Curzon Street

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This article is about the London street. For the former station in Birmingham, see Curzon Street railway station.

Curzon Street is located within the exclusive Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district and is 400 yards to the north west of Green Park tube station. It is within the City of Westminster, running from Park Lane (past Shepherd Market) to Berkeley Square.

The street is thought to be named after George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe[1] however it is not until after his death that the title of Earl Howe was taken by someone with the last name Curzon. Before this time it was called Mayfair Row.

Curzon Street has been home to various notable members of the peerage. In 1748 a house was built in Curzon Street for the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, called Chesterfield House.[2] The house was demolished in 1937 however the site, Chesterfield Gardens, is a very sought after residence with flats renting from £5,000 per month.[3] Adjacent to the larger house were smaller dwellings, which have served as the London residences for a number of members of the peerage, including Lord Hothfield, the Duke of Grafton, Lord Leconfield, Lady Blessington, Alfred de Rothschild, Lord Blythswood and the Earl of Inchcape.[4] Also to the east was Wharncliffe House, rebuilt in 1750[4] and renamed for the Countess of Wharncliffe in the late 19th century.[5] It is now part of the Saudi Arabian Embassy.[6]

On the opposite side of the street, until 1894 stood Curzon Chapel, formerly Mayfair Chapel.[7] First erected in 1730[4] the chapel was the location before the Marriage Act 1753 of various clandestine marriages, including the marriages of the Duke of Chandos and Mrs Anne Jeffrey in 1744, Lord Strange and Mrs Lucy Smith in 1746, Lord Kensington and Rachel Hill in 1749, Sewellis Shirley and Margaret Rolle, widow of the second Earl of Oxford in 1751, the Duke of Hamilton and Miss Gunning in 1752 and of Lord George Bentinck and Mary Davies in 1753.[4]

Other inhabitants of Curzon Street have included Benjamin Disraeli until his death in 1881, Lord Macartney until his death in 1806, George Selwyn MP in 1776, Prince Pierre Soltykoff and Earl Percy.[4]

G. Heywood Hill Ltd, of The Bookshop at 10 Curzon Street: Letters between Nancy Mitford and Heywood Hill 1952-73, remains open for trading.[8]

In The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Lord Henry Wotton lives on Curzon Street.

There is an identically named street in central Birmingham that is probably named after the London street, a common practice at the time (for example Cannon Street).

Curzon Street also has a notable rock and roll link, as both Mama Cass of The Mamas & the Papas and Keith Moon of The Who died in the same room in a flat in house number 12 within 4 years of each other.

[edit] References

  1. ^ History of Mayfair
  2. ^ Details of an engraving at the City of London website
  3. ^ Flats for rent in Mayfair
  4. ^ a b c d e Mayfair, Belgravia and Bayswater (2007) by Geraldine Edith Mitton
  5. ^ Stanford's Map of London, 1862 - 1871
  6. ^ Aerial view of Curzon Street at multimap.com
  7. ^ List of London Chapels at Genuki
  8. ^ Heywood Hill

[edit] External links