GLC blue plaque, indicating the Karl Marx 1851-56 house, at 28 Dean Street, Soho, London, England, UK, W1D 4QH
Image details
Contributor:
Tony Smith / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2JJGB21File size:
43.5 MB (1.8 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4356 x 3492 px | 36.9 x 29.6 cm | 14.5 x 11.6 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
24 July 2022Location:
28 Dean Street, Soho, London, England, UK, W1D 4QHMore information:
Life in Dean St - more at https://buddhistsocialism.weebly.com/karl-marx-ndash-life-at-28-dean-street-ndash-soho-london-w1-2016.html On the 11.2.2016, a delegation representing the BMA (UK) visited the site of 28 Dean Street, situated in the Soho area of West London – which is a five minute walk from Gerrard Street (in the heart of London’s Chinatown), and a one minute walk from Soho Square Gardens. Karl Marx and his family lived in two houses on Dean Street – firstly number 64 and then number 28. The room the Marx family occupied at 64 Dean Street is generally described as small – being no bigger than a closet or store cupboard. By the time Marx moved into 28 Dean Street – his family comprised of himself, his wife Jenny (who was pregnant), his housekeeper Lenchen, and their three children (Jennychen, Laura and Edgar). Their youngest son – Henry ‘Guido’ Marx – died in November 1850 whilst the family were still living at 64 Dean Street. The Marx family rented only a small area of 28 Dean Street consisting initially of just two rooms (Marx would later rent a third room for use as his study). In his Karl Marx – A Biography (1995) the historian David McLellan describes the two rooms as being situated on the second floor of the building and comprising of a back small bedroom and a larger front room (measuring 15ft by 18ft) that had three windows looking out onto the street. He further states that the Marx family lived in this house from 1851 to 1856 (Page 240), but on photograph number 8 in his book (situated between pages 178 and 179) he states that the date of occupation was in fact between 1850 and 1856. Indeed, the plaque raised by the now defunct Greater London Council (GLC) is affixed between two windows on the second floor of the building and quotes the dates of occupation as ‘1851-1856’ – a date that McLellan states is ‘not quite accurate’ on his description of the photograph of 28 Dean Street.