Garret Wesley was a talented composer from County Meath in Ireland who in 1760 was created Earl of Mornington and Viscount Wellesley. The future victor at the Battle of Waterloo – Arthur Wellesley who became the Duke of Wellington – was Garret Wesley’s third son.
He also had a daughter Anne who married local landowner Henry FitzRoy in 1790. Owning this patch of Camden, Henry named Mornington Crescent, Mornington Place, Mornington Terrace and Mornington Street after the title of his father-in-law.
Mornington Crescent was begun in 1821 although the northernmost part of the crescent was called Southampton Street until 1864.
The Crescent became quite an artists’ colony in the latter part of the nineteenth century with Spencer Gore, Frederick Pickersgill and Walter Sickert residing there.
The Mornington Crescent Gardens were designed for the enjoyment and leisure of the residents but were built over in 1928 when the Carreras cigarette factory was built.
