John Brown

John Brown was killed by two burglars that broke into an auctioneer’s premises below his flat.

He was found dead, lying with his head in a pool of blood on the ground floor of the auctioneer’s premises of Messrs PN Dewe & Co, auctioneers and estate agents at 42 College Road, Harrow on 5 January 1947.

He was a bachelor and was deaf and had lived in the flat above the auctioneer’s premises. He was employed by the owner of the auctioneers and was there to guard it.

The police said that he had received a violent blow to the head and that he had been killed by thieves that had broken into the premises on the Saturday night 4 January 1947.

He was discovered by the head of the auctioneer’s firm on the Sunday morning when he had gone into his office, finding it in a state of disorder and then finding John Brown lying there dead. It was said that the first sign that something was wrong was when the head of the auctioneer’s firm arrived and saw a half-pint of milk outside the front door and a newspaper sticking out of the letterbox.

John Brown was last known to have gone out to visit friends on the Saturday, returning at about 5.15pm. The police said that they thought that when he had returned, he had disturbed thieves who had forced their way into the premises from the rear. The police said that they thought that there had been at least two men involved and that they had attacked John Brown from behind.

A neighbour who knew John Brown said that he was a retiring type of man, saying, 'Being very deaf, he kept himself to himself'.

42 College Road has since been redeveloped. It was approximately where the Sports Direct shop is today.