Plaque

In 1672 the Duke of Buckingham sold his house (York House) and land north-east of where Charing Cross Station now stands, for development. It was common to name streets after the local landowner but this Duke, who had a way with words, wanted all 5 elements of his name commemorated, including the "of".

Londonist have a one minute video explaining how the new streets were named: Of Alley is now York Place; George Street is now York Buildings; Duke Street is now John Adam Street; but Villiers Street and Buckingham Street survive with their original names.