Ealing: A Concise History

by Jonathan Oates, Peter Hounsell

Ealing, once known as the 'Queen of the Suburbs', has had a long and varied history. Once a country town in Middlesex, the area became part of the City of London in 1965 and celebrates its fiftieth anniversary as a London borough in 2015. This is the first book to chart the history of Ealing from earliest times to the dawn of the twenty-first century. It draws on many sources, including contemporary diaries, newspapers, parish and borough archives. The reader will learn about the many changes in Ealing as it moved from being part of a manor belonging to the Bishop of London to being an independent entity, going on to absorb neighbouring parishes and boroughs in the twentieth century. In A Concise History, authors Jonathan Oates and Peter Hounsell discuss both the built environment of open spaces, churches, shops and pubs as well as the district's residents, from little-known diarists, criminals and politicians to key local personalities who played their part in shaping its history. The impact of outside events, such as civil war, plague and the world wars, are also explored in this fascinating insight into the history of the west London borough.

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 18, 2014

About the author

Jonathan D. Oates is a historian and prolific author on the subject of the Jacobite campaigns from 1689-1746. His focus is on military matters, the British Army and its commanders, and especially the English dimension of the period. This is his seventh book on the topic and he has also written about thirty articles on aspects of Jacobitism, anti-Jacobitism, and the military campaigns. He has also edited three volumes of relevant material; the memoir of a loyalist Scottish officer, the letters of the Duke of Cumberland, as well as a memoir of an eighteenth century Leeds schoolmaster. There are a number of other similar books in the pipeline, including one on sieges of the 'Forty Five. The author studied History at Reading University in 1988-1991, obtaining a First Class degree with a thesis about the 'Fifteen, and then a doctorate from the same place in 2001, covering responses in north eastern England to the two major eighteenth century rebellions. He has been employed as Borough Archivist for the London Borough of Ealing since 1999. He has also had books published about criminal, local, and family history, especially in and around London.