The 4th Earl of Southampton was granted a building license for the construction of Bloomsbury Square in 1661.
The square, initially known as Southampton Square, was one of the earliest of the London squares.
The Earl’s own house on the north side of the square was at first called Southampton House but became Bedford House after the square and the Bloomsbury Estate passed by marriage from the Earls of Southampton to the Dukes of Bedford.
The rest of the square was lined with terraced houses which were at first occupied by members of the aristocracy.
In the early 19th century, the Duke of Bedford moved out of Bedford House and it was demolished, becoming Bedford Place.
The writer Isaac D’Israeli lived at 6 Bedford Square from 1817 to 1829 and thus so did his son, the future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
None of the original 17th-century buildings survive, but there are many 18th-century houses. In the 20th century most of the buildings became offices.
Bloomsbury Square’s garden contains a bronze statue of Charles James Fox, who was a fellow Whig of the Duke of Bedford. The garden, refurbished in 2003, is open to the public.