Person    | Male  Born 24/4/1815  Died 6/12/1882

Anthony Trollope

Author of over 50 delightful novels. Born at 16 Keppel Street. Worked for the GPO (General Post Office) 1834 - 59 and introduced the free-standing postbox ('pillar box') to the UK, an idea stolen from France.

His family left Keppel Street when Anthony was still an infant but he perhaps had fond memories since in the 1861 'Orley Farm' he has one of his characters say to her husband, who has been so successful that the couple are now living in grand Harley Street: "Oh, Tom, I wonder whether you ever think of the old days when we used to be so happy in Keppel Street!" And in the 1874 'Lady Anna' he moves Anna and her mother into a house in Keppel Street. It is a novel about the nuances of rank and Keppel Street must have suggested to Trollope exactly the right level in the social hierarchy for this couple. Initially they occupy just the first and second floors but on acquiring some money they take over the ground floor as well. And (spoiler alert) it is in the ground floor parlour, actually in the parlour doorway, that an attempted murder takes place. 

Died in a nursing home at 34 Welbeck Street following a stroke while visiting relatives. We've read that the stroke was a result of excessive laughter brought on by reading a now forgotten Victorian novel, 'Vice Versa'. Can it really have been that funny? Must get a copy.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Anthony Trollope

Commemorated ati

Anthony Trollope

L.C.C. Anthony Trollope (1851 - 1882), novelist, lived here.

Read More

Anthony Trollope - pillar box - Fleet Street

5 similar plaques have been erected.

Read More

Anthony Trollope - pillar box - Pall Mall

5 similar plaques have been erected.

Read More

Anthony Trollope - pillar box - Piccadilly

This plaque commemorates the bicentenary of the birth of Anthony Trollope (18...

Read More

Anthony Trollope - pillar box - Rutland Gate

5 similar plaques have been erected.

Read More

Show all 8

Other Subjects

Henry James

Henry James

Writer. Born at 21 Washington Place, New York City. Initially he studied to be a lawyer, but gave it up in favour of writing literary reviews and short stories. His better-known works include 'Wash...

Person, Literature, USA

1 memorial
Becky Sharp

Becky Sharp

The main character of William Makepeace Thackeray's satirical novel Vanity Fair. A cynical, but delightful, social climber who uses her charms to fascinate and seduce upper-class men.

Fiction, Literature

1 memorial
Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran

Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in what is now Lebanon, emigrated as a young man with his family to US. Best known for The Prophet, 1923, popular in the 60s.

Person, Art, Literature, Poetry, Lebanon, USA

1 memorial
Hilda Seligman

Hilda Seligman

Author and sculptor. Born Hilda Mary McDowell. In the 1930s she entertained both Mahatma Gandhi and Haile Selassie at her home in Wimbledon, and sculpted the bust of Selassie which now stands in Ca...

Person, Benefactor, Literature, Sculpture, India

1 memorial
Horizon Magazine

Horizon Magazine

An influential literary and art magazine. From a pdf issued for the unveiling: "... Stephen Spender joined Cyril Connolly and the wealthy patron Peter Watson in 1939 to set up Horizon at 6 Selwyn H...

Media, Journalism / Publishing, Literature

1 memorial