Gerrard Street（）is a street in the West End of London, in the

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austr ...

area. The street was built between 1677 and 1685 and originally named Gerrard Street after the military leader

Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, PC (c. 16187 January 1694) was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier. Early life The eldest son of Sir Charles Gerard, he was a member of an old Lancashire family, his great-grandfather having ...

who owned the land and used it as a training area. It was developed by the physician

Nicholas Barbon Nicholas Barbon ( 1640 – 1698) was an English economist, physician, and financial speculator. Historians of mercantilism consider him to be one of the first proponents of the free market. In the aftermath of the Great Fire of London, he b ...

. By the mid-18th century, it was known more for its coffee houses and taverns than as a place of residence.

Residents

JOHN DRYDEN - 43 Gerrard Street Soho London W1D 5QG

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...

(1631–1700) lived for a while at 43 Gerrard Street, which is commemorated by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. This building was later occupied by Rudolph Appel in 1851. Here he ran an

anastatic lithography Anastatic lithography is a method of printing developed by 1840 in Erfurt. The technique provided a means for facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art prin ...

printing business until he relinquished the business in favour of Samuel Cowell of Ipswich in 1858. Another plaque, on number 9, marks the meeting of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...

and Joshua Reynolds at the Turk's Head Tavern to found The Club, a dining club, in 1764. In fiction,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

sets the home of Mr Jaggers, the lawyer in ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'', in "a house on the south side of that street. Rather a stately house of its kind, but dolefully in want of painting, and with dirty windows nd with ...a stone hall... a dark brown staircase ... dark brown rooms... panelled walls". A Royal Society of Arts

commemorates Edmund Burke at 37 Gerrard Street. In 1953, No. 4 Gerrard Street was a small studio where the theatrical photographer

George Harrison Marks George Harrison Marks (6 August 1926 – 27 June 1997) was an English glamour photographer and director of nudist, and later, pornographic films. Personal life Born in Tottenham, Middlesex in 1926, Marks was 17 when he married his first wife ...

and his partner

Pamela Green Phyllis Pamela Green (28 March 1929 – 7 May 2010) was an English glamour model and actress, best known at the end of the 1950s and early 1960s. She modeled for Zoltán Glass and his brother Stephen, Horace Roye, Jean Straker, Bill Brandt, ...

, lived and worked. By the late 1950s, with the success of Kamera Publications, they had taken over No. 5 next door and had a much larger studio on the top floor. In the early 1960s, the ground floor at No. 4 became a gallery. The director Michael Powell copied their sets for the classic film ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'', in which Green also starred.

Businesses

In the Roaring Twenties, the

43 Club The 43 Club or "The 43" was a nightclub at 43 Gerrard Street in Soho, London that became notorious during the Jazz Age for outrageous parties frequented by the decadent rich and famous. Local myth provides many tales of provocative, licentious an ...

was set up at number 43, as a jazz

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

notorious for outrageous parties frequented by the rich and powerful. It was eventually closed down by direct order of the Home Office and the proprietor,

Kate Meyrick Kate Meyrick (7 August 1875 – 19 January 1933) known as the 'Night Club Queen' was an Irish night-club owner in 1920s London. During her 13 year career she made, and spent, a fortune and served five prison sentences. She was the inspiration f ...

, was imprisoned. In 1956 number 44 was taken over by the owners of

the 2i's Coffee Bar The 2i's Coffee Bar was a coffeehouse at 59 Old Compton Street in Soho, London, that was open from 1956 to 1970. It played a formative role in the emergence of Britain's skiffle and rock and roll music culture in the late 1950s, and several maj ...

on Old Compton Street as a second branch in response to the original 2i's rapid success. The building had previously hosted a folk and skiffle club run by

John Hasted John Barrett Hasted (17 February 1921 – 4 May 2002) was a British physicist and folk musician.David Gregory. (2002). ''In Memoriam: John Hasted, 1921-2002''. Canadian Folk Music/Bulletin de musique folklorique canadienne, Vol 36, No. 2. pp. 3- ...

. In the late 1960s it became Happening 44, a club with décor mixing psychedelic and bondage aesthetics, featuring bands such as The Deviants. The building later became a Chinese supermarket. A basement in Gerrard Street was the location of the first rehearsal of Led Zeppelin in August 1968, where they played " Train Kept A-Rollin'". The exact location of the basement is unknown, and it is believed to have been converted into business premises many years ago.

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

started in Gerrard Street in the basement of No. 39.

and Joshua Reynolds met at the Turk's Head Tavern to found their dining club, '' The Club'' in 1764. The site is commemorated by a plaque at No. 9.

References

Citations Sources *

External links

LondonTown.com information
{{coords, 51.5117, -0.1311, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster Streets in Soho