Sac.to Milton, Prince of Poets
On London found another drawing of the house, very similar to this one but with a different inscription: "Sacred to Milton". Perhaps the plaque had become illegible over time and the artists were using their imaginations.
The drawing is surely showing the back of the house, viewed from the north. It seems to have a short back garden, backing on to either the back garden of another house or possibly an ill-kept public garden. We raise this suggestion because it seems odd to put a plaque on the back of a house if it can only be seen by your neighbours to the rear.
Site: Plaque to Milton erected by Bentham (1 memorial)
SW1, Petty France , Ministry of Justice
This lost plaque was brought to our attention by On London. There we read that the house was lived in by Milton (from 1651) and that it was later owned by Jeremy Bentham who erected a plaque to Milton, and that other residents over time included John Stuart Mill, his father James Mill, and William Hazlitt. OnLondon is very clear about where the house was and we have carefully placed our pin at that spot.
This 1870 map, while some 200 years after Milton's time, does show houses in this section of Petty France (then known as York Street). What would become Palmer Street is shown as Gardener's Lane. This modest residential use of the area was wiped away in 1877 by the construction of the massive Queen Anne’s Mansions, shown on this 1901 map.
We know that Bentham had a lease on a nearby house which he rented to the Millses and also that there is a nearby plaque to Bentham. All of this put together says that Bentham owned/lived in 3 different houses close together and that two of them were also lived in by the Millses. This is certainly possible but the chances of someone down the line having got houses confused is quite high.
Anyway, back to the plaque. Our image is from Alamy where it is captioned: " 'The Pretty garden house in Petty France' No. 19, York Street, Westminster, where Milton resided (now demolished) 'Sacred to Milton, The Prince of Poets', from The Graphic, 1877. PETTY FRANCE: Milton's house, 19 York St, Westminster, antique print, 1877. London Botanical & Florals." That says that the house did survive until 1877 and that the drawing was probably prompted by the imminent demolition of the house (just as, later on, photographs were taken of houses slated for demolition).
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