Plaque

Mazarin, Herring & Talleyrand

Inscription

Duchess of Mazarin 1692-8
Archbishop Herring 1737
Talleyrand 1792-4

A delightful and unusual plaque in the cove of the lovely Georgian doorway. However its claim to housing celebrities is suspect. British History On-line reports "The Duchess, if she lived in the square, was probably at No. 15; Herring lived nearby in a house to the east; Talleyrand addressed a letter from Kensington Square in 1792 but it is not known from which house."

And RBKC reports that at the specified Talleyrand dates the house was occupied by a Frenchman so perhaps Talleyrand stayed with him; and regarding the Duchess there is complete consecutive evidence of her residence elsewhere.

Oh dear. Nowhere can we find any date for when this "plaque" was erected. The typeface, especially the "s"s look old but that can easily be faked.

Our attempts to confirm the occupancy dates on the plaque give mixed results:

Monstrous Regiment of Women has Mazarin/Mancini moving into Kensington Square in 1689 and in 1693 moved out to a house in Paradise Row in Chelsea, where she died.

In Archbishop Herring’s Visitation Returns 1743 we found that “from 1731 he seems to have divided his time between Blechingly and Rochester until 18 June 1737 when he was nominated to the see of Bangor” and on 14 January 1738 was “consecrated in the Chapel of Lambeth Palace”. This certainly puts him in London at about the right date. Also British History On-line reports that Herring was a tenant in this house in 1743 but was actually occupying another house nearby.

Talleyrand was backwards and forwards between Paris and London in the years given.

Site: Mazarin, Herring & Talleyrand (1 memorial)

W8, Kensington Square, 11

Although this house looks to be in Thackeray Street we believe its address is actually Kensington Square. This pair of houses was built sometime 1693 - 1702.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Mazarin, Herring & Talleyrand

Subjects commemorated i

Archbishop Thomas Herring

Bishop of Bangor 1737-43. Archbishop of York 1743-47. Archbishop of Canterbur...

Read More

Hortense Mancini

Born Rome, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. She and her siblings were taken to live...

Read More

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Born in Paris. During political upheavals in France he was backwards and forw...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Nancy's Steps - plaque 2

Nancy's Steps - plaque 2

SE1, Montague Close

Erected between April 2019 and August 2020, by unknown.

5 subjects commemorated
Cross Keys pub

Cross Keys pub

SW3, Lawrence Street, Cross Keys

But not Dickens?

6 subjects commemorated
Lyons first teashop

Lyons first teashop

W1, Piccadilly, 213

We thank History of Kilburn and West Hampstead for the photo. They published it in connection with their biography of Edwin Levy who owne...

1 subject commemorated
Toynbee Hall

Toynbee Hall

E1, Old Castle Street, Evershed House

As far as we can tell this never was the site of Toynbee Hall which appears always to have been sited at 28 Commercial Street, as it stil...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
St Paul's School - High Master's House

St Paul's School - High Master's House

W14, Hammersmith Road, 153, St Paul's Hotel

St. Paul's School This house with attached lodge was built for the High Master of St Paul's when the school - founded next to St Paul's C...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

King Waldemar IV of Denmark

King Waldemar IV of Denmark

King. Also known as Valdemar IV Atterdag (A new dawn). He came to the Danish throne in 1340. From Medieval Histories:"In 1364, Valdemar IV of Denmark travelled through Europe to end up in Avignon....

Person, Royalty, Denmark

1 memorial
Frieze of Parnassus - Titian

Frieze of Parnassus - Titian

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Dr Charles Vickery Drysdale

Dr Charles Vickery Drysdale

Electrical engineer and social reformer promoting family planning and eugenics. Born in Paris. As an engineer, he invented the phase-shifting transformer, and was co-founder of the Institute of Phy...

Person, Engineering, Social Welfare, France

1 memorial
West Middlesex Water Company

West Middlesex Water Company

A utility company which supplied water to parts of West London. It was established in premises on the banks of the River Thames at Hammersmith, the central part of which was designed by William Tie...

Group, Engineering, Food & Drink

2 memorials