[1] The building, which was designed in the Italianate style, was built as a private residence for Thomas William Smith Oakes, an East India Company merchant; it was initially known as Earlham Grove House and was completed in 1865.

The philanthropist Catherine Smithies, who founded the Band of Mercy animal welfare group which later merged with the RSPCA, lived in the house in the mid 19th-century.

[2] The house was acquired by the local board of health for use as a public library in 1893[3] and it then became the offices of Wood Green Urban District Council in 1913.

[2] Internally, the principal room in the extension was the council chamber but a mayor's parlour and a court for the local petty sessions were also created in the complex.

[2][10] The Earlham Suite at George Meehan House remains an approved venue for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies.