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Not Brentford

Opening of Brentford Library, May 9 1904

Janet McNamara provided this splendid photo from Chiswick Library showing the Library Committee and Andrew Carnegie outside the newly opened Brentford Library at Clifden House.

Fred Turner, Brentford Librarian at the time, provides an account in his 'History and Antiquities of Brentford' of the opening of Brentford's first public library in 1890, using a temporary room at Clifden House, and then the building of the new library in 1903/4. Andrew Carnegie donated £5000 towards the costs of the new library.

Names are under the photo

Front row, L to R: James Clements, James Bigwood MP, William Bradley, Andrew Carnegie LL D, Thomas Layton FSA (Chairman of the Library Committee), Charles James Cross JP, William J Noy, Rev I Parker
Second row: H Payne, Dr Jones, James Bertram (Mr Carnegies private sec.), Dr Joseph S Gubbins, ???, Joseph Thomas Taylor, William George Chovil, Isaac Ward, John Reeder, Edwin Underwood, Fred Turner FR Hist Soc (Librarian), Nowell Parr (Surveyor and designer of the Library and other local buildings), Rev W Edwards, Prof. McNeile Dixon, George Arthur Griffiths, ???
Back row: Archibald Sim Montgomrey JP, Stephen Woodbridge (Town Clerk), Joseph Dorey, Thomas Stallabrass, JW Croxford, George Collier

Biographies for many of the above are available.

You can see the original photo, and many others of Brentford, by visiting Chiswick Library.

Published June 2012; updated January 2013