Ram Singh Nehra – a Wembley Indian in the 1930s – Part 2

Philip Grant continues his Guest series.

 

 Welcome back to this story of an Indian solicitor who lived in Wembley around 90 years ago. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. 

 

We left Ram Singh Nehra when he was standing as a Labour candidate for Fryent Ward, in elections for the new Wembley Council in March 1934. I asked: ‘would the people of Wembley in the 1930s vote for a man who wasn’t white?’ The answer was “yes”, but not quite enough of them to win him a seat on the Council. Whether his colour meant that he didn’t receive the small number of extra votes which would have seen him elected is something we will never know.

 

The Fryent Ward election result, from the “Wembley News”, 30 March 1934. (Brent Archives)

 

The Fryent Ward count, at Wembley Council’s Park Lane School on the evening of the election, must have been a tense affair. The result was very close, with only 35 votes separating Mr Crook, who topped the poll, from his fellow Labour candidate, Mr Nehra, at the foot of the list. In between were the two representatives of the Ratepayers’ Association, both existing Kingsbury councillors. Mr Ashman, who’d been Chairman of Kingsbury U.D.C., was so shocked to lose his seat that he demanded a recount!

 

The “Wembley News” report about Labour’s 1934 Fryent Ward election campaign.

(From the local newspaper microfilms at Brent Archives)

 

The newspaper report above shows how good canvassing in Fryent Ward beforehand had helped the Labour Party to win a local Council seat in Kingsbury for the very first time. This enabled them to ensure that all their likely supporters, who might not have been able to get to the polling station at Fryent School without assistance, were taken there by motor car to vote! 

 

You might not expect that a “working class” party in 1934 could muster ‘a fleet of cars’ on polling day, but that is where Mr Nehra and his wide circle of friends played their part. Imagine the surprise of some residents, when a chauffeur driven limousine, with a coat of arms on its side, drew up outside their home to take them to the polling station! It had been loaned for the day by the Saudi Arabian Ambassador.

 

Sheikh Hafiz Wahba (and his limousine) in 1930. (Image from the internet)

 

Sheikh Hafiz Wahba was the Saudi Ambassador to the UK from 1930 until 1956. You may remember that he was one of the VIP guests at the Nehra’s Garden Party in July 1934, and he had come to know Ram Singh Nehra quite well. This was partly because Nehra’s Central Hindu Society saw Hinduism as a cultural identity much as a religion, and was keen on promoting Hindu-Muslim co-operation.

 

There is evidence of this from a 1935 report in “The Indian”, headed “Prophet’s Birthday”:

 

‘The Muslim Society in Great Britain held a reception on Wednesday, the 12th of June, at 8 p.m., at Portman Rooms, Baker Street, to celebrate the Birthday of the Holy Prophet Mohammad. His Excellency Sheikh Hafiz Wahba, the Saudi Arabian Minister to the Court of St. James’s, was in the chair. 

 

Proceedings began with a recitation from the Qoran. Before starting further proceedings, the following message from Mr. R. S. Nehra, the President of the Hindu Society, was read — To the President, British Muslim Society, London: 

 

Dear Sir,

Hearty congratulations on the celebration of the birthday of the Holy Prophet. His example is a beacon guidance to all human beings of the necessity, practicability and virtues of democracy in daily life. 

 

Sorry my wife’s serious illness prevents me from joining you all this evening.’

 

Sir Abdul Qadir in 1935. (Image from the internet)

 

Sir Abdul Qadir was a leading member of The Muslim Society at the time, and like Nehra was also born in Ludhiana. Nehra’s good relations with the Muslim community may well date back to his childhood. Although Ludhiana was in the 

 

Punjab, when Nehra was growing up there in the early 20^th century only around 5% of its citizens were Sikhs. Of the rest, about two-thirds were Muslims and one-third Hindus. It is sad that Nehra’s good relationship with fellow Indians of a different religion was not widely reflected among the people of the sub-continent, when independence from Britain was achieved in 1947, and partition led to sectarian violence.

 

In a biographical article in “The Indian”, about ‘the editor’, Nehra described himself as ‘a man of very abstemious habits.’ He disliked smoking and drinking, and preferred lemonade to tea. Of his daily routine he wrote:

 

‘Even though he has been away from India for so many years, yet he is an early riser and starts work at six and never misses his morning bath. He takes pleasure in his work and that is why he works for 14 hours and sleeps for 8 and the rest of the time he employs in attending to daily needs and a little relaxation between the hours of 8 and 9 in the evening.’

 

He believed in devoting 10% of his profits and 5% of his time to charitable work and institutions. His hobbies were ‘building, books, journalism and social gatherings’, and his sporting interests were ‘swimming, tennis and driving.’ Both Mr and Mrs Nehra were keen tennis players (perhaps that is how they met, in Mombasa), and as the “Metroland” homes in Chalkhill Road were built on large plots, some would have had a tennis court in their back garden.

 

Aerial view of the Chalkhill and Barn Hill estates, March 1939, with “The Shalimar” arrowed.
(Source: Brent Archives)

 

Although Nehra claimed in his biographical note that ‘by temperament he is always cheerful and hospitable’, and that he did not ‘indulge in anger or fiery outbursts’, he was not afraid to express his views quite forcefully. One regular feature of “The Indian” was his “Open Letters for the Public Good”, and he wrote them ‘without fear, favour or malice’. 

 

Being free to speak truth to power is an important part of any good democracy. One of his letters was to the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, in Stanley Baldwin’s National Government of June 1935. After giving ‘hearty congratulations on your appointment’, he encouraged the Minister to ‘follow the spirit expressed by His Royal Majesty the King in his memorable Jubilee message’, and respect the rights of all people of different classes, colour, creed and countries. He went on:

 

‘You know, Indians form a larger majority of immigrants in the Colonies than any other race. Owing to the peace-loving disposition of Indians, their legitimate rights and interests have so far not been well protected in any of the Colonies. The local white immigrants out of sheer short-sightedness and selfishness are ill-treating the British Indians in nearly all the Colonies. The local Governors often yield to the local influence of the white agitation and pressure. It is for you to keep the balance and assist or direct, as the case may be, the local governors to treat Indians justly and fairly. Remember that the interests of the Empire and world peace are more important and vital than the interests of a handful of Englishmen or Europeans in a Colony.’

 

Nehra was well aware of the injustices which could occur in the Colonies, because he was a Privy Council agent. That meant he could act as a legal representative, on behalf of people or companies appealing to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. This acted as the Court of Appeal for cases decided in High Courts across the British Empire. 

 

“The Indian” included a section devoted to reports of Privy Council hearings. One interesting case was an appeal by a lawyer and a newspaper editor, seeking to overturn a judgement against them by the Allahabad High Court for contempt of court. Their “contempt” was publicly alleging that inferior judges had been appointed to the Allahabad High Court, and that better qualified candidates had been overlooked, because of their caste.

 

R. Nehra & Co are shown as the agent in a number of cases. In one, Nehra represented the respondent in an appeal by the Bombay Commissioner of Income Tax, against a judgement of the High Court in Bombay (Mumbai), where the point at issue was ‘whether the rights of a woman under a family settlement have been forfeited owing to unchastity.’

 

Through his magazine, Nehra published the results of all Indian students who had come to England to study law, as well as giving the overall results for Bar exams. One example from 1935 was: ‘Examined, 223; Passed,154 (Indians, 44)’. He also gave advice to Indians coming to here to study:

 

‘Do not buy or bring many suits with you from India, because they will not be used in England owing to their inferior cut and poor material. One or two pairs of shoes would be sufficient until your arrival in England. If possible, wait until you arrive here before you purchase your overcoat.’

 

As “The Indian” had a wide circulation among not just the worldwide Indian community, but also people in Britain with an interest in the sub-continent, it often carried “small ads”. Here are just a couple of typical examples:

 

INDIAN LADY medical student requires board lodging with a private family, 2 years’ course or more. Give full particulars. — Box 454, c/o The Indian. 

 

CEYLON STUDENT wants boarding house near a tennis club. — Write Box 458, c/o The Indian.

 

Nehra welcomed new Indian students to London with a reception at Veeraswamy’s in Regent Street. This was the capital’s first Indian restaurant, and had introduced Indian food to this country in the Indian Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition, held at Wembley in 1924/25.

 

Veeraswamy’s Restaurant, in a BEE advertisement and at Regent Street. (Images from the internet)

 

This was Nehra’s advice on food to Indians coming here:

 

‘You may find some difficulty regarding food. There are many Indian Restaurants and Hostels that cater for Indians. At the beginning it will be of great help if you make use of these establishments, till you slowly get thoroughly accustomed to the western tasteless foods.’

 

As well as all of his other interests, Ram Singh Nehra still had political ambitions. This paragraph appeared in a newspaper in April 1936:

 

(Image from the internet)

 

Did Nehra stand for election to Parliament, and what other twists and turns did his life take in the late 1930s? Please join me next weekend, for the concluding part of his story.


Philip Grant,
December 2021.

Fun Day at Bush Farm, Fryent Country Park, on Sunday August 15th

 

Controversial Queens Walk block of flats close to completion

 

The original detached house that had been allowed to fall into disrepair

 

When plans were put forward for the demolition of a detached house, 44 Queens Walk, at the corner of Queens Walk and Salmon Street, Kingsbury, it was met with some opposition because it would be replaced by a block of flats. Residents were concerned that it was out of keeping with the fairly uniform white painted houses of Queens Walk and would open the way to similar developments ,spoiling the suburban character of the area. LINK

Brent Planning Committee agreed the demolition and the new block. The two mature oaks on the site were preserved.  The new development is now almost complete as you can see below.  I understand that an offer to paint the block white ,so as to be in keeping with the rest of Queens Walk, was rejected by planning officers, presumably on the grounds that the modern corner plot block would 'make a statement'.

 The new block, named Krishna Court, has its pedestrian entrance on Salmon Street while its car park and vehicle entrance is on Queens Walk, further separating it from that street.

Today's  pictures:

 View from Salmon Street

The suburban detached houses of Queens Walk in the background
 

The gardens of Krishna Court

UPDATE

The flats are now on the market via Ellis & Co. 1 bed £365k, 2 bed £515k-£520k and 3 bed £575k. I think there are 7 or 8 flats on  the site of what was a single family house so the economics are clear.

Fryent Way bee corridor - six weeks on

Philip Grant has sent this update to his earlier article LINK on the Fryent Way wild-flower planting. Although the verges may be looking less pretty, and more overgrown, they are still providing plenty of good habitat alongside a busy road.

 

Lush vegetation on Fryent Way opposite Wyndale Avenure

Fryent Way bee corridor at Broadview

Cycling alongside the bee corridor

Details of Brent's revised parliamentary constituencies: Brent Central, Kenton & Wembley, Hendon & Golders Green, West Hampstead & Kilburn

 

The first proposals from the Boundary Commission on revised parliamentary constituencies are published today. The constituencies that will cover parts of Brent are now Kenton and Wembley West, Hendon and Golders Green, Brent Central and West Hampstead and Kilburn. The red lines above are constituency boundaries and green the borough boundary. Only Brent Central is wholly in Brent. We would have four MPs rather than the present 3. A significant part of Kingsbury becomes part of the Hendon and Golders Green constituency. Harlesden becomes part of West Hampstead and Kilburn.

An 8 week consultation period ending on August 2nd starts today LINK

The proposals. Click bottom right square to enlarge. 

 

Follow these links for detailed zoomable maps:

Brent Central: https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-06-08-London-Initial-Proposals-7.-Brent-Central-BC.pdf

 

Kenton and Wembley West https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-06-08-London-Initial-Proposals-46.-Kenton-and-Wembley-West-BC.pdf

 

Hendon and Golders Green https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-06-08-London-Initial-Proposals-37.-Hendon-and-Golders-Green-BC.pdf

 

West Hampstead and Kilburn https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-06-08-London-Initial-Proposals-73.-West-Hampstead-and-Kilburn-BC.pdf

 

 

Welsh Harp Clean up May 15th 11am-1pm

 

welshharpies.co.uk/events

Bank Holiday Weekend in Fryent Country Park

 

Not everyone who reads Wembley Matters is on Facebook so here are some pictures I placed there on Saturday.  I had an afternoon amble around Fryent Country Park looking for signs of Spring  after election leafleting in the morning.  I was not disappointed. The billowing blackthorn blossom has given way to apple, damson and cherry and wild flowers are increasing by the day.

Just the tonic for an overcast May Day Bank Holiday.

Ernest Trobridge exhibition now online

 A guest post by local historian Philip Grant

 

 

Ernest Trobridge (as depicted on a 1990s pub sign!)

 

Back in February, I was hoping that many people would be able to enjoy a small exhibition at Kingsbury Library, which I had put together with Brent Museum: Ernest Trobridge – Kingsbury’s Extraordinary Architect.

 

The Ernest Trobridge display at Kingsbury Library, February 2020.

 

Unfortunately, with all of the Covid-19 restrictions this year, and the library closed for around four months, then only open on a very limited basis, access to the exhibition was often not possible. Even though Brent Museum kept the display in place until earlier this month, local people, and the visitors we hoped to attract through London Borough of Culture 2020, will not have had the opportunity to discover this architect’s remarkable work, and the ideas behind it.

 

Although disappointed that many people will have missed the actual display, we have now put all of the information, illustrations and exhibits from it together in a documentary record of the exhibition, which you can read at your leisure by “clicking” on the link. Here are a couple of the images from it, reflecting the story behind Trobridge’s first estate of thatched timber homes, built on a field at the corner of Kingsbury Road and Slough Lane 100 years ago.

 

A leaflet Trobridge wrote for his show house at the 1920 Ideal Home Exhibition.

 

Model of a Trobridge thatched timber cottage built in Kingsbury.

 

I still hope to give the illustrated talk, which was planned to take place at Kingsbury Library in June 2020, in conjunction with the exhibition, at some time during 2021. Illustrated colour versions of the four Trobridge self-guided walk leaflets produced for the exhibition, and other published material about Ernest Trobridge, can be found in the “Buildings and Architecture” section of the online Brent Archives local history documents collection.

 

The amazing and beautifully designed homes that Ernest Trobridge produced in Kingsbury, and beyond, in the 1920s and 1930s, have been a source of joy and inspiration for me over the years, which is why I try to share my enthusiasm for them with others. I hope that you will take the chance to enjoy them too.

 

Philip Grant.

As lockdown returns Fryent Country Park offers solace and exercise

 

Facing lockdown in the difference circumstances of Autumn and Winter limits opportunities but it is well worth visiting Fryent Country Park, perhaps with a flask of coffee and sandwiches in your knapsacks. There are many different paths to explore and every visit brings something new.

This morning I walked for an hour on part of the Barn Hill side of the park. Easily reachable from Wembley Park Station and the 206 bus route.  There is parking at the top of the road called Barn Hill (not, confusingly, the road called Barnhill Road which is on the Chalkhill Estate).

 

The wonderful Barn Hill Conservation Group have cleared choking vegetation from the hilltop pond

 

Ant hills on the acid grassland (being restored by the Conservation Group) which are predated by green woodpeckers

A naturally refurbished ant hill

Fallen or felled trees are left to rot to provide habitats this one has been turned into a temporary seat

George Michael grew up round here

A topical one-off “special” local history article by Philip Grant.

 

As part of Brent’s London Borough of Culture 2020, and “Brent Biennial”, a 9-metre high mural by the artist Dawn Mellor is due to be unveiled in Kingsbury Road on Saturday 19 September. It will celebrate the life of the singer George Michael, who lived and went to school in the area. Many people may not know much about his early life, and this seems a good time to share what I know about his Kingsbury connections. As George said himself, in a line from a song he wrote about growing up “Round Here”: ‘So come with me, let me show you where I've lived.’

 

 1. Three images of work in progress on the George Michael mural, and its location, 13 September 2020.

 

It was not just people from the Caribbean (“the Windrush Generation”) who came to live and work in this country following the British Nationality Act, 1948. Britain’s labour shortage in the post-war years meant that anyone with the newly created status of ‘citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies’ could do the same. In 1953, young Kyriacos Panayiotou and his cousin left their village in Cyprus, and came to London for a better life. He worked as a waiter in a restaurant, and through a shared love of dancing, married Lesley in 1957. Some people thought it was wrong for an English girl to marry a Greek Cypriot, but love is stronger than prejudice.

 

2. Holmstall Parade, Edgware Road, 2019.

 

Kyriacos and Lesley already had two daughters before their son, Georgios, was born at their flat in East Finchley in June 1963. Within a year they had moved to a larger home at 3a Holmstall Parade, above shops on the Edgware Road, close to Burnt Oak, in what was then still the Borough of Wembley. Kyriacos Panayiotou, commonly known as Jack Panos, worked in a Greek Restaurant in Edgware, becoming a partner in the business. Although Holmstall Parade looks similar now to what it did in the 1960s, the Asda superstore and Capitol Way just down the road were then a Frigidaire factory, on a site first used by the Aircraft Manufacturing Company, “Airco”, during World War One.

 

 

 3. The Redhill Drive street sign, at the corner with Holmstall Avenue.

 

By 1967, the Panayiotou family had their own semi-detached suburban home, nearby in Redhill Drive, then part of the recently formed London Borough of Brent. No.57 was where Georgios (or George as he would become known) lived for about ten years. He soon had friends to play with, and his best friend was David, who lived just up the road, and was a year older than him.

 

 

4. 57 Redhill Drive, Burnt Oak, in 2019.

 

When it was time for George to start school, he went to Roe Green Infants, then the Juniors, in Princes Avenue, the same as his sisters (and David), as that was the local state school. In those days, that was what most children did. They probably walked to school. 

 

  

Figure 5. Roe Green Infants and Junior Schools, Princes Avenue, Kingsbury, in 2019.

 

Years later, George wrote in a song: ‘And I remember my, my first day at school. And I remember trouble and thinkin' I was so cool.’ Whether this was about his very first day at school at Roe Green, or when he went on to secondary school, I’m not sure. You wouldn’t think this young Georgios would get into trouble, would you? Or perhaps you would.

 

  

6. Georgios Panayiotou, at primary school age. (Image from the internet)

 

Trouble or not, he must have been quite a bright student, although having encouragement from a good creative writing teacher at school (probably Ian Greenwood then) must have helped. Only just eleven years old, two of his poems were included in Roe Green Junior School’s end of year magazine in July 1974. How these came to light, shortly after George’s death in 2016, is a story in itself. A girl who knew him at the school had kept her school magazines. Years later, her older sister met a former classmate, Melanie, at an awards ceremony – and Melanie was with her brother, Georgios, better known by then as George Michael. The sisters had never guessed that the music star was the quiet boy they knew at Roe Green Juniors!

 

  

 7. The cover of the Roe Green Junior School magazine, July 1974. (Image from the internet)

 

The first of the poems, ‘The Story of a Horse’, appears above the name Georgios Panayiotou, 4S, but the second reveals his nickname. Whether this was one he invented for himself, or what his friends decided to call him (because he was brainy?), Professor Whatsisname (alias G. Panayiotou, 4S) was the author of this imaginative piece, ‘Sounds in the Night’.

 

  

8. "Sounds in the Night" by Professor Whatsisname, from "The Junior", July 1974. (Image from the internet)

 

From junior school, George moved on to the local secondary school in September 1974, again just as most eleven-year olds would have done then. Kingsbury High School had become a comprehensive in 1967, when the grammar school in Princes Avenue merged with the Tyler’s Croft Boys and Girls secondary modern schools in Bacon Lane. The lower years of the High School were housed in the Tyler’s Croft buildings, which had opened in 1952. Twenty-two years before George walked through that school’s gates, the first boys to start at the school when it opened had included a young Charlie Watts, from Fryent Junior School, who also went on to become a famous pop musician.

 

 

9. Kingsbury High School's Tyler's Croft buildings, beside Roe Green Park, 2019.

 

The photo above shows that Kingsbury High’s Lower School is next to Roe Green Park, and there’s no doubt that George spent some time there after school. In one verse of his song about growing up, he sings:

 

‘I hear my mama call in Kingsbury Park
Just me and David and a football that glowed in the dark
Waitin' patiently to make my mark, round here.’

 

 

10. Roe Green Park, towards the school, and a wild flower meadow that wasn't there in George's time!

 

Life sometimes takes an unexpected turn, and it was not in Kingsbury that George made his mark. His father’s restaurant business was doing well, so he decided to move upmarket. He found a house he liked in Radlett, and around 1976 the Panayiotou family moved out of Redhill Drive. As their new home was not quite ready, they lived above the restaurant in Edgware for several months, before George left Kingsbury High School, looking something like this.

 

  

11. Georgios Panayiotou in the mid-1970's. (Image from the internet)

 

The move to Radlett meant changing to a new school, Bushey Meads School, which took students from much of the western side of Hertsmere District, just north of London. One of his new classmates was Andrew Ridgeley, and they were soon friends. The two teenagers shared a love of pop music, and a desire to make a that their career. The result, in 1981, was Wham!

 

 

12. Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael as the duo, Wham!, mid-1980's. (Image from the internet)

 

From then on, Georgios Panayiotou would be known as George Michael, and you can read about his musical career, his generosity and his sometimes troubled private life, online, or by borrowing a copy of the biography “George”, by Sean Smith, from your local Brent Library (ref. no. 782.421 on the adult non-fiction shelves).

 

Although no longer living in Brent, George’s career brought him to Wembley on a number of occasions. Wham! played several concerts at the Arena in 1984, and their “Final” concert together at the Stadium in 1986, before the duo went their separate ways. George Michael was one of the stars who performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley, and at the 70^th birthday concert for Nelson Mandela in 1988. George’s singing of “Somebody to Love” with Queen, at the Stadium’s Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to raise money for AIDS research in 1992, was highly rated, and the live recording featured on a follow-up EP.

 

 

13. George Michael, with Brian May of Queen, at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. (Image from internet)

 

George Michael was a prolific songwriter, and in 2004 he recorded a song about his memories of growing up. Called “Round Here”, it wasn’t a big hit for him, but it came from his heart and tells his story before he became famous. There is an online video of him singing and recording the song, with brief clips of film included that show various scenes from Kingsbury, and London more generally. If you watch carefully, you’ll spot glimpses of 57 Redhill Drive (at 0:05), the flats at Holmstall Parade (0:25), Roe Green Park (1:17) and Roe Green Junior School (1:35) and Kingsbury High [Lower] School (1:41), plus other places you’ll recognise. 

 

 

 

 

                          14. The CD cover for "Round Here", 2004. (Image from the internet)

 

George Michael, who sadly died in 2016, aged just 53, is not the only famous person who has lived “Round Here”, in the north of Brent, but he is fondly remembered by many for his music and his humanity. That is why he was chosen as the subject for a mural in Kingsbury, which celebrates his life. I hope you’ve enjoyed finding out about his local connections.

 

15. Kingsbury Station signs, including for the London Borough of Culture 2020.

 

Next time you come out of Kingsbury Station, turn right, and after walking about 60 metres you will find the mural, on the end wall of a block of shops with flats above. You can’t miss it – it is 9 metres high!

Philip Grant.

 

Next weekend, we welcome a new member to the “local history in lockdown” team. Don’t forget to join us, to discover what part of the borough her weekly series will cover!