People’s history of Chelsea.
Postings on the people, events, and places that tell the story of Chelsea – a famous district in South West London known for the Embankment, King’s Road, and the artists and writers who have lived there.
Online multimedia features under construction and in progress. The research and content is strictly copyrighted and all rights are reserved. No Artificial Intelligence whatsoever is involved in the creation and development of this work.
The costs of research and writing mean that these complex, detailed and unique online features need to be operated with a paywall. This is currently set at £1 per month providing full access for £12 per year, including for all other non open access resources on the Kultura Press website.
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Tim Crook was brought up and educated in Chelsea. His parents first met in the Borough while living there in the late 1940s. They would remain Chelsea people until they passed away. This online public service resource is designed to provide access to around fifty years of his research on the social history of Chelsea.
Updates for 15 September 2023.
Detailed information about the hero A.R.P. Warden George Williams who saved scores of people from fire and suffocation at a basement air-raid shelter in the World’s End have been added to Part Three of the Chelsea Blitz narrative. He was awarded an O.B.E. and a photograph of him published in War Illustrated in 1941 has been found and included in the posting.
Huge respect to Lauren Buckley who has been in contact to talk about her great uncle Dennis Buckley who was only 15 years old when killed in the Seaton Street bombing in October 1940.
When the online project is complete it is hoped most of the material will be published in book form and eventually donated to Kensington and Chelsea library services.
The featured image for this page is an illuminated map of Chelsea by Nicholas Crook, King’s Scribe in 1978
Bringing to life the Chelsea of the past
The image above shows Black troops from the British colonies camping in the Duke of York barracks adjoining the King’s Road which you can see above the tents and wall. They were gathering to celebrate the coronation of King George V in 1911.