Barnsbury is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington.
The name is a syncopated form of Bernersbury (1274), being named after the Berners family, which were powerful medieval manorial lords who gained ownership of a large part of Islington after the Norman Conquest. The area of Barnsbury was predominantly rural until the early 19th century.
By the end of the 18th century, Barnsbury, like other parts of Islington, was regarded as an attractive part-rural suburb by the comparatively wealthy people wanting to move out of the cramped City of London and industrial Clerkenwell.
The area was close to the city and had solid local trade in its position as the first staging post for travellers making the journey from London to the north with considerable agricultural traffic and cattle driving to the nearby Smithfield cattle market in the city.
Pentonville Prison, built in 1842, is located within Barnsbury.
Notable people from Barnsbury.
- Gillian Anderson, actress, activist and writer.
Tony and Cherie Blair, former Prime Minister and his wife, lived in Barnsbury with their family. - Michael Faraday, chemist.
- Owen Jones, Labour activist.
- Enid Marx, painter and designer known for industrial textile designs for the London Transport Board and the Utility Furniture Scheme.
- Ivor Moreton, pianist and singer, born in Barnsbury.
- Grayson Perry, artist.
- Emily Thornberry, Labour Party MP for Islington South and Finsbury.