Old Burlington Street is a street in central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

that is on land that was once part of the

Burlington Estate __NOTOC__ The Burlington Estate is an area in Mayfair to the north of Piccadilly in the West End of London, England.

Location

The street runs north–south from

Boyle Street Boyle Street is a neighbourhood located in central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, immediately east of the downtown core. The neighbourhood is bounded by Grierson Hill to Rowland Road until Alex Taylor Road and then Jasper Avenue east until 82 Street ...

Burlington Gardens Burlington Gardens is a street in central London, on land that was once part of the Burlington Estate. Location The street is immediately to the north of the Royal Academy of Arts and joins Old Bond Street and New Bond Street in the west and V ...

and is crossed only by Clifford Street.

History

According to parish rate books, the street was built by 1729 and known then as Nowell Street. That name was replaced by Burlington in 1733 and it was at one time known as Great Burlington Street.

Charles Dartiquenave Charles Dartiquenave, also known as Charles Darteneuf (baptised 166419 October 1737) was an English epicure and courtier. Origins Dartiquenave was rumoured to be the illegitimate child of Charles II. Biographers who have accepted the traditio ...

was living in the street in 1729. Lord Hervey, the object of savage satire by

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

, in whose works he figured as Lord Fanny,

Sporus Sporus was a young slave boy whom the Roman Emperor Nero favored, had castrated, and married.Champlin, 2005, p.145Smith, 1849, p.897 Life Little is known about Sporus' background except that he was a youth to whom Nero took a liking. He may h ...

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

and Narcissus, lived in the street until he sold his house in 1730.

James Wolfe James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a Major-general (United Kingdom), major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the Kingdom of France, French ...

, later General Wolfe, lived in the street as a junior officer in 1743 and 1744.

Mark Akenside Mark Akenside (9 November 1721 – 23 June 1770) was an English poet and physician. Biography Akenside was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the son of a butcher. He was slightly lame all his life from a wound he received as a child f ...

, physician and poet and author of ''

The Pleasures of the Imagination ''The Pleasures of the Imagination'' is a long didactic poem by Mark Akenside, first published in 1744. The first book defines the powers of imagination and discusses the various kinds of pleasure to be derived from the perception of beauty; the s ...

'' lived in the street from 1762 until his death in 1770. During the

corn riots The Corn Riots, also known as the Jersey Revolution, was a revolt which took place in the European island-country of Jersey on . In an example of direct action against government oppression, under the government of Lieutenant Bailiff Charles Lempr ...

of 1815, a mob attacked number 15, the home of The Hon. Frederick (Prosperity) Robinson MP, tore up the railings outside and battered down the front door. Soldiers inside fired on the crowd and killed a midshipman named Edward Vyse. Three soldiers and Robinson's butler James Ripley were charged with Wilful Murder. Violet Bland advert for Old Burlington Street

Violet Bland advert for Old Burlington Street

Suffragette

Violet Bland Violet Ann Bland (17 December 1863 – 21 March 1940) was an English suffragette and hotelier who wrote about her experiences being force fed in prison. Early life and career Bland was born in Bayston Hill, Shropshire, the oldest of nine child ...

ran a guest house at 22 Old Burlington Street for around 25 years from 1910. Samuel Cartwright (1788-1864), Dentist in Ordinary to George IV, lived at and ran his practice from 32 Old Burlington Street. Sir Richard Croft (1762-1818), a famous accoucheur, lived in Old Burlington Street. He attended the Prince Regent's daughter, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales, during her labour in November 1817. She gave birth to a stillborn son and died a few hours later. Sir Richard Croft later committed suicide on 13 February 1818. No. 29 was occupied by

Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet General Sir Charles Asgill, 2nd Baronet, (6 April 1762 – 23 July 1823) was a career soldier in the British Army. Asgill enjoyed a long military career, eventually rising to the rank of general. He is best remembered as the principal of the so ...

between 1778-1785. At a later date the house was occupied by

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

(in whose army Asgill served during the American Revolution), until his death in October 1805. His son, the 2nd Marquess Cornwallis, died there, in 1823. The building subsequently became the Burlington Hotel, which included an adjoining property. "Nos. 29 and 30 continued to be used as an hotel, together with the Cork Street buildings, until the 1930's. Among its notable residents had been

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

. She had first come with her family to take rooms for the season in 1842, and later at the height of her fame in 1857 made it the 'little War Office' where she directed the movement for the reform of the

Army medical services The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the British Army. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...

Listed buildings

Old Burlington Street contains a number of historic buildings.Cork Street and Savile Row Area: Old Burlington Street
, ''Survey of London, Volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2.,'' 1963, pp. 495-517. british-history.ac.uk Retrieved 7 June 2014. Number 1, also known as

7 Burlington Gardens 7 Burlington Gardens is a Listed building#England and Wales, Grade II* building in Mayfair, London. Formerly known as Queensberry House, it was later called Uxbridge House. The building is now home to the London flagship store of the American fas ...

is on the corner with Burlington Gardens and was built in 1721–23 to designs by the Italian architect

Giacomo Leoni Giacomo Leoni (1686 – 8 June 1746), also known as James Leoni, was an Italian architect, born in Venice. He was a devotee of the work of Florentine Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti, who had also been an inspiration for Andrea Pallad ...

. It was first occupied by the

Duke of Queensberry The title Duke of Queensberry was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 3 February 1684 along with the subsidiary title Marquess of Dumfriesshire for the 1st Marquess of Queensberry. The Dukedom was held along with the Marquessate of Queensbe ...

, and the poet

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

also lived there. It was originally known as Queensberry House, but became Uxbridge House after the

Earl of Uxbridge Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

bought it in 1785. From 1785 to 1789, it was enlarged and altered for Lord Uxbridge by the architects John Vardy the Younger and

Joseph Bonomi the Elder Joseph Bonomi the Elder (19 January 17399 March 1808) was an Italian architect and draughtsman who spent most of his career in England where he became a successful designer of country houses. Biography He was born Giuseppe Bonomi in Rome on 19 ...

. It later became home to the Marquess of Anglesey, the Bank of England and the Royal Bank of Scotland. It is now an

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

store, the first in Europe. Numbers 2, 22 and 23, 24a, 31 and 32 are all

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s with

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Shops in Old Burlington Street

*Drakes. Tailors. * Julien Macdonald. Fashion designer. No. 31. * Ozwald Boateng.

References

{{coord, 51.5106, -0.1409, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Mayfair Streets in the City of Westminster

Location

History

Listed buildings

Shops in Old Burlington Street

See also

References