Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914), artist and cartoonist, Lived here.

The London County Council erected a light green (in deference to the wishes of the then occupant, a Mrs Burgess) glazed ware plaque to the illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist Sir John Tenniel, most famous as the illustrator of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' books, at No.10 Portsdown Road, Maida Vale on 12th March 1930. Portsdown Road was renamed Randolph Avenue in 1939. The house was demolished in 1959 and the plaque, having been retrieved by the council, placed into storage. In April 2024 the plaque was revealed as one of the items in English Heritage's Wrest Park archive and was discussed in their short film about the 'orphan' plaques in their collection. Recent research had identified a number of alternative residences for Tenniel - one of them in Randolph Avenue - and serious consideration was, at this time, being given to re-erecting this plaque at one of them. This, remarkably, came to pass in November 2025; the restored plaque has re-joined the official London plaque scheme, being re-hung at Tenniel's former Fitz-George Avenue residence in 2025, more than sixty years since it last saw the light of day.