Every week the Gazette will delve into its archives to see what was happening in Hackney 30 and 60 years ago.
30 years:
A secret council report revealed “clear evidence of financial mismanagement” within a Hackney community group – whose bosses included two Labour councillors.
The document highlighted bureaucratic blunders and financial irregularities at Hackney Educational and Development Society (Heads) in Rectory Road, Stoke Newington.
Meanwhile, a crucial town hall meeting to discuss the Heads probe was disrupted constantly by protesters for two hours before the chair decided to abandon it.
The drama didn’t end there for Hackney Council. Three top officers quit on the eve of a report into corruption and inefficiency being published.
60 years:
An uninvited guest at a silver wedding party died after fatally injuring himself falling down stairs at the house.
The deputy coroner said of Frederick William Harwood, 33: “The man walked into the party. It was not his party and he had not been invited. He was allowed to stay only because he was not being a nuisance. He was undoubtedly drunk.”
When guests were leaving at 2am they noticed Harwood lying at the foot of the stairs and sat him on a chair thinking he was drunk.
He was actually seriously injured and died of a fractured spine suffered in the fall.
The first mass was held at St John the Baptist Church in Mare Street after it was restored in the Second World War.
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