Place Name
Thought to be named after John Lonsdale (January 17, 1788 – October 19, 1867), a close friend of local landowner George Augustus Selwyn, he preceded him as Bishop of Lichfield. Like Selwyn, Lonsdale went to Eton and Cambridge. Before taking the see in 1843, Lonsdale was made the Principal of King’s College, London, in 1839, and under his leadership the college prospered with the hospital chiefly founded by him. Lonsdale Terrace, first appeared on the rate books in 1880 and when Sandycombe Road was laid out and named in 1901 they were assimilated into that. The name however was not forgotten and when the a small cul-de-sac was built off Elizabeth Cottages in 1920 it was named Lonsdale Mews. Originally with only one house it was redeveloped in 1976.
