Monday 27 February 2012

Today's Blue Plaque- Thomas Cubitt
CUBITT, Thomas (1788-1855)

THOMAS CUBITT 1788-1855 Master Builder lived here 3 Lyall Street, Belgravia, SW1X 8DW


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Thomas Cubitt (1788–1855), born Buxton, Norfolk, was the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and also carried out several projects in other parts of England.

The son of a Norfolk carpenter, he journeyed to India as ship's carpenter from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn RoadLondon where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.

Belgrave Square is one of the grandest and largest 19th century squares in London, England. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and was laid out by the property contractor Thomas Cubitt for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. The square takes its name from one of the Duke of Westminster's subsidiary titles, Viscount Belgrave. The village of Belgrave, Cheshire is two miles (3 km) from the Grosvenor family's main country seat of Eaton Hall.



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