Just after the publication of 'Little Ealing' we were fortunate to have passed on to us extracts from Adams' diaries and correspondence which are held at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. These paint a detailed and charming picture of Adams' life at Little Boston.
One of the most fascinating aspects to be revealed in 'Little Ealing a walk through history' was that John Quincy Adams, a future American president, lived in Little Ealing for a short period in the early 19th century. Whilst Adams was American minister to Britain from 1815 to 1817, he and his family lived at Little Boston, a house that was situated on the northern corner of the Ride and Windmill Road on the borders of Brentford and Ealing. Little Boston House at that time formed part of the lands of Boston Manor which were owned by the Clitherow family from 1670 until the 1920s. It appears on the John Rocque map of 1746 (the first detailed map of the area) and on subsequent parish and ordnance survey maps until the 1920s.
