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6 unusual facts about Brentford


Charles Labelye

Other British projects of his were Brentford Bridge (1740–42), London Bridge (his consultations were sought in 1746 but not acted upon by the corporation of London), designs for a harbour at Sandwich (engraved by Harris about 1740) and reports on the port and harbour facilities at Great Yarmouth (1747) and Sunderland (1748, also with suggested improvements to the River Wear).

Edmund Ironside

He then raised the siege of London and defeated the Danes near Brentford.

John King, Baron King of Wartnaby

King was born in Brentford, west London, the son of a soldier-then-postman father (Albert) and seamstress mother (Kathleen) and was the second of four children.

Joshua Trimmer

He was the son of Joshua Kirby Trimmer of Brentford, and grandson of Sarah Trimmer (1741-1810), author of the Story of the Robins (1786).

Thomas Muirhead Flett

After working in the Post Office Research Station for three years, Flett worked as a research physicist at Simmonds Aerocessories in Brentford for two years.

William Keasberry

On 30 August 1773, at New Brentford, Middlesex, Keasberry married Henrietta Hamilton (1737–1812), a member of a family of actors.


Alan Keen

The Waterloo apartment is nine miles from their constituency home in Brentford, a 30-minute drive from Westminster.

Andrew Tutte

On 28 August 2010 in a match against Brentford which Rochdale won 3–1, Tutte provided a double assist in a match for Anthony Elding and Jason Kennedy respectively.

Bill Dodgin

Bill Dodgin, Sr., footballer and manager of Southampton, Brentford, Bristol Rovers and Fulham, 1949–1953

Bill McCafferty

McCafferty went on to play for Southern League clubs Portsmouth and Brentford between further spells at Bathgate.

Billy Sweetzer

He began his career in England as a youth player with both Oxford United and Queens Park Rangers, before he became a professional with Brentford – although he never made a league appearance.

Carl Asaba

He returned to Brentford, scoring 23 goals in the 1996–97 season as the Bees lost out in the play-offs.

Charlie Sheringham

He scored his first football league goal in his sixth appearance against Brentford on Boxing Day 2011.

Count Dante

Count Dante is one of the many eccentric characters referred to in Robert Rankin's Brentford stories.

Darren Drysdale

He attracted some media attention in 2007 after Bradford City's Dean Windass received a five match ban for swearing at him in the car park after a home game against Brentford on 2 January.

Freddie Bunce

After missing the first three games of the following season, Bunce scored his first career hat-trick, in a 6–1 win over Brentford at Vicarage Road on 30 August 1960.

Government Secure Intranet

The concept of GSi was defined by the Cabinet Office, and was turned into practical reality by the Internet Special Products group of Cable & Wireless (then known as Mercury Communications) at their Brentford premises.

Henry Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland

After succeeding to the Dukedom on the death of his father, 11 October 1988, he was noted for planting many trees at Syon House, the Ducal residence at Brentford; for an unsuccessful foray into film-making involving the Duke in front of and behind the camera; for a relationship with Naomi Campbell's mother Valerie; and for excessive and adventurous drug taking.

Ívar Ingimarsson

While at Brentford, the band The Bluetones named one of their instrumental B-sides Ingimarsson in his honour; Adam Devlin, the guitarist, being a Bees fan.

Karleigh Osborne

He scored his first goal for Brentford in a 1–0 win at Shrewsbury Town on 5 January 2008, converting a header from Ryan Dickson's corner.

Lancelot Joynson-Hicks, 3rd Viscount Brentford

Lord Brentford was also Chairman of the Automobile Association and served as a member of the House of Laity in the National Assembly of the Church of England.

Layne Redman

He was brought up on the Green Dragon estate and educated at Green Dragon Primary School in Brentford and then onto the Isleworth and Syon School where he gained 7 GCSEs and played left-wing for the school rugby team.

Luke Norris

On 18 October 2013, Norris moved to League Two side Northampton Town on loan until 16 November, linking up with fellow Brentford loanee Stuart Dallas.

Luke Tilt

The then manager of Walsall, Paul Merson, named Tilt on the substitutes bench for the first time in his career and after an injury to first choice keeper Andy Oakes, Merson was forced to put in Tilt for the second half where Brentford were winning 2-0 and lost the match 5-0, after Tilt conceded three goals from Paul Brooker, Sam Sodje and a Kevin O'Connor penalty.

Masaaki Toma

In November 2011, Toma became the first foreign referee ever to be invited to officiate in a match in England's FA Cup when he was chosen to referee the First Round match between Brentford and Basingstoke Town.

Mauro Almeida

He signed for Swindon Town at the end of August 2007, and made his debut against Brentford in the JP Trophy on 4 September.

Natalie Sawyer

During the 2012-2013 season Sawyer also became a semi-regular co-commentator and pundit for Brentford's internal match commentary service, Bees Player.

Niall Thompson

He started his professional career as a trainee with Crystal Palace but after an unsuccessful spell moved to play for Colchester United, Montreal Impact, Zultse VV, Seattle Sounders, Brentford, Vancouver 86ers, Airdrieonians, Bay Area Seals, Wycombe Wanderers, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps.

Nowell Parr

Thomas Henry Nowell Parr FRIBA (1864 – 23 September 1933) was a British architect, best known for designing pubs in west London, many of them built as the "house architect" for Fuller's Brewery, as well as buildings in Brentford, where he was surveyor and then architect to the Council from 1894 to 1907.

Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail

It is a gonzo-esque quest to find the Holy Grail by punk rock legend Rat Scabies, the one-time drummer of The Damned, with whom Dawes strikes up a friendship when the two become neighbours in the London suburb of Brentford.

Richard Cadette

Born in Hammersmith, Cadette began his career in non-league football with Wembley, before playing professional football in both England and Scotland for Leyton Orient, Southend United, Sheffield United, Brentford, Bournemouth, Falkirk, Millwall and Clydebank.

Ron Greenwood

After three years at Brentford, he returned to Chelsea, where he played 65 times and won a First Division winners' medal in 1954-55 under Ted Drake.

The Antipope

The Antipope charts Brentford's anti-heroes' (Jim Pooley and John Omally) drinking, work avoidance, drinking, womanising, and further drinking as they try to foil the eponymous antipope in his demonic attempt to establish a new Holy See.

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

The Trojans' body doubles on the pitch were players from Brentford, during the First Division fixture between the two sides on 6 May 1939; this was the last match of the 1938–39 season and Arsenal's last official league fixture before the outbreak of the Second World War.

The Bargee

Hemel and Ronnie deliver a cargo of lemon peel from Brentford to Boxmoor, meeting an inept mariner (Eric Sykes) en route.

Tony Sealy

Brentford won the Third Division in 1991–92, after which Sealy moved to Hong Kong the next year with Michelotti, Eastern AA and Hong Kong FC.

Vince Hayes

He left United for Brentford in May 1907, but returned to United in June 1908.

Wally Quinton

Walter "Wally" Quinton (13 December 1917 – 1996) was an English professional footballer who made 85 appearances in the Football League playing for Rotherham United, Birmingham City, Brentford and Shrewsbury Town.

William Howell Ewin

He died at Brentford Butts on 29 Dec. 1804, aged 73, and was buried in the chapel of New Brentford, where a monument by Flaxman records his many virtues (Lysons, Environs of London, Supplement, p. 103).

William Pikes

William Pikes (d. Brentford, July 14, 1556) (also William Pickesse, Wyl Pyckes) was a tanner in Ipswich, Suffolk who was arrested in Islington during the Marian persecutions as a member of a group studying the Bible in English, and was burnt at the stake in Brentford.


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