Builder and economist, a key figure in the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. Laid out Essex Street in 1675. Also redeveloped Red Lion Fields and the Temple. It seems he was an extrovert rogue, dishonest and manipulative. Died, probably at his home in Osterley House, Middlesex, heavily in debt. Good write up at London Historians.
His father, a preacher and politician, had the unusual first name: "Praisegod". That we believe is true since the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has an entry for Praisegod. Wikipedia's entry for Nicholas has his middle name as "Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned". This is not mentioned in the ODNB so we wonder if it is one of those ho-ho-ho jokes for which Wikipedia's less-than-serious contributors are famed.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Nicholas Barbon
Commemorated ati
Essex Street & Essex Hall
This plaque was first erected at 7 Essex Street in 1962 and then re-erected h...
Other Subjects
Samuel Knight
Architect. Born Exeter. Knight was a captain in the Bloomsbury Rifles, which probably has something to do with the commission he was given to design their Drill Hall in 1882-3. Later he became an H...
Robert Mylne
Architect. Born Edinburgh. Returned from a Grand Tour to London in 1759. Won the competition to build Blackfriars Bridge, including the approach roads from the north and the south, each with a squa...
Anthony Salvin
Architect. Born County Durham. Moved to London in 1821. Expert on medieval buildings, restoring many country houses and castles and so worked on only a few buildings in London. Wikipedia has an ext...