Wimpole Street is a

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. Located in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. 3 Wimpole Street

No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of

Edwardian baroque architecture Edwardian architecture usually refers to a Baroque Revival architecture, Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to 1914 is commonly inclu ...

, completed in 1912 by architects John Belcher and J. J. Joass as the home of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

. 64 Wimpole Street is the headquarters of the

British Dental Association The British Dental Association (BDA) is a registered trade union for dentists in the United Kingdom. Its stated mission is to "promote the interests of members, advance the science, arts and ethics of dentistry and improve the nation's oral h ...

History

The name Wimpole comes from the

Wimpole Estate Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...

in Cambridgeshire, which in the 18th century was the seat of the

Harley family Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in ...

, who developed the street.

November 1935 fire

At 6.30am on 10 November 1935, there was a fire at number 27, where 5 people died. It was the house of dental surgeon and otorhinolaryngologist, Philip Julius Franklin. Franklin had been born in the US in 1878, the son of Julius Franklin of San Francisco. He had married Ethel Julia White, of 127 Portsdown Road on 18 February 1903 at the New West End Synagogue, by

Hermann Adler Hermann Adler HaKohen CVO (30 May 1839 – 18 July 1911; Hebrew: נפתלי צבי הירש הכהן אדלר) was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1891 to 1911. The son (and successor as Chief Rabbi) of Nathan Marcus Adler, the 1911 ...

, the chief rabbi of the UK. He had trained at

King's College Hospital Medical School King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (often referred to simply as GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (London Borough of Southwark, Southwark), Kin ...

. His wife, 55 year old Ethel was killed. He worked with the

in the laryngology section, and worked in a clinic on

Vincent Square Vincent Square is a grass-covered square in Westminster, London, England. It is London's largest privately-owned square, covering 13 acres, lined with mature trees including London Planes. In among a network of backstreets, it chiefly provides ...

. His phone number was Mayfair 868. His son would be

Alfred White Franklin Alfred White Franklin FRCP (2 June 1905 – 20 September 1984) was an English neonatologist and paediatrician who edited numerous books on child abuse, founded the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, ke ...

, who deduced the prevalence of child abuse in the UK. Philip died in January 1951. He had been staying at Bourne End. On 11 November 1935 a letter published in Times by dentist NJ MacDonald of 58a Wimpole Street. On Monday December 9 1935, the fire was discussed in parliament, by

Alec Cunningham-Reid Captain Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (20 April 1895 – 26 March 1977), known in his early life as Alec Stratford Reid, was a British First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. After the war, he entered politics as a Cons ...

. His first wife's sister was the wife of Lord Mountbatten. The possibility of a single emergency number was announced in May 1936, and by the GPO on 16 February 1937. On 1 July 1937, the 999 number came into operation. Three million UK homes had a telephone. The new number was first announced on 30 June 1937, in parliament, by the Conservative MP for Grimsby Sir

Walter Womersley Sir Walter James Womersley, 1st Baronet (5 February 1878 – 15 March 1961) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Minister of Pensions during the Second World War. He was born in Marley Street, Bradford, Yorkshire, the son ...

. Glasgow was added a year later, then everywhere else by 1948. Liverpool was added on Christmas Day 1945. Plymouth, Truro, and Kingsbridge were added at the end of 1945. Leicester was added on 1 February 1947. Lincolnshire and Peterborough were added on 3 February 1947.

Residents

One of the residents most associated with the street was the poet

Elizabeth Barrett Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

, who lived at 50 Wimpole Street with her family from 1838 until 1846 when she eloped with

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

. The street became famous from the play based on their courtship, ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her domineering father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. Presented f ...

''. The play starred

Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by cri ...

, and when she retired, she moved to E. 51st St. in New York. As she was now neighbour to two other actors who also starred in the play, the street was nicknamed "Wimpole Street".

Musical residents

The first complete English performance of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

' ''

Ein deutsches Requiem ''A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures'', Op. 45 () by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano and baritone soloists, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together l ...

'' was performed on 10 July 1871 at 35 Wimpole Street, the private residence (from 1851) of the composer and pianist

Kate Loder Kate Fanny Loder, later Lady Thompson, (21 August 1825 – 30 August 1904) was an English composer and pianist. Biography Ancestry Kate Loder was born on 21 August 1825, on Bathwick Street, Bathwick, within Bath, Somerset where the Loder f ...

. The arrangement, which came to be known as "the London version", was for piano duet (played by Loder and

Cipriani Potter Philip Cipriani Hambly Potter (3 October 1792 – 26 September 1871) was an English musician. He was a composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. After an early career as a performer and composer, he was a teacher in the Royal Academy of Musi ...

) with soloists and choir. Around 30 voices were used in the performance. Composer and BBC producer Ivor Walsworth (1909-1978) lived with his wife, concert pianist Joan Davies (1912-1982) at No. 59 in the 1960s and 1970s.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

lived at the home of the Asher family at 57 Wimpole Street in 1964–1966 during his relationship with

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

. At this address

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

and Paul McCartney wrote "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

" in the front basement room, while McCartney wrote the tune to " Yesterday" in a box room at the top of the house.

Other notable residents

On the corner of Wimpole and

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named af ...

took place a legal case about causing a "

nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means something which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "com ...

" between neighbours, in '' Sturges v Bridgman'' (1879).

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, who created the character of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

, worked and wrote in 2 Upper Wimpole Street in 1891. A green plaque has been installed to commemorate the cultural heritage of the

. In 1932, Paul Abbatt and Marjorie Abbatt opened a toy shop, Paul & Marjorie Abbatt Ltd, designed by their friend, the architect

Ernő Goldfinger Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born British architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the modernist architecture, Modernist architectur ...

, at 94 Wimpole Street. The shop was unique in that children were allowed to touch and play with the displayed toys.

List of residents

Elizabeth Barrett Barrett - 50 Wimpole Street Marylebone W1G 8SQ

, No. 57 *

Richard Asher Richard Alan John Asher (3 April 1912 – 25 April 1969) was an eminent British endocrinologist and haematologist. As the senior physician responsible for the mental observation ward at the Central Middlesex Hospital he described and named ...

, endocrinologist and haematologist, No. 57 *

Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, (; 26 February 1841 – 29 January 1917) was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the British controller-general in Egypt during 1879, part of the international control whic ...

, No. 36 * Sir Thomas Barlow, physician to Queen Victoria, No. 10 *

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard FRS (8 April 1817 – 2 April 1894) was a Mauritian physiologist and neurologist who, in 1850, became the first to describe what is now called Brown-Séquard syndrome. Early life Brown-Séquard was born at Port ...

. No. 82 *

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

, No. 50 * Sir Robert Walter Carden, 1st Baronet, No. 64 *

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

, No. 82 *

Ethel Gordon Fenwick Ethel Gordon Fenwick (née Manson; 26 January 1857 – 13 March 1947) was a British nurse who played a major role in the History of Nursing in the United Kingdom. She campaigned to procure a nationally recognised certificate for nursing, to sa ...

, No. 20 * Sir Henry Goldfinch, No. 11 *

Henry Hallam Henry Hallam (9 July 1777 – 21 January 1859) was an English historian. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he practised as a barrister on the Oxford circuit for some years before turning to history. His major works were ''View of th ...

, No. 67 *

Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inheri ...

and

Tilly Losch Ottilie Ethel Leopoldine, Countess of Carnarvon (''née'' Losch; November 15, 1903 – December 24, 1975), known professionally as Tilly Losch, was an Austrian dancer, choreographer, actress, and painter who lived and worked for most of her life ...

, No. 35 * Sir William Milbourne James, Judge of the

Court of Appeal in Chancery The Court of Appeal in Chancery was created in 1851 to hear appeals of decisions and decrees made in the Chancery Court. The appeals in the court were heard by the Lord Chancellor alone, or as a tripartite panel (supplemented by two Lords Justi ...

and the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, No. 47 *

Sir Paul McCartney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

, No. 57 *

David Rowlands (surgeon) Dr. David D. Rowlands, M.D., Fellow of the Royal Society, F.R.S., Society of Antiquaries of London, F.A.S. (1778–1846) was a Welsh naval surgeon, who became the Inspector of H.M. Hospital and Fleets for the Royal Navy. He had the distinction of ...

, No. 57 *

James Samuel Risien Russell James Samuel Risien Russell (17 September 1863 – 20 March 1939) was a Guyanese-British physician, neurologist, professor of medicine, and professor of medical jurisprudence. Early life Russell was of mixed race, born in Demerara, British G ...

, Guyanese-British physician, neurologist, No. 44 * Sir Henry Thompson and his wife, pianist and composer

, No. 35 *

Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet, (15 February 1853 – 7 December 1923) was a prominent British surgeon, and an expert in anatomy. Treves was renowned for his surgical treatment of appendicitis, and is credited with saving the life of K ...

, No. 6 * Ivor Walsworth, No. 59 *

Octavius Wigram Octavius Wigram (18 December 1794 – 20 May 1878) was an English businessman and ship owner in the City of London, a member of Lloyds and Governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation. Life Born at Walthamstow House, Walthamstow, on 1 ...

, No. 36

Fictional residents

* Henry Higgins ('' Pygmalion and

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

''), No. 27a. (No. 75 was the inspiration for the 1964 movie set design.) * James & Maria (Bertram) Rushworth (''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by the English author Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton (publisher), Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray, st ...

'', by

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

) * Elizabeth Barrett ('' Flush: A Biography'', by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

), No 50

In popular culture

memorably describes Wimpole Street in '' Flush: A Biography'', beginning: "It is the most august of London streets, the most impersonal. Indeed, when the world seems tumbling to ruin, and civilisation rocks on its foundations, one has only to go to Wimpole Street...". The street was also given as the home of Henry Higgins by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

in his play '' Pygmalion'' and in the musical adaptation ''

'', with 27a given as the address. 22a Wimpole Street is referenced in the

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

sketch 'Secret Service Dentists'.orangecow.org
Secret Service Dentists (script)

References

{{coord, 51.51956, N, 0.14895, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Streets in the City of Westminster Health in the City of Westminster History of medicine Medical districts

History

November 1935 fire

Residents

Musical residents

Other notable residents

List of residents

Fictional residents

In popular culture

See also

References