Paternoster Row was a street in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of libra ...

s operating from the street.
/ref> Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area called

St Paul's Churchyard St Paul's Churchyard is an area immediately around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. It included St Paul's Cross and Paternoster Row. It became one of the principal marketplaces in London. St Paul's Cross was an open-air pulpit from whi ...

. The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 2003 the street was replaced with

Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, once centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated by ...

, the modern home of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

, although a

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

road sign remains in the square near where Paternoster Row once stood. As far back as the 12th century, the road was known as Paternoster Row, as it was the main place in London where Paternoster beads were made by skilled craftsmen. The beads were popular with illiterate monks and friars at the time, who prayed 30 Paternoster prayers (Latin for "Our Father") three times a day as a substitute for the 150 psalms recited a day by literate monks.

Name

The street is supposed to have received its name from the fact that, when the monks and clergy of St Paul's Cathedral would go in

procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...

chanting the great

litany Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Judaic worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin '' litania'' from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (''lit ...

, they would recite the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

(''Pater Noster'' being its

opening line At the beginning of a written work stands the opening sentence or opening line. The opening line is part or all of the opening sentence that may start the lead paragraph. For older texts the Latin term "incipit" (it begins) is in use for the very ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) in the litany along this part of the route. The prayers said at these processions may have also given the names to nearby Ave Maria Lane and Amen Corner. An alternative etymology is the early traders, who sold a type of prayer bead known as a "pater noster".

History

The name of the street dates back at least to the 16th century. Houses in

St. Paul's Churchyard St Paul's Churchyard is an area immediately around St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. It included St Paul's Cross and Paternoster Row. It became one of the principal marketplaces in London. St Paul's Cross was an open-air pulpit from wh ...

were damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, burning down the old St. Paul's Cathedral. When the new St. Paul's Cathedral was erected, booksellers returned after a number of years. Gentleman Henry (Robert) Gunnell, Esq. (1724–1794) of Millbank, a senior officer in the House of Commons and House of Lords who worked the Tax Acts for the American Colonies with Prime Minister George Grenville and also Lord North, bought No.8 Paternoster Row in 1778 as one of his portfolio of properties and soon after gave it to his eldest son John Gunnell (1750–1796), a Westminster gentleman. John though seldom stayed at the house, as he lived mainly at Margate, Kent, and it was instead used as a literary venue by his father Henry (Robert) and his friends, where among other notable members,

Jane Timbury Jane Timbury (date of birth unknown, died c. 1792), was an English novelist and poet whose books were published between 1770 and 1791. Work Timbury’s novel ''The Male-coquette'' (1770) appeared anonymously, but was republished in 1788 as ''The M ...

would attend. Her stance as a novelist and poet later inspired Jane Austen in her career. Henry (Robert) Gunnell's fashion icon wife, Anne Rozea (1727–1795) of Duke's Court, St. Martin's Lane (situated where now the National Gallery cafe is located) was known for her attendance, reciting moving French poetry dressed in an exquisite mantua with ornate jubilee hat. Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) and Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) were also known to have attended on occasion. Henry (Robert) had bought No.8 Paternoster Row from Philanthropist Sylvanus Hall, a successful London currier and leather goods craftsman (Guildhall Library) and also governor of both St. Thomas and Bridewell Hospitals, who owned two other houses on Paternoster Row and had earlier worked with the beautiful Anne Rozea at "Gunnell's Hat Warehouse" a fashion store at No.54 Chandois Street (next door to the Mercers Coventry Cross), Covent Garden, from the mid-1760s. There he oversaw the manufacture of fashionable hats, cloaks and silk garments and later married Henry (Robert) Gunnell and Anne Rozea's daughter, Ann Gunnell (1746–1804), at the church of St.Augustine, Watling Street, (02.Feb.1769) just east of St. Paul's cathedral. They lived at No.8 Paternoster Row for nine years, until her father bought it for his son John as part of his inheritance as mentioned in 1778. Ann and Sylvanus Hall then moved to a house on

Golden Square Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sou ...

, Soho. On 21 February 1776, at the Old Bailey, Jeremiah Pope was indicted for stealing 'six hundred pounds weight of lead piping' from the three properties (Nos. 8, 9, and 10) of Sylvanus Hall on Paternoster Row. Another well-known visitor to No.8 was Thomas Vanhagen, whose famous pastry shop was located beside Pauls Alley, St. Paul's Churchyard, facing the North Entrance and where many Londoners took their refreshment. Various caricatures of Vanhagen (British Museum) were published over the years. His daughter Charlotte married Henry (Robert) and Anne's son Henry Gunnell (1754–1823), also of the House of Commons, (10.Jul.1779) at the parish of St. Gregory by St. Paul's. The Gunnells eventually sold No.8 Paternoster Row in 1794. A bust of Aldus Manutius, writer and publisher, can be seen above the fascia of number 13. The bust was placed there in 1820 by Bible publisher Samuel Bagster. It was reported that

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

and

Anne Brontë Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, and the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria (born Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish cl ...

stayed at the Chapter Coffeehouse on the street when visiting London in 1847. They were in the city to meet their publisher regarding ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

''. A fire broke out at number 20 Paternoster Row on 6 February 1890. Occupied by

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

Fredrick Pitman, the first floor was found to be on fire by a police officer at 21:30. The fire alarm was sounded at St. Martin's-le-Grand and fire crews extinguished the flames in half an hour. The floor was badly damaged, with smoke, heat and water impacting the rest of the building. This blaze was followed later the same year on 5 October by 'an alarming fire'. At 00:30 a fire was discovered at W. Hawtin and Sons, based in numbers 24 and 25. The wholesale stationers' warehouse was badly damaged by the blaze. On 21 November 1894, police raided an alleged gambling club which was based on the first floor of 59 Paternoster Row. The club known both as the 'City Billiard Club' and the 'Junior Gresham Club' had been there barely three weeks at the time of the raid. Forty-five arrests were made, including club owner Albert Cohen. On 4 November 1939, a large-scale civil defence exercise was held in the

. One of the simulated seats of fire was in Paternoster Row.

Trübner & Co Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. was one of the publishing companies on Paternoster Row.

Destruction during World War II

The street was devastated by aerial bombardment during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, suffering particularly heavy damage in the night raid of 29–30 December 1940, later characterised as the Second Great Fire of London, during which an estimated 5 million books were lost in the fires caused by tens of thousands of incendiary bombs. After the raid a letter was written to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' describing: Another correspondent with the newspaper, Ernest W. Larby, described his experience of 25 years working on Paternoster Row: The ruins of Paternoster Row were visited by

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...

in January 1941. He said, "I thought that the burning of Paternoster Row, the street where the books are published, was rather symbolic. They he Germanshave destroyed the place where the truth is told".

Printers, publishers and booksellers based in Paternoster Row

An Essay on the Management of the Present War with Spain

Note: Before about 1762, premises in London had signs rather than

number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...

s. * '' The Tyger's Head'' – Christopher Barker (????), his son Robert Barker (1545–1629)A Dictionary of Printers and Printing. * '' The Star'' –

Henry Denham Henry Denham was one of the outstanding England, English Printer (publisher), printers of the sixteenth century. He was apprenticed to Richard Tottel and took up the freedom of the Stationers' Company on 30 August 1560. In 1564 he set up his own ...

(1564) * '' The Brazen Serpent'' (1627–1650) – Robert Dawlman (1627–1635, 1635–1638, died 1659), Luke Fawne (1635–1638, 1639–1641), Samuel Gellibrand (1639–1641, 1641–1650) * '' The Golden Ball/Ball'' (1650–1675) – Samuel Gellibrand (1654, 1655, 1656, 1661, 1667, 1669, 1673) (died 1675), two of his sons Edward Gellibrand (1676, 1678, 1679, 1680, 1681, 1685), John Gellibrand (1679–1685), F.? Gellibrand (1683) * '' The Gun'' – F.? Brome (1683) * '' The Bell'' – B. Crayle (1683) * '' The Sun'' – G. Wells (1683) * '' The Angel'' –

Moses Pitt Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697) was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his ''Atlas'' of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of ''The Cry of t ...

(1683) * '' The Bear'' – O. Blagrave (1683) * '' The Rose and Crown'' – R. Chiswell (1683) * ''

The Crane ''The Crane'' is a 1992 short film distributed by the British Film Institute. The movie is set in London. The filming location was the Acton shopping precinct. The film took place at the 36th London Film Festival in 1992. Cast * Jude Law as ...

'' – E. Brewster (1683) * '' The Peacock'' – Robert Clavel/Clavell (1683) * '' The Three Pigeons'' – F.? Baker (1683) * '' The Golden Lyon/Golden Lion'' – F.? Robinson (1683) * '' The Red Lyon/Red Lion'' – H. Bonwick (1683) * '' The Phoenix/Phœnix'' – H. Mortlock (1683), Ed. Giles (1683) * '' The Three Flower-de-luces/Three Flower-de-Luces'' – H. Hatley (1683) * '' The Bishopshead/Bishops Head/Bishops head'' – W. Kettilby (1683) * '' The Princes Arms/Prince's Arms (Arms of the Prince of Wales)'' – Samuel Smith (1683, 1692, 1694, 1695, 1704, 1705), Benjamin Walford (1694, 1695, 1705), printers to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

* '' The Globe'' – F.? Taylor (1683), T. Cooper (1740) * '' The Ship'' (later No. 38–41) – B. Tooke (1683), John Taylor (1710–1719), his son William Taylor (1708, at the Sun and Moon (near the Royal Exchange), Cornhill; William Taylor at the

Ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

, St. Paul's Church-Yard 1719–1724), subsequently

Longmans Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

(see No. 39) * '' The Black Swan'' – John and

Awnsham Churchill Awnsham Churchill (1658–1728), of the Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London and Henbury, Dorset, was an English bookseller and radical Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 to 1710. Early life Churchill ...

– possibly John Taylor (????), later his son William Taylor (????), subsequently

(????) (see No. 39) * ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

'' – T. Rickerton (1721) * '' The Dove'' – J. Batley (1723) * No. 1 – J. Souter (1817), Jan Van Voorst (1851) (see No. 3) * No. 2 – Orr and Co. (1851), J. W. Myers (~1800) * No. 3 – Jan Van Voorst (1838) (see No. 1) * No. 5 – Groombridge and Sons (c. 1845 to c. 1875)Various editions published during this period, including * No. 6 Panyer Alley – R. Groombridge (prior to c. 1845) * No. 10 – W. W. Gardner (1870/1) * No. 9 – S. W. Partridge and Co. (1876)Church of England Temperance Tracts, no. 19, 1876 * No. 11 – W. Brittain (1840) * No. 12 – Trubner and Co. (1856) * No. 15 – Samuel Bagster and Sons (1817, 1825, 1851,The British Metropolis in 1851 1870) * No. 16 – Alex Hogg (1780) * No. 17 – Thomas Kelly (1840) * No. 20 & 21 – F. Pitman, later F. Pitman Hart and Co. Ltd. (1904)The World's Paper Trade Review, 1904-05-13, p. 38 * No. 21 – J. Parsons (1792) * No. 22 - The Electrical Review (1876–1897) * No. 23 – Piper, Stephenson, and Spence (1857) * No. 24 – George Wightman (1831) (See also: Sunday School Society) * No. 25 – George Robinson, from 1763 to 1801, with John Roberts, 1763 to 1776 * No. 27 Ivy Lane – Walton and Maberly (also at No. 28) (1837-1857), Hodder & Stoughton (from 1868-06-16) * No. 28 Upper Gower Street – Walton and Maberly (also at No. 27) * No. 31 – Sheed & Ward (1926) * No. 33 – Hamilton and Co. (1851) * No. 37 – James Duncan (1825–1838),

Blackwood and Sons William Blackwood and Sons was a Scottish publishing house and printer founded by William Blackwood in 1804. It played a key role in literary history, publishing many important authors, for example John Buchan, George Tomkyns Chesney, Joseph ...

(1851) * No. 39 (see '' The Ship'') – Longman, Hust, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green (1825), later Longman and Co. (1851), later Longmans, Green, and Co. (1866, 1899, 1902) * No. 40 – West and Hughes (~1800) * No. 47 – Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy (1817), Baldwin and Craddock, later Chambers (1891) * No. 56 – The Religious Tract Society (1851) * No. 60 – The Sunday School Union (1851) later

(1872) * No. 62 – Eliot Stock (1893, 1910) * No. 65 – Houlston and Stoneman * C. Davis (1740) * Hawes, Clarke and Collins (1771) *

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

– Bible warehouse destroyed by fire in 1822, rebuilt c. 1880 * Sampson Low (after 1887) * H. Woodfall & Co. * Marshall Brothers Ltd., Keswick House, Paternoster Row, London * Thomas Nelson (See also: Thomas Bonnar, the Younger) * Sherwood, Neely, and Jones (1817) * R. Fenner (1817) * Kent and Co. (1859) * Hurst & Blackett * Jackson & Walford * Hutchinson & Co. * Ralph Smith Kirby (1802)

Others based in Paternoster Row

* No. 34 – Boys Brigade London HQ * No. 60 – Friendly Female Society, "for indigent widows and single women of good character, entirely under the management of ladies."

In popular culture

* ''The Siege of Paternoster Row'' was an anonymous 1826 booklet in verse, attacking the reliability of bankers. * The Paternoster Gang are a trio of Victorian detectives aligned with the Doctor in the television series '' Doctor Who'', so named because they are based in Paternoster Row. * In the episode "Young England" of the 2016 television series ''

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

'', a stalker of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

indicates that he lives on Paternoster Row. (Coincidentally, the actress playing Victoria in the series,

Jenna Coleman Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), known professionally as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Clara Oswald in the science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', Q ...

, had appeared in several episodes of ''Doctor Who'' that featured the aforementioned Paternoster Gang.) * The novel, ''The Last Bookshop in London'', makes numerous references to Paternoster Row, and it mentions the destruction of the street during World War II.

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline History of the City of London Streets in the City of London Bookshops in London