Rathbone Place

Oxford Street (W1) Derives its name from Captain Rathbone, who constructed buildings here previous to the year 1721. From an ancient notice it appears that during the reign of Edward I, the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, after visiting the water conduits, (of which there were twenty) , hunted a hare in the morning and a fox in the afternoon in the fields upon which Rathbone Place now stands. (Tallis's London Street Views) Apparently in former days a favourite resort of the Scottish nobility. Here lived the unfortunate Lords Lovat, Balmerino, and Kilmarnock, who suffered on the scaffold for their share in the Rebellion of 1745. (Reference: Jesse's London, vol. I, p. 331)