Editing Nicholas Barbon (section)

==Property development==
He soon turned from the medical profession to the building trade, which suddenly became important in 1666 when the [[Great Fire of London]] devastated most of the [[City of London]] which at the time was separated from [[Westminster]], the seat of Britain's government, by two miles of countryside, dotted with grand mansions.  Within a few years he was "the most prominent London builder of his age".<ref name="Letwin49"/> He built houses streets at a time, often around squares, and his developments were mostly to the west of the City of London, where land was plentiful.

Barbon was responsible for joining the city to the seat of government at Westminster for the first time as a result of developments along the [[Strand, London|Strand]], [[Bloomsbury]], [[St Giles]] and [[Holborn]].<ref name="ODNB-Nicholas"/><ref name="Letwin50–51">{{Harvnb|Letwin|2003|pp=50–51.}}</ref> Barbon did this despite long-established restrictions on new buildings associated with various [[Act of Parliament|Acts of Parliament]] and royal declarations in the late 16th century: he often simply disregarded legal and local objections, demolished existing buildings without permission and rebuilt speculatively in search of a quick profit.<ref name="ODNB-Nicholas"/><ref name="Letwin50–51"/>

On 11 June 1684, Barbon's expansionary speculation brought him and his building tradesmen into conflict with lawyers based at [[Gray's Inn]]. Barbon started his largest project yet,<ref name="Letwin51">{{Harvnb|Letwin|2003|p=51.}}</ref> the redevelopment of [[Red Lion Square]], and environs in Holborn without being authorised to do so. The Gray's Inn lawyers, [[Inns of Court]] adjacent saw their rural outlooks jeopardised, and started physical fist fights with Barbon's workmen, but the developer and his men fought back. The lawyers subsequently obtained warrants for his arrest but Barbon had these set aside and the development scheme was completed.<ref name="ODNB-Nicholas"/> Another setback came when houses he had built at [[Mincing Lane]] collapsed because of inadequate foundations.<ref name="Letwin49"/><ref name="ODNB-Nicholas"/>

"He was unique in the  unscrupulousness and brazenness of his business tactics" and his contemporary [[Roger North (biographer)|Roger North]], who studied his dealings and interviewed him on the subject, called him "an exquisite mob master" in recognition of his ability to manipulate people to carry out his schemes.<ref>The Birth of Modern London: The Development and Design of the City 1660-1720
By Elizabeth McKellar, pp.43,45 [https://books.google.com/books?id=knRh5EOwaOEC&dq=samuel+vincent+buckenham+norfolk&pg=PA51]</ref><ref name="Ash254"/><ref name="Letwin48">{{Harvnb|Letwin|2003|p=48.}}</ref>