September 2017 archive

Zoological Society Gardens

This item appeared as an entry in the Victorian publication Curiosities of London: exhibiting the most rare and remarkable objects of interest in the metropolis; with nearly sixty years personal recollections by John Timbs, John (1801-1875). Publication date: 1867 Publisher London : J. C. Hotten The digitised edition was scanned by the University of California Libraries …

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The Fascination of London: Westminster

THE FASCINATION OF LONDON WESTMINSTER By Sir WALTER BESANT and G. E. MITTON. PART I SOUTH OF VICTORIA STREET. The word Westminster used in the title does not mean that city which has its boundaries stretching from Oxford Street to the river, from the Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens, to Temple Bar. A city which embraces …

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The Fascination of Marylebone

The derivation of this name is simple. Lysons says: “The name of this place was anciently called Tiburn, from its situation near a small bourn or rivulet formerly called Aye-brook or Eye-brook, and now Tybourn Brook. When the site of the church was altered to another spot, near the same brook, it became St. Mary …

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The Fascination of Chelsea

By G. E. MITTON (1902). Edited by Sir Walter Besant. (The Underground Map editor notes: Optical character recognition tries to resolve spelling – spelling of proper names and derivations can be unreliable as a result) PREFATORY NOTE A survey of London, a record of the greatest of all cities, that should preserve her history, her …

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Old and New London: Volume 1 – Whitefriars

Old and New London: Volume 1  was a book published in 1878 by Cassell, Petter & Galpin. Now out of print, it was digitised by the British History Online project. Table of contents Citation: Walter Thornbury, Old and New London: Volume 1 (London, 1878) British History Online www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol1 So rich is London in legend and tradition, …

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London – South of the Thames : Chapter IX

Chapter VIII London – South of the Thames by Sir Walter Besantt Chapter X This is a digitised copy of the book London – South of the Thames by Sir Walter Besant Published in London by Adam & Charles Black (1912) This is in its raw form. Sections will be improved manually on this blog …

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Old Park Lane, W1

Old Park Lane was formerly the southern extention of Park Lane when the latter was a simple country lane on the boundary of Hyde Park, separated from it by a brick wall. Once known as Tyburn Lane, the whole of Park Lane led from Piccadilly to Tyburn (Marble Arch). Before even that it was known …

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Argyll Road, W8

Many of the other roads in the estate run between Phillimore Gardens and Argyll Road. Argyll Road is broken up by these roads on its west side, but the east side is virtually one long, undivided terrace. The slope of the road means that the terrace is stepped every four houses or so. There is …

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Almack’s, St James

Almack’s is covered by two eBooks published in the 19th century Curiosites of London (1867) London, Past and Present (1891) The following entry appeared in the Victorian publication Curiosities of London: exhibiting the most rare and remarkable objects of interest in the metropolis; with nearly sixty years personal recollections by John Timbs, John (1801-1875). Publication date: …

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Streets, roads, avenues, terraces and lanes

The distinction between ‘Street’, ‘Road’, ‘Avenue’, Terrace’, ‘Lane’ etc. has merged over the years but they each once had a precise meaning. To the Romans some thoroughfares constructed with layers of rock and rubble was a ‘via strata’, (paved way) giving us the word street. The word outlived its original meaning and took on its …

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