29/11/2025
Brown’s Hotel: A Family Affair
Thursday 11 December 2025 | 14:00–15:00 | Online
Talk on Zoom with Andy Williamson
Brown’s Hotel was founded in 1837 by James Brown, who married Sarah Willis in 1832 at St George’s, Hanover Square. But was he really the James Brown behind the hotel’s story?
This talk follows the intriguing trail of research into the families who owned London’s oldest luxury hotel for more than two-thirds of its existence. Using marriage records, birth certificates, passenger lists and wills, the investigation uncovered numerous false leads, a forgotten family grave in Kensal Green Cemetery, an unknown daughter named Mary, and the Ford family’s rise from Dorset farmers to hotel royalty. Over the decades, Brown’s Hotel has welcomed figures such as Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, two American presidents, Mahatma Gandhi and exiled royals.
Book your place: https://portal.sog.org.uk/Event/view/1520584
About the Speaker
Andy Williamson is a historian and author of Brown’s Hotel: A Family Affair, the official history of the hotel https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/brown-s-hotel/story/brown-s-hotel-a-family-affair/a. He specialises in historic hotels and the golden age of travel, and has contributed to several documentaries.
