Elvaston Place is a street in

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, London. Elvaston Place runs west to east from Gloucester Road to

Queen's Gate Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road. The street is ...

. The Embassy of Gabon, London is at number 27. The

High Commission of Mauritius, London The High Commission of Mauritius in London is the diplomatic mission of Mauritius in the United Kingdom. References External links Official siteArchive photo of the embassy building Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; ...

is at number 32/33. The Embassy of Iraq, London has its consular section at number 3.

History

Much of the street, 1-20 and 32–46, was built by the property developer

Charles Aldin Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

in the early 1860s. 26-31 were built in 1866–68. Miss Ironside's School was located at number 2.

Notable residents

In 1868,

John Crawfurd John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a Scottish physician, colonial administrator, diplomat, and author who served as the second and last Resident of Singapore. Early life He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of S ...

, Scottish physician, colonial administrator, diplomat, and author, died at his home in the street. From 1872 to his death in 1897, Liberal MP and Cabinet Minister Rt Hon A J Mundella lived at number 16. In 1882,

William Bence Jones William Bence Jones (1812–22 June 1882) was an Anglo-Irish agriculturist. Life Jones was born at Beccles, Suffolk, in 1812, the eldest son of William Jones, lieutenant-colonel of the 5th dragoon guards, by Matilda, daughter of the Rev. Bence B ...

, Anglo-Irish agriculturist, died at his home in the street. In 1884, General Sir David Russell died at his home in the street. Until his death in 1894, General Sir Patrick MacDougall lived at number 22. In 1895, Lieutenant General George Brydges Rodney died at his home in Elvaston Place. In 1905, the artist

Edward Burra Edward John Burra CBE (29 March 1905 – 22 October 1976) was an English painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, best known for his depictions of the urban underworld, black culture and the Harlem scene of the 1930s. Biography Early life Burra ...

was born there at his grandmother's house. In 1920,

William Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket (19 December 1864 – 24 January 1920) was a British diplomat and administrator. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1904 to 1910. Early life Born in Dublin, he was educated at Harrow and Trinity Coll ...

died at his home at number 40. In the late 1930s,

Geoffrey Wilkinson Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson FRS (14 July 1921 – 26 September 1996) was a Nobel laureate English chemist who pioneered inorganic chemistry and homogeneous transition metal catalysis. Education and early life Wilkinson was born at Springside, To ...

, the Nobel laureate English chemist, rented a room at number 4. In 1941, the actor S. J. Warmington who lived at number 39, died when his neighbourhood was showered with

incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...

, after he went out to help extinguish fires and was killed when a high-explosive bomb fell.
CWGC Casualty Record, Kensington Metropolitan Borough. In 1945, the actor

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

and his wife Eve Mortimer lived in a rented flat there. From 1 January 1968 until at least May 1969, the musician

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

lived in a basement flat at number 10, and his song ''Elvaston Place'' is about his time there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvaston Place Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea South Kensington