PLACE NAME
Paul Dufour, its 18thCentury builder, who along with Allen Hollen and a carpenter called John Meard was responsible for developing Dufour’s Place, Hollen Street and Meard Street on the Pulteney estate. It was laid out from 1719, when landowner Sir William Pulteney, whose family had grown rich and powerful through the development of land in the West End, leased some land once known as Pawlett’s Garden to Paul Dufour. Until about 1740 ‘Captain Dufour’ lived nearby at 54 Poland Street. Dan Cruickshank in Soho says: “In the legal documents Dufour was described as ‘esquire’, so he was a gentleman dabbler in real estate. He covenanted to build within two years substantial brick houses on the ground and by 1721 had constructed four houses in a court, Dufour’s Place, leading north off Broadwick Street. These houses have long been demolished. The following year a paviour named John Mist, acting in part with Dufour but also in direct agreement with the Pulteney estate, agreed to build six houses facing onto Broadwick Street and backing onto Dufour’s Place. These were completed by 1723 and survive as numbers 48 – 58 Broadwick Street. The formation of Dufour’s Place was completed in 1736 when six houses (numbers 1-6) were built on its west side, which was part of Pesthouse Close.” Up until 1536, when it was surrendered to the Crown as part of the Reformation, the land had been part of a large estate owned by the Mercer’s Company.
