Bedford Gardens, London facts for kids
Bedford Gardens is a street located in Kensington, a part of London. It stretches from Campden Hill Road on its west side to Kensington Church Street on its east side. It's a quiet street with a lot of history.
A Look at Bedford Gardens' History
This street was first known as Bedford Place. Around 1824, two builders, William Hall the elder and William Hall the younger, planned to build similar rows of houses along both sides of the street. However, only the eastern half of their plan was finished. This was because William Hall the younger sadly passed away in 1829 or 1830. The western part of the street was later developed with mostly semi-detached houses, which are houses joined together in pairs.
Ballet and Art on the Street
In 1920, a famous dancer named Marie Rambert opened her ballet school and studio on Bedford Gardens. She taught ballet there until 1927. After that, she moved her school to the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate. This theatre became the home of the Ballet Rambert, a very important ballet company, until 1987.
Later, in the early 1980s, a person named Roger Tully bought Rambert's old dance studio on Bedford Gardens. It was a special place with a long history of dance.
Number 77 Bedford Gardens also became a creative hub. It was used as a studio and home for several talented artists. These included Robert Colquhoun, Robert MacBryde, John Minton, and Jankel Adler. Imagine all the amazing art created there!
Famous People Who Lived Here
Many interesting and famous people have lived on Bedford Gardens over the years. Here are some of them:
- #77 Jankel Adler (1895–1949): A Polish painter and printmaker.
- William Thomas Blanford: A geologist and naturalist who studied rocks, minerals, and nature.
- #4 Frank Bridge (1879-1941): A well-known composer, violist (someone who plays the viola), and conductor.
- #43 Archibald Ross Colquhoun: The very first Administrator of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
- #77 Robert Colquhoun (1914-1962): A painter, printmaker, and designer of theatre sets.
- #12 Edgar Downs (1876–1963): An artist.
- Henry Justice Ford (1860–1941): An artist and illustrator, known for his fairy tale drawings.
- #5 Eva Le Gallienne (1899-1991): An actress, producer, and director.
- #5 Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947): An author and poet.
- #77 Robert MacBryde (1913–1966): A painter known for still-life and figure paintings, and a theatre set designer.
- #77 John Minton (1917-1957): A painter, illustrator, stage designer, and teacher.
- #77 Arthur Berry (1925-1994): A painter, poet, playwright, and teacher.
- #48 Charles Mozley (1914-1991): An artist.
- Andrew Dickson Murray (1812–1878): A lawyer, botanist (someone who studies plants), zoologist (someone who studies animals), and entomologist (someone who studies insects).
- #54 Alfred Parsons (1847–1920): An illustrator, landscape painter, and garden designer.
- #52 Henry Edward Watts (1826–1904): A journalist.
