Mayall Road and the adjacent properties in Railton Road all originate with one developer, a Dr Edward Westall who in 1869 bought 9 acres of the Lambeth Wick estate from the Church Commissioners, together with surplus land from the London Chatham & Dover Railway Company. The builders were local – some of the houses were built by the Goodman brothers of Mostyn Road, Brixton, and others by Anthony Peacock, whose own (larger) house stood next to the modern Robert Burns Mews.

I had long assumed that the road took its name from John Mayall, a prominent Victorian photographer based in Brighton and later resident in Lancing, Sussex. However, other residents have discovered an old press report which suggests it was more likely intended to commemorate his son, John Mayall junior, also a photographer, but based in London. He became famous in 1869 for the first cycle ride from London to Brighton, which ties in well with laying out the new road.

The following appeared in The Times on 19th February 1869:

London to Brighton by Velocipede:
On Wednesday Mr John Mayall, jun., son of the well-known photographer, accomplished the journey from London to Brighton on one of the new two-wheel velocipedes. He was accompanied by two friends, Mr Spencer and Mr Turner, also on velocipedes.

They had a preliminary run round Trafalgar Square, and then started off at the rate of eight miles an hour on roads which proved to be generally good, but against a very strong wind all the way. They kept pretty well together as far as Crawley (30 miles), after which Mr Mayall took a decided lead, and arrived in Brighton in time and in good condition for dinner, and the second part of Mr Kube’s concert at the Grand Hall. Part of the journey, down hill from Clayton to Brighton, was run at the speed of one mile in four minutes.