"An American President in Ealing": John Quincy Adams

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Little Ealing History Group publishes a fascinating and easy read

The Little Ealing History Group has published a unique local history book based on the diaries of John Quincy Adams, a leading nineteenth-century American statesman and diplomat. A serious man with a strong sense of public duty, he was elected the sixth President of the United States in 1825. Between 1815 and 1817 he served as the United States representative in Great Britain and lived with his family at Little Boston House on the border of Ealing and Brentford in West London.

Throughout his life Adams kept a detailed diary, and the record of his two years in Ealing provides a fascinating insight, not only into his life and thought, but also into the life of the area in the early nineteenth century. In this book, using the diary and other sources, Little Ealing History Group explores the life of Adams and his family and the community in which they lived during their time in Britain.

Dr Jonathan Oates, Ealing Borough Archivist and Local History Librarian commented: “An American President in Ealing is attractively produced and well illustrated, well set out, reads well and reproduces a great deal of valuable material which will be new to many”.

The book contains many quotations from the diary, a full historical commentary and is richly illustrated. It is very accessible for those with little prior knowledge of Adams or of Ealing's history.

The Little Ealing History Group has eight members and was set up in 2000 to research the history of the local area. It previously published Little Ealing: a walk through history (2002).

 

November 4, 2014