Government office in the Strand, London,
built 1775. It is used by the Inland Revenue,
the Principal Probate Registry, where wills
are kept, and by the University of London.
Somerset House is also the new home of the
Courtauld Collection of paintings. The river
facade was designed by William Chambers. The
General Register Office (births, marriages,
and deaths), formerly at Somerset House, was
merged with the Government Social Survey
Department as the Office of Population
Censuses and Surveys in 1970, and transferred
to St Catherine's House, also in the Strand.