Until the 1670s, at the edge of London’s River Thames, stood York House, the mansion property of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. In 1672 however, Villiers had fallen on hard times financially and so when the developer Nicholas Barbon asked to purchase the land, Villiers was glad to accept the £30,000 offered (an amount equivalent to more than £5 million in 2022). The agreement was made on the condition that the proposed development would pay homage to Villiers, therefore the developer was instructed to name each of the streets after…
