In 1535 Henry VIII's chief minister (equivalent of today's prime minister), Thomas Cromwell, took up residence at Canonbury Tower to the south of the area, from where he organised the Dissolution of the Monasteries and their transfer into royal ownership. Other Tower residents included, in the 16th century, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick and afterwards Duke of Northumberland, general, admiral, and politician; in the 17th century, Francis Bacon, one of the fathers of the scientific method, at that time the Attorney General, and Sir Thomas Coventry, afterwards Lord Keeper of the Great Seal; in the 18th century, Oliver Goldsmith, the writer.