Keystone

Henry Gage Spicer - keystone

Inscription

1909 AD
HGS

Site: Henry Gage Spicer - keystone (1 memorial)

SW1, Old Queen Street, 20

In 2020 The Daily Mail was advertising this property for sale: "... originally built in 1909 as family home of paper mill tycoon. Townhouse bears the initials of Henry throughout the property including monogram carved in the fireplace.  The property offers 4,764 square feet of elegant living space over six floors with views over St James’s Park...  built by Scottish architect Francis William Troup, a specialist in Arts & Craft architecture.... including an original bespoke weathervane, with the H G S monogram carved in the original fireplace mantels and above the portico entrance in stone.... In 1909 the family closed the Alton Mill and transferred paper manufacturing to a new complex in Eynsford in Kent. In this same year Henry Spicer and his wife Sarah decided that they needed a large London home in order to entertain clients, business associates and friends so Henry commissioned Francis William Troup to build him the townhouse at 20 Old Queen Street. In 1922 the two sister companies remerged and the Spicers brand continues to this day as a thriving wholesale retailer. Henry gaining himself political goodwill in 1923 when he funded the landscaping of the Victoria Park Gardens in Westminster, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, so that MPs had somewhere to sit during breaks in parliamentary business."

That article incorrectly gives Spicer's date of death as 1939, it was actually 1944. And our researches show that Spicer's rather spicy private life included two wives, neither of them named Sarah.

The back of the house can be seen from St James's Park.

The Spicer offices were at 19 New Bridge Street. Compare that Google street view with the house in Old Queen Street. Despite their huge discrepancies of scale they have near identical pillars at the entrance. The London Picture Archive has this: "Blackfriars House of 1913-16 at 19 New Bridge Street ... designed by F. W. Troup. ... On the side of the building is a sign with 'Spicer Brothers' written on it. Blackfriars House ... is now a hotel known as Crowne Plaza."

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:
Henry Gage Spicer - keystone

Subjects commemorated i

Henry Gage Spicer

Chairman of the paper manufacturers Spicers, Ltd, and Associated Companies. 1...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Carpenters' Hall - unknown

Carpenters' Hall - unknown

EC2, London Wall, 1 Throgmorton Avenue

The building projects over the pavement with an arched colonnade for pedestrians. On the keystone of each arch, at the ends and along the...

Martini Beati - keystone head

Martini Beati - keystone head

EC3, Change Alley

His ringlets are formed by coins. Loose copies of an old penny are placed at the bottom corners: head (a young Victoria) at the left, tai...

ICI - 6 - Alfred Mond

ICI - 6 - Alfred Mond

SW1, Millbank, 9, Imperial Chemical House

For an idea of what this area used to be like see this 1894ish map. It was all redeveloped following the 1928 flood. This block was desig...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Carpenters' Hall - William of Wykeham

Carpenters' Hall - William of Wykeham

EC2, London Wall, 1 Throgmorton Avenue

The building projects over the pavement with an arched colonnade for pedestrians. On the keystone of each arch, at the ends and along the...

1 subject commemorated
ICI - 3 - Lavoisier

ICI - 3 - Lavoisier

SW1, Millbank, 9, Imperial Chemical House

For an idea of what this area used to be like see this 1894ish map. It was all redeveloped following the 1928 flood. This block was desig...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Gavin Maxwell

Gavin Maxwell

Author and Naturalist. Born at House of Elrig, Mochrum, Wigtownshire. During World War II he served as an instructor with the Special Operations Executive. In 1956 he toured the reed marshes of Sou...

Person, Animals, Literature, Iraq, Scotland

1 memorial
Austrian Centre

Austrian Centre

W2, Westbourne Tarrace, 124

The plaque was unveiled by the Austrian Ambassador, Dr. Martin Eichtinger.

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Havelock statue

Havelock statue

WC2, Trafalgar Square

This was the first statue ever to be made from a photograph. There is a copy at Mowbray Park, Sunderland.

War dead | Other war
16 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
John Middleton Murry

John Middleton Murry

Literary critic. Born Peckham. Husband of Katherine Mansfield and on her death married a woman who strongly resembled her and also died of tuberculosis. His 3rd marriage was a disaster but he ...

Person, Literature

1 memorial