E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Leicester Square (London).
So called from a family mansion of the Sydneys, Earls of Leicester, which stood on the north-east side.
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“The Earl of Leicester, father of Algernon Sidney the patriot … built for himself a stately house at the north-east corner of a square plot of ‘Lammas Land,’ belonging to the parish of St. Martin’s which plot henceforth became known to Londoners as Leicester Fields. A square gradually grew up on the spot, and was completed in 1671.”—Cassell’s Magazine, London Legends, x
