The Berners Street hoax was perpetrated by Theodore Hook in Westminster, London, England, in 1810. Hook had made a bet with his friend Samuel Beazley that he could transform any house in London into the most talked-about address in a week, which he achieved by sending out thousands of letters in the name of Mrs Tottenham, who lived at 54 Berners Street, requesting deliveries, visitors and assistance.

Theodore Edward Hook was an English man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1809. The world's first postcard was received by Hook in 1840; he likely posted it to himself.