Comments on: Australia House And Its Hidden 900 Year Old well

By: Westminster – Tired of London, tired of life

Westminster – Tired of London, tired of life — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 11:02:10 +0000

[…] Australia is part of the Commonwealth. Used in the first Harry Potter movie as the Gringotts Bank. https://livinglondonhistory.com/australia-house-and-its-hidden-900-year-old-well/Architecture – Banqueting HouseOnly large surviving component of the Palace of Whitehall […]

By: Anne Peile

Anne Peile — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 17:42:06 +0000

Fascinating to see inside Australia House at last, it was a recurring presence in my childhood. My great aunt Mabel Lavan was in charge of its Cables Room during WW2. During the Blitz she had to live on site and had a little room somewhere in the attic. After the war she shared her home with V.C. Duffy who had been assistant to the High Commissioner. In the 60s they strolled down to Australia House together each week to collect their pension cheques and have a drink at what she called their ‘local’ – the bar at the Waldorf.

By: David Strong

David Strong — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 12:44:23 +0000

It was only just before my Mother died that she told me that her and my Father nearly signed up to the ten-pound Poms scheme in the 1950’s when the got married. She was keen but my Father not so much apparently so it never happened. I often wonder how different our lives would’ve been and having visited Australia twice in the last five years to see our daughter currently living in Sydney I can see the attraction. However, life was hard then and certainly I remember one of my elder brother’s friends leaving in the early 1970’s with his family on the same scheme and they returned a few years later. Great article by the way. Thanks

By: Sally Kindberg

Sally Kindberg — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 08:41:06 +0000

Love the info about the well, thank you!

By: Bob Lester

Bob Lester — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 05:52:05 +0000

Great to see a little bit of Australia in London. It would be great for us Aussies visiting it during our visit. The aboriginal tapestry looks much better than the former one and should take pride of plane in the hall.
Love reading all your posts from far away Australia. Keep up the wonderful work you are doing. Bob