Streatham Park | |
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Streatham Park shown within Greater London | |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | SW16 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
EU Parliament | London |
London Assembly | |
Streatham Park is an area of suburban southwest London. It comprises the eastern part of Furzedown ward in the London Borough of Wandsworth, formerly in the historic parish of Streatham. It is bounded by Tooting Bec Common to the north, Thrale Road and West Road to the west, and the London to Brighton railway to the east.
The area takes its name from a Georgian country mansion built by the brewer Ralph Thrale. Streatham Park later passed to Ralph's son Henry Thrale, who with his wife Hester Thrale entertained many of the leading literary and artistic characters of the day, most notably the lexicographer Samuel Johnson, who was fond of a summer house in the grounds.
Former residents and guests of Streatham Park, or "Streathamites", include many notable 18th-century people: Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Arthur Murphy, Joshua Reynolds, William Seward, James Boswell, Oliver Goldsmith, Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti, Edmund Burke, Edwin Sandys, William Henry Lyttelton, Sir Robert Chambers, Charles Burney and Frances Burney, along with James and Hester Thrale. The dining room contained 12 portraits of Henry's guests painted by Reynolds. These pictures were wittily labelled by Frances Burney as the Streatham Worthies.