Estates in Bloomsbury

1 Duke of Bedford
2 City of London Corporation
3 Capper Mortimer
4 Fitzroy (Duke of Grafton)
5 Somers
6 Skinners' (Tonbridge)
7 Battle Bridge
8 Lucas
9 Harrison
10 Foundling Hospital
11 Rugby
12 Bedford Charity (Harpur)
13 Doughty
14 Gray's Inn
15 Bainbridge–Dyott (Rookeries)

Area between the Foundling and Harrison estates: Church land

Grey areas: fragmented ownership and haphazard development; already built up by 1800

About the Lucas Estate

This seven-acre estate in the north-east of Bloomsbury was originally part of the Peperfield area of the Harrison estate, but became separated from it in the eighteenth century (Survey of London, vol. 24, 1952)

Its owner at the beginning of the nineteenth century was Joseph Lucas, a tin plate worker, who decided in 1801 to develop the land (Survey of London, vol. 24, 1952)

The estate was a small strip with a curved top, stretching from the area of the Boot pub to Gray’s Inn Road

Its main street when developed was Cromer Street, which was begun in 1801, and known as Lucas Street after the landowner until 1834 (Survey of London, vol. 24, 1952)

The origin of other street names on the estate remains obscure

Wood Street

Also known as Midhope Street

Not to be confused with any of the numerous other Wood Streets in London

It is in the north-east of Bloomsbury, running between Cromer Street and North Place on the Cromer–Lucas estate

It was developed in the 1810s; it does not appear even in outline on Horwood’s map of 1813, but it is shown developed with about 28 houses on his map of 1819

It was at least partly occupied by 1822, when a couple advertised from no. 16 for positions as cook and butler (The Times, 9 November 1822)

The origin of its name is unknown

There are no numbers shown on Horwood’s maps

Its houses were small and relatively cheap

In 1849 Henry Parkinson of no. 2 was charged with assaulting his seven-year-old daughter at home; witnesses said they saw him beating her with a whip (The Times, 19 March 1849)

In the 1890s its slums were cleared and the East End Dwellings Co. built new blocks of flats here (now part of the Hillview Estate)