Petty France, London

Among the buildings that line the street is 102 Petty France, which currently houses the Ministry of Justice.

In A New View of London (1708) Edward Hatton wrote: 'Petit France' [sic], a considerable street between Tothill Street Westminster E and James Street W ... Stow says here was built 20 houses for poor women to dwell in rent free, by Cornelius Van Dun, a Brabanter, Yeoman of the Guard to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.'

The name is generally thought to refer to the settlement of Huguenot refugees in the area.

[3] However, John Stow wrote of Petty France in A Survey of London (1598) and it is uncertain whether Huguenot refugees would have formed a notable community at that time.

The London Encyclopaedia (1983, rev 1993) refers to the name deriving from the French wool merchants who used to live there.

Petty France
The back of No. 19, York Street (1848). In 1651 John Milton moved into a "pretty garden-house" in Petty France. He lived there until the Restoration . Later it became No. 19 York Street, belonged to Jeremy Bentham , was occupied successively by James Mill and William Hazlitt , and finally demolished in 1877. [ 1 ]
Jeremy Bentham lived in a house next to 19 York street. [ 2 ] The commemorative plaque was unveiled on 12 October 2004.