James Hadley Chase

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JH Chase plaque unveilingOur latest green plaque was unveiled on Friday 15 May. It marks the birthplace of James Hadley Chase, a prolific thriller writer. He was born at 4 Woodfield Avenue W5, which is part of the Brentham Estate, on Christmas Eve 1906. He was given the names Rene Lodge Peck Brabazon Raymond, but changed his name when he started publishing. The family lived at this address for 2 years after his birth. He is described in Wikipedia as “one of the best known thriller writers of all time. The canon of Chase, comprising 90 titles, has earned for him a reputation as the king of thriller writers in Europe. He is also one of the internationally best-selling authors, and 50 of his books have been made into films.” Probably his best known work is No Orchids for Miss Blandish which was published in 1939. He died in Switzerland in 1985.

The plaque was unveiled by Ann Evans, a writer of children’s and teenage thrillers who was inspired by reading Chase when she was a teenager. She is pictured here with Simon Cole, the owner of the house. The event was attended by Harbhajan Kaur Dheer (the new Mayor of Ealing) and by Rupa Huq MP in her first public engagement. The plaque is shown in the plaques section of this website.