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Berners Street is a thoroughfare located to the north of
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
in the
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
in the
West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...
, originally developed as a residential street in the mid-18th century by property developer William Berners, and later devoted to larger commercial and semi-industrial buildings or mansion blocks of flats. It has associations with
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
, and was the location of makers of musical instruments including pianos and
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orch ...
s, as well as furniture and film-makers.


Geography

Berners Street runs approximately 195 metres in a northerly direction from the junction of
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
and
Wardour Street Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century the street became a ce ...
to join up with Mortimer Street (formerly Charles Street) and the former
Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clo ...
(now called Fitzroy Place). The street lies in an area known as
Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...
and is considered historically to be in East Marylebone. Twenty one trees were added to Berners Street in 2012.


History

Berners Street was originally developed as a residential street by the Berners Estate in the mid-eighteenth century. John Slater, surveyor of the Berners Estate, wrote in 1918:
Edward Walford Edward Walford (1823–1897) was a British magazine editor and a compiler of educational, biographical, genealogical and touristic works, perhaps best known for his 6 Volumes of ''Old and New London'' (the first two of which were written by Walt ...
, wrote in ''Old and New London'' (Volume 4), published 1878: Walford records the proliferation of charitable and medical institutions in Berners Street during the 19th century: Many of these institutions springing up in proximity to the Middlesex Hospital: Edward Walford evokes something of the street market atmosphere at the corner of Berners Street and Charles Street so vividly described by
Henry Mayhew Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 – 25 July 1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine ''Punch'' in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in ...
in the 1840s and 50s:


Jamaica connections

On 2 November 1756, Dr Richard Bathurst delivered his resignation letter to the Board of the Middlesex Hospital, thus: Genealogist Anne M. Powers wrote a study of the interchange between 18th-century Jamaica and mercantile London in her book and blog 'A Parcel of Ribbons', which gives some insight into Berners Street in colonial times:


Legacies of British Slave-ownership

The UCL Legacies of British Slave-ownership projectLegacies of British Slave-ownership
/ref> explores the mechanisms by which wealth flowed from Caribbean plantations to metropolitan Britain. One such mechanism was the payment by UK taxpayers of approximately £10 million to compensate slave-owners after the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom's American possessions in 1834. A map of beneficiaries in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia shows beneficiaries in Berners Street included: * John Elmslie, 21 Berners Street There were claims for two large estates in Jamaica by the heirs of John Elmslie, who had died in August 1822 (St George no 324 and St Thomas-in-the-East no 468, total of £9176 7s 10d for 508 enslaved). In addition, compensation for St Thomas-in-the-East no 469 was awarded to the executors and executrix of John Elmslie junior, who had died in July 1829 (£2566 4s. 5d for 133 enslaved). Among the heirs of John Elmslie senior listed in Boyle's Directory of 1835 were his eldest surviving son James Elmslie at 18 Upper Gower Street, London; Mrs Elmslie, widow of his second son John junior, at 9 Upper Gloucester Place, London; and William Elmslie, fourth surviving son, at 24 York Street, Portman Square, London. * Andrew Robertson, 19 Berners Street Counterclaimed for 2 enslaved in Barbados (claim # 299) in right of his wife Ann Philips Boxill, stating that the late Rebecca Rowe who died in December 1831 bequeathed all her property to the said Ann Philips Boxill 'and two other persons' (T71/895). His address is given as 19 Berners Street. The award was made to the initial claimant, Thomas Boxill, as executor of Rebecca Rowe. Andrew Robertson of 19 Berners Street lodged another unsuccessful counterclaim with his wife Ann Phillips Robertson as legatee and annuitant under the will of Samuel Boxill (Barbados #264). This claim is for 122 enslaved on the Waterford Estate, Barbados. Samuel Boxill sold the enslaved to James D. Maycock, and the claim is awarded to Richard Deane as executor of John Higginson, surviving partner of Sir William Barton and George Irlam, creditors of Maycock. * Rev. Stephen Isaacson, Berners Street Claimant in right of his wife Anna Maria Miller Killikenny of £60 4s 0d for 3 enslaved on Barbados (claim # 2432). Tentative identification as Rev Stephen Isaacson of Berners Street, on the provisional committee of the Cheltenam, Oxford and Brighton Junction Railway, and director of Galway & Ennis Railways (Times, 7 October 1845, p. 13). P. Kilkelly, 'merchant, of Barbadoes, Tavistock Square, is also on the provisional committee of the Barbados General Railway. The UCL researchers commented:


Berners Street Hoax

The street was given notoriety by a practical joke, known as the
Berners Street Hoax The Berners Street hoax was perpetrated by Theodore Hook in Westminster, London, England, in 1809. Hook had made a bet with his friend Samuel Beazley that he could transform any house in London into the most talked-about address in a week, wh ...
, perpetrated by the writer
Theodore Hook Theodore Edward Hook (22 September 1788 – 24 August 1841) was an English man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1809. The w ...
in 1809. Hook had made a bet with his friend, Samuel Beazley, that he could transform any house in London into the most talked-about address in a week, which he achieved by sending out thousands of letters in the name of Mrs Tottenham, who lived at 54 Berners Street, requesting deliveries, visitors, and assistance. Hook stationed himself in the house directly opposite 54 Berners Street, from where he and his friend spent the day watching the chaos unfold. The site at 54 Berners Street is now occupied by the Sanderson Hotel.


Charles Booth

In October 1898, Charles Booth took a series of walks with Police Constable R.J. French of the Tottenham Court Road subdivision of the D police division and recorded observations in his notebooks for ''
Life and Labour of the People of London ''Life and Labour of the People in London'' was a multi-volume book by Charles Booth which provided a survey of the lives and occupations of the working class of late 19th century London. The first edition was published in two volumes as ''Lif ...
''. On 21 October he walked with PC French around "District 3" including the area "bounded on the North by Mortimer Street and Goodge St. on the East by Charlotte St. and Rathbone Place, on the South by Oxford Street and on the West by Regent St. being part of the parishes of All Souls and All Saints." Setting out from the corner of Goodge Street and Charlotte Street he walked north up Berners Street noting only "4 1/2 storeys, centre for music establishments, piano, instrument, music publishers etc."


Notable residents


Arts

* William Chambers, the architect and interior decorator, was able to build himself a house "in his own speculation", at 13, Berners Street, along with two adjacent houses, no. 14 for James Lacy and no. 15 for Thomas Rouse, all begun in 1764. According to his biographer John Harris, "Chambers's garden is terminated on the mews by a stable and adjacent a large room that must have been his drawing office, allowing access from the mews for the assistants. The rear of his house was decorated in papier mâché in a 'fanciful', perhaps Chinoiserie, style." Images of some of Chambers' interiors are held in the RIBA library. * Thomas Collins, an ornamental plasterer who worked for, and was a friend and partner of Sir William Chambers. *
John Opie John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was an English historical and portrait painter. He painted many great men and women of his day, including members of the British Royal Family, and others who were notable in the artistic and literary ...
, the historical and portrait artist (8, Berners Street) until his death in 1807 *
Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as '' The Nightmare'', deal with supernat ...
, the Swiss painter and draughtsman (13, Berners Street, the former home of William Chambers) 1803–


Literature

Berners Street is strongly associated with the writer
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
. Dickens' maternal great aunt, Mrs Charles Charlton, ran a lodging house at 16 Berners Street, and Dickens was often taken here by his mother, and got a job as a result in 1827. One of the lodgers was a young lawyer called Edward Blackmore, who was impressed by the youngster and employed him as a solicitor's clerk at Ellis & Blackmore in Grays Inn at the age of 15 (for more than twice the pay of Dickens' dreaded, and latterly famous, blacking factory job). It was in Berners Street that, as a boy, Dickens saw a wandering woman, upon whom the character
Miss Havisham Miss Havisham is a character in the Charles Dickens novel ''Great Expectations'' (1861). She is a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion with ...
from ''
Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'' was based. Dickens described her as "a conceited old creature, cold and formal in manner" who was "dressed entirely in white with a ghastly white plaiting round her head and face inside her white bonnet." He added that she "went simpering mad on personal grounds alone – no doubt because a wealthy Quaker wouldn't marry her. This is her bridal dress. She is always walking up here… we observe in her mincing step and fishy eye that she intends to lead him a sharp life." This was in his essay "Where We Stopped Growing" which was published in ''
Household Words ''Household Words'' was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s. It took its name from the line in Shakespeare's ''Henry V'': "Familiar in his mouth as household words." History During the planning stages, titles origi ...
'' on 1 January 1853. Later in life, at 31 Berners Street, Dickens installed his secret young lover, the actress Ellen Lawless Ternan (nicknamed Nelly), who at 19 was 27 years younger than him, and the same age as his eldest daughter. It was September 1858 when she moved in accompanied by her mother Francis, who was an actress, and two sisters, Maria, another actress, and Fanny, a singer. After just a month Ellen and Maria reported to him that they were being pestered by a policeman, whom Dickens suspected of having been bribed by a man sexually interested in either or both of them. He complained of this "extraordinary, and dangerous and unwarrantable conduct in a policeman" whom he thought should be dismissed. But fear of publicity prevented him pursuing it. Perhaps that was why they all moved in March 1859 to
Ampthill Square The Ampthill Square Estate, also known as the Ampthill Estate, is a housing estate in the London Borough of Camden in London, England. The estate is located in the Somers Town district, on the south side of Harrington Square, east side of Hamp ...
. Ellen had a habit of wearing scarlet geraniums and white heather in her hair. She was persuaded to give up acting by Dickens in August 1859, and received regular payments from his Coutts Bank account. On her death at the age of 75, she was buried in Southsea, close to where Dickens was born. *
Ellen Ternan Ellen Lawless Ternan (3 March 1839 – 25 April 1914), also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Wharton-Robinson, was an English actress known for association with the author Charles Dickens. Birth and family life Ellen Ternan was born in Roches ...
, actress and mistress of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
(31, Berners Street) *
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
, the poet (71, Berners Street)


Other residents

*Robert Cooper Lee (26, Berners Street) 30-year lease from 1771, subsequently moved to
Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, incl ...
*John Slater, FRSA, architect and surveyor to the Berners Estate (46, Berners Street), c. 1891 By the end of the nineteenth century the area around Berners Street was no longer completely residential and development plots were being amalgamated for the erection of larger commercial and semi-industrial buildings or for mansion blocks of flats. Examples of such mansion blocks include the Edwardian Berners street mansions (34–36, Berners Street) and Lancaster Court.


Businesses and organisations


Furniture industry

From the 19th century Berners Street was the home of notable cabinet makers, upholsterers and furnishing companies including * Lincrusta-Walton Wallcoverings, Showroom (9 Berners Street) * Howard & Sons, furniture makers (22, 26 & 27, Berners Street) * Filmer & Son, furniture makers (34, Berners Street) * Sanderson, fabrics and wallpaper (49–57, Berners Street) * Teale Fireplace Company, fireplace showroom (28, Berners Street) * Well Fire & Foundry Company (15, Berners Street) * Percy Heffer and Company, wallpaper showroom (64, Berners Street) * Battam and Heywood, carver and gilder (Corner of Berners Street and 114, Oxford Street) * Emerson's, 'art furniture', (Berners Street), c.1890, a shop established by
Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (''née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Import ...
, which also acted as an estate agency, later moving to 223 Regent Street opposite Liberty's.


Hotels

During the 20th century several hotels became established on Berners Street including * York Hotel, later converted into the mansion block known as York House (12, Berners Street) *
Berners Hotel The London EDITION is a historic luxury boutique hotel, formerly known as the Berners Hotel, located in Berners Street in the City of Westminster, London. History The Berners Hotel was built in 1908–10, designed by John Slater, surveyor to the ...
(10, Berners Street, currently being redeveloped by
Ian Schrager Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of Studio 54. Ear ...
and Edition with
Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by ...
) * Sanderson Hotel (49–57, Berners Street, formerly the head office of Sanderson)


Medical and charitable institutions

* Dr William Beale Marston's Museum of Science, Anatomy and The Wonders of Nature, opened (47, Berners Street) * Madame Caplin's Anatomical and Physiological Gallery (for Ladies only) opened 1859 (58 Berners Street) * Society for the Relief of Widows and Orphans of Medical Men, founded 1788 (53, Berners Street) * The Medical and Chirurgical Society, established in 1805, and incorporated in 1834 (53, Berners Street) * The Obstetrical Society of London, instituted in 1858 (53, Berners Street) * The Pathological Society, founded in 1846 (53, Berners Street) * The
Clinical Society of London The Clinical Society of London was founded in London in 1868 and merged in 1907 with the Royal Society of Medicine. The founding of the Clinical Society was mainly due to Drs. Edward Headlam Greenhow and John Burdon Sanderson who convened a meetin ...
, founded 1868 (53, Berners Street) * St. Peter's Hospital for Stone (54, Berners Street) * Ladies' Sanitary Association (22, Berners Street)


Women's suffrage movement

* The Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (22, Berners Street) * Berners Club for Women (9, Berners Street) c. 1871–1898. Elizabeth Crawford noted in her work on the
Women's Suffrage Movement Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
: * Central Committee of the
National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker, the organ ...
, founded 1867 (9, Berners Street) * Ladies Town and Country Club (registered at Berners Street Mansions c. 1898–1900, secretary L. Jackson) and listed at 73 and 75 Mortimer Street until 1924.


Musical instrument makers


Piano makers

Various piano makers were located in Berners Street between 1820 and 1860, including: * Robert Allison (29, Berners Street) c. 1837–1847 * Edward Dodd (3, Berners Street) fl. 1826–46 * John Cooper & Son (68, Berners Street) * Philip George Holcombe (38, Berners Street) fl. 1855–60 * James Kennay & Co (15, Berners Street) fl. 1840–57 * Frederick Priestley (15, Berners Street) fl. c. 1850–60 * Challen & Son (3, Berners Street) 1859–60 * Henry Smart (27, Berners Street) fl. 1823–26 * John Cooper & Son (70, Berners Street) 1850–53 * Duff & Hodgson fl. 1843–60 (3, Berners Street) 1850 * Jacob & James Erart fl. c. 1855 (23, Berners Street) 1855 * Sandon & Steadman (Berners Street) c. 1890–1900


Harp makers

* Thomas Dodd, harp maker Thomas Dodd came from a family of instrument makers – Dodd violin bows had been famous since the mid-1700. His father Edward died in 1810 at the very respectable age of 95. Dodd was mainly a dealer in instruments from 1809 to 1823, when he moved to Berners Street and then got interested in harps. He was also at Berwick Street in 1827 before returning to Berners Street. Thomas died in about 1830, and the business carried on until 1846 – presumably by means of his 2 sons (see Edward Dodd, 3, Berners Street). There is an 1822 patent for a laminated neck. * Haarnack, harp maker (53 Berners Street) There were several generations of Haarnack dating up to the mid-1920s. The business was at Charlotte Street and there was a showroom in Fitzroy Square. For a time they were also at 53 Berners Street down the road from Dodds. The first of the line was chief mechanic at Erards in 1808. Haarnack were one of the last makers to continue trading and also had a thriving repair business. Marie Goosens mentions meeting 3 generations at their shop in her book "Life on a Harpstring". * Rudall, Carte & Co, a manufacturer of woodwind and brass instruments, was located at 23 Berners Street.


Music publishing

*
Music Sales Group Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cl ...
is Europe's largest printed music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. It owns the rights to hundreds of thousands of songs, imprints both for books and sheet music, operates the UK's largest chain of music shops, and sells sheet music, instruments and accessories direct through Musicroom.com. *
Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...
(1, Berners Street, 1867–1906) is a London-based printed music publishing company specialising in classical music, particularly choral repertoire. It was founded in 1811 by
Vincent Novello Vincent Novello (6 September 17819 August 1861), was an English musician and music publisher born in London. He was a chorister and organist, but he is best known for bringing to England many works now considered standards, and with his son he cr ...
. *
Performing Rights Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...
for Music (29–33 Berners Street), formerly the Performing Right Society, founded in 1914, is a UK copyright collection society and performance rights organisation undertaking collective rights management for musical works. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 as the MCPS-PRS Alliance, bringing together two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and Performing Right Society (PRS).


Film industry

The London Project records several businesses involved in the early film industry located in Berners Street: * Barnard, W & Son, Artists Colours, (9, Berners Street) 1907 * Day and Night Screens Ltd, Screen Manufacturer and Supplier, (38a, Berners Street) 1913 * Duncan, Watson and Co, Electrical Engineers, (62, Berners Street) 1914 * Harrison and Co, Film Dealer, (66, Berners Street) 1900 * Keith Prowse & Co Ltd, Manufacturer of Automatic Machines, Automatic Pianos and Musical Instruments, Effects Machines, Bioscope Entertainment Provider, (38, Berners Street) 1909 * New Things Ltd, Automatic Pianos, (38, Berners Street) 1910 * Sichel, O & Co, Lens Manufacturer, (Berners Street) 1910 * Taylor, Taylor & Hobson Ltd, Lens Manufacturer (18, Berners Street) 1910


Miscellaneous businesses and organisations

• Abbott & co of Lancaster had an office at 18 Berners street circa 1904 *
Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schwep ...
Messrs J Schweppe & Co (51, Berners Street) 19th century *
International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...
(22, Berners Street) 20th century *
International Coffee Organization The International Coffee Organization (ICO) was set up in 1963 in London, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) due to the economic importance of coffee. It administers the International Coffee Agreement (ICA), an important instrument for ...
(22, Berners Street) 20th century * The London Association for the Protection of Trade (16, Berners Street) 19th century * A satellite office of
Haymarket Media Group Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously o ...


Bourne and Hollingsworth

Bourne & Hollingsworth was a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...
on the corner of Oxford Street and Berners Street. Its building was originally built in the late nineteenth century, and the store moved into the building in the early 1900s, remaining there until it closed in 1983. Bourne & Hollingsworth is featured in the 1954 Adelphi film ''
The Crowded Day ''The Crowded Day'' is a 1954 British comedy drama film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Gregson, Joan Rice, Cyril Raymond and Josephine Griffin. The film follows a group of shopgirls working in Bunting and Hobbs, a London departm ...
'', which follows one day in the life of a group of department store employees and was partially shot on location inside and outside the store.


References

{{Coord, 51.517348, -0.136852, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster Fitzrovia