Plaque

W.S. Gilbert - SW7

Erection date: 1929

Inscription

W.S. Gilbert, (1836-1911), dramatist, lived here.
LCC

Site: W.S. Gilbert - SW7 (1 memorial)

SW7, Harrington Gardens, 39

This house was designed for Gilbert by Ernest George and Harold Peto.

2018: The Telegraph included this house (in this area of astonishing architecture) in their Unsung buildings that bring Victorian London to life. They write: Gilbert "paid for it out of the profits of their light operetta Patience. ... five stately stories of mullioned windows and carved stone topped with an enormous stepped gable. Gilbert decorated the interior in the Aesthetic (or Artistic) style and filled it with exotic oriental objects, creating perhaps one of the last great hurrahs of the Aesthetic before the Arts and Crafts movement set in. Gilbert wrote the Mikado in his study here, inspired, it is said, by the clattering fall of a Japanese sword that hung above the study door. Note the stone galleon that sits at the very top of the stepped gable, a reference to Gilbert's alleged ancestor, the heroic Elizabethan sailor Sir Humphrey Gilbert."

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

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:
W.S. Gilbert - SW7

Subjects commemorated i

W. S. Gilbert

Playwright, lyricist & poet. Born 17 Southampton Street as William Schwen...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
W.S. Gilbert - SW7

Created by i

London County Council

Prior to the LCC London matters were run by church parishes. The LCC was the ...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

George Lansbury - E14

George Lansbury - E14

E14, East India Dock Road, 203

Near this place on July 29th 1921 George Lansbury led the people and councillors of Poplar on their march to the high court for the equal...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Royal Arsenal Riverside Guardrooms

Royal Arsenal Riverside Guardrooms

SE18, Number One Street, 54 and 55

The same plaque appears on each of the guardrooms.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Mission Building - WW1 plaque

Mission Building - WW1 plaque

E14, Commercial Road, 747, The Mission Building

We can't find any information about that damaged-looking grey shape at the top of the plaque. Any ideas? 2024: Julie kindly sent us a li...

1 subject commemorated
Hackney Salvation Army - 2 - Mrs Bramwell Booth

Hackney Salvation Army - 2 - Mrs Bramwell Booth

E8, Mare Street, 280

Built for the Salvation Army in 1910. Their Women's Social Work HQ moved here in 1911 from offices at another nearby Salvation Army addr...

1 subject commemorated
Sir Raymond Unwin - blue

Sir Raymond Unwin - blue

NW3, North End, Wyldes

In 2022 Philip Broke told us that the plaque on this house is blue not purple. We revisited and we have added our photo here. The blue pl...

2 subjects commemorated

Previously viewed

David Gestetner

David Gestetner

N5, Highbury New Park, 124

Plaque unveiled by two of his great great grandchildren.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sir Simon Milton relief

Sir Simon Milton relief

W1, Piccadilly, One Eagle Place

The background depicts a few buildings and we can all ID City Hall. For the others we rely on the ever-informative Ornamental Passions. ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
13 Croydon - Christopher Wren

13 Croydon - Christopher Wren

CR9, Katharine Street, Croydon Public Library

Built in 1892 by Charles Henman Jr. this heavily decorated complex of buildings makes up Croydon's Town Hall. The building and the rounde...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Sir Christopher Collett

Sir Christopher Collett

Chairman of the Temple Bar Trust, 1993 - 2004.  Lord Mayor of London in 1989.  The picture comes from his niece's obituary webpage.

Person, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
Luke Edwards

Luke Edwards

WC1, Gordon Square, 27-28, UCL’s Japanese Garden

Luke Edwards, 1972 - 1998, undergraduate, graduate, PHD student, 1991 - 1998, dearly loved and honoured.

1 subject commemorated