Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche

The building was financed by the Commissioners of Works, 'largely through the influence of Sir Henry De la Beche', to house the Museum of Practical Geology, the Mining Records Office and the Geological Survey. (The museum had outgrown its previous home in Craigs Court, Whitehall.) Opened by the Prince Consort in 1851 when the Mining Record Office became the Government School of Mines. The museum was moved to larger premises in Exhibition Road in 1935 after Messrs J. Lyon and Company took over the lease in return for erecting a replacement museum elsewhere at a cost not exceeding £50,000. The Jermyn Street building was demolished shortly after.

The Government School of Mines became the Royal School of Mines in 1863 and in 1907 was incorporated into Imperial College, but its classically designed building is still found on Prince Consort Road, London.