A Remarkable History Within These Streets

A Memory of Northwood.

It seems to be something that should be mentioned with regard to the familiar streets around old Northwood, as I remember it as a 17 year old.
I knew the names of the streets around the High Street very well. It was by chance I stumbled on a remarkable history concerning those names. There was a remarkable man who decided to finance a railway station at Northwood. He then decided to invest in the local area. He was Frank Murray Maxwell Hallowell Carew. (1866-1943). Now I know why those roads or streets were so called.
He married a flamboyant beauty called Edith Morgan Gillibrand. She was a stage actress and performed under the name "Edith Chester". Their two sons were Reginald and Roy. Reginald Road well known by me.
If anyone uses a search engine and uses Major Frank Murray Maxwell Hallowell Carew, they will get an incredible story of this man's life. It is a saga which includes his sensational divorce from Edith and prior to that, his attack on a stage manager who denigrated her talent.
He survived WW1 and was shot at by the IRA in Ireland. If anyone wanted a second Downton Abbey, it is right in front of them. Just incredible.


Added 25 October 2013

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Comments & Feedback

My great grandfather. Quite an amazing man, wish I'd met him.
Thanks for posting this! I have known Northwood since 1965 when my family moved in (I was six years old at the time). Lived there from 1965-1981 then moved to Abingdon on graduation. Have just had to move my mum into a care home near Abingdon and we are in the process of selling the house. So this year will be a sad farewell to Northwood. I had absolutly no idea of this fascinating piece of local history till today.
absolutely fascinating. I was at Northwood College in Maxwell Road, and I know all those street names so well, despite the many years which have passed since then. I remember thinking Carew was such a strange name for a road! I grew up on Batchworth Heath, and we also had a house in Moor Park Road. All long gone now, alas - part of a different life for me. But such fond memories of my wonderful childhood (Soman Sports, anyone? The Recorderie? I could go on!)

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