George Orwell lived in Mortimer Crescent during the Second World War

Published: 6 September, 2012
by DAN CARRIER

THE son of writer George Orwell is to unveil a plaque marking his father’s time in Kilburn.

The author lived in a house in Mortimer Crescent during the Second World War. The site of his home – the original house he lived in was hit by a flying bomb – will now have a plaque celebrating his time there.

The writer has a series of plaques marking his various addresses in Camden.

His time in Parliament Hill, where he lodged in a house and wrote the novel, Keep The Aspidistra Flying, is marked by a plaque put up by the Heath and Hampstead Society.

Another used to grace the bookshop in South End Green, Hampstead, where he worked, but it was removed two years ago.

His home in Lawford Road, Kentish Town, where he briefly lodged – and had a punch-up with a fellow lodger who came home drunk – is marked with a plaque.

Orwell moved to Kilburn in 1942. He lived there with his wife Sonia, sister Avril, his mother and his adopted son Richard, who will unveil the plaque in Mortimer Crescent at 3pm on Tuesday.

Organiser Ed Fordham, who chairs the Kilburn Plaques scheme, which celebrates the area’s famous residents, said: “It’s great that, at a time when there is a debate raging about a statue at the BBC to George Orwell and whether he was radical or not, we in Kilburn can get on with recognising one of our most famous past residents.

“George Orwell in Kilburn follows in a grand tradition of A A Milne, whom we commemorated last year, and there are many more to come, including W H Smith [founder of the shops chain], Louis Wain [artist] and Annie Besant [activist and writer].”