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Brentford High Street Project Home Page

If you are a new user to the site, the site guide contains an overview of the project and types of material held.

The site includes around 400 web pages and about 200 images so it is worth spending a little time exploring.

New material is added regularly, please come back and check again.

Brentford Local History Day - Saturday June 6th

David Bright's talk about how the memorial was planned spirited us back into the WW1 era and aftermath, I hope to include main points on this site over the next few weeks. See below for an update regarding the war memorial plans.

It was good to hear of two sets of cousins meeting up for the first time on 6/6 through the site and I enjoyed meeting some of you for the first time, others for the second or third time.

Thanks to everyone for their continuing contributions (one person commented at how much the site has grown since 2008), each item provides new and unique insights.

Two follow-ups from the Brentford Local History Day

Another lady was researching her Spelman family and brought a copy from a family bible which noted a hailstorm in June 1817. There are no local papers dating back to this time to confirm the date, but the Gentleman's Magazine was published from 1731 until the early 20th century and contained notes of such events. Editions of this and other early journals can be searched for free on the Internet Library of Early Journals website - ILEJ - at http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/ - unfortunately the copies of the Gentleman's Magazine on this site are pre-1817. Another good searchable newspaper website: British Library British Newspapers 1800-1900. There is an option to view 'free' entries only.

St Lawrence's WW1 memorial update

'Just heard from Hounslow Borough Council that Planning is now through for the War Memorial along with the necessary approvals from English Heritage and Secretary of State.'

'I have contacted the stone masons and they plan to start work in the first week of July.'

Julia adds that a Re-dedication Ceremony is planned for later in the year.

Recent Additions

• Jackie Day writes 'a film made in 1958, 'Hell Drivers', has a short clip of Brentford High Street in it. You can see the wall of the gas works and the 'hero' going into one of the myriad of small shops on the opposite side of the road. It stars Stanley Baxter, David McCallum and a very young Sean Connery'; Jackie sent a link to the Reel Streets website, search on 'Hell Drivers' and scroll down to see a couple of photos, one shows numbers 330 onwards on the left (1 July 2009)
• Updated Web Links to include new links (early journals / newspapers) and checked all links to other sites work (25 June 2009)
• Trevor Mitchell has provided a photo from the late 1950s/early 1960s - possibly a Brentford Gas Works do; he asks if anyone can identify names or provide more information; I am building up a small collection of 'can you identify' photos and will set up a separate section for them over the next month or so (24 June 2009)
• Were you at the Brentford Local History Day on June 6th with interests in either Sussex Place or a hailstorm in 1817? If so see notes above from Carolyn Hammond (24 June 2009)
• Barbara Harrison of Canada seeks descendants of the Geary family of Twickenham (3 June 2009)
• Lorraine Winson has sent memories of her great grandparents, surname Turner, who started their married life on a barge in 1900 (1 June 2009)
• Beverley Scott seeks her cousins: children of Kathleen Howson (born 1923), Pauline Howson (1927) and Tom W Howson (1929). The Howson family (headed by Tom Howson and Catharine Mackintosh who married in 1922) lived in the Brentford area in the late 1920s through to the 1940s; if you can help please email (26 May 2009)
• Another Howard Webb postcard, showing the Red Lion (no. 197) and a Dining and Tea Rooms at no. 118, eastwards, postmarked 1909 (24 May 2009)
• William Jenkin Cloves was a barge builder from Rainham, Essex, who moved to Brentford in the late 1890s; Mark Abbott has forwarded photos of WJC and his wife Sarah and seeks any photos of no. 396 High Street where the Cloves family lived; please email if you can help (24 May 2009)
• Trevor Mitchell forwarded details of the Old Bailey trial of Richard Pearce from Brentford who was charged with Feloniously throwing Kate Pearce into a canal, with intent to murder her in 1883; see the updated Pearce family page for more details; the online Old Bailey records now extend to 1913 and are highly recommended for providing an insight into our ancestors lives; do read the full text of the Pearce case on the Old Bailey web site for a snapshot of one part of Brentford's community in 1883 (23 May 2009)
• Jackie Day has sent details of The National Archives 'Your Archives' project; she is part of a team which is digitising the census street indexes; this will help anyone trying to find a specific address: see Web Links to access 1841 and 1851 street indexes for Brentford Registration District and also a general link to the Your Archives home page (18 May 2009)
• One of my postcards, postmarked March 1906, showing Brentford Town Hall (17 May 2009)
• Trevor Mitchell has forwarded a scan of a medal card for Joseph Gandell, one of the men commemorated on the St Lawrence WW1 memorial; this is accessible through the Document Samples page (16 May 2009)
• Tom Davis was Superintendant of the Brentford Fire Service before the war; his son, Sam Davis, is one of 32 firemen and women who were pictured outside Brentford Fire Station in 1944; Keith Davis, son of Sam Davis, sent this photo; for more Brentford firemen links see Occupations (11 May 2009)
• More Dave Stoneleigh photos, June 2008, showing the approach to Brentford Bridge from Isleworth, taken from the site of the old GWR bridge and a view from Brentford Bridge of Canal Court and the Six Bells PH (10 May 2009)
• Two more photos from Peter Reeve:The Bull (early 1900s?) and Barge Aground (pre 1940), pubs which his father ran during WW2 (9 May 2009)
• Pat Green writes 'I was born at 34 Clayponds Avenue Brentford on 2nd October 1947. My mother and father lived before that in Carville Crescent. My name was Pat Mackey, in those days, so if anyone remembers me that would be wonderful. I have lived away for over 30 years but still come back from time to time and still love Brentford and always will!!'; if you remember Pat please email (6 May 2009)
• I found a copy of Roy Canham's '2000 years of Brentford' on a recent visit to Hay on Wye; this describes a number of archaeological excavations between 1966 and 1972, many of them on vacant High Street plots prior to redevelopment: numbers 86-97, 136, 141-147, 175, 184-187, 209-215, 219-223, 233-246, 281-289 in particular; updated Property notes showing (G) as the source (6 May 2009)
• Roger Williams provided a scan of a postcard showing Brentford Ferry, early 1900s (4 May 2009)
• Janet McNamara has researched the history of Brentford's market: this will have been a focus for our Brentonian ancestors, whether they sold their produce or came to buy; Janet's article includes a number of images dating from the 1830s to the 21st century (23 April 2009)
• The Dawes family made baskets (used by market traders and other businesses) at 306 High Street for around 60 years from around 1890; descendant, Andy Dawes, has provided three photos showing family members and no. 306 (23 April 2009)
• Debra Sellen has written from Australia having traced her Wickert family in Germany: they ran a bakery at 290 High Street around 1890/1; notes for nos. 290 - 296 updated and links added to two postcards showing the area in the early 1900s (18 April 2009)
• Sarah Kirby married James Trimmer, a brickmaker of Old Brentford, in 1762 and Sarah founded the Sunday School next to St George's Church in 1786; Val Bott & Janet McNamara have sent a link to an external website about the Trimmer family, and this link has also been added to the Families page (15 April 2009)
• Another Sandra Graves photo, six Brentford girls who worked in the bottling plant at the Fuller, Smith & Turner brewery in Chiswick, 1940s; can anyone help with names, date? (14 April 2009)
• Did your Brentford ancestor serve in WW1 (and have a surname starting A - N)? If so check if his service records are available (4 April 2009)
• June Newman (nee Smith) has provided details of research into her family, including the following surnames: Smith, Mumford, Peek, Emmett, Hooper; family addresses include Harnage Road, Clayponds Lane and Pottery Road (April 1 2009)
• Postcard showing a view across the Thames to Brentford, ca 1906 (thank you to Muriel Wallington); coincidentally Carolyn Hammond, who helped identify the location, has a copy of the same postcard, postmarked on the same day ... (25 March 2009)
• Was your great (great) grandfather a fireman in Brentford in 1894? If so he is likely to have appeared in the photo forwarded by Roger Davis, which shows fund raising (for the new fire station?) (25 March 2009)
• Sandra Graves has sent a photo showing 9 very cheery ladies in hats: they worked at the Pier House laundry, date could be around 1905 - 1920? (March 24 2009)
• Thank you to Peter Reeve who has sent a photo showing the Barge Aground, one of the pubs his father ran during WW2, and memories of the bombed out newsagents next door (21 March 2009)
• Another Dave Stoneleigh photo, this time showing the Brentford Lock development on the island between the River Brent and Grand Union Canal in 2008 (March 20 2009)
• Link to a street map for Brentford around 1940 on the Maps of London web site; added to the Web Links page (March 19 2009)
• Two Dave Stoneleigh photos taken from Brentford Bridge in 2008, showing the northern and southern sides of London Road and a newspaper article from 1900 about the widening of this bridge to allow trams (15 March 2009)
• Another photo from Sandra Graves, showing a group about to set off on a coach outing in the late 1940s; Sandra has picked out people with the surnames Daubney, Grant, Spatman, Fennis and Keyes (15 March 2009)
• The 1909/10 Valuation Record Field Books are a gold mine for anyone interested in finding out about their ancestor's home as it was in the early twentieth century; the site contains an list by owner and an list by property no., the latter has been updated to include the frontage to the High Street, ranging from 9' (no. 104) to 394' 9" (Montgomrey's saw mills and timberyard at no. 77) (15 March 2009)
• Thanks to a number of helpful contributors the site contains a number of photos of Brentford people and these are now brought together under the heading 'Photos of People' in the Photos page; a new link to these images has also been added (see left, under People Records) (8 March 2009)
• Sandra Graves has provided a photo of a VE Celebrations Party, Hamilton Road, 1945; do you recognise anyone in the crowd, were you there? (7 March 2009)
• Sue O’Donnell writes 'My dad lived at 29 Distillery Road, Brentford as a child, he’s 79 now. Do you have any photos or information please? His name is James Passey, his sister is Lilian and their parents were Thomas and Amy but were known as Tama and Cath.' If anyone can help Sue please write, I will forward to Sue (7 March 2009)

I hope you find something of interest and if you have any memories or stories about Brentford High Street please get in touch, I’d be delighted to include them.

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