Duke Street, St James's is a street in the

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...

area of the City of Westminster,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. It runs from Piccadilly in the north to King Street in the south, and is crossed by

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. Hist ...

. Ryder Street joins it on the western side. On the eastern side it provides access to Masons Yard. The upmarket department store

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

occupies the north-west corner.

History

Duke Street first appeared in the rate books of the parish of

St. Martin in the Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

in 1673. It is likely that it was named in honour of James, Duke of York, later James II. Building of the street was completed in the 1680s, though none of the original houses remain. The Chequers Tavern, at No. 16, occupies a site that has been a public house has since 1732, when Henry Mason, the then occupant, was granted a victualler's licence for an unnamed tavern. His successor was Robert Morgoridge, and William Morgridge was granted a victualler's licence for the Mason's Arms in Duke Street in 1744. By 1751, the name of the tavern had been changed to the Chequers. Mason's Yard is now located to the east of Duke Street.

Notable residents

Notable residents of Duke Street include: *1686

Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton (1632–1706) was an English aristocrat and diplomat. Career He succeeded his father, Christopher Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton, as Baron Hatton and also as governor of Guernsey in 1670. He and his family w ...

English aristocrat and diplomat. *1707

Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey (c. 165625 August 1711) was an English peer, courtier, and statesman of the Villiers family. He was created Baron Villiers and Viscount Villiers in 1691 and Earl of Jersey in 1697. A leading Tory politicia ...

*1760 Thomas Villiers, Baron Hyde, later first Earl of Clarendon *1815

Tom Cribb Tom Cribb (8 July 1781 – 11 May 1848) was a world champion English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. Cribb was born near Bristol but moved to London before starting professional fighting. He undertook a series of fights between 1805 an ...

, prize-fighter. *1815-1830 Charles Lewis (bookbinder) A lodger in Duke Street, St James's was

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...

, who dated letters from here between December 1790 and March 1791, and in January 1794.

Listed buildings

*11 Duke Street, St James's (Grade II) Terraced house with later shop. *2 & 3 Duke Street, St James's (Grade II) Office and gallery building. 1910-12 by E. Vincent Harris and Thomas A. Moodie.

Culture

“The street is now a centre of fine art dealers and galleries” Forming part of the St James's Art District, Duke Street is an important location for its concentration of art galleries, covering modern and contemporary art, sculpture, old masters and tapestries. It includes the premises of Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Willow Gallery, Thomas Heneage, S Franses Ltd, MacConnal-Mason Galleries, Sims Reed Rare Books and Whitford Fine Art.

References

Streets in the City of Westminster St James's Art gallery districts {{England-road-stub

History

Notable residents

Listed buildings

Culture

See also

References