Long-time Bloomsbury resident Ricci de Freitas traces the development of the Duke of Bedford’s Bloomsbury estate from 1776 to the present day, in a new illustrated book to be published this month.
Bedford Square is the only intact 18th century square remaining in London, and Gower Street retains one of London’s longest sets of unbroken Georgian terraces.
Devised as a guided walk from Great Russell Street in the south to Euston Road in the north, with a circuit of Bedford Square, the book reveals the eclectic range of notable former residents, institutions and organisations who have shaped the reputation and character of this unique segment of Bloomsbury over the past 250 years.
De Freitas has lived in Bloomsbury since a student at the University of London’s Institute of Education in the early 1970s.
He took up writing after retiring from paid work, and set up the Marchmont Association, which he chaired for 14 years. This is his fifth publication about the history of Bloomsbury.
Book launch: Lady Gertrude’s Legacy – Bloomsbury’s Bedford Square and Gower Street, by Ricci de Freitas, published by the Bloomsbury Association, at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, 36 Bedford Square, 6.30pm Thursday 26 October 2023. Signed copies of the book will be on sale for the special price of £15 (cash or card) — a saving of 25 percent on the retail price. The book will also be available from Skoob Books, 66 The Brunswick, off Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AE, and Judd Books, 82 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AG.