London Guided Walks » Episode 139: Downing Street – A Microcosm of London

Episode 139: Downing Street – A Microcosm of London

Explore the history and former residents of Downing Street. In this episode, we uncover the stories and events that shaped the nation from this iconic street.

Host: Hazel Baker

Hazel is an active Londoner, a keen theatre-goer and qualified CIGA London tour guide.

She has won awards for tour guiding and is proud to be involved with some great organisations. She is a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and am an honorary member of The Leaders Council.

Channel 4: The Orient Express: A Golden Era of Travel (Episode 1). Channel 5’s Walking Wartime Britain(Episode 3) and Yesterday Channel’s The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Het Rampjaar 1672, Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland and Arte.fr Invitation au Voyage, À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément. Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: The Architecture the Railways Built (Series 3, Episode 7). Yesterday Channel / UKTV Play: Secrets of the London Underground (Series 3, Episode 2) and Secrets of the London Underground (Series 4, Episode 10). NPO (Netherlands): Het Rampjaar 1672 – Afl. 2: Vijand Engeland. Arte France: Invitation au Voyage – À Chelsea, une femme qui trompe énormément

Related Podcast Episodes:

Episode 78: Georgian Landlords
Episode 79: Georgian Land Ladies,

Recommended Reading:

No. 10: The Geography of Power at Downing Street by Jack Brown (2024)

10 Downing Street: The Illustrated History by Anthony Seldon (1999)

Lodgers, Landlords, and Landladies in Georgian London by Gillian Williamson (2021)

Behind Closed Doors: At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery

Boswell’s London Journal, 1762-1763

London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides)

Georgian London: Into the Streets by Lucy Inglis

Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen by Rory Muir

Life in the Georgian City by Dan Cruickshank

The Countess of Lichfield Richard Gibson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Downing Street Heir: The Birth of Sir Watkin William Wynn

In 1879 Britain’s press reports that Frances Shakerley, wife of Sir Watkin William Wynn, has given birth to a son at his house in Downing Street, Westminster. Wynn, the third baronet and a powerful, wealthy MP, had seen his first wife Ann Vaughan die, then married his goddaughter Frances Shakerley four months later in a bid for an heir. Their son is born nine months after the marriage, but four months later Wynn dies in a freak hunting accident, leaving the baby six months old and the dynasty uncertain. The child survives and prospers, attending Westminster School, marrying well, and later becoming part of London high life at St James’s Square, as the Wynn family becomes central to Britain’s elite.