December 5 marks the birthday of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. He was almost the first Prime Minister of England, but not quite; the title is held by Walpole. Harley was a "Chief Minister."
Anyway, an important part of London was developed by his son, Edward Harley. Edward inherited Wimpole Hall though his wife. He developed Harley Street, the center of medical specialists in London.
Wimpole Street, named after Wimpole Hall, was also developed by Harley junior. It has an interesting history. Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) was an opthalmologist and had his office on Wimpole Street. In the early days of the Beatles, Paul McCartney lived at the home of the parents of his girlfriend, Jane Asher, on Wimpole St. and apparently Paul and John Lennon wrote the lyrics to "I wanna to hold your hand" at this house, and McCartney also wrote the words to "Yesterday," easily one of the best songs written in my lifetime.
A curious tidbit is that there was a toy store on Wimpole Street, called the Abbatt toy store. It was designed by an architect called Erno Goldfinger. The Bond character in the film of that name was named after Erno, who knew Ian Fleming. Apparently, Goldfinger thought about suing Fleming on the use of the name, but relented after Fleming threatened to rename the character Goldprick (and Fleming paid the lawyers fees).
Anyway, an important part of London was developed by his son, Edward Harley. Edward inherited Wimpole Hall though his wife. He developed Harley Street, the center of medical specialists in London.
Wimpole Street, named after Wimpole Hall, was also developed by Harley junior. It has an interesting history. Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) was an opthalmologist and had his office on Wimpole Street. In the early days of the Beatles, Paul McCartney lived at the home of the parents of his girlfriend, Jane Asher, on Wimpole St. and apparently Paul and John Lennon wrote the lyrics to "I wanna to hold your hand" at this house, and McCartney also wrote the words to "Yesterday," easily one of the best songs written in my lifetime.
A curious tidbit is that there was a toy store on Wimpole Street, called the Abbatt toy store. It was designed by an architect called Erno Goldfinger. The Bond character in the film of that name was named after Erno, who knew Ian Fleming. Apparently, Goldfinger thought about suing Fleming on the use of the name, but relented after Fleming threatened to rename the character Goldprick (and Fleming paid the lawyers fees).
No comments:
Post a Comment