Place Name
Until 1930 the entire stretch of Preston Place was a private road which had, between 1888 until 1921, been occupied by the Lillywhite family of builders, perhaps not an entire surprise since the narrow footpath running parallel to the east, today’s Albany Passage, used to be called Brickfields Passage. The road had been blocked off from nearby Houblon Road by a wall and access to it could only be via Church Road. That changed when residents petitioned the council for pedestrian access and so the wall was opened up, for this the Council had to pay the wall’s owners the Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty, a scheme to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England, £62 10s in compensation. Until 1923 there were only two houses on the street. The origin of the street name is unknown.