Plaque

Harry Selfridge plaque

Inscription

Harry Gordon Selfridge, 1858 - 1947, department store magnate, lived here, 1921 - 1929.
English Heritage

Site: Petty & Selfridge at the Lansdowne Club (2 memorials)

W1, Fitzmaurice Place, 9

Built as Lansdowne House in 1763, designed by Robert Adam, later altered by George Dance the Younger and then by Robert Smirke, and then by T. H. Wyatt.  Harry Selfridge took over the lease in 1921.  In the 1930s it was remodelled by Charles Fox for use as a private club and the front of the house was removed to enable the creation of Fitzmaurice Place. The First Drawing Room was re-erected in the Museum of Arts in Philadelphia and the Dining Room in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The building (what's left of it) was restored in 2000.

The wide passageway opposite this house, now lined with shops and restaurants and known as Lansdowne Row, was once a narrow alley with high walls on either side, separating the grounds of Lansdowne House from those of Devonshire House. It was owned by Lord Lansdowne but open to the public. Once a year he had the doors at each end locked so as to prevent it becoming a legal right of way. Amazon have an excellent 1926 photo. Shutterstock have a 1951 photo but by this date the passageway is already barely recognisable.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Harry Selfridge plaque

Subjects commemorated i

Harry Selfridge

Born Wisconsin. Too small to join the navy he became a clerk in a department ...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Harry Selfridge plaque

Created by i

English Heritage

English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that ma...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Harry Selfridge plaque

Also at this site i

William Petty

William Petty

English Heritage William Petty, Earl of Shelburne, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

The Children's Fold

The Children's Fold

E3, Grove Road, 182

182 Grove Road. From 1888 to 1911 "The Children's Fold" or "Sheppard House". One of Dr. Barnardos Children's Homes. Historic Buildings of...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Clock Tower - Hampstead - old plaque

Clock Tower - Hampstead - old plaque

NW3, Heath Street

Building designed by George Vulliamy.  The Heath Street façade bears the initials "M.B.W." (Metropolitan Board of Works) and "1873".  In ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sir Christopher Lee

Sir Christopher Lee

WD6, Shenley Road, In front of 115

This plaque honours Christopher Lee CBE, actor with 60 years in motion pictures and television including: The Wicker Man (1973), Jinnah (...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
George Godwin

George Godwin

SW3, Alexander Square, 24

George Godwin, 1813 - 1888, architect, journalist and social reformer, lived here. Greater London Council

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Old St Pancras Church House

Old St Pancras Church House

NW1, Crowndale Road, 26

Our image on St Pancras's own page is a close-up of this statue.

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Robert Trotter fountain - SW3

Robert Trotter fountain - SW3

SW3, Fulham Road, Pelham Crescent Gardens

"1 Thess. 1-3" is a biblical reference, the text of which reads: "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Old Palace School - WW2 bomb

Old Palace School - WW2 bomb

E3, St Leonard's Street, Old Palace Primary School

The Beckenham firemen are also commemorated, and listed by name, on a plaque at Beckenham Fire Station. 2022: The great-nephew of one of...

5 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Stables at Camden Goods Depot

Stables at Camden Goods Depot

The excellent Camden Railway Heritage Trust tells you all you need to know about this Goods Depot.  The horses and stables have their own page from which our picture comes.

Building, Animals, Property

1 memorial
GI graffiti on bricks

GI graffiti on bricks

SW1, Caxton Street, Blewcoat School

We have found another example of carved bricks: Emma Bowden.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
H. Partridge

H. Partridge

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial