6 Chesterfield Gardens: who paid the rent?

It's not what you think happened that counts, but what actually happened that can be supported by documentation. On July 2, 1964, two independent public relations firms issued the same press release to announce that Radio Atlanta would become Radio Caroline. It did not say that one of them would be called 'Radio Caroline North', and one of them (ex-Radio Atlanta) would be called 'Radio Caroline South, regardless of what transpired after that date.

Then there is the letter by Christopher Moore dated July 16, 1964 which is addressed to dj Keith Martin on board the mv Mi Amigo, home of the the ex-Radio Atlanta.

But look at what this letterhead does not say:

This letter appears on Jon Myer's web site, and the heading merely denotes the original Radio Caroline, minus any mention of a company or directors. It merely tells the recipient to "please reply to 6 Chesterfield Gardens, London W.1." and it provides a telephone number to call. What's missing is any mention of 'Caroline House', or any form of legal identity regarding the singular Radio Caroline.

It is not what one might assume that it says, but what it says, and what it says is not very much at all. The previous address for Radio Caroline was on Regent Street, but again, as hard as the UK Board of Trade tried, they could not find any evidence of a company that represented an entity called 'Radio Caroline' at that address.

If we go by the words of the man (Richard Morecraft) who was later hired to maintain the property at 6 Chesterfield Gardens, well, he seems to have forgotten that it was the property next door at 8 Chesterfield Gardens that hired him. The name of that business was well known and it is reflected in the advertising printed on this book of matches, along with its parent address on New Bond Street:

By "next door", we mean the very next doorway to the left of number 6, if you are facing the front of the building from the street. Yes, we are aware that in this illustration the later telephone numbering system is being used. But unless someone can prove otherwise, from what we have learned, the  'Twenty-One Club' was a satellite "institution" of 'Churchills Club' in 1964, and the police knew both addresses very well for a number of reasons. Not only that but Dick Morecraft said in an interview that he was hired by 'Churchills', and not by 'Twenty-One', but that he had no problem with switching his maintenance work location on to number 6 Chesterfield Gardens on the very same day that he began to work for 'Churchills' on New Bond Street - which implies that all three properties had a common owner. We also know quite a bit about that person as well.

But if brand-name use of 'Caroline' did not begin with a radio station, but with Beatrix Miller circa. 1962, who was an employee of Jocelyn Stevens, then what did the words "Caroline House" which had been applied to the exterior pillars actually mean?

Obviously the primary tenant was also sub-letting 6 Chesterfield Gardens to other entities during the time that the people calling themselves "Radio Caroline" occupied the premises. Were all of the many other entities decamping at 6 Chesterfield Gardens between 1964 and 1967, paying rent to Stevens Press Ltd. so that they could also occupy part of the property?

There were many occupants besides "Radio Caroline" (which did not exist as a company), and one of them was the Robert Stigwood Organisation Limited - which obviously was a registered UK company:

In August 1961, this was the prior occupant of 6 Chesterfield Gardens: