Thread by @jackwbrown

In 2016, I was the first Researcher in Residence at @10DowningStreet. Yesterday, my first book, ‘No.10: The Geography of Power at Downing Street’, was published by @HausPublishing. So here’s a thread outlining the early history of No.10, and how it came to be. (1/14)

No.10 Downing Street was built by diplomat, spy and ‘perfidious rogue’ Sir George Downing in the 1680s. Downing's life was nuts – worth reading his Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Georg… (2/14)

Downing was a serial turncoat, close to Cromwell, switching sides following the Restoration, & betraying several former friends to their deaths. But he also made some important tax innovations. Mixed bag, then... ̄\_(ツ)_/ ̄ (3/14)

In Churchill’s phrase, the houses constructed at Downing Street were ‘shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear.’ (they look better today) (4/14)

They were built on marshy ground, cheaply and with poor foundations. The legacy of Downing’s penny pinching would last for centuries, with constant renovations, temporary fixes and adjustments required at regular intervals. 💸 (5/14)

Downing died in 1684, and No.10 reverted to the crown. No.10 became the property of the First Lord of the Treasury when George II gave it to the first PM, Sir Robert Walpole, in 1732. 👑🎩(6/14)

Walpole refused to accept No.10 as a personal gift – so it became property of the First Lord of the Treasury, a role synonymous with that of PM in modern times. In doing so, he also got the state to pay for its renovation and upgrade. #Touch (7/14)

Modern No.10 is made up of 3 buildings knocked together, in anticipation of Walpole moving in, in 1735. The first two: the slightly shabby terraced house at the front & a grander ‘house at the back’, joined together around a courtyard by corridors. (8/14)

The third building incorporated into today’s No. 10? A small cottage near the front, occupied by one ‘Mr Chicken’, about whom little is known bar his name. 🐔 (9/14)

During the 18/19th centuries, No.10 was often occupied by persons other than the Prime Minister. It sat unoccupied for 30 years in the mid-1800s. PMs were often v wealthy, and had much nicer properties of their own elsewhere. 🎩💰💰💰 (10/14)

Every Prime Minister since Arthur Balfour (also the first PM to bring a motor car to Downing Street) has lived at Downing St. 🚗 (11/14)

However, Wilson lived elsewhere during his second term, (commuting in daily from his private residence at nearby Lord North Street), and both Macmillan and Major were forced to relocate to Admiralty House during renovations. (12/14)

Since Tony Blair set the precedent, PMs now tend to live in the larger flat above No.11, and Chancellors live above No.10. The two buildings are joined internally, and it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins once inside. 🧐 (13/14)

There’s an awful lot more in the book, of course. You can buy it here: amazon.co.uk/No-10-Geograph… Huge thanks owed to: @10DowningStreet @thestrandgroup @policyatkings @KCLWP @BrilliantClub @HPE
...and I think I’ll tweet some more random No.10 facts over the coming days! (14/14)