Poland Street
Poland Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Oxford Street in the north to Broadwick Street in the south. It was named after a pub "King of Poland" which was renamed in honour of Poland's King John III Sobieski in the heading of a coalition of western armies, crucially defeated the invading Ottoman forces at the 1683 Battle of Vienna. In the eighteenth century, Polish Protestants settled around Poland Street as religious refugees fleeing the Polish Counterreformation.[1]
Notable residents
The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley lived at 15 Poland Street.[2]
The poet William Blake lived at 28 Poland Street until 1791. The original building has since been rebuilt.[3]
Madame D'Arblay had her childhood home (1760–1770) at 50 Poland Street. In 1909, nearby Portland Street was renamed D'Arblay Street in her honour.[4]
References
- Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 647.
- Wheatley, Henry B. (1891). London past and present: Its history, associations, and traditions. III. London: John Murray. pp. 100–101.
- "William Blake's London – Picture Essay". Tate. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- Bebbington, Gillian. (1972) London street names. London: B. T. Batsford. p. 108. ISBN 0713401400
- Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-405-04924-5.
