Place Name
A relatively new development, laid out over the junction of Nowell Road and Castelnau. Remembers Henry Fielding (April 22, 1707 – October 8, 1754) the novelist and dramatist probably best known for his comic novel Tom Jones, who for a short time around the middle of the 18thCentury was a tenant at Milbourne House (Essex House) overlooking the pond in Barnes. It was here that it is believed he wrote his last novel Amelia. Fielding balanced his successful literary career with a job as a magistrate. Incorruptible he influenced London’s system of justice, and was known for his fair and impartial judgments – a rare thing at the time. The income from his office (“the dirtiest money upon earth”) dwindled as he refused to take money from the very poor. Joined by his younger half-brother John, he helped found what some call London’s first police force, the Bow Street Runners, in 1749.
