Grosvenor Estates start selling off prime London Properties

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

Isn't Grosvenor owned by the Duke of Westminster? Hard to think of a more London name!...

Not that it means much. After all, do the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have anything to do with Cambridge?

Anyway, I think the reason that the Grosvenors picked Westminster for a title was because Ebury (which made them very rich) was once part of the estates of Westminster Abbey. Which of course was in Westminster not London; being a different city an 'all.

Generali wrote: »

...Anyway, they've owned Central London for 350 years. They count as Londoners, even if head office is offshore Up North. It's grim up north.

Ebury (what it used to be called) wasn't even in London when they first got hold of it. It was just a big swamp. The Grosvenors drained it in the 18thC and 19thC and built houses which is how they became very rich indeed. At which point, presumably it became part of London. And very much on the periphery of London until the rest of it got built.

I suppose if you regard the Grosvenors as Londoners for owning some London property for a few centuries, then all those Russians and Chinese investors will eventually qualify as well.

Here endeth the lesson.:)