Benedict Arnold House
62 Gloucester Place, London, W1
Built circa 1770 in Marylebone off Portman Square, this was most famously the last home of America's most storied traitor, mercenary and adventurer, Major-General Benedict Arnold. Ironically, the plaque on the front of the building describes him somewhat erroneously as an "American Patriot" - some Americans may beg to differ. Arnold had kept a home in London since escaping America in 1782 but only moved here in 1796. Five years later (1801), he died more or less forgotten in "comfortable pecuniary circumstance". Leaving a series of debts behind him, his "respectable and genteel" widow, Peggy Shippen, was forced to downsize moving the following year (1802) to nearby Bryanston Street. She lived in London during the winter and spent the summers at "Galleywood" near Chelmsford in Essex with her friends, the Fitchs, dying in 1804....
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Its history immediately before and after Arnold remains opaque, but from the later 19th century it was converted for commercial purposes and is today a dentists. Perhaps also of interest to passers-by is that from 1867 to 1888 Number 65 across the road was the home of the writer Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, The Moonstone etc.
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Contributed by Mark Meredith on 04/03/2021 and last updated on 08/07/2021.
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