Let’s have another article in our series Streets and Squares - a fun way to learn about the history and culture of the cities you visit or even live in! This time we go through London. You would expect a lot of royal names here - queens and kings etc - and so it is too. But let’s have a nice mix of those and some other interesting names, shall we.
As always, links of the streets etc take you to Google Maps, and links for the names to the person’s Wikipedia page.
ALBEMARLE STREET - Christopher Monck (1653-1688) 2nd Duke of Albemarle was a soldier and politician. He also arranged the first recorded boxing match in England. (1688/35). StreetView - Wiki
ALBERT EMBANKMENT (SE1) Prince Albert (1819-1861), the husband and consort of Queen Victoria. StreetView - Wiki
BAKER STREET (NW1) William Baker, the builder who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B Baker Street address on the north of the street. StreetView - Wiki
BERKELEY SQUARE - Named after Berkeley family whose house, Berkeley House, stood nearby until 1733. StreetView - Wiki
BOB MARLEY WAY (SE24) Bob Marley (1945-1981) singer-songwriter born in Nine Mile, British Jamaica. He lived in London during the 1970s. StreetView
BOND STREET(E15) Sir Thomas Bond (ca 1620-1685), an English landowner and Baronet, and Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria. Property developer of Bond Street, Dover Street and Albemarle Street, from 1683. See also Old Bond Street and New Bond Street that run between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. StreetView - Wiki
CROMWELL ROAD - Richard Cromwell (1626-1712) Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and son of the first Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. He once owned a house on this street. Born in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire. StreetView - Wiki
DOUGHTY STREET - Henry Doughty was the landlord of the area when the street was built in 1792–1810. StreetView - Wiki
DOWNING STREET - Sir George Downing (1624-1684), an Anglo-Irish preacher, soldier and diplomat who served under Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II, and also built Downing Street in the 1680s. StreetView - Wiki
FOURNIER STREET - named after George Fournier who was one of the many Huguenot refugees who settled in the area near the street in the 18th century. StreetView - Wiki
IRVING STREET - Henry Irving (1838-1905) actor-manager, the first actor to be knighted. Born in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset. StreetView - Wiki
JERMYN STREET (SW1) Henry Jermyn (1605-1684) was 1st Earl of Saint Albans, politician and courtier who developed much of St. James’s around 1667. Born in London. StreetView - Wiki
NEW BOND STREET (W1) Sir Thomas Bond (ca 1620-1685), an English landowner and Baronet, and Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria. - StreetView - Wiki
OLD BOND STREET (W1) Sir Thomas Bond (ca 1620-1685), an English landowner and Baronet, and Comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria. - StreetView - Wiki
QUEENSWAY (W2) Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and Empress of India (1876-1901).
REGENT STREET (W1) King George IV (1762-1830), named around 1811 when George IV was still Prince regent. Later King of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1820-1830). StreetView - Wiki
SAVILE ROW (W1) Dorothy Boyle* (b Savile) (1699-1758) was Countess of Burlington, caricaturist and portrait painter. The street was developed at the edge of her Burlington House. StreetView - Wiki
SLOANE SQUARE (SW1) Hans Sloane (1660-1753) Anglo-Irish physician and collector with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Museum, the British Library, and the Natural History Museum in London. Born in Killyleagh, County Down, Kingdom of Ireland. StreetView - Wiki
ST. JAMES´S PARK - James the Less is a biblical figure of early Christianity. StreetView - Wiki
THOMAS MORE STREET - Thomas More (1478-1535) was a lawyer, social philosopher and statesman. He wrote Utopia, about the political system of an imaginary, ideal island nation. Executed in the nearby Tower of London. StreetView
TOOLEY STREET - Saint Olaf (995-1030) was King of Norway who fought with the English against the Danes, and was canonised for it. Somewhere along the line the name was corrupted from St Olaf to Tooley. StreetView - Wiki
VICTORIA STREET (SW1) Queen Victoria (1819-1901), reigned from 1837. The street runs towards the Thames and Victoria Embankment, separated from it by Parliament Square (with Big Ben). StreetView - Wiki
WARDOUR STREET (W1) Archibald Wardour was an architect of several of the buildings on this street. StreetView - Wiki
WAT TYLER ROAD (SE3) Wat Tyler (1341-1381) was a rebel who launched the Peasants' Revolt in England in 1381. StreetView - Wiki
A to Z from London
i.e. a list of people born in London. Just another fun way to know something more of the city, picking a few persons for each alphabet. Only the year of birth given here.
A - Ada Anderson (1843) - Henry Allingham (1896) - Naveen Andrews (1969)
B - Francis Bacon (1561) William Blake (1757) Robert Baden-Powell (1857) Enid Blyton (1897) David Beckham (1975)
C - Charles Chaplin (1889) Michael Caine (1933) Jackie Collins (1937) Phil Collins (1951) Sebastian Coe (1956)
D - Daniel Defoe (1660) - Benjamin Disraeli (1804) - Daniel Day-Lewis (1957)
E - Jonathan Edwards (1966) - Idris Elba (1972) - Alfred Enoch (1988)
F - Ian Fleming (1908) - Marianne Faithfull (1946) - Stephen Fry (1957) - Jo Frost (1970)
G - John Gielgud (1904) - Alec Guinness (1914) - Jane Goodall (1934)
H - Julian Huxley (1887) - Leslie Howard (1893) - Graham Hill (1929) - Tom Hiddleston (1981)
I - Phillips Idowu (1978)
J - Toby Jones (1966) - Marianne Jean-Baptiste (1967) - Christian Jessen (1977)
K - Boris Karloff (1887) - Keyra Knightley (1985) - Daniel Kaluuya (1989)
L - Alan Leo (1860) - Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948) - Jude Law (1972) - Andrew Lincoln (1973)
M - Thomas More (1478) John Milton (1608) A. A. Milne (1882) Helen Mirren (1945) Michael McIntyre (1976)
N - John Nash (1752) - Joshua Norton (1818)
O - Gary Oldman (1958) - Christopher O’Neill (1974) - Jack Osbourne (1985)
P - Samuel Pepys (1633) - William Penn (1644) - Beatrix Potter (1866) - Rosamund Pike (1979)
Q - Mary Quant (1934)
R - Charles Rolls (1877) - Vanessa Redgrave (1937) - Alan Rickman (1946) & Tim Roth (1961)
S - Mary Shelley (1797) Frederick Stanley (1841) Leopold Stokowski (1882) Jerry Springer (1944) Rod Stewart (1945)
T - Alan Turing (1912) - Elizabeth Taylor (1932) - Emma Thompson (1959)
U - Peter Ustinov (1921)
V - Sid Vicious (1957)
W - Susanna Wesley (1669) - Ray Winstone (1957) - David Walliams (1971)
Updated 31.8.2022
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eponymous_roads_in_London