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Harley Street is a street in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
,
Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
and
surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer."Harley Street"
in


Overview

Since the 19th century, the number of doctors, hospitals, and medical organisations in and around Harley Street has greatly increased. Records show that there were around 20 doctors in 1860, 80 by 1900, and almost 200 by 1914. When the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
was established in 1948, there were around 1,500. Today, there are more than 3,000 people employed in the Harley Street area, in clinics, medical and paramedical practices, and hospitals such as Dr. Gabriela Clinic, The Harley Street Clinic, Hifu Skin Clinic, Medical Express Clinic, Harley Medical Foot and Nail Clinic, Harley Street Fertility Clinic, Sonoworld Diagnostic Services
London Women's Centre
The London Women's Clinic,
The London Clinic The London Clinic is a private healthcare organisation and registered charity based on the corner of Devonshire Place and Marylebone Road in central London. According to HealthInvestor, it is one of England's largest private hospitals. Histor ...
, Harley Street Life Coachin
The Dermatology Clinic LondonThe London Scar Clinic152 Harley Street Day ClinicNeo Health Clinic

History of Harley Street
' at Harley Street Guide (commercial website)
The nearest
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
stations are
Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
,
Great Portland Street Great Portland Street in the West End of London links Oxford Street with Albany Street and the A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. A commercial street including some embassies, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the west. ...
and
Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash, ...
.


Land ownership

Harley Street is part of the Howard de Walden Estate.


Notable occupants

Many famous people have lived or practised in Harley Street, including the Victorian Prime Minister
William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
, the artist J. M. W. Turner, and the speech therapist
Lionel Logue Lionel George Logue, (26 February 1880 – 12 April 1953) was an Australian speech and language therapist and amateur stage actor who helped King George VI manage his stammer. Early life and family Lionel George Logue was born in College To ...
. Queen's College, founded in 1848 and one of the oldest girls' schools in England, is situated on Harley Street. *
Sir William Beechey Sir William Beechey (12 December 175328 January 1839) was an English portraitist during the golden age of British painting. Early life Beechey was born at Burford, Oxfordshire, on 12 December 1753, the son of William Beechey, a solicitor, an ...
(Portrait painter) lived at No.13. *
George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...
(Greek Revival Architect) lived at No.109 from 1862 to 1873. Blue Plaque. *
Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
, author of ''The Woman and White'' and ''The Moonstone'', lived at No. 12 (later renumbered No. 26) with Caroline Graves from 1860 to 1864. * Sir Grantly Dick-Read (Obstetrician) lived and had his practice at No.23.
Green 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 ...
. *
Sir Stewart Duke-Elder Sir William Stewart Duke-Elder (22 April 1898 – 27 March 1978), a Scottish ophthalmologist who was a dominant force in his field for more than a quarter of a century. Life Duke-Elder was born in the manse in Tealing near Dundee. His fat ...
(Ophthalmologist) lived & worked at No.63.
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 ...
. * Sir James Galloway (1862-1922), dermatologist, practised at No. 54 *
Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
MP KC, Labour politician, born at 108 Harley Street. *
William Henry Giles Kingston William Henry Giles Kingston (28 February 1814 – 5 August 1880), often credited as W. H. G. Kingston, was an English writer of boys' adventure novels. Life William Henry Giles Kingston was born in Harley Street, London on 28 February 1814. H ...
, Victorian author of boys' adventure novels, was born on Harley Street, 28 February 1814. *
Lionel Logue Lionel George Logue, (26 February 1880 – 12 April 1953) was an Australian speech and language therapist and amateur stage actor who helped King George VI manage his stammer. Early life and family Lionel George Logue was born in College To ...
(Speech therapist), from Australia, had his practice at No.146. He helped
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
overcome his
stammer Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...
with lessons here. There is a Green Plaque. *
Sir Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
(lawyer, author and geologist). Lived at No.11 (which is now No.73). *
Sir Morell Mackenzie Sir Morell Mackenzie (7 July 1837 – 3 February 1892) was a British physician, one of the pioneers of laryngology in the United Kingdom. Biography Morell Mackenzie was born at Leytonstone, Essex, England on 7 July 1837. He was the eldest of ni ...
, the 'Father of British Laryngology' lived in 19, Harley Street till his death. Involved in the great controversy while treating the German Crown Prince Fredrick III, the Son-in-law of Her Majesty Queen Victoria for his laryngeal disease, allegedly cancer of the left vocal cord which led to the demise of the Emperor in 1888. *
Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh (27 October 1818 – 12 January 1887), known as Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt from 1851 to 1885, was a British Conservative politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1874 and 18 ...
(British Politician, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer) lived at No.86. * Allan Ramsay (Portrait painter) lived at No.67. * Sir Harold Ridley (Pioneering Ophthalmologist). Lived at No.53. *
John St. John Long John St. John Long (1798–July 2, 1834) was an Irish-born quack doctor who claimed to be able to cure tuberculosis. In two instances, he was tried for manslaughter of his patients. In the first case, he was found guilty and fined £250, and in t ...
, a famous
quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack (b ...
, practised in Harley Street from 1827 to 1834. * J. M. W. Turner (Landscape painter) lived at No.64 from 1799 to 1805. *
Sir Arthur Wellesley Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
, the future Duke of Wellington , had his first London residence in Harley Street. *
Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran Charles McMoran Wilson, 1st Baron Moran, MC, PRCP (10 November 1882 – 12 April 1977) was personal doctor to Winston Churchill from 1940 until the latter's death in 1965. His book ''The Struggle for Survival'' revealed much about Churchill's ...
, who was
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
's personal physician, had a private practice at No. 29 during the 1920s and 1930s. *
Isabel Thorne Isabel Jane Thorne (née Pryer; 22 September 1834 – 9 October 1910) was an early campaigner for medical education for women. Mrs Thorne, as she was known, was a member of the feminist Edinburgh Seven, who campaigned and succeeded in securing t ...
member of the
Edinburgh Seven The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. They began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869 and, although the Court of Session ruled that they should neve ...
lived at 148, Harley Street, London. *
Mary Scharlieb Dame Mary Ann Dacomb Scharlieb, DBE (née Bird; 18 June 1845 – 21 November 1930) was a pioneer British female physician and gynaecologist in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. She had worked in India and by her persistence she returned to ...
, Dame and pioneer woman doctor had a medical practice and lived at 149 Harley Street, London.


Fictional references

In
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
's ''
Mrs. Dalloway ''Mrs. Dalloway'' is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on 14 May 1925, that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-First World War England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels. The working ...
'' (1925), medical professional Sir William Bradshaw lives on Harley Street. In
Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's ''
Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...
'' (1813), the Dashwood sisters, Lucy Steele, Mrs Jennings, Edward Ferrars, and others spend some of their free time there while in London. P.G. Wodehouse's Sir Roderick Glossop, the “nerve specialist", was said to maintain a practice on Harley Street. Dr. Janet of Harley Street is a novel about a woman doctor published in 1894 by Dr. Arabella Kenealy. In
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
’s ''
The Secret of Chimneys ''The Secret of Chimneys'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the characters ...
'' (1925), Lord Caterham ruefully mentions that his doctor advised him to “avoid all worry. So easy for a man sitting in his consulting room in Harley Street to say that.” Earlier in the book, a surgeon in Harley Street is mentioned among names listed in a phone book. Agatha Christie's ''
Death in the Clouds ''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on 10 March 1935 under the title of ''Death in the Air'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in ...
'' (1935), and ''
And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as ...
'' (1938) include characters who are a Harley Street physicians. In Agatha Christie's ''
Crooked House ''Crooked House'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year. The action takes place in and near L ...
'' (1949), Edith de Haviland visits Harley Street. In Henry James' "
The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...
" (1898), the wealthy uncle at the beginning of the work apparently has a house on Harley Street. In the movie ''
The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. In ...
'', Dr Victor Frankenstein aka Dr Franck after his brain transplant begins his medical practice on Harley Street W In
John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry J ...
's ''
The Untouchable ''The Untouchable'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Scarface. The album was released on March 11, 1997, by Rap-A-Lot Records and Noo Trybe Records. The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for the first time ...
'', Victor Maskell visits his doctor and is told "I should have thought you had died already, in a way." ... which is "not the kind of thing you expect to hear from a Harley Street consultant, is it." In
Richard Osman Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, novelist and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show ''Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz sho ...
's '' The Bullet That Missed'' (2022), Now the door opens, and Fiona Clemence pops her head around it. That auburn hair, so famous from the shampoo adverts, the full smile, so famous from the toothpaste adverts, and the cheekbones honed by genetics and Harley Street.


See also

*
List of eponymous roads in London The following is a partial list of eponymous roads in London – that is, roads named after people – with notes on the link between the road and the person. Examples of reigning monarchs, Prime Ministers etc. with no inherent geographic link a ...
*
Macquarie Street, Sydney Macquarie Street is a street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House at its northern end. Apart from connecting these two m ...
* Rodney Street, the ''Harley Street'' of the North, in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
*
Welbeck Street Welbeck Street is a street in the West End, central London. It has historically been associated with the medical profession. Location The street runs approximately north–south between New Cavendish Street at the northern end, crossing Wigm ...
*
Wimpole Street Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, compl ...
*
Weymouth Street Hospital Weymouth Street Hospital is a private hospital in London, England. Along with its consulting rooms at 9 Harley Street, it is owned by Phoenix Hospital Group, which bought 25 Harley Street in January 2018. History The hospital was founded by Dr ...


References


External links

* George Harley, {{coord, 51.5206, -0.1477, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Health in the City of Westminster History of medicine in the United Kingdom Medical districts Howard de Walden Estate Areas of London City of Westminster Streets in London