Exploring Disraeli’s London
DISRAELI WAS BORN at 22 Theobalds Road, Holborn, on December 21 1804 to Isaac D’israeli and Maria Basevi. His two brothers, James and Ralph, went to public schools but he was educated privately, including at Dame Roper’s Academy in Colebrooke Row, Islington.
The family prayed at Bevis Marks Synagogue. In 1817 his parents wanted to have his bar mitzvah. Due to a disagreement with the synagogue, D’israeli took his family to the church of Holborn, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1680s, where the children were baptized.
I s aac D’I s r aeli moved t he f a mi l y h o m e t o the plaque on the house honours his achievements as an author.
You will see a mezuzah on the righthand doorpost. It is now the headquarters of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Established in 1760 and has remained the umbrella organization for British Jewry.
Young Benjamin found Bloomsbury dull. He craved the world of society and politics but his father had other ideas and Benjamin was articled between 1821 and 1824 to the City law firm of Swain, Stevens, Maples, Pearse & Hunt at 6 Frederick’s
This is a 1770s cul-de-sac designed by the Adam brothers. Benjamin spent time concocting investment ideas and after writing his first novel, Vivien Grey, in 1826 he embarked on a year of travel. On returning, he took rooms in the West End and began his campaign to enter Parliament. He adopted ‘ Disraeli’ as his surname in 1837, after four
attempts, he Bloomsbury attracted cultural, academic and literary types and was elected MP for Maidstone. He took his seat on the oath of the true faith of a Christian as he was no longer Jewish. It was not until 1858 that Lionel de Rothschild became the first Jewish MP, taking his oath on the Old Testament. A statue of Disraeli by Mario Raggi is in Parliament Square, opposite the Palace of Westminster.
Nearby in Westminster Abbey is a statue of Disraeli by Sir Joseph Boehm. It is situated in the Statemen’s Aisle next to his political rival, William Gladstone. The abbey authorities thoughtfully places a statue of Peter Warren MP between them. A maquette of this memorial can be seen in the Portraite Gallery (room 25) together with a portrait by Millais, painted just before Disraeli died.
He married the widow, Mary-anne Wyndham-lewish in August 1839 at the churchat Stgeorge’shanoversquare, built 1721-24. Handel worshipped here and the weddings of George Eliot, John Galsworthy and John Buchan were also held here. The Disraeli marital home at 93 park Lane, Mayfair belonged to Mary-anne and they lived there until her death in 1872. He also had friends in the highest social circles including Queen Victoria, who ennobled him in 1876 as Earl of Beaconsfield. When prime minister, his home was ing Street.
On leaving in 1880 he lodged with friends and in hotels but then bought 19 Curzon Street, Mayfair around the corner from his friend Alfred de Rothschild where he died April 1881.
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