Place Name
Named in honour of Dr George Birkbeck (1776 – 1841), a physician and a pioneer of adult education after Birkbeck School opened in Kingsland. Francis Ravenscroft who admired Birkbeck’s philanthropy set up the Birkbeck Bank and Birkbeck Building Society and it is through these that much of the development across Greater London was financed in the 19thCentury. Dr Birkbeck started the mechanics’ institutes and was one of the founders of University College London.
