History of Beaufort St, Chelsea, SW3
Sir Thomas More1 , Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII and Catholic Martyr, settled in Chelsea around 1520 and built a house there. The exact location of the house is believed to have been where Beaufort Street itself now lies. There were two large courtyards and the remainder of the estate2 was laid out in gardens and orchards3
Following on from More’s execution in July 1535 on a charge of treason, the house passed through a succession of owners and received its name from Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort (1629 – 1699), who owned the house from 1681. Following his death, the house was later sold to Sir Hans Sloane in 1737 and demolished in 1740.4
In 1750, the grounds of Beaufort House as well as another of Chelsea’s great houses, Lindsey House, was bought by Ludwig Count Zinzendorff ,the charismatic leader of the Moravian Brethren 5, a reformed group of Protestants originating from Bohemia at the end of the 14thC. The intention was to provide sanctuary for its members fleeing persecution and convert it into a Moravian Settlement (or ‘sharon’).However, when Zinzendorff died in May 1760, this brought an untimely end to the plans and forced the Moravians to sell off part of their land in building plots. Beaufort St was cut through the Moravians’ land in 1766 and was originally named Beaufort Row6
In all likelihood, Beaufort Row was laid out in anticipation7 of the opening of the ‘Old’ wooden Battersea Bridge8, planned in 1766 and constructed in 1771-2.
Notable Beaufort Street Residents
John Galt, (1779 – 1839) the novelistElizabeth Gaskell, the novelist (1810-1865) lived with her parents at No 7 from 1827-29 10
John Varley, watercolourist, (1778–1842) founder of the Old Society lived at No10 11
General Gordon (‘Chinese Gordon’) (1833-85) lived in the St before going to Khartoum12
Roger Fry (1866-1934) promoted Post-Impressionists and established the Omega Workshops; lived at No 29 from 1892-613
Thomas Sturge Moore, poet, (1870-1944) was at No 31 in 189514
Constance Halford, painter, and her husband, the painter Cecil Rea, lived at No 53 in 1895
Charles de Sousy Ricketts (Painter, stage designer and writer) and his partner Charles Shannon (painter) lived at No 51 from 1894 to 1898 15
Quentin Crisp lived in a bed-sitter at No 129 from the summer of 1940
1 Statue of Sir Thomas More by L. Cubitt Bevis (1969) ©Chelsea Old Church
2Beaufort House, drawn by Kip with the hills of Kensington on the skyline, 1708 ; ©RBKC Libraries
3‘Chelsea: From the Five Fields to the World’s End’ Richard Edmonds (pub: Phene Press; London; 1956)
4 ‘A Walk from London to Fulham’ Thomas Crofton Croker (pub: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co; London; 1896)
5‘Group associated with the Moravian Church’ attributed to Johann Valentin Haidt (c.1752-1754) ; © National Portrait Gallery
6‘Chelsea’ Thea Holme (pub: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; London; 1972)
7'Settlement and building: From 1680 to 1865: Chelsea Village or Great Chelsea', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 31-40
8Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge (c.1872-5) ; ©Tate Britain
9‘Memorials of Old Chelsea’ Alfred Beaver,pg141 (pub: S.R. Publishers Ltd; Yorkshire; 1971)
10‘The Chelsea Book Past and Present’ John Richardson,pg 13>16 (pub: Historical Publications Ltd; London; 2003)
11‘An Illustrated Historical Handbook to the Parish of Chelsea’ Reginald Blunt,pg156 (Lamley & Co; 1900)
12 ‘Chelsea: From the Five Fields to the World’s End’ Richard Edmonds,pg27 (pub: Phene Press; London; 1956)
13Ref 10
14Ref 10
15Ref 11; pg148
