1820 – 1830 George IV
1821 Gas was supplied by J E Barlow and later the Brentford Gas Co from their works off the High Street to light the Turnpike to London. The first site was 1/4acre with 115’ river frontage. By the 1960s, shortly before the gas works closed, they covered eight acres with 1/4 mile river frontage
1823 Long distance stagecoaches stopped at the Castle Hotel (previously called The Harrow) every half hour. The stable yard stretched from the High Street through to the Butts where Canon Mews now stands
1824 The foundation stone for a new Brentford bridge over the Grand Junction canal was laid by James Clitherow after which the dignitaries attended an elegant dinner at the Three Pigeons. The single arch of the granite bridge is still visible from the canal towpath underneath the present bridge.
1825 The Stockton-Darlington railway opened.
1825 John Quincey Adams was elected the sixth President of the United States
1825 The Primitive Methodists were meeting in a friend’s house.
1827 The Great Conservatory at Syon was built of glass and iron to a design of Charles Fowler who built Covent Garden.
1828 St George’s Church was consecrated.
The fourth James Clitherow of Boston House gave evidence to a Select Committee of Parliament on Crime and the Policing of London. He attributed the increase in crime in Brentford to a lack of employment and to the drinking of spirits. There are a very numerous class in my neighbourhood of brick makers, “who earn an immense deal of money; but they are so idle and profligate they do not work above three days in the week; they have sufficient to live the other three days in the alehouse; they are a very profligate set of people’ he told the committee.
William Corderwas hanged in Bury St Edmunds after being found guilty of killing Maria Marten in the Red Barn. He had been arrested running a school in Ealing Road, Brentford.
1829 Catholic emancipation was achieved.
The Metropolitan Police Force was formed.
George and Robert Stephenson’s ‘Rocket ‘won a competition by travelling at 30mph.
1829 The Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, visited the Red Lion Brewery to discuss Polar exploration with the owner, Felix Booth and allowed its name to be changed to The Royal Brewery.
Hugh Ronalds the younger, a market gardener with land in the Ham, the Butts and in Isleworth was noted for growing 300 different varieties of apples. He supplied many plants to Kew Gardens and 14,000 shrubs to Kensal Green Cemetery. It is likely that they were transported along the canal.
1830 – 1831 William IV
1830 Colonel James Clitherow and Mrs Clitherow of Boston Manor received a personally written invitation to the coronation of King William and Queen Adelaide in Westminster Abbey. The four were close friends when the king was Duke of Clarence. The friendship continued until the king’s death in 1837.
1832 The Reform Bill was passed which widened the franchise although it was still restricted to ‘suitably qualified adult males’. It also abolished the ‘rotten boroughs’.
1832 Queen Adelaide presented James Clitherow with a silver medallion as a token of her esteem. She gave his wife an amethyst bracelet as a sign of their friendship. The A for amethyst was to remind her of Adelaide.
There was an outbreak of cholera in the town.
1833 The Emancipation Act was passed which led to the abolition of slavery.
1834 The Poor Law Act was passed which established Boards of Guardians to administer several parishes.
The Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire. Turner painted a view of this from the Thames
1834 King William IV, Queen Adelaide and Princess Augusta dined at Boston House with James and Jane Clitherow.
Brentford British school was established in the High Street. It was financed by subscription and, as the Rothschild family were great supporters the name was changed in 1912 to the Rothschild School. During the 1870s it had the reputation of being one of the best schools in London.
1835 The Grand Junction Waterworks opened at Kew Bridge.
The History of Brentford 