Mayfair is one of London’s poshest districts and near the heart of it lies Grosvenor Square, one of London’s largest garden squares. Flats here regularly change hands for around £20 million and one apartment here was sold for over £110 million in 2020.
The square lies within the prestigious Grosvenor Estate owned by one of England’s wealthiest men, Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster. His ancestor, Sir Thomas Grosvenor, developed the square in the 1720s and by the end of the 18th century it was firmly established as a fashionable address, with more than half of the residents being titled aristocracy.
For example number 39 (now number 44) on the south side of the square was occupied by a sequence of Lords, Barons, Viscounts, Earls and Duchesses and a Princess until it was demolished in 1967. The location is now part of the Biltmore Mayfair hotel.
The house is significant for two reasons.
First, it hosted some magnificent early 18th century wall paintings, one of which is preserved in the Victoria and Albert museum:
Secondly, it was connected with a notorious incident involving Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, who lived there from 1804 to 1847.
Lord Harrowby was a senior member of the UK government under Prime Minister Lord Liverpool.
Did you know?
A complicated Political Situation
Britain in the early 19th century was a troubled place. Taxes had increased substantially to pay for the wars with France while unemployment had soared as soldiers were discharged when peace came in 1815.
Despite being defeated in battle, the French revolution and its principles of liberty and fraternity influenced radical politicians in the UK. By contrast the UK parliament was elected by around 1% to 2% of the population and the government was mainly drawn from the unelected House of Lords.
Public protests urging a more democratic system were put down by force, most notoriously at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 where 18 people were killed and hundreds more injured when cavalry attacked a peaceful demonstration in Manchester.
But radical politicians were not put off by the government’s harsh response to their requests. A group of radicals in London decided that force was the only response to state repression.
They decided to kill all of the prominent members of the government and then start a general uprising throughout the country. Their first idea was to assassinate each minister at home but changed their plans when they realised that they’d be unlikely to catch all of them unawares.
They then learned that members of the Cabinet, the inner circle of ministers, would be dining together at Lord Harrowby’s house on 23 February 1820.
Did you know?
The first season of the Netflix series Bridgerton is set in Grosvenor Square in 1813, and its success sparked a lot of interest for Regency London. If the series itself is taking liberties with historical accuracy, historical documents were used to recreate Grosvenor square’s likely appearance at that time, offering a glimpse into the true Regency London, and 2 short films have been created to showcase the opulent interior of Lord Harrowby’s house, both by day and by the planned attack’s hour: 8 pm.
Click on the image to see the VR reconstitution of Lord Harrowby’s grand house at 39 (later 44) Grosvenor Square, or click here to read the whole article. You can even explore the house virtually with a 3D VR tour at the end of this article!
The conspirators assembled pistols and grenades as well as a rocket, which they intended to fire as a signal to start the uprising. Unfortunately for them, they had been infiltrated by a police informer. The preparations for Lord Harrowby’s dinner went ahead but also preparations for a raid on the conspirators’ HQ in Cato Street, near Edgware Road in Marylebone, in the City of Westminster.
At 7:30pm twelve police officers stormed the room and attempted to arrest the conspirators. Some of them surrendered, some escaped, some fought back and one of the police was killed with a sword.
The conspirators were tried at the Old Bailey, charged with levying war and subverting the constitution. Most were sentenced to the harshest punishment available: hanging, drawing and quartering but in the end just five were hanged and five more transported for life to Australia.
So what should have been ‘Mayhem in Mayfair’ eventually turned out to be ‘Mayhem in Marylebone’
There is a blue plaque commemorating the event in Cato Street.
It took a further decade of protests before the UK parliament pass the Reform Act of 1832, first of many acts to extend the franchise to all adults and ensure that the government was truly representative.
Tony H.
