Blue Plaques

GRAHAME, Kenneth (1859-1932)

Plaque erected in 1959 by London County Council at 16 Phillimore Place, Holland Park, London, W8 7BU, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

All images © English Heritage

Profession

Writer

Category

Literature

Inscription

KENNETH GRAHAME 1859-1932 Author of "THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS" lived here 1901-1908

Material

Ceramic

Kenneth Grahame wrote the children’s classic, The Wind in the Willows, while living at 16 Phillimore Place in Holland Park.

Black and white photograph of man in Victorian era dress, with large moustache
Kenneth Grahame pictured around the turn of the century, before he wrote his most famous work, ‘The Wind in the Willows’ (1908) © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

EARLY WORKS

Throughout the most important years of his life, Grahame enjoyed two careers: one, as an employee of the Bank of England – he entered the bank in 1879 and was appointed Secretary in 1898 – and another as a writer.

As a writer, Grahame first came to notice with Pagan Papers (1893), a collection of stories about a group of orphaned children. The work was followed in 1895 by The Golden Age and, four years later, by Dream Days. Grahame’s lasting fame, however, rests on The Wind in the Willows (1908).

Book cover of the ‘The Wind in the Willows’ featuring the characters having a picnic, in an illustration by EH Shepard
EH Shepard’s famous illustrations first accompanied the 1931 edition of ‘The Wind in the Willows’, with new colour illustrations produced in the 1960s © Public domain

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Supposedly based on a series of bedtime stories told by Grahame to his only child, Alastair (1900–20), the work was written at 16 Phillimore Place, formerly 16 Durham Villas. A friend and neighbour, Graham Robertson, wrote that Grahame’s

special room in No. 16 was most characteristic; it looked like a nursery. Books there were certainly, but they were outnumbered by toys . . . intriguing, fascinating toys which could hardly have been conducive to study.

The plaque incorrectly states that Grahame lived at the address in 1901–8. In fact, number 16 was the author’s London home from the time of his marriage in July 1899 to Elspeth Thomson (1862–1946) until June 1908, when he retired from the Bank of England.

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