5, St James's Square
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

5, St James's Square (anciently Wentworth House) is a
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
historic
townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...
in London, England, built 1748–51 by
William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), KG, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was a prominent landowner. Origins He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, the only surviving son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Ea ...
(1722–1791) to the design of
Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...
the Elder. It remained the London residence of the descendants of his sister until after 1968, and in 1984 was the site of the "Libyan Peoples' Bureau" from which shots were fired which caused the
murder of Yvonne Fletcher The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to m ...
.


Residents

The following persons were resident in successive houses on the site: *1676–1679
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC (2 June 163831 October 1709) was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II. Early life He was the eldest son of Edward Hyde ...
(Lord Privy Seal, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, &c.) *1680–1691 Elizabeth, Countess of Thanet *1692 Meinhardt de Schonberg, Duke of Leinster, K.G. (Commander-in-Chief) *1693–1695
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (29 July 167227 May 1723), of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II, and was that king's only son by his French- ...
, K.G. (Master of the Horse) *1696
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury (15 July 16601 February 1718) was a British Whig statesman who was part of the Immortal Seven group that invited William of Orange to depose King James II of England during the Glorious Revolution. Bo ...
, K.G. (Lord Treasurer, &c. ) *1697–1699
Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke ( , formerly ; 1 February 1552 – 3 September 1634) was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He is often considered the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean eras. Born into a ...
*1700–1701
Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans, KG (8 May 167010 May 1726) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwyn. Biography His surname, Beauclerk ( Anglo-Norman for "fine scholar"), had been an epithet of ...
, K.G. (Captain of the Bodyguard) *1702 Lady Katherine O'Brien *1703 Empty *1704–1711 Sir Richard Child, 3rd Baronet


Wentworth & Byng families

*1712–1739
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...
(1672–1739), K.G. (Ambassador at Berlin, First Lord of the Admiralty, &c.) *1740–1791
William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), KG, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was a prominent landowner. Origins He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, the only surviving son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Ea ...
(1722–1791), only son, who pulled down the old house and in 1748–51 rebuilt the surviving structure to the design of Brettingham. He married Lady Anne Campbell (c. 1715 – 1785), a daughter of
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich, (10 October 1680 – 4 October 1743), styled Lord Lorne from 1680 to 1703, was a British army officer and politician. He served on the continent in the Nine Years' War ...
, but died without progeny when the heir to his titles, but not to his estates, was his first cousin's son,
Frederick Wentworth, 3rd Earl of Strafford Frederick Thomas Wentworth, 3rd Earl of Strafford (1732 – 7 August 1799) was a British peer. He was the eldest son of William Wentworth, a gentleman usher of the privy chamber to Augusta, Princess of Wales. William was the son of Peter Wentw ...
. *1792–1794 Rt. Hon. Thomas Conolly (1737–1803), of Stretton Hall, Staffordshire and of
Castletown House Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of an estate. The estate was sold in 1965, and late ...
,
County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
, Ireland, MP, son of Lady Anne Wentworth, sister of
William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (8 June 1626 – 16 October 1695), KG, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was a prominent landowner. Origins He was born at Wentworth Woodhouse, the only surviving son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Ea ...
(1722–1791). He was the grandson and eventual heir of
William Conolly William Conolly (9 April 1662 – 30 October 1729), also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish Whig politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner. He was an influential figure in Irish politics, serving as Speaker of the Irish ...
(1662–1729), of Castletown House,
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the Irish House of Commons until its disestablishment in 1800. In the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, the Speaker was the dominant politic ...
, reputed to be the wealthiest man in Ireland. He married Lady Louisa Lennox, a daughter of
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richm ...
, but died without progeny. *1795–1847 George Byng (1764–1847), MP, of Wrotham Park and 5 St James's Square, son of Anne Conolly, sister of Thomas Conolly. Died without progeny. *1848–1854 Mrs. Byng, widow of George Byng (Harriet Montgomery, a daughter of Sir William Montgomerie, 1st Baronet, of Macbie Hill, Peebles,) *1855–1886 George Stevens Byng, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1806–1886) of the new creation, nephew and heir of George Byng (1764–1847) of Wrotham Park. *1887– George Henry Charles Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford (1830–1898), eldest son. * Henry William John Byng, 4th Earl of Strafford (1831–1899), brother. *Rev. Francis Edmund Cecil Byng, 5th Earl of Strafford (1835–1918), brother. *
Edmund Henry Byng, 6th Earl of Strafford Edmund Henry Byng, 6th Earl of Strafford, (27 January 1862 – 24 December 1951), styled Viscount Enfield between 1899 and 1918, of Wrotham Park in the parish of South Mimms, Middlesex (later in Hertfordshire) and 5, St James's Square, Lond ...
(1861–1951), son. He died without male progeny, leaving two daughters and co-heiresses. His titles, but not his estates, were inherited by his nephew Robert Cecil Byng, 7th Earl of Strafford (1904–1984). *Lady (Florence) Elizabeth Alice Byng (1897–1987), eldest daughter, who was bequeathed by her father his two principal properties, Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire and 5, St James's Square. In 1928 she married Michael William M. Lafone of Kenya, whom she divorced in 1931, having had issue Julian Michael Edmund Lafone (born 1928). *Julian Michael Edmund Lafone (born 1928), a barrister who in 1952 changed his surname by deed-poll to his matronymic "Byng", following a similar action by his mother following her divorce in 1931 and paternal inheritance in 1951. He attempted to evict his mother from Wrotham Park in a lawsuit presided over in the high court by Lord Oliver of Aylmerton. He inherited Wrotham Park and 5, St James's Square, and sold the latter, some time after 1968.Montague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.1060, Julian Byng's address given as "5, St James's Square"


References

{{coord, 51.50808, -0.13509, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses in the City of Westminster