In Curzon Street at No. 8 lived the great friends of Horace Walpole the
sisters Mary and Agnes Berry. Walpole was a constant visitor during the
latter years of his life and it is thought that he strongly desired to
marry Mary Berry. Just opposite where Queen Street ends was the Curzon
Street Chapel which was demolished in 1900. It was in this church that,
according to general report, George III. was married to Hannah Lightfoot
in 1759. In the house No. 24 Chantrey the sculptor lived in an attic
during the early years of his struggle for recognition. Thackeray tells
us that Becky Sharp took "a small but elegant house in Curzon Street,"
when as Mrs. Crawley she planned to live on nothing a year. Lord Curzon,
former Viceroy of India, is the most notable member of the Curzon
family to-day.
Where Curzon Street ends Seamore Place juts off at right angles, only a
few yards in length. Here at No. 6 Lady Blessington held her salon in
1830.
Chesterfield House, at the southern end of South Audley Street, was
built for the fourth Earl of Chesterfield who lived and died here. He
wrote the famous Chesterfield letters and their style and eloquence
coined the adjective--Chesterfieldian.
Jostling side by side with the homes of the rich, just to the south of
Curzon Street, is a cluster of ancient shattered buildings and dingy
shops two hundred and odd years old. This district is known as
Shepherd's Market. Here the fair was held that gave the name to
Mayfair.
Many notables have lived in Clarges Street, named for Sir Walter
Clarges, a relative of General Monk's wife--Anne Clarges. Early in the
19th century No. 11 in this street was for two years the home of Lady
Emma Hamilton, the friend of the greatest of British Admirals, Lord
Nelson. At No. 21 lived the celebrated lady scholar, Elizabeth Carter, a
comrade of Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Edmund Burke. In this
street, too, lived Edmund Kean the actor, and Thomas Babington Macaulay,
equally famous in their different arts.
Charles Street has changed less in appearance and atmosphere than any
other of the Mayfair streets. It was here, where the house numbered 42
is, that Beau Brummel lived in 1792.
Memories crowd thickly about the old houses around Berkeley Square, laid
out in 1698. On the west side in the house numbered 45 Lord Clive the
founder of the British Empire in India, lived, and where he killed
himself in 1774. At No. 11 Horace Walpole whose letters give the record
of fashionable society of his day died in 1797.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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