Names: and Their Meaning

Why is it called Lloyd's? Why the Green Man? Leopold Wagner traced the origins of everything the Victorians had a name for — countries, tavern signs, flowers, wines, London streets, nicknames and battles — and found a story behind nearly all of them.

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London Streets and Squares: Cadogan

Cadogan Street and Cadogan Square remind us that the manor of Chelsea came into the possession of the first Earl of Cadogan by right of his marriage with the heiress of Sir Hans Sloane, after whom Sloane Square, Sloane Street, and Hans Place were named. Danvers Street was so called after Sir John Danvers, who introduced the Italian style of horticulture into England during the reign of Elizabeth. The street covers the site of Danvers House in which he lived.

Grosvenor Place and Grosvenor Street received their names from Sir Thomas Grosvenor, the ancestor of the Duke of Westminster, the ground landlord of the district collectively known as Belgravia; Eccleston Street and Eccleston Square from Eccleston, in Cheshire, the county in which the landed property of the Grosvenors chiefly lies; and Belgrave Square and Belgrave Street from the Viscountcy of Belgravia, the second title of the Duke of Westminster before he was raised to his superior titles. Ebury Street and Ebury Square mark the site of Ebury or Eabury Farm, an ancient manor inherited by Miss Mary Davies, already referred to when speaking of Davies Street, Oxford London Streets and Squares.

Street, and carried into the family of the Grosvenors by her marriage. Chester Square reproduces the name of the city near which Eaton Hall, which gives its title to Eaton Square, the principal seat of the Duke of Westminster, is situated. Lupus Street perpetuates a favourite christian name in the Grosvenor family, retained in honour of Henry Lupus, created Earl of Chester soon after the Conquest. St. George's Square was designated after the adjacent church dedicated to St. George.

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