Estates in Bloomsbury
1 Duke of Bedford
2 City of London Corporation
3 Capper Mortimer
4 Fitzroy (Duke of Grafton)
5 Somers
6 Skinners' (Tonbridge)
7 Battle Bridge
8 Lucas
9 Harrison
10 Foundling Hospital
11 Rugby
12 Bedford Charity (Harpur)
13 Doughty
14 Gray's Inn
15 Bainbridge–Dyott (Rookeries)
Area between the Foundling and Harrison estates: Church land
Grey areas: fragmented ownership and haphazard development; already built up by 1800
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About the Capper Mortimer Estate
This estate in the north-west corner of Bloomsbury originated as the Bromfield site, later known as Brickfields, which was occupied by the farming Capper family in the eighteenth century (Survey of London, vol. 21, 1949)
It had been acquired by Hans Winthrop Mortimer of Caldwell, Derby by 1768, and residential development began at the end of the eighteenth century (Survey of London, vol. 21, 1949)
Although small, it became significant in the development of Bloomsbury
The area to the east of UCL, particularly around Mortimer Market, has also been extensively redeveloped for buildings of UCL and UCH
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Pancras Street
Also known as Capper Street
It was in the process of being developed by 1795 (Survey of London, vol. 21, 1949), and is shown partially developed next to fields on Cary’s map of that date
It had been farmland until this residential development
It was presumably originally named after the parish of St Pancras, which includes this north-western portion of Bloomsbury
It was renamed Capper Street in 1886, after the Capper family who originally owned the small local estate and farmed over a wider area here
Horwood’s map of 1819 shows consecutive numbers from 7 to 15 on the north side, running from east to west; the (few) buildings on the mainly open south side are not numbered
The south side of the street belonged to the Southampton estate (Survey of London, vol. 21, 1949)
In the early part of the century there was a private amateur theatre (in a hay loft over a cow shed!) here at which Junius Booth made an early appearance as an actor (The Theatrical Inquisitor and Monthly Mirror, vol. 10, 1817); his son John Wilkes Booth was the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln
It was renamed Capper Street in 1886
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