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: Gordon

Gordon Square perpetuates the memory of Lady Georgina Gordon, daughter of Alexander, fourth Duke of Gordon, and wife of John, sixth Duke of Bedford, who had had for his first wife a daughter of the noble house of Torrington, memorialized by Torrington Square. Montague Street and Montague Place occupy two sides of the site of Old Montague House, the nucleus of the British Museum. Brunswick Square and Mecklenburgh Square were built and designated at the time when it was considered the correct thing to honour the Hanoverian succession in every possible way. Thurlow Place was named in compliment to Lord Chancellor Thurlow, whose house was situated in Great Ormond Street, so called after the British general and duke of that title. Powis Place covers the ground formerly occupied by Powis House, the town mansion of William Herbert, Marquis of Powis, whose father was outlawed by James I. Bloomsbury Square is properly "Lomesbury Square," marking the site of the manor-house described in olden times as "Lomesbury Village."

Hart Street received its name from "The White Hart" Inn; and Red Lion Square and Red Lion Street, from "The Red Lion," both hostelries of some importance in the coaching days. Queen's Square was designated in honour of Queen Anne, in whose reign it was laid out. Kingsgate Street was so styled because the King used it on his way to Newmarket; while Theobalds Road led to Theobalds, in Herefordshire, the favourite hunting seat of James I.

Coldbath Square, Clerkenwell, marks the situation of the celebrated Cold Bath, fed by a spring discovered by Mr. Baynes in 1697. The surrounding district before it was built over formerly bore the name of Coldbath Fields. Vinegar Yard is a London Streets and Squares. corruption of the vineyard anciently belonging to the Priory of the Knights of St. John. Ray Street preserves the memory of Miss Ray, the mistress of Lord Sandwich, shot by her lover Hackman. Rosoman Street was designated after the enterprising Mr. Rosoman, who converted Sadler's Musick House into a theatre in 1765. Aylesbury Street in olden times skirted the wall of the garden attached to the town mansion of the Earls of Aylesbury. Berkeley Street derived its name from Berkeley House, the residence of Sir Maurice Berkeley, standard-bearer to Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth. Albemarle Street was built during the period that witnessed the popularity of General Monk, Duke of Albemarle. In bygone times the whole of Clerkenwell received the opprobrious title of Hockley-inthe-Hole, the name of a place in Bedfordshire noted far and wide for its impassable and sloughy character. Hockley is an Anglo-Saxon term, denoting a muddy field. Myddleton Square and Myddleton Street perpetuate the memory of Sir Hugh Myddleton, the founder of the New River Waterworks, opened September 16, 1613. Pentonville Road owes its title to the ville, or rural mansion, occupied by Henry Penton, Esq., Lord of the Admiralty and M.P. for Winchester, on the spot where Penton Street now stands. Mr. Penton died in 1812: St. John Street Road took its name from the Priory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, of which St. John's Gate is an interesting relic.

Windmill Street marks the site of three large windmills erected in Finsbury Fields, on the mound formed by a thousand cartloads of human bones deposited there from the Charnel House, St. Paul's, by order of the Lord Protector Somerset, in 1549.

City Road was the regular highway from the City to the "Angel" at Islington, and thence to the north of England, via Highbury and Highgate. Shepherdess Walk was originally a pleasant path leading through the open fields direct from Finsbury to St. Mary's parish church, Islington. Golden Lane, St. Luke's, received its name from the number of goldsmiths who formerly made this neighbourhood their residence. In Curtain Road, Shoreditch, stood the Curtain Theatre, opened in 1571, so called because it was the first playhouse to make use of a drop-curtain. Ben Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour" was produced here in 1596. By Norton Folgate is meant "the northern Falgate," the latter word being the old English description of a four-barred gate. THE FALGATE is a common inn sign in the rural districts. Holywell Lane, near Shoreditch Church, was so called on account of a miraculous well discovered here in ancient times. In Nichols Square, Haggerstone, lived John Nichols, the antiquary; and in Sutton Place, Hackney, Thomas Sutton, the founder of the Charterhouse. Queen Elizabeth's Walk, Stoke Newington, marks the position of a house and grounds occupied by the Earl of Leicester, and often visited by Her Majesty. Fleetwood Road covers the site of Fleetwood House, the residence of Charles London Streets and Squares.

Fleetwood, the Parliamentary general, and Deputy- Governor of Ireland.

Seven Sisters' Road, Holloway, received its name from seven trees, said to have been planted by seven sisters, near Tottenham, six of which grew erect; but the seventh presented a deformed appearance, because the sister who had planted it was a cripple. Archway Road, Highgate, is spanned by the wonderful high arch completed in 1813. Flask Walk, Hampstead, derived its name from "The Flask," a picturesque old inn close by. Judges' Walk, known also as King's Bench Avenue, was originally so called from a colony of judges and gownsmen of the City, who sought refuge here in tents during the Great Plague in 1665. Fleet Road, Haverstock Hill, affords us a pleasing remembrance of that little river, the Fleet, meandering through the fields in this neighbourhood, and eventually behind the older houses, on its way towards Battle Bridge, the City, and the Thames. Dale Road preserves the memory of Canon Dale, poet, and vicar of St. Pancras. Barrow Road and Barrow Hill Place commemorate the site of a battle between the Britons and Romans, and the sepulchre of the slain. The spot was formerly defined by a farmhouse that stood upon the actual barrow known as "Barrow Hill." Abbey Road, St.

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