Fauconberg House
house in the City of Westminster, London, England
Fauconberg House was a house in Soho Square in the City of Westminster, London. It was demolished in 1924.
The house was occupied from 1683 to 1700 by Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg. The last member of the Fauconberg family to live at the house was Mary Cromwell; she was the third daughter of Oliver Cromwell and the wife of the 1st Earl Fauconberg.
Subsequently it was occupied by Arthur Onslow, then Speaker of the House of Commons. The lease was sold by Onslow to John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll. The Duke of Argyll lived at Fauconberg House until his death in 1770; following his death, it was sold to John Grant, a Scottish lawyer and owner of sugar plantations in the West Indies. The neo-classical architect Robert Adam was commissioned by Grant to improve the house. After Grant's death, Fauconberg House became Wright's Hotel and Coffee House.
The house belonged to a company of musical instrument makers at the start of the 19th century, and was owned by Crosse & Blackwell from 1858.
“Fauconberg House” enters the record as house in the City of Westminster, London, England. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Fauconberg, House and house can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Fauconberg House” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Fauconberg, House and house provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16992085. Authority coordinates are 51.516, -0.132. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1924, 1683, 1700 and 1770.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fauconberg House”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fauconberg House primary sources, Fauconberg House archive and Fauconberg research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fauconberg House”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fauconberg House” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.