“Piccadilla Hall,” its most westerly building during the reign of
Elizabeth, and utilized as a depôt for the sale of the then fashionable
PICCADILLY LACE, so called on account of its little spearlike points,
_piccadilly_ being the diminutive of _pica_, a pike, a spear. In the
succeeding reign of James I., the high ruff worn by males was styled
a piccadilly, though the lace had disappeared from its edge. =Curzon
Street= was named after George Augustus Curzon, third Viscount Howe,
the ground landlord. =Charles Street= and =Queen Street= were first
built upon in the reign of Charles II., in honour of whom and his queen
they were designated. =Shepherd Street=, =Shepherd’s Market=, and
=Market Street= faithfully preserve the memory of the owner of the land
upon which the ancient “May Fair” was held. =Hay Hill=, =Hill Street=,
and =Farm Street= mark the situation of an old farm that stood upon the
lands of John, Lord Berkeley of Stratton, an able officer in the army
of Charles I., whose titles are perpetuated in =John Street=, =Berkeley
Square=, =Berkeley Street=, and =Stratton Street=; while =Bruton
Street= refers to the family seat of the Berkeleys, situated at Bruton,
Somersetshire. =Mount Street= marks the site of one of the western
forts or bastions hastily formed by the Parliamentarians in 1643 to
resist an expected attack upon the Metropolis from this side by the
Royalists. =Clarges Street= derived its name from the residence of Sir
Walter Clarges built in 1717, and afterwards occupied by the Venetian
Ambassador. In =Half-Moon Street= stood an old tavern bearing the sign
of “The Half-Moon.” =Arlington Street= and =Bennett Street= were named
after Henry Bennett, Earl of Arlington, whose town house was situated
on the site of the former thoroughfare. =Dover Street= was so called in
memory of Henry Jermyn, Lord Dover, who died in it in 1782. =Albemarle
Street= contained the residence of Christopher Monk, second Duke of
Albemarle, acquired from the Earls of Clarendon. =Old Bond Street=,
of which =New Bond Street= is a modern continuation, received its
name from the Bond family, now extinct. The land upon which it stands
was the property of Sir Thomas Bond, Comptroller of the Household of
Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. =Clifford Street= preserves the
memory of Elizabeth Clifford, who became the wife of Richard Boyle,
Earl of Burlington (died 1753), after whom =Old Burlington Street=,
and subsequently, =New Burlington Street= were designated. In =Cork
Street= resided Lord Cork, one of the four brothers of the Boyle family
advanced to the peerage at the same time. =Savile Row= was named
after Dorothy Savile, who became Countess of Burlington and Cork, and
inherited the property. =Vigo Street= commemorates the capture of Vigo,
in Spain, by the British on several occasions in the course of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The street dates back to the
year 1720. =Sackville Street=, built in 1679, serves its purpose as
perpetuating the memory of the witty Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset,
whose friends were unwilling that his fame should be allowed to die.
=Air Street=, Piccadilly Circus, was at the time of its erection in
the year 1659 one of the most westerly, and consequently, open streets
of the town. =Swallow Street= is a corruption of “Slough Street,” at
one time a miry thoroughfare much infested by footpads. =Vine Street=
recalls the ancient vineyard belonging to the Abbey at Westminster,
situated here.
=Regent Street= was named by John Nash, the architect, after his
royal patron, the Prince Regent. It was commenced in 1813. =Conduit
Street= received its name from the conduit or spring-head set up in the
meadow formerly known as “Conduit Mead,” now swallowed up by Old Bond
Street. =Maddox Street= was built by one Maddox in 1720. =Brook Street=
reminds us of the pleasant stream that wound its way from Tyburn down
to Leicester Fields, where it was designated the Cranbourne, and
ultimately spent itself in the Thames. =Mill Street= affords us an
additional memory of the rurality of London in bygone times. =George
Street= (also =St. George’s Church=), =Hanover Street=, and =Hanover
Square= were designations in honour of the Hanoverian succession in the
person of George I. =Davies Street=, connecting Berkeley Square with
Oxford Street, received its name in compliment to Miss Mary Davies,
the heiress of Ebury Manor, Belgravia, who carried that estate by her
marriage into the possession of the Grosvenors.
Crossing Regent Street, =Argyll Street= marks the situation of the
old town mansion of the Dukes of Argyll. =Marlborough Street=, =Great
Marlborough Street=, and =Blenheim Street= were so called in honour of
the Duke of Marlborough, the victor of Blenheim. =Wardour Street= is
in allusion to the family seat of the ground landlord, Lord Arundel of
Wardour. =Nassau Street= was named in compliment to the royal House of
Nassau, from which the Prince of Orange claimed his descent. =Golden
Square= is a corruption of Gelding Square, derived from an adjacent
inn sign, “The Gelding.” =Shaftesbury Avenue= is a modern thoroughfare
named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, who
performed the opening ceremony but a short time before his death, which
occurred in 1885. =Windmill Street= furnishes another pleasant reminder
of green pastures and rural delights. =Old Compton Street= was built in
the reign of Charles II. by Sir Francis Compton. =New Compton Street=
and =Dean Street= derived their names from Bishop Compton, Dean of the
Chapel Royal, Savoy, who originally possessed the living of St. Anne’s,
Soho. =Gerrard Street= and =Macclesfield Street= perpetuate the memory
of Gerard, Earl of Macclesfield, the owner of the site at the time when
buildings were first put up hereabouts in 1697. =Greek Street= was so
called from the Greek merchants who colonized this neighbourhood,
and for whose spiritual benefit a Greek church was erected hard by.
=Carlisle Street= was designated after the Howards, Earls of Carlisle,
a branch of the ducal house of Norfolk, whose family mansion stood on
the east side of what is now Soho Square about the middle of the last
century.
=Hanway Street=, situated on the north side of Oxford Street, received
its name from Jonas Hanway, who was the first to carry an umbrella
through the London streets. This occurred in the year 1750. =Rathbone
Place=, a somewhat exclusive thoroughfare, supporting its own police,
was built by a Captain Rathbone in 1718. =Newman Street= and =Goodge
Street= retain the names of their speculative builders. =Castle
Street= took its title from an inn sign at the corner of Oxford
Market. =Wells Street= is properly “Well Street,” so called after
Well in Yorkshire, the seat of the Strangeways family, from whom Lady
Berners, the original ground landlady of =Berners Street=, descended.
In =Foley Street= stood Foley House, the town-mansion of Lord Foley.
=Charlotte Street= received its name in honour of the queen of George
III. =Bolsover Street=, =Great Titchfield Street=, =Titchfield Street=,
=Grafton Street=, =Cleveland Street=, =Fitzroy Square=, =Euston
Square=, =Euston Road=, and =Southampton Street=, are all designated
after family names of the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton, Earls and Lords
of Southampton, the ground landlords. Euston is the seat of the Earl of
Euston, son of the Duke of Grafton and Marquis of Titchfield, situated
at Thetford, in the county of Norfolk; while Bolsover is the Derbyshire
seat of the Graftons. =Tottenham Court Road= anciently comprised the
manor of Totten, or Totham, held by William de Tottenhall in the reign
of Henry III. In Elizabeth’s time the manor was described as “Tottenham
Court.” The lease fell into the possession of Charles Fitzroy, second
Duke of Grafton, by right of his mother, Lady Isabella Bennett, who
inherited it.
=Oxford Street=, formerly styled Oxford Road, =Oxford Market=,
=Mortimer Street=, =Harley Street=, =Edward Street=, and =Wigmore
Street=, derived their names from Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and
Mortimer, created Baron Harley of Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire in
1717, the owner of the estate. =Cavendish Square=, =Old Cavendish
Street=, =New Cavendish Street=, =Holles Street=, and =Henrietta
Street=, preserve the memory of Henrietta Cavendish, wife of the second
Lord Harley, and only daughter and heiress of John Holles, the last
Duke of Newcastle, who by her marriage carried all this property into
the family of the Harleys. Her daughter, Lady Margaret Cavendish,
became in her turn the wife of William Bentinck, second Duke of
Portland; in honour of which connection there have been designated
the various thoroughfares known as =Bentinck Street=, =Margaret
Street=, =Duke Street=, =Duchess Street=, =Portland Place=, and =Great
Portland Street=. =Welbeck Street= was named after Welbeck Abbey, in
Northamptonshire, the seat of the Portland family; while =Clipstone
Street= and =Carburton Street= were respectively designated after
villages, the one in Nottinghamshire, the other in Northamptonshire,
included in the ducal estate. =Wimpole Street= repeats the name of
the seat of the Harleys situated on the borders of Herefordshire and
Cambridgeshire, and purchased by Lord Chancellor Hardwicke in the last
century. =Stratford Place= was built in 1775 by Edward Stratford,
second Lord Aldborough, on ground leased from the Corporation of London
for the purpose. The erection of =Queen Anne Street= dates from the
reign indicated by its name. =Mansfield Street= is all that is left
to remind us of the town residence of the Earl of Mansfield. =Langham
Place= and =Langham Street= were named after Sir James Langham, whose
mansion and grounds occupied the site of the latter. =Vere Street=
recalls the existence of the De Veres, who for centuries held the
Earldom of Oxford previous to the Harleys. =Duke Street=, =Manchester
Street=, and =Manchester Square=, comprise the property of the Duke
of Manchester. =Spanish Place= was originally so called from the
residence of the Spanish Ambassador during the last century. =Chandos
Street= derived its name from the mansion built by James Bridges, Duke
of Chandos. =Hinde Street= perpetuates the memory of James Hinde, a
speculative builder and one of the lessees of Marylebone Park more than
a hundred years ago. =North Audley Street= and =South Audley Street=
point to the existence of Hugh Audley, a barrister of the Middle Temple
and owner of a landed estate hereabouts worth a million of money;
which, at his death, in 1662, fell to Sir William Davies, Lord Mayor of
London, the father of Miss Mary Davies already alluded to in connection
with Davies Street and Ebury Manor, Belgravia.
=Old Quebec Street= commemorates the capture of Quebec by General
Wolfe in 1759, about which period this street was first built upon.
=Seymour Place= and =Upper Seymour Street= were designated after the
Seymours, from whom the Portmans are descended. =Montague Street= and
=Montague Square= were so called in compliment to Mrs. Montague of
Blue Stocking fame, who, on becoming a widow, took up her residence
in Portman Square close by. =Orchard Street= was designated in
allusion to Orchard-Portman, one of the seats of the Portmans, in
Somersetshire. =Portman Square=, =Portman Street=, =Berkeley Place=,
=Upper Berkeley Street=, =Lower Berkeley Street=, =Bryanstone Square=,
=Bryanstone Street=, =Wyndham Place=, =Wyndham Street=, =Blandford
Square=, =Blandford Street=, =Dorset Square=, and =Dorset Street=,
all have reference to the titles and estate of the sole landlord of
this neighbourhood, viz., Edward Berkeley Portman, Viscount Portman of
Bryanstone, near Blandford, Dorsetshire, many years M.P. for Dorset,
and some time M.P. for Marylebone. =Baker Street= received its name in
compliment to Sir Edward Baker of Ranston, a valued neighbour of the
Portmans in Dorsetshire. =Harewood Square= and =Harewood Street= mark
the position of the town mansion of the Earls of Harewood. =Lisson
Grove= stands on part of the land formerly known as _Lideston Green_,
really a corruption of _Ossulton Green_. _Ossulton_ is the name of a
Hundred mentioned in Domesday Book, and preserved in =Ossulton Square=,
close at hand, and also in =Ossulton Street=, Euston Road.
=Regent’s Park= was named in honour of the Prince Regent, for whom it
was originally intended to build a palace on the ground now utilized as
the Botanic Gardens. =Albany Street= and =Osnaburgh Street= perpetuate
the memory of Frederick, second son of George III., nominally styled
Prince-Bishop of Osnaburgh in Hanover, and created Duke of York and
Albany, and Earl of Ulster. =Cumberland Market=, whither the hay-market
was removed from what still bears the description of the Haymarket
in 1831, received its name in honour of Ernest Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland, one of the sons of George III., who subsequently became
King of Hanover. =Munster Square= was so called in compliment to the
eldest son of William IV., created Earl of Munster. =Park Street= is
the direct approach from High Street, Camden Town, to the Regent’s
Park. =Brecknock Road=, =Brecknock Crescent=, =Bayham Street=,
=Pratt Street=, =Jeffreys Street=, =Henry Street=, =Charles Street=,
=Frederick Street=, =Edward Street=, =William Street=, and =Robert
Street=, repeat the titles, family and Christian names occurring in
the family of the Earl of Brecknock, Marquis of Camden, the owner of
the estate, who died in 1840. =Great College Street=, =College Place=,
and =College Street=, are situated within a stone’s throw of the Royal
Veterinary College. =Oakley Square= owes its title to Oakley House,
near Bedford; and =Ampthill Square= to Ampthill Park, in Bedfordshire,
the names of two seats of the Bedfords; while =Harrington Square=
was denominated after the Earl of Harrington, one of whose daughters
became the wife of the seventh Duke of Bedford. =Mornington Crescent=
and =Mornington Place= were named in honour of the Earl of Mornington,
Governor-General of India, the brother of the Duke of Wellington; and
=Granby Street= after John Manners, the popular Marquis of Granby.
=Eden Street= covers the site of the old “Adam and Eve” Tea Gardens.
=Skinner Street=, Somers Town, was built, and is still owned by, the
Skinners’ Company.
=Pancras Road= received its name from the parish church of St. Pancras.
=Battle Bridge Road= marks the spot where the Romans defeated the
Iceni, under Queen Boadicea, in the year 61. =York Road= owes its
designation to the fact that the Great Northern Railway was originally
styled “The London and York Railway.” =Caledonian Road=, which extends
northwards to =Caledonian Market=, was so called after the Royal
Caledonian Asylum, founded for Scottish orphans in 1831. =Liverpool
Street= and =Sidmouth Street= recall the names of two popular Lords
of the Ministry, at the accession of George IV. =Burton Crescent=
memorializes its builder. =Judd Street= comprises the property
bequeathed by Sir Andrew Judd, Lord Mayor in 1551, to the endowment of
a school at Tunbridge, Kent, his native place. =Great Coram Street=
affords us a pleasant reminder that the Foundling Hospital owes its
existence to the benevolence of Captain Thomas Coram in the year
1739. =Lamb’s Conduit Street= preserves the name of William Lamb,
a clothworker to whose enterprise “a faire conduit and standard,”
constructed in 1577, was due. =Harpur Street= received its title in
honour of Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor in 1562, whose property
hereabouts, together with that now known as =Bedford Row=, High
Holborn, was devoted at his death to the foundation of a school and
other charitable purposes at Bedford, his native place.
=Southampton Row= and =Southampton Street=, =Great Russell Street=,
=Russell Square=, =Bedford Square=, =Tavistock Square=, and =Tavistock
Place=, were named after Thomas Wriothlesley, Earl of Southampton,
Marquis of Tavistock, and Duke of Bedford, father of Rachel, who became
the wife of Lord William Russell, the patriot, already alluded to in
connection with Southampton Street, Strand. =Gordon Square= perpetuates
the memory of Lady Georgina Gordon, daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke
of Gordon, and wife of John, sixth Duke of Bedford, who had had for his
first wife a daughter of the noble house of Torrington, memorialized
by =Torrington Square=. =Montague Street= and =Montague Place= occupy
two sides of the site of Old Montague House, the nucleus of the British
Museum. =Brunswick Square= and =Mecklenburgh Square= were built and
designated at the time when it was considered the correct thing to
honour the Hanoverian succession in every possible way. =Thurlow Place=
was named in compliment to Lord Chancellor Thurlow, whose house was
situated in =Great Ormond Street=, so called after the British general
and duke of that title. =Powis Place= covers the ground formerly
occupied by Powis House, the town mansion of William Herbert, Marquis
of Powis, whose father was outlawed by James I. =Bloomsbury Square=
is properly “Lomesbury Square,” marking the site of the manor-house
described in olden times as “Lomesbury Village.” =Hart Street= received
its name from “The White Hart” Inn; and =Red Lion Square= and =Red Lion
Street=, from “The Red Lion,” both hostelries of some importance in
the coaching days. =Queen’s Square= was designated in honour of Queen
Anne, in whose reign it was laid out. =Kingsgate Street= was so styled
because the King used it on his way to Newmarket; while =Theobalds
Road= led to Theobalds, in Herefordshire, the favourite hunting seat of
James I.
=Coldbath Square=, Clerkenwell, marks the situation of the celebrated
Cold Bath, fed by a spring discovered by Mr. Baynes in 1697. The
surrounding district before it was built over formerly bore the
name of =Coldbath Fields=. =Vinegar Yard= is a corruption of the
vineyard anciently belonging to the Priory of the Knights of St. John.
=Ray Street= preserves the memory of Miss Ray, the mistress of Lord
Sandwich, shot by her lover Hackman. =Rosoman Street= was designated
after the enterprising Mr. Rosoman, who converted Sadler’s Musick
House into a theatre in 1765. =Aylesbury Street= in olden times
skirted the wall of the garden attached to the town mansion of the
Earls of Aylesbury. =Berkeley Street= derived its name from Berkeley
House, the residence of Sir Maurice Berkeley, standard-bearer to
Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth. =Albemarle Street= was built
during the period that witnessed the popularity of General Monk,
Duke of Albemarle. In bygone times the whole of Clerkenwell received
the opprobrious title of =Hockley-in-the-Hole=, the name of a place
in Bedfordshire noted far and wide for its impassable and sloughy
character. =Hockley= is an Anglo-Saxon term, denoting a muddy field.
=Myddleton Square= and =Myddleton Street= perpetuate the memory of
Sir Hugh Myddleton, the founder of the New River Waterworks, opened
September 16, 1613. =Pentonville Road= owes its title to the _ville_,
or rural mansion, occupied by Henry Penton, Esq., Lord of the Admiralty
and M.P. for Winchester, on the spot where =Penton Street= now stands.
Mr. Penton died in 1812. =St. John Street Road= took its name from
the Priory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, of which =St.
John’s Gate= is an interesting relic. =Windmill Street= marks the
site of three large windmills erected in Finsbury Fields, on the
mound formed by a thousand cartloads of human bones deposited there
from the Charnel House, St. Paul’s, by order of the Lord Protector
Somerset, in 1549. =City Road= was the regular highway from the City
to the “Angel” at Islington, and thence to the north of England,
_viâ_ Highbury and Highgate. =Shepherdess Walk= was originally a
pleasant path leading through the open fields direct from Finsbury
to St. Mary’s parish church, Islington. =Golden Lane=, St. Luke’s,
received its name from the number of goldsmiths who formerly made this
neighbourhood their residence. In =Curtain Road=, Shoreditch, stood
the Curtain Theatre, opened in 1571, so called because it was the
first playhouse to make use of a drop-curtain. Ben Jonson’s “Every
Man in his Humour” was produced here in 1596. By =Norton Folgate= is
meant “the northern Falgate,” the latter word being the old English
description of a four-barred gate. THE FALGATE is a common inn sign
in the rural districts. =Holywell Lane=, near Shoreditch Church, was
so called on account of a miraculous well discovered here in ancient
times. In =Nichols Square=, Haggerstone, lived John Nichols, the
antiquary; and in =Sutton Place=, Hackney, Thomas Sutton, the founder
of the Charterhouse. =Queen Elizabeth’s Walk=, Stoke Newington, marks
the position of a house and grounds occupied by the Earl of Leicester,
and often visited by Her Majesty. =Fleetwood Road= covers the site of
Fleetwood House, the residence of Charles Fleetwood, the Parliamentary
general, and Deputy-Governor of Ireland.
=Seven Sisters’ Road=, Holloway, received its name from seven trees,
said to have been planted by seven sisters, near Tottenham, six of
which grew erect; but the seventh presented a deformed appearance,
because the sister who had planted it was a cripple. =Archway
Road=, Highgate, is spanned by the wonderful high arch completed in
1813. =Flask Walk=, Hampstead, derived its name from “The Flask,” a
picturesque old inn close by. =Judges’ Walk=, known also as =King’s
Bench Avenue=, was originally so called from a colony of judges and
gownsmen of the City, who sought refuge here in tents during the Great
Plague in 1665. =Fleet Road=, Haverstock Hill, affords us a pleasing
remembrance of that little river, the Fleet, meandering through the
fields in this neighbourhood, and eventually behind the older houses,
on its way towards Battle Bridge, the City, and the Thames. =Dale Road=
preserves the memory of Canon Dale, poet, and vicar of St. Pancras.
=Barrow Road= and =Barrow Hill Place= commemorate the site of a battle
between the Britons and Romans, and the sepulchre of the slain. The
spot was formerly defined by a farmhouse that stood upon the actual
barrow known as “Barrow Hill.” =Abbey Road=, St. John’s Wood, points
to the existence of the ancient Abbey of the Holy Virgins of St. John
the Baptist (_see_ ST. JOHN’S WOOD). =Desborough Place=, Harrow Road,
received its name from Desborough House, the site of which it adjoins,
and where lived John Dessborough (or Desbrowe), the brother-in-law of
Oliver Cromwell. =Church Street=, Paddington, was so called from the
parish church of St. Mary, situated on the open space still known as
=Paddington Green=. =Nottingham Place= was designated after the county
in which the chief landed estates of the Duke of Portland are situated;
and =Weymouth Street=, in compliment to Lord Weymouth, son-in-law of
the same nobleman. =Paddington Street= was formerly a narrow lane
leading northwards into Paddington Fields.
=Craven Hill Gardens= and =Craven Road=, Bayswater, occupy the site
of the mansion and grounds of the Lords Craven previous to the year
1700, when they migrated to Craven House, Drury Lane. =Southwick
Crescent= and =Southwick Place= received their names from Southwick
Park, the seat of the Thistlewayte family, formerly the joint lessees
of Paddington Manor. =Orme Square= perpetuates the memory of Mr. Orme,
a print-seller, of Bond Street, who bought the ground and commenced
the building of the Square in question. =Ladbroke Grove= and =Ladbroke
Square= likewise bear the name of the Ladbroke family, who built upon
the land leased to them for the purpose. =Norland Square=, Notting
Hill, covers the site of Norland House, a small, wooded estate, owned
by one of the Drummonds, the bankers, of Charing Cross, in the reign
of William IV. =Kensington Gore= took its name from Gore House, the
residence of the Countess of Blessington, long the central literary
and social attraction in the Metropolis. In =Ennismore Place=, the
second title of the Earl of Listowel, the ground landlord, is repeated.
On part of the site of =Cromwell Road= stood the house and grounds
owned by Richard Cromwell, the son of Oliver Cromwell. =Gloucester
Road= derived its title from Oxford Lodge, the residence of the late
Duchess of Gloucester, in the immediate vicinity. =Campden Hill=
defines the estate belonging to Campden House, still standing in
=Campden Square=, and originally occupied by Sir Baptist Hicks, who
built =Hicks’ Hall=, Clerkenwell, in 1612, afterwards created Viscount
Campden. =Warwick Road=, =Warwick Gardens=, =Holland Road=, and =Earl’s
Court Road= are spacious modern thoroughfares, designated after the
Earls of Warwick, the original owners of the estate known as =Earl’s
Court=, now in the possession of the Holland family. =Addison Road=
reminds us that Joseph Addison, the poet, essayist, and dramatist,
married the Dowager Countess of Warwick, and died in Holland House.