Houses of Famous People from London's History

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Arthur H. Beavan, in Imperial London, 1901, made this survey of where famous people from London's history lived:

Pilgrims, intent upon worshipping at the shrine of Shakespeare, journey in thousands year by year to Stratford-on-Avon, and, after offering up orisons in the chancel of its famous church, visit the house wherein he first saw the light of day, and there try to picture what manner of boy and man was the mighty genius who had lived within its walls. London has many such spots, sacred to a host of "immortals" whose tombs (in cathedral, church, or chapel) can likewise be visited, and whose dwelling-places in life still remain with us.

To some of these I propose calling attention, and it seems to me that the most convenient way of arranging this section, is to give the names of the celebrities alphabetically.

The list necessarily constitutes a selection only, from a number too great to be dealt with here; and I would caution the enthusiastic "innocent abroad," that many of the houses here referred to in 1900 may have since been given up to the "housebreaker," leaving naught to recall the past, save the mere site; or, worse still, a pile of up-to-date buildings may utterly dispel all the romantic associations of the spot.

Some of these historic tenements have tablets affixed outside, recording their associations with eminent people of the past.

Addison. - We will commence with Joseph Addison, called by Thackeray, "that most distinguished wit, scholar, and gentleman, a dear preacher, without orders...a parson in a tye-wig." At the Charterhouse, where he remained a year, we can picture him, a boy of fifteen, making the acquaintance of his future friend, Dick Steele, the gown-boy; and, if we happen to be at the Comedy Theatre, Panton Street, off the Haymarket, we must imagine the time when a miserable lodging-house stood there, where, in a shabby room up several shabby pairs of stairs, Addison, aged thirty-two, wrote his celebrated Campaign, a poem in honour of Marlborough. One of its similes, ending with the line, "Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm," was pronounced to be almost the greatest ever produced in poetry, and gained him the place of Commissioner of Appeals, and led him on to fame and fortune. At one time he ruralized near Chelsea, at Sands (then Sandy End), Fulham, and when he became the husband of Lady Warwick, he lived at Holland House, where, after three years of grand, but unloving union, he died in the year 1716, in his forty-seventh year.

Akenside. - Mark Akenside, physician and poet, author of The Pleasures of Imagination, lived at one period in Craven Street, Strand, and subsequently in Old Burlington Street where he died.

Albert, Prince. - Buckingham Palace, and the Chapel Royal, St. James', where he was married, recall Prince Albert; while the stately Victoria and Albert Musuem at South Kensington for ever speaks of him who so materially helped to bring about the renaissance of education and art in Great Britain. Pall Mall brings back a curious memory of his early married years, for it was there that, as he took his early morning ride, he used to notice the small iron plates let into the pavement, and was sorely puzzled to understand their object, but, presumably, did not care to expose his ignorance by inquiring. One day, however, the Prince happened to see one open when fuel was being shot down into the cellars beneath. This enlightened him, and he returned to the Palace quite satisfied; but the coal-shoots of Clubland are permanently associated in my mind with the Queen Victoria's beloved Consort.

Arbuthnot. - Dr. Arbuthnot, the witty physician and friend of Swift, Gay, and Pope, lived in Dover Street, Piccadilly, and died in Cork Street, Burlington Gardens, 1735.

Arne. - Dr. Arne, who composed the melody of Rule Britannia, and set to music Milton's Conzus, lived at 17, Craven Buildings, Craven Street, Strand.

Atterbury. - At rural Chelsea in Church Lane once lived Francis Atterbury, the notorious Jacobite Dean of Westminster (subsequently Bishop of Rochester), orator and brilliant writer, who was sentenced to perpetual exile, died in Paris, but lies buried in the Abbey.

Bacon. - Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England, greatest of philosophers, and writer of that extraordinary book, the Novum Organum, and whose political fall was as overwhelming as his rise had been great, once lived in Coney Court on a site now occupied by some houses on the west side of Gray's Inn Square.

Baillie. - Joanna Baillie, poet and dramatist, lived for nearly fifty years at Bolton House, Windmill Hill, Hampstead.

Banks. - Sir Joseph Banks, the eminent botanist and naturalist, President of the Royal Society for so many years, shared a house, No. 32, in Soho Square, with his eccentric sister.

Bartolozzi. - Bartolozzi, the engraver (father of Madame Vestris), whose works are now so valuable, resided circa 1780-85 in Bentinck Street, Berwick Street, Soho.

Baxter. - That prince of nonconformists, Richard Baxter, temp. Charles II, was one of the earliest inhabitants of Bloomsbury Square, whither he had retired, "quite out of town," to escape the persecution of judge Jeffreys, and there his wife died, 1681.

Beaconsfield. - Lord Beaconsfield's birthplace has been rather a moot point, but it is now generally accepted as a fact, on the high authority of Mr. Froude, that he was born in Theobald's Road (King's Road), Holborn, in a house next to the corner of John Street. There he lived as a child, and possibly went to a dame's school in Colebrook Row, Islington, within easy reach. But there can be no doubt whatever, that he lived with his father at No. 5, Bloomsbury Square (the south-west corner house), while serving his articles to a firm of solicitors at No. 6, Frederick's Place, Old Jewry, and also that he studied conveyancing in Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, at Mr. Bassevis' chambers. From 1839, he lived at 29, Park Lane, whence, on his wife's death in 1872, he moved to 3, Whitehall Gardens, and afterwards to 19, Curzon Street, Mayfair, where his brilliant career closed, April 19, 1881.

Betterton. - Thomas Betterton, greatest of the Restoration period actors, lived and died in Russell Street, Covent Garden.

Blake. - William Blake, the mystic poet-artist of two hundred years ago, whose fame Dr. Richard Garnett revived, was born in Broad Street, Golden Square, lived at 28, Poland Street, Oxford Street, and afterwards at 13, Hercules Buildings, Lambeth, where a monument has been erected to his memory in the Central Library. He then took up his abode at 17, South Molton Street, where he produced his Jerusalem and the illustrations to Blair's Grave. Finally, he went to live at Fountain Court, Strand, and there he died. It was at Lambeth one very hot day that his chief patron called and found Blake and his wife in the summerhouse in a decided state of deshabille, but the painter, in no way disconcerted, strove to reassure his visitor by saying, "Come in, it's only Adam, you know!"

Blessington. - Lady Blessington, the beautiful, accomplished, but wayward leader of fashion in the "thirties" and "forties" of the nineteenth century, lived at 8, Seamore Place, Curzon Street, and, later, at Gore House, Kensington, long since pulled down.

Blood. - Colonel Blood, the notorious would-be robber of the Regalia, in the time of Charles II, lived and died in Tufton Street, Westminster.

Boswell. - James Boswell (Dr. Johnson's Boswell) lodged in Old Bond Street, Piccadilly, also in Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, and again at the bottom of Inner Temple Lane in what used to be Farrar's Building.

Bracegirdle. - Charming Mrs. Bracegirdle, "the Diana of the stage" in William and Mary's reign, once dwelt in Craven Buildings, Craven Street, Strand.

Braham. - John Braham, who for fifty years was the acknowledged prince of tenors, and who died 1856, aged 79, lived for some time at 69, Baker Street, Portman Square. It was Braham who, when giving evidence in 1832 before a committee of the House of Commons on the Dramatic Question, replied emphatically to the inquiry if he had ever been a manager, "No, thank heaven;" yet he subsequently allowed himself to be drawn into a speculative management of the St. James' Theatre and the Colosseum, by which he lost large sums of money.

Bridge. - Sir John Bridge, the eminent magistrate of the Bow Street Court, who dealt with some of the most sensational trials of modern times (the Balfour case, and the Jameson raiders), occupied No. 50, Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, and died there, April 26, 1900.

Brooks. - Charles Shirley Brooks, once editor of Punch, died at 22, Brompton Square.

Brougham - Lord Brougham lived at 4, Grafton Street, Bond Street, for several years, until his elevation to the woolsack.

Browning, Mrs - Mrs. Browning, the great poetess, for ten years before her marriage resided with her father at 50, Wimpole Street. Her husband, Robert Browning, was born in Southampton Street, Peckham, passed his earlier years at Camberwell, lived at Warwick Crescent, Paddington, and from 1886 to 1889 (the year of his death), at 29, De Vere Gardens.

Brummell - Beau Brummell, the arbiter elegantiarum of the Prince Regent's time, is associated with 4, Chesterfield Street, Mayfair.

Buckstone - John Baldwin Buckstone, the popular actor-manager of the "little theatre in the Haymarket," at one period tenanted No. 6, Brompton Square.

Burdett - Sir Francis Burdett's house was No. 80, Piccadilly, where he was arrested and committed to the Tower for a breach of privilege, in 1810.

Burke - Edmund Burke the eloquent lodged in various places, and, amongst them, in Queen Anne Street, Westminster, but he was essentially a club-man.

Burne-Jones - The late Sir E. Burne-Jones lived at the Grange, 49, North End Road, West Kensington.

Butler - Samuel Butler, who wrote Hudibras, died in Rose Street, Covent Garden, in 1680. He was born at 24, Holles Street, Cavendish Square.

Byron - Lord Byron lived at the Albany, Piccadilly, at 4, Bennett Street, Piccadilly, lodged at 18, New Bond Street, and also at 8, St. James' Place, St. James' Street, and spent his brief married life at No. 139, Piccadilly, whence his wife left him.

Cadell - Thomas Cadell, the publisher of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, whose son married a sister of James and Horace Smith (Rejected Addresses), died somewhat suddenly at 4, Bloomsbury Place, in 1802.

Campbell - Thomas Campbell, the poet, at different periods lived in Drury Lane; Foley Place, Regent Street; at 61, Lincoln's Inn Fields; at Margaret Street, Cavendish Square; in 1837 at Alfred Place, Tottenham Court Road; and, until he left England in 1843, at Victoria Square, Pimlico.

Carlyle - Thomas Carlyle will, as long as London lasts, be associated with No. 24, Upper Cheyne Walk (now the Carlyle Museum), where he lived forty-seven years, and died, February 5, 1881.

Caxton - William Caxton settled in St. Margaret's parish, Westminster, circa 1478, and his printing-press and place of business were probably in the Almonry.

Chantrey - Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., one of England's greatest sculptors, passed through the drudgery of his career in an attic at 24, Curzon Street, Mayfair. He subsequently lived at Chantrey House, the corner of Lower Belgrave Place and Eccleston Street, remaining there from 1814 until his death in 1841. At the great Peel heirlooms sale in 1900, one of Chantrey's busts, that of Sir Walter Scott, realized the unheard of sum of £2,250!

Chatterton - Thomas Chatterton, the poet, died by his own hand at 4, Brooke Street, Holborn, now absorbed by a huge commercial edifice.

Chesterfield - The Earl of Chesterfield is best recalled by the great mansion he built and called after himself in South Audley Street, Mayfair.

Cibber - Colley Cibber, eighteenth-century poet, actor, dramatist, and wit, was an inhabitant of Spring Gardens, also of a house in Colebrook Row, Islington, and, later on, one in Berkeley Square (corner of Bruton Street), where he died in 1757, aged eighty-four.

Clive - Lord Clive, the maker of the Indian Empire, resided at 45, Berkeley Square, where, at the age of forty-nine, he committed the rash act that terminated his marvellous career.

Coleridge - At the Grove, Highgate, lived Samuel Taylor Coleridge, his home having previously been at 42, Norfolk Street, Strand.

Constable - That splendid landscape-painter, John Constable, lived at 1, Keppel Street, Russell Square, and died at 76, Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury, in 1837.

Cooper - Sir Astley Cooper, the very eminent surgeon, resided at 30, Spring Gardens.

Cowper - William Cowper the poet, for about nine years had chambers in the Inner Temple, where he several times tried to commit suicide, but failed in each attempt.

Cromwell - Oliver Cromwell is said to have once lodged in Long Acre, on the south side.

Cumberland - Richard Cumberland, a well-known dramatist of the eighteenth century, had a house for many years at the corner of Wimpole Street and Queen Anne's Street, and died in Bedford Place, 1811.

Curran - J. P. Curran, the witty Irish barrister, resided at 7, Pelham Crescent, Brompton, where he died in 1817.

Darwin - Charles Darwin, on his marriage lodged for a short time (in 1839) at 110, Gower Street, Bloomsbury.

Defoe - The immortal Daniel Defoe died in Ropemakers' Alley, Moorfields, which was identical with the existing street in 1900.

De Quincey - Thomas de Quincey lodged in Greek Street, Soho, in a house at the north-west corner next to Soho Square, also in Titchfield Street, and in Dean Street, Soho. In a chemist's shop near Gilbey's, Oxford Street, so the story goes, he purchased his first dose of opium, and in a room at 4, York Street, Covent Garden, he is said to have written his famous Confessions of an Opium-Eater.

De Stael - Madame de Stael, when on a visit to England in 1813, lodged at 29, Argyll Street, Regent Street.

Dibdin - Charles Dibdin, cheeriest of nautical song-writers, lodged at St. George's Fields, Westminster Bridge Road, and afterwards in Arlington Street, Islington, where he died in 1814.

Dickens - Charles Dickens lived when a child at 4, Gower Street, Bloomsbury. He had chambers in Furnival's Inn, now, alas! vanished. His memory haunts 48, Doughty Street, Mecklenburg Square; Devonshire Terrace, Regent's Park; and Tavistock House, Tavistock Square. His last abode in London was No. 5, Hyde Park Place, Oxford Street, where he lived temporarily during his final readings.

D'Israeli - Isaac D'Israeli, Lord Beaconsfield's father, resided at 5, Bloomsbury Square, the first corner house on the west side as you go up Hart Street, eastward. He was also at I3a, Park Street, Grosvenor Square, in 1835.

Dodd - Dr. William Dodd, fashionable preacher, author, journalist, school-master, and forger, whom George III would not pardon, once tenanted a house in Southampton Row.

Dryden - John Dryden is said to have lived at No. 16, Fetter Lane, but it is very doubtful. He certainly resided at 137, Long Acre (north side from Rose Street), and at 43, Gerrard Street, Soho, at which latter place he died in 1700.

Du Maurier - George Du Maurier's early days were passed in Wharton Street, Pentonville Road. He lived with his young family over Pears' shop in Great Russell Street. He afterwards went to Earl's Terrace, Kensington Road, thence to Hampstead, and finally took a house in Oxford Square, Hyde Park.

Eldon - Lord Chancellor Eldon lived at 6, Bedford Square from 1800 to 1813, afterwards - until his death in 1838 - at No. 1, Hamilton Place (the corner house), Piccadilly. He died in the front drawing-room.

Erskine - Lord Erskine, the great Lord Chancellor, lived at 36, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and subsequently at Erskine House, Hampstead.

Evans - Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), resided at 16, Blandford Square, where she wrote Silas Marner and Roynola. From 1865 to 1878 she lived at 21, The Priory, North Bank, St. John's Wood, and subsequently at 4, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, where, after a very brief married life with John Walter Cross, she died December 22, 1880.

Evelyn - John Evelyn, whose Diary and Correspondence is only surpassed by that of his friend, the ever-green Samuel Pepys, when absent from Saye's Court, Deptford, seems to have lived up and down London a good deal. When a young man he lived at Essex Court, Middle Temple. He lodged with his wife and family for one winter at the Three Feathers, Russell Street, Covent Garden. He had a house in Villiers Street, Strand; he lodged in Buckingham Street, Strand, in 1683-84, and in 1699 he lived in a mansion on the east side of Dover Street, Piccadilly.

Faraday - Michael Faraday spent his boyhood in Jacob's Well Mews, George Street, Manchester Square, and was apprenticed to a bookseller in Blandford Street, Baker Street, No. 2.

Fielding - Henry Fielding is associated with Bow Street, where he abode in a house on the site of the present police-court, and from there published Tom Jones.

Flaxman - John Flaxman, the sculptor, lived, when a lad, in New Street, Covent Garden. From 1782 to 1787, the year of his marriage and his departure from Rome, he resided at 27, Wardour Street, Oxford Street. He also occupied No. 17, Rathbone Place; and from 1796 until his death in 1826, he lived at 7, Buckingham Street, Strand.

Forbes - Archibald Forbes, one of the most intrepid of Special War Correspondents and a gifted writer, for the latter part of his life resided at 1, Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, and died there, March 30, 1900.

Forster - John Forster, biographer of Charles Dickens, lived on the west side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, at No. 58, ever memorable for its associations with Bleak House.

Fox, Charles James - Charles James Fox, the great Whig leader, and wonderful orator, occupied No. 26, South Street, Grosvenor Square, with his wife (Mrs. Armstead), to whom he was devotedly attached.

Foxe, John - John Foxe, of the Book of Martyrs fame, compiled that work in Milton Street, Cripplegate, then Grub Street.

Franklin - Benjamin Franklin, when he arrived in London, 1724, worked as a compositor at Palmer's, a printing-house in Bartholomew's Close, West Smithfield; and when representative of the United States of America, he lodged at 7, Craven Street, Strand.

Gibbon - Edward Gibbon, the "button-mouthed" historian of the Roman Empire, when a Westminster schoolboy, boarded with his aunt in Dean's Yard. In 1760, he was in Old Bond Street; and from 1774 to 1790, at 7, Bentinck Street, Manchester Square, where he completed his great work. In St. James' Street, in lodgings (now the Conservative Club), he died of dropsy in 1794.

Gibbons - Grinling Gibbons, the exquisite wood-carver, whose work is to be seen in several London churches, lodged in Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, and also in Craven Street, Strand.

Gladstone - William Ewart Gladstone lived in the Albany, at No. 11, and also at No. 12, Carlton House Terrace, at No. 6, Carlton Gardens, at 73, Harley Street, and when in office, at the historic No.10, Downing Street.

Goldsmith - Oliver Goldsmith had lodgings at 12, Green Arbour Court, Old Bailey. The house has disappeared, and the Court forms part of the Holborn Viaduct Station. He wrote portions of The Deserted Village in the rural retreat of Islington at Canonbury Tower, then let out as summer lodgings; and in an equally retired part of London, the Edgware Road, in a farmhouse on the west side, he composed She Stoops to Conquer. He had rooms in Brick Court, Middle Temple, and died there on April 4, I774.

Hallam - Henry Hallam, the gifted historian, lived, 1819-20, at Arundel House, Fulham Road, opposite Purser's Cross Lane. The house was pulled down shortly before 1900. In 1839 he lived at 67 Wimpole Street.

Hamilton - Lady Hamilton, Lord Nelson's "Emma," lived at No. 11, Clarges Street, Piccadilly, in 1804-6.

Hampden - John Hampden, the patriot, lodged during the preliminary Parliamentary struggles, in Gray's Inn Lane, with John Pym.

Handel - The illustrious George Handel lived at 25, Brook Street, Hanover Square, from 1725 until his death in 1759, and there composed most of his leading oratorios, Saul, Messiah, etc.

Haweis - The Rev. H. R. Haweis, one of the most original and fluent of preachers, lived for many years in the Queen's House, Cheyne Walk, once occupied by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He afterwards resided at No. 31, Devonshire Street, Portland Place (much nearer his church, St. James, Marylebone), where he died.

Hazlitt - William Hazlitt, the great essayist, occupied, from 1812 to 1819, Milton's house in old Petty France, Westminster, now 19, York Street. In 1820 he was living at 9, Southampton Buildings, Holborn (the house has vanished). From 1827 to 1829 he was at No. 4, Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, the east side, and was the neighbour of Madame D'Arblay. He occupied the first floor of 3, Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, in 1829, and the following year, September 18, he died at 6, Frith Street, Soho.

Hogarth - William Hogarth was apprenticed to Ellis Gamble, the goldsmith, Cranbourne Street, Leicester Square, in 1711, and is one of the "immortals " to whom the Square may be said to be dedicated, for at No. 30, the Golden Head - now Tenison's Schools - he resided, worked, and, in 1764, died.

Holbein - Hans Holbein is said to have had a residence on old London Bridge during the reign of his patron, Henry VIII.

Hood - Thomas Hood was born at No. 31, Poultry, in 1799. The house has been entirely rebuilt. He went to a dame's school in Tokenhouse Yard, Lothbury; and from 1841 to 1844 he lived at No. 17 (The Cedars), Elm-Tree Road, St. John's Wood, where he wrote The Song of the Shirt. He died at Devonshire Lodge, New Finchley Road, St. John's Wood (near the Eyre Arms), but the house has been taken down.

Hook - Theodore Hook was born in Charlotte Street, Bedford Square, where he and his father were living in the very early years of the nineteenth century. From 1827 to 1831 he had rooms at 5, Cleveland Row, St. James', and on his return from abroad, he lived in a small villa at Fulham by the riverside, where he died in 1841.

Hunter - In 1783, the illustrious surgeon, John Hunter, bought the house next to Hogarth's, in Leicester Square, and lived there till his sudden death in 1793; but he usually took refuge from town in a lonely house (every vestige of which has disappeared) surrounded by walls, at Earl's Court, where he used to carry out all kinds of experiments, and kept a small menagerie of ferocious animals.

Jeffreys - In Delahay Street, Westminster, the notorious Judge Jeffreys built for himself a fine house. At the Red Cow in Anchor and Hope Alley, Wapping, he was recognized by the mob after James II had fled the country, and he was so injured that he died shortly afterwards at the Tower.

Johnson, Dr. - Dr. Johnson lived in various parts of London, but never very far away from his beloved Fleet Street. When he first came to town, he lodged in Exeter Street, Strand. He was at No. 17, Gough Square, Fleet Street, from 1748 to 1758; at No. 1, Inner Temple Lane, first floor, in 1760; at No. 7, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, from 1765 to 1776; at No. 8, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, from 1776 until his death, December 13, 1784. Boswell, in his Life of Johnson, completes the list with Greenwich, Woodstock Street, Hanover Square, Castle Street, Cavendish Square, Bow Street, Holborn, Fetter Lane, Staple Inn, and Gray's Inn.

Jones - Inigo Jones, the great architect of the Stuart period, is said to have built, and occupied, No. 31, St. Martin's Lane.

Jonson - The dwelling-places, though not the taverns, of "rare Ben Jonson" are somewhat apocryphal. When a child, he is supposed to have lived in Old Northumberland Street, Strand. The most reliable record of his mature age, lies with such hostelries as the Falcon Tavern, Bankside, Southwark, demolished in 1808; the Mermaid, in Cheapside; the Devil, Fleet Street; and the Three Cranes, in the Vintry, Upper Thames Street. He is known to have lived in Blackfriars, and he died in great poverty in a house which stood between Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church.

Kean - Charles Kean lived from 1853 to 1856 at No. 3, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury, during his famous revivals at the Princess Theatre, when, in one season alone, as he publicly stated, he spent close upon £50,000 in the production of Shakespearian and other plays. On his return from Australia and the United States, he took a house, 47, Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, and died there of suppressed gout in 1868.

Kean - Edmund Kean, when he burst upon the town as Shylock at Drury Lane Theatre in 1814, lived at 21, Cecil Street, Strand, and afterwards at 12, Clarges Street, Piccadilly, for about twelve years.

Keeley - Robert Keeley, the well-known comedian, once lived at 19, Brompton Square, a favourite quarter with actors years ago.

Kemble - Another actor, the great John Philip Kemble, had a residence in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, No. 189, but fifty-four years ago it was pulled down to make room for the west wing of the British Museum.

Kneller - Sir Godfrey Kneller, most courtly of portrait-painters, resided in Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and from 168 1to 1704 he lived in a house in the Piazza, Covent Garden Market, north side.

Knowles - James Sheridan Knowles, the dramatist, was living at 29, Alfred Place, Tottenham Court Road, in 1838.

Lamb - Charles Lamb was born at No. 2, Crown Office Row, Inner Temple, in 1775, and spent the first seven years of his life in the Temple. He was educated at the Blue-coat School. At No. 7, Little Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, where now stands Holy Trinity Church, the Lamb family resided from I795, and there his sister, in a fit of madness, stabbed her mother to the heart. In 1796, Charles Lamb moved to 45, Chapel Street, Pentonville. From 1809 to 1817 he had rooms at 4, Inner Temple Lane, and from 1817 to 1823 he was living with his sister at 20, Russell Court, Drury Lane. Threadneedle Street recalls him working at the old South Sea House, and East India Chambers, Leadenhall Street, the East India House where he laboured for so long a time. In his later years he lived in Church Street, Edmonton, at Bay Cottage, perpetuated as "Lamb's Cottage," where he died in 1834 when barely sixty years old.

Landon - Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) was born at 25, Hans Place, Sloane Street, and went to school at No. 22. From No. 25, she was married in 1838, and went out to Cape Coast Castle, to find an early grave there.

Landseer - Sir Edwin Landseer lived for many years with his father at 33, Great Titchfield Street, Foley Street, Soho. When he set up an establishment of his own, he went to No. 18, St. John's Wood Road, where, after fifty years of noble work, he died in 1873.

Leech - John Leech - Punch's John Leech - lived for some time at No. 32, Brunswick Square.

Leighton - Lord Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, died January 25, 1896, at his beautiful residence, No. 2, Holland Park Road, Kensington, which has fortunately been preserved as a memorial of the great artist, by the Leighton House Committee, who, last year, resolved to establish chamber music concerts in the beautiful studio. The Arabian Court, as it is called, on the ground floor, is almost unique.

Lely - Sir Peter Lely, the great portrait-painter of the Restoration period, tenanted a mansion in the north-west angle of the Piazza, Covent Garden, from 1662 to 1680, the year of his death.

Lettsom - Dr. Lettsom, the philanthropic Quaker, who had the largest medical practice in the City during the last quarter of the eighteenth, and the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century, lived and died in Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street. He was the subject of the well-known squib -

"When any sick to me apply,
I physicks, bleeds, and sweats 'em;
If after that they choose to die,
what's that to me?

I. Lettsom"

Lover - Samuel Lover, novelist, song-writer, and painter, author of Handy Andy and other humorous Irish stories, also of the well-known ballad, Rory O'More, resided at 43, Denbigh Street, in the year 1855.

Lytton - Lord Lytton was born at No. 31, Baker Street, and had chambers in the Albany, 1837. He occupied No. 35a (then 36), Hertford Street, Mayfair, where, amongst other works, he wrote The Last Days of Pompeii. He afterwards removed to Charles Street, Berkeley Square, and, later on, to No. 1, Park Lane, where he wrote Zanoni.

Maclise - Daniel Maclise, the artist, and friend of Charles Dickens, occupied No. 4., Cheyne Walk, for ten years, and died there in 1870.

Macready - William Charles Macready rented No. 1, York Gate, Regent's Park, while manager of Drury Lane Theatre.

Marlborough, The Duke and Duchess of - The great Duke and Duchess of Marlborough are best recalled by a peep at Marlborough House; but the premises of Hurst and Blackett, publishers, 13, Great Marlborough Street, was at one time their town house, part of the warehouses in Ramilies Street being the old stabling.

Marryat, Florence - Florence Marryat, the gifted writer, and sixth daughter of Captain Marryat, resided at Abercorn Place, St. John's Wood, where she died, October 27, 1899.

Marvell - Andrew Marvell, the incorruptible Member of Parliament of the Restoration period, lived in a cottage on Highgate Hill, the site of which is marked by a commemorative tablet let into the wall of Waterlow Park. In London he lodged in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.

Millais - No. 2, Palace Gate, Kensington, the splendid mansion of Sir John Everett Millais, R.A., is a well-known feature of that neighbourhood.

Milton - John Milton was brought into the world in Bread Street, Cheapside, at the sign of the Spread Eagle. The house was burnt down during the Great Fire, but a tablet marks the spot. In 1639, he was lodging with a tailor in St. Bride's Churchyard, Fleet Street. In 1640, he was in Aldersgate Street, where he kept a school; and from 1652 to 1660, he resided in Petty France (York Street), Westminster, whose garden is incorporated with Queen Anne's Mansions. After the Restoration, he secluded himself in a friend's house in Bartholomew Close, leading out of West Smithfield, and then took a house in Jewry Street, Aldersgate Street. He also lived in Holborn, close to Red Lion Square Fields. In Artillery Walk, Bunhill Row, he dictated Paradise Lost to his daughter, and it was there he died of gout, November1674.

Mitford - Mary Russell Mitford, authoress of Our Village, was lodging in 1828 at 5, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, where her tragedy, Rienzi, was brought out. Norfolk Street, Strand, is also associated with her, and in 1836 she was sojourning at 56, Russell Square.

Mivart - Sir George Mivart, F.R.S., the Admirable Crichton of modern times in science, etc, whose controversy (just prior to his death) with Cardinal Vaughan is well remembered, lived at 77, Inverness Terrace, Hyde Park, and there breathed his last, April 1, 1900.

Moore - When "Tom Moore" first arrived in London, he put up at 85, George Street, Montague Square, and afterwards went to live at Muswell Hill, in "Lalla Rookh Cottage," opposite the Alexandra Palace. In 1838 he was lodging at 15, Drury Lane, and at one period he was living at 28, Bury Street, St. James'.

More, Hannah - Hannah More dwelt in Gerrard Street, Soho, and also had lodgings in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.

More, Sir Thomas - Sir Thomas More's splendid mansion was on the site of Beaufort Row, Chelsea, and there he entertained Henry VIII and Holbein, and Erasmus.

Morris - William Morris, author of The Earthly Paradise, when in London, resided at Kelmscott House, Upper Mall, Hammersmith. His press, whence issued those marvels of printing, binding, and illustrations that always fetch such high prices at auction, was at Sussex House, close by his own house, and opposite The Doves, a conspicuous point during the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

Mudie - Charles E. Mudie, of world-wide fame, founded his library in Upper King Street, Bloomsbury, in the year 1840, and removed to its present position in 1852.

Murray - John Murray, founder of the famous publishing firm, resided in a house (No. 32) over Falcon Court, Fleet Street, at the time he was publishing Childe Harold.

Napoleon III - The Emperor Napoleon III, when as Prince Napoleon he was in England from 1838 to 1840, lived at No. Ia, King Street, St. James'; while St Mary-le-Strand and St Clement Danes recall the fact that in 1848 as special constable during the Chartist demonstration, his beat lay between these two churches on the south pavement.

Nelson - Lord Nelson lived at 141, Old Bond Street, in 1797; lodged in Arlington Street, Piccadilly, 1800 - 1801; and the night before he sailed away to Trafalgar, slept at Walker's Hotel, 33, Dean's Street, Soho.

Newton - Sir Isaac Newton, when Warden of the Royal Mint, resided from 1697 to 1709 in Jermyn Street, and from 1720 to 1725 lived at 36, St. Martin's Street, Trafalgar Square; but the house no longer exists. He died, March 20, 1727, in a fine old brick mansion, Bullingham House (now Bullingham Mansions), in Pitt Street, Kensington.

O'Connell - Lichfield House, No. 13, St. James' Square, brings to remembrance Daniel O'Connell, for it was there that the "compact" between him and the Whig party was ratified in 1835.

Otway - Thomas Otway, poet and dramatist of the seventeenth century, made his first and last appearance on the stage in the Dorset Garden Theatre, which once stood on Dorset Street, Fleet Street. He expired, it is said, of want, in a tavern on Tower Hill, 1685.

Paget - Sir James Paget, the distinguished surgeon and writer on pathology, resided at 5, Park Square West, Regent's Park, where he died in his eighty-sixth year, December 30, 1899.

Peel - Sir Robert Peel resided for many years at No. 4, Whitehall Gardens.

Perceval - Spencer Perceval, the Prime Minister assassinated by Bellingham in 1812, lived in 1805 at No. 59, Lincoln's Inn Fields. His last surviving daughter, Miss Frederica Perceval, who died at Ealing in 1900, aged ninety-five, left provision in her Will for the erection of a church in memory of her father, and a tablet was to be placed in it recording his untimely end in the House of Commons.

Peter the Great - Peter the Great of Russia, in 1698 lived for a time at 14, Buckingham Street, Strand, in a house opposite that of Pepys. He also rented John Evelyn's house, Sayes Court, in Deptford, for a few months (where he caused a great deal of damage).

Prior - Matthew Prior, the poet, in his boyhood lived in Stephen's Alley, Westminster, and with his uncle in Cannon Row, Parliament Street. Later in life he resided in Delahay Street, Westminster, and at Long Acre he was in the habit of hiding himself for days together in an obscure inn kept by the beautiful "Chloe" of his poems.

Purcell - Henry Purcell, the great English musician, was born in old Pye Street, close to the Abbey that holds his ashes, and he lived in St. Anne's Lane (now Street), Westminster.

Quin - James Quin, the actor, was born in King Street, Covent Garden.

Radcliffe - Dr. John Radcliffe, Queen Anne's witty physician, lived in Bow Street, on the west side, near Covent Garden Theatre, and also in Bloomsbury Square.

Raleigh - Sir Walter Raleigh is associated with Adelphi Terrace, because Durham House, his residence for twenty years, had its river-front on its site, and Durham Street was the garden belonging to it. At the old Gate House near the entrance of Tothill Street, Westminster, stood the monastery prison where Sir Walter passed the night before his execution in Old Palace Yard, the area between the Houses of Parliament and the Abbey.

Reade - Charles Reade, the gifted novelist, best known, perhaps, as the writer of Never Too Late To Mend, lived and died in a house now incorporated with another, close to Hyde Park Court, Albert Gate, and facing Sloane Street.

Richardson - Samuel Richardson, author of the immortal Clarissa Harlowe, spent the last two years of his life in an old house (no longer existing) on Parson's Green, Fulham.

Robertson - T. W. Robertson, dramatic author, who delighted the town with his Caste, School, etc, resided at No. 8, Eton Road, Haverstock Hill.

Rogers - Samuel Rogers, poet, banker, virtuoso, for many years occupied No. 22, St. James' Place, St. James' Street, a house facing the Green Park, where he gave his historic breakfasts to the celebrities of the day.

Romney - George Romney, the charming portrait-painter, lived at No. 32, Cavendish Square for twenty years, 1776-1796, the period of his greatest fame. He was the limner par excellence of English womanhood and English boys; and no one has excelled him in his depiction of Lady Hamilton, Nelson's "divine Emma."

Rossetti - Admirers of Dante Gabriel Rossetti will doubtless make solemn pilgrimage to Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, to look at No. 16 (Queen's House), the fine old mansion he lived in, and in which he died in 1882.

Rousseau - Jean Jacques Rousseau, when on a visit to England, lodged with David Hume in Buckingham Street, Strand.

Ruskin - John Ruskin was born at No.54, Hunter Street, Brunswick Square. He lived at 28, Herne Hill (in 1900 the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Severn, with whom he was so long associated); and for twenty years during the zenith of his fame, he resided at Denmark Hill, where he was visited by every person of note in art and literature.

Russell - The veteran Henry J. Russell, to whom the world owes A Life on the Ocean Wave, and Cheer, Boys, Cheer, etc, lived and died at 18, Howley Place, Maida Hill, West (on the north side).

Scott - Sir Walter Scott used to stay at Long's Hotel, New Bond Street, and at a house at the corner of White Horse Street and Piccadilly (clubs now occupy its site), but his last lodgings in London were at the St. James' Hotel, No. 76, Jermyn Street, St. James', whence he was taken to Abbotsford the year of his death, 1832.

Shakespeare - Barclay and Perkins' Brewery, Bankside, Southwark, hid the site of William Shakespeare's theatre, the Globe, in 1900. His connection with Southwark is an undoubted fact. The Mermaid tavern, formerly located in Cheapside, between Friday Street and Bread Street, was sacred to the "Immortal," and the Boar's Head (done away with when King William Street was created) breathed of Falstaff and Dame Quickly, but the statue of King William IV recalls its site. There is a definite recollection of Shakespeare's London life in the fact that he bought a tenement in Blackfriars near the King's Wardrobe, leading down to Puddle Wharf, the deed of conveyance of which is preserved in the Guildhall Library, City.

Shelley - Percy Bysshe Shelley lodged in 1811 at 15, Poland Street, Oxford Street, and before taking up his quarters at Cooke's Hotel, Albemarle Street, he stopped for a day or two at 23, Aldford Street, Mayfair.

Shenstone - Another poet, Shenstone, who wrote the Schoolmistress, when in London lived in Jermyn Street, Piccadilly.

Sheridan - Richard Brinsley Sheridan conveyed his bride, with whom he had eloped, to a house at the corner of Featherstone Buildings, Holborn. He at one time lived in Bedford Street, Strand, and rented houses in Orchard Street, Portman Square, and in Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. He resided also at No. 14, Savile Row, where he died in 1816, overcome with debt and disease.

Sheppard - Jack Sheppard is associated with Portsmouth Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Clare Market, the Old Bailey, and St. Martin's Church, Trafalgar Square, where he was buried.

Simpson - John Palgrave Simpson, dramatist and novelist, lived and died (1887 ) at No. 9, Alfred Place West, Thurloe Square, S. W.

Smith, James - James Smith, the senior author of Rejected Addresses, was born at Fen Court, Fenchurch Street, City; worked at his office, 18, Austin Friars; and subsequently resided at No. 27, Craven Street, Strand, where he died, December 24, 1839.

Smith, Sydney - The Rev. Sydney Smith, when evening preacher at the Foundling Hospital, lived at No. 18, Orchard Street, Portman Square, and at 8, Doughty Street, Mecklenburgh Square. From 1827 to 1832 he resided at 20, Savile Row, and died in 1845 at No. 59, Green Street, Grosvenor Square.

Smollett - Tobias Smollett, the struggling Scotch surgeon, when utterly unknown to fame (but destined to be the originator of Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle), was domiciled in Downing Street. In the days of his prosperity he used to entertain his brother writers at his house in Chelsea, at the corner of Upper Cheyne Row and Lawrence Street. He frequented, circa 1745, the old British Coffee House in Cockspur Street, Trafalgar Square, which stood upon the site of Stanford's, the map-maker, itself doomed to give way to modern official developments.

Spencer - Herbert Spencer lived at 64, Avenue Road, until 1897, when he removed to Brighton.

Sterne - Laurence Sterne, best remembered, perhaps, as the author of Tristram Shandy, died in Old Bond Street, No. 41, west side, in the year 1768.

Sullivan - Sir Arthur Sullivan, Kt., Mus. Doc., M.V.O., lived and died at No. 1, Queen's Mansions, Victoria Street.

Swedenborg - Emanuel Swedenborg lodged in various places - in the Minories, Fetter Lane, at King's Arm Tavern, Wellclose Square, and with one Shearsmith, peruke-maker, at 26, Cold Bath Fields, where he first had the extraordinary dream-visions that led to his writing his remarkable works. The Square is now built over. He died on March 29, 1772, at No. 26, Bath Street, Cold Bath Fields. The house has been since pulled down.

Swift - Jonathan Swift lived at one time in Church Street, Chelsea.

Tate - Sir Henry Tate, the munificent donor to the nation of the Tate Gallery, resided at Park Hill, Streatham, where his widow still lived in 1900.

Tennyson - Lord Tennyson studied in his early life in a room on the fourth floor of No. 55, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

Thackeray - William Makepeace Thackeray was the pupil of Taprell, the special pleader, at his chambers, 1, Hare Court, Temple. After his marriage he stayed with Major Smyth in Albion Street, Hyde Park. He lived at 13, Great Coram Street, Brunswick Square, had chambers at 88, St. James' Street; resided at 16, Young Street, Kensington (where Vanity Fair was written); at 36, Onslow Square; and at 2, Kensington Palace Gardens, the beautiful double-fronted house, second on the left from High Street, where he died on Christmas Eve, 1863.

Thornhill - James Thornhill, the original decorator of the cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral, lived at 77, Dean Street, Soho, and afterwards in the Piazza, Covent Garden.

Thurlow - Lord Chancellor Thurlow occupied a large house, No. 45, at the corner of Lewis Place, Great Ormond Street, and later at No. 15, St. James' Square.

Tonson - Jacob Tonson, the famous bookseller of Addison and Pope's time, carried on business in Chancery Lane (Fleet Street end), and also at Gray's Inn Gate.

Trollope - Anthony Trollope died in Montague Square, 1882.

Turner - Joseph M. W. Turner was born at 26, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. He built himself a house in Queen Anne Street, No. 47 (now divided into Nos. 22 and 23), and lived a double life at No. 119, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, a small house (still standing) facing the Thames, a short distance west from Battersea Bridge, and there he died, December 19, 1851.

Van Dyck - The great Sir Anthony Van Dyck lived in Blackfriars, and died there in 1641.

Vestris, Madame - Madame Vestris, the popular and ever-green actress, lived in Craven Buildings, Craven Street, Strand, also at 4, Grove Road, St. John's Wood. The Lyceum Theatre recalls her production (in collaboration with Charles Mathews) of Planche's charming extravaganzas (1847-56).

Villiers - Charles Pelham Villiers, MP, at one time the Father of the House of Commons, lived at 50, Cadogan Place, Sloane Street, where he died January 16, 1898, at the advanced age of ninety-seven.

Voltaire - F. M. A. de Voltaire, when visiting London, "lay" at the White Peruke (long disappeared), in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.

Wallace - The memory of Sir Richard Wallace will be perpetuated by Hertford House, Manchester Square, where, in its stately rooms and noble galleries, his magnificent collection of art treasures, bequeathed to the British nation by Lady Wallace, is open to inspection.

Waller - The sturdy Parliamentarian poet, Edmund Waller, occupied a house on the west side of Bow Street, Covent Garden, for two years. Later in his life, from 1660 - 1687 he resided in St. James' Street on the west side.

Walpole, Horace - Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, gifted author, wit, and letter-writer par excellence, was born at No. 17, Arlington Street, Piccadilly, and lived with his father at No. 5, in the same street.

Walpole, Sir Robert - Sir Robert Walpole, the distinguished statesman of the Georgian period, passed his youth at Chelsea, in a house now part of Chelsea Hospital; and his name is probably perpetuated in that district by Walpole Street, off the King's Road. He lived in Arlington Street at both No. 17 and No. 5, the latter then a small house, and died at the latter house in 1745. In 1700 he was married in the old Holy Trinity Chapel, Knightsbridge, to Catherine Shorter, daughter of a Lord Mayor of London.

Warren - Samuel Warren, author of Ten Thousand a Tear, lived in Woburn Street, Russell Square, No. 35, when that sensational work appeared in Blackwood's.

Weber - Carl Maria von Weber, who had come to London to bring out his opera of Oberon, died at 91, Great Portland Street, the house of Sir George Smart.

Wellington, Duke of - Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, perpetuates the memory of Arthur, the great Duke of Wellington.

Wesley - John Wesley died on March 2, 1791, at Wesley's House (now No. 47, City Road), in front of the historic chapel built by him in 1777.

West - Benjamin West, President of the Royal Academy for close upon half-a-century, lived at No.14, Newman Street, Oxford Street.

Whitbread - Samuel Whitbread, MP, the wealthy brewer, and president of the Committee for rebuilding Drury Lane Theatre after the fire, took his own life at No. 35, Dover Street, Piccadilly.

Wigan, Mr. and Mrs. - Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan, actors and managers, lived at No. 21, Hans Place, Sloane Street, S.W.

Wilkes - John Wilkes, who boasted that he was the ugliest man about town, dwelt at 35, Grosvenor Square, the corner of South Audley Street, until his death in 1797.

Wilkie - Sir David Wilkie, when plain David Wilkie, lodged at No. 2, Norton Street, Portland Row. He lived from 1814 to 1824 at 24, Lower Phillimore Road, Kensington Road, and also resided in other parts of Kensington, notably at Maitland House, a fine old place, still standing in 1900, in Church Street.

Wolcot - Dr. John Wolcot (Peter Pindar) dwelt at No. 1, Chapel Street, Portland Place, now the Portland Hotel ; and in a top room of 13, Tavistock Row, Covent Garden, where he was from 1783 to 1805, he wrote many of his satirical pieces.

Wolsey - Cardinal Wolsey lived in great state in Chancery Lane.

Wollstonecraft, Mary - Mary Wollstonecraft (Mrs. Godwin), the remarkable enthusiast of Women's Rights in the eighteenth century, kept a school on Newington Green, and on her marriage resided at 7, Eversham Buildings.

Wren - Sir Christopher Wren for a long time (until about 1718) lived in Scotland Yard, and was occasionally domiciled in James Street, Westminster (Buckingham Gate).

Wycherly - William Wycherley, the dramatist, lodged on the west side of Bow Street (now Covent Garden Theatre), where, as he lay ill, he was visited by King Charles II.

Zoffany - Zoffany, the celebrated painter of actors and actresses, occupied rooms in the north-east wing of the Piazza, Covent Garden.

Next: Some well-known London publishers of 1900: Literary London