PLACE NAME
Not in fact the Roman general and statesman, rather Sir Julius Caesar (1557/1558 – April 18, 1636), the Elizabethan lawyer, judge and politician who lived in Mitcham. His mansion, where he entertained Elizabeth I in 1598, is believed to have been on the site of the Wilson Hospital – though other historians locate it south of Burn Bullock, London Road. In any case, all of the streets off Caesar’s Walk have connections with the monarch. The son of an Italian physician to Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I, Caesar was a remarkable civil servant and sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1598 – 1622. His first post, in 1581, was as general commissioner on piracy under Elizabeth I. He graduated in law from Oxford, becoming Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in 1584 and a master in chancery in 1588. He was knighted under King James in 1603, and held posts such as Chancellor and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer, appointed to the Privy Council, and in 1614, Master of the Rolls. Along with Burghley Place, Cecil Place, Walsingham Road and Hatton Gardens, this was built on the former Cranmer estate by Sir Isaac Wilson from 1926.
