Residents in Kensington & Chelsea with LGBT associations [i.e. including those whose sexual orientation was not necessarily overt in their day, but whose lifestyles or writings were sufficiently sexually ambivalent]
[sources: The Pink Plaque Guide to London by Michael Elliman & Frederick Roll, London, GMP 1986; Track the Plaque by Derek Sumeray, Derby, Breedon Books 2003; The Notting Hill & Holland Park Book by Richard Tames, London, Historical Publications Ltd 2004; The Kensington Book by Carolyn Starren, London, Historical Publications Ltd 2006] Compiled by Robert Cook.
Adey, More (1858-1942) – friend of Oscar Wilde, lived with Robert Ross at 24 Hornton Street, W8 in 1905, and at 15 Vicarage Gardens, W8 c 1906-08
Auden, Wystan Hugh (1907-73) – writer and poet, lived with his brother John in Thurloe Square, SW7 in the 1930s
Bacon, Francis (1909-92) – artist noted for expressionist portraiture, and also the subject of the 1998 film Love is the Devil about his relationship with George Dyer, lived at 7 Cromwell Place, SW7
Barney, Natalie (1876-1972) – US born one-time lover of Oscar Wilde’s niece, Dolly Wilde, and origin of the character Valerie Seymour in The Well of Loneliness, lived at 97 Cadogan Gardens, SW3 in the 1920s
Benson, Edward Frederick (1867-1940) – author of the Mapp and Lucia series of novels, lived at 25 Brompton Square, SW3 [Blue plaque erected]
Britten, Benjamin (1913-76) – foremost British composer of his time, lived at 173 Cromwell Road, SW7 while a student at the Royal College of Music in the 1930s
Brooks, Romaine (1874-1970) – lesbian artist, had a studio at 15 Cromwell Road, SW7, where she painted Una Troubridge’s portrait in 1924
Cobbe, Frances Power (1822-1904) – feminist writer, lived with Mary Lloyd at 26 Hereford Square, SW7 from 1862-84
Cogan, Alma (1932-66) – singer, lived at Stafford Court, Kensington High Street 1951-66
Colquhoun, Robert (1914-62) and MacBryde, Robert (1913-66) – Scottish born artists, known as ‘the Roberts’, lived at 77 Bedford Gardens, W8 1941- 47
Compton-Burnett, Dame Ivy (1884-1969) – writer of idiosyncratic novels, sometimes with sexually ambivalent characters, lived, together with art historian Margaret Jourdain until the latter’s death in 1951, at Braemar Mansions, Cornwall Gardens, SW7 from 1934-69 [Blue plaque erected]
Corelli, Marie (1885-1924) – Mary Mackay, under her pen-name of Marie Corelli, was one of the most popular and prolific novelists of the late nineteenth century, and lived with her lifelong companion Bertha Vyer at 47 Longridge Road, SW5
Dickinson, Goldsworthy Lowes (1862-1932) – humanist and historian, lived at 11 Edwardes Square, W8 from 1912-20. [Blue plaque erected 1956]
Hall, Radclyffe (1880-1943) – author, lived at 37 Holland Street, W8 from 1924-29, where she wrote The Well of Loneliness [Blue plaque erected]
Howerd, Frankie (1917-92) – comedian, lived at 27 Edwardes Square, W8 from 1966-92 [Blue plaque erected]
James, Henry (1843-1916)– American born novelist, lived at 34 De Vere Gardens, W8 from 1886-1902
Minton, John (1917-57) – artist, shared a studio with Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde at 77 Bedford Gardens 1943-46
Mercury, Freddy (Farrokh Bulsara 1946-91) – lead singer of Queen, lived at 1 Logan Place, W8 in his final years until his death
Philpot, Glyn (1884-1937) – artist, friend of Robert Ross, Siegfried Sassoon, and Harold Owen, shared a home and studio with Vivian Forbes at Lansdowne House, Lansdowne Road, W11 1923-35 [Blue plaque erected]
Ricketts, Charles (1866-1931) – designer and printer, and illustrator of some of Oscar Wilde’s books, shared a home and studio with artist Charles Shannon (1863-1937) at Lansdown House, Lansdowne Road, W11 from 1904-23 [Blue plaque erected 1976]
Rolfe, Frederick (1860-1913) – writer under the name Baron Corvo, completed Hadrian the Seventh while living at 15 Cheniston Gardens, W8 in 1904
Sackville-West, Vita (1892-1962) – novelist and writer, lover of Virginia Wollf, lived with her husband, Harold Nicolson, at 10 Neville Street, SW7 in the 1950s
Sassoon, Siegfried (1886-1967) – poet and novelist, lived at 23 Campden Hill Square, W8
Spain, Nancy (1917-64) – journalist, novelist, and television personality, shared a home with publisher Joan (Jonnie) Werner Laurie at 35 Carlyle Square, SW3 from 1951-53, and 7 Clareville Grove, SW7 from 1953-55
Springfield, Dusty (1939-99) – singer and gay icon, lived at 38 Aubrey Walk, W8 from 1966-72 [Musical Heritage plaque erected]
Thesiger, Ernest (1879-1961) – actor and social nonconformist, lived in a lavender marriage with Willie Ranken’s sister, Janette Ranken, herself in love with the poet Margaret Jourdain, at 6 Montpelier Terrace, SW7 from 1917-39, and at 8 St George’s Court, Gloucester Road, SW7 from 1939-61
Whale, James (1889-1957) – film director of The Bride of Frankenstein and other classic horror films, and subject of the 1998 film Gods and Monsters, lived at 402a Kings Road, SW10 from 1925-30
Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) – writer, dramatist and novelist, lived at 34 (formerly 16) Tite Street, SW3 from 1884 until imprisoned in 1895 [Blue plaque erected 1954]
Williams, Emlyn (1905-87) – actor and dramatist, writing Night Must Fall (1935) and The Corn is Green (1938), lived at 17 Pelham Crescent, SW7 from 1953-60