The street is based on an ancient track that ran through the Convent Garden to St Martin's Lane. According to Isaac D'Israeli the street was named after a statue of the Virgin Mary that once stood in the street. It was built up from 1631 to 1728. In 1727–28 Voltaire stayed at the White Wig Inn while he was exiled from Paris. The painter J.M.W. Turner was born above his father's barber’s shop at number 21 in 1775.[1]