On 6 March 1838, about twenty sets of chambers were destroyed, including some valuable libraries, important documents and so forth. The fire originated in the chambers of W. H. Maule MP.[3]
Paper Buildings are on the site of Heyward's Buildings, constructed in 1610.[4] The "paper" part of the name comes from the fact that they were built from timber, lath and plaster, a construction method known as "paperwork". A fire in 1838 destroyed three of the buildings, which were immediately replaced with a design by Robert Smirke, with Sydney Smirke later adding two more buildings.[5] A famous resident of (at the time) Heyward's Buildings was John Selden, who was one of the original tenants and shared a set of chambers with Heyward himself.[6]
John Galsworthy had chambers here from November 1894, where he wrote a short story called "Dick Denver's Idea", which was his first work of fiction.[7][8][9][10][11][12]MI5 was located here from 21 February 1911.[13]
3PB (3 Paper Buildings) is a barristers Chambers which has been in existence since Christmas Day 1892. There currently are 152 full-time members, 9 of whom are King's Counsel.[14]
^Wheatley and Cunningham. "Paper Buildings" in London Past and Present: Its History, Associations, and Traditions. Cambridge University Press. Page 27.
^Stephen Halliday. "The Middle and Inner Temple" in From 221B Baker Street to the Old Curiosity Shop. The History Press. Page 52.
^Cornelius Walford. The Insurance Cyclopeadia. C and E Layton. 1876. Volume 4. pp 77 & 78. Internet Archive.
