LOOKING BACK WITH DR JONATHAN OATES
and our prehistoric past
Where Brown lived
amount of building work in what is now
Greater London in the later 19th Century
resulted in a great deal of digging and
this in turn led workmen to discover
numerous remains of prehistoric man,
including many in Acton and Ealing.
Archaeologists at this time
rarely did any digging
but would pay for what
others found. Brown
was an avid collector
and he amassed
numerous specimens
which he displayed in
his home and invited those
interested to see them. Much of his
collection is now in the British Museum.
Brown was also briefly an Ealing
councillor in the 1880s and later a
magistrate at Brentford Court (Ealing
Court not then being in existence).
Apart from the usual drunks and
dangerous drivers, on one instance
he had to use his fluency in
French to deal with a
Frenchman who owned
a performing bear that
might have become a
public danger.
When he died in
1903, Brown was
buried at Perivale
churchyard and there is an ornate
tombstone to his memory still there.
FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL
The sound of church bells
ringing is not something you
would ever expect to spark
controversy. But that is exactly
what happened in Ealing 95
years ago. In fact, the pealing
bells of St Stephen’s Church were
described as a ‘cruelty’ inflicted
on residents. Read the full story at
ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history
around ealing
Autumn 2016
57