Painter and co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His intended middle name was ‘Hobman’ (his mother’s maiden name) which he disliked. Discovering that it had been misspelled as ‘Holman’ at his baptism he adopted that version. He achieved fame through his religious paintings, notably ‘The Light of the World’. Appointed to the Order of Merit in 1905. Unusually for his time he left instructions that his body should be cremated. Died 18 Melbury Road, Kensington. His ashes are buried in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, next to the grave of J.M.W. Turner.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives his birthplace as "Love Lane, Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London" and "his father's profession as warehouseman. William Hunt's employer was the haberdashery manufacturer James Chadwick & Brother, of 3 Little Love Lane."
The 1904 Goad Insurance map "Insurance Plan of London Vol. 1: sheet 19" shows Little Love Lane forming the north and east side of the Church of St Albans, Wood Street (where the Wood Street Police Station building now is) of which only the tower remains. No. 3 was in the north section towards the corner and was 4 storeys high.
That map also confirms that Love Lane and Little Love Lane were lined with "M.W."s - Manchester Warehouses - storage for the linen and cloth products of the factories in Manchester and the North-West of England.
The suggestion is that the Hunt family, who already had two children, were living above the warehouse.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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