Cavendish Square is a square in the West End of London, very close to Oxford Circus, where the two main shopping thoroughfares of Oxford Street and Regent Street meet. It is near the squares of the Portman Estate in London. It is in the postal district of W1H, at the eastern end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Portman Square to its west. One side is faced by the rear of the flagship John Lewis shop.
It was first laid out for the 2nd Earl of Oxford by John Prince, beginning in 1717 as the first development on the Earl's London estate. It was named after the Earl's wife Henrietta Cavendish-Hollace, but the bursting of the South Sea Bubble delayed further work. It included various nobles' London residences, including the Duke of Portland, the Duke of Chandos (though his house on the square was never completed), Princess Amelia (in which house she died), and the Lane Baronets. The former Frances Fanshawe of Parsloes Manor, Dagenham, wife of Rev. Dr. Abraham Blackborne, rector of Hampton, London, and of Dagenham and grandson of Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London, died at her home on Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, in 1795 and was buried at Kew.[1][2]
One of the buildings on the square carries a blue plaque indicating that it was once the residence of Quintin Hogg, the founder of the University of Westminster.
Near to Harley Street, it is also noted as a site for medical practices such as those of James Paget. The artist Robert William Sievier lived on the square, and David Williams ran a chapel there. The West London Synagogue is also sited there. The Royal College of Nursing has its headquarters in Cavendish square.
Cavendish Square features in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as the home of Dr Lanyon, Jekyll's former best friend.
The bronze statue on the south side of the square (facing John Lewis) is of William George Frederick Cavendish Bentinck (1802-1848). Known simply as Lord George Bentinck, he was MP for Kings Lynn, Norfolk. The statue is by Thomas Campbell and was erected in 1848.
References
- ^ Visitation of England and Wales, Joseph J. Howard Frederick A. Crisp, Reissued by Heritage Books, 1997, ISBN 0788407031, 9780788407031
- ^ Tombs in the Church at Kew, Frances Fanshaw (relict of Rev. Abraham Blackborne), The Environs of London: Counties of Herts, Essex and Kent, Vol. 4, pp. 577-617, Daniel Lysons, 1796, British History Online
See also
External links
Coordinates: 51°30′59″N 0°08′42″W / 51.5165°N 0.1450°W
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