VI.—No. 4 GREAT GEORGE STREET: (Demolished).
General Description and Date of Structure.
On 4th November, 1755, a lease was granted (fn. 1) to John Horne and
William Wilkinson of a plot of ground with a messuage and other erections
thereafter to be erected thereon on the south side of Great George Street, being
the 16th house from King Street. The plot was described as bounded
west by Delahay Street, and containing in front and rear 25 feet 2 inches,
on the east side 76 feet and on the west 45 feet 8 inches.
No. 4 had, therefore, not yet been built. It had, however, been erected
by 21st June, 1760, when the remainder of the lease was granted (fn. 2) to Augustus
Boyd "of Lewisham Esq." It was demolished in 1910, and the site utilised
for the building of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The house had a plain brick front of four storeys over a basement, with
plain bands and a modillion cornice similar to the adjoining premises. The
entrance door had a semicircular fanlight with radiating bars, and the front
windows to the first floor had wrought-iron segmental balconettes, which were
probably of later date, and necessitated the lowering of the window sills to
the floor level. The interior contained little of interest. There were three
decorated lead cisterns in the house, the largest of which, 5 feet in length,
was ornamented with three ribbed panels, crests, and devices and the date
1760 (Plate 24). The other cisterns had two ribbed panels, and bore the dates
1760 and 1761 respectively.
Historical Notes.
The names of the occupiers of this house before 1840, according to the ratebooks,
were as follows (fn. 3) :—
|
| 1761–67 | Augustus Boyd. |
| 1768–83 | Mrs. Boyd. |
| 1785–88 | John Berrow. |
| 1789–1800 | George B. Brudenell. |
| 1802– | William Irving (Irvine). |
In the Council's Collection are:—
General view of the exterior (photograph).
Newel to staircase on first-floor landing (photograph).
(fn. 4) Lead cistern dated 1760 (photograph).
do. (photograph).
Lead cistern dated 1761 (photograph).
Ground and first-floor plans (measured drawing).