Maddox Street

Maddox Street is a street in the Mayfair area of London, extending from Regent Street to St George's, Hanover Square.

The Mason's Arms, a public house in Maddox Street

47 Maddox Street

History

Maddox Street was completed in 1720.^[1] It was named after Sir Benjamin Maddox who owned the Millfield estate on which the street was built.^[2] The Mason's Arms, located at 38 Maddox Street, was built in 1721 and rebuilt in its current form in 1934.^[3]

Dickenson's Drawing Gallery, whose teachers included John Mogford and whose students included Emily Mary Osborn, was established at 18 Maddox Street in the early 19th century:^[4] the premises are now known as ArtSpace Galleries.^[5] Nearby, Maddox Gallery is based at 9 Maddox Street, one of several art galleries on this road.^[6] A Museum of Building Appliances, established in the street in 1866, no longer exists.^[1]

Famous residents have included Samuel Whitbread, the Member of Parliament and brewer, who lived at 33 Maddox Street in the late 19th century,^[7] Harry Wooldridge, the English musical antiquary, who lived with Robert Bridges, the Poet Laureate, at 50 Maddox Street in the 1890s^[8] and Edward Gathorne-Hardy, the British Bohemian socialite, who lived at 39 Maddox Street in the 1930s.^[9]

Alligator Rainwear, a subsidiary of the London Waterproof Company founded by Reuben Satinoff after the First World War, had its trading office on Maddox Street.^[10]

Wilkinson & Son, tailors and robemakers to the King, were based at 34 Maddox Street in the 1920s.^[11]

The Rolling Stones operated from offices at 46A Maddox Street^[12] and Chappell Recording Studios, where the Beatles held recording sessions in the 1960s, was also located at 52 Maddox Street.^[13]

Hibiscus, a London restaurant owned and run by French chef Claude Bosi, was located at 29 Maddox Street until it closed in 2016.^[14] Meanwhile, the imposing building known as 47 Maddox Street, which was designed by Walter Williams for Messrs Lawrence – a firm of tailors which was later known as Walter Williams – was completed in 1892 and is now occupied by Brown's Restaurant.^[15]

The fictitious female occult detective and palmist Miss Diana Marburg, created by L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace in 1902, lived in Maddox Street and was indeed known as "The Oracle of Maddox Street".^[16]

References

1. Walford, Edward (1878). "'Hanover Square and neighbourhood', in Old and New London: Volume 4". London. pp. 314–326. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
2. "London hotel near to Maddox Street". Hotel Assist. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
3. "Masons Arms, 38 Maddox Street, St George Hanover Square". Pub history. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
4. "A brief history". The Heatherley School of Fine Art. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
5. "ArtSpace Galleries". All in London. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
6. "Maddox Gallery | Contact Information | Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
7. "Samuel Charles Whitbread". History of Parliament. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
8. The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion by Linda Jo McKim
9. "No. 33991". The London Gazette. 31 October 1933. p. 7089.
10. "In the beginning……". bakerstbrands. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
11. Mansel, Philip (2005). Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II. Yale University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0300106978.
12. "46A Maddox Street". Notable abodes. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
13. "Chappell Recording Studios". Discogs. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
14. "Jay Rayner reviews Hibiscus". The Guardian. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
15. "Mayfair, Westminster". Hidden London. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
16. Illes, Judika (2017). The Wesier Book of Occult Detectives: 13 Stories of Supernatural Sleuthing. Red Wheel/Weiser. pp. 113–14. ISBN 978-1476678009.

51.5126°N 0.1428°W / 51.5126; -0.1428