed labourer. He found work constructing railways which at this time were spreading rapidly all over the country. He may have found lodgings in North London, perhaps in Camden with either his brother or his cousin George Howard. Later he moved to the Hammersmith area and he married in his early twenties. He had (at least) six children, the eldest of whom, Elizabeth, was born about 1840. His son - William Henry (my Great-Grandad) was born in 1846 and the family story is that the youngest son was Jack who later emigrated. Two of the Howard family daughters, Louie and Mary Jane,... Read more
Memories of War - The Forgotten Casualties (1) - by Patricia Bolter
I am entering these memories on behalf of my mother in law - Patricia Ross (nee Bolter)
Running to meet Dad, just a young man, in uniform for the first time coming home to show us in pride. Providing for the family had been difficult, even tried sweeping snow. I have listened to "The Little Boy That Santa Clause Forgot" could only cry "I don't want my Dad to go away" but what does a 4 year old really understand. We had watched Dad and Uncles dig a shelter in our yard and played getting into it quickly, it was dark and damp. Mum fell down the steps but we were "SAFE . Save The Children? What have we learned?" Fetching Granny and relatives to share our shelter for the first air raid, cushions on head for protection from shrapnel. Naive . .
Issued with Mickey Mouse gas masks in a cardboard box with a shoulder string,... Read more
A Family Wedding at St Peter's Church Hammersmith
A few hundred yards west of Furnivall Gardens is St Peter's Church - the oldest and grandest church in Hammersmith. This is where my great-grandparents married on 27th September 1873: William Henry Howard and Jane Esther (or Hester) Goodwill.
