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Dictionary definition: Downing Street
- Article from:
- A New Dictionary of Eponyms
- Author:
Copyright© A New Dictionary of Eponyms 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information)
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Downing Street
No. 10 Downing Street has been the official residence of the prime minister since 1735, when George II gave it to Sir Horace Walpole to serve for that purpose. Downing Street is a street leading off Whitehall and a synonym for the British government. The street is named after Sir George Downing (1623–1684), who was both a parliamentarian and an ambassador, serving under Cromwell and then Charles II.
The son of a Puritan lawyer and the second graduate of Harvard College, he served in the military for a while during .the English Civil War and was a member of the Parliament during Cromwell's protectorate.
Downing was a ...