Downing Street, a short street in Whitehall (named after Sir George Downing, secretary to the Treasury in 1667), where are the Colonial and Foreign Offices, with the official residence since 1735 of the First Lord of the Treasury. Here cabinet councils are held, hence the term is sometimes employed for the government in office.
Downing Street
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 73
Source scan(s): p. 0082