Paddington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 51°31′02″N 0°10′23″W / 51.5172°N 0.1730°W
Paddington is an area of the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965.
The earliest extant reference to Padington, historically a part of Middlesex, was made in the year 1056. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddington station, designed by the celebrated engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1847; St Mary's Hospital and Paddington Green police station (the most important high-security police station in the United Kingdom).
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[edit] Associated celebrities
Paddington has been home to many famous sons, daughters and associated residents, including:
- Robert Browning, the great Victorian poet who lived at Beauchamp Lodge on the junction of two canals and named that precinct "Little Venice". (The name is now given to a longer reach of the canal system.)
- Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the scouting movement and hero of the Siege of Mafeking during the Second Boer War, was born in Paddington on 22 February 1857.
- Edward Wilson, physician, naturalist and ornithologist who died in 1912 on Captain Robert Scott's ill-fated British Antarctic expedition. The former Senior Street primary school was renamed the Edward Wilson School after him in 1952.
- At St Mary's Hospital in 1874, C R Alder Wright synthesised heroin (diacetylmorphine). Also there, in 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming first isolated penicillin.
- Actress Rhona Mitra was born in Paddington in 1976.
- The royal princes William (21 June 1982) and Henry ("Harry") (15 September 1984) were both born at St Mary's Hospital.
- A notable contemporary resident is Michael Bond, the author of children’s and adult fiction, most famously Paddington Bear
- Celebrity actors associated with Paddington include Sir Alec Guinness, Emma Thompson, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris Vance .
- Margaret Jay, former Labour leader in the House of Lords and daughter of James Callaghan, lives in the area and has the title 'Baroness Jay of Paddington'.
- Ainsley Harriott, celebrity chef, was born in Paddington on 28 February 1957.
- Kaya Scodelario, actress and model was born in Paddington on 13 February 1992.
[edit] Paddington station
Mainline Paddington station is the terminus for commuter services to the west of England (e.g., Slough, Maidenhead, Reading, Swindon) and mainline services to Oxford, Bristol, Bath, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Cornwall and south Wales (including Cardiff and Swansea). The Heathrow Express services Heathrow Airport.
In the station are statues of its designer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the children's fiction character Paddington Bear.
[edit] Education
[edit] Gallery
 Paddington Basin, Grand Union Canal |
 Edgware Road |
 Sussex Gardens |
 Victoria pub, Gloucester Square |
[edit] See also
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