Berkeley House, the residence of Sir John Berkeley, afterwards Lord
Berkeley, of Stratton, to whose descendant, Earl Fitzhardinge, the
property still belongs. It slopes somewhat steeply to the south, and has
a well-wooded garden in the centre, planted about the end of the
eighteenth century. The equestrian statue of George III., by Beaupré
and Wilton, erected by Princess Amelia in 1766, was removed in 1827, and
the pedestal is vacant, but a drinking-fountain, the gift of the Marquis
of Lansdowne, stands at the south end. In 1805 the north side was
occupied by small tradesmen's shops, which have been replaced; but some
of the other houses are old, and still have the iron link extinguishers
before the door, which may be seen at many houses in this district. No.
25 is Thomas's Hotel, which dates from 1809. Charles James Fox lived
here in 1803. No. 40 is noteworthy for the style of its architecture,
but the finest house in the Square is Lansdowne House (Marquis of
Lansdowne), standing in its own garden on the south side. It was built
by Robert Adam for the Earl of Bute in 1765, and sold while still
unfinished to the Earl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne,
for £22,500. It contains a sculpture gallery commenced in 1778, with a
collection of statuary by Gavin Hamilton. The pictures were collected by
the third Marquis (1807-50), and comprise specimens by Raphael, Murillo,
Velasquez, Hogarth, Reynolds, Landseer, and others. The library was
added in 1790. Priestley was librarian when, in 1774, he discovered
oxygen.
No. 44, designed by Kent for Lady Isabella Finch, has a fine staircase
and drawing-room.
Other inhabitants: Corner of Bruton Street, No. 20, Colley Cibber,
1753; 45, the residence of the Earl of Powis, has a name-plate on the
door (here, in 1774, Lord Clive committed suicide); 10, Lord Clyde,
1863; 11, Horace Walpole, 1774-97, Lady Waldegrave, 1800; 6, second Earl
of Chatham; 13, Marquis of Hertford, Earl of Carnarvon; 17, Lord Rowton;
18, Sir S. B. Bancroft, actor; 21, Lady Anne Barnard, authoress of "Auld
Robin Gray," d. 1825; Lord Brougham and Vaux, 1842; 28, Earl Grey, Lord
Brougham, 1830-34, Sidney Smirke, R.A., architect, 1842; 38, here, in
1804, the Earl of Jersey married Lady Sophia Fane, daughter of the Earl
of Westmoreland, d. 1867, Lord Londesborough, 1891. It has now been
rebuilt in red brick by Lord Rosebery; 48, Lord Brougham, 1849; 52,
Field-marshal Lord Strathnairn, d. 1894.
Berkeley Street was built on the grounds of Berkeley House in 1684 by
Lady Berkeley, under the direction of John Evelyn. It skirts the garden
wall of Devonshire House, and is now chiefly occupied by stabling.
Here lived: Richard Cosway, R.A., 1770-80; No. 4, Shackleton, painter;
9, Pope's Martha Blount, 1731-63; General Bulkeley, d. 1815; Mrs.
Howard, mistress of Louis Napoleon.
Bruton Street, built _circa_ 1727, was named after Lord Berkeley's
Dorsetshire estate. It contains large private houses, the most
noticeable being No. 17, now Lord Stratheden and Campbell. At No. 22
(now Earl Bathurst) was the Pioneer Club for ladies.
Other inhabitants: The Duke of Argyle, d. 1743; Horace Walpole, 1749;
William Pitt, 1760; General Lawrence, d. 1775; R. Brinsley Sheridan,
1786; Mrs. Jamieson, 1851-54; General Sir G. Macdonald, d. 1850; 15,
Right Hon. Lord Hobhouse, P.C.; 16, Lord Granville, d. 1846; Lord
Chancellor Cottenham, 1847; 23, Sir W. H. Humphery, Bart.; 23A, Marquis
of Granby, M.P., 1895; 24, George Canning, 1809; Countess of Longford;
26, Sir Matthew Tierney, physician, 1841; 33, William Owen, R.A., d.
1825; 36, Earl of Orford.
The district west of Berkeley Square, bounded by Piccadilly and Park
Lane, has already been mentioned; though the streets are narrow and
cramped, and many of the houses small, it has always been a fashionable
locality.
In Hill Street (1743) lived: Lord Lyttelton, 1755-73; Admiral Byng,
1756; Smollett's Lady Vane, d. 1788; Mrs. Montagu, 1795; Lord Chief
Justice Camden, d. 1794; Earl of Carlisle, b. 1802; Sir J. F. Leicester,
1829; No. 5, Mr. Henry Brougham (Lord Brougham), 1824, Lord
Londesborough, 1835; 6 (a new house), Marquis of Tweeddale, 1895; 9,
Admiral Sir Philip Durham, 1841; 8, The Mackintosh of Mackintosh; 20,
Lord Barrymore; 21, William Grant, Earl of Malmesbury, d. 1820, Countess
Darnley; 26, Lord Revelstoke; 27, Countess of Roden, 1895; 30, Lord
Westbury; 33, Lord Hindlip; 34, Sir Charles G. Earle-Welby, Bart.; 41,
Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, Bart.
In Farm Street (_circa_ 1750), named from a neighbouring farm, and now a
mews, is the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, a handsome and
lofty Gothic structure in Decorated style, designed by Scoles, and built
in 1849. The front is a miniature reproduction of the cathedral at
Beauvais. The high altar, designed by Pugin, was a gift by Miss Tempest,
and cost £1,000. The church is lit by a clerestory.
In South Street (_circa_ 1737), up to 1845, stood a Roman Catholic
chapel, attached to the Portuguese Embassy. Here is a school endowed by
General Stewart in 1726, and carried on in conjunction with the Hanover
Branch Schools.
Inhabitants: No. 10, Miss Florence Nightingale, 1895; 22, Beau Brummell;
33, Lord Holland; 36, Mlle. d'Este, daughter of the Duke of Sussex,
1835; 39, Lord Melbourne, 1837.
Aldford Street (_circa_ 1734) was named Chapel Street (from Grosvenor
Chapel) until 1886. Part of the north side has been lately pulled down,
and with it No. 13, where Beau Brummell lived in 1816 and Sir Thomas
Rivers Wilson in 1841.
Other inhabitants: No. 23, Shelley, 1813; 5, Earl of Kilmorey.
Deanery Street was built _circa_ 1737, and was first called Dean and
Chapel Street, from the Chapter of Westminster, the ground landlords. In
Tilney Street (_circa_ 1750) lived Soame Jenyns, d. 1787; No. 2,
Viscount Esher; 5, Lord Brampton; 6, Mrs. Fitzherbert, wife of George
IV.
Great Stanhope Street, built _circa_ 1750 by Lord Chesterfield, is
broad, and contained fifteen spacious houses, of which No. 7 was
demolished to build a mansion in Park Lane for a millionaire.
Inhabitants: No. 1, Lord Southampton, 1796, Duke of Bedford, 1810, Earl
Bathurst, 1822, Duke of Manchester, 1890; No. 1, Viscount Clifden; 4,
Earl of Mansfield, 1823, Marquis of Exeter, 1829, Lord Brougham, 1834;
5, Lord Raglan, 1853; 6, Lord Reay; 9, Lord Palmerston, 1814-1843; 10,
Bamber Gascoyne, grandfather of the present Marquis of Salisbury; 12,
Colonel Barré, d. 1802; Sir Robert Peel, 1820-25; 15, Viscount Hardinge,
d. 1856.
Waverton Street was renamed in 1886, instead of Union Street, built
_circa_ 1750. Charles Street is so called after Charles, Earl of
Falmouth, brother of Lord Berkeley. At the corner of Hayes Street a
public-house bears the sign of a running footman in the dress of the
last century, with the inscription, "I am the only running footman."
Inhabitants of Charles Street: No. 22, H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence
(William IV.); Admiral Sir G. Osborn, d. 1792; Sir G. Bulwer Lytton; the
Earl of Ellenborough, Viceroy of India; J. H. Scott, of Abbotsford;
Thomas Baring, M.P.; Lady Grenville, widow of the Premier, 1806-07; 33,
Admiral Sherard Osborn, 1795; Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, d. 1815; Sydney
Smith, 1835; 37, Earl of Dartmouth; 39, Earl of Camperdown; 40, Earl of
Cork and Orrery; 48, Lord Burghclere; 49, Lord Romilly.
In John Street (_circa_ 1730) is Berkeley Chapel, the property of Lord
Fitzhardinge, which dates from about 1750. It is a plain building both
within and without. The interior was redecorated in 1874, and the east
end and chancel in 1895, when a window was put up to the memory of the
late Duke of Clarence. Sydney Smith and Rev. H. F. Cary (1812) are the
best known among the incumbents.
In Queen Street (_circa_ 1753) lived: No. 13, Dr. Merriman, 1796-1810;
20, Thomas Duncombe, M.P., 1824; 22, Sir Robert Adair, d. 1855; 21, Duke
of Hamilton, d. 1895; 25, R. Brinsley Sheridan, 1810.
In Chesterfield Street lived George Selwyn, 1776; No. 3, Sir Ian
Hamilton; 4, Beau Brummell till 1810; 1, Sir W. H. Bennett.
Chesterfield Gardens contain fine red-brick houses built by Mr. Magniac
on the site of the gardens of Chesterfield House.
Inhabitants: No. 2, Lord Hothfield; 6, Duke of Grafton; 9, Lord
Leconfield.
Some fine houses with an outlet by steps to Pitt's Head Mews form
Seamore Place (_circa_ 1761).
Inhabitants: No. 8, Lady Blessington, 1832-36; 1, Alfred de Rothschild;
2, Lord Blythswood; 7, Sir James Lyle Mackay; 9, Hon. A. de Tatton
Egerton.
Curzon Street was named after Curzon, Earl Howe, d. 1758, to whose
family the property still belongs. It was known before that time as
Mayfair Row.
On the south side is Curzon or Mayfair Chapel, an ugly building, first
erected in 1730, but since rebuilt. The Rev. Alex Keith was the first
incumbent. Here he performed marriages without banns or license until
his excommunication in 1742. He then established a chapel close by,
where clandestine marriages were continued until the Marriage Act put an
end to them in 1754. The most celebrated of these were: the Duke of
Chandos and Mrs. Anne Jeffrey, 1744; Lord Strange and Mrs. Lucy Smith,
1746; Lord Kensington and Rachel Hill, 1749; Sewellis Shirley and
Margaret Rolle, widow of the second Earl of Oxford, 1751; Duke of
Hamilton and Miss Gunning, 1752; Lord George Bentinck and Mary Davies,
1753.
Opposite the chapel is Wharncliffe House, a plain building with
courtyard and garden. Here lived in 1708 Edward Shepherd, the builder of
Shepherd's Market. It was sold for £500 in 1750 to Lord Carhampton, who
rebuilt it. From 1776-92 it was occupied by Lady Fane, and by Lady Reade
from 1793 to 1813. In 1818 it was bought by Mr. J. Stuart Wortley, M.P.,
for £12,000, and is now in possession of the Earl of Wharncliffe.
Other inhabitants: No. 1 (pulled down in 1849), Madame Vestris; 8, the
Misses Berry, d. 1852; Baron Bunsen, 1841; 14, Richard Stonehewer, 1782,
Earl of Crewe; 16, Sir Henry Halford, d. 1844; 19, Earl of Beaconsfield,
d. 1882; 20, Viscount Curzon; 21, Earl Howe; 24, Sir Francis Chantrey
when a young man; 30, Lord Macartney, d. 1806; 37, Sir C. M. Palmer,
Bart.; 41, Prince Soltykoff; 64, Earl Percy.
At the end of Curzon Street is Bolton Row (1728), until 1786 called
Blicks Row.
Inhabitants: Martha Blount, 1731-37; Horace Walpole, 1748; Angelo, the
fencing master, 1800.
A passage leads between the gardens of Lansdowne and Downshire Houses to
Berkeley Street. The bars at each entrance were set up after the escape
of a highwayman, who galloped through.
Bolton Street was built in 1699, and was then the western limit of
London. Here lived: Earl of Peterborough, 1710-24; George Grenville, d.
1770; Madame d'Arblay, 1818; Lord Melbourne; Hon. Mrs. Norton, 1841.
The Young Pretender is said to have lodged here secretly when in London.
Clarges Street was built 1716-18 on the site of Clarges House, the
residence of Sir Walter Clarges, nephew of Anne Clarges, wife of Monk,
Duke of Albemarle. Hatton in 1708 described it as a stately new
building, inhabited by the Venetian Ambassador.
Here lived: Admiral Earl St. Vincent, 1717; Earl Ferrers, 1717; Lord
Archibald Hamilton, 1717; Lord Forester, 1717; Sir John Cope, 1746; Miss
O'Neil, actress; Mrs. Delany, 1742-44; Mrs. Vesey, 1780; No. 2, W. T.
Brandes, chemist, 1822-23; 3, Macaulay, 1838-40; 9, Daniel O'Connell,
1835; 10, Sir Nicholas Wraxall, 1792; 11, Lady Hamilton, 1804-06,
Countess Stanhope, 1807-29; 12, Edmund Kean, 1816-24; 14, William
Mitford, 1810-22; 43, Charles James Fox, 1803; 47, at the corner of
Piccadilly, a dull, ugly building, was formerly the residence of the
Dukes of Grafton. In 1876 the Turf Club, established 1866, moved here
from Grafton Street. Formerly the Arlington Club, it is now a great
whist centre, and one of the most select clubs in London.
Half-Moon Street, so called from a public-house at the corner of
Piccadilly, was built in 1730.
Here lived: Boswell, 1768; Shelley, 1813; No. 5, Mrs. Pope, actress, d.
1797; 26, Dr. Merriman; 27, Lola Montes, 1849; 29, John Galt, 1830; 40,
William Hazlitt, 1827-29; 45, the widow of Charles James Fox, 1809.
On either side of Mayfair Chapel are East and West Chapel Streets, built
_circa_ 1785. In the latter, at No. 7, lived Chantrey in 1804. They lead
to Shepherd's Market, a congeries of small streets, which occupy the
site of Brook Field, so called from Tyburn, which flowed through it.
Here was held the May Fair, from which the district derives its name.
First held in 1688, it lasted with many vicissitudes till the reign of
George III., when the Earl of Coventry, d. 1809, procured its abolition.
The ground in 1722 was an irregular open space, but in 1735 Shepherd's
Market was built by Edward Shepherd, the lower story consisting of
butchers' shops, and the upper containing a theatre where plays were
given during the fair time. The block was built in 1860, and now
consists of small provision shops.
Whitehorse Street, built about 1738, is so called from a public-house.
In Carrington Street (1738) was the residence of Kitty Fisher and of
Samuel Carte, the antiquary. Here also was the Dog and Duck tavern,
behind which was a pond 200 feet square, where the sport of duck-hunting
was pursued in the eighteenth century. The site is now marked by Ducking
Pond Mews. In Carrington Mews are the Curzon Schools in connection with
Christ Church, Down Street; they were built about 1826, and provide
tuition for 85 boys, 90 girls, and 110 infants. In Derby Street, No. 5
is the parish mission-house, used also for parochial meetings. Little
Stanhope Street was built about 1761, and leads to Hertford Street
(1764), now chiefly inhabited by doctors.
Here lived: Lord Charlemont, 1766; Lord Goderich, 1782; Earl of
Mornington, 1788-97; No. 10, General Burgoyne, d. 1792; R. Brinsley
Sheridan, 1796-1800; Mr. Dent, d. 1819; 11, Earl of Sandwich, d. 1792;
12, George Tierney, 1796-99; 14, Earl Grey, 1799, Sir W. Jenner; 23,
Robert Dundas, 1810, Charles Bathurst, 1822; 26, Earl of Liverpool, d.
1818; 36, Lord Langdale, 1829, Lord Lytton, 1831-34; 37, Granville Penn,
1822-24.
In this street also the Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III.,
married Miss Horton, the actress. On the site of Down Street (1730)
stood Mr. Deane's school, where Pope was educated. The north end was
called Carrington Place (1774) until 1867. On the west side is Christ
Church, a building of great beauty erected in 1863, with a one-sided
transept. The east window was presented by the Hope family. The street
has been lately rebuilt with red-brick flats and chambers.
Inhabitants: William Hazlitt, 1823-27; No. 8, Rev. H. F. Cary,
translator of Dante; 22, Sir W. G. Nicholson.
Brick Street at its southern end was until 1878 called Engine Street,
from a water-wheel by the Tyburn, which here crossed Piccadilly.
Piccadilly enters our district at the end of Bond Street, and forms its
boundary as far as Hyde Park Corner. The origin of the name is obscure;
the street is first so called in Gerard's "Herbal," 1633, but as early
as 1623 (and up to 1685) a gaming-house named Piccadilly Hall stood near
Coventry Street. In 1617, and for some years afterwards, the name
"Piccadill" was given to a fashionable collar, according to Gifford,
derived from _picca_, a spearhead, owing to the spiky nature of the
folds. Hence it may have been applied as a nickname to the hall and
street, but there are numerous other conjectural derivations. The name
was originally given to the part extending from the Haymarket to
Sackville Street. From that point to Brick Street was styled Portugal
Row, from Catharine of Braganza, wife of Charles II. The stone bridge
over Tyburn gave its name to the short distance between Brick Street and
Down Street; west of that was Hyde Park Road. As the houses were built
the name Piccadilly spread westwards, until, soon after 1770, the whole
street was so called. From the Park to Berkeley Street was also
popularly known as Hyde Park Corner, now confined to the actual vicinity
of the Park. In the sixteenth century Piccadilly was a lonely country
road known as the "Way to Redinge." In 1700 the western portion was
occupied by statuary yards, which soon after 1757 gave way to houses.
The remainder contains many large private houses, and in recent years
has been further changed by the erection of numerous handsome
club-houses. In 1844 it was widened between Bolton Street and Park Lane
by taking in a strip of the Green Park with a row of trees, near the
entrance to Constitution Hill, and throwing it into the roadway; and
again in 1902 by cutting off a part of the Park. The following are the
principal buildings:
At the corner of Albemarle Street the Albemarle Hotel. Hatchett's
restaurant, formerly called the New White Horse Cellar. After the
resuscitation of stage-coaching in 1886, Hatchett's was a favourite
starting-place, but is now little patronized. The new White Horse Cellar
was named after the White Horse Cellar (No. 55) on the south side, so
called from the crest of the House of Hanover, which existed in 1720,
and was widely renowned as a coaching centre. It is now closed.
Adjoining Hatchett's is the Hotel Avondale, named after the Duke of
Clarence and Avondale. The house was opened as a dining club, the
"Cercle de Luxe," in 1892, after the failure of which it was reopened as
an hotel in 1895.
No. 75 is the site of the Three Kings' Inn, where stood up to 1864 two
pillars taken from Clarendon House.
At the corner of Berkeley Street is the Berkeley Hotel and Restaurant,
formerly the St. James's Hotel, which stands on the site of the
Gloucester coffee-house.
Opposite, at the corner of the Green Park, is Walsingham House, an
enormous block built by Lord Walsingham in 1887, and on which he is said
to have spent £300,000. It has been used as an hotel, and is shortly to
be pulled down and rebuilt. Part of it was occupied by the Isthmian
Club, established in 1882 for gentlemen interested in cricket, rowing,
and other sports, which removed here from Grafton Street in 1887.
Opposite Berkeley Street stood the toll-gate, removed to Hyde Park
Corner in 1725. No. 78, adjoining it, is Devonshire House, the residence
of the Dukes of Devonshire, which stands in a courtyard concealed from
the street by a high brick wall, in which are handsome iron gates. It is
an unpretending brick building built by Kent in 1735, with a large
garden at the back. The interior is handsome, and contains a gallery of
pictures by old masters, a large collection of prints, and the famous
Devonshire collection of gems. On this site stood Berkeley House, built
about 1655 by Sir John Berkeley on a property called Hay Hill Farm, the
grounds then covering the present Lansdowne House and Berkeley Square,
as well as Berkeley and Stratton Street. It came into the possession of
the Cavendish family before 1697, but was destroyed by fire in 1733.
Queen Anne, when Princess of Denmark, lived here from 1692 to 1695.
Stratton Street, a cul-de-sac, was built about 1693 by Lady Stratton. At
No. 1 lived Mrs. Coutts (Miss Mellon), afterwards Duchess of St. Albans,
d. 1837. It now belongs to her heir, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.
Other inhabitants: Lord Willoughby, of Brook, 1698; Hon. George
Berkeley, 1735; No. 2, Thomas Campbell, 1802; 7, William Gifford, 1797,
Right Hon. Arnold Morley; 11, Roger Wilbraham, 1822-29, Lord Welby; 12,
General Lord Lynedoch, d. 1803; 17, Earl of Clonmell.
At No. 80, Piccadilly, Sir Francis Burdett was arrested for treason in
1810, when he was imprisoned in the Tower. He was succeeded by the Duke
of St. Albans. In 1849 Lady Guilford occupied the house.
At No. 81 in 1807 was established Watier's Gambling Club, which lasted
until 1819; it was named after the Prince Regent's cook, the manager. It
afterwards became a public gaming-house, and is now a private residence.
No. 82, Bath House, at the corner of Bolton Street, was built for
Pulteney, Earl of Bath, who died 1764. The gardens then extended nearly
to Curzon Street. It was rebuilt in 1821 for Lord Ashburton.
At No. 89, the east corner of Half-Moon Street, lived Madame d'Arblay.
At No. 94, Cambridge House (Naval and Military Club), standing in a
courtyard, occupies the site of Carpenter's Statue Yard, which was
succeeded by an inn. It was built in 1760 for the Earl of Egremont. The
Marquis of Cholmondeley lived here 1809-29, after which the Duke of
Cambridge was the owner until 1850. Lord Palmerston occupied it from
1855 till his death in 1865, when it was purchased by the Naval and
Military Club, established 1862, for officers of the army and navy, who
made extensive alterations in 1878. This was the first club located in
Piccadilly.
No. 97, at the corner of Whitehorse Street, is a square white building;
the New Travellers' Club (social and non-political) was established
here. It now houses the Junior Naval and Military Club.
No. 100 is the Badminton Club (proprietary), built on the site of a
mews, and established in 1876 for gentlemen interested in coaching and
field sports. Next door is the palatial house of the Junior
Constitutional Club for members professing Conservative principles. On
the site stood the town house of the Earls of Mexborough.
No. 105, on the site of Jan Van Nost's figure-yard, the Earl of
Barrymore built a house in 1870, which remained unfinished at his death.
After being partially burned down, it was completed and opened as the
Old Pulteney Hotel. Here the Emperor of Russia and his sister, the Grand
Duchess of Oldenburg, stayed in 1814. In 1823 the house came into the
possession of the Marquis of Hertford, who partially rebuilt it in 1861.
His son, Sir Richard Wallace, sold it to Sir Julian Goldsmid, M.P., who
died 1896. It is now the Isthmian Club. Near here stood the Queen's
Meadhouse.
No. 106, at the corner of Brick Street, stands on the site of the
Greyhound Inn, which was purchased by Sir Henry Hunlocke in 1761. He was
succeeded in 1764 by the Earl of Coventry, who built the present house,
which became in 1829 the Coventry House Club. In 1854 it became the
home of the St. James's Club, established in that year as a centre for
the members of the British and foreign diplomatic bodies. Next door is
the Savile Club, until 1836 the residence of Nathan Meyer Rothschild,
the head of the banking firm.
No. 116, Hope House, at the corner of Down Street, a handsome structure,
was built by Mr. Hope in 1849 at a cost of £30,600, and was sold by his
widow to the members of the Junior Athenæum Club (social and
non-political), established in 1866, which is now located there. The
house was enlarged in 1887.
The private houses west of Down Street were built about 1873.
Two handsome houses, Nos. 127 and 128, were built about 1887. The first
is the Cavalry Club, established in 1890 for officers of the cavalry and
Yeomanry, and the second the Hyde Park Club.
No. 137, Gloucester House, stands on the site of Dickinson's Statue
Yard. It belonged to the Earl of Elgin in 1808, from whom it was
purchased in 1811 by the Duke of Gloucester on his marriage with
Princess Mary. He was succeeded by the present owner, the Duke of
Cambridge.
Other inhabitants of Piccadilly were: No. 96 (No. 15 Piccadilly west),
Mr. Dumergue, with whom Sir Walter Scott resided in 1800; 99 (then 23),
Sir William Hamilton, d. 1803; next door, Sir Thomas Lawrence; 114,
Lord Palmerston, before 1855; 133, Kitty Frederick, mistress of the Duke
of Queensberry, who built the house 1779; 139 (13, Piccadilly Terrace),
Lord Byron, 1815; 138 and 139, the Duke of Queensberry, 1778-1810.
Hamilton Place is a short but broad street, lined on the west with large
and fashionable houses. The ground, then part of Hyde Park, was granted
to Hamilton, Ranger of Hyde Park, 1660-84, who built a street of small
houses, named Hamilton Street, a cul-de-sac. This was replaced in 1809
by a street built by the Adams. In 1871, to relieve the congestion of
the traffic, the roadway was carried through the Park Lane.
Inhabitants: No. 1, Lord Montgomery, 1810 (Lord Chancellor Eldon built
the present house); 2, Duke of Bedford, 1810-19, Earl Gower (Duke of
Sutherland), Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, 1840-46, Duke of Argyle,
1847-51; 3, Earl of Cork, 1810-50, Earl of Dalkeith, 1870; 4, Earl of
Lucan, 1810, Duke of Wellington, 1814, Lord Grenville, 1822, Messrs.
Labouchere, 1823-29, Henry Bevan, 1840-48, Earl of Northbrook, 1895; 5,
Earl of Buckinghamshire, 1810-25, Marquis of Conyngham, 1870, Baron
Leopold de Rothschild, 1895; 6, Right Hon. John Sullivan, 1810, Earl of
Belmore, Lord Montagu, 1829, Earl of Home, 1843, Lord Southampton, 1847,
W. Munro, 1848, Hon. B. J. Munro, 1870; 7, Earl of Shannon, 1810-22,
William Miles, M.P., 1840-50. Nos. 7 and 8 are now the premises of the
Bachelors' Club, established 1881, one of the most fashionable young
men's clubs in London.
The space between Hamilton Place and Apsley House is now occupied by six
large houses.
It was up to the middle of last century a row of mean buildings, many of
them public-houses. Next to Apsley House stood, up to 1797, a noted inn,
the Pillars of Hercules. In 1787 M. de Calonne built a mansion on the
site now occupied by Nos. 146 and 147.
Inhabitants: No. 142, Miss Alice de Rothschild, heiress of the late
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild; 145 was formerly Northampton House; 148,
Nathaniel Meyer, first Baron Rothschild, G.C.V.O., P.C.