Connection with Gandhiji 
Gandhiji stayed at Kingsley Hall when he went to London for the Second Round Table Conference in 1931.

Background  
• Kingsley Hall was a community center in the industrial district of East London. It was established in memory of Kingsley Lester who died in the First World War.
• Kingsley’s sister Muriel Lester was a social reformer and a pacifist. The Hall was ‘run by for the most part by the people of its own neighbourhood’ who worked out ‘their salvation educationally, socially, and spiritually. According to Ms. Lester, the ideals and aspirations of the people associated with Kingsley Hall had ‘much in common with those of Mr. Gandhi’s Ashram.’
• Ms. Lester who visited Gandhiji at Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad on October 2, 1926, had invited Gandhiji to stay at Kingsley Hall whenever he had an opportunity to visit England.
• As Gandhiji’s visit to England was undecided, Gandhiji wrote to his close friend C.F. Andrews on April 19, 1931, ‘If I do come and if I have the choice, I would like to accept Muriel Lester’s invitation.’
• In a letter to S. Rangoo Ram of Indian Students Central Association in London, Gandhiji wrote on May 14, 1931, ‘It is not at all certain that I am going to London. The odds are that I am not. But if I do, personally I would like to accept the offer of Miss Muriel Lester who has an institution of hers somewhere in the East End.’
• C.F. Andrews informed Gandhiji that he had arranged Gandhiji’s stay at Kingsley Hall. Gandhiji acknowledged it at the end of his letter to Andrews on June 24, 1931, ‘I note you will home me with Muriel.
• Ultimately Gandhiji wrote Muriel Lester, ‘I would rather stay at your settlement [Kingsley Hall] than anywhere else, for there I will be living among the same sore of people as those for whom I have spent my life.’ This letter was released by news agency Reuters from London on July 5, 1931
• Explaining his friend Andrews, Gandhiji wrote on July 16, ‘Personally, I think that it would be better for me to be with Muriel Lester. There I should come in touch with the poor of the East End, know something of life in the East End and probably serve the cause better, being in the surroundings.’
• After all these deliberations, Gandhiji decided against going to London in August and informed Muriel about the decision expressing his grief.
• When Gandhiji’s visit to London was finalised, he issued a press statement in which he said, ‘Though I see nothing on the horizon to warrant hope, being a born optimist, I am hoping against hope. My faith is in God and He seems to have made my way clear for me to go to London.’

The Stay  
• Gandhiji arrived in London from Paris on September 12, 1931, and he was taken to Kingsley Hall, the place of his choice instead of the costly hotels of West London.
• Gandhiji gave an interview to the press after arriving at Kingsley Hall.Gandhiji gave several interviews at the Hall and wrote many letters bearing the address of Kingsley Hall.
• Gandhiji addressed America and its people via the Columbia Broadcasting Service network at Kingsley Hall.
• Gandhiji gave the sermon at Kingsley Hall on September 13.
• Gandhiji was given a reception at the Hall on September 19. He gave a short speech and said, ‘I shall always be enriched by the affection with which I have been received.’
• Gandhiji started taking walks in the morning at half-past five with Ms. Lester, Mirabehn, and few others. People flocked to meet him at the Hall.
• The working office was shifted to a hired flat at 88, Knightbridge in West London on September 21 as it was much closer to Federal Structure Committee meetings. Gandhiji’s close aides Mahadev Desai, Pyarelal, and his youngest son Devdas Gandhi stayed at the flat. Gandhiji returned to Kingsley Hall, 8 miles from the meeting place, every day ‘for his brief sleep.’
• Gandhiji’s stayed at a small room on the top floor, opening onto an open porch.’ Mirabehn stayed with him as ‘cook, housekeeper, alarm clock and general aide.’
• Gandhiji planted a tree outside Kingsley Hall on December 4. He left for Paris on December 5.

Site Address/Contact Details
Kingsley Hall
Powis Rd,
London E3 3HJ,
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 77392 77298

Additional Details:  
• Memoirs of Muriel Lester ‘Entertaining Gandhi’.
• 'Gandhi in London’ by James D. Hunt. It provides a detailed description of Gandhiji’s all visits to London including the last one in 1931.