Local Residents
Finborough Road
No 1 - Charles William Sherborn (1831-1912), etcher and engraver, died at 1 Finborough Road on 10 February 1912. The National Portrait Gallery has a large archive of his work. He was particularly known for his designs for bookplates.
No 2 from 1869-77 - Arthur Hughes (1832-1915), the first occupier of the house.
Pre-Raphaelite painter and the original illustrator of (among other books) Tom Brown's Schooldays.
The family were also friends with the Reverend Charles L. Dodgson, better known as the creator of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. These are some letters Dodgson wrote to Hughes' young daughters:
My dear Agnes,--You lazy thing! What? I'm to divide the
kisses myself, am I?
Indeed I won't take the trouble to do
anything of the sort!
But I'll tell you how to do it.
First, you must take four of the kisses, and--and
that reminds me of a very curious thing that happened to me
at half-past four yesterday. Three visitors came knocking at
my door, begging me to let them in. And when I opened the
door, who do you think they were? You'll never guess. Why,
they were three cats! Wasn't it curious? However, they all
looked so cross and disagreeable that I took up the first
thing I could lay my hand on (which happened to be the
rolling-pin) and knocked them all down as flat as pan-cakes!
"If you come knocking at my door," I said,
"I shall come knocking at your heads." "That
was fair, wasn't it?
Yours affectionately,
Lewis Carroll.
My dear Agnes,--About the cats, you know. Of course I didn't leave them lying flat on the ground like dried flowers: no, I picked them up, and I was as kind as I could be to them. I lent them the portfolio for a bed--they wouldn't have been comfortable in a real bed, you know: they were too thin—but they were quite happy between the sheets of blotting-paper--and each of them had a pen-wiper for a pillow. Well, then I went to bed: but first I lent them the three dinner-bells, to ring if they wanted anything in the night.
You know I have three dinner-bells--the first (which is the largest) is rung when dinner is nearly ready; the second (which is rather larger) is rung when it is quite ready; and the third (which is as large as the other two put
together) is rung all the time I am at dinner. Well, I told them they might ring if they happened to want anything--and, as they rang al the bells all night, I suppose they did want something or other, only I was too sleepy to attend to them.
In the morning I gave them some rat-tail jelly and buttered mice for breakfast, and they were as discontented as they could be. They wanted some boiled pelican, but of course I knew it wouldn't be good for them. So all I said was "Go to Number Two, Finborough Road, and ask for Agnes Hughes, and if it's really good for you, she'll give you some." Then I shook hands with them all, and wished them all goodbye, and drove them up the chimney. They seemed very sorry to go, and they took the bells and the portfolio with them. I didn't find this out till after they had gone, and then I was sorry too, and wished for them back again. What do I mean by "them"? Never mind.
How are Arthur, and Amy, and Emily? Do they still go up and down Finborough Road, and teach the cats to be kind to mice? I'm very fond of all the cats in Finborough Road.
Give them my love.
Who do I mean by "them"?
Never mind.
Your affectionate friend,
Lewis Carroll.
My dear Amy,--How are you getting on, I wonder, with
guessing those puzzles from "Wonderland"? If you think
you've found out any of the answers, you may send them to
me; and if they're wrong, I won't tell you they're right!
You asked me after those three cats. Ah! The dear creatures!
Do you know, ever since that night they first came, they
have never left me? Isn't it kind of them? Tell Agnes
this. She will be interested to hear it. And they are
so kind and thoughtful! Do you know, when I had gone out for
a walk the other day, they got all my books out of
the bookcase, and opened them on the floor, to be ready for
me to read. They opened them all at page 50, because they
thought that would be a nice useful page to begin at. It was
rather unfortunate, though: because they took my bottle of
gum, and tried to gum pictures upon the ceiling (which they
thought would please me), and by accident they spilt a
quantity of it all over the books. So when they were shut up
and put by, the leaves all stuck together, and I can never
read page 50 again in any of them!
However, they meant it very kindly, so I wasn't angry. I
gave them each a spoonful of ink as a treat; but they were
ungrateful for that, and made dreadful faces. But, of
course, as it was given them as a treat, they had to drink
it. One of them has turned black since: it was a white cat
to begin with.
Give my love to any children you happen to meet. Also I send
two kisses and a half, for you to divide with Agnes, Emily,
and Godfrey. Mind you divide them fairly.
Yours affectionately,
C.L. Dodgson.
No 2 and No 3 in ???? - Albert Goodwin (1845-1932), English painter. He studied with Hughes and Ford Madox Brown in the early 1860's, who predicted that his pupil would become "one of the greatest landscape painters of the age". He painted many works at 2 and at No 3 Finborough Road.
No 7 from 1875-83 - Richard Doyle (1824-1883), one of the finest artists of Punch until he resigned in 1850 in protest at their treatment of Roman Catholics. A regular guest at his home in Finborough Road was his young nephew, Arthur - the future Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.
No 7 in 1892 - Tone' Hippolyte Paul Bayetto was born on 28 May 1892 at 7 FInborough Road, the son of Hippolyte and Rosalie Lemair Bayetto. The family then moved out of London to Eastcote, Middlesex. He worked as a racing driver and motor engineer for Fiat, and also worked in India. He started flying in 1913 and joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, fighting in France with 66 Squadron. During an exhibition flight on 28 September 1918, the wings of his Sopwith Dolphin folded back at 200 feet and he dived into the ground at 750mph, dying instantly. He was 26 years old. He is buried in Ruislip Parish Church alongside his mother and father.
No 13, upstairs flat in 1907 - Ruby Young, murder witness.
No 13a (basement flat) in 1922 - Gertrude Yates AKA Olive Young, murder victim.
No 17 in ?? - Mary Eliza Bakewell Gaunt (1861-1942). Born in Indigo, Victoria, Australia, where her father worked as a magistrate in the gold fields, Gaunt was a self-supporting writer of fiction and non-fiction who insisted on an image of female independence. She was one of the first women to enrol at the University of Melbourne in 1881. She made her first voyage to England and India in 1890, an occasion which encouraged her to turn some of her life experiences into fiction. Her first novel, Dave's Sweetheart, was published in 1894 in London, the year she also married Dr. Hubert Miller, who encouraged her writing. During the next few years she published several more romances set in Australia and gained a popular following in that nation. But when Dr. Miller died unexpectedly in 1900, leaving Gaunt childless and with only a small inheritance, she turned to writing to support herself, moving to London where she lodged at first in two rooms in a 'dull and stony street' in Kensington. Her subsequent books included a number of romances and adventures, and tales of her travels including Alone in West Africa and A Woman Alone in China.
No 17, first floor flat in 1948 - George Epson, murderer.
No 20 First World War - Henry William Abbott and his wife Rosa H. Abbott.
Stoker 1st Class Henry William Abbott, H.M.S. "Vanguard", Royal Navy, was killed on on Monday, July 9th 1917 at the age of 27 when H.M.S. Vanguard suddenly blew up in Scapa Flow, taking over 800 of her crew down with her. He is commemorated at Chatham Naval Memorial. Two other members of the parish - Robert Chessex and Oscar Gait - were also killed in the same disaster.
No 41 in 1912 - Ernest James Moore, First Wireless Operator of the RMS Olympic.
A sister ship to the Titanic, Olympic was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1911 to 1913, except for the brief life of the Titanic. The Olympic received a distress call from the Titanic as she sank, but was 500 miles away and unable to assist. Moore's diary including details of the distress call from the Titanic was recently auctioned and signed " E J Moore, 41 Finborough Rd South Kensington".
No 51 from 1873-93 - Algernon Graves, art historian.
No 56a - David Toguri (1933-1997), dancer, choreographer and theatre director.
No 58 - Robert Arthur Wilson (1884-1979), artist, was born in Co. Durham and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. He then studied at the Academie Julian in Paris. He showed at the Royal Academy, Paris Salon and with the Society of Graphic Artists. He had a number of solo exhibitions. The British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum hold examples of his work.
No 67 - Lieutenant Frederick Arthur Dudley Redfern, Imperial South Persian Rifles, was born on 5 August 1882 at 67 Finborough Road. His parents were Frederick William Redfern, a cloth merchant, and Lydia Mary (nee Brown). He was educated at Elstow School from 1898 to 1899 and was a member of the school cricket XI. He worked for Lynch Bros, London (Shipping Agents) and was sent out to Persia between 1904 and 1910 as their representative. He learnt Persian, Arabic and French. He married Elizabeth Annie Richardson (Elsie) in 1912 in Leire. They had 2 children, the elder died in 1915. He was mobilised into the Royal Engineers, Motor Cycle Section in 1916 and applied to the Army to make use of his Persian experience. He rose rapidly to Acting Sergeant. Whilst in transit, as part of Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, he was transferred to the South Persian Rifles in 1917 as a temporary Second Lieutenant. He was posted to Basra where he was taken ill during reconnaissance work and died in Basra hospital of heatstroke on 15 July 1917 at the age of 34. He is buried in Basra Cemetery, Iraq.
This information courtesy of Roll-of-Honour.com © 2001 Martin Edwards
No 86 in 1899 - Amy and John Hopkins, husband and wife, appeared at West London Police Court on 15 August 1899 charged with running a brothel from their home. John was arraigned on charges of living off immoral earnings, despite having a full time job as a supervisor at the Earl's Court Exhibition. The couple were found guilty and sentenced to six weeks imprisonment or £15 fine for Amy and three months' hard labour for John. Three young child prostitutes were rescued from the house and sent to industrial schools.
No 92 First World War - Edward and Emily King. Their son, Lance Corporal Thomas William King, was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 114 in 1901 - David Mitchell and his family. He was employed in 1901 as an Assistant Verger and Gardener, but also had a conviction for stealing for which he was convicted in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 1872. "David Mitchell of Cheltenham, Coachman. Age 40. Cause of Commitment: Stealing a horse rug, one strap & 2 chains the property of Rob Chapman his master at Prestbury on the 30th April 1872. Also stealing four bottles of ale, a Can and two pounds weight of Sugar, the property of one Stephens Bartholomew his master at Cheltenham on 15th of September 1872. Tried 16th October 1872. Event of Trial: Guilty. Sentence passed: One month hard labour."
No 118 - The Finborough Arms (the building including the Finborough Theatre).
See The Finborough Arms
No 121 - Antonia de Sancha. (Born September 14, 1961). An actress best known for her affair with Heritage Minister and Conservative Member of Parliament David Mellor, mainly conducted from her Finborough Road flat. She subsequently sold the story of her affair with Mellor for £30,000. Mellor resigned from the government in September 1992 as a result.
No 131 Finborough Road in 1879 - Sir Alfred Scott Scott-Gatty KCVO KCVO, KJStJ, FSA (1847-1918), Composer and Garter King-of Arms, and organiser of various major Royal cermonial events including the coronoation of King George V.
His sister was Juliana Horatia Ewing (nee Gatty) (1841-1885), who also lived here, prior to her marriage and again in the 1880's, who was an extremely popular children's author. Many of her books are available free online.
No 138 in the 1860's, and No 158 in 1881 - Kenyon Charles Shiercliffe Parker (1841-1904).
He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 18 January 1860. He was called to the Bar as a Barrister-at-Law on 17 November 1862. He was a member of chambers at 13 Old Square, Lincoln's Inn, WC. He was appointed an examiner of the High Court of Justice in February 1884.
No 178 in ?? - Jack Cox (1914-2007), British artist.
No 192 during the 2000's - Mohammmed Ramzi, one of the London bombers of 21 July 2005.
Other sometime residents of the Finborough Road included Simon Callow, Emily Steel, Olive Young's maid at the time of her murder in 1922; Jane Leeves - Daphne from TV’s Frasier, and Toranoske Masayas Nishigawa, "Analytical Chemist of the City of Hiroshima, in the Empire of Japan, but at present of Finborough Road in the county of Middlesex" who was granted a British patent on August 31st 1876 for his "Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus for manufacturing ice."
Ifield Road
No 75 - Thomas William Kimpton, a valet, born in Portsea, Portsmouth, in 1864. He married twice - to Ann Hamblin at St James Church, Milton, Portsmouth, in 1889, and, following her death, to Amy Louisa Flood in 1918. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery.
The Kensington News and West London Times - Friday March 23 1934
Shocking Accident in Cromwell Road
Strange Request From Coroner's Jury
"While on his way to a levee at St. James's Palace on Tuesday, March 13th, Jeoffrey Charles Phillip Lawrence, a second lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry, knocked down and fatally injured Thomas William Kimpton of Ifield road, North Kensington, who was crossing Cromwell road.
At the Inquest on Friday, Mrs Amy Louisa Kimpton gave evidence of identification.
Gertrude Rellie of Langham, bucks, said she was driving along Cromwell road going towards Brompton Oratory. She had been following another motor car for practically a mile. She was going about 25 miles an hour. The car in front would probably be going from 30 to 32 miles an hour. There was a big car stationary slightly forward from the refuge. There was also a taxi in line with the refuge.
A third car pulled out of Marloes road or from the kerb, right in front of the car in front of her. The next thing she saw was a man flying up in the air.
Dr. Thomas Chapman, of St Mary Abbots Hospital, said that Kimpton was dead when admitted. Death was due to a fractured skull.
Captain Harold Knowling, of Marloes Road, Kensington, said Kimpton was his valet. On Tuesday March 13th, he was following a few yards behind him. They were coming from his flat in Marloes Road, Kimpton was crossing over Cromwell Road by the refuge. He saw him look to the right, where a small car was coming along.
"I took another pace, and then found I could not get across comfortably before the car. I stepped back. Kimpton walked on, and he suddenly saw the motor car was on him, and he stopped. If he had proceeded on he could have got across in time. The car hit him and he was flung upwards, skimmed the front of the car, turned a somersault and fell down beside the car on the left side of his head."
The car was not going less than 40 miles an hour.
Jeoffrey Lawrence, the driver of the car, said he was driving along about 30 miles an hour on his way to St. James's Palace where he was to attend the levee.
He saw two men step off the pavement, crossing from the left to the right. He sounded his horn and put on his brakes. He was about 10 yards away. One of the pedestrians stepped back and the other continued. He thought he sounded his horn again, then the other man appeared to hesitate, and his impression was that he took a pace back.
"I tried to go behind him and then, when he went backwards, I tried to go in front."
After he had hit him he pulled up in about ten yards in the middle of the road.
The Coroner, addressing the jury, said it was one of the cases that often happened, where a horn was sounded too close to a pedestrian, and he took a pace back and hesitated.
"This is not the first I have had to-day," he added.
Returning a verdict of "Accidental death," the foreman of the jury said: "We do not think there is any negligence, but we leave it to you to lecture the driver."
The Coroner: That is not very satisfactory. Do you find there was any negligence?
The foreman: No, we do not agree to any negligence."
No 78 First World War - George Barsby and his wife, Ethel May Barsby. Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 91 First World War - Eliza Horne, widow of Thomas Frederick Horne.
Their son, Stoker 2nd Class George Horne was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 91 First World War - George Richards. His son, George Henry Richards, a theological student, enlisted in the Australian Army in September 1915 as an ambulance driver. He survived the war and returned to Australia in March 1918.
No 92 basement flat in 1975 - Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the UK 1997-2007.
No 93 First World War - Henry Russell Barton and his wife Elizabeth. Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 113 on 2 April 1911 - The census return for 1911 provides a good indication of the type of residents in Ifield Road at that time.
Martha Irgam Crane. A 62 year old widow from Newcastle Upon Tyne was the Lodging House Keeper.
And her lodgers:
Henry Edwin Thomas Sims. A 43 year old widower, occupied as a Postman, born in Hammersmith, London.
And his children: Dorothy Grace Sims. Age 16. No Occupation. Born Chelsea, London.
Arthur Edwin Ernest Sims. A 14 year old schoolboy. Born Chelsea, London.
Mabel Emily Sims. A 11 year old schoolgirl. Born Chelsea, London.
Henry Jack Sims. A 10 year old schoolboy. Born Chelsea, London.
and
Thomas Young. A 45 year old General Packer, born in Birmingham.
His wife, Louisa Young, age 49, born in Portsmouth, Hampshire.
And their son, Thomas Henry Young, a 16 year old clerk, born in Chelsea, London
and
Maurice Edwin Ross Jewell. A 28 year old restaurant chef, born in Stratton, Cornwall.
His wife, Bessie Kate Jewell, a 26 year old housewife from Weymouth, Dorset.
His mother, Mrs Elizabeth Ann Jewell, aged 64 of no occupation, born in Holsworthy, Dover, Kent.
And a visitor - Arthur Warner, a 29 year old male nurse-valet, born in Bennington, Nottinghamshire.
Bolton Gardens
No 11 (later moving to 12) First World War - Agnes Marian Bence-Trower was born in Scotland in 1852. She married Percy Bence-Trower (1846-1908) at St James', Piccadilly, on 6 July 1876. Their children were Henry Percy, born 1877; Agnes Helen, born 1878; Alfred, born 1880; Richard Alexander, born 1882; and Edith Muriel, born 1883, who were all born at 7 Stanhope Street, Hyde Park Gardens. At 11 Bolton Gardens, Mrs Bence-Trower gave birth to three more children: Ernest Guy, born 1887; Edward, born 1891; and Henry Arthur, born 1893.
Her husband died in 1908.
Her eldest son, Henry Percy Bence-Trower, born 24 April 1877, died at school at Charterhouse at the age of 15 in 1892.
She lost two sons in the First World War on successive days:
Second Lieutenant Alfred Bence-Trower, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards. Born 10 August 1880 at 7 Stanhope Street, Hyde Park Gardens, London. Educated at Charterhouse. He, was killed in action on 29 May 1918, aged 37. He is buried in St Amand British Cemetery, Somme, France. He is also commeorated in Thorington Parish Church, Suffolk, where his original battlefield cross is on display.
Major Edward Bence-Trower MC [Military Cross], 5th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. Born 16 March 1891 at 11 Bolton Gardens. Educated at Charterhouse. He was posted missing, presumed killed in action, on 30 May 1918 at Romigny, France, aged 27. He has no known grave, and is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial.
The Boltons
No 11 from 1863-98 - Sir Robert Rawlinson, civil engineer. He was the Engineering Sanitary Commissioner to the Army in the East from 1850 to 1876, covering the Crimean War. He also co-founded the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. Buried in Brompton Cemetery.
No 16 from 1879-98 - Madame Emma Albani (Mrs Ernest Gye) (1847-1930), French Canadian operatic soprano.
No 21 from 1861-63 - Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1889), Irish-born editor of The Art Journal from 1839 to 1880.
No 22 from 1900-04 - Brandon Thomas, actor and playwright. Author of Charley's Aunt. Buried in Brompton Cemetery.
No 24 from 1877-84 - Sir W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911), dramatist and librettist of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. Built the Garrick Theatre.
No 24a until 1976 - Novelist and politician Jeffrey Archer.
No 27 from 1892-1902 - F.C. Burnand, playwright, editor of Punch and librettist of Cox and Box with Sir Arthur Sullivan.
No 28 from 1860-63 - Dr Benjamin Golding (1793 -1863). Founded Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School in 1818. Buried in Brompton Cemetery.
Also,
George Godwin, architect of The Finborough Arms.
Sir Julian Ridsdale CBE, former Conservative MP, and his wife Lady Ridsdale who was Ian Fleming's original inspiration for Miss Moneypenny. She was the Chairperson of the Conservative Wives Association from 1978 to 1991.
Former Northern Ireland minister Michael Alison. His home was bombed unsuccessfully by the IRA.
Pop singer Holly Vallance.
Cathcart Road
No 31 from 1897/8-1904 - Robert Kerr, architect, and author of The Gentlemans House; or, How to Plan English Residences, from the Parsonage to the Palace.
No 62 from 1861-91 - Thomas and Frank Verity, architects. Thomas Verity was the architect of the Comedy Theatre and the Criterion Theatre. Around 1900, Thomas was joined by his son, Frank, and the famous Pavilion at Lords Cricket Ground was a product of their partnership.
Claro Terrace
No 7 First World War - Alfred Frederick Boyce and his wife Kate. Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
Coleherne Road
No 21 from January 1935 for a few months before his return to Swansea - Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), poet.
Dovehouse Street
Flat 3, No 123 from before 1968-1987 - Emlyn Williams (1905-1987), Welsh actor-dramatist.
Eardley Crescent
No 58 from 1887-88 - John Butler Yeats and his family including poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1939).
No 67 from 1945-1980 - Hattie Jacques, actress and star of the Carry On films -
"You may not realise it but I was once a weak man", says Kenneth Williams' terrified Doctor Tinkle to Hattie Jacques. "Once a week's enough for any man", she purrs back.
Earl's Court Square
No 25 Wetherby Mansions First World War - Mrs Lowe, widow of Rev. E. J. Lowe, of Stallingborough Vicarage, Lincolnshire.
The only son of Mrs Lowe and the youngest son of Rev Lowe was was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 36 from 1890-1904 - Frank Gielgud, and his sons, Val Gielgud and Sir John Gielgud who wrote in An Actor and His Time: "The house where I was born, in April 1904, was steep and chilly. It stood in the Old Brompton Road in South Kensington."
Edith Grove
No 19 pre-First World War – singer Paul Draper (brother of the renowned monologue performer Ruth Draper) and his wife Muriel “created one of the celebrated most salons of its moment. There they were hosts to the musicians, artists and writers of the time, Casals, Thibaud, Kochanski, the young Arthur Rubinstein, the Flonzaley Quartet, and other makers of music joining with such listeners as Henry James, Sargent, and older friends to make the night music of Edith Grove one of the envied pleasures of London’s high Bohemia”. (from Ruth Draper - A Memoir by Morton Dauwen Zabel).
No 80 in 1919 - Paul Fripp (1890-1945). Photographer. "On 19 February 1919, Fripp resumed his studies at the Royal College of Art, he lived in Chelsea, initially in small 'bedsits' and later in an unfurnished flat at 80 Edith Grove. The artist Alfred Kingsley Lawrence (1893-1975) rented the flat below them. Even though the flat was small, it had a tiny sink inside a cramped cupboard which Fripp used as a darkroom, while his wife washed up in a bowl on a lid over the bath!"
No 88 pre-First World War - D.S. MacColl, Keeper of the Tate Gallery (1906 - 1911) Having originally studied for the church, MacColl became interested in art after meeting artists and writers living near his home in Kensington. He eventually abandoned his theological studies to teach art history and went on to work as a critic for the influential Saturday Review. He was perhaps an unlikely choice for Keeper of a national collection in that he had become renowned for his fierce attacks on the art establishment, not only criticizing the Royal Academy, but also Henry Tate's Collection and the pictures of the Chantrey Bequest, which had become part of the Tate's Collection. However his astute scholarly mind and willingness to stand up for his beliefs made him invaluable to the Tate in its early years. He strengthened the Collection on many fronts: re-hanging the Galleries to show the existing Collection at its best, strengthening the holdings of Pre-Raphaelite work and drawing up a list of desirable additions to the Collection including works by Wilson Steer, Augustus John, and Walter Sickert.
No 102 in the 1960's - Three young musicians sharing a flat here in the 1960's were Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones...The Roling Stones.
Other residents have included:
Joan Collins and Anthony Newley.
Frances De La Tour.
Fernshaw Road
A blue plaque marks the house of Alexander Mackendrick (1912-1993), film director, responsible for such Ealing classics as Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), Mandy (1952) and The Ladykillers (1955).
Fulham Road
38 Hereford House First World War - Alick Edward Friend, born 1864 in Hawkhurst, Kent, married Harriet Rolfe of Aston Clinton, Bucks, in Deceber 1892. They had six children, all born In the local area. Their eldest son was Private Edward Thomas Friend, 2nd Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company, who was killed in action on 15 May 1917, aged 22. London. Buried in Arras Cemetery, France.
Gertrude Street
No 34 from 1934 to 1937 - Samuel Beckett, author
Gilston Road
No 9 from 1857-80 - Robert Fortune (1812-1880), biologist. Famed for his adventure-filled plant hunting expeditions to China. His most significant legacy was the transfer of tea plants from China to India. From a gardeners perspective, he is credited with introducing over 120 new species to Europe.
No 10 in 2001 - Has been purchased by former disc jockey Chris Evans, and then singer George Michael.
No 27 - Lady Henry Irving (the estranged wife of the first actor to be knighted, Sir Henry Irving) and their sons H.B. Irving and Lawrence Irving, both actors. Lawrence wrote the definitive biography of his father. On May 29th 1914, he and his young wife, actress Mabel Hackney, returning from a successful tour of Canada, drowned in the Empress of Ireland disaster. The Empress of Ireland, a passenger liner, collided with a Norwegian collier, the Storstad, in the St Lawrence River en route from Montreal, and sank in 14 minutes. 1012 people died. "In some ways it was a more horrifying disaster than either the Titanic or Lusitania, because it happened at 2 am when most passengers were asleep, with little or no time to escape. The Empress of Ireland still holds the record for the largest number of passengers lost on a liner in peacetime(840)"
Other residents have included
Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran.
Pop star David Bowie and his supermodel wife Iman.
Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent designer Tom Ford.
Comedian Rowan Atkinson.
Gunter Grove
No 14 - John Ireland (1879-1962), composer.
No 36 First World War - Alfred and Nellie Weeks. Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 45 from 1978-1981 - John Lydon aka "Johnny Rotten" of The Sex Pistols
Harcourt Terrace
No 42 First World War - William James and Mary L. Harter.
Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 87 from 1877-80 - Richard Popplewell Pullan. Architect and author. His many works include the succinctly titled Byzantine Architecture: Illustrated by Examples of Edifices Erected in the East During the Earliest Ages of Christianity, with Historical and Archaeological Descriptions.
Harley Gardens
No 5 First World War - Sir William Lennox Napier, 3rd Baronet, and his wife, Lady Mabel E. G. Napier.
William Napier was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 14 from 1870-72 - Arthur Orton of Wapping, also known as Sir Roger Charles D. Tichborne, the infamous Tichborne Claimant.
No 14 - Frank Dobson (1886-1963), sculptor.
Limerston Street
No 48 in 1958 - Peter Cotes (1912-1998), theatre director and brother to the film directors, John and Roy Boulting. He was Artistic Director of two club theatres similar to the Finborough Theatre - the New Lindsay Theatre in Notting Hill which he ran from 1946 to 1948, and the New Boltons Theatre in Drayton Gardens which he reopened in 1950. He was possibly best known as the first director of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap in the West End.
The Little Boltons
No 32 from 1866-74 - Osbert Salvin, orthonologist. He was the first European to record observing a quetzal, pronounced it "unequalled for splendour among the birds of the New World", and promptly shot it. During the course of the next three decades, thousands of quetzal plumes crossed the Atlantic to fill the specimen cabinets of European collectors and adorn the fashionable milliners shops of Paris, Amsterdam and London. Salvin redeemed himself by authoring the awesome 40-volume tome Biologia Centrali Americana which provided virtually a complete catalogue of neotropical species.
No. 60 Coleherne Court from 1979-1981 - Diana, Princess of Wales (1960-1997). Another resident of Coleherne Court was Sophie Rhys Jones, now Countess of Wessex.
In 1994, Elizabeth Hurley was mugged in The Little Boltons by a street gang of female teenagers brandishing a kitchen knife.
Little Chelsea
Sometime residents of Little Chelsea included Sir Bartholomew Shower, a well-known lawyer, in 1693; Edward Fowler, Bishop of Gloucester, in 1709; Sir William Dawes, Bishop of Chester, and subsequently Archbishop of York; Sir Edward Ward, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, in 1697; Robert Boyle (1627-1691), philsopher, alchemist, scientist and inventor of Boyle's Law; the philsopher Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713), who bought a house in Little Chelsea to escape the "Great Smoak" of London; Edward Hyde, third Earl of Clarendon who died there in 1724; the infamous General Sir John Cope, "a little dressy, finical man" who was routed at the Battle of Prestonpans during Bonnie Prince Charlie's 1745 Jacobite rising and inspired the song Hey, Johnnie Cope.
Netherton Grove (formerly Victoria Grove)
No 6 from 1890-98 - Arnold Bennett, novelist (1867-1931). Shortly after moving to London from the Potteries, Bennett lived as a paying guest in the house of Frederick Marriott, a teacher of art at Goldsmith's College. It was in this house that he wrote his first novel, A Man from the North, and began his classic Anna of the Five Towns. Margaret Drabble in her biography of Bennett describes the move as "a move of great significance...This was a cultured household, with musical evenings, improvised theatricals and constant talk of art". As Bennett himself said:
"I began to revolve, dazzled, im a circle of painters and musicians who, without the least affectation, spelt Art with the majuscule". In his novel, The Old Wives Tale, his character Cyril Povey lives in the same street.
Old Brompton Road
No 261 until 2008 - The Coleherne Arms was arguably the most famous gay pub in the UK. Freddie Mercurey and Rudolf Nureyev were frequenters in the 1980s; it was namechecked in the song Hanging Around by The Stranglers and was later referenced in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City book, Babycakes. It was also infamous for being the stalking grounds of three separate serial killers: Dennis Nilsen, Michael Lupo and Colin Ireland. It has now been renamed The Pembroke.
No 189 from 1874-87 - Jenny Lind, "The Swedish Nightingale", singer.
Paultons Square
No 48 from Christmas 1933 to early 1934 - Samuel Beckett, author
Philbeach Gardens
No 96 and 106 - Sir Henry Cole. Instigator and organiser of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Founded the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Music and also invented Christmas cards.
?? in 1911 - Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916), Irish patriot.
Priory Grove
No 6 First World War - Lt. Colonel Charles William Henry Sealy, widower of Helena Louisa Sealy (nee Harris).
Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
Redcliffe Gardens
No 11 from 1870-1901 - John Butler, architect to the Metropolitan Police, and his son, John Dixon Butler, who lived there until 1907 and succeeded him to the same position.
No 53 - Sydney Monckton Copeman (1862-1947), developer of the vaccine for smallpox.
No 82 in 1881 - William Bayes ( 1823-1882), Physician and Writer. Educated at University College, London. Founded London School of Homeopathy on 15 December 1876.
No 98 First World War - Dr. Howard Douglas Stewart and Helen Stewart. Their son Second Lieutenant Alan Dundas Stewart, 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment. Killed 19 September 1915, age 21. Buried in Rimboval Cemetery, France.
No 134, fourth floor flat before the Second World War - The family home of Peter Ustinov, (1921-2004), Academy Award-winning actor, writer, dramatist and raconteur.
Born Peter Alexander von Ustinov, his father, Jona von Ustinov was of Russian and German descent, and had served as a German fighter pilot in the First World War, worked as a press officer at the German Embassy in London in the 1930's, and was a reporter for a German news agency. In 1935, he began working for MI5 and became a British citizen. Peter Wright mentions in his book Spycatcher that he was possibly the spy known as U35. Ustinov says in his autobiography that his father hosted secret meetings of senior British and German officials at their home in Redcliffe Gardens.
Also,
Anthony Bartlett (1913-1999), born in Redcliffe Gardens, the last man in the world to hold the position of Gentiluomo, Gentleman at Arms to the Roman Catholic Cardinal Archbishops of Westminster. He was awarded the OBE in 1991 and was also a Knight of St Gregory and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
Redcliffe Road
No 6 First World War - Wallace James and Eva Champion. Their son was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
No 14 - Alexander McClymont, builder of the local area.
No 22 - William Corbett, builder of the local area.
No 29 in 1940's - Garnet Ruskin Wolseley, ARWA (1884-1967). Garnet Ruskin Wolseley, painter, was born in London on 24th May 1884, the son of Rev. Robert W Wolseley who was first cousin of the distinguished British Soldier Field Marshall Lord Wolseley. He was related to John Ruskin on his Mother's side. He trained at the Slade School of Art where he received the Slade Scholarship, Painting Prizes 1902-03 and The Gold Medal. From 1908-13 he worked in Newlyn, Cornwall, alongside Harold and Laura Knight, Harold Harvey and Stanhope Forbes. During this period he began exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He enrolled in the Navy during the First World War and served in the Sea Plane Carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. On return to civilian life, he began to paint society portraits in addition to his flower painting and landscape work. He married Joan Trevelyan in 1937 and had three children. He moved briefly to Snowdonia where he specialised in mountain landscapes but following his wife's death in 1943, he moved to live near her family home in Somerset.
No 64 from 1883-94 - Herbert Gribble, architect. Designed Brompton Oratory.
No ?? - Hugh Grant, film actor.
No ?? - Sir J.C. Squire (1884-1958), journalist, dramatist and poet. Born in Plymouth, Squire was for a long period the literary editor of The New Statesman. From 1919 to 1934, he edited The London Mercury, becoming the unofficial leader of the Georgian movement of poetry, in succession to Edward Marsh. In the latter phase of the Georgian movement, its members were sometimes known as the "Squirearchy". As a reader for the publishers Macmillan, he was responsible for recommending the publication of Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm. He also brought James Elroy Flecker's Hassan to the London stage. He edited a number of anthologies, of which his best known were his Selections from Modern Poets (1921 and 1924). He was also an acclaimed parodist. His Collected Poems, edited by Sir John Betjeman, appeared in 1959.
Bolton's Studios - Artists working there included:
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926). Artists and etcher. He lived for many years in Chelsea where he became a friend of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).
Anna Nordgren (1847-1916). Swedish figure and landscape painter.
Nordgren was active as an exhibitor between 1885 and 1901, showing at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Society of Women Artists, New Gallery, New English Art Club and Society of British Artists.
From 1889-91 - Alfred Ezra Sassoon (1861-1895), sculptor, and the father of poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Redcliffe Square
No 20 First World War - Gladys M. Watson. Her husband, Lieutenant Charles Challinor Watson,"A" Battery, 21st Brigade Royal Field Artillery was killed in action 1 June 1917, aged 28. He was the son of Charles and Mary Edith Watson, of Woodview, Leake, Staffordshire. Buried in No 10 Communal Cemetery Extension, Sains-en-Gohelle, France.
No 22 during the 1990's -
In separate flats, film actors Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant
No 24 from 1888-91 - Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925), author of She and King Solomon's Mines.
No 28 from 1921-23 - Hazel Hunkins-Hallinan (1890-1982). American suffragist and journalist.
No 31 in 1895 - Sir Robert George Crookshank Hamilton (1836-1895) died at 31 Redcliffe Square on 22 April 1895. Born in Shetland, he was a holder of many government posts including Under-Secretary of Ireland from 1883-1886. He was appointed Governor of Tasmania in 1887-1893, actively supporting Australian federation.
No 32 First World War - Frederick Charles and Anna Sasse, and their daughter Valentine Joan Downes (nee Sasse).
Their son Captain Frederick Hugh Sasse was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
Their son-in-law Captain Gilbert George Downes was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
Another son, Cecil Duncan Sasse became a Australian war hero. Born in 1886, he emigrated to Australia where he worked as a woolbroker in Sydney. He enlisted as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force in August 1914, embarking in October 1914. He was promoted to Major in August 1915 and Lieutenant-Colonel in April 1918.
He played a major role in the Battle of Lone Pine in Gallipoli in August 1915. A pivotal trench section was even named after him - "Sappe's Sap".
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order - "For conspicuous gallantry and determination durring the attack on Lone Pine, Gallipoli Peninsula, on the 6th-7th August, 1915, when he led several bayonet charges on trenches occupied by the enemy, resulting in substantial gains. Captain Sasse was wounded three times, but remained on duty." On 9 August, he played a major role in the action which led to his comrade Captain Shout being awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
"The 1st Battalion had relieved the 7th on the morning of 9 August, at a section known as Sasse's Sap. Captain Cecil Duncan Sasse (later Lieutenant Colonel) DSO & Bar., of the 4th Battalion had captured a section of the enemy's trench, but when the 1st arrived the enemy had reoccupied a large area of the captured trench.
Shout and Sasse enlisted the aid of eight volunteers and following Sasse's plan of attack that had previously been successful they charged down the trench with Shout bombing and Sasse shooting.
The eight volunteers then built a barricade as each section of trench was secured; all went well and Shout - who was reportedly enjoying the fight - was preparing for the final dash of the day to capture just one more section of the trench.
Lighting three bombs Shout set off down the trench and had hurled two before the third went off prematurely blowing off his hand and severely injuring his face and body. Shout continued to direct the attack, then murmured "good old First Brigade, well done!" before he lost consciousness through loss of blood, and died from his wounds at sea onboard HMHS Neuralia on 11 August, 1915."
Sasse was later awarded a bar to his DSO "For conspicuous gallantry in the attack on Chuignolles and Chuignes on 23rd August, 1918. In face of exceedingly heavy fire he brought his battalion through to the final objective with extraordinarily few casualties, and succeeded in capturing several hundred prisoners, and some field guns. He then advanced an additional mile, captured Fontaine les Cappy, and skilfully protected his new position. The brilliant success of his battalion was due to his splendid leadership". He survived the war, and died in 1934.
The 2005 ANZAC Day poster shows Australian troops in Turkish trenches at Lone Pine. The AIF 1st Brigade captured these trenches on 6
August 1915. The soldier on the left is Captain Sasse.
No 58 in 1915 - John and Rosabel Caroline Gell. Their son, Private John Gell, 4th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force, was killed in action at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, between 6 - 9 August 1915, aged 27. Born in Manchester and raised on the Isle of Man, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 26 and worked as a "motor driver" in Sydney before enlisting in September 1914. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Turkey.
No 68 in 1907 - Agnes Mary Clerke (1842 –1907) died at 68 Redcliffe Square on 20 January 1907. An astronomer and writer, born in Ireland. She achieved a worldwide reputation in 1885 on the appearance of her exhaustive treatise, A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century. In 1892 she was awarded the Actonian Prize by the Royal Institution. In 1903, with Lady Huggins, she was elected an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society, a rank previously held only by two other women, Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville. The lunar crater Clerke is named after her.
?? - Peter Jones, founder of the department store in Sloane Square.
?? Basement Flat – Peggy Ramsay, renowned theatrical literary agent.
?? - Herbert Davis Richter (1874-1955). Artist who worked in many mediums; oil, water-colour and pastel. scenes in Buckingham Palace and also the homes of many society figures of his day, in addition to scenes in his own homes in Redcliffe Square and Hungerford.
?? from 1970-77 - Robert Lowell (1917–1977). Generally considered to be among the greatest American poets of the twentieth century. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1947 and 1974, and the National Book Award for poetry in 1960. Seamus Heaney gave the address at his memorial service at St. Luke's Church, Redcliffe Square, on 5 October 1977.
?? from 1925-1929 - Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975). Composer and Master of the Queen's Music.
?? Artists Studio shortly before the First World War - John Hall Thorpe (1874-1947). A leading Australian woodcut artist of the early twentieth century.
Redcliffe Street
No 5 13 November 1934 - January 1935 - Dylan Thomas, poet.
No 6 First World War - James and Henriette Hunt.
Their son Private Frederick George Hunt, 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action on 18 July 1916 at the age of 24. He is buried in St Sever Cemetery, Rouen.
No 10 from 1873-80 - Austin Dobson (1840-1921), poet and biographer of Hogarth, Steele, Goldsmith, Horace Walpole, Richardson and Fanny Burney.. "The poems of Austin Dobson...with their old-world quality and delicate feeling" Siegfried Sassoon
No 14 in 1872 - Cyril Edward Power was born at 14 Redcliffe Street on 17 December 1872. He worked as an architect at the Ministry of Works under Sir Richard Allington and was involved with the design and construction of the General Post Office, King Edward VII Building and also the Post Office at the corner of Exhibition Road and Imperial College. In 1912, he published his
three-volume work: History of English Medieval Architecture, mainly illustrated with his own pen and ink drawings. He designed and executed the War Memorial for the Great Western Railway at Paddington, London. He was also a well-known artist, partciualrly known for his posters for the London Underground.
Rich Terrace
10 from 1869-91 - Samuel John Carter, artist, and his son, Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamen.
South Bolton Gardens
No 8 was occupied as a studio from 1906-31 - Sir William Orpen (1878-1931), Irish-born portrait painter and Official British War Artist during the First World War; also, from 1907-09, Sir Hugh Lane (1875-1915), Irish art collector and critic who founded Dublin's Gallery of Modern Art, later renamed in his honour. He drowned when the Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915.
Stadium Street
No 45 First World War - Mrs. Elizabeth Lucy James.
Her son, Private Frank James, was killed in action in the First World War. See Little Chelsea at War.
Tregunter Road
No 3 from 1878-80 - General Sir William Butler (1838-1910) and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Butler (1850-1933), military painter. Sir William Butler, an Irish Catholic, fought in Canada, the First Ashanti War, the Zulu War, Egypt and the Sudan. In 1898, he was Commander-in-Chief in South Africa. From December 1898 until February 1899, he acted as High Commissioner for South Africa, and expressed views on the subject of the probabilities of war which were not welcome to the government in Westminster, who were then doing their best to provoke the Second Boer War. He was consequently ordered home, where he held the Aldershot command for a brief period in 1900 to 1901, and then the Western District until 1905. He was also an author, and a supporter of Irish Home Rule.
His wife, Lady Elizabeth, was the sister of the poet Alice Meynell, and one of the nation's leading painters of military scenes. Her Calling the Roll After an Engagement, Crimea (1874) was so popular that crowds had to be held back to protect it, and it was eventually bought by Queen Victoria. Other military scenes which followed included Quatre Bras (1875), the moving Balaclava (1876) and the much reproduced Scotland for Ever (1881). In 1879, she failed by two votes to be elected to the Royal Academy.
No 4 from 1937-40 - F.R.S. Yorke (1906-1962), modern domestic architect, author of The Modern House.
No 11 from 1856-89 - J.O. Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-1889), bibliophile and Shakespearean scholar.
No 21 from 1930-41/3 - Sir Charles Wheeler KCVO (1892-1974), sculptor and President of the Royal Academy from 1956 until 1966. His best known sculptures include the western fountain figures in Trafalgar Square.
No 14 from 1931-58 - Sir Charles Petrie (1895-1977), historical author.
Pop star Madonna bought a house in Tregunter Road, but never moved in.
Westgate Terrace
No 28 in 1880 - Smith Spencer Wigg, barrister,
died at No 28 on 21 April 1880 at the age 78.
World's End Estate
After the Profumo Affair of 1963 - Christine Keeler
