The Adelphi, London, and its literary connections

The Adelphi is a small area of London to the south of the Strand, comprising a quadrilateral of streets, namely Adelphi Terrace, John Adam Street, Robert Street and Adam Street. The street names give a strong clue to their origin, given that they refer to the Adams brothers, a family of architects who built the original Adelphi Buildings between 1768 and 1772. There were four brothers, but John and Robert were more active in London than the other two.

“Adelphi” is Greek for “brothers”, and the use of a classical name was appropriate for this terrace of 24 houses built in a neoclassical style. At the time, the terrace would have faced the River Thames directly, but the course of the river was shifted to the south when the Victoria Embankment was built.

The original terrace was demolished in the 1930s to make way for an Art Deco building named the New Adelphi.

During its heyday the Adelphi was a fashionable district, close to the centre of London with its theatres and publishing houses, and attracted a number of well-known actors and writers, including:

David Garrick, the dramatist and actor-manager (1717-89), who spent the last seven years of his life here, receiving visits from Dr Johnson, among others.

The playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) lived here from his marriage in 1899 until 1927, as this was where his wife had been living. He wrote “Man and Superman” (1905) and “Major Barbara” (1906) while living here.

The poet Thomas Hood (1799-1845) lived for a time in in Robert Street, this being his first marital home.

The novelist and playwright John Galsworthy (1867-1933) lived here from 1912 to 1918, a time when he was writing works other than “The Forsyte Saga”.

There is also a link to Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) who, although not a resident here, worked from 1862 to 1867 at the office of an architect in Adelphi Terrace.

© John Welford