Shepherds Bush Library

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The Passmore Edwards Public Library on the Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, London, was built in 1895 and funded by the journalist and philanthropist Passmore Edwards. It is one of a number of public libraries that still bear his name today. In 2008 a new library was built in Shepherd's Bush, part of the substantial Westfield London development, and the Passmore Edwards library fell into disuse. In October 2011 it re-opened as the new home of the Bush Theatre.HistoryDesigned by Maurice Bingham Adams, and originally known as the Passmore Edwards Free Library Hammersmith, the project was one of many public libraries built around the end of the nineteenth century by John Passmore Edwards (1823 – 1911). Edwards was a British journalist, newspaper owner and philanthropist. The son of a carpenter, he was born in Blackwater, a small village between Redruth and Truro in Cornwall, United Kingdom.Maurice Bingham Adams designed five of the Libraries funded by Passmore Edwards. He and Edwards shared a belief in self-help and the importance of good architecture, which would provide the educational institutions required to educate the British working man and help give Britain a competitive edge.