Place Name
Baronial name of Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland (November 21, 1773 – October 22, 1840), who was a politician and a major figure in Whig politics during the 19thCentury. A grandson of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, and nephew of Charles James Fox, he served as Lord Privy Seal between 1806 and 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents headed by Lord Grenville, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1830 and 1834, and again in 1835 up to his death in the Whig administrations of Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne. In the early 1820s he inherited some land in Camberwell, formerly part of the ancient manor of Lambeth Wick, which had been in the family since 1701. Following the opening of the new bridge at Vauxhall and Camberwell New Road, which connected London with what was then Surrey, a few years earlier, Fox immediately started developing the land for residential use. With the Slave Compensation Act 1837 in the aftermath of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, he was compensated under three awards for slaves on his estates in Jamaica, which had come to him through his wife, Elizabeth Webster (née Vassall). This is one of a small group of local streets that commemorate Lord Holland’s connection with the area. See also Lilford Road, Foxley Road and Vassall Road.
