Roland Gardens, London Explained

Roland Gardens is a street in South Kensington, London SW7. It runs north to south from Old Brompton Road to Drayton Gardens at its southern end, where it becomes Evelyn Gardens.

History

Building on the street was started in 1870 by Charles Aldin and his sons Charles and William, with more than half completed by 1874, and the rest by 1893.^[1]

Notable buildings and residents

• Blakes Hotel, is at no. 33, and is considered to be one of the world's first boutique hotels.
• The National Laboratory of Psychical Research was once at no. 13.
• The artist Collier Twentyman Smithers died in 1943 at no. 36.
• Blanche Dugdale, author and Zionist and her husband Edgar Dugdale, a Lloyd's of London underwriter, lived at no. 1.^[2]
• Douglas Green, Australian artist, and his wife Helen lived at 21 in 1951.^[3]
• Stanley Bate, composer, lived in a Roland Gardens flat from 1949 until his death in 1959.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roland Gardens - British History Online. www.british-history.ac.uk. 11 December 2017.
2. Dugdale [née Balfour], Blanche Elizabeth Campbell ]. 2004 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/62138 . 978-0-19-861412-8 . 30 November 2017.
3. The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-164521
4. Stanley Bate obituary, The Manchester Guardian, 20 October 1959, p. 2