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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: cmcmull on Tuesday 23 April 19 07:13 BST (UK)
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Hello, Can anyone tell me about the buildings at the area now showing as at 250-280 High Street Kensington? They include the places shown on google maps as Killik & Co. There are two buildings there between Earls Court Rd and Edwardes Square and I'm wondering if anyone knows when they were built and if they could have been there c1890-1900. My husband's ancestors lived at Wested House, 13 Leonard Place which has to be there somewhere but I don't know if a place called Wested House would have been a freestanding house or a multi-house building as is the one to the west. I can't tell from the picture on google streetview what the one on the east side is because of the bus and tree in front. We are visiting London early Jun from Australia and I'm hoping to learn as much as I can before arriving so we can see some of the ancestral places. If anyone has advice on these buildings or who to contact to learn more I will be very grateful.
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It looks like a terrace:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=51.4985&lon=-0.1995&layers=168&right=BingHyb
another map:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=18&lat=51.4985&lon=-0.1995&layers=163&right=BingHyb
I will have a look on google maps. :)
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I don't think that the original terrace of Leonard Place has survived. The line of the buildings has changed over the years. I think that the buildings that stand there today look like they may date from the 1930s looking at some of the features? But I may be wrong with that.
If you look at the buildings on Earls Terrace, they appear to be similar to those on Leonard Place:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=19&lat=51.4979&lon=-0.2011&layers=163&right=BingHyb
Have a look at them on google street view and I think you might get an idea what Leonard Place looked like. And very very lovely they are too! :)
I can only presume, rightly or wrongly, that Wested House was the name of one of the houses in the terrace. They look to originally have been intended for one family rather than multi occupancy, however rooms may have been rented out at various times over the years. I would check for the family at that address on the censuses to see if other families were listed at the same address, and check the occupations of the family. This will give you an indication. Were the family well to do? Were they in service? Families who lived in those houses would have had staff who will often be noted at the address of their employer if they lived in.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday!
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"The Kensington Kinema opened on the 6th January 1926 on the site of what was 8-13 Leonard Place – a range of houses that existed between Earl’s Court Road and Earl’s Terrace along the High Street. The redevelopment of this part of the High Street was completed around 1930-31 with shops and flats erected on the site alongside the cinema."
https://rbkclocalstudies.wordpress.com/category/kensington/
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Thank you Ruskie and Shaun. Yes they were reasonably wealthy but the younger generation seemed to have taken advantage of the father's work as a builder and lived a life of leisure as "gentlemen" and spinster women who may have spent their days having cups of tea etc. There were 7 children but only one son (who also came to Australia) married and he did not have any children. My husband's ancestor had children with his housekeeper here in Australia but he is buried in an unmarked grave and did not seem to be very successful in life. My mother-in-law took a while to accept that I had done my research properly when I first found these rich ancestors. I often wonder how they went downhill from what they had with servants etc in London. The home in Wested House was where some of them including the mother resided in 1891 and 1901 and probably 1881 although I cannot find them in 1881 census. Father John died at Wested House in 1880 so maybe his widow and some of the children were holidaying on the Continent or possibly even in Australia during 1881 census. They also had a house in Crowborough Sussex where different members were at various times. I have several other locations to look for but presume those earlier houses would be gone. One was near Lords Cricket Ground just off Circus Rd where the maternal grandparents had lived and owned several houses. Before that they were in Connaught Tce (now part of Edgeware Rd) just near Marble Arch.
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There's a photo of numbers
13 and 14 14 and 15 Leonard Place before the demolition on page 38 32 of this pdf: http://www.kensingtonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Annual-2014-2015.pdf
(The Century Motor Company was number 14)
And there's a photo of Leonard Place in 1923 in Appendix 1 of this report: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/idoxWAM/doc/Other-988181.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=988181&location=VOLUME2&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=10
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They’re very interesting finds Shaun. :)
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The home in Wested House was where some of them including the mother resided in 1891 and 1901 and probably 1881 although I cannot find them in 1881 census.
Agnes and Henry Cuthel are at 13 Leonard Place in the 1881 census.
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Apologies - that photo in the pdf is of numbers 14 and 15, not 13 and 14, and the page is 32, not 38 !
http://www.kensingtonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Annual-2014-2015.pdf
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1902
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Wested House can be seen to the right of "Strachan and Brown" in this 1923 photo
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publications/pubid-366/images/figure0366-108-a.gif
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Love the then and now pictures in the Kensington society link. I see that Leonard Place didn’t look like the houses in Earls Terrace in the Kensington society link .... unsure about the style of houses in the 1923 photo as it is a bit dark (am on my ipad at the moment). :)
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This is all so interesting and thank you for all the help you are giving me. One thing that is really blowing my mind is when I first went to London in Jan 1976 I stayed at the Youth Hostel in Holland House and then when I went back in 1978 I lived for a while in Holland Rd (can't remember the address though) and then moved to Portland Mansions just up the road next to Hand and Flower pub. I would have walked past that part of Kensington High St many times. Of course I had only just met my husband then and had no idea of future family connection to that part of the world. Romance was not going anywhere when I already had a plane ticket to London when we met.
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Is it possible to get such detailed records on other streets as well. The Cuthell family had a lot of influential people in their immediate ancestry and Mrs Cuthell's parents final home was at 24 Circus Rd. St John's Wood where her father died in 1848. The Cuthell family were living nearby at 10 Cavendish Rd when son George was born in 1844. Before that they lived near Marble Arch at 5 Connaught Tce, Paddington. I believe Connaught Tce is not the same as Connaught Place but is now part of Edgeware Rd between Connaught Street and Seymour Street. i have not been able to find records there for 1841 census but do have a baptism entry for Jul 1841. I probably should post this in a separate topic shouldn't I?
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Here is the beginning of Connaught Terrace in the 1841 Post office directory:
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Thank you Shaun. I will repost part of this message to a new heading in case anyone else is looking for Connaught Tce later on.
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Piece 680 (Paddington) is missing from the 1841 census.