The Blue Plaque Guide ... to Historic London Houses and their Famous Residents

108 Pages·1953·16.464 MB·English - UK

by  BURROWS, Victor (editor)

The Blue Plaque Guide
DanteGabriel Rossetti, 16CheyneWalkS.W.)
The
Blue Plaque
Guide
to historic London houses
and the lives of
their famous residents
Edited by Victor Burrows
with an introduction by Sir William Reid Dick
and drawings by E. W. Fenton
Newman Neame London 1953
First publishedin March 1953
by Newman Neame Limited
50 Fitzroy Street, London, W.l.
AIIrights reserved
Printedin Great Britain by
Hunt, Barnard and Company Limited
Prefatory Note
The names in this guide are arranged alphabetically and are
numbered serially. If the reader wishes to visit houses in a
particular district he may do so by referring to the map, whose
numbers correspond to the numbers against the text entries.
A bracketed date at the end of an entry refers to the year in
which a commemorative plaque was erected.
Acknowledgments
The editor and the publishers wish to express their gratitude
to the Clerk, the Librarian and other officers of the London
County Council who have made freely available the records
and facts collected by the Council in the course of identifying
housesand assessingtheclaimsofpersons tobecommemorated.
Introduction
Iwas particularly pleased to be invited to introduce The Blue Plaque
Guide because I feel that to commemorate those who have given
something lasting to the culture ofa city or a country is an act of
some importance to us all.
Statues erected to great men generaIIy require no introduction
because they, and other large monuments, mark achievements that
have become part ofour history. They are outstanding, both in the
events they call to mind and in the places they occupy in our cities.
They commemoratethe extraordinary momentsin the livesofextra
ordinarymen and women.
But this book draws ourattention to the general scene. Ittakes us
through the streets of London to the houses marked by the distinc
tivememorial plaques of the London CountyCounciland the Royal
Society of Arts. On each ofthese one will find a briefnotice to the
effect that such and such a person 'lived here'. Notices ofthis kind
do notnecessarily remind us of the outstandingmomentsofpeople's
lives; they remind us, rather, of the domestic affairs of their daily
existence.
A memorial plaque may strike one as a very modest way to com
memorate thelifeofa man, but in their full rangethese plaquesbuild
up a many-sided picture of the city's achievement, bringing home to
one a more complete idea ofthe activities ofdifferent ages. We are
reminded of the cosmopolitan character of London when we read
thatit wasin Ebury Streetthat, at the age ofeight, Mozartwrotehis
first symphony; in Gower Street that Mazzini spent his exile; from
King Street that Napoleon III joined the special constabulary; in
Hereford Road that Marconi conducted his experiments in wireless
telegraphy. One realises, also, that Earnshaw, the chronometer
maker, and Turner, the engraver, were as great in their particular
waysas the statesmen, generals and artists with whom we are more
familiar.
But perhaps the most absorbing thing about this Guide isthe way
inwhichitbrings usinto directcontactwith the livesof these people.
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Wehaveapicture ofSirHenry Jrvingin hisrooms inGrafton Street
with 'yawning gapsinthe bookshelves, from whichthe volumesnow
strewing the floor have been hastily dropped forreferenceor study.
. . .At the foot of the music stool is a large brown-paper package
obviously containing boxes of cigars ... and the broad sofa seems,
from the variety of its contents, to have lost its identity, and to be
undecided whether it wasintended for a wardrobe, a bookcase or a
portfolio... .' Heine,in Craven Street,reminds usthatnot everyone
found London to be the city ofhis dreams: 'it is so fearfully damp
and uncomfortable here, and no one understands me'. This makesa
rich contrast to the full and varied lifelivedby Edmund Kean and
his wifein Clarges Street. 'Mrs Kean, who loved a fashionable life,
formed thecentre ofa titled and distinguished crowd, givingdinners
and planning socialtriumphs. But Kean waslikelyto befound box
inginthedining-roomwiththe pugilistsMendoza and Richmond or
fondling his tame American lion in the drawing-room.'
I particularlyliked the glimpseofWilliam Morris whoserooms in
Red Lion Square weregradually provided with 'intensely mediaeval
furniture ... as firm and as heavyas a rock', and of Gainsborough
inPallMallwhowas'a quick-temperedman, occasionallyfallingout
with his wife as well as the president of the Royal Academy, Sir
Joshua Reynolds. These quarrels between the two men,weare glad
to hear, 'were quicklyended byan exchangeof notessignedwiththe
names of their pet dogs'.
Allthefamous Londonersare here. BosweIl and JohnsoninGreat
Portland Street and Gough Square, Dickens in Holborn, and, in
Hampstead, John Keats, the most famous of the 'cockney school of
poets', recovering from the vicious attacks on his poem Endymion
and writing the famous letters to Fanny Brawne whom he had met
in the house next door.
One is reluctant to leave so livelyand interesting a collection of
facts and anecdotes. The book is the perfect complement to the
London County Council scheme, and when one has finishedit one
feels that one has been drawn into the city and made aware of it
more intimately and directly than before.
The illustrations are not onlydecorative; theyadd considerably to
the value ofthe book. One may seeat a glance the varied stylesof
architecture to be found in London. For example, the beautiful
Regency facade of the Adelphi Terrace, the Adam doorway of 65
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