Orwell Plaque to be unveiled in Kilburn

Residents in Kilburn will be celebrating their significant literary heritage when they gather on Tuesday 11th September to unveil a plaque to George Orwell (real name Eric Blair) who lived on the Mortimer Estate, NW6

The plaque will be unveiled by Orwell step-son Richard Blair in a ceremony at 3pm on Tuesday 11th September.  The plaque will be on Kington House, Mortimer Crescent, NW6 5NU – which stands on the site of the house that Orwell and his family were themselves bombed out of during World War Two.

There will be a full insight into Orwell’s time in Kilburn and his literary output and life there during the ceremony.  All residents are invited.

This will be followed by a small reception in the estate community centre – Mortimer Tenants Hall and Richard Blair will then go onto West End Lane Books where he will conduct a reading, speak to local residents and sign some of his father’s books.

Ed Fordham who head’s up the Historic Kilburn Plaque Scheme said “It’s great that at a time whilst there is a debate raging about a statue at the BBC to George Orwell and whether he was a radical or not, we here in Kilburn, NW6, can get on with recognising one of our most famous past residents.

“George Orwell in Kilburn follows in a grand tradition of AA Milne whom we commemorated last year and there are many more to come including WH Smith, Louis Wain and Annie Besant.

Richard Blair writes about himself:
“After school near Edinburgh, I went to 2 Agricultural colleges, one in Wiltshire and the other in Aberdeen, I went into farming until 1975 when I joined Massey-Ferguson's demonstration team. Redundancy followed in 1986, so I went off on my own and bought a self catering holiday business on the West Coast near Oban, which is where I was brought up after my father died in 1950.

“After renovating and building some more cottages I sold them in 2008 and more or less retired, but was able to devote more time to the Orwell Awards Trust and also to the Orwell Society.

“Married with 2 sons and 5 grand children. My wife, Eleanor and I have been married for 48 yrs and we spend as much time up at our house in Scotland during the Summer (the house is in the same village as I had my business)and where we also keep a boat.”

ENDS

Any queries should be directed to Ed Fordham on ed.fordham@gmail.com or 07974 950 512.  Questions relating to West End Lane Books should be directed to Danny info@welbooks.co.uk or 0207 431 3770

Interview requests should be emailed in advance and copied to both Ed and Danny.