Place Name
Previously Love Lane, which could be a corruption of Lucas Lane, thought to be an earlier name after a local landowner. Or, as with many other Love lanes, a euphemism for the prostitution that took place around here. In either case in 1939 it was changed to Lovat Lane to avoid confusion with another Love Lane in the City. The name was said to have been recommended by fishmongers at nearby Billingsgate after Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser (July 9, 1911 – March 16, 1995), Lord Lovat, since the “great quantities of salmon arrive daily at Billingsgate from the famous fishings owned by Lord Lovat.” Lovat who owned Beaufort Castle in Inverness, proved to be an inspired choice. As a major in one of the commando regiments he successfully carried out a number of missions, including one during the infamous Dieppe Raid as part of Operation Jubilee and later his forces relieved the advanced party at Pegasus Bridge, during the Invasion of Normandy.
