Local history
We have a rich local history: From daredevil pilots to royal molecatchers, and from manor houses to once rural villages. Our borough has had more than its fair share of fascinating characters, interesting tales, and also has towns recorded in the Domesday book. Curious about the area's past and its role in various national or international events? Then read on. We have collated years of history articles for you from Around Ealing magazine and included others that have appeared online more recently, which will be added to regularly as we go along, including a serialisation of a diary from the 1930s. Thanks must go to the borough's archivist Dr Jonathan Oates - because many of the stories are written or researched by him - and to the local history section of Ealing Central Library.
A Victorian farmer in Northolt
Until the 20th Century, farming was one of the biggest employers in Greenford and Northolt. Frederick Crees was one of...
Ealing’s election – 100 years ago
Because general and local elections will be held this year, it seems particularly apt to look back at a notable...
A stack of plaques
We have all seen blue plaques on walls all over London. They commemorate and record where a well-known or historically significant...
Our almshouses
Dwellings for the ‘elderly’, called almshouses, existed in most English villages and towns from the Middle Ages to the 20th...
The mind of a serial killer
John Christie had been killing for years when women’s corpses were finally found at his house in Notting Hill in...
Days in the movies
Most people have heard of Ealing Studios, even if they know nothing else about Ealing. Not so well-known is its equivalent...
Fifty years of the Hanwell Carnival
When Hanwell Carnival takes place on Saturday, 19 June, it will be the 50th consecutive year it has been held....
Secret diary of a royal observer
With the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton drawing close, it seems timely to take a look at the...
Guilty or not guilty?
Sixty years ago, Timothy Evans was hanged at Pentonville Prison for murdering his own daughter, Geraldine. However, just three years...
The mystery of Perivale Manor
In 1989, an episode of Dr Who on television featured a walled mansion in Perivale and a reptilian lord of...
Village life seen through the census
Almost everybody who has looked into their family’s British roots in the 19th Century will be very familiar with using...
Shop local message is nothing new
The theme ‘shop local’ is not a new one. Readers of Ealing Illustrated in 1893 were introduced to the concept....