Duke Street, St James's is a street in the
St James's
St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...
area of the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. It runs from
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
in the north to
King Street in the south, and is crossed by
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a One-way traffic, 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 r ...
. Ryder Street joins it on the western side. On the eastern side it provides access to Masons Yard. The upmarket department store
Fortnum & Mason occupies the north-west corner.
History
Duke Street first appeared in the rate books of the parish of
St. Martin in the Fields in 1673.
It is likely that it was named in honour of
James, Duke of York
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
, 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 English aristocrat and diplomat.
*1707 Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey
*1760 Thomas Villiers, Baron Hyde, later first Earl of Clarendon
*1815 Tom Cribb, prize-fighter.
*1815-1830 Charles Lewis (bookbinder)
*1941 Al Bowlly (vocalist and jazz guitarist) was killed in April 1941 by a parachute mine at his flat at 32 Duke Street
A lodger in Duke Street, St James's was Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
, 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”
See also
* Duke Street, Marylebone
Duke Street is a street crossing the western half of Oxford Street, London and connecting Wigmore Street and Grosvenor Square. It is best known as the setting for the TV series ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' and has been the headquarters of t ...
* ''The Duchess of Duke Street
''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth (producer), John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV (TV network), ITV period drama ''Upstairs, ...
'', a BBC TV drama.
References
Streets in the City of Westminster
St James's
Art gallery districts
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