This was scanned in from an old document which has caused numerous misreadings of words. As time moves on, this will be improved.
PADDINGTON
NAMED from the Saxon Fcedingas and tun, the town of the Psedings (Kemble’s Saxons in England), was, in the last century, a pleasant little rural village, scarcely a mile north of Tyburn turnpike, upon the Harrow-road. Paddington is not mentioned in Domesday Book ; and the charters professedly granting lands here by Edgar to the monks of Westminster are discredited as forgeries. The district would rather appear to have been cleared, soon after the Norman Conquest, from the vast forest of Middlesex (with pasture for the cattle of the villagers, and the fruits of the wood for their hogs), and to have lain between the two Roman roads (now the Edgware and Uxbridge roads) and the West bourn, or brook, the ancient Tybourn. In the first authentic document (31 Hen. II.), Richard and William of Paddington transfer their ” tenement ” to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster ; and from the close of the thirteenth century, the whole of the temporalities of Paddington (rent of land, and young of animals, valued at 81. 16s. Ad.), were devoted to charity. Tanner speaks of Paddington as a parish, temp. Richard II. ; and by the Valor Ecclesiasticus of Henry VIII., the rectory yielded, like the manor, a separate revenue to the Abbey. Upon the dissolution of the Bishopric of Westminster, the manor and rectory were given by Edward VI. to Ridley, Bishop of London, and his successors for ever ; they were then let at All. 6s. 8d., besides 20s. for the farm of ” Paddington Wood,” 30 acres.
The population of Paddington, by the Subsidy Roll of Henry VIII. scarcely exceeded 100; in Charles II.’s reign it was about 300; in 1811, the population was 4609; from 1831 to 1841, it increased 1000 per annum ; from 1841 to 1851, above 2000 annually ; and in 1861, it had 75,807. Thus, from the forest village has risen a large town, and one of the three parishes forming the Parliamentary borough of Marylebone.
“A city of palaces has sprung up within twenty years. A road of iron, with steeds of steam, brings into the centre of this city, and takes from it in one year, a greater number of living beings than could be found in all England a” few years ago ; while the whole of London can be traversed in half the time it took to reach Holborn Bars at the beginning of this century, when the road was in the hands of Mr. Miles, his pair-horse coach, and his redoubtable Boy,”* long the only appointed agents of communication between Paddington and the City. The fares were 2s. and 3s. ; the journey took more than three hours; and to beguile the time at resting places, ” Miles’s Boy” told tales and played upon the fiddle.
A portion of Paddington is called Tyburnia; but the distinction has not been so readily adopted as in the case of Belgravia.
In the middle of the last century, nearly the whole of Paddington had become grazing-land, upwards of 1100 acres ; and the occupiers of the Bishop’s Estate kept here hundreds of cows. At the beginning of the last century, next to the rurality of Paddington, the gallows and the gibbet were its principal attractions. About 1790 were built nearly 100 small wooden cottages, tenanted by a colony of 600 journeyman artificers; but these dwellings have given way to Connaught-terrace.
* Paddington, Past and Tresent, by ’William Bobins, 1853 ; an able contribution to our local histories.
Paddington consists chiefly of two hills, Maida-hill and Craven-hill ; the north-eastern slope of Notting-hill ; and a valley through which runs the Tybourn, a favourite resort of anglers early in the present century, but now a covered sewer. From this brook, the newly-built district, mostly of palatial mansions, is named Tyburnia.
Paddington Green, now inclosed and iron-bound, was the green of the villagers, shown in all its rural beauty in prints of 1750 and 1783. Upon a portion of it were built the Almshouses, in 1714; their neat little flower-gardens have disappeared. South of the green is the new Vestry -hall. At Dudley Grove was modelled and cast, by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, the colossal bronze statue of the Duke of Wellington, now upon the Green Park Arch : it is thirty feet high, and was conveyed from the foundry, upon a car, drawn by 29 horses, Sept. 29, 1846, to Hyde Park Corner.
Westbourne Green has been cut up by the Great Western Railway; and Westbourne-place, built by Ware, with the materials of old Chesterfield House, May Fair, has disappeared. Close by is the terminus of the Great Western Railway, with a magnificent Hotel, designed in the Louis Quatorze taste, by P. Hardwick, R.A. : the allegorical sculpture of the pediment is by Thomas : the rooms exceed 130.
At Craven Hill was the Pest-house Field, exchanged for the ground in Carnaby-street, given by Lord Craven as a burial-place, if London should ever be again visited by the Plague : but the field is now the site of a handsome square of houses named Craven Gardens. Bayswater is a hamlet of Paddington. Knotting, or Notting Hill seems but to have been a corruption of Nutting ; the wood on and around the hill of that name having for centuries been appropriately so named. Kensell, or Kensale, is “the Green-lane” and Kingsfelde Green in a Harleian MS. of Mary’s reign. (See p. 81 .) Maida Sill and Maida Vale were named from the famous battle of Maida, in Calabria, fought between the French and British, in 1806.
The Grand Junction Waterworks were established in 1812; and on Camden-hill is a storing reservoir containing 6,000,000 gallons. At Paddington the basin of the Grand Junction Canal joins the Regent’s Canal, which passes under Maida-hill by a tunnel 370 yards long. On the banks of the canal, the immense heaps of dust and ashes, once towering above the house-tops, are said to have been worth fabulous thousands.
” The Bishop’s Estate” (Bishop’s- road, Blomfield-terrace, &c.) produces 30.000Z. a year to the Bishop of London and the lay lessees. Among the parochial Charities, the anniversary festival of an Abbot of Westminster is thought to explain ” the Bread and Cheese Lands;” and until 1838, in accordance with a bequest, bread and cheese were thrown from the steeple of St. Mary’s Church, to be scrambled for in the church-yard. (See Lock Hospital, p. 438; St. Mahy’s, p. 439.)
Oxford and Cambridge Squares and Terraces will long keep in grateful memory the munificence of the Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Paddington possessed a church before the district was assigned to the monks of Westminster, in 1222. An “old and ruinous church” was taken down about 1678, and was thought, from its painted window, to have been dedicated to St. Katharine. Next, St. James’s Church was built by the Sheldons, temp. Charles I. : here Hogarth was married to Sir James Thornhill’s daughter, in 1729. This church was taken down, and St. Mary’s built upon the Green, 1788-91, ” finely embosomed in venerable elms :” near it were the village stocks, and in the churchyard were an ancient yew-tree and a
double-leaved elder. Here is the tombstone of John Hubbard, who died in 1665, ” aged 111 years.” Near the grave of Mrs. Siddons lies Haydon, the ill-fated painter, who devoted ” forty-two years to the improvement of the taste of the English people in high art:” he lived many years at 1, Burwood-place, Edgware-road ; and here, June 22, 1846, with his own hand, he terminated the fitful fever of his existence. St. Mary’s Church is described at p. 187. Next was built Bayswater Chapel, by Mr. Orme, the printseller, in 1818; Connaught Chapel, in 1826, now St. John’s; and at the western extremity of the Grand Junction-road, St. James’s, which in 1845 became the parish church. In 1844-6 was built Soly Trinity Church, Bishop’s-road (see p. 208) : cost 18.458Z., towards which the Rev. Mr. Miles gave 4000Z. In 1847 was erected, in Cambridge-place, All Saints Church, upon a portion of the site of the old Grand Junction Waterworks’ reservoir, at the end of Star-street. St. John’s, in Southwick-crescent, has a fine stained window. The erection of Dissenters’ places of worship was long restricted in Paddington by the Bishops of London ; hut there are several chapels, including one for the Canal hoatmen, constructed out of a stable and coach-house. At the western extremity of the parish is a large Roman Catholic church.
Paddington has long been noted for its old public-houses. The White Lion, Edgware-road, dates 1521, the year when hops were first imported. At the Red Lion, near the Harrow-road, tradition says,
Shakspeare acted ; and another Bed Lion, formerly near the Harrow-road bridge over the bourn, is described in an inquisition of Edward VI. In this road is also an ancient Pack-horse ; and the Wheats
aheaf, Edgware-road, was a favourite resort of Ben Jonson. (See Robins’s Paddington.)
Paddington and Marylebone appear to have been favoured by religious enthusiasts.
At No. 26, Manchester-street, died, in 1814, the notorious Joanna Southcott, after having imposed upon six medical men with the absurd story of her being about to give birth to the young ” Shiloh.” Richard Brothers, the self-styled ” Nephew of God,” lodged at No. 58, Paddington-street, and died in Upper Baker-street, in 1824. Spence, the disciple of Emanuel Swedenborg, lived in Great Marylebone-street : he was known as ” Dr. Spence,” when he was the only surgeon in the village of Marylebone. Paddington, with all its antique fame, does not make us forget two odd things that have been said of the district : —
” Pitt is to Addington,
As London is to Paddington.” — Canning.
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And Lord Byron remarks : ” Here would be nothing to make the Canal of Venice more poetical than that of Paddington, were it not for its artificial adjuncts.” the east side of Soho-street, abutting upon Kemp’ s-fielQ.:oniC in aim SWCU isign of the Red Cote, being the corner house at the nor .-, „+¦ llio pnd of til© pihighway, or Great-road (that is, what is now called b OV tlierC «« w«= „ • abutting on and upon the said road leading from the si, Vl n Vinff at the busy street 01 Dol^all the houses, &c, included in these boundaries were ert0 lllui – lll fc> ’ , VTmi°P the Lond°”Cumberland-place, begun about 1774, was hunters, U> J ^.^ Minister whom there is a portrait-sign at a public-honseie-udence ^ . .
Cumberland-street hns an elegant portico of land a lot of general for Lord Strangford. At the western extremit -transacted there.
Edgware-road, immediately opposite to Tybur TWhv’s hciJfiC was, until Corsican General Paoli, who was godfather tc LfOrii xJ^ii->y , Slrai Queries.)
Stratford-place was built 1787-9C when be acquired the north end is Aldboroug h House (erected for f or< J House, for it was built with a handsome Ionic stone front and a Dori a J on w -with Stratford-place, by naval trophied Corinthian column with a staj „, , e . i ^e geCOlld Earl Of Alt Lieut.-Gen. Strode. No. 315, Oxford-street \ Dwauoi , ^ dpsisna by Robe: College of Chemistey (see p. 273). The) borougn, J”^* ¦ ” v B £ g^ Alball square, the massive church and the loftv and l! Adam. J-” 6 ¦’-’ ll -architectural coup-d’ceil. ! prince Esterha-zy, and mar Portland-place was built by the architects I (ingllisbed persons have and in 1817 was terminated at the north encj J’ , TJp to 1010 it was OOCUpie fields towards the New-road ; when ” the am phi I “”’ p l P ooke Lord Derby 1 ofthe air, and the prospect ofthe rich and elev! ¦•> 1* (A . , ira ui v ^.Jq- g it W
gate, rendered Portland-place a most agreea’. enlarged it consul London.) At No. 43, lived Sir Felix Booth, B —and spoiled to son Boothia Felix ; Lord Chief-Justice Denman at Adamic character. ^
the Count de Survilliers (Joseph Bonaparte);! place, is a well-modelled bronze statue (height 7 lecTTSTrnches), by Gahagan, of the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria.
The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park was nearly the length of Portland-place. “I walked out one evening,” says Sir Charles Fox, “and there setting out the 1848 feet upon the pavement, found it the same length within a few yards ; and then considered that the Great Exhibition Building would be three times the width of that fine street, and the nave as high as the houses on either side.”
Newman-street and Berners-street, built between 1750 and 1770, were from the first inhabited by artists of celebrity. In the former lived Banks and Bacon, the sculptors ; and West and Stothard, the painters : in the latter, Sir William Chambers, the architect ; and Fuseli and Opie, the painters. Facing is the Middlesex Hospital, described at p. 439. The Pantheon, on the south side of Oxford-street, was originally built by James Wyatt, in 1768-71 ; was burnt down in 1792, but was rebuilt ; taken down in 1812, and again reconstructed. (See Pantheon.) Nearly opposite is the Princess’s Theatre, No. 73, formerly the Queen’s Bazaar, opened in 1840. (See Theatres.) Wardour- street, built 1686, and named from Lord Arundel of Wardour, is noted for its curiosity-shops. (See Cabving, pp. 78-81.) Hamray -street bears a stone dated 1721, and was originally a zigzag lane to Tottenham- court-road : it was called Hanway-yard to our time, and is noted for its china-dealers and curiosity-shops, as it was in the reign of hoops, high-heeled shoes, and stiff brocade. No. 54, corner of Berners-street, has a Renaissance or Elizabethan shop-front and mezzanine floor ; a picturesque composition of pedestals, consoles, and semi-caryatid figures. No. 76 has a Byzantine facade. No. 86 has a front of studied design. At No. 15 was exhibited, in 1830-32, a large painted window of the Tournament of the Field of Cloth-of-Gold, by Wilmshurst ; destroyed by fire in 1832. At the east end of Oxford-street, in 1838, were laid experimental specimens of the various roadway Wood Pavements.
Nollckens, the sculptor, one day, in a walk with J. T. Smith, stopped at the corner of Rathbone-place, and observed that when he was a little boy, his mother often took him to the top of that street to walk by the side of a long pond, near a windmill, which then stood on the site of the chapel in Charlotte-street ; and that a halfpenny was paid by every person at a hatch belonging to the miller, for the privilege of walking in his grounds. He also told me (continues Smith), that his mother took him through another halfpenny hatch in the fields, between Oxford-road and Grosvenor-square, the north side of which was then building. When we got to the brewhouse between Eathbone-place and the end of Tottenham-court-road, he said he recollected thirteen large and fine walnut-trees standing on the north side of the highway, between what was then vulgarly called Hanover-yard, afterwards Hanway-yard, and now Hanway-street, and the Cattle inn, beyond the Star Brewery. — Nollekens and hit Times, i. 37.
Towards the west end of Oxford-street several houses of lofty and ornamental design have replaced the incongruous dwellings which reminded one of Oxford-road. Here was Cavnelford House, sometime inhabited by the Princess Charlotte and her husband, Prince Leopold.
New Oxford-steeet, extending the houses from 441 to 552, and occupying part of the site of St. Giles’s ” Rookery,” was opened in 1847 : the house-fronts are of Ionic, Corinthian, domestic Tudor, and Louis XIV. character, including a glass-roofed Arcade of shops.
PAINTED CHAMBER, THE,
REPRESENTED to have been the bed-chamber and death-place of Edward the Confessor, in the old Palace at Westminster, existed in its foundation-walls until the Great Fire in 1834. It was also called St. Edward’s Chamber; and assumed its second name after it had been painted by order of Henry III. In the ceremonial of the marriage of Richard Duke of York, in 1477, the Painted Chamber is called St. Edward’s Chamber; and Sir Edward Coke, in his Fourth Institute, states that the causes of Parliament were in ancient time shown in La Chambre Depeint, or St. Edward’s Chamber. This interesting historical apartment had two floors, one tessellated, and the other boarded : it was 80 feet 6 in. in length, 26 feet wide, and its height from the upper floor was 31 feet. The ceiling, temp. Henry III., was dight with gilded and painted tracery, including small wainscot paterae, variously ornamented. It was hung with tapestries, chiefly representing the Siege of Troy, probably put up temp. Charles II. Sandford, in his Coronation of James II, mentions these tapestries as ” Five pieces of the Siege of Troy, and one piece of Gardens and Fountains.” In 1800, these hangings and the wainscoting were removed,* when the walls and window-jambs were found covered with paintings of the battles of Maccabees ; the Seven Brethren ; St. John, habited as a pilgrim, presenting a ring to King Edward the Confessor ; the canonization of King Edward, with seraphim, &c. ; and black-letter Scripture texts.
The paintings are noticed in the MS. Itinerary of Simon Simeon and Hugo the Illuminator (Franciscan friars), in 1322 ; who name ” that well-known chamber, on whose walls all the histories of the wars of the whole Bible are painted beyond description :” and an Exchequer Roll, 20 Edw. I. anno 1292, headed, “p’ma op’ac’o picture,” or first work of Painting, contains an account of the disbursements of Master Walter, the painter, for the emendation of the pictures in the King’s G-reat Chamber, as the Painted Chamber was then called.^ Specimens of these paintings are given by J. T.
Smith in his Antiquities of Westminster ; and in the Vetusta Monumenta, vol. vi. ; and in 1835, drawings of the pictures were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries.
In the Painted Chamber, Parliaments were opened, before the Lords sat in the Court of Requests. Here Conferences of both Houses were held ; here sat in private * About the year 1820, the tapestry was sold to Mr. Charles Yamold, of Great St. Helen’s, for l. t There are also entries in the Close Rolls, 12 Hen. III. (1228), for painting the Great Exchequer Chamber ; and 1236, for the King’s Great Chamber ; proving that oil-painting was practised in England nearly two centuries before its presumed discovery by John van Eyck, in 1410. the High Court of Justice for bringing Charles I. to trial ; and here the death-warrant of the unhappy King was signed by the Ilegicides. The body of Lord Chatham lay in State here. After the Fire of 1834, the walls of the Chamber were roofed, and the interior was fitted up as a temporary House of Lords. Tlie building was taken down in 1852, when the brick and stone work of the north side, and the ends of the Chamber, including several Gothic stone window-cases, were sold for 501.
PALACES, ROYAL.
THE three royal metropolitan palaces are, Buckingham Palace, the residence of the Sovereign and the Court ; St. James’s Palace, used exclusively for State purposes ; and Kensington Palace, the birthplace of Her Majesty, 1819 ; and where she held her First Council, 1837.
Hatton (in 1708) says : ” Of Courts of our Kings and Queens there were heretofore many in London and Westminster : as the Tower of London, where some believe Julius Ca?sar lodged, and William the Conqueror; in the Old Jewry, where Henry VI. ; Baynard’s Castle, where Henry VII.; Bridewell, where King John and Henry VIII. ; Tower Moyal, where Richard II. and King Stephen ; Wardrobe, in Great Carter-lane, where Richard III. ; also at Somerset House, kept by Queen Elizabeth ; and at Westminster, near the Hall, where Edward the Confessor and several other kings kept their Courts.
But of later times, the place for the Court, when in town, was mostly Whitehall; a very pleasant and commodious situation, looking into St. James’s Park, the canal, &c. west, and the noble river of Thames east : Privy Gardens, with fountains, statues, &c, and an open prospect to the statue at Charing Cross, north. This palace being, in January, 1697, demolished by fire, except the Banqueting House (built by Inigo Jones, temp. James I.), there has since been no reception for the Court in town but St. James’s Palace, which is pleasantly situated by the Park ; and Whitehall will doubtless be rebuilt in a short time, being designed one of the most famous palaces in Christendom.
” Her Majesty has also these noble palaces for the Court to reside in at pleasure : Kensington House (so near, that it may be said to be in town), Campden House, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, Winchester House ; all which palaces, for pleasant situation, nobleness of building, delightful gardens and walks, externally ; and for commodious, magnificent rooms, rich furniture, and curious painting, internally, — cannot be matched in number and quality by any one prince on earth.”
Buckingham Palace, the town residence of the Sovereign, on the west side of St. James’s Park, was built by Nash and Blore, between 1825 and 1837, upon the site of Buckingham House, of which the ground-floor alone remains. The northern side of the site was a portion of the Mulberry-garden, planted by James I. in 1609, which in the next two reigns became a public garden. Evelyn describes it in 1654 as “ye only place of refreshment about ye towne for persons of ye best quality to be exceedingly cheated at ;” and Pepys refers to it as ” a silly place,” but with ” a wilderness somewhat pretty.” It is a favourite locality in the gay comedies of Charles II.’s reign.
Dryden frequented the Mulberry Gardens ; and according to a contemporary, the poet ate tarts there with Mrs. Anift Reeve, hit mistress. The company sat in arbours, and were regaled with cheesecakes, syllabubs, and sweetened wine, wine-and-water at dinner, and a dish of tea afterwards. Sometimes the ladies wore masks. ” The country ladys, for the first month, take up their places in the Mulberry Gardens as early as a citizen’s wife at anew.play.” — Sir C. Sedley’s Mulberry Garden, 1668.
” A princely palace on that space does rise
Where Sedley’s noble muse found mulberries.” — Br. King.
Upon the above part of the garden site was built Goring House, let to the Earl of Arlington in 1666, and thence named Arlington Souse : in this year the Earl brought from Holland, for 60*., the first pound of tea received in England ; so that, in all probability, the first cup of tea made in England was drunk upon the site of Buckingham Palace. There is a rare print of Arlington House, by Sutton Nichols, and a copy by John Seago. In 1698 the property was sold to Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, for whom the house was rebuilt in 1703, in the heavy Dutch style, of red brick, with
stone finishings. Some vignettes of the mansion, then Buckingham Souse, are engraved at the heads of chapters, and in illuminated capitals, of the second volume of the collected poems of Buckingham, ” the Muses’ friend, himself a Muse.” On the four sides he inscribed, in gold, four pedantic mottoes : ” Sic siti laetantur Lares ;” ” Rus in urbe ;” ” Spectator fastidiosus sibi molestus ;” and ” Lente inccepit, cito perfecit.” The house was surmounted with lead figures of Mercury, Secrecy, Equity, Liberty, Truth, and Apollo ; and the Four Seasons. Defoe describes it as ” one of the great beauties of London, both by reason of its situation and its building :” its fine garden, noble terrace (with prospect of open country), a little park with a pretty canal ; and the basin of water, and Neptune and Tritons’ fountain in the front court. The Duke of Buckingham, in a letter to the Duke of Shrewsbury, minutely describes the mansion : its hall painted in the school of Raphael ; its parlour by Rieci ; its staircase with the story of Dido ; its ceiling with gods and goddesses ; and its grand saloon by Gentileschi.
The flat leaded roof was balustraded for a promenade ,• and here was a cistern holding 50 tons of water, driven up by an engine from the Thames.
To his third wife, a natural daughter of James II. by Catherine Sedley, the Duke was tenderly attached, and studied her convenience in planning Buckingham House: “the highest story of the private apartments,” he tells us, ” is fitted for the women and children, with the floors so contrived as to prevent all noise over my wife’s head during the mysteries of Lucina.”
Buckingham House was purchased by George III. for 21,000£. in 1762, shortly after the birth of the Prince of Wales at St. James’s Palace : their Majesties soon removed here, and all their succeeding children were born here. In 1775 the property was settled on Queen Charlotte (in exchange for Somerset House), and thenceforth Buckingham House was called ” the Queen’s House.” Here the King collected his magnificent library, now in the British Museum (see p. 584). Dr. Johnson, by permission of the librarian, frequently consulted books ; and here he held his memorable conversation with George III.
” It is curious that the royal collector (George III.) and his venerable librarian (Mr. Barnard) should have survived almost sixty years after commencing the formation of this, the most complete private library in Europe, steadily appropriating 2000Z. per annum to this object, and adhering with scrupulous attention to the instructions of Dr. Johnson, contained in the admirable letter printed by order of the House of Commons.” — Quarterly Review, June, 1826.
In 1766 the Cartoons of Raphael were removed here, to an octagonal apartment at the south-east angle : thence they were transferred to Windsor Castle in 1788. The Saloon was superbly fitted as the Throne-room, and here Queen Charlotte held her public drawing-rooms; in the Crimson, Blue Velvet, and other rooms, was a fine collection of pictures. Thus the mansion remained until 1825, externally •* dull, dowdy, and decent ; nothing more than a large, substantial, and respectable-looking red brick house.”
The Palace, as reconstructed by Nash, consisted of three sides of a square, Roman-Corinthian, raised upon a Doric basement, with pediments at the ends ; the fourth side, enclosed by iron palisades, with a central entrance arch of white marble, adapted from that of Constantine at Rome. Mr. Nash was succeeded by Mr. Blore, who raised the building a story ; and the palace was opened for public inspection in 1831; when appeared, in Fraser’s Magazine, an architectural description of the Palace, written by Allan Cunningham. William IV. and Queen Adelaide did not remove here ; but on July 13, 1837, Queen Victoria took up her residence here. In 1846-the erection of the east side was commenced ; and in 1851 the Marble Arch was removed to the north-east corner of Hyde Park. There have since been added a spacious Ball-room, &c, on the south side of the Palace.
The East Front of Buckingham Palace is German, of the last century : its extent is 360 feet, height 77 feet ; extreme height of centre 90 feet ; frontage 70 feet in advance of the former wings.
The four central gate-piers are capped by an heraldic lion and unicorn, and dolphins ; and the state entrances have golden grilles of rich design. The wings are surmounted by statues of Morning, Noon (Apollo), and Night ; the Hours, and the Seasons ; and upon turrets flanking the central shield (bearing “V. R. 1847″) are colossal figures of Britannia and St. George; besides groups of trophies, festoons of flowers, &c. The Royal Standard is hoisted on the west front when her Majesty is resident at the Palace. The inner front has a central double portico; the tympanum is filled with sculpture, and the pediment crowned with statues of Neptune, Commerce, and Navigation in the centre. Around the entire building is a scroll frieze of the rose, shamrock, and thistle. The Garden or Western Front, architecturally the principal one, has five Corinthian towers, and a balustraded terrace; the upper portion having statues, trophies, and bas-reliefs, by Flaxman and other sculptors. The materials are Portland-stone and cement.
The Marble Sail and Sculpture Gallery have mosaic bordered floors, and ranges of Carrara columns with mosaic gold bases and capitals. The sculptures consist chiefly of busts of the Royal Family and eminent statesmen. Beyond the Sculpture Gallery is the Library. The Grand Staircase is marble, with ormolu acanthus balustrades : the ceiling has frescoes by Townsend, of Morning, Evening, Noon, and Night, on a gold ground ; besides wreaths of flowers, imitative marbles, &c, in the Italian manner. The brief pageant of the Queen leaving the Palace to proceed in state to open Parliament may be witnessed by Tickets of admission to the Hall, issued by the Lord Great Chamberlain. Upon such occasions, the Yeomen of the Guard, Yeomen Porters, and other official persons, in their rich costumes, while the Sovereign proceeds to the State-carriage, present a magnificent scene. The Vestibule is richly decorated with vermilion and gold : here are a marble statue of the
Queen, by Gibson, R.A. ; and of Prince Albert, by Wyatt ; also bas-reliefs of Peace and War, by John Thomas. The looking-glass and ormolu doors cost 300 guineas a-pair, and each mosaic gold capital and base 30 guineas.
The principal State Apartments are : the Green Drawing-room, in the centre of the east front, and opening upon the upper portico : for state balls, Tippoo Sahib’s Tent is added to this room, upon the portico, and is lighted by a gorgeous ’* Indian sun,” 8 feet in diameter. Next is the Throne Boom, which is 64 feet in length : the walls are hung with crimson satin ; and the coved ceiling is emblazoned with arms, and gilded in the boldest Italian style of the fifteenth century. Beneath is a white marble frieze, sculptured by Baily, with the Wars of the Roses, Stothard’s last great design.* On the north side of the apartment is an alcove, with crimson velvet hangings, gilding, and emblazonry, and a fascia of massive gilt wreaths and figures. In this recess is placed the Royal throne, or chair of state ; seated in which, surrounded by her Ministers, great officers of State, and the Court, her Majesty receives addresses. In this room also are held Privy Councils.
The Picture Gallery, in the centre of the palace, is about 180 feet in length by 26 feet in breadth, and has a semi-Gothic roof, with a triple row of ground-glass lights, hearing the stars of all the orders of knighthood in Europe; but Von Raumer considers the light false and insufficient, and broken by the architectural decorations.
Occasionally, this gallery has been used as a ball-room, and for state banquets.
The door-cases have colossal caryatidal figures, and are gorgeously gilt ; and the marble chimney-pieces are sculptured with medallion portraits of great painters.
The collection of pictures formed by George IV. is preeminently rich in Dutch and Flemish art.
The chief exceptions are Reynolds’s Death of Dido, his Cymon and Iphigenia, and Sir Joshua’s portrait in spectacles ; the Penny Wedding, and Blind Man’s Buff, by Wilkie ; a Landscape by Gainsborough, and a few recent English works ; and 4 pictures by Watteau. In the collection are an Altar-piece by Albert Durcr; 7 pictures by Rembrandt, including the Shipbuilder and his Wife, for which George IV., when Prince of Wales, gave 6000 guineas ; Rubens, 7 ; Marriage of St. Catherine, and 4 others, by Van-dyke; Vandervelde, 7; younger Vandervelde, 4; G. Dow, 8; Paul Potter, 4; A. Ostade, 9; younger Teniers, 14 ; Vandermeulen, 13 ; Wouvermans, 9 ; Cuyp, 9.
In the State Rooms are royal portraits, by Kneller, Lely, A. Ramsay, N. Dance, Copley, Gainsborough, Wright, Lawrence, Wilkie, Winterhalter, &c.
In the Western Front is the Grand (central) Saloon, north of which is the Yellow Drawing-room, communicating with the Private Apartments of her Majesty, which extend along the north front of the palace. The Grand Saloon has a semicircular bay, and scagliola lapis-lazuli columns with mosaic gold capitals, supporting a rich architrave, and bas-relief of children with emblems of music ; the domed ceilings are richly gilt with roses, shamrocks, and thistles, acanthus-leaves, and the royal arms in the spandrels. The large apartment, formerly the State Ball-room, north of the Grand Saloon, has scagliola porphyry Corinthian columns, with gilded capitals, carrying an entablature and coved ceiling, elaborately gilt : here are Winterhalter’s portraits of the Queen and Prince Albert ; and Vandyke’s Charles I. and Henrietta- Maria. South of the Ball-room is the State Dining-room, which has an elegantly wrought ceiling, and circular panels bearing the regal crown and the monogram V. R. ; the whole in stone tint : here are Lawrence’s whole length of George IV. in his coronation robes, and other royal portraits.
The South Wing, added since 1850, contains the kitchen and other domestic offices, on the two lower stories; and above them, a Ball-room, 139 feet long; Supper-room, 76 feet ; and Promenade-gallery, 109 feet ; the wing harmonizing with the Palace, as built for George IV. The Ball-room was designed to be used for State-balls, State concerts, and, on special occasions, as a State reception-room and banqueting room.
The ceiling is divided by broad and deep bands into twenty-one square compartments, resting on a bold and highly-enriched cove, which runs round the whole room. The enrichments are all executed in plaster, carefully modelled and highly finished. The walls on each side of the room are divided into thirteen compartments. Fourteen of the twenty-six are windows, the others being filled in with paintings, representing the twelve hours, copied from the small originals by Raphael, existing in Rome. The silk hangings of the walls were woven in Lyons, from a design made to suit the room.
The lighting of the room is peculiar, and very effective. In each compartment of the ceiling there is a large sunlight gas-burner (21 in all), each enclosed in a chandelier or lustre of richly-cut glass, executed by Osier, and forming a brilliant pendant in the centre of each compartment. A great portion of the light is, however, obtained, and a most brilliant effect is produced, by the novel method of illuminating the fourteen windows, which in most rooms are left either as dark blots, or are concealed by draperies. Next the room these windows are glazed with deeply-cut glass stars of large size, surrounded by borders similarly cut, and lighted by gas-burners, arranged between the outer and inner sashes in such manner as to bring out the full brilliancy of the cut-glass in all its detail. Great attention has been paid to the ventilation of the room. There are also ten magnificent candelabra of gilt bronze, each holding 43 wax candles, and standing upon the raised platform.
At the west end a kind of throne or recess has been formed for the Queen, with Corinthian columns carrying an entablature and a bold detached archivolt, on which rests a medallion, containing the profiles of her Majesty and the Prince Consort, supported by emblematic figures of History and Fame; these, and all other sculptures, around the doors, above the large mirrors placed opposite the doors, and throughout the whole suite of apartments, were executed by Mr. Theed. The recess formed at the east end, above the attendants’ rooms, is appropriated to the organ and the orchestra; the latter, for 70 performers, can be enlarged for 120.
The merit of the architectural sculptures is their nationality. The friezes and reliefs of scenes in British history are mostly by Baily, R.A. : those of Alfred expelling the Danes, and delivering the Laws, on the garden-front, and the Progress of Navigation, on the main front, are fine compositions ; as are also Stothard’s Wars of the Roses, in the Throne-room ; and the eastern frieze of the rose, shamrock, and thistle.
But the marble chimney-pieces and door-cases, sculptured with caryatides, fruit and flowers, and architectural ornament, often present a strange mixture of fragments of Egypt, Greece, Etruria, Rome, and the Middle Ages, in the same apartment.
In the garden were formerly two Ionic Conservatories ; the southernmost of which is now the Palace Chapel, consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, March 25, 1813. The aisles are formed by rows of Composite cast-iron columns ; and at the west end, facing the altar, is the Queen’s closet, supported upon Ionic columns from the screen of Carlton House. In the garden is the western boundary-stone of the parish of St. Martin’s-in-the- Fields, where, on Holy Thursday is performed the ceremony of ” striking the stone.”
The Pleasure-grounds comprise about 40 acres, including the lake of 5 acres ; at the verge of which, upon a lofty artificial mound, is a picturesque pavilion, or garden-house, with a minaret roof. In the centre is an octagonal room, with figures of Midnight and Dawn ; and 8 lunettes, painted in fresco, from Milton’s Comus, by Eastlake, Maclise, Landseer, Dyce, Stanfield, Uwins, Leslie, and Ross; besides relief arabesques, medallions, figures and groups, from Milton’s poems. On the right is a room decorated in the Pompeian style, copied from existing remains. The apartment on the left is embellished in the romantic style, from the novels and poems of Sir Walter Scott. (See Gruner’s Illustrations, described by Mrs. Jameson.)
Buckingham Palace has been the scene of two superb Costume Balls — in 1842 and 1845 : the first in the style of the reign of Edward III. ; and the fete in 1845 in the taste of George II.’s reign.
The Royal Mews is described at p. 565. The Riding-house has been covered with cement ornamentation ; in the pediment is a large equestrian group, sculptured by Theed, and upon the walls have been placed several large circular vases; the bank has here been raised and planted with trees, to screen the palace-garden.
Immediately under the Palace passes ” The King’s Scholars’ Pond Sewer,” the main drain of one of the principal divisions of the Westminster connexion of sewers, occupying the whole channel of a rivulet formerly known as Tye Brook, having its source at Hampstead, and draining an area of 2000 acres, 1500 of which are covered with houses. A large portion of the sewer arches was reconstructed, under densely-populated neighbourhoods, without any suspicion on the part of the inhabitants of what was going on a few feet below the foundations of their houses. In its present complete state, this is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable and extensive pieces of sewerage ever executed in this or any other country.
St. James’s Palace, Westminster, on the north side of St. James’s Park, and at the western end of Pall Mall, occupies the site of a hospital, founded by some pious citizens prior to the Norman Conquest, for fourteen leprous females, to whom eight brethren were added to perform divine service. The good work was dedicated to St. James, and was endowed hy the citizens with lands ; and in 1290, Edward I. granted to the foundation the privilege of an annual Fair, to he held on the eve of St. James and six following days. The house was rebuilt by Berkynge, abbot of Westminster, in Henry III.’s reign; and in 1450 its perpetual custody was granted by Henry VI. to Eton College. In 1532, Henry VIII. obtained the hospital in exchange for Chattisham and other lands in Suffolk : he then dismissed the inmates, pensioned the sisterhood ; and having pulled down the ancient structure, he ” purchased all the meadows about St. James’s, and there made a faire mansion and a parke for his greater commoditie and pleasure” (Solinshed) : the Sutherland View of 1543 shows the palace far away in the fields. ” The Manor House,” as it was then called, is believed to have been planned by Holbein, and built under the direction of Cromwell, Earl of Essex.
Henry’s gatehouse and turrets face St. James’s-street : the original hospital, to judge from certain remains of stone mullions, labels, and other masonry, found in 1838, on taking down some parts of the Chapel Royal, was of the Norman period. It was occasionally occupied by Henry as a semi-rural residence, down to the period when Wolsey surrendered Whitehall to the Crown. Edward and Elizabeth rarely resided at St. James’s : but Mary made it the place of her gloomy retirement during the absence of her husband, Philip of Spain : here she expired. The Manor House, with all its appurtenances, except the park and the stables or the mews, were granted by James I. to his son Henry in 1610; at whose death, in 1612, they reverted to the Crown.
Charles I. enlarged the palace, and most of his children (including Charles II.) were born in it : here he deposited the gallery of antique statues principally collected for him by Sir Kenelm Digby. In this reign was fitted up the chapel of the hospital, on the west side, as the Chapel Royal, described at pp. 140-1. Here Charles I. attended divine service on the morning of his execution ; ” from hence the king walked through the Park, guarded with a regiment of foot and partisans, to Whitehall.” (Whitelock’s Memorials, p. 374.) The Queen’s Chapel, now the German Chapel, was built for Catherine of Braganza, in the friary of the conventual establishment founded here by her Majesty, under the direction of Cardinal Howard.
The Queen first heard mass there on Sunday, September 21, 1662, when Lady Castlemaine, though a Protestant, and the King’s avowed mistress, attended her as one of her maids of honour. Pepys
describes ” the fine altar ornaments, the fryers in their habits, and the priests with their fine crosses, and many other fine things.” — Diary, vol. i. p. 312.
At ” St. James’s House” Monk resided while planning the Restoration. In the old bed-chamber, now the ante-chamber to the levee-room, was born James (the old Pretender), the son of James II. by Mary of Modena : the bed stood close to the back stairs, and favoured the scandal of the child being conveyed in a warming-pan to the Queen’s bed. In this reign Verrio, the painter, was keeper of the palace-gardens.
During the Civil Wars, St. James’s became the prison-house, for nearly three years, of the Duke of York and Duke of Gloucester, and the Princess Elizabeth : on April 20, 1648, the Duke of York escaped from the palace-garden into the Park, through the Spring Garden, to a hackney-coach in waiting for him ; and, in female disguise, he reached a Dutch vessel below Gravesend. After the Restoration, the Duke occupied St. James’s ; and one of its rooms was hung with portraits of the Court Beauties, by Sir Peter Lely. Here the Duke slept the night before his coronation as James II., and next morning proceeded to Whitehall.
On December 18, 1688, William Prince of Orange came to St. James’s, where, three days afterwards, the peers assembled, and the household and other officers of the abdicated sovereign laid down their badges. Evelyn says : ” All the world goes to see the Prince at St. James’s, where there is a greate court. There I saw him : he is very stately, serious, and reserved.” {Diary, vol. i. p. 680.) King William occasionally held councils here : but it was not until alter the burning of Whitehall, in 1697, that this Palace became used for state ceremonies, whence dates the Court of St. James’s.
William and Mary, however, resided chiefly at Kensington ; and St. James’s was next fitted up for George Prince of Denmark, and the Princess Anne, who, on her accession to the throne, considerably enlarged the edifice. George I. lived here like a private gentleman ; in 1727 he gave a banquet here to the entire Court of Common Council.
The fourth plate of Hogarth’s ” Rake’s Progress” shows St. James’s Palace gateway in 1735, with the quaint carriages and chairs arriving on the birthday of Caroline, George II.’s consort : her Majesty died at St. James’s in 1737. The wing facing Cleveland-row was built for Frederick Prince of Wales, on his marriage in 1736.
The State Rooms were enlarged on the accession Of George III., whose marriage was celebrated here September 6, 1761. George IV. was born here August 12, 1762 ; and shortly afterwards the Queen’s bed was removed to the Great Drawing-room, and company were admitted to see the infant prince on drawing-room days. The court was held here during the reign of George III., though his domestic residence was at Buckingham House. St. James’s was refitted on the marriage of the Prince of Wales, April 8, 1795, in the Chapel Royal. On January 21, 1809, the east wing of the palace, including their majesties’ private apartments and those of the Duke of Cambridge, was destroyed by fire, and has not been rebuilt. In 1814 the State Apartments were fitted up for the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, when also Marshal Blucher was an inmate of the palace. In 1822 a magnificent banqueting-hall was added to the state-rooms. In January, 1827, the remains of the Duke of York lay in state in the palace. William IV. and Queen Adelaide resided here ; but since the accession of her present Majesty, St. James’s has only been used for courts, levees and drawing-rooms, and occasionally for State-balls.
The lofty brick gatehouse bears upon its roof the bell of the Great Clock, dated A.D. 1731, and inscribed with the name of Clay, clockmaker to George II. It strikes the hours and quarters upon three bells, requires to be wound every day, and originally had only one hand. A print of the court-yard, with the meeting of Mary de Medicis and her daughter Henrietta-Maria, in 1638, shows a dial which must have belonged to a previous clock. The present clock was under the care of the Vulliamys, the Royal clockmakers, from 1743, until the death of B. L. Vulliamy.
When the gatehouse was repaired in 1831, the clock was removed, and not put up again, on account of the roof being reported unsafe to carry the weight. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood then memorialized William IV. for the replacement of the timekeeper: the King, having ascertained its weight, shrewdly inquired how, if the palace roof was not strong enough to carry the clock, it was safe for the number of persons occasionally seen upon it to witness processions, &c. The clock was forthwith replaced, and a minute-hand was added, with new dials : the original dials were of wainscot, in a great number of very small pieces, curiously dovetailed together.
The gatehouse enters the quadrangle, named the Colour Court, from the colours of the military guard of honour being placed here : in this court one of the three regiments of Foot Guards is relieved alternately every morning at eleven o’clock, when the keys of the garrison are delivered and the regimental standard exchanged, during the performance of the bands of music. Westward is the Ambassadors’ Court, where are the apartments of certain branches of the Royal Family ; and beyond it the Stable- Yard, anciently the stable-yard of the palace, and where was the Queen’s Library, upon the site of Stafford House. Here is Clarence House, described at p. 547. On the east side is the Lord Chamberlain’s office, where permission may be obtained to view the palace.
Eastward of the gatehouse is the Office of the Board of Green Cloth, and still further, the office of the Lord Steward of Her Majesty’s Household. Beyond are the gates leading to the quadrangle, known of old as ” the Chair Court.” The State Apartments, in the south front of the palace, front the garden and St. James’s Park.
The Sovereign enters by the garden gate ; and it was here, on the 2nd of August, 1796, that Margaret Nicholson attempted to assassinate George III. as he was alighting from his carriage. The State Apartments are reached by the Great Staircase, the Entree Gallery, the Guard Chamber (its walls covered with weapons in fanciful devices), and a similar apartment. Here are stationed the Yeomen of the Queen’s Guard; and tbe honours of the Guard-Chamber are paid to distinguished personages on levee and drawing-room days. George III. held Drawing-rooms much more frequently than they are held at present. To quote the Court Guide of 1792, ” the King’s Levee days are Wednesday and Friday, and likewise Monday during the sitting of Parliament ; his Drawing-room days every Sunday and Thursday.”
Yeomen of the Guard were first instituted in 1485, by Henry VII., upon the model of a somewhat similar band retained by Louis XI. of France. They were at first archers; but on the death of
William III. all took the partisan, as now carried. The dress has continued almost unaltered since the reign of Charles II.
The Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (changed from Pensioners by William IV.) was instituted by Henry VIII., disbanded during the Civil Wars, but reconstructed at the Restoration, and at the Revolution of 1688. In 1745, when George II. raised his standard on Finchley Common, these ” Gentlemen” were ordered to provide themselves with horses and equipment to attend his Majesty to the field.
Their present uniform is scarlet and gold : and the corps carry on parade small battle-axes covered with crimson velvet. On April 10, 1848, on the apprehension of a Chartist outbreak, St. James’s Palace was garrisoned and guarded by these ancient bodies.
Beyond the Guard-Chamber is the Tapestry Room, hung with gorgeous tapestry made for Charles II., and representing the amours of Venus and Mars. The stone Tudor arch of the fireplace is sculptured with the letters H. A. (Henry and Anne Boleyn), united by a true-lover’s knot, surmounted by a regal crown ; also the lily of France, the portcullis of Westminster, and the rose of Lancaster. Here the sovereigns of the House of Brunswick, on the death of their predecessors, are received by the Privy Council, and from the capacious bay window proclaimed and presented to the people assembled in the outer court, where are the sergeants-at-arms and band of household trumpeters. The proclamation of her present Majesty, on June 21, 1837, was a touching spectacle. Next the Tapestry-Room is Queen Anne’s Room, the first of the four great state apartments. In this room the remains of Frederick Duke of York lay in State in January 1827. This apartment opens to the Ante-Drawing-Room, leading by three doors into the Presence Chamber or Throne Room, beyond which is the Queen’s Closet. The throne, at the upper end of the Presence Chamber, is large and stately, and emblazoned with arms : the window-draperies here and in the Queen’s Closet are of splendid tissu-de-verre. The entire suite is gorgeously gilt, hung with crimson Spitalfields damasks, brocades, and velvets, embroidered with gold ; and the Wilton carpets bear the royal arms.
The public are admitted to the corridor by tickets to see the company upon Drawing-room days ; and upon certain occasions, when bulletins of the health of the sovereign are issued, they are shown to the public as they pass through the state-rooms.
Pictures in the State Apartments. — Large paintings of the Siege of Tournay, and the Siege of Lisle by the Duke of Marlborough. Portraits of Charles II., George I., George II., and Queen Anne;
George III., the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York, by Sir Joshua Reynolds ; George IV. and the Duke of York, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Count La Lippe, and the Marquis of Granby, by Sir Joshua
Reynolds. Beauties of the Court of Charles II., copied from Hampton Court. Lord Nelson, Earl St. Vincent, and Lord Rodney, by Hoppner. The Battles of Vittoria and Waterloo, by G. Jones, R.A. In the Entree Gallery are whole-length portraits of Henry VIII., reputed by Holbein; Queen Mary; Queen Elizabeth, by Zucchero ; James I., Charles I., after Vandyke ; Charles II., James II., and William and Mary.
The curious pictures which were here in Pennant’s time have been removed : including a Child, three years six months old, in the robes of a Knight of the Garter, the second son of James I. ; also
Geoffrey Hudson, the Dwarf; and Mabuse’s Adam and Eve, painted with navels.
Here George IV. formed a fine collection of pictures, to which was added, in 1828, Haydon’s “Mock Election,” which the King purchased of the painter for 500 guineas.
Kensington Palace, about two miles west of the metropolis, is named from the adjoining town, although it is situated in the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster :
” High o’er the neighbouring lands,
’Midst greens and sweets, a regal fabric stands.” — Ticlcell.
The original mansion was purchased (with the grounds, six acres) by King William III., in 1691, of Daniel Finch, second Earl of Nottingham. Evelyn notes : “Feb. 25, 1690-1. — I went to Kensington, which King William had bought of Lord Nottingham and altered, but was yet a patched-up building ; but with the gardens, however, it is a very neat villa.”
— Memoirs, vol. ii.
In the following November the house was nearly destroyed by fire, and the king narrowly escaped being burned in his bed. The premises had been possessed by the Finch family about half a century ; and after Sir Heneage Finch’s advancement to the peerage, the mansion was called ” Nottingham House.” William III. employed Wren and Hawksmoor, who built the King’s Gallery and the south front ; the eastern front was added by George I., from the designs of Kent ; the north wing is part of old Nottingham House. The entire palace is of crimson brick, with stone finishings; and consists of the Clock Court, Prince’s Court, and Princess’ Court. King William held councils in this palace ; its decoration was the favourite amusement of Queen Mary ; and it was next fitted up as the residence of Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark : for her luxurious Majesty was built the Banqueting-House, described at page 493. The principal additions made by Kent, for George I., were the Cupola Room and the Great Staircase ; the latter painted with groups of portraits from the Court, Yeomen of the Guard, pages, a Quaker, two Turks in the suite of George I., and Peter the Wild Boy. George II. and Queen Caroline passed most of their time here; and during the King’s absence on the Continent, the Queen held at Kensington a court every Sunday. In this palace died Queen Mary and King William ; Queen Anne and the Prince Consort ; and George II.
The Great Staircase, of black and white marble, and graceful ironwork (the walls painted by Kent with mythological subjects in chiaroscuro, and architectural and sculptural decoration), leads to the suite of twelve State Apartments, some of which are hung with tapestry and have painted ceilings. The Presence Chamber has a chimney-piece richly sculptured by Gibbons with flowers, fruits, and heads ; the ceiling is diapered red, blue, and gold upon a white field, copied by Kent from Herculaneum ; the pier-glass is wreathed with flowers by Jean Baptiste Monnoyer. The King’s Gallery, in the south front, has an elaborately painted allegorical ceiling; and a circular fresco of a Madonna, after Raphael. The Cube Room is forty feet in height, and contains gilded statues and busts ; and a marble bas-relief of a Roman marriage, by Rysbraeck. The King’s Great Drawing-room was hung with the then new paper, in imitation of the old velvet flock. The Queen’s Gallery in the rear of the eastern front, continued northwards, has above the doorway the monogram of William and Mary • and the pediment is enriched with fruits and flowers in high relief and wholly detached, probably carved by Gibbons. The Green Closet was the private closet of William III., and contained his writing-table and escritoire ; and the Patchwork Closet had its walls and chairs covered with tapestry worked by Queen Mary.
During the reign of George III. the palace was forsaken by the sovereign ; towards its close, a suite of rooms was fitted up for the Princess of Wales, and her aged mother the Duchess of Brunswick. The lower south-eastern apartments beneath the King’s Gallery were occupied by the late Duke of Kent : here, May 24, 1819, was born Queen Victoria ; christened here on June 24th following ; and on June 20, 1837, her Majesty held here her first Council, which has been admirably painted by Wilkie.
At Kensington Palace the Princess Victoria received the intelligence of the death of William IV., as described in the Diaries of a Lady qf Quality : ” June, 1837. On the 20th, at 2 a.m., the scene closed, and in a very short time, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham, the Chamberlain, set out to announce the event to their young Sovereign. They reached Kensington Palace at about five; they knocked, they rang, they thumped lor a considerable time before they could rouse the porter at the gates ; they were again kept waiting in the courtyard, then turned into one of the lower rooms, where they seemed forgotten by everybody. They rang the bell, desired that the attendant of the Princess Victoria might be sent to inform H.R.H. that they requested an audience on business of importance.
After another delay, and another ringing to inquire the cause, the attendant was summoned, who stated that the Princess was in such a sweet sleep she could not venture to disturb her. Then they said, ’ We are come to the Queen on business of State, and even her sleep must give way to that.’ It did : and to prove that she did not keep them waiting, in a few minutes she came into the room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, her nightcap thrown off, and her hair falling upon her shoulders — her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, but perfectly collected and dignified.
” The first act of the reign was of course the summoning of the Council, and most of the summonses were not received till after the early hour fixed for its meeting. The Queen was, upon the opening of the doors, found sitting at the head of the table. She received first the homage of the Duke of Cumberland, who, I suppose, was not King of Hanover when he knelt to her; the Duke of Sussex rose to perform the same ceremony, but the Queen, with admirable grace, stood up, and, preventing him from kneeling, kissed him on the forehead. The crowd was so great, the arrangements were so ill-made, that my brothers told me the scene of swearing allegiance to their young Sovereign was more like that of the bidding at an auction than anything else.”
ivc David Wilkie has painted the scene — but with a difference.
The south wing of the older part of the palace was occupied by the late Duke of Sussex, who died here April 21, 1843.
Here the Duke of Sussex, during 25 years, collected the celebrated Mbliotheca Sussexiana, numbering nearly 50,000 printed books and MSS., purchased volume by volume, at the sacrifice of many an object of princely luxury and indulgence. The collection included nearly 300 Theological MSS. of the tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries ; besides about 500 early printed books relating to the Holy Scriptures. Among the rarities were 48 Hebrew MSS., some rolled ; a richly illuminated Hebrew and Chaldaic Pentateuch, thirteenth century ; a Greek New Testament, thirteenth, century, illuminated ; 16 copies of the Vulgate, on vellum, two with 100 miniatures in gold and colours ; a splendidly illuminated Psalter, tenth century ; missals, breviaries, hours, offices, See. ; La Bible Moralisee (fifteenth century) ; Historia del Vecchio Testamento, with 519 miniatures of the school of Giotto ; several copies of the Koran, including that found by the conquerors of Seringapatam in the library of Tippoo Sultan, with his spectacles between the leaves, as if the perusal of it had been one of the latest acts of Tippoo’s life; Armenian copy of the Gospels, thirteenth century ; MSS. in the Pali, Burman, Cingalese, &e. In the printed books were all the celebrated Polyglots, in fine condition ; 74 editions of the Hebrew Bible ; 17 Hebrew-Samaritan and Hebrew Pentateuchs (Bomberg editions), and the Great Rabbinical Bible, magnificent specimens of Hebrew printing ; Greek Bibles, of precious value; Latin Bibles, 200 editions; Bibles in other languages, 1200 editions. In the Divinity classes were, the first Armenian, the first Irish, the first Sclavonic, the first German, and the first Reformed editions of Luther; the first English Bible, by Coverdale; the first Greek Bible^ or Cranmer’s, &c. ; besides Classics, Lexicography, Chronicles, Law, and Parliamentary Histories, of immense extent. The theological collection filled an apartment 100 feet in length; and here, seated in a curtained chair, the Duke passed the life of a toil-worn student. In these rooms His Royal Highness gave his conversasioni as President of the Royal Society.
In Kensington Palace was formerly deposited the greater part of the royal collection of paintings, commenced by Henry VIII. ; and removed here by William III., as appears from a catalogue flaken in 1700, and now in the British Museum. The collection was much augmented by Queen Caroline, but after the death of George II., several of the finest pictures were removed to Windsor and elsewhere. In 1818, however, here were more than 600 pictures, which were catalogued by B. West, P.R.A. Few now remain : but in the southern apartments is a collection of Byzantine, early Italian,
German, and Flemish paintings, formerly the property of Prince Louis D’Ottingen Wallerstein, and purchased by the late Prince Consort. The majority of these 102 pictures are curious specimens of sacred art, — triptychs, altar-pieces, and other works of primitive design and elaborate antiquity.
The Green, westward of the Palace, and called in ancient records ” the Moor,” was the military parade when the Court resided here, and the royal standard was hoisted daily. Here are barracks for foot-soldiers, who mount guard at the Palace. Northward of the Palace were the kitchen-gardens, about 20 acres, now Queen’s-road, with two lines of elegant villas. (See Kensington Gardens,* pp. 493, 494).
Carlton House occupied that portion of Waterloo-place which is south of Pall Mall. It was originally built for Lord Carlton, in 1709 : bequeathed by him to his nephew, Lord Burl igton, the architect, and purchased, in 1732, by Frederick Prince of Wales, father of G«x>rge III. : here the Princess of Wales died in 1772. The house was of red brick. The name of the original architect, in the time of Queen Anne, is not known, but the celebrated landscape gardener-architect Kent laid out the grounds when the property was in Lord Burlington’s hands, between 1725 and 1732. These
gardens extended along the south side of Pall-mall, and are said to have been in imitation of Pope’s garden at Twickenham, with numerous bowers, grottoes, and terminal busts. Mr. Cunningham speaks of an engraving of them by Woollett. When the property was assigned in 1783 as the residence of the Prince of Wales — afterwards George IV. — great alterations were made in Carlton House, under Holland, the Prince’s architect.
Horace Walpole writes, Sept. 17, 1785 : “We went to see the Prince’s new palace in Pall Mall, and were charmed. It will be the most perfect in Europe. There is an august simplicity that astonished me. You cannot call it magnificent ; it is the taste and propriety that strike. Every ornament is at a proper distance, and not one too large, but all delicate and new, with more freedom and variety than Greek ornaments carving, stucco, and ornaments, are executed ; but whence the money is to come, I conceive not ; all the tin mines in Cornwall could not pay a quarter. How sick one shall be after this chaste palace of Mr. Adam’s gingerbread and sippets of embroidery !” — Letters; Cunningham’s edit. vol. ix. p. 13.
The main front of the house had a central portico, was hexastyle, and of the Corinthian order. The hall was square on the plan, and on each side was an opening, or a recess, with a segmental coffered arch, enclosing two Ionic columns and entablature, the last supporting vases and chimeras. A landing of the staircase was octagonal in plan, with well-hole and lantern-light ; and the angles of the ceiling there, were formed by fan-shaped springers. One of the dining-rooms was circular, with columns and recesses, somewhat after the arrangement of those features in the Pantheon at Rome.
At the opposite sides of this room were large mirrors. The general decoration of the house was of pseudo-classical character. Trophies were freely introduced ; and panels, even those of doors, were enriched with lyres, wreaths, and festoons. One common introduction was that of terminal figures. Generally, the ceilings were painted to represent the sky and clouds. In the furniture gilding was used to a great extent. In many of the rooms, the furniture was entirely gilt, with crimson or crimson and black cushions. The most important point for notice as to the interior of Carlton House, is the absence of the Louis Quinze style. The Carlton House chair and table are remembered. Among the rooms were the Crimson Drawing-room ; the Blue Velvet-room ; the Golden Drawing-room, or Corinthian-room : the Gothic Dining-room. The conservatory, said to be in ” imitation of a cathedral, or Henry VII.’s chapel,” but equally suggestive of Eoslyn Chapel : the ribs of the fan-tracery were filled in with stained glass.
Here was a remarkably fine collection of arms and costumes, including two swords of Charles I. ; swords of Columbus and Marlborough, and a couteau-de-ehasse used by Charles XII. of Sweden, which relics are now in the North Corridor at Windsor Castle. Carlton House was sumptuously furnished for the Prince’s ill-starred marriage in 1795 : here, Jan. 7, 1796, was born the Princess, baptized Feb. 11, Charlotte-Augusta ; and on May 2, 1816, married here to Leopold, subsequently King of the Belgians.
The ceremonial of conferring the Kegency was enacted at Carlton House with great
pomp, Feb. 5, 1811, and on June 19 following, the Prince Regent gave here a superb
supper to 2000 guests ; a stream with gold and silver fish flowing through a marble
canal down the centre table.
Upon the screen of Ionic columns fronting Pall Mall, Bonomi wrote the following epigram :
” Care colonne, che fatti qua ?
Non sapiamo, in verita : ”
Thus anglicized by Prince Hoare:
” Dear little columns, all in a row,
What do you do there?
Indeed we don’t know.”
Sheridan’s allusion to these columns was not much more complimentary. About the time that the
Duke of York took possession of Melbourne House, now Dover House, near the Horse-Guards, of which
the most remarkable feature is the cupola in front, some discussions were raised in Parliament about
the debts of the Duke and his royal brother at Carlton House. The virtuous indignation of the Oppo-
sition was tremendous : and some of their remarks having been reported to Sheridan when he entered
the House of Commons, ” I wonder,” said he, ” what amount of punishment would satisfy some people !
Has not the one got into the Eoundhouse, and the other into the Pillory ?” This is another version
of the anecdote related at page 549.
In 1827, Carlton House was removed : the columns of the portico (adapted from the
Temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome) being subsequently used in the portico of the
National Gallery, and the ornamental interior details (as marble mantel-pieces, friezes,
columns, &c.) transferred to Buckingham Palace. The colonnade pillars are employed in
one of the orangeries in Kew Gardens. Thus disappeared Carlton House. Upon the site of
the gardens have been built the York Column and Carlton House-terrace: the balustrades
of the latter originally extended between the two ranges of houses ; but were removed
to form the present entrance into St. James’s Park, by command of William IV., very
soon after his accession. Upon the site of the courtyard and part of Carlton House
are the United Service and Athenaeum Clubhouses, and the intervening area facing
Waterloo-place. The Riding-house and Stables had a semicircular conch-headed recess,
intersected by an entablature ; the Doric columns supporting the latter, being without
bases, and fluted, but Roman in character.
PALL MALL.
* A FINE spacious street between the Haymarket N.E., and St. James’s-street S.W.”
-L- (Hatton, 1708), and one-third of a mile in length, is named from the French
game of paille-rnaille having been played there. The space between St. James’s
House and Charing Cross, about 1560, appears to have been fields, with three or four
houses at the east end of the present Pall Mall, and opposite a small church, the name /
/y
636 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
of which Pennant could not discover. Down this road came Sir Thomas Wyat, ” on
foot, hard by the Court-gate of St. James’s, with four or five auncients, his men
inarching in good way,” and thus proceeded to Charing Cross and Whitehall.
At the east end of Pall Mall, in the reign of Henry VI., stood a group of monastic buildings called
“the Rookery,” belonging to the monks of Westminster : here resided Erasmus, by favour of Henry VIII.
and the interest of Anne Boleyn. When these buildings were demolished at the Reformation, tradition
relates there was found a secret smithy, which had been erected by order of Henry VI. for the practice
of alchemy. The premises were subsequently used as an inn, and upon the site was built the first
Carlton House.
” The Mall,” in St. James’s-park, not many years since, was commonly regarded as
the place where the game of ” Paille-maille ” was first played in England, and whence
the Park-avenue was said to have taken its name. Strutt calls it ” the game of Mall,”
and thus favours the above notion j but, in Hatton’s ” spacious street” we have preserved
the entire name of the game. Charles II. caused the Mall in the Park to be made for
playing the game, which was a fashionable amusement in his reign ; but it Was intro-
duced into England much earlier, and was not played in the Park until the original alley
had grown into a street, and taken the name of the game itself. Blount, in his Glosso-
graphy, edit. 1670, says, ” this game was heretofore used in the long alley near St. James’s,
and vulgarly called Pall Mall.” The name, however, occurs much earlier ; for King
James I., in his JBasilicon Doron, recommends “Palle Malle” as a field-game for the
use of his eldest son, Prince Henry j proving the Mall in the present street to have
existed as early as the reign of the above King. In a crown survey, referred to by
Mr. Cunningham, we find “Pell Mell Close,” partly planted with apple-trees (Appletree-
yard, St. James’s-square, still exists) : and in the above document are also named 140
elm-trees, standing on both sides of Pall Mall walk ; Faithorne’s plan, 1658, shows
a row of trees on the north side ; and the name of Pall Mall, as a street, occurs in the
rate-books of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields under the year 1656. The name is derived
from Pallet, a ball ; and Maglia, a mallet ; the implements with which the game was
played. In 1854 were found in the roof of the house of Mr. B. L. Vulliamy, No. 68,
Pall Mall, a box containing four pairs of the mailes, or mallets, and one ball, such as
were formerly used for playing the game upon the site of the above house. Each
maile is 4 feet in length, and is made of lance-wood ; the head is slightly curved, and
measures outwardly 5^ inches, the inner curve being 4^ inches, the diameter of the
maile-ends is 2 inches, each shod with a thin iron hoop : the handle, which is very
elastic, is bound with white leather to the breadth of two hands, and terminated with
a collar of jagged leather. The ball, is of box wood, 2 inches in diameter. A pair
of mailes and a ball are now in the British Museum. Mr. Vulliamy was born in the
above house, and died here in January, 1854, aged 74 years ; and here his family lived
before him for 130 years, thus carrying us beyond the date of Pepys seeing Paille
Maille first played. The Vulliamys were clockmakers to the Sovereign in five reigns.
B. L. Vulliamy, the scientific horologist, who died as above, bequeathed his large and
very valuable collection of works on Horology to the Institution of Civil Engineers.
At the house of his very old friend, Mr. Vulliamy, died Professor Bigaud, the astro-
nomer, March 16, 1839.
In the reign of Charles II. Pall Mall was occasionally called Catharine-street.
Faithorne’s Plan, 1658, shows a row of trees on the north side. Pepys mentions, in
1660, an old tavern, ” Wood’s at the Pell Mell.” In 1662 was fought here the duel
between Mr. Jermyn and Capt. Thomas Howard, the latter wearing mail under his
dress. The London Gazette of 1685 has an advertisement address, ” the Sugar-loaf in
the Pall Mall.” Dr. Sydenham died here, in 1689, at his house next The Golden
Pestle and Mortar ; which sign remained to our day, on the north side of the street.
Another olden sign, The Golden Ball, lasted to our time; but The Golden Door and
The Barber’s Pole disappeared. Of Sydenham’s residence here, Cunningham relates
an anecdote told by Mr. Fox to Mr. Bogers — that Sydenham was sitting at his window,
looking on the Mall, with his pipe in his mouth, and a silver tankard before him, when
a fellow made a snatch at the tankard and ran off with it. Nor was he overtaken
(said Fox) before he got among the bushes in Bond-street, where they lost him.
At the corner of St. Alban’s-street bved Gilray, the caricaturist, when assistant to
PALL MALL. 637
Holland, the printseller. In a house opposite Market-lane, the ” Royal Academy of
Art” met, from the time of their obtaining the patronage of George III. until their
removal to Somerset House, in 1771.
Among the coffee-houses of Pall Mall was the Smyrna, of the days of the Tatler and
Spectator ; where subscriptions were taken in by Thomson for publishing his Seasons,
&c. At the Star and Garter Tavern, at a meeting of the Nottinghamshire Club,
Jan. 26, 1765, arose the dispute between Lord Byron and his relation and neighbour
Mr. Chaworth, as to which had the most game on his estates : they fought with swords
across the dining-table, by the light of one tallow candle, when Mr. Chaworth was run
through the body, anddied next day. Lord Byron was tried before his peers in Westminster
Hall, and found guilty of manslaughter; but claiming the benefit of the statute of
Edward VI., he was discharged on payment of his fees. In the same house (the Star
and Garter), Winsor made his gas-lighting experiments ; he lighted the street wall in
1807. (See Gas-iighting, p. 371.) In the old Star and Garter house was exhibited,
in 1815, the Waterloo Museum of portraits, battle-scenes, and arms. At the Queen’s
Arms Tavern, Lord Mohun supped with his second on the two nights preceding his fatal
duel with the Duke of Hamilton, in Hyde Park. At the King’s Arms met the Liberty
or Rump-steak Club of Peers, in opposition to Sir Robert Walpole. Almack’s
Gaming Club was on the site of No. 50, and is described at page 240.
Nearly opposite the south-west corner of the Opera-house, ” Thomas Thynne, Esq.,
on Sunday (Feb. 12, 1681), was barbarously shot with a muskatoon in his coach, and
died next day.” The instigator was Count Konigsmarck, in hopes of gaining Lady
Elizabeth Ogle, the rich heiress, to whom Thynne was either married or contracted.
Three of Thynne’s ruffians were tried at the Old Bailey, found guilty, and hanged at
the spot whereon the murder was committed. Borosky, ” who did the murther,” was
hung in chains beyond Mile End Town : the Count was tried as an accessory, but was
acquitted. The assassination is sculptured upon Thynne’s monument in Westminster
Abbey. Pall Mall had early its notable sights and amusements. In 1701 were shown
here models of William the Third’s Palaces at Loo and Hundstaerdike, ” brought over
by outlandish men,” with Curiosities disposed of ” on public raffling-days.” In 1733,
” a holland smock, a cap, checked stockings, and laced shoes,” were run for by four
women in the afternoon, in Pall Mall ; and one of its residents, the High Constable of
Westminster, gave a prize laced hat to be run for by five men, which created so much
riot and mischief that the magistrates ” issued precepts to prevent future runs to the
very man most active in promoting them.” Here lodged George Psalmanazer, when
he passed for an islander of Formosa, and invented a language which baffled the
philologists of Europe. Here lived Joseph Clark, the posture-master, celebrated for per-
sonating deformities : now deceiving, by feigned dislocated vertebrae, the great surgeon,
Moulins ; then perplexing a tailor’s measure with counterfeit humps and high shoulders.
At the Chinese Gallery was exhibited, in 1825, “the Living Skeleton” (Anatomie
Vivante), Claude Ambroise Seurat, a native of Troyes, in Champagne, 28 years old.
His health was good, but his skin resembled parchment, and his ribs could be counted,
and handled like pieces of cane : he was shown nude, except about the loins ; the arm,
from the shoulder to the elbow, was like an ivory German flute ; the legs were straight,
and the feet well formed. (See Hone’s Every-day Boole.) At No. 59, Salter spent
five years in painting his great picture of the Waterloo Banquet at Apsley House,
engraved for Alderman Moon. At No. 121, Campanari exhibited his Etruscan and
Greek Antiquities, in rooms fitted up as the Chambers of Tombs. In apartments at
No. 120, Captain Marryat wrote his Poor Jack.
Nell Gwyn lived in 1670, “on the east end, north side;” and from 1671 to her
death, in 1687, in a house on the south side, with a garden towards the Park; and
it was upon a mount in this garden that ” the impudent comedian ” stood, to hold
her familiar discourse with Charles II., who stood ” on y e green walk ” under the
wall. The scene, as described by Evelyn, has been cleverly painted by Mr. E. M.
Ward, R.A. The site of Nell’s house is now occupied by No. 79, Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
” Nelly at first had only a lease of the house, which as soon as she discovered, she returned the con-
veyance to the King, with a remark characteristic of her wit, and of the monarch to whom it was addressed. The King enjoyed the joke, and perhaps admitted its truth ; so the house in Pall Mall was
conveyed free to Nell and her representatives for ever. The truth of the story is confirmed by the
fact, that the house which occupies the site of the one in which she lived, now No. 79, is the only free-
hold on the south or Park side of Pall Mall.” (Cunning-ham’s Nell Gtcyn, p. 115.) Mr. Cunningham
adds : ” No entry of the grant is to be found in the Land Revenue Record Office.”
A relic of Nell Gwyn, her looking-glass, is preserved in the Visitors’ Dining-room of the Army and
Navy Club-house, in” Pall Mall. The glass was bought with Lord De Mauley’s house, which was
taken down for the Club-house site.
Eastward of Nell Gwyn’s lived Sir William Temple, and the Hon. Robert Boyle, and
Bubb Dodington; and on the south side, Doctor Barrow, and Lady Southesk, the
celebrated Countess of De Grammont’s Memoirs. In Marlborough House lived the
great Duke of Marborough (see p. 552) ; and in a house in front of the mansion
Sir Robert Walpole. Of Schomberg House, Nos. 81 and 82, built for the great Duke
of Schomberg, the centre and the west wing remain. (See p. 449.)
Dr. Graham’s ” Goddess of Health,” who figured here, was a lady named Prescott.
Mr. Cosway, R.A., the next tenant of Schomberg House, was the fashionable miniature-
painter of his day ; and here his accomplished wife, Maria Cosway (also a painter), gave
her musical parties, the Prince of Wales being a frequent visitor. Mrs. Cosway made
a pilgrimage to Loretto, which she had vowed to do if blessed with a living child.
(Notes and Queries, No. 147.) At Schomberg House was first concocted the dramatic
scheme of ” The Beggars’ Opera.”
In the Mall, in 1689, resided ” the Lady Griffin, who was seized for having treason-
able letters put into false bottoms of two large brandy-bottles, in the first year of his
majesty’s reign.” De Foe characterizes Pall Mall, in 1703, as ” the ordinary residence
of all strangers, because of its vicinity to the Queen’s palace, the Park, the Parliament-
house, the theatres, and the chocolate and coffee bouses, where the best company fre-
quent.” Gay thus celebrates the modish street in his time :
” bear me to the paths of fair Pall Mall !
Safe are thy pavements, grateful is thy smell !
At distance rolls the gilded coach,
Nor sturdy carmen on thy walks encroach ;
No lets would bar thy ways were chairs deny’d,
The soft supports of laziness and pride ;
Shops breathe perfumes, through sashes ribbons glow,
The mutual arms of ladies and the beau.” — Trieia, book ii.
Strype describes Pall Mall as ” a fine long street,” with garden-houses on the
south side, many with raised mounts, and prospects of the King’s garden and St.
James’s Park. In gay bachelor’s chambers in Pall Mall lived Beau Fielding, Steele’s
” Orlando the Fair ;” here he was married to a supposed lady of fortune, brought to
him in a mourning-coach and widow’s weeds, which led to his trial for bigamy. Field-
ing’s namesake places Nightingale and Tom Jones in Pall Mall, when they leave the
lodgings of Mrs. Miller in Bond-street. Laetitia Pilkington, for a short time, kept
here a pamphlet and print shop. At the sign of ” Tulip’s Head,” Robert Dodsley,
formerly a footman, with the profits of a volume of his poems and a comedy (published
through the kindness of Pope), opened a shop in 1735 ; and here he published his
Annual Register, Economy of Human Life, and Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. Dodsley
retired in 1759 ; but his brother James, his partner, continued the business until his
death in 1797; he is buried in St. James’s Church, Piccadilly. ” Tully’s Head ” was
the resort of Pope, Chesterfield, Lyttleton, Shenstone, Johnson, and Glover ; Horace
Walpole, the Wartons, and Edmund Burke. Walpole writes of 1786, a period when
robberies in capitals appear to have been a sort of fashion — ” on Jan. 7, half an hour
after eight, the mail from France was robbed in Pall Mall — yes, in the great thorough-
fare of London, and within call of the guard at the palace. The chaise had stopped,
the harness was cut, and the portmanteau was taken out of the chaise itself. What
think you of banditti in the heart of such a capital ?”
At No. 90 died, in 1849, Mr. W. J. Denison, in his 80th year, bequeathing 2″ target=”_top”> mil-
lions sterling : he sat in Parliament 31 years for Surrey. No. 91, Buckingham House,
was built by Soane for the Marquis of Buckingham, 1790-4. At No. 100 lived Mr.
Angerstein, whose pictures were bought for the nation, and were shown here before
their removal to the National Gallery ; and at No. 50 died Mr. Robert Vernon, who
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PANTHEON, OXFORD- STREET. 639 . bequeathed to the country his pictures of the English School, which were for a short time exhibited here. No. 50 was built by Alderman Boydell as the Shakspeare Gallery, for his pictures illustrative of Shakspeare, painted by West, Reynolds, Northcote, and others, and which were dispersed by lottery after being engraved. In 1806 the gallery was pur- chased by a committee of noblemen and gentlemen, by whom was established here the British Institution, for the exhibition of the works of Living Artists in the spring, and Old Masters in the autumn. Here was exhibited West’s large picture (9 ft. by 14 ft.) of Christ healing the Sick in the Temple ; bought by the British Institution for 300O guineas, and presented to the National Gallery. Upon the house-front is a large bas- relief of Shakspeare attended by Poetry and Painting, for which Alderman Boydell paid Banks, the sculptor, 500 guineas ; and in the hall is Banks’s colossal Mourning Achilles, a noble work of pathos and heroic beauty. No. 53 is the House of the New Society of Painters in Water-colours. No. 86, the War Office, was originally built for Edward Duke of York, brother of George III., and was subsequently a Subscription Club-house, called the Albion Hotel; this being the first modern club-mansion in Pall Mall, which had its “houses for clubbing” in Pepys’s time. In the court-yard of the War Office is the bronze statue of Lord Herbert of Lea, Secretary of State for War : sculptor, Foley, R. A. ; erected by public subscription, June 1, 1867. (See Statues.) After the removal of Carlton House, in 1827, the erection of the present splendid club-houses in Pall Mall was com- menced with the Senior United Service and the Athenaeum. (See Club Houses, pp. 241 and 258.) Near Warwick-street stood Warwick House, whence the Princess Charlotte, in 1814, escaped in a hackney-coach to the house of her mother, as vividly described by Lord Brougham in the Edinburgh Bevieio. In Warwick-street is a public-house with the old sign of The Two Chairmen, recalling the sedans of Pall Mall : ” Who the footman’s arrogance can quell, Whose flambeau gilds the sashes of Pall Mall, When in long rank a train of torches flame, ’ ’ To light the midnight visits of the dame.”— Gay’s Trivia, book iii. Here, in 1731, were found, in digging the great sewer of Pall Mall, the fossil teeth of an elephant, 28 feet underground : they are preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Somerset House. Pali Mall East, on the north side of Cockspur-street, contains the University Club-house, described at p. 259 ; and the College of Physicians, described at p. 277. Here also is M. C. Wyatt’s equestrian statue of George III. (see Statues). At No. 4 (Harding, Lepard, and Co.) were exhibited, in 1831, the exquisite water-colour copies made by Hilton and Derby for Lodge’s Portraits of Illustrious Personages, from pictures by Titian, Holbein, Vandyke, Mark Gerard, Zucchero, Jansen, Retel,. Walker, Van Somer, Honthorst, Lely, Ant. More, Mytens, Kneller, Reynolds, Dahl, Jarvis, R.iley, Rubens, Fleck, Juan de Pantoxa, Mirevelt, and P. Oliver. No. 5 is- the Gallery of the Society of Painters in Water-colours. At No. 1, Dorset-place, lived John Thelwall, the classic elocutionist and dramatic lecturer, who late in life left political agitation for the calm pursuits of literature. He was worthily characterized by Coleridge as ” intrepid, eloquent, and honest ; perhaps the only acting democrat that is honest.” Between Whitcomb-street and Charing Cross was formerly Hedge- lane, 300 yards in length ; in the days of Charles I. a lane through the fields, and bordered with hedges. At a low tavern in Suffolk-street, on January 30, 1735, sprung the drunken frolic, out of which arose ” the Calves’ Head Club” (see p. 573). PANTHEON, OXFORD- STREET, ABOUT one-third of a mile on the left from St. Giles’s, was originally built by James Wyatt for musical promenades, and was opened January 27, 1772, when 2000 persons of rank and fashion were present. It contained fourteen rooms, exclusive of the rotunda : the latter had double colonnades, ornamented with Grecian reliefs ; and in niches at the base of the dome were statues of the heathen deities, Britannia, and George III. and Queen Charlotte. Walpole described it as ” the new winter Ranelagh,” with pillars of artificial giallo antico, and with ceilings and panels painted 640 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON. from Raphael’s loggias in the Vatican. In the first winter here were assemblies with- out music or dancing ; and the building was exhibited at 5*. each person ! In 1783, Delpini, the clown, got up a masquerade here, to celebrate the Prince of Wales’s attain- ing his majority ; tickets three guineas each. Next year Garrick was present at a masquerade here as King of the Gipsies. Gibbon was also a frequenter of its gay bachelors’ masque fetes. In 1784, also, the ” Commemoration of Handel” was per- formed here, when the King, Queen, and Royal Family were present. The Pantheon was next converted into a theatre for the Italian Opera company in 1791, the or- chestra including Giardini, La Motte, Cramer, Fischer, Crosdil, and Cervetto. The Pantheon was burnt down January 14, 1792 : Turner painted the conflagra- tion, which he exhibited at the Royal Academy two years after he became an exhibitor. The loss by the fire was stated at 80,00(M. The Pantheon was rebuilt in 1795, ” target=”_top”> Wyatt’s entrance-front in Oxford-street and in Poland-street being retained. It was then let as a theatre, and for exhibitions, lectures, and music. The theatre was reconstructed in 1812, when Miss Stephens (subsequently Countess of Essex), first appeared in London here as a concert-singer ; and first appeared on the stage, at Covent Garden Theatre, in 1813. In 1814 a patent was sought from Parliament to open the Pantheon with the regular drama ; but the application failed. In 1832 the property was sold for 16,O0(M. : the premises are freehold, except the Oxford-street front, which is leasehold. In 1835 the premises were remodelled by Sydney Smirke, A.R.A., and opened as a Bazaar. (See p. 41.) The building was, in 1867, closed, to be converted into a Wine Dep&t. Spa Fields Chapel, in Clerkenwell, was originally built in imitation of the West-end Pantheon.
PANCRAS, ST.,
ORIGINALLY a solitary village ” in the fields,” north of London, and one mile from Holborn Bars, is the most extensive parish in Middlesex, being 18 miles in circumference. It is a prebendal manor, and was included in the land granted by Ethelbert to St. Paul’s Cathedral about 603 ; it was a parish before the Conquest, and is called St. Pancras in Domesday. The history of its church, which Norden thought * not to yield in antiquitie to Paules in London,” is narrated at pp. 193-4. The prebendary of St. Pancras was anciently confessor to the Bishop of London : in the list are Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester; Dr. Sherlock, and Archdeacon Paley. Lysons supposes it to have included the prebendal manor of Kentish Town, or Cantelows,* which now constitutes a stall in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The church has about 70 acres of land attached to it, which were demised in 1641 at 101. reserved rent ; and being subsequently leased to Mr. William Agar, are now the site of Agar Town. In Domesday, Walter, a canon of St. Paul’s, holds one hide at Pancras, which is supposed to form the freehold estate of Lord Sotners, on which Somers Town is built.
St. Pancras’ parish contained, in 1251, only 40 houses; in 1503 the church stood ” all alone,” and in 1745 only 3 houses had been built near it. In 1766 the population was not 600; in 1801, 36,000;
Houses. Inhabitants.
1821 9,405 71,838
1841 15,658 129,969
1851 18,584 166,596
1861 21,928 198,882
A return shows that the single parish of St. Pancras was assessed in 1862, to the property tax under Schedule A, the schedule for the annual value of land (including the houses built upon it, the railways, &c), at 3,798,521£. This is the most populous parish in the metropolis : it includes one-third of the hamlet of Highgate, with the hamlets of Kentish-town, Battle-bridge, Camden Town, Somers Town, to the foot of Gray’s-Inn-lane : also part of a house in Queen-square ” (Lysons), all Tottenham-court-road, and the rtreets west of Cleveland-street and Rathbone-place.
Stukeley affirmed tLe site of the old church to have been occupied by a Roman encampment (Caesar’s), of which he has published a plan (Itinerarium Curiosutn, 1758) ; and the neighbouring Brill of Somers Town Stukeley traces to a contraction of Bury * Anciently Kentcsstoune, where William Bruges, Garter King-at-arms in the reign of Henry V., had a country-house, at which he entertained the Emperor Sigismund.
or Burgh Hill, a Saxon name for a fortified place on an elevated site ; following Camden in his illustration of the village of Brill in Buckinghamshire.
At Battle-bridge, in 1842, was discovered a Roman inscription attesting the great battle between the Britons under Boadicea, and the Romans under Suetonius Paulinus, to have been fought on this spot.
The inscription hears distinctly the letters leg. xx. (the twentieth legion), one of the four which
came into Britain in the reign of Claudius ; and the vexillation of which was in the army of Suetonius
Paulinus, when he made that victorious stand in a fortified pass, with a forest in his rear, against the
insurgent Britons. The position is described by Tacitus. On the high ground above Battle-bridge are
vestiges of Roman works ; and the tract of land to the north was formerly a forest. The veracity of the
following passage of the historian is therefore fully confirmed . — “Deligitque locum artis faucibus, et a
tergo silva clausnm ; satis cognito, nihil hostium nisi in fronte, et apertam planitiem esse sine mctu
insidiarum.” He further tells us, that the force of Suetonius was composed of ” quartadecima legio,
cum VPxillariis vicetimanis, et e proximis auxiliares.” {Tacit. Annal. lib. xiv.) So that, almost to the
letter, the place of this memorable engagement seems, by the discovery of the above inscription to be
ascertained.
In Ben Jonson’s play, the Tale of a Tub, the characters move about in the fields
near Pancridge (St. Pancras) ; Totten-court is a mansion in the fields ; a robbery is pre-
tended to be committed ” in the ways over the country ” between Kentish Town and
Hampstead Heath; and a warrant is granted by a ” Marribone” justice.
St. Pancras had formerly its mineral springs, which were much resorted to.
Near the old churchyard, in the yard of a house, is the once celebrated St. Pancras’
Well, slightly cathartic. St. Chad’s Well, in Gray’s-Inn-road, has a similar property ;
and the Hampstead Wells and Walks were given in 1698 to trustees for the benefit of
the poor. The Hampstead Water was formerly sold in flasks in London.
In St. Pancras are the Termini of the two largest Railways in England : the North-
western, Euston-squarej and the Great Northern at King’s Cross, 45 acres. The name of
King’s Cross dates from the accession of George IV., when the streets were commenced
building on the ground known as Battle-bridge, then in ill repute, and subsequently
changed to the royal designation. In a house in Montgomery’s nursery-gardens, the
site of the north side of Euston-square, lived Dr. Wolcot {Peter Pindar), the satirist.
The vicarage was valued at 28£. in 1650 ; it is rated in the King’s books at 91. ; and
at this time is stated at 1700Z. St. Pancras Churches, Old and New, are described at
pp. 193-194. Under the belfry of the old church was interred privately, in a grave
14 feet deep, the body of Earl Ferrers, executed at Tyburn in 1760.
The Cemetery for St. Pancras, 87 acres (being the first extra-mural burial-ground
for the metropolis, by Act 15 and 16 Victoria, cap. 85), was commenced in 1853, on
” Horse-shoe Farm,” in the Finchley-road, about 4J miles from St. Pancras Work-
house, and 2 miles from the extreme northern boundary of the parish. St. Pancras
Workhouse often contains upwards of 1200 persons, equal to the population of a large
village. The excellent Female Charity School in the Hampstead-road dates from 1776.
In the northern part of the parish, between Kentish Town and Haverstock Hill, is Gospel Oak Field,
traditionally said to be the spot where the Gospel was first preached in this kingdom ; the site is inclosed
by a wooden railing containing the boundary stone of St. Pancras and the adjoining parish of St. John’s,
Hampstead. When Wickliffe attended the citation at St. Paul’s Cathedral, he is said to have frequently
preached under this tree; at the Reformation, from under its branches were promulgated the doc-
trines of Protestantism; and here Whitefield preached nearly three centuries later. Some thirty years
after, the tree died ; and when a young tree was planted in its place, it as often was killed. However,
the site was marked; and within memory, it was the practice, when beating the bounds of the parish, to
regale the children, when the Vicar of the parish attended, and offered up prayer. There are seven
churches of St. Pancras in England, another in France, another in Giessen in Hesse Darmstadt ; another,
indeed many, in Italy, one celebrated church in Rome itself. — See The Life and Times of St. Panerat.
By Edward White. 2nd edit. 1856.
Although the Midland Railway has cut through Gospel Oak Field, here are edifices
in keeping with the ancient religious associations of the place. Here is St. Martin’s,
a carefully finished specimen of the Third Pointed, or Perpendicular style ; St. Andrew’s,
in the First Pointed, and somewhat Byzantine ; a Congregational Chapel, of some archi-
tectural character ; and a large Roman Catholic Convent. Here, too, is the Birkbeck
School, built in place of the School removed for the Railway.
PARIS GARDEN,
A PORTION of the manor of that name on the Bankside, and so called from Robert de
Paris, who had a house and grounds there, in the reign of Richard II., and ” who,
T T
642 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
by proclamation ordained that the butchers of London should buy that garden for re-
ceipt of the garbage and entrails of beasts ; to the end the City might not be annoyed
thereby.” — Blount’s GlossograpMa, edit. 1681.
This manor was given to the monastery of Bermondsey in 1113, and Robert de
Paris must have been a lessee under the Abbot of Bermondsey. In 1537, the manor
was conveyed to Henry VIII. j and Queen Elizabeth, in the twentieth year of her
reign, granted the manor in exchange, to Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon. It was sub-
sequently held by Thomas Cure, saddler to the Queen, and founder of the Almshouses
in Southwark which bear his name ; and lastly by Richard Taverner and William
Angell, citizens. The moated manor-house was called Holland’s Leaguer, from
Shakerly Marmion’s satirical tract on this house and its inmates, entitled ” Holland’s
Leaguer, or a Discourse on the life and actions of Donna Brittannia Hollandia, the
Arch-mistress of the wicked Women of Utopia ” (4to, 1632). It had succeeded the
stews of Bankside as a public brothel, and in the reigns of James I. and Charles I.
was a fashionable resort. A rude wood-cut of the house, with a draw-bridge crossing
the moat, is prefixed to the tract. The site of the house and garden is partly occupied
by the present Holland street, and Pellatt’s Glass-house occupies part of the site of
the Falcon theatre, and is named therefrom. In 1670, the manor of Paris Garden was
constituted the parish of Christchurch, and a church built thereon, rebuilt 1738. In
1867, the Metropolitan Board of Works took a portion of the manor, for which they
paid 500Z. Paris Garden had its theatre, to be described under Theatres.
” There is, or used to be, a ditch or dyke running across Great Surrey-street, Blackfriars-road, but for
some few years past it has been covered or built upon. All buildings thereon are subject to a ground-
rent, payable to the Steward of the Manor of ’ Old Paris Garden,’ and collected half-yearly.” — Note* and
Queries, No. 265, 1854.
PARKS.
THE Parks have been well denominated by an amiable statesman (Windham), ” the
lungs of London ;” for they are essential to the healthful respiration of its inha-
bitants. There are fourteen Royal Parks and Pleasure-grounds in or about London ; the
parks being those of Battersea, Bushy, Greenwich, Hampton Court, Kennington,
Kensington, Regent’s, Richmond, St. James’s, Green, Hyde, and Victoria; and the
pleasure-grounds of Hampton Court and Kew. The grounds of the Hospital and
Military Asylum at Chelsea, with Holyrood Park and Longford River, are also included
under the above heading, the total estimate of charges connected with which amounts,
for the financial year 1867-8, to 125.326Z. Of this sum, 5095Z. are paid to the
Ranger’s departments of Greenwich, Richmond, St. James’s, Green, and Hyde Parks ;
the grounds of the Hospital and Military Asylum at Chelsea costing 1704J. Tho
income derived from the Royal Parks is about 5000J. per annum, and is paid to the
Consolidated Fund.
Albert, or Finsbury Park, equidistant from Regent and Victoria Parks, is to commence at Highbury Crescent, passing along the right side of Holloway and Hornsey roads to the Seven Sisters’-road, and including all the space of fields to the west of Newington Green ; afterwards inclining towards the New River, which it is proposed to cross north of the Horse-shoe, excluding the Junction Railway, and extending to the bottom of Highbury Grove, completing the enclosure of 300 acres.
Battersea Park consisted, prior to its formation, of small Lammas Lands, in lieu of which a Lammas Hall has been erected in Battersea. In 1846, its conversion into a park was decided by Act of Parliament. Before it was fit even to walk upon it was necessary to raise the entire surface. Fortunately, about this time the London Docks (Victoria) Extension were commenced. It was requisite to excavate and remove thence to a distance immense quantities of earth, which were gladly received at Battersea-fields ; and from this and other sources not less than 1,000,000 cubic yards of earth have been deposited on this site. This occupied several years, and the actual formation of the park could not be commenced till 1856 : the drives, walks, and ornamental lake were then laid out and formed; the planting began in 1857. Large quantities of earth were deposited and formed into undulating mounds and banks, and several acres were thus reclaimed along the banks of the river. These deposits of earth were well adapted to the growth of trees and shrubs, which consist of the choicest kinds of both, and this park contains one of the richest collections in or near London. About 200 acres are here appropriated to ornamental and recreative purposes — viz., grass surface, 100 acres; water, 20; and shrubberies, plantations, drives, and walks, 80.
About 34 acres have been prepared for cricket, in match-grounds and practice-ground for schools, and for organized clubs. Other large open spaces are used for the drill and exercises of the troops stationed at Chelsea New Barracks, as also of various Volunteer corps, and the district Police. Portions are set apart for trap-ball, rounders, and other games; and when the cricket season terminates football is commenced.
The lake is an artificial one, and is fed partly from the river Thames and partly by a
steam-engine, fixed for the purpose of supplying the park with water for the lodges,
drinking fountains, roads, flower-beds, &c. The depth of the water is too shallow for
bathing, being only 2^ feet deep. The lake, however, is extensively used for boating.
The peninsula, comprising an area of 5f acres, is laid out in the English landscape
style, combining a series of mounds with gentle slopes, between which are pic-
turesque vistas. Nearly at its centre there is a reservoir, which is excavated below
the level of the neighbouring springs. The water from this self-supplied source is as
clear as crystal ; it is pumped into an elevated tank which holds 20,000 gallons, from
which arc laid service pipes for the supply of the park. A horse-ride has been formed
about 40ft. wide; and the South-eastern portion of the park is appropriated as a
gymnasium and playground.
Here is the Sub-Tropical Garden, nearly 4 acres In extent. Here is a bed of caladimn esculentum,
from the West Indies, with big leaves not to be matched in England. Australian tree ferns throw out
their graceful leaves as luxuriantly as though they were still under glass. The India-rubber plant is
growing in great profusion. So is the Banana and the curious Indian shot plant. Further on we come
to the variegated Croton, and the beautiful scarlet foliage of the Dragon’s-blood tree from South America.
Here is a tropical plant, the Canna limbata, which bravely contends with the rigours of an English winter.
Among many others are — the large-leaved tobacco plant; a new variety of the sugar-cane from Japan;
the coral tree, with its beautiful and suggestive flower; the Dracaena nutans, drooping, combined with
upright leaves; a Southern emblem, the Palmetto palm ; the Date palm; the Rice-paper plant of China;
the Papyrus plant of Egypt, and the veritable Bulrush of the Nile. In another part of the park is a
rosary, the soil of which is well suited to the production of the queen of the English garden.
Chelsea Hospital Grounds, on the northern bank of the Thames, have been relaid
out : the surface has been raised on the south 4£ feet, and elsewhere from 10 to 24 feet,
in which work, some 100,000 cubic yards of stuff have been deposited; an avenue of old
pollard lime-trees, planted some 150 years ago in the centre of the grounds, has been
removed by powerful machines, four or five tons of earth being taken with each tree ; and
the whole of the trees have been formed into two avenues, and the grounds planted with
flowering shrubs. A portion of the grounds occupying the site on which Ranelagh House
formerly stood is devoted to the private use of the inmates of the Hospital, and has been
re-formed and laid out. Here allotments are set apart for the pensioners, consisting of a
square rod each ; and they are so successfully cultivated by some of these men, that as
much as 101. or 111. has been realized on one allotment. This is done chiefly by the
cultivation of the musk plant, of which two and three crops are obtained in a season,
and for which there is an easy sale to hawkers.
Green Park, The, 60 acres in extent, adjoins St. James’s Park on the north, and
extends westward to Hyde Park Corner, the line of communication being by the fine
road Constitution Sill. It was formerly called Little St. James’s Park, and was reduced
in 1767, by George III., to add to the gardens of Buckingham House. At the Peace
Commemoration, in 1814, here was erected a vast Temple of Concord, with allegorical
paintings and illuminations and fireworks. In 1840-41 the entire Park was drained,
and the surface relaid and planted; and the Deputy-Ranger’s Lodge, towards the
north-west corner, was then taken down. At the north-east corner was formerly the
Chelsea Waterworks Reservoir, reconstructed in 1829, 44 feet above Trinity high-
water mark of the Thames, and containing 1,500,000 gallons. The Reservoir has
been filled up. This high ground commands fine views of the Norwood and Wimbledon
hills, and of the roof of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
On the cast side of the Park is a line of noble mansions, including Stafford House, Bridgewater House; and Spencer House, with its finial statues, commended by Sir
William Chambers. The gardens of the several houses are leased of the Crown.
Br. King relates, that Charles II. having taken two or three turns one morning in St. James’s Park,
attended only by the Duke of Leeds and Lord Cromarty, walked up Constitution Hill ; and as the king
was crossing the road into Hyde Park, met the Duke of York in his coach, returning from hunting. The
duke alighted to pay his respects to the king, and expressed his surprise to meet his majesty with such
a small attendance, adding that he thought the king exposed himself to some danger. ” No kind of
danger, James; for I am sure no man in England will take away my life to make you king,” was
Charles’s reply.
In Constitution-hill-road, near the Palace, three diabolical attempts have been made
to shoot Queen Victoria : by a lunatic, named Oxford, June 10, 1840 ; by Francis,
another lunatic, May 30, 1842; and by an idiot, named Hamilton, May 19, 1849. On
June 29, 1850, at the upper end of the road, Sir Robert Peel was thrown from his
horse ; he died at his house in Whitehall Gardens, on July 2.
The Arch at the entrance of the road from Hyde Park Corner is a poor adaptation
from the Arch of Titus at Rome, and was originally designed as an entrance to Buckingham
Palace Gardens. It bears the colossal equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington.
The Green Park has been greatly improved, from almost a bare field to a resort of
some picturesqueness and variety. A new horse-ride has been made, from Buckingham
Palace to Stable-yard Gate, St. James’s.
Hyde Park extends from Piccadilly westward to Kensington Gardens, and lies
between the great western and Bayswater roads. It is the site of the ancient manor
of Hyde, which belonged to the monastery of St. Peter, Westminster, until it was con-
veyed to Henry VIII. in 1536, soon after which a keeper of the park is mentioned.
In 1550 the French Ambassador hunted here; and in 1578 the Duke Casimir shot a
doe from amongst 300 other deer in Hyde Park. In 1652 the Park was sold by order
of Parliament, for 17,000Z.; the deer being valued, in addition, at 1651. 6s. 2d.
The park then contained 620 acres, and extended eastward to Park-lane, and on the
west almost to the front of Kensington Palace : it is described in the indenture of sale
as “that impaled ground called Hyde Park;” but, with the exception of Tyburn
meadow, the enclosure for the deer, the old lodge at Hyde Park Corner, and the
Banqueting House, the park was left in a state of nature ; and De Grammont describes it
as a barn-field in the time of Charles II. Ben Jonson mentions its great spring show
of coaches; Brome names its races, horse and foot; and in Shirley’s play of Hyde
Park, 1637, is the scene of a race in the park between an Irish and English footman.
After the sale by Parliament, tolls were levied.
” llth April, 1653. — I went to take the aire in Hide Park, when every coach was made to pay a
shilling, and every horse sixpence, by the sordid fellow (Anthony Deane, of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields,
Esq.) who had purchas’d it of the State, as they were call’d.” — Evelyn.
The park does not appear to have been thrown open to the public until the time of
Charles I., and then not indiscriminately.
In the Character of England, 1659, it is described as ” a field near the town, which they call Hyde
Park ; the place not unpleasant, and which they use as our course ; but with nothing of that order,
equipage, and splendour; being such an assembly of wretched jades and hackney-coaches, as, next a
regiment of carrmen, there is nothing approaches the resemblance. This parke was, it seems, used by
the late king and nobility for the freshness of the air and the goodly prospect; but it is that which now
(besides all other exercises) they pay for here in England, though to be free in all the world besides;
every coach and horse which enters buying his mouthful and permission of the publicane who has pur-
chased it, for which the entrance is guarded with porters and long staves.”
At the Restoration, Mr. Hamilton was appoined Ranger of the park, which he let
in farms until 1670, when it was enclosed with a wall, and re-stocked with deer.
Refreshments were thus early sold; for 25th April, 1669, Pepys carried his pretty
wife to the lodge, and there in their coach ate a cheesecake, and drank a tankard of
milk. De Grammont describes the promenade as ” the rendezvous of fashion and
beauty. Every one, therefore, who bad either sparkling eyes or a splendid equipage,
constantly repaired thither; and the king (Charles II.) seemed pleased with the place.”
Maying was a favourite custom here : May 1, 1661, Evelyn ” went to Hyde Park to
take the air ; where was his Majesty and an innumerable appearance of gallants and
rich coaches, being now the time of universal festivity and joy.” Even in the Puritan
times, May (1654) ” was more observed by people going a-maying than for divers years past ; and, indeed, much sin committed by wicked meetings, with fiddlers, drunkenness, ribaldry, and the like. Great resort came to Hyde Park, many hundreds of coaches,
and gallants in attire: hut most shameful powdered-hair men, and painted and
spotted women.” A few days after, the Lord Protector and many of his Privy
Council witnessed in Hyde Park “a howling of a great ball by fifty Cornish
gentlemen of one side, and fifty of the other ; one party playing in red caps, and the
other in white. The ball they played withal was silver, and designed for that party
which did win the goal.” Evelyn, in May, 1658, ” went to see a coach-race in Hyde
Park ;” and Pepys, August, 1660, ” To Hyde Park by coach, and saw a fine foot-race
three times round the park.” Here a strange accident happened to Cromwell in 1654 :
“The Duke of Holslein made him (Cromwell) a present of a set of gay Friesland coach-horses; with
which, taking the air in the park, attended only with his secretary, Thurloe, and a guard of Janizaries,
he would needs take the place of the coachman, and not content with their ordinary pace, he lashed
them very furiously. But they, unaccustomed to such a rough driver, ran away in a rage, and stopped
not till they had thrown him out of the box, with which fall his pistol fired in his pocket, though with-
out any hurt to himself; by which he might have been instructed how dangerous it was to meddle with
those things wherein he had no experience.” — Ludlow.
Cromwell was partial to Hyde Park here Syndercombe and Cecill lay wait to
assassinate him, when ” the hinges of Hyde Park gate were filed off, in order to their
escape.” The Ring was, from all time previous to the Restoration till far in the reigns
of the Georges, the fashionable haunt. It was situated to the north of the present
Serpentine, and part of the Ranger’s grounds cover its sitej some of the old trees
remain, with a few of the oaks traditionally said to have been planted by Charles II.
Near the ring was the lodge called the ” Grave Prince Maurice’s Head,” and in later
times the ” Cake house ;” a slight stream ran before it ; and the house, approached by
planks, presented a very picturesque appearance : it is engraved in the Gentleman’s
Magazine for 1801.
Reviews have, for nearly two centuries, been favourite spectacles in Hyde Park. At
the Restoration, during a splendid show, the Lord Mayor received notice that ” Colonel
John Lambert was carried by the park a prisoner into Whitehall.”
Pepys “did stand” at another review in 1661, when Charles II. was present, while “the horse and
foot march by and discharge their guns, to show a French marquisse (for whom this muster was caused)
the goodnesse of our firemen ; which, indeed, was very good, though not without a slip now and then ;
and one broadside close to our coach as we had going out of the parke, even to the nearenesse to be ready
to burn our hairs. Yet methought all these gay men are not the soldiers that must do the king’s business,
it being such as these that lost the old king all he had, and were beat by the most ordinary fellows that
could be.”
The Militia review by George II. in 1759, the Volunteers by George III., and the
encampment of the troops after Lord George Gordon’s Riots in 1780, also belong to
the military shows of Hyde Park. Here George III. inspected the Volunteers on his
birth-day, June 4th, for several years : in 1800 the troops numbered 15,000. In August,
1814, were held in this park the Regent’s Fete and Fair, when a mimic sea-fight was
exhibited on the Serpentine, and fireworks from the wall of Kensington Gardens ; and
here have been held in the present century three ” Coronation Fairs,” and firework
displays. Of sterner quality was the rendezvous of the Commonwealth troops in the
park during the Civil War. Essex and Lambert encamped their forces here ; and
Cromwell reviewed his terrible Ironsides. In 1643 the citizens threw up the line of
fortification drawn round the City and suburbs, drawn by order of Parliament ; and one
of its strongest works, ” Oliver’s Mount,” faced Mount-street, in Park-lane. (See Fob-
tipications, p. 354.) Here was the celebrated ” Mount” Coffee-house.
Hyde Park continued with little alteration, till, in 1705, nearly 30 acres were
added to Kensington Gardens, by Queen Anne ; and nearly 300 acres by Caroline,
Queen of George II. (see Kensington Gaedens, p. 493), by whose order also, in
1730-3, was formed the Serpentine River. The Park has also been reduced by grants
of land, between Hyde Park Corner and Park-lane, for building ; and according to a
survey taken in 1790, its extent was 394 acres 2 roods 38 poles. In 1766, John
Gwynne, the architect, proposed to build in Hyde Park a royal palace for George III. ;
and in 1825, a Member of Parliament published a magnificent design for a palace
near Stanhope Gate.
Permission to ” vend victuals ” in Hyde Park was granted by George II. to a pilot
who saved him from wreck in one of his voyages from visiting his Hanoverian domi-
nions; and it is stated that the pilot’s descendants to this day exercise the privilege.
646 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
At the same time the King gave his deliverer a silver-gilt ring, which bears the arras
of Poland impaled with those of Lithuania, surmounted by a regal crown. This ring
was exhibited to the British Archaeological Association, Feb. 9, 1853.
The Conduits of Hyde Park are described at p. 289. Upon the east side, 70 feet
above Trinity high-water mark of the Thames, was the Chelsea Waterworks Reservoir,
which contained about 1,500,000 gallons : the iron railing and dwarf wall were added
to prevent suicides, which were formerly frequent here. The reservoir has been
emptied, and the site laid out as a sunk garden, with much taste ; here is a classic
drinking fountain ; A. Munro, sculptor. Upon the east side was Walnut-tree Walk,
shaded by two rows of noble walnut-trees, extended to a large circle ; these trees
were cut down about 1800, and the wood was used by Government for the stocks of
soldiers’ muskets.
The colossal statue near the south-east corner of the park, cast by Sir R. Westmacott, K.A., from twelve 24-pounders, weighing upwards of 30 tons, is about 18 feet high, and occupies a granite pedestal, bearing this inscription : ” To Arthur Duke of Wellington, and his brave companions in arms, this statue of Achilles, cast from cannon taken in the battles of Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo, is inscribed by their country women.” On the base is inscribed: ” Placed on this spot on the 18th day of June, 1822, by command of his Majesty George IV.” The figure is copied from one of the antique statues on the Monte Cavallo at Rome, and is most improperly called Achilles ! it has never received its sword ! The cost of this monument, 10,000£., was subscribed by ladies.
Gates. — The principal entrance is at Hyde Park Corner, through a triple-arched
and colonnaded screen, designed by Decimus Burton : eastward is Apsley House, nearly
upon the site of which stood the old lodge of the park. In Park-lane is Stanhope-
gate, opened about 1750; and Grosvenor-gate, in 1724, by subscription of the neigh-
bouring inhabitants. Cumberland-gate, at the west end of Oxford-street, was opened
about 1744-5, at the expense of the inhabitants of Cumberland-place and the neigh-
bourhood : it was a mean brick arch, with side entrances : here took place a disgraceful
contest between the people and the soldiery at the funeral of Queen Caroline, August
15, 1821, when two persons were killed by shots from the Horse-guards on duty. In
1822, the unsightly brick and wooden gate was removed ; and handsome iron gates
were substituted, at the cost of nearly 2000Z., by Mr. Henry Philip Hope, of Norfolk-
street, Park-lane. In 1851 these gates were removed for the marble arch from Buck-
ingham Palace, and placed on each side of it j the cost of removing the arch and re-
building it being 4340?. (See Aeches, p. 21.) In the Bayswater-road is Victoria-
gate : nearly opposite is the handsome terrace, Hyde- Park-gardens. Upon the south
side of the park are the Kensington-gate ; the Prince of Wales’s-gate, near the site of
the Half-way House ; and Albert-gate, Knightsbridge.
Rotten Mow, on the south side of the park, extends about 1^ mile from the lodge
at Hyde Park Corner to the Kensington-gate : it is for saddle-horses, who can gallop
over its fine loose gravel without danger from falling ; and it is crowded with eques-
trians between 5 and 7 p.m., during the high London season. The name Rotten is
traced to rotteran, to muster ; which military origin may refer to the park during the
Civil War ; but the derivation is disputed. Between Rotten-row and the Queen’s
Drive was erected the Building for the Great Exhibition of 1851 :
“But yesterday a naked sod,
The dandies sneered from Rotten-row,
And sauntered o’er it to and fro,
And see ’tis done !
As though ’twere by a wizard’s rod,
A blazing arch ot lucid glass
Leaps like a fountain from the grass,
To meet the sun !
A quiet green but few days since,
With cattle browsing in the shade,
And lo ! long lines of bright arcade
In order raised;
A palace as for fairy Prince,
A rare pavilion, such as man
Saw never since mankind began,
And built and glazed !”
May-day Ode, by W. M. Thackeray : Times, May 1, 1851.
PARKS. 647
The Crystal Palace, as the building was appropriately so named, we believe, by-
Douglas Jerrold, its roof and sides being of glass, was designed by Mr. (subsequently
Sir Joseph) Paxton ; and was constructed by Mr. (subsequently Sir Charles) Fox, and
Mr. Henderson. The ground was broken July 30, 1850 ; the first column was placed
Sept. 26 j and the building was opened May 1, 1851.
It was a vast expansion of a conservatory design, built at Chatsworth by Mr. Paxton, for the flower-
ing of the Victoria Lily. The Crystal Palace was cruciform in plan, with a transept, nave, and side
aisles ; consisting of a framework of wrought and cast-iron, firmly braced together, and based upon a
foundation of concrete. It was built without a single scaffold-pole, a pair of shears and the Derrick crane
being the only machinery used in hoisting the materials. In the plan, every measurement was a mul-
tiple of 8. Thus the columns were all 24 feet high, and 24 feet apart ; and the centre aisle or nave was
72 feet, or 9 times 8. Again, one single area, bounded by 4 columns and their crowning girders, was the
type of the whole building, which was a simple aggregation of so many cubes, in extreme length 1851
feet, corresponding with the year of the Exhibition ; width 408 feet ; with an additional projection on the
north side, 936 feet long by 48 wide. The great avenues ran east and west ; very near the centre crossed
the transept, 72 feet high, and 108 wide. Its roof was semicircular, designed by Mr. (subsequently Sir
Charles) Barry, so as to preserve three fine old elms. The other roofs, designed by Mr. Paxton, were flat.
The entire area of the buildingwas 772,784 square feet, or about 19 acres, nearly seven times as much as
St. Paul’s Cathedral. ” The Alhambra and the Tuileries would not have filled up the eastern and western
nave; the National Gallery would have stood beneath the transept; the palace of Versailles (the largest
in the world) would have extended but a little way beyond the transept; and a dozen metropolitan
churches would have stood erect under its roof of glass.” (AthencBum, No. 1227.) The ground area was
divided into a central nave, four side aisles, and several courts and avenues; and a gallery ran through-
out the building. There were about 3000 columns, nearly 3500 girders, and altogether about 4000 tons
of iron built into the structure. The iron skeleton progressed with the framing and glazing, requiring 200
miles of wooden sash-bars, and 20 miles of Paxton gutters for the roof, which required 17 acres of glass ;
besides which, there were 1500 vertical glazed sashes. Flooring 1,000,000 square feet; total wood-work,
600,000 cubic feet. The hollow cast-iron columns conveyed the rain-fall from the roof. The effective
ventilation was by louvre-boards.
The decoration of the interior, devised by Owen Jones, consisted of the application of the primitive
colours, red, blue, and yellow, upon narrow surfaces : it was charmingly artistic, and was rapidly exe-
cuted by 500 painters. During the months of December and January, upwards of 2000 workmen were
employed throughout the building.
The vast Palace was filled with the World’s Industry : in the western portion were the productions
of the United Kingdom, India, and the Colonies ; and the eastern, those of Foreign Countries. The
value of the whole (except the Koh-i-noor diamond) was 1,781,9292. 11». 4i.
The opening of the Exhibition, on May 1, 1851, was proclaimed by Queen Victoria, accompanied by
Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Royal. Between May 1 and Oct. 11 the number of
visits paid was 6,063,986 ; mean daily average 43,536. On three successive days there entered 107,815,
109,915, 109,760 persons, who paid respectively 51752., 52312., and 52832. There were counted in the
Palace 93,000 persons at one time. Cost of the building, 176,0302. 13*. 8d. Oct. 15, Jury Awards and
closing ceremonial. The whole building was removed before the close of 1852; and, on Nov. 7, 1853, it
was proposed to place upon the site a memorial of the Exhibition, to include a statue of Prince Albert,
the originator of this display of the Industry of all Nations.
This splendid National Memorial is now (1867) being erected in Hyde Park, as
nearly as may be, at the intersecting point of central lines of the two Great Inter-
national Exhibitions (Hyde Park and South Kensington), originated by the Prince
Consort.
The design by Gilbert Scott, R.A., though in some sense a ” Memorial Cross,”
differs widely in type from the form usually described by that term. It is, in fact, a
vast canopy or shrine, overshadowing a colossal statue of the personage to be comme-
morated, and itself throughout enriched with artistic illustrations of or allusions to
the arts and sciences fostered by the Prince, and the virtues which adorned his cha-
racter. The canopy or shrine which forms the main feature of the Memorial is raised
upon a platform approached on all sides by a vast double flight of steps, and stands
upon a basement or podium rising from this elevated platform to a level of about 12
feet. Upon the angles of this podium stand the four great clusters of granite shafts
that support the canopy, which is itself arched on each side from these massive pillars,
each face being terminated by a gable, and each angle by a lofty pinnacle j while over
all rises &fleche or enriched spire of metal work, surmounted by a gemmed and floriated
cross. Beneath the canopy, and raised upon a pedestal, will be placed the quasi-
enthroned statue of the Prince Consort.
The idea of the architect in his design of the canopy, was this :^The first concep-
tion was a shrine. The exquisite metal and jewelled shrines of the 12th and 13th
centuries are nearly always ideal models of larger structures, but of structures of
which the original type never existed. Their pillars were of gold or silver-gilt, en-
riched with wreaths of exquisite pattern-work in many-coloured enamel. Their arches,
gables, and other architectural features were either chased in beautiful foliage cut in
gold or silver, or enriched with alternate plaques of enamel pattern work and of filigree studded with gems. Their roofs were covered with patterns of repousse work or enamel, and enriched with sculptured medallions ; the crestings of roofs and gables
were grilled with exquisite open foliage in gold or silver, while every part was replete with
sculpture, enamel paintings, and jewellery. The architect’s aim, then, was to reproduce
in some degree at full size the ideal structure which these wonderful old jewellers
represented in model. This idea could not, of course, be literally carried out ; but it
has determined the leading characteristics of the monument, and at least so far as the
metal-work is concerned, is being faithfully acted on, while in the more massive parts
of the structure it cannot be carried further than to give its tone to the decorations.
Hyde Park being for the most part high and dry, is perhaps the most airy and
healthy spot in London. The north-west or deer-park, verging upon Kensington
Gardens, is even of a rural character : the trees are picturesque, and deer are occa-
sionally here. The Serpentine has upon its margin some lofty elms : but from other
positions of the park many fine old timber-trees have disappeared, and the famous
Ring of Charles II.’s days can be but imperfectly traced. The drives and walks
have been greatly extended and improved : for the brick wall has been substituted iron
railing ; and the opening of three gates (Victoria, Albert, and Prince of Wales), and
the Queen’s Drive south of the Serpentine, denominate the improvements in the
present reign. From this high ground the artistic eye enjoys the sylvan scenery of
the park ; the old trees fringing the Serpentine, and its water gleaming through their
branches : backed by the rich woods of Kensington Gardens ; and the bold beauty of
the Surrey hills.
Among the floral improvements in Hyde Park is the promenade along the
east side, from Apsley House to the Marble Arch, where the beds of massed flowers
are beautifully effective j and they are continued from the gates by Apsley House
down to the Serpentine. Plantations of ornamental trees are extended along the
south side, in pleasure grounds tastefully planted with shrubs and flowers. Finally,
horse-rides have been made to extend from Victoria Gate to the Magazine Barracks.
Flowers are now grown in Hyde Park, with great success. The first attempt was made by Sir
Benjamin Hall, in 1856, when Chief Commissioner of Works ; but Mr. Cowper, in 1860, made a regular
garden of the space between Stanhope-gate and the Marble Arch, where the massing of colours is very
successful ; between the Marble Arch and Kensington Gardens, the flowers are in patches among the
trees. The flower-beds were so successful in Hyde Park that they were adopted by the side of Rotten-
row, and in other parks. Pipes are laid under ground for the water-mains, and” the Parisian plan of
hose is adopted for watering the flowers and the grass borders.
Tlie Serpentine (so called in distinction from the previous straight canals) is a
pool of water covering fifty acres, formed from natural springs, and originally fed at
the Bayswater extremity by a stream from West-End, near Hampstead, and the over-
plus of certain reservoirs, one of which occupied the site of Trinity Church. In 1834
the stream, or rather sewer, at Bayswater was cut off, and the deficiency was made up
from the Chelsea Waterworks. At the eastern end the Serpentine imperfectly sup-
plies an artificial cascade, formed in 1817 ; and descending into the ” leg of mutton”
pond, the stream leaves Hyde Park at Albert Gate, divides the parish of Chelsea from
that of St. George’s, Hanover-square, and falls into the Thames at Chelsea. The Ser-
pentine supplies the Knightsbridge Barracks and the Horse-guards, the lake in
Buckingham Palace Gardens, and the ornamental water in St. James’s Park. The
depth in Hyde Park varies from 1 to 40 feet, of which Sir John Rennie found, in
1849, in the deepest parts, from 10 to 15 feet of inky, putrid mud — ” a laboratory of
epidemic miasma.” The Serpentine is deepest near the bridge : the whole sheet was
deepened, at a cost of from 10,000Z. to 20,000Z. Here 200,000 persons, on an average,
bathe annually, sometimes 12,000 on a Sunday morning ; and in severe winters the
ice is the greatest metropolitan skating-field. In 1847, pleasure-boats for hire were
introduced upon the Serpentine : the boat-houses are picturesque.
On the north margin The Royal Humane Society, in 1794, built their principal
receiving-house, upon ground presented by George II I. In 1834 the house was re-
built, from the design of J. B. Bunning j the first stone being laid by the late Duke of
Wellington : over the Ionic entrance is sculptured the obverse of the Society’s medal,
—a boy striving to rekindle an almost extinct torch by blowing it ; legend, Lateai
scintillvla forsan — ” Perchance a spark may be concealed.” In the rear are kept
PARKS. 649
boats, ladders, ropes and poles, wicker-boats, life-preserving apparatus, &e. The Royal
Humane Society was founded in 1774, by Drs. Goldsmith, Heberden, Towers, Lettsom,
Hawes, and Cogan. Its receiving-houses in the parks cost 3000Z. a year. In odd
contiguity to the Society’s House in Hyde Park is the Government Magazine, con-
taining stores of ammunition and gunpowder.
Duels fought in Hyde Park. — Temp. Henry VIII., the Duke of B. and Lord B., “near the first tree
behind the Lodge ;” both killed.— 1712. The Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun ; both killed. —
1763. Wilkes and Mr. S. Martin, the hero of Churchill’s Duellist. — 1770. Baddeley, the comedian, and
George Garrick.— 1773. Mr. Whately and Mr. Temple.— 1780. The Earl of Shelburne and Col. Fullarton.
—1780. Rev. Mr. Bate and Mr. K., both of the Morning Post.— 1782. Rev. Mr. Allen and Mr. Dulany.—
1783. Lieut.-Col. Thomas and Col. Gordon, the former killed. — 1787. Sir John Macpherson and Major
Browne. — 1792. Messrs. Frizell and Clarke, law-students, the former killed. — 1796. Mr. Carpenter and
Mr. Pride (Americans), the former killed. — 1797. Col. King and Col. Fitzgerald, the latter killed. —
Lieut. W. and Capt. I., the latter killed.— 1822. The Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Buckingham.
Near the site of the Humane Society’s Receiving-house formerly stood a cottage,
presented by George III. to Mrs. Sims, in consideration of her having lost six sons in
war ; the last fell with Abercrombie at Alexandria, March 21, 1801. This cottage has
been painted by Nasmyth, and engraved in the Art Journal, No. 59, N.S.
The Law, with regard to the Parks, according to the opinion of the law-advisers of
the Crown, November, 1856, is in effect that —
There is a right to close the gates and -exclude the public ; or, the gates being open, to exclude per-
sons ; but that persons who have once entered cannot be turned out without notice that the license is
•withdrawn. No force, therefore, can be brought to bear against bodies or masses, which might contain
many who have not had notice. They also say that it would not be practicable to remove any number
individually and prevent them from returning, and remark on the probability of disorder if even an
individual were turned out. The effect is that the Government have nothing but the common law of
trespass to rely upon with its incidents, which are most important. In July, 1866, the above-mentioned
opinion was submitted to Sir W. Bovill and Sir Hugh Cairns, who were particularly requested to say
whether there was any legal authority to disperse by force any meeting for political purposes in the Park.
Their answer was that there is no such authority for any practical purpose. They state that when per-
sons have once entered the Park they can only be ejected after notice served on or brought home to
each individually. If the assembly remain peaceable the police can do nothing but hand out man after
man. In no case can they legally clear the Park by a charge, and it is most important that this should
be known. The Commissioners of Works, spending public money, represent the public. The Rangers
more properly represent the Crown. All these things are important when we are thrown back upon the
technical law of trespass.
On July 23, 1866, a political meeting in Hyde Park having been forbidden by the
Home Secretary of State, and the gates being closed, under the direction of Sir
Richard Mayne, Chief Commissioner of Police, the railings were torn down, and the
mob entered, and committed wanton damage to the flower-beds and shrubberies. The
cost of the erection of new iron railings and foot-gates round Hyde Park, in the main
rendered necessary by the above riot, is stated at upwards of 10,000/.
Kenningtok Park, formerly Kennington Common, which is described at p. 487,
was completed 1852-3. Tn laying out this little park, of 34 acres, an amalgamation
of the plan geometrical and the English styles has been adopted. It is furnished with
a gymnasium and a playground, which, in that populous neighbourhood, are in constant
use. There is likewise a handsome drinking-fountain, presented by Mr. Felix Slade,
of Lambeth, and designed by Mr. Driver. It is constructed of polished granite, sur-
mounted by a bronze casting, which represents Hagar and Ishmael at the well. There
are two large grass enclosures in the centre of these grounds, in which a very good
plan, and one worthy of adoption elsewhere, is pursued to preserve the turf from utter
destruction. Different portions” of the Park are closed and opened alternately to the
public. Were it not for this precaution, there would not be a living blade of grass to
be seen by the end of July ; every vestige of turf would be trampled to death. The
Park is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, backed by a privet-hedge. The area thus
encircled is only about twelve acres ; and around the lodge — which will be recognised
as the model lodging-house of the Exhibition of 1851 — there is an effective arrange-
ment of common garden flowers in sunk panels of turf. Most of the flowers are raised
on the spot.
Poplar Recreation Grounds, situated between the High-street and East India
Dock-road have been completed, by the Metropolitan Board of Works, and were
opened in May, 1867. The grounds occupy about five acres in extent, and adjoin the
churchyard of St. Matthias, which occupies nearly the same area. The site was
650 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
purchased at a cost of 12,000£., towards which the Metropolitan Board of Works con-
tributed 6000/., and 1500Z. has been realized by the sale of old materials. The re-
mainder is borrowed, and 20 years allowed for its repayment.
Peimeose Hill Pake, about 50 acres at the foot of Primrose Hill, is enclosed and
laid out for cricket, and planted with trees and shrubs, by the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests. On the south side of the hill is a fine open-air gymnasium, which is
more frequented than any other in London.
Regent’s Paee, of 403 acres, lies between the south foot of Primrose Hill and the
New-road, and includes ” Marylebone Farm and Fields.” The relaying out of the estate
was proposed in 1793, and a large premium offered for the best design ; but it was nob
until 1812 that any plan was adopted — the plan of John Nash, architect, who built most
of the fine terraces by which it is surrounded, and proposed to connect this new part of
the town with Carlton House and St. James’s : this has been effected in Regent-street,
which, with the Park, is named from their having been projected and laid out during
the Regency of George IV. The Park is nearly circular in plan, and is comprised
within a ride, or drive of about two miles. The south side is parallel to the Marylebone-
road ; the east side extends northward to Gloucester-gate ; the west side to Hanover-
gate; and the northern curve nearly corresponds with the sweep of the Regent’s
Canal, at the north-western side of which are Macclesfield-bridge and gate. In the
south-west portion of the Park is a sheet of water, in outline resembling the three
legs on an Isle-of-Man halfpenny : it is crossed by wire suspension-bridges, and has
some picturesque islets, large weeping- willows, shrubs, &c. There are 18 or 20 acres
of water on which boats are to be had for hire, and where angling from the banks is
permitted at all times while the gates are open. Near the southernmost point is the
rustic cottage of the Toxopholite Society. In the southern half of the Park are two
circles : the Inner Circle, formerly Jenkins’s nursery-ground, was reserved by Nash as
the site for a palace for George IV. : it is now the garden of the Botanic Society (see
p. 369). On the eastern slope, at the north end of the Park, is the garden of the
Zoological Society. On the east side, a little south of Gloucester-gate, are the enclosed
villa and grounds of the Master of St. Katharine’s Hospital ; the church and domestic
buildings are opposite. (See pp. 166-7.) Among the detached villas in the Park are the
Holme, in the centre, built by William Burton, architect ; St. John’s Lodge (Sir Francis
Henry Goldsmid’s), adjoining the Inner Circle ; St. Dunstan’s Villa, and Holford House,
on the Outer Road; and near Hanover-gate is Hanover Lodge, formerly the Earl of
Dundonald’s. The portico of St. Dunstan’s Villa is adapted from the Temple of the
Winds at Athens : the roof is Venetian ; and in a recess near the entrance are the two
gigantic wooden figures, with clubs and bells, from old St. Dunstan’s Church, Fleet-
street (see p. 160) : they were purchased by the late Marquis of Hertford for 2001.
At the south-east corner of the Park is the Diorama building, converted into a Baptist
chapel in 1854 ; beyond is the Colosseum, described at pp. 280-3. On the south, east,
and north-west sides of the Park are highly-embellished terraces of houses, in which
the Doric and Ionic, the Corinthian, and even the Tuscan, orders have been employed
with ornate effect, aided by architectural sculpture. In the Inner Circle, adjoining
South Villa, is the Observatory, erected in 1837 by Mr. George Bishop, F.R.S.,
F.R.A.S. It consists of a circular equatorial room, with a dome roof; and an arm
containing the altitude and azimuth instrument, micrometers, &c.
The Avenue, an area of four acres, at the south end of the Broad Walk, has been laid out in flower
gardens. Here the flowers are grouped in ribands, arranged with an artist’s eye to colour, the gra-
dations of silver-white, orange, purple, and scarlet seem designed to produce a prismatic effect.
Instead of being mixed with other colours, the yellow calceolaria is massed here and there. The shrubs
and foliage plants grow in great luxuriance. Nearly all the former are flowering shrubs. The spe-
cimens of yucca recurva and the standard hollies — green, golden, and silver, on straight stems— are
especially noticeable. The point d’appui of the garden is a large tazza filled with flowers, and supported
by four griffins. This is placed in the centre of a large curbed bed, and thirty smaller tazzas and vases
are grouped in different parts of the garden. There are fine beds of foliage plants, such as the castor-
oil plant, the Ferdinandia eminens, Cannae, and Centaurea. The flowering shrubs are enclosed by a
hornbeam hedge, trained as a trellis. A few Lombardy poplars, with their silvery flickers, break the
monotony, and add greatly to the apparent extent of the narrow strip of ground. In the summer the
flowers and shrubs, flanked by the horse-chestnuts in full blossom and the fine elms, make a glorious
show. Here is a not unpicturesque red-brick gardener’s cottage ; and there have been added two
fountains— one near Gloucester-gate, and the other in the middle of the Broad Walk, the space round
the latter beautifully laid out with exotics.— Abridged from the Timet.
PARKS. 651
Unlike the other parks, this contains within its boundaries several handsome private
residences, surrounded by picturesque pleasure grounds. Each of the two elder parks
is completely surrounded by houses, so that in one case we have 1000, and in another
nearly 500 acres of trees, grass, and flowers in the interior of our immense metropolis,
just as are the squares in other cities and towns.
Southwark Pake:. — The Metropolitan Board, after eight years’ deliberation, purchased the land for this new Park, at about 911Z. per acre. The site consists of 65 acres of land in the parish of Rotherhithe, bounded by Jamaica Level, Union-road, the Rotherhithe New-road, and the South-Eastern Railway. Of the 65 acres, only 45 are devoted to the purposes of the Park : the remainder being appropriated to building plots, and a road to encircle the Park.
St. James’s Park is in plan an irregular triangle, in form resembling a boy’s kite, eighty-three acres in extent. It was originally a swampy field attached to St. James’s Hospital : the ground was drained and enclosed by Henry VIII., who thus made it the pleasure-ground both of the Hospital — which he had converted into St. James’s Palace — and of Whitehall, whose tilt-yard, cockpit, tennis-court, and bowling-green were on the eastern verge of the Park ; but during the reigns of Elizabeth and the first two Stuarts it was little more than a nursery for deer, and an appendage to the tilt-yard. A procession of 15,000 citizens, ” besides wifflers and other awayters,” on May 8, 1539, passed ” rounde about the Parke of St. James.” In the reign of Charles I. a sort of royal menagerie took the place of the deer with which the “inward park” was stocked in the days of Henry and Elizabeth. Charles, as he walked through the Park to Whitehall on the fatal January 30, 1648-9, is said to have pointed to a tree which had been planted by his brother, Prince Henry, near Spring Gardens. Here Cromwell, as he walked with Whitelock, asked him, ” What if a man should take upon him to be king ?” to which the memorialist replied : ” I think that remedy would be worse than the disease.” Evelyn, in his Sylva, mentions the branchy walk of elms in the Park, ” intermingling their reverend tresses.”
Charles II. added thirty-six acres to the Park, extended the wall towards Pall Mall, had it planted by Le Notre, and, it is believed, by Dr. Morison, formerly employed by the Duke of Orleans. The original account for ” workes and services” is signed by Charles himself. Pepys and Evelyn record the progress of the works : —
” 16 Sept. 1660. To the Park, where I saw how far they had proceeded in the Pell Mell, and in making a river through the Park.” ” 11 Oct. 1660. To walk in St. James’s Park, where we observed the several engines at work to draw up water.” ” 4 Aug. 1661. Walked into St. James’s Park, and there found great and very noble alterations.” ” 27 July, 1662. 1 to walke in the Parke, which is now every day more and more pleasant by the new works upon it.” ” 1 Dec. 1662. Over the Parke, where I first in my life, it being a great frost, did see people sliding with their skeates, which is a very pretty art.” ” 15 Dec. 1662. To the Duke (of York), and followed him into the Parke, where, though the ice was broken and dangerous, yet he would go slide upon his scates, which I did not like ; but he slides very well.” ” 11 Aug. 1664. This day, for a wager, before the king, my lords of Castlehaven and Arran, a son of my Lord of Ormond’s, they two alone did run down and kill a stout buck in St. James’s Park.”— Pepys. ” 19 Feb. 1666-7. In the afternoon I saw a wrestling match for 1000Z. in St. James’s Park, before his Maty, a world of lords, and other spectators, ’twixt the Western and Noithern men. Mr. Secretary Morice and Le Gerard being the judges. The Western men won. Many greate sums were betted.” — Evelyn.
The courtly Waller commemorates the Park, “as lately improved by his Majesty,” 1661. Faithorne’s plan, taken soon after the Restoration, shows the north half of the parade occupied by a square enclosure, surrounded by twenty-one trees, with one tree in the centre ; and in the lower part of the parade broad running water, with a bridge of two arches in the middle. Later views show the Park with long rows of young elm and lime trees, fenced with palings, and occasionally relieved by some fine picturesque old trees.
The Mall, on the north side, a vista half a mile in length, wfcs named from the game of ” pale maille” played here : it was a smooth hollow walk planted on each side, and having an iron hoop suspended from the arm of a high pole, through which ring the ball was struck by a maille, or mallet. (See a drawing, temp. Charles IL, engraved in Smith’s Antiquities of Westminster, and a plate in Carter’s Westminster.)
Here Charles and his courtiers often played : the earth was mixed with powdered cockle-shells to make it bind ; ’* which, however,” says Pepys, ” in dry weather turns to dust, and deads the ball.” (See the account of the game, at p. 636.)
“2 April, 1661. To St. James’s Park, where I saw the Duke of York playing at pall-mall, the first
time that I ever saw the sport.” — Pepys.
Cibber tells us tbat here he had often seen Charles playing with his clogs and
feeding his ducks, which made the common people adore him.
The Bird-cage Walk, on the south side of the Park, nearly in the same line as
the road which still retains the name, had in Charles II.’s time the cages of an
aviary disposed among the trees which bordered it. The keeper of the Volary, or
Aviary, was Edward Storey, from whom or his house is named Storey’s Gate. The
carriage-road between this and Buckingham Gate was, until 1828, only open to the
Royal Family, and the Hereditary Grand Falconer, the Duke of St. Albans.
In the ” inward park” was made a formal Canal, 2800 feet in length and 1Q0
feet broad, running from the Parade to Buckingham House. On„the south of this
canal, near its east end, was the Decoy, a triangular nexus of smaller canals, where
water-fowl were kept. Within the channels of the Decoy was Duck Island, of
which Sir John Flock and St. Evremond were, in succession, appointed governors
(with a salary) by Charles II. ; and Queen Caroline is said to have given the sinecure
to the thresher-poet, Stephen Duck: “the island itself,” says Pennant, “is lost in the
late improvements.”
The Park, as well as the Palace, sheltered persons from arrest ; for, in 1632, John
Perkins, a constable, was imprisoned for serving the Lord Chief-Justice’s warrant upon
John Beard in St. James’s Park. To draw a sword in the Park was also a very serious
offence. Congreve, in his Old Bachelor, makes Bluffe say, ” My blood rises at that
fellow. I can’t stay where he is ; and I must not draw in the Park.” Traitorous
expressions, when uttered in St. James’s Park, were punished more severely. Francis
Heat was whipped, in 1717, from Charing Cross to the upper end of the Haymarket,
fined ten groats, and ordered a month’s imprisonment, for saying aloud in St. James’s
Park, ” God save King James III., and send him a long and properous reign !” and, in
1718, a soldier was whipped in the Park for drinking a health to the Duke of Ormond
and Dr. Sacheverell, and for saying ” he hoped soon to wear his right master’s cloth.”
The Duke of Wharton, too, was seized by the guard in St. James’s Park for singing
the Jacobite air, ” The king shall have his own again.” See Cunningham’s Handbook,
p. 260 ; where are printed, from the Letter-book of the Lord Steward’s Office, two
letters, dated 1677, sent with two lunatics to Bethlehem : Deborah Lyddal, for offering
to throw a stone at the queen ; and Richard Harris, for throwing an orange at the
king, in St. James’s Park.
Evelyn thus records the introduction of skating: — “Dec. 1,1662. Having seene
the strange aDd wonderful dexterity of the sliders on the new canal in St. James’s
Park, performed before their Majesties by divers gentlemen and others, with scheets
after the manner of the Hollanders, with what swiftness as they pass, how suddainly
they stop in full career upon the ice, I went home.” Some of the cavaliers had, pro-
bably, acquired the art when seeking to while away a Dutch winter ; and but for the
temporary overthrow of the monarchy, we should not thus early have had skating in
England. The Park soon became a resort for all classes, since, in 1683, the Duke of
York records, Dec. 4 (a very hard frost), ” This morning the boys began to slide upon
the canal in the Park.”
Evelyn, in 1664, went to ” the Physique Garden in St. James’s,” where he first saw
” orange-trees and other fine trees.” He enumerates in the menagerie, ” an ornocra-
tylus, or pelican ; a fowle between a storke and a swan ; a melancholy water-fowl,
brought from Astracan by the Russian ambassador ; a milk-white raven ; two Baiearian
cranes,” one of which had a wooden leg ” made by a soulder :” there were also ” deere
of severall countries^ white, spotted like leopards ; antelopes, an elk, red deer, roebucks,
staggs, Guinea goates, Arabian sheepe, &c.” There were ” withy-potts, or nests, for
the wild fowle to lay their eggs in, a little above y e surface of y e water.”
” 25 Feb. 1664. This night I walk’d into St. James his Parke, where 1 saw many strange creatures, as
divers sorts of outlandish deer, Guiny sheep, a white raven, a great parrot, a storke. . . . Here are
very stately walkes set with lime trees on both sides, and a fine pallmall.”— Journal of Mr. S. Browne,
ton of Sir Thomas Browne.
Evelyn, on March 2, 1671, attended Charles through St. James’s Park, where he
saw and heard ” a familiar discourse between the King and Mrs. Nelly, as they called
an impudent comedian j she looking out of her garden on a terrace at the top, and the
PARKS. 653
King standing on the green walk under it.” ” Of the mount, or raised terrace, on
•which Nelly stood, a portion may still be seen under the park-wall of Marlborough
House.” (Cunningham’s Nell Gwyn, p. 118.) In the royal garden where Charles
stood, and which was then the northern boundary of the Park, we find Master Pepys,
in his Diary, stealing apples like a schoolboy. Pepys also portrays a court cavalcade
in the Park, all flaunting with feathers, in which Charles appears between the Countess
of Castlemaine and the Queen, and Mrs. Stewart.
Succeeding kings allowed the people the privilege of walking in the Mall ; and the
passage from Spring Gardens was opened in 1699 by permission of King William.
Queen Caroline, however, talked of shutting up the Park, and converting it into a
noble garden for St. James’s Palace : she asked Walpole what it might probably cost ;
who replied, ” Only three crowns.” Dean Swift, who often walked here with the
poets Prior and Rowe, writes of skating as a novelty to Stella, in 1711 : “Delicious
walking weather,” says he ; ” and the Canal and Rosamond’s Pond full of rabble
sliding, and with skaitts, if you know what it is.” The gloomy Rosamond’s Pond, of
oblong shape, and overhung by the trees of the Long Avenue, is mentioned in a grant
of Henry VIII. It occurs as a place of assignation in the comedies of Otway, Con-
greve, Farquhar, Southern, and Colley Cibber ; and Pope calls it ” Rosamonda’s Lake.”
Its name is referred to the frequency of love-suicides committed here. The pond was
filled up in 1770, when the gate into Petty France was opened for bringing in the soil
to fill up the pond and the upper part of the canal. Hogarth painted a large view and
a cabinet view of Rosamond’s Pond : for the latter he received but 1 1. 7s., the receipt in
the handwriting of Mrs. Hogarth. In a house belonging to the Crown, at the south-
east corner of Rosamond’s Pond, was born George Colman the Younger, who describes
the snow-white tents of the Guards, who were encamped in the Park during the Riots
of 1780. The Wellington Barracks, built near the site of Rosamond’s Pond, were
first occupied by troops on March 1, 1814 ; the Military Chapel was opened May 1, 1838.
The trees have been thinned by various means. Dryden records, by a violent wind,
February 7, 1698-9 : ” The graat trees in St. James’s Park are many of them torn up
from the roots, as they were before Oliver Cromwell’s death, and the late Queen’s.”
The uniformity of Bird-cage Walk has been spoiled by the new road. Samouelle, in his
Compendium of Entomology, figures a destructive moth ” found in July, in St. James’s
Park, against trees.”
St. James’s Park was a favourite resort of Goldsmith, and is thus characterized by him: —
“If a man be splenetic, he may every day meet companions on the seats in St. James’s Park, with
whose groaus he may mix his own, and pathetically talk of the weather.” (Essays.) The strolling
player takes a walk in St. James’s Park, “about the hour at which company leave it to go to dinner.
There were but few in the walks; and those who stayed, seemed by their looks rather more willing to
forget that they had an appetite, than gain one.” (Essays.) And dinnerless, Jack Spindle mends his
appetite by a walk in the Park.
After the death of Charles II., St. James’s Park ceased to be the favourite haunt of
the Sovereign, but it continued to be the promenade of the people ; and here, in the
summer, till early in the present century, gay company walked for one or two hours
after dinner ; but the evening dinner robbed the Park of this charm, and the Mall
became principally a thoroughfare for busy passengers.
” My spirits sunk, and a tear started into my eyes, as I brought to mind those crowds of beauty, rank,
and fashion, which, till within these few years, used to be displayed in the centre Mall of this Park on
Sunday evenings during the spring and summer. How often in my youth had I been a delighted spec-
tator of the enchanted and enchanting assemblage ! Here used to promenade, for one or two hours
after dinner, the whole British world of gaiety, beauty, and splendour. Here could be seen in one
moving mass, extending the whole length of the Mall, 5000 of the most lovely women in this country of
female beauty, all splendidly attired, and accompanied by as many well-dressed men. What a change,
I exclaimed, has a few years wrought in these once happy and cheerful personages. How many of those
who on this very spot then delighted my eyes, are now mouldering in the silent grave !” — Sir Richard
Phillips’s Mornirufs Walk from London to Kew, 1817.
For the Peace Commemoration Fete, on August 1, 1814, the Mall and Bird-cage
• Walk were lighted with Chinese lanterns ; a Chinese bridge and seven-storied pagoda
were erected across the canal : they were illuminated with lamps, and fireworks were
discharged from them, which set fire to the pagoda, and burnt its three upper stories,
when two persons lost their lives. Canova, when asked what struck him most forcibly
during his visit to England, is said to have replied, ” that the trumpery Chinese bridge
654 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
in St. James’s Park should be the production of the government, whilst that of Water-
loo was the work of a private company.” — Quarterly Review.
The State-Paper Office, further south, occupying part of the site of the house of
Lord Chancellor Jeffreys, was built by Sir John Soane in 1833 : it was his latest work,
and resembled an Italian palazzo : it was taken down for the site of the new Foreign
and India Offices. At No. 17, Duke-street, died in 1849, aged 81, Sir Marc Isam-
bard Brunei, the engineer of the Thames Tunnel.
Upon the south side of the Park, too, is Milton’s garden-house, in Petty France.
Hazlitt lived in this house in 1813, when Haydon was one of a christening-party of
” Charles Lamb and his poor sister, and all sorts of odd clever people, in a large room,
wainscoted and ancient, where Milton had meditated.” (Haydon’s Autobiography,
vol. i. p. 211.) In the garden-wall is a doorway, now blocked up, but which once
opened into the Park, and was probably that used by Milton in passing from his house
to Whitehall. In Queen-square-place, and looking upon the garden-ground of Milton’s
house, was the house of Jeremy Bentham, who died here in 1832.
The hints for supplanting the forest-trees which skirt the Park, by flowering shrubs,
and dressing the ground in a gayer style, so as to convert even the gloomy alleys of
St. James’s Park into a lively and agreeable promenade, were first published in ” A
Letter to the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Long,” &c, 1825.
In 1827 was commenced the relaying out of the inner Park. The straight canal was
altered and extended to a winding lake, with islands of evergreens : at the west end was
a fountain. The borders of the principal walk are planted with evergreens, which are
scientifically labelled ; some of the fine old elms remain. The glimpses of grand archi-
tectural objects from this Park are very striking, and include the towers of Westminster
Abbey and the new Houses of Parliament ; the extensive front of Buckingham Palace ;
the York Column, rising from between terraces of mansions ; and the Horse-Guards,
terminating the picturesque vista of the lake ; although the ornamental effect is spoiled
by an ugly engineering bridge. Upon the eastern island is the Swiss cottage of the
Ornithological Society, built in 1841 with a grant of 300£. from the Lords of the Trea-
sury : the design is by J. B. Watson, and contains a council-room, keeper’s apartments,
steam-hatching apparatus ; contiguous are feeding-places and decoys ; and the aquatic
fowl breed on the island, making their own nests among the shrubs and grasses. In
1849 an experimental crop of Forty-day Maize (from the Pyrenees) was successfully
grown and ripened in this Park. For the privilego of farming the chairs, 25£. is paid
annually to the office of Woods and Forests.
The fine old trees of the grounds of Carlton House formerly overhung the road by
the park-wall, now the site of the Psestum-Doric substructure of Carlton-house-terrace ;
the opening in which to the York Column was formed by command of William IV., as
had been the Spring Garden gate by William III. Milk Fair, leftward of this gate,
commemorated by Tom Brown, in 1700, has disappeared. The vista of tho Mall,
which consists of elms, limes, and planes, is terminated by the grand front of Buck-
ingham Palace.
On the Parade is the immense mortar cast at Seville by order of Napoleon, employed
by Marshal Soult at the siege of Cadiz in 1812, and abandoned by the French army in
their retreat from Salamanca : it was presented by the Spanish Cortes to the Prince
Regent. The gun-metal bed and carriage were cast at Woolwich in 1814, and consist
of a crouching dragon, with upraised wings and scorpion-tail, involving the trunnions ;
it is allegorical of the monster Geryon, destroyed by Hercules. The mortar itself is 8
feet long, 12 inches diameter in bore, and has thrown shells 3^ miles : it weighs
about 5 tons. On the pedestal are inscriptions in Latin and English. When Soult was
in England, in 1838, he good-humouredly recognised his lost gun. Here was also for-
merly a small piece of artillery which had been taken from Bonaparte at Waterloo.
Upon the Parade was marshalled the State Funeral Procession of the great Duke of
Wellington, November 18, 1852. The body was removed from Chelsea Hospital on
the previous midnight, and deposited in the Audience-Chamber at the Horse-Guards.
Beneath a tent upon the Parade-ground was stationed the Funeral Car, whereon tho
coffin being placed, and the command given, tho cortege, in slow and solemn splcudour,
moved down the Mall past Buckingham Palace, whence the procession was seen by
Her Majesty and the Royal Family.
PARLIAMENT HOUSES. 655
Victobia Pake, Bethnal-green, equal to the entire area of Kensington Gardens,
originated as follows : — In the 4th and 5th years of Her present Majesty’s reign, an
Act was passed to enable the Commissioners of Woods and Forests to complete the sale
of York House, and to purchase with the proceeds a Royal Park. The Duke of Suther-
land paid 72,000£. for the remainder of the lease of York House, and this money was
applied to the purchase of about 290 acres of land, situated in the parishes of St. John,
Hackney ; St. Matthew, Bethnal-green ; and St. Mary, Stratford-le-Bow, county of
Middlesex. Nearly one-third of tbe acreage mentioned is taken for building ground;
the rest is Victoria Park. Its site had been previously market-gardens and brickfields.
The ornamental lake is made over the rough brickfield, near to which stood Bishop
Bonner’s famous hall. The Park is bounded on the north side by Hackney ; on the
south by Sir G. Duckett’s Canal, running nearly east and west ; and on the west by the
Regent’s Canal. It is divided into two portions — the Ornamental or “West Park, and
the East Park. In the former there is an ornamental lake about ten acres of surface,
with three islands. Here boats are hired out ; and there are waterfowl of various
kinds. On the south-west side of the lake there is a fine avenue of elm trees, with a
carriage-drive and shady walks ,• and an arcade, furnished with seats. On the north-
west end of the lake is a walk called ” The Vale,” which is planted with choice trees,
shrubs, and flowers. Close adjacent are the greenhouses and pits for raising and
wintering the plants. In this portion of the Park there are several separate flower-
gardens, riband borders 300 yards long, and mixed flower-beds. The East Park is used
for games, and contains two bathing lakes, which are well supplied with water. These
are much frequented ; as many as 7000 persons often bathe here in one morning. The
extent of these two lakes is about six acres. At the extreme end of the Park is the
cricket-ground, of 35 or 40 acres. Here 60 or 80 wickets are often pitched on
Saturdays. About one-third of the way through tbe Park is the superb Victoria
Drinking-fountain, presented by Miss Burdett Coutts, described at page 358 ; and, to
add to the means afforded for public exercise and recreation, there is a gymnasium, as
there are also swings and merry-go-rounds. The Park has often 30,000 visitors in a
single day. Wednesday afternoon is the children’s day. In the neighbourhood has
been swept away a wretched village of hovels, once known as Botany Bay, from so
many of its inhabitants being sent to the real place. Formerly this Park was on
Sundays the great resort of controversialists, especially such as believe in all manner of
unbelief, and who attracted here congregations of different persuasions ; but the preach-
ing of so many of them being language of the most blasphemous description, in 1856,
all preaching here was forbidden by authority.
In fine weather, when the band plays, over 100,000 persons are frequently collected In this Park.
The people are orderly, most of them being of the humbler classes, and their appreciation of the flowers
is quite as keen as that of frequenters of the West-end parks. Some of the Spitalfields weavers have a
great fondness for flowers, and contrive somehow or other in the most unlikely places to rear very
choice varieties. In small, wretched-looking yards, where little air and only the mid-day sun can
penetrate, you may see patches of garden, evidently tended with uncommon care, and yielding to their
cultivators a fair reward in fragrance and in blossom. Some of the weavers even manage by bits of
broken glass and a framework which just holds together, to put up something which does duty as a
greenhouse ; and in this triumph of patience and ingenuity they spend much of their leisure, happy
when they can make up a birthday bouquet for some friend or relation. The flowers in the neighbouring
park, with their novel grouping and striking contrasts of colour, are, of course, a continual fund of
pleasure to these poor artisans, and gladden many a moment when perhaps work is not too plentiful
and home thoughts are not very happy. In Victoria Park the plants and flowers are labelled in letters
which he who walks may read, without need of getting over fence or bordering. A smaller lake than
that in which the boating and the bathing go on is devoted to yacht-sailing. This amusement seems
almost confined to East London; and here on a summer evening, when a cap-full of wind is to be had,
you may see the lake whitened by forty or fifty toy boats and yachts, of all rigs and sizes, while here and
there a miniature steamboat is puffing and panting. There is even a yacht-club whose members com-
pete with their toy-yachts for silver cups and other prizes. The expense of keeping up a yacht here is
not considerable, and the whole squadron may be laid up until wanted in a boathouse provided for the
purpose. But the matches and trials of these tiny craft are a special attraction of the Park, and draw
together every evening hundreds of people. Ample space is available for cricket ; and in the two gym-
nasia candidates for swinging, jumping, and climbing appear to be never wanting. — Times, September,
1864
PARLIAMENT SOUSES, TEE,
STYLED also ” New Westminster Palace,” occupy the site of the Royal Palace of
the monarchs of England, from Edward the Confessor to Queen Elizabeth.
656 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
Westminster Palace is first named in a charter of Edward the Confessor, ” made”
eoon after 1052 : here the Confessor died, Jan. 14, 1066. On the Easter succeeding,
King Harold came here from York. William the Norman held councils here ; and in
1069 Alfric, Abbot of Peterborough, was tried before the king in curia, at West-
minster, — this being one of the first records of the holding of a law-court on this
spot. William Rufus added the Great Sail, wherein he held his court in 1099 ; as
did also Henry I. Stephen founded the palace chapel, which was dedicated to St.
Stephen. In the reign of Henry II., Fitzstephen records: “on the west, and on the
bank of the river, the Royal Palace exalts its head, and stretches wide, an incom-
parable structure, furnished with bastions and a breastwork, at the distance of two
miles from the City.” The Close Rolls, in the Tower of London, contain many
curious entries concerning the palace in the time of John and Henry III. : here,
in a great council, Henry confirmed the Magna Charta and the Charta de Foresta : in
his reign, also, the gibbet was removed from the palace. In 1238 the whole palace
was flooded by the Thames, and boats were afloat in the Great Hall. There are
numerous records in this reign of painting and decorating the palace, storing its
cellars with wine, &c. (See Painted Chamber, p. 625.) Of the repairs of the
mews, the new buttery and kitchen, and the rebuilding and painting of St. Stephen’s
Chapel, in the reign of Edward I., there are minute accounts. In 1298 the palace
was nearly destroyed by fire, but was restored by Edward II. St. Stephen’s Chapel
was completed by Edward III. The poet Chaucer was clerk of the palace works in
the reign of Richard II., who rebuilt Westminster Hall nearly as we now see it. In
1512 a great part of the palace was “once again burnt, since which time it has not
been re-edified : only the Great Hall, with the offices near adjoining, are kept in good
repairs ; and it serveth, as before it did, for feasts at coronations, arraignments of
great persons charged with treasons, keeping of the courts of justice, &c.j but the
princes have been lodged in other palaces about the City, as at Baynard’s Castle, at
Bridewell, and Whitehall (sometimes called York Place), and sometimes at St. James’s.”
(Strype’s Stow’s London, vol. ii. p. 628, edit. 1755.) Some buildings were added by
Henry VIII., who is supposed to have built the Star Chamber ; a portion of which,
however, bore the date 1602. Parliaments were held in Westminster Hall temp.
Henry III., and thenceforth in the Painted Chamber and White Chamber. After the
Suppression, the Commons sat in St. Stephen’s Chapel, until its destruction by fire
Oct. 16, 1834, with the House of Lords, and the surrounding Parliamentary buildings.
The scene of the conflagration was painted by J. M. W. Turner, R.A.
The demesne of the Old Palace was bounded on the east by the river Thames ; on
the north by the Woolstaple, now Bridge-street ; on the west by the precincts of St.
Margaret’s Churcb and Westminster Abbey, behind Abingdon-street ; and on the
south by the line of the present College-street, where formerly ran a stream, called
the Great Ditch (now a sewer), outside the palace garden-wall.
Among the more ancient buildings which existed to our time, was the Painted
Chamber. Next was the Old Souse of Lords (the old Parliament Chamber), rebuilt
by Henry II. on the foundations of Edward the Confessor’s reign ; the walls were
nearly seven feet thick, and the vaults (Guy Fawkes’ cellar) had been the kitchen of
the Old Palace : this building was taken down about 1823, prior to the erection of
the Royal Gallery and Entrance, by Soane, R.A. Southward was the Prince’s Chamber
(then also demolished), with foundations of Edward the Confessor’s time, and a super-
structure with lancet-windows, temp. Henry III. : the walls were painted in oil with
scriptural figures, and hung with tapestry representing the birth of Queen Elizabeth.
Next was the Old Court of Requests, supposed to have been the Great Hall of the
Confessor’s palace : this was, until 1834, the House of Lords, and was hung with
tapestry representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 : it was destroyed in
the Great Fire, after which the interior was refitted for the House of Commons.
The Armada Tapestry was woven by Spiering, from the designs of Henry Cornelius Vroom, at
Haarlem, for Lord Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of the English fleet which engaged the
Armada. It was sold by him to James I., and consisted originally of ten compartments, with borders
containing portraits of the officers of the English fleet. These hangings were engraved by Pine in 1739.
St. Stephen’s Chapel had its beautiful architecture and sumptuous decoration hidden until the enlargement of the interior in “1800, when its painting, gilding, and sculp-
ture, its traceried and brilliant windows, were discovered. Among the mural paintings
were the histories of Jonah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Job, Tobit, Judith, Susannah, and of
Bel and the Dragon ; the Ascension of Christ, and the Miracles and Martyrdom of
the Apostles ; and in the windows were the stories of Adam and Eve, and of Noah and
his family, of Abraham, Joseph, and the Israelites ; and of the Life of the Saviour,
from his baptism to his crucifixion and death. Among the decorations were figures of
angels and armed knights, Edward III. and his family, and heraldic shields. The
jewels, vestments, and furniture of the chapel were very superb. The Cloisters were
first built in 1356, south of the chapel, on the spot subsequently called Cotton Garden.*
The Crypt, or under-chapel of St. Stephen is described at p. 304.
On the south side, probably, was the small chapel of St. Mary de la Pewe, or Our
Lady of the Pew ; wherein Richard II. offered to the Virgin, previously to meeting
the insurgents under Wat Tyler in Smithfield, in 1381. Westminster Hall will be
described hereafter. Upon its western side were built the Law Courts, by Soane,
R.A., upon the site of the old Exchequer Court, &c. On the east side of New Palace-
yard was an arch, temp. Henry III., leading to the Thames ; and the old Exchequer
buildings and the Star Chamber, described at p. 450. On the northern side of New
Palace-yard, directly fronting the entrance-porch of the Great Hall, on a spot sub-
sequently hidden by the houses on the terrace, stood the famous Clock-tower, built and
furnished with a clock, temp. Edward I., with a fine of 800 marks levied on Chief-
Justice Sir Ralph de Hingham for altering a record : the keepers of this clock- tower
were appointed by the Sovereign, and were paid 6d. a day at the Exchequer. The
tower was taken down about 1707 ; and its bell, ” Great Tom of Westminster,” was
subsequently re-cast (with additional metal) for the great bell of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Hatton describes the House of Commons, altered by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1706,
as “a commodious building, accommodated with several ranks of seats, covered with
green cloth (baize ?), and matted under foot, for 513 gentlemen. On three sides of
this house are beautiful wainscot galleries, sustained by cantaleevers, enriched with
fruit and other carved curiosities.”
Of the House of Lords, in 1778, we have a portion in Copley’s fine picture of the
fall of the great Earl of Chatham. Of the several Gates to the old palace, the only
one of which we have any record is that begun by Richard III. in 1484, at the east
end of Union-street, and taken down in 1706 ; and a century later, in a fragment of
this gate built into a partition-wall, was found a capital, sculptured with William Rufus
granting a charter to Gislebertus, Abbot of Westminster : this capital was sold by Mr.
Capon to Sir Gregory Page Turner, Bart., for 100 guineas. A plan of the old palace,
measured 1793-1823, is engraved in Vetusta Montmenta, vol. v.; in J. T. Smith’s
Antiquities of Westminster; and in Brayley and Britton’s Westminster Palace, 1836,
admirably illustrated, from drawings by R. W. Billings.
For rebuilding, in 1836 was selected from 97 sets the design of Charles Barry, R.A.
The coffer-dam for the river-front was commenced 1837; the river-wall 1839;
and, on April 27, 1840, was laid the first stone, at the north end of the Speaker’s
house. The exterior material is fine magnesian limestone, from Anston, in Yorkshire ;
and Caen stone for the interior ; the river-terrace is of Aberdeen granite ; the whole
building stands on a bed of concrete 12 feet thick. The vast pile covers about eight
acres, and has four principal fronts, the eastern or river being 940 feet in length.
The plan contains 11 open quadrangles or courts, which, besides 500 apartments
and 18 official residences, flank the royal state-apartments, the Houses of Lords
and Commons, and the great Central Hall. The interior walls are fine brick; the
bearers of the floors are cast-iron, with brick arches turned from girder to girder;
the entire roofs are of wrought-iron covered with cast-iron plates galvanized ; so that
timber has not been used in the carcases of the entire building ; and the principle of
making the Palace as nearly fire-proof as possible in the roofs has been thoroughly
carried out.
* Sir Robert Cotton had a house and garden abutting against the Painted Chamber ; and it was
there that his collection of MSS., now in the British Museum, was originally stored. In Cotton House
in 1820, were lodged the Italian witnesses against Queen Caroline on her Trial.
PARLIAMENT HOUSES. 659
The New Palace is the largest public edifice which has been erected for several
centuries in England ; and in the arrangement of its apartments for the transaction
of public business, in its lighting, ventilation, lire-proof construction, supply of water,
&c, it is the most perfect building in Europe. The style is Tudor (Henry VIII.),
with picturesque portions of the town-halls of the Low Countries, and three grand
features: a Clock Tower at the northern extremity, resembling that of the Town-
house at Brussels; a great Central Mall, with an open stone lantern and spire;
and the Royal or Victoria Tower, at the south-west angle.
In 1841 was issued the Fine Arts Commission for rebuilding the Houses of Parliament ; and in 1848
the Commission to superintend the completion of the New Palace. Certain portions of the external
stonework having decayed, a Commission was issued to investigate the cause; competing chemical
processes were adopted as remedies by hardening or indurating the stone, which had been injudiciously
selected : time can only decide the merits of these processes. For details, see Year-Book of Facts. 1861
and 1862.
The vast edifice covers at least twice the site of the old Palace of Westminster,
about half the new ground occupied being taken from the Thames. The East or
River Front has at the ends projecting wings, each 120 feet in length, with towers
of beautiful design, leaving between them a terrace 700 feet long, and 33 feet wide.
The entire length is 910 feet. The wing-towers have crested roofs, and open-work
pinnacles, which, with those of the bays, carry gilded vanes. Between the principal
and one-pair floors is a rich band of sculpture, composed of the royal arms of England
in each reign, from William I. to Queen Victoria. The band below the principal floor
is inscribed with the date of each Sovereign’s accession and decease; and the panels
on each side of the coat-of-arms have sceptres and labels, with badges and inscriptions.
In the parapet of each bay is a niched figure of an angel bearing a shield. The
carved panels of the six oriel windows have the arms of Queen Victoria, to indicate
that the building was erected in her reign. The wing-towers, with their octagonal
stone pinnacles and perforated iron ornaments at their angles and crests, remind
one of the picturesque roofs of the chateaux and belfry-towers of the Low Countries.
The North Front has bays and buttresses similar to those of the River Front; the
bands are sculptured with the quarterings of the kings of England between the
Heptarchy and the Conquest, inscriptions and dates of accession, &c. ; while the
niches between the windows in each bay contain effigies of the Sovereigns whose arms
are below. This front terminates at the west with the Clock Tower and turreted
lantern spire. The height of this tower is 316 feet from high-water mark (Trinity
standard) to the top of the sceptre on its roof. The clock has the largest dials in the
world — that is, where the clock is an integral portion of the design ; the only larger
one being that of Mechlin, the dial of which is of open metal-work, applied over, but
unconnected with the architecture. The roof is fully ornamented and finished with
gilding and colour to an extent not elsewhere to be seen in this country. For this
tower two great hour-bells were provided ; both of which were broken, as described at
p. 44. The weight of gold-leaf used in decorating the clock-tower up to June 30,
1857, was about 95^ ounces; cost of gold-leaf 890£. 6s. 3d.; wages of artificers,
2291. 11*. 3d. ; completion of the work, about 4001. The gold is pure, and treble
the thickness of ordinary gold-leaf.
The Clock was made by Mr. Dent, junior, from the designs of Mr. B. Benison, about 1855. The four
dials are 22 feet in diameter, and are considered to be the largest in the world, with a minute-hand,
which, on account of its great length, velocity, weight, friction, and the action of the wind upon it,
requires at least twenty times more force to drive it than the hour-hand. This clock goes for 8 days.
The great wheel of the going part is 27 inches in diameter; the pendulum is 15 feet long, and weighs
680 pounds ; and the scape-wheel, which is driven by the musical-box spring, weighs about half an
ounce. All the wheels, except the scape-wheel, are of cast-iron. The barrel is 23 inches in diameter,
but only 14 inches long, as it does not require a rope above a quarter of an inch thick. The second
wheel is 12 inches in diameter. The great wheels have all 180 teeth, the second wheel of the hour
striking part has 105, and a pinion of fifteen. The great wheels in the chiming part of the clock are
38i inches in diameter. The clock is said to be at least eight times as large as a full-sized cathedral
clock. It occupies its keepers two hours a week in winding it up. It goes with a rate of under one second
a week, in spite of any atmospheric changes. (Curiosities of Clocks and Watches, p. 205.) It reports
its own time to Greenwich by electrical connexion, and the clockmaker who takes care of it receives
Greenwich time by electricity, and sets the clock right whenever its error becomes sensible, which
seldom has to be done more than once a month. It may be relied oa within less than one second a
week, which is seven times greater accuracy than was required in the original conditions. The entire
machinery of the clock occupies a space 16 feet long, by 5 feet in width, and its weight is over four tons.
An arrangement is also made which will admit of the wheels being taken out of the frame singly witu-
U TJ 2
660 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
out disturbing the others, and the clock is fitted with the patent gravity escapement of Mr. Dent. The
barrel is so constructed as that the hands will keep going while the clock is being wound up. The lines
of the clock are of patent wire rope, and the pallets of the escapement are jewelled with sapphires, and
not with agate, as is usually the case. The minute-hand is 16 feet long, and, notwithstanding that it is
made of copper and beaten out as thin as is consistent with its length and strength, it still weighs 2 cwt.
The hour hand is nine feet long, and is fastened with the minute-hand to the centre of the dial by a
huge gilt rose (part of the arms of Westminster), which is about the size of a small dining-table. All
the interstices between the figures and work on the clock face are glazed in with enamelled glass, so as
to present the appearance of a white dial in the day and allow it to be illuminated during the night.
Each dial is lit with 60 gas jets, which are turned on and off by a peculiar adaptation of the clock-work.
The light in the dial thus wanes as day dawns and increases with the fading twilight. The cost of the
gas for this is 5001. per annum. The clock, altogether, cost more than 22,0CKM.
Tlie South Front resembles the north, has similar decorations chronologically arranged,
and terminates westward with the Victoria Tower.
Saxon Kings and Queens at the South Front, commencing at the wing tower, and proceeding from
base to summit in each bay: — Agatha, Harold II., Editha, Edward III., Hardicanute, Harold, Emma,
Canute, Elgiva, Edmund, Emma, Etheired, Edward II., Elfleda, Edgar, Edwin, Edred, Elgina, Edmund,
Athelstan, Elfleda, Edward L, Elwitha, Alfred, Etheired, Ethelbert, Ethelbald, Judith, Egbert, Ethel-
wolf; two kings of Mercia, Northumberland, East Anglia, Wessex, Essex, Kent, and Sussex; the whole
sculptured in stone by John Thomas.
The Victoria Tower is the largest and highest square tower in the world, being 75
feet square, and 336 feet high to the top of the pinnacle, and over 400 feet to the top
of the flag-staff. The foundation is of solid concrete, 9 feet 6 inches deep, with solid
brickwork over that, the whole inclosed and strengthened by piling. The building
was commenced April 2, 1842, and grew at the rate of 23 feet per year until completed j
it presses upon the foundation with a weight little short of 30,000 tons. The walls
are 12 feet thick up to the base of the first tier of windows, and thence 6 feet. The
storied windows are 44 feet high by 32 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. The figures,
which look so small and infantine in the niches on the sides, are colossal masses, nearly
10 feet high, and weighing many tons. The supporters of the coats of arms of our
kings are as large as horses j and a well staircase of iron winds up in apparently endless
spirals, till the circling balustrade is merged together in the long perspective, termi-
nating at a dim bluish spot no bigger than your hand, which marks the outlet on to
the tower-roof. A person standing on the ground under the centre of the tower can
see up at a glance, as through a telescope, from the bottom to the top. The tower
is fireproof, and was intended to be used as a grand repository for the State papers,
records, and muniments of the nation ; and for this purpose it is divided into eleven
stories, each of which, with the exception of the basement story and the first floor
immediately over it, contains sixteen fireproof rooms. The roof, though made as light
as is consistent with its safety from the wind, nevertheless weighs upwards of 400
tons. That little pierced parapet, which from the street looks scarce sufficient to
prevent a man from falling over, is actually sixteen feet high. The lions and crowns
on its battlemented top are more than six feet high, while even the gilt tops to the
four turrets, which from the ground are hardly distinguishable, are wrought-iron
crowns 5 feet 2 inches in diameter, and weighing one ton each. The roof, sixteen feet
above the parapet, is surrounded with a gilt railing six feet high, the four corners are
guarded by four stone lions twenty feet high ; and from the base of the corners spring four
cast-iron flying arched buttresses, formed in the centre in a kind of crown about thirty
feet above the roof. Here is the colossal flagstaff, of rolled sheet iron bolted together,
110 feet long, 3 feet in diameter at the base, and weighing between sixteen and
eighteen tons. The flag, 60 feet long by 45 feet broad, required upwards of 400 yards
of bunting to make it ; it has to be hauled up by machinery. The little turrets at
the corners reach ninety feet above the roof. They are divided into two stories, the
first or lower being about sixty feet above the roof; and here a low balcony, with stone
work breast-high, allows the visitor to come right out upon the outside of the turret and
walk around it. The view almost repays the effort made to reach it. All London
lies beneath you, looking like a diminished and smoky model of itself, in which some-
how the streets seem broader and more empty, and the houses lower and more regular,
than they ever appear to those on terra firma. On a clear day not only all London
can be seen from the summit of these pinnacles, but even all its suburbs, from Hounslow
to Shooter’s-hill on one side, and from Harrow to the red bleak-looking downs beyond
Addington on the other. The portal is of sufficient capacity to admit the Royal Stato
PARLIAMENT HOUSES. 661
coach to be driven to the foot of the staircase within the tower. Colossal statues of
the Lion of England, bearing the National Standard, flank the portal ; while carving,
rich and emblematical, adorns the walls and groined roof of the interior. High
above a rich quatrefoil band, differing in design, and containing heraldic badges,
foliage, and initials, comes the first tier of windows, with their rich tracery and lofty
two-centred arches. Above these windows are strange devices in the way of shields
and supporters, which here and there show the three lions passant guardant, supported
by such animals as are unknown to modern English heraldry. Nevertheless, these
are the Royal arms of England’s former kings. Within the porch and over the arch-
way on the east side are niches, containing statues of the Guardian Saints of the United
Kingdom — St. George of England, St. Andrew of Scotland, and St. Patrick of Ireland ;
while the similar archway on the north side, which forms the access to the Royal stair-
case has niches of accordant design, one containing a large statue of her Majesty Queen
Victoria in the centre, while those on either side contain allegorical figures of Justice
and Mercy. Recurring to the exterior of the Tower, immediately over the above great
entrance, as well as on the south side, is a row of rich niches, the centre one higher
than the rest, and containing a statue of the Queen ; while the others are occupied by
her Majesty’s father and mother, the late Duke and Duchess of Kent, and other mem-
bers of the Royal Family. (Abridged chiefly from The Times journal.)
The West Front, towards New Palace-yard, is composed of bays divided by bold
buttresses, terminating in rich pinnacles. This land-front will hereafter embrace
the area of the present Law Courts. The niches of the buttresses will contain statues
of eminent commoners. The portion of this front complete, is that opposite Henry the
Seventh’s Chapel, called St. Margaret’s Porch ; and the gable of Westminster Hall,
which has been advanced southward, the great window being replaced, thus forms St.
Stephen’s Porch, with much of the varied and piquant character of the Town-hall of
Louvain. The turrets contain statuettes of Edward III. and Queen Philippa, St. George
and St. Andrew, Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York, St. Patrick and St. Stephen. In
the gable are statuettes of Edward the Confessor and William Rnfus, William IV. and
Queen Victoria ; and this facade is richly sculptured with the Royal arms, the separate
insignia of England, Ireland, and Scotland, badges, &c. The whole composition should
be seen from Poet’s Corner, and it combines well with Henry the Seventh’s Chapel.
Between the Victoria Tower and St. Stephen’s Porch is a range of buildings four
stories in height, with a central clock-tower 120 feet high. Besides the great towers
already named, oriels and turrets add effect to the sky-line of the building, whether
viewed from the exterior or from the courts.
The whole front from St. Stephen’s Porch to Victoria Tower is appropriated for offices
of the House of Peers, including peers’ private entrance and staircase, committee-rooms,
waiting-rooms, and the numerous other apartments required. It also includes a large
room to be called the Peers’ Robing- Room, which is to be decorated in fresco by Mr.
Herbert, R.A. This is lighted from the top, and fitted up in oak, as is the case with
the other apartments. The frescoes will be eight in number, of large size, — the
subjects Scriptural.
“The Palace of Westminster stands alone and matchless in Europe among the
architectural monuments of this busy age. From the border of the Thames, from
St. James’s Park or Waterloo-place, from Piccadilly, or the bridge across the Ser-
pentine, the spectacle of that large square tower, of the central needle, and far away
of the more fantastic Beffroi — all grouping at every step in some different combi-
nation — stamp the whole building as the massive conception of a master mind.” —
{Saturday Semeto.)
One of the Public Entrances to the Houses of Parliament is by St. Stephen’s Stair-
case, ascending from St. Margaret’s Porch : the bosses, panels, and decorative work of
the ceiling and the supporting arches are very elaborate ; the walls will be embellished
with frescoes. Westminster Hall forms the grand vestibule of approach from the
north. About midway, on the east side of the Hall, is the Members’ Entrance to the
House of Commons, through the restored Cloisters of St. Stephen’s : the fan-tracery
of the roof, and a small projecting chapel or oratory, are very beautiful. A cloister
built by Henry VIII. has been restored, as a relic of English mediaeval art. An upper cloister has been added, by which is a staircase to the House of Commons. Eeturning
to Westminster Hall, at the south end is a flight of steps to St. Stephen’s Porch,
65 feet in height : the great central window is 48 feet high and 25 feet wide, and is
filled with stained glass, by Hardman, charged with the insignia of the Sovereigns of
England. On the right is the entrance from St. Stephen’s Staircase, and on the left
is a superb doorway leading into St. Stephens’s Hall, 95 feet long by 30 feet wide,
and 56 feet high, reared upon the ancient Crypt of St. Stephen’s, which has been
restored for use as the Palace Chapel. From the floor of St. Stephen’s Hall there
is no one step throughout the whole extent, — all is of one level. Next is
The Central Sail, an octagon 70 feet square, with the largest span of stone Gothic
roof, of similar form, in Europe : the height from the floor to the key-stone is 75 feet,
and the bosses measure 4 feet in diameter. The eight sides contain alternately great
doorways and windows, the latter to be filled with stained glass; and the niches
between the arches contain portrait and costume statues of the English Sovereigns and
their Queens, sculptured in Caen stone by John Thomas. Among the most striking
are William I. ; Henry I. ; Richard I. and his Queen ; King John ; Eleanor Queen of
Edward I. ; Edward III. and his Queen Philippa ; Henry V. and his Queen Katherine ;
Richard III. ; Henry VII. and his Queen Elizabeth. The encaustic-tile pavement is
very fine. Thence a corridor leads north to the Commons’ Lobby and House of
Commons, and south to the Peers’ Lobby and House of Peers. The archway west
communicates with St. Stephen’s Hall : and the east leads to the Lower Waiting Sail ;
the Conference Sail, in the River Front ; and the Upper Waiting Sail, embellished
with frescoes, including the Patience of Griselda (from Chaucer), by Cope ; Disinheritance
of Cordelia by King Lear (from Shakspeare), by Herbert, R.A. ; the Temptation of
Adam and Eve (from Milton), by Horsley ; and St. Cecilia (from Dryden), by Tenniel.
The Electric Telegraph Office (opened April 1, 1853) is in the Central Hall;
whence wires are laid to the Company’s Office and the metropolitan stations. The
north gable of Westminster Hall and the adjoining Law Courts, Sir Charles Barry*
proposed to make accord with this beautiful front ; New Palace Yard being inclosed
by parliamentary buildings, thus making it, by means of an important gateway looking
towards Whitehall, the entrance courtyard of the new Palace, as it was originally of
the old Palace of the time of Richard ll.f
The Royal Entrance is by the Victoria Tower, already described. At the summit
of the Royal Staircase is the Norman Porch, named from its statues of kings of the
Norman line, and frescoes of scenes from Anglo-Norman history ; its beautifully groined
roof and clustered columns, rich bosses and ribs, are of the same period. To the right
is the Queen’s Robing-room, painted by Dyce, R.A., with frescoes allegorical of chivalry
fostering generous and religious feelings. Here are two frescoes in large panels, by
Maclise, R.A. : the Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after Waterloo ; the Death of
Nelson — one side only is completed ; Mr. Dyce died February 14, 1864. Next is the
Victoria or Royal Gallery, 110 feet in length by 45 feet in width, and 45 feet high ;
to be decorated with frescoes from English history, an armorial band beneath the
stained-glass windows, and a panelled and superbly enriched ceiling. To this gallery
the public are admitted, by tickets (to be obtained of the Lord Great Chamberlain), to
view the procession of her Majesty to open and prorogue Parliament.
The Prince’s Chamber, a kind of ante-room to the House of Lords, has the entrance-
* A very beautiful memorial tablet to perpetuate the memory of the late Sir Charles Barry has been
erected in the nave of Westminster Abbey, over the spot where the distinguished architect of the Houses
of Parliament lies buried ; and nearly adjoining the grave of the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, to whom,
it will be remembered, a monumental brass, representing a full-length figure of the eminent engineer,
was inscribed a few years since. The memorial, which has been placed in the Abbey by the family of
the late Sir C. Barry, consists of a large cross let into a massive slab of black marble about 12 feet in
length by 5 feet in width, and the inscription on the cross is as follows : — ” Sacred to the memory of the
late Sir C. Barry, B.A., F.B.S., architect of the New Palace at Westminster and other buildings, who
died on the 12th of May, 1860, aged 64 years, and lies buried beneath this brass.” The following text
is also inscribed round the outside of the marble slab : — ” Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the
Lord and not unto men, for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Colossiam iii. 23, 24.
t ” The new Palace Yard being anciently enclosed by a wall, there were four gates therein, the only
one at present remaining is that on the east side leading to Westminster Stairs— the three others which
were demolished were that on the north which led to Woolstaple, that on the west called Highgate, a
very beautiful and stately edifice, situate at the east end of Union-street : it was taken down in the year
1706, as was also the third at the north end of St. Margaret’s-lane, anno 1731.”— Maitland 1739.
PARLIAMENT HOUSES. 663
doorway richly decorated with the national arms, armorial roses and quatrefoils; and
opposite, on the north side, in a corresponding arch, is the statue of Queen Victoria,
¦with figures of Justice and Mercy, and bas-reliefs, by Gibson, R.A. Upon the walls
are twelve bas-reliefs, by Theed, carved in oak, of memorable events in Tudor history ;
and over these panels, are twenty -eight portraits of the same period, painted on a gold
ground. The frieze is enriched with oak-leaves and acorns, and armorial shields and
labels ; the windows are painted with the rose, thistle, and shamrock, and regal crowns ;
and the armorial ceiling and Tudor fire-places are dight with colour, gilding, and
sculpture. From the Prince’s chamber we enter
The HotrsE of Lords, extremely rich in gilding, polychromy, wrought metal, and
carved work. Its dimensions arc, length in the clear, 91 feet, breadth 45 feet, and
height 45 feet, so that it is a double cube. The walls are 3 feet 1 inch thick. East
and west are twelve lofty windows, six on either side, filled with painted-glass whole-
length portraits of the kings and queens, consort and regnant, of the United Kingdom :
six containing figures of the royal line of England before the union of the crowns ;
three, of the royal line of Scotland from Bruce to James VI.; and three, of the
Sovereigns of Great Britain from the reign of Charles I. The style of colouring in
these windows is that of 1450-1500.
At each end of the House are three archways, within which are these wall-frescoes : —
Over the Throne : Edward III. conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince; C. W. Cope,
R.A. The Baptism of St. Ethelbert; W. Dyee, E.A. Prince Henry acknowledging the authority of
Judge Gascoigne; C. W. Cope, R.A.
Over the Strangers’ Gallery: The Spirit of Justice; D. Maclise, E.A. The Spirit of Religion; J. C.
Horsley. The Spirit of Chivalry; D. Maclise, R.A.
Between the windows, archways, and in the corners, are canopied niches, with pedestals
supported by angels bearing shields charged with the arms of the eighteen barons who
obtained Magna Charta from King John, and whose bronze effigies occupy the niches.
Above these niches are segments of arches, which, as trusses, support the main arches
of the ceiling, and are elaborately pierced and carved.
The ceiling is flat, and divided into compartments containing lozenges charged with
devices and symbols : the royal monogram, the monograms of the Prince of Wales and
Prince Consort ; the cognisances of the white hart of Richard II. ; the sun of the
House of Yoi-k; the crown in a bush, Henry VII.; the falcon, dragon, and greyhound;
the lion passant of England, the lion rampant of Scotland, and the harp of Ireland ;
sceptres, orbs, and crowns; the scales of Justice; mitres and crosiers, and swords of
mercy ; coronets, and the triple plume of the Prince of Wales. Among the devices
are the rose of England and the pomegranate of Castile; the portcullis of Beaufort,
the lily of France, and the lion of England ; and the armorial shields of the Saxon
Heptarchy. The massive beams appear like solid gold : they are inscribed on the sides
with religious and loyal mottoes.
Beneath the windows, the walls are covered with oak panelling and carved busts of
the Sovereigns of England ; and above is the inscription ” God save the Queen,” in
Tudor characters. Thence springs a coving, in the southern division emblazoned with
the arms of lord chancellors and their Sovereigns, and northward with the bishops’
arms. This coving supports a gallery with wrought-metal railing, richly-carved panel-
ling, and pillars which support, a brattishing.
The centre of the southern end of the House is occupied by the Throne, on either
side of which is a doorway leading to the Prince’s Chamber. At the northern end of
the House, over the principal doorway, is the Strangers’ Gallery, behind the Reporters’
Gallery, upon the front of which are painted the badges of the sovereigns of England ;
and over the archways are painted on shields the coat-armour of the Saxon, Norman,
Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart, and Hanoverian Houses; the arms of the archiepiscopal
sees, and some of the bishoprics ; and in front of the gallery is a clock with an exqui-
sitely carved case and dial enamelled in colours. On the right of the Bar is the seat of
the Usher of the Black Rod. The Peers’ seats (accommodating 235) are ranged
longitudinally from north to south. At the south end is the clerks’ table ; and beyond
it are the woolsacks, covered with crimson cloth. At the north end is The Bar, a
dwarf screen, at which appear the Members of the House of Commons, and at which
664 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
counsel plead. At the four angles of the area is a superb brass candelabrum, by
Hardman, 17 feet high, and weighing 11-” target=”_top”> cwt.
The Kotai Theone, at the south end, is elevated on steps (the centre three, and
the sides two), which are covered with a carpet of bright scarlet, powdered with white
roses and lions, and fringed with gold-colour. The canopy to the throne is in three
compartments : the central one, much loftier than the others, for her Majesty ; that on
the right hand for the Prince of Wales, and that on the left for the Prince Consort.
The back of the central compartment is panelled with lions passant, carved and gilded,
on a red ground ; and above are the royal arms of England, elaborately emblazoned,
surmounted by the royal monogram and “Dieu et mon droit,” in perforated letters;
and a brattishing of Greek crosses and fleur-de-lis crests. Above are the crests of
England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, richly carved ; the ceiling bears the monogram
V. R. within an exquisite border, and the flat surfaces painted with stars. The span-
drels of the canopy, and the octagonal pillars with coronal capitals, are exquisitely
carved. In front of the canopy, above a brattishing of perforated Tudor flowers, are
five traceried ogee arches : in the central one is the figure of St. George and the
Dragon ; and in the two sides are knights of the Garter and Bath, the Thistle and St.
Patrick. The angle-buttresses of this canopy have coronal pendants ; on the fronts
and sides are animals, on the summits open-worked royal crowns. On the sides like-
wise are shields of the arms of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, beautifully
carved, painted, and gilded ; and upon pedestals are sitting figures of winged angels
holding shields enamelled with the arms of England. The side compartments of the
canopy have, the one the heraldic symbols of the Prince of Wales, and the other those
of Prince Albert, blended with the architectural features : they have covings, gilded,
and pedestals supporting a lion and unicorn holding shields of arms ; the angle-but-
tresses have coronal pendants, and the shafts are surmounted by crowns. On either
hand is a dwarf wing with pedestal, on which are seated the royal supporters, the lion
and unicorn, holding standards enamelled with the arms of England.
The Queen’s Chair of State, or Throne, in general outline resembles ” the coronation
chair :” the legs rest upon four lions couchant ; the base has quatrefoil panels, with
crowns and V. R.; sprays of roses, shamrocks, and thistles; and a broad bar of roses
and leaves : in the panels beneath the arms of the chair are lions passant and treillage ;
upon the back pinnacles are a lion and unicorn, seated, holding scrolls and flanking the
gable, within which is a circle of exquisitely quatre-foiled ornament, inclosing the
monogram V. R. ; the exterior ridge is carved with roses, and the apex surmounted
with a richly decorated crown. The back of the chair is bordered with large egg-
shaped pieces of crystal, within which are the royal arms of England, embroidered on
velvet. The Footstool has carved sides, and a crimson velvet top, gorgeously embroi-
dered with roses in a border of fleurs-de-lis.
The State Chairs for the Prince of Wales and Prince Consort are curule-shaped,
have circular-headed backs, embroidered on velvet with the ostrich triple-plume and
the shield of arms. The throne and footstool, and the two princes’ chairs, are gilded
throughout.
The House of Peers was first occupied by their lordships April 15, 1847.
The Peers’ Lobby is 38 feet square and 33 feet high, and has on either side a lofty
arch, above which are painted, within arches, the arms of the Saxon, Norman, Plan-
tagenet, Tudor, Stuart, and Hanoverian royal lines, each surmounted by a royal crown.
The north doorway opens into the House of Commons Corridor, the south doorway
opens into the House of Lords : the arch is boldly sculptured with Tudor roses, royally
crowned ; the inner arch is enriched with gilded oak-leaves. The space over is filled
with the royal arms, roses, thistles, and shamrocks, coloured and gilded. The gates
are of massive brass, by Hardman, and of richly floriated design, the frames studded
with Norman roses. These gates weigh l£ tons, are 11 feet high, and 6 feet wide;
and are of a material not used in England for such a purpose for nearly 400 years.
The side-wall compartments of the Lobby are filled with ogee arches ; and the upper
stories are windows, painted by Hardman, and Ballantyne, and Allan, with the arms of
the early families of the aristocracy of England. The roof is painted with roses,
PARLIAMENT HOUSES. 665
thistles, and shamrocks, in squares, on a blue ground, and relieved with gilding. The
pavement is encaustic tiles, by Minton ; alleys of black marble, including ” Dieu et
mon droit” in tiles, V. R., the lions of England, &c. ; and in the centre is a Tudor rose
of Derbyshire marble, bordered with engraved brass. At each corner of the lobby is a
magnificent gas-standard, about 12 feet high.
The Peers’ Libraries are a magnificent suite of rooms ; above the oak book-shelves
is a frieze, with panels of the arms of the Chief Justices of Englaud. The Peers’
Robing-room it is proposed to decorate with frescoes illustrating Human Justice and
its development in Law and Judgment, by Herbert, E.A. The one executed is in
water-glass; the subject, Moses bringing down the Second Tables of the Law, oc-
cupied the painter three years : size 22 feet by 10 feet 6 inches ; figures life-size.
Returning to the Peers’ Lobby, the archway on the north side gives access to the
Peers’ Corridor, corresponding with the Commons’ Corridor immediately opposite in
the Central Hall, the walls of which are panelled for frescoes, some of which have
been completed. The decorations of the Corridors leading from the Central Hall,
to the Houses of Lords and Commons, are as follows : —
The Peer*’ Corridor.— C. W. Cope, E.A., The Burial of Charles I. ; The Parting of Lord and Lady
Bussell ; Expulsion of the Fellows of a College at Oxford for refusinsr to sign the Covenant ; The Em-
barkation of the Pilgrim Fathers for New England ; The Defence of Basing House; The setting out of
the Train Bands from London to relieve Gloucester ; Charles I. erecting his standard at Nottingham.
The Common)’ Corridor. — E. M. Ward, E.A., Alice Lisle assisting the Fugitives to Escape after the
Battle of Sedgmoor; Jane Lane assisting Charles II. to Escape after the Battle of Worcester; The
Last Sleep of Argyle; The Execution of Montrose; The Landing of Charles II. at Dover.
The Central Hall has been already described. Leaving this through an arched
doorway on the west side, we enter St. Stephen’s Hall, which occupies the site
of the old St. Stephen’s Chapel. The Hall has a beautiful stone vaulting, the
bosses of which have subjects from the life of St. Stephen ; its windows are filled with
appropriate glass, and on pedestals are marble statues of Selden, Foley, R.A. ;
Hampden, Foley, R.A. ; Lord Falkland, Bell ; Lord Clarendon, Marshall, R.A. ; Lord
Somers, Marshall, R.A. ; Sir Robert Walpole, Bell ; Lord Chatham, M’Dowell, R.A. ;
Lord Mansfield, Baily, R.A. ; Burke, Theed; Fox, Baily, R.A.; Pitt, M’Dowell, R.A j
Grantham, Carew. A small staircase at one end leads to St. Stephen’s Crypt, de-
scribed at p. 304. In the niches of the doorway to St. Stephen’s Hall are twelve
statues of early Kings and Queens. We leave the Hall for St. Stephen’s Porch,
whence a fine view is obtained of Westminster Hall, which it was proposed by Sir
Charles Barry to make an antechamber to the House of Legislature. By a beautiful
new doorway on the east side we enter the Cloisters of St. Stephen’s, which have been
restored and enlarged. From the upper Cloister by the Lobby we enter
The House of Commons, 75 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 41 feet high ; the size
being as small as possible for speaking and hearing without effort during the average
attendance of Members, about 300. The twelve side windows are painted with the
arms of boroughs, by Hardman ; and at each end is a stone screen filled with brass
tracery. The ceiling has the sides and ends inclined, and the centre flat : it is divided
by massive ribs into compartments, which are filled with ground-glass tinted with the
rose, portcullis, and floriated circles; behind were originally placed the gas-lights,
with Faraday’s patent ventilation, cutting off connexion between the gas and the air
of the apartment, the vitiated air being conveyed away by tubes into a chamber above
the ceiling. The artificial light is now supplied from the chamber above the ceilings,
in which about 1000 feet of gas are consumed per hour in the evening sittings ; none
of the products of combustion escape into the House. The floor of the House is of
perforated cast iron, covered with matting, through which hot and cold air are admitted.
The Ventilation at present adopted in the two Houses is that of exhaustion, the air being put in
motion by means of heat applied by coke-fires in great upcast shafts, the two chief being in the Victoria
Tower and the Clock Tower. Under as well as above ground are hundreds of air-courses ; some for
supplying cold air, others for warm air, others for carrying off vitiated air. There are in this great
palace steam-pipes, of which the aggregate length is about 15 miles, and 1200 stop-cocks and valves
connected with these pipes. Taking the House that sits longest, we learn from Dr. Percy’s able Report,
that the air for the House of Commons is admitted from the Star Court and the Commons Court; it is
strained through gauze, and then warmed when necessary by Gurney’s batteries ; after which it ascends
through the floor of the House. Dr. Percy tells us that, although a great number of minor details are
666 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
defective and need completion, yet all appliances for effective ventilation exist; experiments have
demonstrated that the supply of fresh air passing through the Houses under varying conditions has
generally exceeded the proportion declared by the highest authorities to be amply sufficient. Satisfactory
as this may be, Dr. Percy reminds us that too much fresh air cannot be supplied, provided its tempera-
ture and its state as to moisture be suitable, and no draught be perceptible — a condition which should
be regarded as a fundamental principle in every so-called system of ventilation. While in some instances
the complaints made may be well founded, it is pretty certain that in other instances they resulted from
the special bodily conditions of the individuals making them; as the state of the stomach as to the
quantity of food which it contains, the amount of alcoholic liquor circulating through the system, the
muscular exertion which the body may have recently undergone, as well as the condition of mental
exertion or excitement, will greatly modify our impressions as to the agreeableness of the temperature
and the perfection of the ventilation.
It is impossible to burn the House down : you might set fire to and destroy the furni-
ture and fittings; but the flooring, walls, and roof would remain intact. The walls
are panelled with oak two-thirds up, carved with the linen-pattern, armorial shields,
pendants, foliated mouldings, and brattishings. Upon three sides are galleries for
Members and Strangers ; the Reporters’ Gallery being at the north end, over the
Speaker’s Chair, a sort of canopied throne elaborately carved with the royal arms, &c.
Behind the brass tracery above the Reporters’ Gallery is a gallery for ladies. At the
northern end of the House is The Bar, temporarily formed by sliding rods of brass ;
and here is the special seat of the Serjeant-at-arms. The Ministerial seats are on the
front bench to the right of the Speaker, the leaders of the Opposition occupying the
front bench opposite. Below the Speaker’s Chair is the Clerks’ Table, whereon, during
the business of the House, is placed the Speaker’s Mace ; not, as generally supposed,
” the fool’s bauble” which Cromwell ordered to be taken away, but the mace made at
the Restoration. Along both sides of the House are the Division Lobbies, ” Ayes”
west, and ” Noes” east; these being oak-panelled corridors, with stained-glass windows:
the chandeliers are of chased brass.
The Commons first assembled in their new House February 3, 1852 ; eight days
after which (February 11), Mr. Barry received knighthood.
The Commons Lobby is a rich apartment 45 feet square, and has on each side an
archway ; carved open screens inscribed ” Domine salvam fac Reginam ;” and windows
painted with the arms of parliamentary boroughs : the brass gas-standards, by Hard-
man, are elaborately chased. The doorways lead to the Library, the Post-office,
Vote-paper Office, Central Hall, &c. The Libraries are fitted with dark oak. The
’Refreshment Rooms for the Peers and Commons are similarly arranged, and respec-
tively are divided by a carved oak screen.
The public are admitted to view both Houses of Parliament, and all the public
portion of the New Palace of Westminster, every Saturday between 10 and 4 o’clock,
during the session, by tickets ; which are obtainable on Saturdays, between 11 and 4
o’clock, at the Office of the Lord Great Chamberlain, in the Royal Court.
Admission to hear the Debates : Lords — A Peer’s order ; Commons — Any Mem-
ber’s, or the Speaker’s, order. The House of Lords is open to the public, without
ticket, during the hearing of Appeals.
The Speaker’s Souse occupies part of the two pavilions, forming the end of the
river front of the Palace, next Westminster Bridge, and is approached by archways
from Palace-yard. It comprises from sixty to seventy rooms, and is finished
throughout in the style of the structure generally. The staircase, with its carvings,
tile-paving, and brass-work, is exceedingly effective and elegant, and everywhere there
is a large amount of painted and gilded decoration. Cloisters, approached from the
House, surround a court about 20 feet square : the window openings in the cloisters
are filled with stained glass, containing the arms of all the Speakers, with the date of
election. The principal floor includes the State dining-room ; the drawing-room,
37 feet 3 inches by 28 feet 9 inches; morning-room, 34 feet 6 inches by 23 feet 9 inches;
and a smaller dining-room, 34 feet by 24 feet 6 inches. The State dining-room is
45 feet by 23 feet 6 inches. Frames are set in the walls to receive a collection of portraits
of past Speakers. The rooms are lighted at night by wax-candles in corona? ; to light
the four rooms requires 400 wax-candles.
A Descriptive Handbook for the Pictures in the Souses of Parliament, by T. J.
Gullick, Painter (published by authority), will at once satisfy the requirements of
artists and the general public : the accounts of the Pictures are written with care
PATERNOSTER-ROW. 667
and discrimination. And a Guide to the Palace is printed by permission of the Lord
Great Chamberlain, and published by Warrington and Co.
PATERNOSTER-ROW,
BETWEEN the north side of St. Paul’s Churchyard, and the south of Newgate-
street, is one of a knot of monastic localities ; and is named from the turners of
rosaries, or Pater Nosters (tenth beads), dwelling there, with stationers or text-writers,
who wrote and sold ABC, with the Pater Noster, Ave, Creed, Graces, &c, in the reign
of Henry IV. Hatton describes it 1708 ” between Cheapside Conduit east, and Amen-
corner west; and the name, as also those of Ave-Maria-lane (at its west end), Creed-lane
(in Ludgate-street, opposite), and Amen-corner, given by reason of the religious houses
formerly of Black and Gray Friars, between which these streets are situated.” Pater-
noster-row was next “taken up” by mercers, silkmen, and lacemen : we read of Pepys,
in 1660 buying here ” moyre for a morning waistcoat ;” and the street was ofttimes
blocked up with the coaches of the nobility and gentry. But few names of publishers
are met with as carrying on business in Paternoster-row before the Great Fire : one of
these is “R. Harford, in Queen’s-head-alley, Paternoster-row, 1642,” and another,
“Christopher Meredith, Crane-alley, Paternoster-row.” After the Great Fire, the
mercers mostly migrated westward, as to Holywell-street and Covent Garden ; but
in a periodical of 1707 we read of ” the sempstresses of Paternoster-row :” and Strype,
in 1720, enumerates among its inhabitants tire-women, mercers, and silkmen. Here
lived Alderman Thomas, the mercer, whose shop bore the motto of Sir William Turner,
” Keep your shop, and your shop will keep you.” {Spectator, No. 509.) Strype also
mentions ” at the upper end, some stationers and large warehouses for booksellers ;”
but we find, as early as 1564, that Henry Denham, bookseller, lived at the Star, in
Paternoster-row, with the motto, Os homini sublime dedit. In the reign of Queen
Anne the booksellers removed here from Little Britain ; and, from about 1774, the
trade became changed to publishing books in ” Paternoster-row numbers.” Among
their publishers were Harrison, Cook, and the Hoggs ; to the latter succeeded their
shopman, Thomas Kelly, Alderman of Farringdon Within, and Lord Mayor, 1836-7.
Here was the printing-office of Henry Sampson Woodfall, the printer of the Public
Advertiser, wherein originally appeared Junius’s Letters.
At ” the Bible and Crown ” (the sign boldly carved in wood, coloured and gilt, in the
string-course above the window), lived the Rivingtons, the High-Church publishers, from
1710 to 1853: here they continued the Annual Register, originally Dodsley’s, with Edmund
Burke as a contributor; and here, in 1791, the Rivingtons commenced the British Critic :
but ” the old shop,” where Horsley and Tomline, Warburton and Hurd, used to meet,
was, in 1854, altered to a ” shawl emporium.” At No. 47 lived Robert Baldwin, pub-
lisher of the London Magazine, commenced 1732. The premises are now the publishing-
house of Messrs. William and Robert Chambers, of Edinburgh : the former Lord
Provost, 1866. Here the Robinsons established themselves 1763, the head of the firm
being ” King of the Booksellers :” here they published the Annual Register, with a
sale of 7000 copies each volume ; and the unsatisfactory Biographical Dictionary, by
Alexander Chalmers. At No. 39 have lived nearly a century and a half the Long-
mans; the imprint of Thomas Longman, with Thomas and John Osborne, at the sign of
” the Ship and Black Swan,” is dated 1725 ; and the same year we find a book of
Whiston’s bearing the same names, although an edition of Rowe’s Dramatic Works,
2 vols., 1725, is stated to be the earliest book with Longman’s imprint. Here was
commenced the original Cyclopedia, by Ephraim Chambers, upon which was based the
New Cyclopaedia of Dr. Rees. For several years the firm gave here dinners and soirees
to authors and artists ; and they have acquired world-wide repute as the publishers of
the works of Scott, Mackintosh, Southey, Sydney Smith, Moore, and Macaulay.
Messrs. Longman’s own sale of books has amounted to five millions of volumes in the
year. They possess some portraits of eminent literary persons.
The premises were rebuilt in handsome Renaissance style in 1863 ; the design in-
cluding the rebuilding of the adjoining house of Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, of Edin-
663 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
burgh, at the extreme north-west corner. The facade is executed in Portland stone. The
character of the carving, especially of the lower stories, is somewhat symbolical natural
foliage. On the key-stone of the central arch is represented Literature supported by
the Arts, Sciences, and Education. In the spandrels of the same are the ” Ship” and
the ” Swan,” being half-size copies of two medallions, saved from the old buildings,
and which had been trade signs or parts of these premises since the Great Fire.
No. 33, Hamilton, Adams, and Co., has been rebuilt in handsome style ; also No.
23, Kent and Co. No. 56, the Depot of the Religious Tract Society, was erected
in 1844, at a cost of 12,000£. : the handsome stone frontage, of 120 feet, is in the
Italian style. The Society commenced operations, in 1799, with a small handbill ; its
annual distribution of books and tracts in 1853 was nearly 26 millions, and its gross
income 9497£. ; in 1866, circulation 46,000,000. The Society issues five illustrated
periodicals, including the Leisure Sour and the Sunday at Some.
No. 50, long the Chapter Coffee-house, described at pp. 263-4, was closed as a coffee-
house, in December, 1853 ; having been for a century and more the resort of authors,
booksellers, and politicians : the bouse is referred to in the correspondence of Chatterton.
” A contemporary anecdote exhibits Goldsmith paymaster, at the Chapter Coffee-house, for Churchill’s
friend, Charles Lloyd, who, in his careless way, without a shilling to pay for the entertainment, had
invited him to sup with some friends of Grub-street.” — Forster’s Life of Goldsmith, p. 232.
Between Paternoster-row and Newgate-street is Newgate Market : here, in 1709
(Tatler, No. 44), was exhibited the Groaning Board :
“At the sign of the Woolsack, in Newgate Market, is to be seen a strange and wonderful elm-board ;
wbkhbeing touched with a hot iron, doth express itself as if it were a man dying with groans, &c. It
been presented to the king and his nobles, and hath given great satisfaction.” — Advertisement.
Panyer-alley, conjectured to have been named from its having been the standing of
bakers with their paniers, when bread was only sold in markets, and not in shops or
houses, is described at pp. 416 and 614.
At ” the sign of the Castle,” in Paternoster-row, Tarlton, Queen Elizabeth’s favourite
stage-clown, kept an ordinary, stated to have been on the site of Dolly’s chop-house.
” The Castle,” of which a token exists, was destroyed in the Great Fire, but was re-
built ; and here ” the Castle Society of Music ” performed. The premises were sub-
sequently the Oxford Bible Warehouse, destroyed by fire in 1822, and rebuilt.
Warwick-lane and Ivy-lane are noticed at p. 614.
There are likewise a Paternoster-row and Little Paternoster-row in Spitalfields,
where was formerly the Priory of St. Mary Spittle.
PENTONVILLE,
A DISTRICT of St. James’s parish, was originally a field of the Clerkenwell
Nunnery. It was in part the estate of Henry Peuton, Esq. ; and when the New-
road was formed through it, White Conduit House, and the house attached to Dobney’s
Bowling-green, were almost the only buildings here. One of the earliest was Hermes
House (in Hermes-street), built by Dr. de Valangin (a pupil of Boerhaave), who lived
to see Penton’s mile or town rising around him. Here lived the noted William Hunt-
ington, S.S., when he married the widow of Sir James Sanderson, Bart., ex-Lord
Mayor. Upon the north side of the New-road (Pentonville-hill) is St. James’s
Chapel, built 1788 : it has a clever altar-picture of Christ raising the damsel Tabitha.
Below the Chapel is the London Female’ Penitentiary, established 1807. In Regent-
terrace died the popular sporting writer, Pierce Egan, in 1849, at the full age of 77 :
and in Penton-place lived Grimaldi, ” Old Joe,” born in Stanhope-street, Clare-market,
in 1778, the year preceding that in which Garrick died.
Gerard, in his Serial, edit. 1633, describes certain kinds of orchis growing in dry
pastures and heaths, and upon chalky hills, and ” plentifully in sundry places, as in the
field by Islington, near London, where there is a bowling-green, under a few old
shrubby oaks.” The spot alluded to seems to have been Winchester-place, now the
Pentonville-road. Thomas Cooke, the notorious miser, lived here.
PICCADILLY. 669
PICCADILLY,
A LEADING street, 110 yards less than a mile in length, extends, in a line with
Coventry-street, from the north end of the Haymarket westward to Hyde Park
Corner. The name is derived from the run’s, called ” pickadils ” or ” peccadilloes,”
worn by the gallants of James I. and Charles I. ; and the stiffened points of which re-
sembled spear-heads, or picardills, a diminutive of pica, spear, Spanish and Italian.
Blount, in his Glossographia (1656), interprets it as the round hem about the edge or
skirt of a garment, and a stiff collar or band for the neck and shoulders ; whence the
wooden peccadilloes (the pillory) in Hudibras. Hence the first house built in the road
may have been named ” from its being the utmost or skirt house of the suburbs that
way;” and may not the name have originated from the pillory having been often set
up in this suburb or open ground ? Mr. Peter Cunningham took considerable pains to
unravel this question. Pennant traces the name to Piccadillas, turnovers or cakes,
which may have been sold in the suburban fields. Others say it took name from this :
” that one Higgins, a tailor, who built it, got most of his estate by piccadillas.” But
the name occurs many years earlier than the mention of the first house, or Piccadilly
House : thus Gerard, in his Herbal (1596), states that ” the small wild bu-glosse
growes upon the drie ditch-bankes about Pickadilla.” The road is referred to, in
Stow’s narrative of Sir Thomas Wyat’s rebellion in 1554, as ” the highway on the hill
over gainst St. James’s ;” and in Aggas’s Map (1560) it is lettered, ” The Waye to
Redinge.” The upper part of the Haymarket, and the fields adjoining north and
west, were the Pickadilly of the Restoration. Evelyn quotes the Commissioners’
orders, July 13, 1662, to pave ” the Haymarket about Pigudello;” and tradesmen’s
tokens of this date bear ” Pickadilla ” and ” Pickadilly.”
Piccadilly Hall appears to have been built by one Robert Baker, ” in the fields
behind the Mews,” leased to him by St. Martin’s parish, and sold by his widow to
Colonel Panton, who built Panton-square, and Panton-street. Lord Clarendon, in his
History of the Rebellion, speaks of ” Mr. Hyde going to a house called Piccadilly for
entertainment and gaming :” this house, with its gravel walks and bowling-greens, ex-
tended from the corner of Windmill-street and the site of Panton-square, as shown in
Porter and Faithorne’s Map, 1658. Mr. Cunningham found (see Handbook, 2nd edit,
p. 396), in the parish accounts of St. Martin’s, Robte Backer, of Pickadilley Halle ;”
and the receipts for Lammas money paid for the premises as late as 1670. Sir John
Suckling, the poet, was one of the frequenters ; and Aubrey remembered Suckling’s
” sisters coming to the Peccadillo bowling-green, crying, for the feare he should lose all
their portions.” The house was taken down about 1685 : a tennis-court in the rear
remained to our time, upon the site of the Argyll Rooms, Great Windmill-street. The
Society of Antiquaries possess a printed proclamation (temp. Charles II. 1671) against
the increase of buildings in Windmill-fields and the fields adjoining Soho ; and in tho
Plan of 1658, Great Windmill-street consists of straggling houses, and a windmill in a
field on the west side. The spacious house upon the east side was built for Dr. William
Hunter in 1770 : it had an amphitheatre and a magnificent museum (see p. 597). He
died here March 30, 1783. At the north-east end of the Haymarket stood the
gaming-house built by the barber of the Earl of Pembroke, and hence called Shaver’s
Hall : it is described by Gerard, in a letter to Lord Strafford in 1635, as ” a new
Spring Gardens, erected in the fields beyond the Mews :” its tennis-court remained in
James-street, until 1867, when it was altered for another occupation.
From Piccadilly being applied to the Hall and the buildings in the fields north
and west of the Haymarket (in ” Dogs-fields, Windmill-fields, and the fields adjoining
Soho”), early maps show the name to have been extended to the line of street to
Swallow-street, where begins Portugal-street, named after Catherine of Braganza,
queen of Charles II. : in an Act 3 James II. is named ” the mansion-house of the Earl
of Burlington, fronting Portugal-street ;” but that it was considered a subordinate
street, is shown by Wren having made the principal front of St. James’s Church face
Jermyn-street, with its handsome Ionic door. The name of Piccadilly, however, be-
came gradually extended to the whole line. Hatton, 1708, describes Piccadilly as
670 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
between Coventry-street and the end of the Haymarket, and Portugal-street. Until
1721 the road was mostly unpaved, and coaches were often overturned in the hollow.
The line from Devonshire House westward was, until the year 1740, chiefly occupied
by the figure-yards of statuaries, where also ” numberless wretched figures were
manufactured in lead for gardens.”* About this time an adjoining field was bought by
a brewer for his empty butts at 301., and sold in 1764. for 2500Z. (Malcolm.) In 1757
a tract of ground was leased to James Hamilton, Esq., who built thereon Hamilton-
place.
Hamilton-place is called after James Hamilton, Esq., Banger of Hyde Park in the reign of
Charles II., and the elder Hamilton of De Grammont’s Memoirs. No. 1, in 1813, was inhabited by
Lady Catherine Tylney Long : —
” Long may Long Tylney Wellesley Long Pole live.”
In 1818, this house passed to Lord Chancellor Eldon. No. 4, in 1814, passed to the great Duke of
“Wellington, whose London house it was when the Battle of Waterloo was won by this fine genius for
war. In this house, the bibliopole, Mr. Grenville, collected the fine Library bequeathed by him to the
British Museum. (See page 584!) No. 5 was bought by Mr. Joseph Denison, M.P., for 10,000 guineas, and
presented to his sister, Marchioness of Conyngham, who assembled here a fine collection of china; she
died in 1861, aged 92. At No. 7, Mr. John Philip Miles, of Leigh Court, made his collection of pictures of
the Italian school. This same No. 7 was afterwards inhabited by the late Mr. H. A. J. Munro, of Novar,
and the rooms refitted with another fine collection of pictures. Here were to be seen the celebrated
” Madonna dei Candelabri,” of Raffaelle, some noble landscapes by Turner, and a View of Venice, by
Bonington. No one house that I can call to mind, has held two private collections of pictures equally
famous as were once to be seen at No. 7. — Peter Cunningham; Builder, March 4, 1865.
Westward was The Hercules Pillars, which, with other noted Piccadilly inns, is
described at p. 455. In one of these petty taverns at Hyde Park Corner, Sir Richard
Steele and the poet Savage dined together, after having written a pamphlet, which
Savage sold for two guineas, to enable them to pay the reckoning. Among the strag-
gling houses here was the school kept by a Roman Catholic convert named Deane,
where Pope spent nearly two years of his boyhood ; and got up a play out of Homer,
the part of Ajax being performed by the gardener.
“Towards Hide Park” was Winstanley’s mathematical water-theatre, mentioned
in the Tatler, No. 74 (Sept. 29, 1709) : it had a windmill at the top ; and the quantity
of water used in the exhibition was from 200 to 300 tuns, ” with which curious effects
produced by hydraulic pressure were exhibited in the evening.” Evelyn speaks of
Winstanley, who built the first Eddystone Lighthouse; and of another mechanical
genius, Sir Samuel Morland, who writes from his ” hut near Hyde Park Gate.”
Nobth Side. — Apsley House, east of Hyde Park Gate, is described at pp. 541-543.
No. 142, Lord Willoughby de Eresby’s mansion, was sold in 1866 for 25,250Z., crown
lease, forty years ; in the same year its works of art realized upwards of 9000?.
At No. 145, the Marquis of Northampton, as President of the Royal Society, gave his
conversazioni. No. 147, the Baron Lionel de Rothschild’s (see p. 547), is partly built
upon the site of the mansion of William Beckford, the author of Vathek. At
Nos. 138 and 139, Piccadilly, lived the Duke of Queensbury, ” Old Q.,” the voluptuous
millionaire, who died at the age of eighty-six. At No. 138, in 1865, was dispersed
the valuable collection formed by the late Earl of Cadogan of plate ; Sevres, Chelsea,
Dresden, and other porcelain; antiquities, and objects of art and virtu, many of
historic interest ; the old silver plate brought from one to three guineas per or,.
No. 137, Gloucester House, is described at p. 549. Next is Park Lane, formerly
Tyburn-lane. Twenty years since, or thereabout, the Duke of Wellington was
walking up the narrow roadway of Park-lane, when, opposite Gloucester House, a
carter came along with a country wagon and team of horses : he called to the Duke,
who, being very deaf, did not hear the man, who had very nearly, with his wain,
thrown down and driven over the hero of a hundred fights. Opposite, in the Green
Park, was the Deputy- Ranger’s Lodge, built by Robert Adam, 1768, taken down,
1841 ; the pair of graceful stags upon the gate-piers, placed there by Lord William
Gordon, when Deputy-Ranger, was removed to the piers of Albert Gate, Hyde Park.
* East of Hertford House, ” near the Queen’s Mead House, in Hyde-park-road,” was the leaden
figure-yard established by John Van Nost, who came to England with King William III. A favourite
garden figure was an African kneeling witli a sun-dial on his head, such as we see to this day in the
garden of Clement’s Inn, and commonly said to have been brought from Italy by Lord Clare !
PICCADILLY. 671
At the corner of Down-street (leading to May Fair, see p. 564), is the mansion of
Mrs. Hope, described at p. 551 ; and further east, No. 106, Coventry Hoitsb
(see p. 246), closed as a club, March, 1854; No. 105, Hertford House, p. 550;
No. 94, Cambridge House, p. 547; No. 82, Bath House, p. 544; Devonshire
House, p. 548.*
Mr. Hope died at his mansion, in Piccadilly. He was the eldest son of the wealthy capitalist of
Amsterdam (the author oiAnastasius), by Miss Beresford, youngest daughter of Lord Decies, Archbishop
of Tuam, who married secondly the late Marshal Viscount Beresford. He was consequently brother of
Mr. Adrian Hope, of the banking firm at Amsterdam, and of Mr. Alexander Beresford Hope. He sat in
Parliament for East Looe and Gloucester, and was a Conservative in politics. His only child married,
in 1861, the Earl of Lincoln, now Duke of Newcastle. Mr. Hope was one of the earliest promoters
of the London and Westminster Joint-Stock Bank ; and the first Chairman of the Great Eastern Steam-
ship Company.
Half-moon-street was built in 1730, and was named from the Half-moon Ale-house
at the corner. Clarges-street was built 1717-18, and named from Sir Walter Clarges.
At the south-west corner is the mansion of the Duke of Grafton, designed by Sir
Kobert Taylor : here is the magnificent Louvre portrait of Charles I. on his horse, by
Vandyke. At No. 12, Clarges-street, lived for eight years Edmund Kean, the tragedian,
who kept in the house a tame puma. Next door, at No. 11, lived Lady Hamilton at
the time of Lord Nelson’s death.f Bolton-street was in 1708 “the most westerly
street in London, between the road to Knightsbridge south, and the fields north”
(Hatton). Here lived the Earl of Peterborough, who, in his autobiography (for-
tunately never printed), confesses having committed three capital crimes before he was
twenty years of age.
No. 80, Piccadilly, was the house from which Sir Francis Burdett was taken into
custody, April 6, 1810, by the Serjeant-at-Arms, after a resistance of four days:
” The lady she sate and she played on her lute,
And she sung, ’ Will you come to the bower?’
The serjeant-at-arms had stood hitherto mute,
And now he advanced, like an impudent brute,
And said, ’ Will you come to the Tower?’ ’*
In the riot which ensued, the Life Guards charged the mob, whence they got the flash
sobriquet ” Piccadilly Butchers.”
Stratton-street was named from the Stratton line of the Berkeleys, on whose estate
it was bnilt. No. 1 was the mansion of Mrs. Coutts, the widow of the rich banker,
and afterwards Duchess of St. Albans, ” who brought back the dukedom to the point
from which it set out — the stage ” (Leigh Hunt). By her grace the mansion was
bequeathed, with the greater portion of her immense wealth, to Miss Angela Burdett
Coutts, youngest daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, Bart.
Berkeley-street, built in 1642, and then the extremity of Piccadilly, was named from
Berkeley House, on the site of Devonshire House. Dover-street was built about 1688,
upon the estate of Henry Jermyn, Lord Dover, who resided on the east side ; as did
John Evelyn, who had been ” oftentimes so cheerful, and sometimes so sad, with
Chancellor Hyde ” on that very ground. On the west side lived Dr. John Arbuthnot,
physician to Queen Anne, ” Martinus Scriblerus,” and the friend of Pope, Swift, Gay,
and Prior. No. 37, sculptured with a mitre, is the town-house of the Bishop of Ely.
At No? 38 lived Lord King, who wrote a life of his profound kinsman, John Locke ;
published 1829. Albemarle-street was built by Sir Thomas Bond, of Peckham, on
part of the site of Clarendon House. In 1708 it was ” a street of excellent new
buildings, inhabited by persons of quality, between the fields and Portugal-street.”
“The earliest date now to be found upon the site of Clarendon House is cut in stone, and let into
the south wall of a public-house, the sign of The Duke of Albemarle in Dover-street, thus : * This is
* The ticket of admission to the performances of the Build of Literature and Art (first given at
Devonshire House, 1851), was designed by E. M. Ward, A.R.A. On the left is Richard Wilson, the
painter, with a picture under his arm, entering a pawnbroker’s shop. On the right is Daniel Defoe
coming out of Edmund Curll’s shop, with the manuscript of Bobinton Crusoe in his hand : his wife is
inquiring as to his success in selling the manuscript, and her little girl is standing in front. In the
centre foreground are grouped a palette, brushes, and books ; and at the top is a kneeling child smelling
a rose, and another pouring water into a rose-bud.
t In 1853 were added to the MSS. in the British Museum 63 autograph letters of Lord Nelson,
addressed to Lady Hamilton, from 1798 to 1305 ; including the last letter Nelson ever wrote, found in
his cabin, after the battle of Trafalgar, October 21st, 1805.
Stafford-street, 1686.’ In a plan of London etched by Hollar, in 1686, it is evident that the centre of
Clarendon House must have occupied the whole of the site of Stafford-street.” — Smith’s Streets.
Clarendon Souse was commenced by Lord Chancellor Clarendon in 1664, ” encou-
raged thereto by the royal grant of land, by the opportunity of purchasing the stones
which had been designed for the repairs of St. Paul’s, and by that passion for building
to which he was naturally too much inclined.” (Evelyn.) About the same time,
Lord Berkeley began to build Berkeley House on the west; and Sir John Denham,
Burlington House on the east. During the war and the plague year, Clarendon
employed about 300 workmen, which raised a great outcry against him : ” some called
it ’ Dunkirk House,’ intimating that it was built by his share of the price of Dunkirk :
others called it ’ Holland House,’ because he was believed to be no friend to the war ;
so it was given out that he had the money from the Dutch. It was visible that in a
time of public calamity he was building a very noble palace.” (Burnet.) Pepys
records that some rude people, in 1667, ” had been at my Lord Chancellor’s, where
they cut down the trees before his house and broke his windows ; and a gibbet either
set up before or painted upon his gate, and these words writ : ’ Three sights to be
seen — Dunkirk, Tangier, and a barren queen.’ ” He was lampooned also in one of the
State Poems, entitled ” Clarendon’s House-warming.” The day before his lordship’s
flight, Evelyn ” found him in his garden at his new-built palace, sitting in his gowt
wheele-chayre, and seeing the gates setting up towards the north and the fields. He
looked and spake very disconsolately. Next morning I heard he was gone.” Evelyn,
dining at Clarendon House with the Lord Chancellor’s eldest son, Lord Cornbury,
after his father’s flight, describes the mansion as ” now bravely furnished, especially
with the pictures of most of our English and modern wits, poets, philosophers, famous
and learned Englishmen ;” most of these pictures have been brought from Cornbury,
a seat of the Earls of Clarendon, Oxon, to the Grove, Watford, Herts.
Clarendon House was subsequently let to the great Duke of Ormond. After Lord
Clarendon’s death in exile, it was sold, in 1675, for 26,000Z. to the young Duke of
Albemarle, who soon parted with it to Sir Thomas Bond, by whom the mansion was
taken down, and Bond-street and Albemarle-buildings (now street) and Stafford-street
were built upon the site. A map in the Crowle Pennant shows the entrance-gate to
the court-yard to have been in Piccadilly, directly opposite St. James’ s-street ; and the
grounds to have extended to the site of Bruton-street. Two Corinthian pilasters,
long preserved, at the Three Kings’ Inn gateway, No. 75, in Piccadilly, are believed to
have belonged to Clarendon House ; the name is preserved in the Clarendon Hotel,
built upon a portion of the gardens between Albemarle and Bond-streets.
” All the waste ground at the upper end of Albemarle and Dover-streets is purchased by the Duke
of Grafton and the Earl of Grantham, for gardening ; and the road there leading to May Fair is ordered
to be turned.” — The British Journal, March 30, 1723. (This purchase is commemorated in Grqfton-
street.)
In Albemarle-street, at an apothecary’s, lodged Dr. Berkeley when he was made
Dean of Derry. Richard Glover, the merchant-poet, who wrote ” Leonidas ” and
“Admiral Hosier’s Ghost,” died here in 1785. On the east side is the Moyal
Institution ; the columnar facade by L. Vulliamy, 1838, adapted from the remains of
Mars Ultor and Jupiter Stator, and the Pantheon at Rome. No. 23 is the Alfred
Club-house (see p. 240). At No. 50, since 1812, have lived John Murray, father
and son, publishers j the former, ” the friend and publisher of Lord Byron,” died
1813. Opposite is Grillion’s Hotel, where Louis XVIII. sojourned in 1814 : here and
at the Clarendon were held the Roxburghe Club Dinners.
Bond-street was commenced in 1686 by Sir Thomas Bond, Bart., Comptroller of
the Household to Queen Henrietta-Maria. ” Bond-street loungers, who pass from
2 till 5 o’clock,” are mentioned in the Weekly Journal, June 1, 1717. At No. 41,
“at the Silk-Bag Shop,” died, March 18, 1768, Laurence Sterne, broken-hearted,
neglected, and in debt : some of the most touching scenes in Tom Jones are laid at
Mr. Allworthy’s lodgings in Bond-street. Here lodged James Boswell when he gave a
dinner to Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Garrick. No. 27 was the library of Ebers,
who in seven years lost 44,080?. by the Italian Opera-house, Haymarket. No. 10 has
a large billiard-room, painted 1850 in encaustic by E. P. Lambert, with panels bordered
with arabesques ; the principal subjects being Bacchus and Ariadne, Hebe, ” Willie
PICCADILLY.
673
brew’d a peck o’ inaut,” ” Let me the cannikin clink,” and the ” Wassail bowl.” The
tasteful house-front, No. 21, was designed by the Inwoods, architects of St. Pancras*
Church, Euston-road.
In 1766, the mansion, now the Clarendon Hotel, was let by the Duke of Grafton to Mr. Pitt (Earl of
Chatham), for his town house. M. Grillion, proprietor of the Clarendon Hotel, was once rather unex-
pectedly honoured by the visit of two guests, the French ex-Queen Amelie and Prince Napoleon Jerome.
To eacli the presence of the other was made known, but the ex-Queen acknowledged the right of the
Pr>- U, “~w ;« :he hotel. The Prince, like a gentleman, offered to withdraw if his presence gave the
venerable lady any displeasure; but the ex-Queen would not hear of his being put to any inconvenience.
The delicacy and courtesy of M. Grillion were taxed, but stood the test. The Clarendon has more issues
than one, and the worthy host contrived that the two illustrious personages should never find them-
selves on the same staircase. — Athenceum, Ho, 2001.
Burlington Gardens, originally ” Ten- Acres Fields,” extended from Bond-street to
Uxbeidge House, noticed at p. 557: here died, April 29,
iticulous correspondent renimua
.t there is no such institution in
l as ” The Albany.” Zvlr. G. S.
in his ” Ghosts of Piccadilly,”
)wn clearly the curious status of
amous building. ” Not ’ The
’”; the definite article, though
universal, was not used by the
I tenants of the cbjfnbers, and it
2s a writer wlifc jbossips about
o respect their ¦nflbm.”
i Mr. Stragt is ijlt quite accurate,
’he AlbEV^I
^akas heSugges
w b9*”f0und
a of
liar
of whom Mr
ly, we may
s further ^.h
were oriAn
e, one of
)liopbile, L
id library
Anglesey, K.G., aged 86. In Cork-street the
Marshal Wade a house with a beautiful front, ill-
i by Rubens, but in vain : Lord Chesterfield said
;ld not live in it, but intended to take the house
le). At the south-east corner of Grafton-street
rt, who published so many pretty picture-books
d-street was the Clifford-street Club (see p. 245).
an open field called Conduit-mead (now street),
which were found in 1867, in excavating large
Jos. 34 and 35, New Bond-street : these cellars
re, and will contain upwards of half a million
elson lodged in 1797. At No. 21 was exhibited,
y Haydon for Sir Robert Peel, and upon which
let.
3t, are the Burlington Aecade (see p. 20), and
o. 52, adjoining, are the Albany Chamb ers, let in
ere the :Cj designed by Sir William Cnambers, was sold
rites. Inci- s t Viscount Melbourne, who exchanged it with
the ante- Dover, House, Whitehall. In 1804 the mansion
rjjfe House. j an d fi rs t let in chambers, named Albany from
ouses on The ceilings of the mansion were painted for
upied by e y, and Rebecca. In chambers here have lived
and, whose i Sj Lord Byron, Lord Lytton, Lord Macaulay,
site were originally the houses of the Earl of
y no means as
in these days,
the modern
hambers therrf’afce quite as
this resist
to Blen-
H
Stephen Fox, brother of Charles. dy stanhope, with large gardens,
;here too, sold it to the first Lord e t i n London without a turning : at the corner
urne, and by Melbourne it was rcn> died Sir William Petty, the earliest writer
t. England, and ancestor of the Lansdowne family :
a letter from Sir William Tetty to Pepys is dated Piccadilly, September, 1687. The
Dilettanti Club met at The Prince, in this street, in 1783.
Swallow-street is named from ” Swallow Close,” part of the crown lands granted to
Lord Chancellor Clarendon : here was the oldest Scottish Presbyterian church in the
metropolis, and rebuilt (see p. 222). a Swallow-street originally extended northward to
Tyburn-road, from the centre of the present Regent-street. St. James’s Hall is
described at pp. 426-427. Ayr or Air-street was in 1659 the most westerly street.
South Side. — Hyde Park Corner turnpike-gate was removed in 1825. The long
dead wall of the Park (now open railing) was hung with ballads ; here robberies after
dark were frequent.
Arlington-street, “a very graceful and pleasant street” (Ration, 1708), was built
upon the property of Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, about 1689: hence, also,
JBennet-street. In Arlington-street lived the Duchess of Cleveland, after the death of
Charles II.; Lady Mary Wortley Montague, before her marriage; William Pulteney,
Earl of Bath, on the west side, next door to Sir Robert Walpole, where was born
Horace Walpole, who wrote in 1768, “From my earliest memory, Arlington-street
has been the ministerial street ;” in 1750 he records a highwayman attacking a post-
chaise in Piccadilly, at 11 o’clock on a Sunday night, and escaping. Upon the site of Stafford-street, 1686.’ In a plan of London etched by Hollar, in 1686, it is evident that the centre of
Clarendon House must have occupied the whole of the site of Stafford-street.”— Smith’s Streets,
Clarendon Souse was commenced by Lord Chancellor Clarendon in 1664, ” encou-
raged thereto by the royal grant of land, by the opportunity of purchasing the stones
which had been designed for the repairs of St. Paul’s, and by that passion for building
to which he was naturally too much inclined.” (Evelyn.) About the same time,
Lord Berkeley began to build Berkeley House on the west ; and Sir John Denham,
Burlington House on the east. During the war and the plague year, Clarendon
employed about 300 workmen, which raised a great outcry against him : ” some called
it ’ Dunkirk House,’ intimating that it was built by his share of the price of Dunkirk :
others called it ’ Holland House,’ because he was believed to be no friend to the war ;
so it was given out that he had the money from the Dutch. It was visible that in a
time of public calamity he was building a very noble palace “• -fiTe return of the In? B
records that some rude people, in 1667, “had been at my Loi the n foil° r * Jl t w hiding*
they cut down the trees before bis house and broke his windows previous stateine!
set up before or painted upon his gate, and these words writ
seen — Dunkirk, Tangier, and a barren queen.’ ” He was lampc /
State Poems, entitled “Clarendon’s House-warming.” The da TotaJ Gold and Bullior
flight, Evelyn “found him in his garden at his new-built pal Of tfrh”’i
wheele-chayre, and seeing the gates setting up towards the noi in Bank of ISiM^i
looked and spake very disconsolately. Next morning I heard 1 ^f a f urv and Darlebus-
dining at Clarendon House with the Lord Chancellor’s eldes Nates of Othfe* B.
after his father’s flight, describes the mansion as “now brave ^il.Vj °t Exchange” and
with the pictures of most of our English and modern wits, poe Discount j”t ’”
and learned Englishmen;” most of these pictures have been 1 Bills Ty «?*q –
a seat of the Earls of Clarendon, Oxon, to the Grove, Watford, felr^tmeftt* ’•••*•’••••”•*< Clarendon House was subsequently let to the great Duke ol Other Assets 1 Clarendon’s death in exile, it was sold, in 1675, for 26,000Z. ^ ital V.’.*.::.”;, Albemarle, who soon parted with it to Sir Thomas Bond, by Notes in C’ Y”r taken down, and Bond-street and Albemarle-buildings (now sP, State Deposits were built upon the site. A map in the Crowle Pennant sho Other J ’ *rnv s ** 8 ’ the court-yard to have been in Piccadilly, directly opposite St. Clearing Hotfse Met S grounds to have extended to the site of Bruton-street. T fa*^*? „ 3 ^^55,fi84, against M long preserved, at the Three Kings’ Inn gateway, No. 75, in P er – have belonged to Clarendon House ; the name is preserved i built upon a portion of the gardens between Albemarle and Be OIL XKM’S ” All the waste ground at the upper end of Albemarle and Dover-stre ,. . of Grafton and the Earl of Grantham, for gardening ; and the road there 1 rn-A y-X ’ street.) **zF(&lW} D Tr>r!!%
In Albemarle-street, at an apothecary’s, lodged Dr. BerlfiTude oil f» r m~Jiu ;
Dean of Derry. Richard Glover, the merchant-poet, who wrote ” Leonidas ” and
“Admiral Hosier’s Ghost,” died here in 1785. On the east side is the Royal
Institution ; the columnar facade by L. Vulliamy, 1838, adapted from the remains of
Mars Ultor and Jupiter Stator, and the Pantheon at Borne. No. 23 is the Aifeed
Club-house (see p. 240). At No. 50, since 1812, have lived John Murray, father
and son, publishers; the former, “the friend and publisher of Lord Byron,” died
1843. Opposite is Grillion’s Hotel, where Louis XVIII. sojourned in 1814 : here and
at the Clarendon were held the Roxburghe Club Dinners.
Bond-street was commenced in 1686 by Sir Thomas Bond, Bart., Comptroller of
the Household to Queen Henrietta-Maria. ” Bond-street loungers, who pass from
2 till 5 o’clock,” are mentioned in the Weekly Journal, June 1, 1717. At No. 41,
“at the Silk-Bag Shop,” died, March 18, 1768, Laurence Sterne, broken-hearted,
neglected, and in debt : some of the most touching scenes in Tom Jones are laid at
Mr. Allworthy’s lodgings in Bond-street. Here lodged James Boswell when he gave a
dinner to Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Garrick. No. 27 was the library of Ebers,
who in seven years lost 44,080Z. by the Italian Opera-house, Haymarket. No. 10 has
a large billiard-room, painted 1850 in encaustic by E. F. Lambert, with panels bordered
with arabesques; the principal subjects being Bacchus and Ariadne, Hebe, “Willie
PICCADILLY. 673
brew’d a peck o’ rnaut,” ” Let me the cannikin clink,” and the ” Wassail bowl.” The
tasteful house-front, No. 21, was designed by the Inwoods, architects of St. Pancras’
Church, Euston-road.
In 1766, the mansion, now the Clarendon Hotel, was let by the Duke of Grafton to Mr. Pitt (Earl of
Chatham), for his town house. M. Grillion, proprietor of the Clarendon Hotel, was once rather unex-
pectedly honoured by the visit of two guests, the French ex-Queen Amelie and Prince Napoleon Jerome.
To each the n^sence of the other was made known, but the ex -Queen acknowledged the right of the
P”*—© to De in the hotel. The Prince, like a gentleman, offered to withdraw if his presence gave the
venerable lady any displeasure; but the ex-Queen would not hear of his being put to any inconvenience.
The delicacy and courtesy of M. Grillion were taxed, but stood the test. The Clarendon has more issues
than one, and the worthy host contrived that the two illustrious personages should never find them-
selves on the same staircase. — Atheiueum, Xo. 2001.
Burlington Gardens, originally ” Ten- Acres Fields,” extended from Bond-street to
Swallow-street : here is Uxbridge House, noticed at p. 557 : here died, April 29,
1854, Field-Marshal the Marquis of Anglesey, K.G., aged 86. In Cork-street the
Earl of Burlington designed for Field-Marshal Wade a house with a beautiful front, ill-
contrived inside to suit a large cartoon by Rubens, but in vain : Lord Chesterfield said
that ” to be sure he (the Marshal) could not live in it, but intended to take the house
over against it, to look at it ” ( Walpole). At the south-east corner of Grafton-street
was the book-shop of Benjamin Tabart, who published so many pretty picture-books
for children. At the corner of Clifford-street was the Clifford-street Club (see p. 245).
New Bond-street site was in 1700 an open field called Conduit-mead (now street),
from the Conduit there, remains of which were found in 1867, in excavating large
wine-cellars for Mr. Basil Woodd, at Nos. 34 and 35, New Bond-street : these cellars
cover more than one-third of an acre, and will contain upwards of half a million
bottles of wine. At No. 141, Lord Nelson lodged in 1797. At No. 21 was exhibited,
” Napoleon at St. Helena,” painted by Haydon for Sir Robert Peel, and upon which
Wordsworth wrote his memorable sonnet.
In Piccadilly, east of Old Bond-street, are the Burlington Arcade (see p. 20), and
Burlington House (see p. 545). No. 52, adjoining, are the Albany Chamb ers, let in
suites to single gentlemen. The centre, designed by Sir William Chambers, was sold
in 1770, by Lord Holland, to the first Viscount Melbourne, who exchanged it with
the Duke of York for Melbourne, now Dover, House, Whitehall. In 1804 the mansion
in Piccadilly was altered and enlarged, and first let in chambers, named Albany from
the second title of the Duke of York. The ceilings of the mansion were painted for
Lord Melbourne by Cipriani, Wheatley, and Rebecca. In chambers here have lived
George Canning, M. G. (Monk) Lewis, Lord Byron, Lord Lytton, Lord Macaulay,
and Lord John Manners. Upon the site were originally the houses of the Earl of
Sunderland, Sir John Clarges, and Lady Stanhope, with large gardens.
Sackville-street is the longest street in London without a turning : at the corner
house, east, opposite St. James’s Church, died Sir William Petty, the earliest writer
on the science of political economy in England, and ancestor of the Lansdowne family :
a letter from Sir William Petty to Pepys is dated Piccadilly, September, 1687. The
Dilettanti Club met at The Prince, in this street, in 1783.
Swallow-street is named from ” Swallow Close,” part of the crown lands granted to
Lord Chancellor Clarendon : here was the oldest Scottish Presbyterian church in the
metropolis, and rebuilt (see p. 222). i Swallow-street originally extended northward to
Tyburn-road, from the centre of the present Regent-street. St. James’s Hall is
described at pp. 426-427. Ayr or Air-street was in 1659 the most westerly street.
South Side. — Hyde Park Corner turnpike-gate was removed in 1825. The long
dead wall of the Park (now open railing) was hung with ballads ; here robberies after
dark were frequent.
Arlington-street, “a very graceful and pleasant street” (Ratton, 1708), was built
upon the property of Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington, about 1689: hence, also,
Bennet-street. In Arlington-street lived the Duchess of Cleveland, after the death of
Charles II.; Lady Mary Wortley Montague, before her marriage; William Pulteney,
Earl of Bath, on the west side, next door to Sir Robert Walpole, where was born
Horace Walpole, who wrote in 1768, “From my earliest memory, Arlington-street
has been the ministerial street ;” in 1750 he records a highwayman attacking a post-
chaise in Piccadilly, at 11 o’clock on a Sunday night, and escaping. Upon the site of Walpole’s house Kent built No. 17, for Pelham the Minister, the house now the
Earl of Yarborough’s. Lord Nelson lodged in this street in 1800-1, when Lady
Nelson separated from him. At No. 16 (the Duke of Rutland’s), the Duke of York,
second son of George III., lay sick, from August 26, 1826, to his death, Jan. 5, 1827,
as touchingly narrated by Sir Herbert Taylor. No. 26, Beaufort House, was in
1854 sold to the Duke of Hamilton. The houses on the west side of the street com-
mand a charming view of the Green Park.
St. James’s-street, Bury-street, Jermyn-street, King-street, and St. James’ s-place,
are described at pp. 480-483.
No. 160, Piccadilly, is the entrance to the Wellington Dining -House (formerly Crock-
ford’s Club). The Egyptian Hale is described at p. 319.
At No. 169, Wright, the publisher of the Anti-Jacobin, kept shop, which was the
resort of the friends of the Ministry, as Debrett’s was of the Opposition. In a first-
floor met the editors of the Anti-Jacobin, including Canning, Frere, and Pitt ; with
Gifford as working editor, and Upcott (Wright’s assistant) as amanuensis. (See Notes
and Queries ; and Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin, new edition, 1854.) In Wright’s shop,
Peter Pindar (Wolcot) was castigated by Gifford. No. 177 was the shop of William
Pickering, the eminent publisher, whose title-pages bear the Aldine anchor: his
valuable stock of old books, rare works on angling, modern copyrights and reprints,
was dispersed in 1854. No. 182 (Fortnura and Mason’s) is designed from a mansion
at Padua, renovated and altered. The Museum of Practical Geology is described
at p. 595. In the Inventory of Rich’s Theatrical Properties (Tatler, July 16, 1709)
is ” Aurungzebe’s scymitar, made by Will. Brown in Piccadilly.” Megent Circus (see
Regent- street).
No. 201, Piccadilly, is the St. James’s Gallery of Art, where is exhibited a most remarkable collec-
tion of pictures principally in Water-Colours, painted by E. Facon Watson, from nature; mostly scenes
of rural life, one hundred in number : they unite solidity with brilliancy of colour, and are distinguished
by the most elaborate care and delicacy of manipulation ; the foliage, flowers, and grasses (especially
the ferns), are of microscopic accuracy, and the atmosphere of remarkable transparency and charac-
teristic beauty. Many of them are executed in a new style in the practice of the art, which is the artist’s
secret.” They were painted in the leisure of a life-time, and are unquestionably exquisite works of art.
St. James’s Chuech is described at p. 169 : in 1867 the interior was renovated and
altered according to Wren’s original intention : it has two large sunlights in the ceiling.
Nollekens, the sculptor, when a boy, with Scheemakers, the sculptor, in Vine-street, ” had an idle
propensity for bell-tolling, and in that art, for which many allowed him to have a superior talent, he
would frequently indulge by running down George-court to St. James’s Church, to know how funerals
went on. Whenever his master missed him, and the dead-bell was tolling, he knew perfectly well what
Joey was at.” — Smith’s Life of NoUekens.
PICTURE GALLERIES (PUBLIC).
NATIONAL GALLERY (The), on the north side of Trafalgar-square, was built
between 1832 and 1838, from the design of Professor Wilkins, R.A., and was
his latest work. Its length is 461 feet, and the greatest width 56 feet ; and it is
built partly with the materials of the King’s Mews, the site of which it occupies. The
best feature is the centre, the Corinthian columns of which are from the portico of
Carlton House, and are adapted from the Temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome.* This
portico has interior columns, the only example in the metropolis ; and the view com-
mands the broad vista of Parliament-street and Whitehall, and the picturesque towers
of the Palace at Westminster. But the Gallery central dome is ill-proportioned and
puny; and the corresponding cupolas upon the wings are poor imitations of Vanbrugh’s
embellishment of private mansions. Through the eastern wing is a thoroughfare to
Duke’s-court, claimed by the inhabitants as a right of way long enjoyed by them
through the King’s Mews. The vestibule is divided, by screens of scagliola columns
(with scenic effect), into two halls ; and from each is a staircase leading to the upper
floors, each a suite of five rooms. The eastern wing is appropriated to the Royal
Academy of Aets, which see. The western wing is occupied by the national col-
lection of pictures. The ground-floor is mostly official apartments, but was originally
intended as a depository for public records.
In the hall are S. Joseph’s marble statue of Sir David Wilkie, R.A., with his palette
* A complete set of casts from these fine specimens of ancient art exists in the Museum of Mr. Joseph
Gwilt, F.S.A., Abingdon-street, Westminster.
PICTURE GALLERIES {PUBLIC). 675
inserted beneath glass in the pedestal ; a fine alto-relievo, in marble, by T. Banks, E.A.,
of Thetis and her Nymphs rising from the Sea to condole with Achilles on the loss of
Patroclus ; a bronze bust of the Emperor Napoleon; and a marble bust of William
Mulready, R.A., by H. Weekes, R.A.
The National Gallery was founded in 1824, by the purchase of Mr. Angerstein’s
collection of pictures for 57,000£. : it is said, upon the suggestion of George IV. ; but
it originated equally in Sir George Beaumont’s offer, in 1823, to the Trustees of the
British Museum, to present his collection to the public. The Angerstein pictures (38)
were first exhibited in the house of Mr. Angerstein, 100, Pall Mall, May 10, 1824;
whither Sir George Beaumont’s 16 pictures were transferred in 1826. In 1831,
35 pictures were bequeathed by the Rev. W. Holwell Carr ; in 1836, 6 pictures were
presented by William IV. ; 17 bequeathed in 1837 by Lieut.-Col. Ollney ; 15 be-
queathed in 1838 by Lord Farnborough ; 14 bequeathed in 1846 by R. Simmons :
and the Gallery has since been increased, by donations, bequests, and comparatively
few Government purchases, to about 495 pictures ; independently of the Vernon and Turner collections.
The current expenses connected with the National Gallery amount to an annual sum of 15,894£., of which the Director receives 1000Z., and the Keeper and Secretary 750Z. The establishment at Trafalgar-square costs 1523£, of which 327£. is given to curators, and 7861. to police. A sum of 621?. is spent at South Kensington, 2000£. is allowed for travelling expenses, agency, &c., and 10,000£. for the purchase of pictures.
The first Catalogue of the National Gallery, by W. Young Ottley, has long been out of print : the fullest extant is by B. N. Wornum. Among the more notable pictures are two Groups of Saints and the Baptism of Christ, (eleven pictures,) by Taddeo Gad Ji, painted in tempera, bright colour upon a gold background ; curious specimens of middle-age art.
Italian School: The Virgin and Child, with Saints and a Dead Christ (lunette) from an altar-piece,
by Francesco Francia, early Bolognese School. Virgin and Child, with St. John, by P. Perugino; divinely
holy in character and expression. The Baising of Lazarus, by Sebastian del Piombo : the figure of
Lazarus by Michael Angelo. St. Catherine of Alexandria, the Vision of a Knight, portrait of Pope
Julius II., and fragment of a Cartoon of the Murder. of the Innocents, by Eaphael; and the Madonna,
Infant Christ, and John, (Garvagh Eaphael, 90001.) Three of Correggio’s greatest works : Mercury in-
structing Cupid in the presence of Venus ; the Ecce Homo ; and the Holy Family (La Vierge au Panier) :
the three pictures cost 14,400/. A Holy Family, Noli me tangere, and Bacchus and Ariadne, by Titian.
Susannah and the Elders, by Ludovico Caracci. Eight works of Annibale Caracci : Silenus gathering
Grapes ; Pan (or Silenus) teaching Apollo to play on the Beed ; and Christ appearing to St. Peter. Nine
works of Guido, including Susannah and the Elders; Andromeda and the ” Ecce Homo.” Ten works of
Claude (Landscapes and Seaports), including the Chigi and Bouillon Claudes, the latter the Embarkation
of the Queen of Sheba. A fine Landscape (Mercury and the Woodman) by Salvator Rosa. Gaston de
Foix, by Giorgione. The Madonna and Child enthroned, with Saints John and Christopher, with the
Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, in adoration, by Vittore Carpaccio. St. Bock with the Angel, by Paolo
Moraudo. Venetian Senator, by Francesco Bonsignori. The Madonna, Infant Christ, and St. Anne, by
Libri. Madonna in Prayer, and Madonna and Child, by Sasso Ferrato. Christ and his Disciples going
to Emmaus, by Melone. Milanese Nobleman, by Solario. ” Ecce Homo,” by La Spagna.
Spanish School : Philip IV. of Spain hunting the Wild Boar, Portrait of Philip, the Nativity, (in the
Manger,) and the Dead Warrior, by Velasquez. The Holy Family, St. John with the Lamb, and the
Spanish Peasant-boy, by Murillo.
Flemish School: Portraits of a Flemish Gentleman and Lady, in a bedchamber; under the mirror is
written “Johannes de Eyck fait hie, 1434.” Nine works of Bubens: including the Sabine Women;
Peace and War, presented to Charles I. by Bubens, in 1630 ; the Brazen Serpent ; St. Bavon, harmonious
and picturesque ; Bubens’s own Chateau ; the Judgment of Paris, from the Orleans Collection ; and tho
Apotheosis of James I., sketched for the Whitehall ceiling. Vandyke’s magnificent St. Ambrosius and
the Emperor Theodosius ; and the same painter’s ” Gevartius,” or Vander Geest, a portrait scarcely
equalled in the world, — but by some attributed to Bubens. The Woman taken in Adultery, one of
Bembrandfs finest early works; Christ taken down from the Cross; Christ blessing little Children;
his Adoration of the Shepherds; a Woman Bathing; and three of his marvellous portraits. A sunny
Landscape, with cattle and figures, by Cuyp. The Misers, or Money-changers, by David Teniers.
French School: Eight works of Nicholas Poussin, including two Bacchanalian Festivals, and the
Plague of Ashdod, very fine. Also, six works of Gaspar Poussin, including his masterpiece, a Landscape
with Abraham and Isaac ; and his fine classical picture of Dido and ./Eneas in a Storm.
Mnglish School : Sun rising in a Mist, and Dido building Carthage, by J. M. W. Turner. Mr. Lewis,
the comedian, ” Gentleman Lewis,” by M. A. Shee, bequeathed by the son of Mr. Lewis, with 10,000/. in
money, the proceeds, about 300/. a year, to be laid out in the improvement of the Fine Art*.
The Ttjenee Pictures are arranged chronologically, and comprehend three
distinct styles, mostly corresponding with Turner’s three visits to Italy in 1819, 1829, and
1840. The first period reaches to his 27th year, when he was forming a style, by
studying his English predecessors, Wilson, Loutherbourg, and Gainsborough ; his
earliest oil-pictures resemble those of Wilson in style. In the second period, 1802 to
1830, Turner is seen at first as a follower of Claude and Gaspar Poussin, and then
striking out a style of landscape-painting, entirely original, and wholly unrivalled for
brilliancy of colouring and effect ; the majority of his greatest works belong to that period, from his Calais Pier, 1803, to the Ulysses deriding Polyphemus, 1829. In his
third period, dated from 1830, during the last twenty years of his life, everything else
was sacrificed to the splendour of light and colour ; yet some of Turner’s finest works
belong to this period — as his Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, 1832, and the Temeraire,
1839. The Turner pictures, as arranged by Mr. Wornum, have been hung in the west
room of the National Gallery.
RoyaIi Academy ov Arts (the) occupies the east wing of the National Gallery,
already described. The Academy originated in a Society of Artists in Peter’s-court,
St. Martin’s-lane.* With its apparatus Hogarth established the Society of Incorpo-
rated Artists, who held their first Exhibition at the house of the Society of Arts, in
the Adelphi, April 21, 1760 ; next in Spring Gardens. In 1768 certain artists seceded
from the Society, were constituted a ” Royal Academy,” removed to Pall Mall, and
elected Reynolds president (at the first Exhibition, in 1769, there were 136 pictures,
and only three sold) ; and George III. granted them, in 1771, apartments in Old
Somerset House.
The Foundation consists of 40 Royal Academicians ; 20 Associates, from whom the
members are chosen to fill up vacancies; and six Associate Engravers. The Academi-
cians elect from among themselves annually the President j they also appoint a Secre-
tary and Keeper. The Council of eight members elect among the body Professors of
Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture ; and appoint a Professor of Anatomy, who must
be a surgeon. Dr. Johnson was first President of Ancient Literature; and Dr. Gold-
smith, Professor in Ancient History, was succeeded by Edward Gibbon. Lectures are
delivered to the students and exhibiting artists, free of expense : and prize medals are
awarded biennially and annually. Students are also sent to Rome at the expense of
the Academy. The members are under the superintendence and control of the Queen,
who confirms and signs all appointments.
Among the Foundation Members of the Academy were Sir Joshua Reynolds {President) ; Sir William
Chambers, the architect of Somerset House ; Gainsborough and Wilson, the eminent landscape-painters ;
Benjamin AVest (the second President); Joseph Wilton, the sculptor; P. Bartolozzi, the engraver;
Charles Catton, Master of the Painter-Stainers’ Company; and Angelica Kauffmann and Mary Moser. —
(See Zoffany’s Picture of the Royal Academicians, 1773.)
Upon the rebuilding of Somerset House, apartments in the western wing were given
to the Academicians ; and the first Exhibition here was opened May, 1780.
The Library ceiling was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Cipriani : the centre, by Reynolds,
represents ” the Theory of Painting,” a majestic female, holding compasses and a label inscribed,
” Theory is the knowledge of what is truly nature.” The four compartments, by Cipriani, were per-
sonifications of Nature, History, Allegory, and Fable. The Council-room was painted by West : centre,
the Graces unveiling Nature, surrounded by figures of the Four Elements ; oval pictures of Invention,
Composition, Design, and Colouring, by Angelica Kauffmann; medallions of Apelles, Phidias, Apollodorus,
and Archimedes; and a circle of chiaroscuro medallions of Palladio, Bernini, Michael Angelo, Fiammingo,
Raffaelle, Domenichino, Titian, and Rubens, painted by Rebecca.
Horace Walpole writes to Mason :— ” You know, I suppose, that the Royal Academy at Somerset
House is opened. It is quite a Roman palace, and finished in perfect taste, as well as boundless expense.
Gainsborough has five landscapes there, of which one especially is worthy of any collection and
of any painter that ever existed.” Walpole’s copy of “the Exhibition Catalogue” for 1780 exhibits
against the landscapes by Gainsborough MS. expressions of ” charming,” ” very spirited,” ” as admirable
as the great masters.”
In 1838 the Academy removed to the National Gallery. They possess a library of
prints, and books on art (see p. 464), which is open to students. Here are also several
pictures by old masters. The School for Drawing from the Antique is held in the
Sculpture-room ; the School for Painting in the West-room ; and the School for Draw-
ing from the Life-model is held in the interior of the dome of the edifice. In the Hall
of Casts (mostly presented by George IV., and procured through the intervention of
Canova) are a beautiful group of Niobe and her Daughters ; the graceful Mercury of
the Vatican ; Fauns with their Cymbals ; the Egyptian Jupiter, and the Olympian ;
Apollo and the Muses ; the Laocoon ; the Fighting and Dying Warrior j a mutilated
remnant of a statue of Theseus, &c. Upon the ceiling of the Council-room are the
paintings, by Sir Joshua Reynolds and other Academicians, transferred from the Library
and Council-room at Somerset House.
* This Society (according to Edwards) was formed from a ” Life School,” or Living Model Academy,
which was established in the house of Peter Hyde, a painter, in Greyhound-court, between MiK’ord-lane
and Arundel-street, Strand, under the direction of Mr. Moser, afterwards the first Keeper of the Royal
Academy. The School removed to Peter’s-court about 1739. The houses in Greyhound-court were
taken down between 1851 and 1854.
PICTURE GALLERIES (PUBLIC). 677
The Diploma Pictures and Sculptures (each member presenting a work of art upon
his election) are placed in the Council-room, and include Sir Joshua Reynolds’ full-
length portrait of George III. ; Fuseli’s ” Thor battering the Serpent of Midgard in
the boat of Hymer the Giant;” a Rustic Girl, by Lawrence ; the Tribute- Money, by
Copley ; Charity, by Stothard ; Jael and Sisera, by Northcote ; the Falling Giant, by-
Banks ; and Apollo and Marpessa, and a cast of the Shield of Achilles, by Flaxman ;
Christ blessing little Children, by West ; Boys digging for a Rat, by Wilkie ; Opie’s
Infancy and Age; portrait of Gainsborough, by himself; Sir William Chambers, by
Reynolds; and Sir Joshua in his doctor’s robes, by himself. Cupid and Psyche, by
Nollekens ; bust of Flaxman, by Baily ; West, by Chantrey, &c.
There are, also, a celebrated copy, size of the original, of the Last Supper, by
Leonardo da Vinci, made by his pupil, Marco d’Oggioue; copies of the Descent from
the Cross, and the two Volets, by Rubens, made by Guy Head ; and copies of the
Cartoons of RafTaelle, by Thornhill, — the size of the originals, Also, small copies in
oil of the frescoes by Raffaelle in the Vatican ; two fine Cartoons (the Holy Family
and St. Anna, and Leda) by L. da Vinci ; bas-relief in marble of the Holy Family, by
Michael Angelo, presented by Sir George Beaumont, &c. Among the memorials pre-
served by the Academy are two palettes of Reynolds and Hogarth. The Diploma
Pictures, &c, may be seen by application in writing to the Keeper of the Gallery.
The Exhibition is opened annually on the first Monday in May ; admission 1*., cata-
logue Is. : it closes the last week in July ; but there is an after-exhibition. All works
sent for exhibition are submitted to the Council, whose decision is final. The receipts
at the door have reached, in one season, 11,6002.
The qualifications for becoming a Student of the Royal Academy are, an approved drawing or mode
by the applicant, and testimony of his moral character ; and next, an approved drawing or model of an
antique figure in the Academy, accompanied by outline drawings of an anatomical figure and skeleton,
not less than two feet high, with list, references, &c. A similar rule applies to Architectural Students.
The Annual Dinner is given by the Academicians on Saturday previous to the open-
ing of the Exhibition, in the West Room, where hangs the massive chandelier presented
to the Academy by George IV.
In less than a ninety-nine years “crown and public” tenure of existence Academy of Arts” in London has had ./ice presidents: — 1. Sir Joshua Reynolds ; 2. Benjamin West,
¦who declined knighthood ; 3. Sir Thomas Lawrence; 4. Sir Martin Archer Shee; 5. Sir Charles Lock
Eastlake.
Total sum3 received from the Annual Exhibition, from 1769 to 1859 (inclusive), less the expenses
attending the same, 267,583£. 15». 5d., — sums received by dividends on stock, &c., 91.567J. 8s. 9d., — sums
received from his Majesty’s Privy Purse, from 1769 to 1780, 6116Z. 2*.,— Turner bequest, 20.000Z.,— sums
expended by the Royal Academy, from the commencement of the institution, in the gratuitous instruc-
tion of the students, general management, &c., 218,4692. 5*., — paid in pensions to distressed and super-
annuated members and their widows, from 1802 to 1859, 28,7392. 0». Id., donations to distressed and
superannuated artists and their families, from 1769 to 1859, 32,7722. 58. lOi. The balance in favour of
the Academy in 1867 was 104,4992. 19». 8d.
A new Gallery for the Academy is in course of erection in the rear of Burlington
House, Piccadilly, which is to form the frontage of the Academy.
The Sheepshanks’ Pictures, were, in 1857, by a deed of gift presented to the nation
by Mr. Sheepshanks of Rutland-gate, and are deposited in a building erected for the
purpose at South Kensington.
It comprises 233 oil paintings, cabinet size, ranging over a period of fifty years, and embracing very choice examples of many of the most eminent painters of the time. The collection is incidentally noticed at page 604. A complete list appeared in the Athenceum, No. 1530. It is especially rich in the works of Mulready, Leslie, Landseer, Wilkie, Stothard, and Webster. Of Mulready there are 34 examples— the earliest painted in 1806, the latest in 1848 : among them is the famous Choosing the Wedding Gown.
By Leslie there are 24 paintings, the best illustrations from Shakspeare, Moliere, and Sterne. By Landseer there are 16 paintings, besides drawings and sketches ; the largest picture is the Drover’s
Departure — scene in the Grampians ; also the Old Shepherd’s Chief Mourner. The five pictures by Turner include, the vessel in distress off Yarmouth ; and Venice. The only fine picture by Wilkie is
The Refusal— Duncan Gray. The six by Webster are all good examples. Stothard’s 10 pictures include several of his Shakspeare pieces. Further, here are 9 examples by Collins; 6 by Constable; as many by Redgrave; 3 each by Stanfield, Roberts, Lee, and Danby; 2 each by Etty, Eastlake, and Creswick; 9 by Callcott ; 11 by Cooke ; 9 by Cope : 4 by Uwins, &c. ; besides drawings by Turner, Prout, &c.
The Vernon Collection of the English School, 162 pictures, temporarily exhibited at South Kensington, was presented to the nation in 1847, by Mr. Robert Vernon, who died at his house, No. 50, Pall Mall, May 22, 1849, in the 75th year of his age.
Among the pictures are : Sir Joshua Reynolds — the Age of Innocence (very fine), cost Mr. Vernon 1450 guineas. Gainsborough — Landscape : Sunset (fine). Richard Wilson — lour small pictures (fine).
Sir A. W. Callcott— Littlehampton Pier (fine). Wilkie— The Newsmongers (fine); The Bagpiper (fine). Collins, R.A.— Happy as a King. J. M. W. Turner, R.A.— William III. landing at Torbay ; Composition Landscape (fine) ; Two Views in Venice (fine). Clarkson Stanfleld, R.A.— The Entrance to the Zuyder Zee (fine). David Roberts, R. A.— Interior of St. Paul’s at Antwerp (fine). Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A. — Peace and War (Peace very fine) ; Highland Piper and Dogs ; Spaniels of King Charles’s breed ; the Dying Stag; High Life and Low Life Dogs. W. Mulready, R.A.— The Last In ; the Ford. T. Webster R.A.— The Dame School (fine). D. Maclise, R.A.— Play Scene in Hamlet. E. M. Ward, R.A.— South Sea Bubble ; Disgrace of Clarendon.
Both the above collections are open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, free ; and on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (students’ days) on payment of 6d. each.
The National Portrait Galleey, 29, Great George-street, Westminster, was established in 1856, with a Government grant for 2000?., when the Earl of Ellesmere presented the famous Chandos Shakspeare, which he had purchased at the Stowe sale in 1848, for 355 guineas ; the Gallery has since been supported by an annual grant of 2000?. for purchases, and by donations of portraits of unquestionable importance, subject to the approbation of the trustees, without partisan or sectarian exclusiveness.
Admission free on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The National Poeteait Exhibition of Pictures, obtained by loan, originated by the Earl of Derby, was held in the new building at the South Kensington Museum, in the year 1866-7 ; the historic periods “of the paintings extending from the twelfth century to 1688; and in 1867, from 1688 to 1800.
Dulwich Galleey, founded by Sir Francis Bourgeois, R.A., who left to the College 354 pictures, 10,000Z. to erect and keep in repair a building, and 2000?. to provide for the care of the pictures : built by the suggestion of John Philip Kemble, the actor, at Alleyn’s College, Dulwich. (See p. 274.) The Murillos and Cuyps (19) are especially fine. Teniers, 21 in all. Mrs. Sheridan and Mrs. Tickell, by Gainsborough, full-lengths, very fine. Mrs. Siddons, and his own portrait, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, are indifferent duplicates. This is the only Collection free to the public which affords an opportunity for studying the Dutch masters. Open each week free, except Thursday and Friday, charge 6d.
Among the private Picture Galleries of London are several to which access can be obtained by accredited application, by letter, to the proprietor. Such are — the collection in Devonshire House (see p. 548), rich in Italian pictures, and more particularly cf the Venetian school ; Sir Robert Peel’s, of which Waagen speaks so highly as ” a series of faultless pearls of the Flemish and Dutch schools ;” the Bridgewater, formerly the Stafford Gallery (p. 545), to which a great work in four folio volumes has been specially dedicated, and which holds the first rank among English collections, being rich in all schools — pre-eminently so in the highest, and containing above 300 pictures ; the collection in Stafford House (p. 557), belonging to the Duke of Sutherland; Lord
Ashburton’s (p. 544) ; the Duke of Wellington’s (p. 542) ; Mrs. Hope’s (p. 551) ; and the Marquis of Westminster’s, better known as the Grosvenor Gallery (p. 550), one of the wealthiest in the country in the works of Rembrandt, and the Dutch and Flemish painters, and containing many and valuable works in all the other chief schools.
PIMLICO,
A NAME of gardens of public entertainment, often mentioned by our early dramatists, and in this respect resembling ” Spring Garden.” In a rare tract, Newes from Mogadon, 1598 : ” Have at thee, then, my merrie boys, and hey for old Ben Pimlico’s nut-browne ’.” and the place, in or near Hoxton, was afterwards named from him. Ben Jonson has,
“A second Hogsden,
In days of Pimlico and eye-bright.” — The Alchemist.
” Pimlico path ” is a gay resort of his Bartholomew Fair ; and Meercraft in The Devil is an A.ss, says : —
“I’ll have thee, Captain Gilthead, and march up
And take in Pimlico, and kill the bush
At every tavern.”
In 1609 was printed a tract entitled Pimlico, or Prince Red Cap, ’tis a Mad World at Hogsden. The name is still preserved in ” Pimlico Walk,” from opposite St. John’s church to High-street, Hoxton, a ” near cut ” to the Britannia Theatre. Sir Lionel
Eash, in Greene’s Tu Quoque, sends his daughter “as far as Pimlico for a draught of Derby ale, that it may bring colour into her cheeks.” Massinger mentions,
” Eating 1 pudding-pies on a Sunday,
At Pimlico or Islington.” — City Madam.
Aubrey, in his Swrrey, speaks of ” a Pimlico Garden on Bankside.” Pimlico, the district between Knightsbridge and the Thames, and St. James’s Park and Chelsea, was noted for its public gardens : as the Mulberry Garden, now part of the site of Buckingham Palace; the Dwarf Tavern and Gardens, afterwards Spring Gardens, between Ebury -street and Belgrave-terrace ; the Star and Garter, at the end of Five-Fields-row, famous for its equestrianism, fireworks, and dancing ; and the Orange, upon the site of St. Barnabas’ church. Here, too, were Banelagh and New Ranelagh. But the largest garden in Pimlico was Jenny’s Whim, to the left of the road over Ebury (late the Wooden) Bridge, formerly Jenny’s Whim Bridge. The site is now covered by St. George’s-row. The tavern was opened temp. George I. for fireworks, and in its grounds were a pond for duck-hunting, garden-plots, alcoves, and grotesque figures : it was a summer resort of the upper classes; and a tract of 1755 is entitled “Jenny’s Whim, or a sure Guide to the Nobility and Gentry,” &c. In later years it was frequented by crowds from bull-baiting in the adjoining fields. Among the old signs were the Bag o’ Nails, Arabella-row, from Ben Jonson’s ” Bacchanals ;” the Compasses, of Cromwell’s time (near Grosvenor-row) ; and the Gun Tavern and Tea-gardens, Queen’s-row, with its arbours, and costume figures, the last to disappear. Pimlico is still noted for its ale-breweries.
Upon the verge of St. James’s Park were Tart Hall, and Arlington, subsequently Buckingham, House, architect, Captain Wynde or Wynne, a native of Bergen-op-Zoom.
So late as 1763, Buckingham House enjoyed an uninterrupted prospect south and west to the river, there being only a few scattered cottages, and the Stag Brewery,” between it and the Thames.—
W. Bardwell.
Pimlico contains the Belgrave district, including Belgrave, Eaton, and Chester Squares, and the Grosvenor-road ; beyond which the Eccleston sub-district of new squares, terraces, and streets, extends to the Thames. Here are two churches in the Early Decorated style : Holy Trinity, close to Vauxhall Bridge ; and St. Gabriel’s, Warwick-square, with a spire 160 feet high.
Ebury Street and Square are named from Ebury Farm, 430 acres (lammas land), leased by Queen Elizabeth at 2l. per annum.
In Lower Belgrave-place, corner of Eccleston-street, Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., lived 27 years, and executed his finest busts, statues, and monuments : he died here Nov. 25, 1841. Next door but one, at No. 27, lived Allan Cunningham, the poet, and foreman to Chantrey.
In Stafford-row died, in 1796, Bichard Yates, the celebrated comedian, and teacher of acting, aged 89.
He was found dead through disappointment of a dinner of eels, which he ordered of his housekeeper, but which she failed to provide.
At Pimlico, facing the south wing of Buckingham Palace, is the office of the Duchy of Cornwall, formerly at Somerset House. The site was purchased by the public from the land revenues, at 4300Z., and the building cost about 10,000Z. The fronts are mostly formed in cement, painted stone-colour. Here are managed the affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall, from the revenues of which is derived more than half the income of the Prince of Wales.
Pimlico is also the name of a place near Clitheroe, in Lancashire ; Lord Orrery (in his Letters) mentions ” Pimlicoe, Dublin ;” and ” Pemlico ” is the name of a bird of Barbadoes, ” which presageth storms.” — Notes and Queries, Nos. 29, 31, and 125.
PLAGUE, THE GREAT.
LONDON has frequently suffered from the ravages of pestilence ; and thousands and
tens of thousands of the inhabitants have been swept by its virulence into one
common grave. But at no period of its history was the mortality so devastating as in
the year 1665, the ” last great visitation,” as it is emphatically entitled by Defoe in
his Journal of the Plague Year. This work was originally published in 1722 : now,
as Defoe was only two years of age when the Great Pestilence occurred, his Journal
680 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
was long considered as much a work of imagination as his Robinson Crusoe ; but there
is abundant evidence of his having compiled the Journal from contemporary sources ;
as the Collection of all the Bills of Mortality for 1665, published as London’s Dread-
ful Visitation ; the Loimologia of Dr. Hodges ; and God’s Terrible Voice in the City,
by the Rev. Thomas Vincent, 1667 ; and many of the events which De Foe records
derive collateral support from the respective Diaries of Pepys, Evelyn, and Lord Claren-
don — works which were not published until very long after Defoe’s decease, and the
manuscripts of which he could never have perused. Defoe is believed to have been
familiar with the manuscript Account of the Great Plague by William Boghurst, a
medical practitioner, formerly in the Sloane Collection, and now preserved in the British
Museum : it is a thin quarto manuscript of 170 pages, from which only a few extracts
have been published. Boghurst was an apothecary in St. Giles’s-in-the-Fields ; and he
states that he was the only person who had then (1666) written on the late Plague
from experience and observation. Kapin and Hume have recorded the event in little
more than a single sentence ; but Dr. Lingard has grouped the details of De Foe’s
Journal into a terrific picture, which has been compared to the celebrated delineation
of the Plague of Athens by Thucydides.
“No one can take up the book (Defoe’s) without believing that it is the saddler of Whitechapel who
is telling his own story ; that he was an eye-witness to all he relates : that he actually saw the blazing
star which portended the calamity ; that he witnessed the grass growing in the streets, read the inscrip-
tions upon the doors of the infected houses; heard the bellman crying, ’Bring out your dead. ’* saw the
dead-carts conveying people to their graves, and was present at the digging of the pits in which they
were deposited.” — Wilson’s Life and Timet of Defoe.
The Great Plague was imported, in December, 1664, by goods from Holland, where,
in Amsterdam alone, 20,000 persons had been carried off by the same infection within
a short time. The infected goods were opened at a house in St. Giles’s parish, near
the upper end of Drury-lane, wherein died four persons ; and the parish books record
of this period the appointment of searchers, shutting up of infected houses, and contri-
butions by assessment and subscription. A Frenchman, who lived near the infected
house in Drury-lane, removed into Bear-binder-lane (leading to St. Swithin’s-lane),
where he died, and thus spread the distemper in the City. Between December and
the ensuing April the deaths without the walls of the City greatly increased, and in
May every street in St. Giles’s was infected. In July, in August, and September the
deaths ranged from 1000 to 7000 per week ; and 4000 are stated to have died in one
fatal night ! In the latter month fires were burnt in the streets three nights and days,
” to purge and purify the air.”
” St. James’s Park was quite locked up ; ” and, July 22 : “I by coach home, not meeting with but two
coaches and but two carts, from White Hall to my own house, that 1 could observe ; and the streets
mighty thin of people.” — Pepys.
” June 7th.— The hottest day that ever 1 felt in my life. This day, much against my will, I did in
Drury-lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon the doors, and ’ Lord have mercy upon
us !’ writ there.” — Pepys.
” Sept. 7. — I went all along the City and suburbs, from Kent-street to St. James’s, — a dismal pas-
sage, and dangerous, to see so many coffins exposed in the streets, now thin of people ; the shops shut
up, and all in mournful silence, as not knowing whose turn it might be next.” — Evelyn.
” Within the walls,
The most frequented once and noisy parts
Of town, now midnight silence reigns e’en there :
A midnight silence at the noon of day !
And grass, untrodden, springs beneath the feet.” — Dryden.
The Court removed from Whitehall to Hampton Court, and thence to Salisbury and Oxford; and the Londoners, leaving their city, carried the infection into the country; so that it spread, towards the end of this and the following year, over a great part of England. The Plague gradually abated in the metropolis ; but it was not until Nov. 20, 1666, that public thanksgivings were offered up to God for assuaging the pestilence in London, Westminster, and within the bills of mortality. There were reported dead of the Plague in 1664-5, 68,596; probably less by one-third than the actual number.
Among the Plague medicines were Pill Rufus and Venice treacle. Another antidote was sack. Tobacco was used as a prophylactic ; and amulets were worn against infection.
Among many touching episodes of the Plague, is that of a blind Highland bagpiper, who, having fallen asleep upon the steps of St. Andrew’s Church, Holborn-hill, was conveyed away in the dead-cart ; and but for the howling of his faithful dog, which waked him from his trance, he would have been buried as a corpse. Of the piper and his dog a group was sculptured by Caius Gabriel Cibber : it was long after purchased by John the great Duke of Argyll, subsequently to whose death it for many years occupied a site in a garden in the front of No. 178, Tottenham-court-road, whence it disappeared about 1825. (See London Magazine, April, 1820.)
Another episode is that of a grocer in Wood-street, Cheapside, who shut himself up with his family, with a store of provisions, his only communication being by a wicket made in the door, and a rope and pulley to draw up or let anything down into the street; and thus they escaped infection.
In the Intelligencer, for the year 1665, No. 51, appeared the following advertisement : —
” This is to notify that the master of the Cock and Bottle, commonly called the Cock Alehouse, at Temple Bar, hath dismissed his servants and shut up his house for this long vacation, intending (God willing) to return at Michaelmas next ; so that all persons whatsoever who have any accompts with the said master, or farthings belonging to the said house, are desired to repair thither before the 8th of this instant July, and they shall receive satisfaction.” One of these farthings is still preserved at the Cock Tavern.
Forty years before, Evelyn records 1625 as ” the year in which the pestilence was so epidemical, that there dy’d in London 5000 a week.” In another great Plague year, 1603, there died 30,561 : —
” London now smokes with vapors that arise
From his foule sweat, himselfe he so bestirres :
’ Cast out your dead !’ the carcase-carrier cries,
Which he by heapes in groundlesse graves interres.
* « • »
” The London lanes (thereby themselves to save)
Did vomit out their undigested dead,
Who by cart-loads are carried to the grave :
For all these lanes with folke were overfed.
* * * *
” Time never knew, since he bcgunne his houres
(For aught we reade), a plague so long remaine
In any citie as this plague of ours ;
For now six yeares in London it hath laine.”
The Triumph of Death, by John Davies, 1609.
It will be recollected, from the several accounts of the Plague in London, that a cross was affixed by the authorities to the door of the house where there was infection.
In the Guildhall Library, not long since, among some broadsides, was found one of these ” Plague Crosses.” It was the ordinary size of a broadside, and bore a cross extending to the edges of the paper, on which were printed the words, ” Lord have mercy upon us.” In the four quarters formed by the limbs of the cross were printed directions for managing the patient, regulations for visits, medicines, food, and water.
This ” Cross” unfortunately, is not now to be found.
POLICE.
THE original Police of the metropolis (which until the commencement of the last century, comprised only the ” City and liberties,” with Westminster) consisted of the aldermen, deputy-aldermen, common-councilmen, ward-clerk, ward-bedell, inquestmen or leet jury, and constables of the several wards, who were formerly themselves the night-watchmen by rotation, of Englishmen, — for no stranger was allowed to discharge so responsible an office: the ward, with its precincts, being no other than the highest development of the Anglo-Saxon hundred with its tithings. We find this form of Police to have existed from the earliest settlement of the valley of the Thames by a northern nation ; and to have continued in use, as the type and model for the rest of the realm, until the institution of the present Police.
The few officers of the central Police in the City, — the upper-marshal, the under-marshal, and the marshalmen, — under whom was organized, at a very modern date, a subordinate force of sixty-eight men, were in like manner the type of the Bow-street and other police attached to the several magistrates’ offices established in the outlying portions of the metropolis so recently as the close of the last century.
In the metropolitan parishes without the City, the watch was chiefly under local acts ; the establishment in each consisting of a beadle, constables, and generally head-boroughs, street-keepers, and watchmen, as in the several wards of the City, but working to a result much worse : the petty constables being served by deputies, in many instances characters of the worst and lowest description ; having no salary, but living by extortion, and countenancing all species of vice.
To abolish such a system, Sir Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police Act of the 10th of George IV. c. 44, was passed, superseding the Bow-street foot-patrol, and the whole of the parochial police and watch outside the City, by one force both for day and night duty; in the sole appointment, order, and superintendence of two Commissioners, acting under the responsibility of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.*
The Metropolitan Police force consisted at the beginning of 1867, of 7548 men — namely, 27 superintendents, 221 inspectors, 818 sergeants, and 6482 constables, a small increase over the return of the previous year. The highest salary of a constable was 78/., the lowest 49/. 8s., exclusive of clothing and coals. The cost of the police for the year 1866, including the dockyard police and all incidental expenses, such as for refreshments supplied to destitute prisoners and medical aid for poor persons in cases of accident in the public throughfares, amounted to 621,819/. The Metropolitan Police- rate of 1866 produced 383,133/. ; the Treasury contributed 117,519/., besides large special payments for the dockyard police and services at military stations and public offices. Private individuals or companies paid 6204/., and the theatres 258/. for the services of the police. The cost of the police courts in 1866 amounted to 49,535/. j
it falls upon the public purse. There is one chief magistrate receiving 1500/. a year, and 22 magistrates with 1200/. The fees and penalties levied at the police-courts of these magistrates, and of other justices within the district, amounted to 15,186/. ; these fees and penalties are paid over to the Exchequer.
The first chief magistrate (and, indeed, the first stipendiary magistrate, in the sense of being paid by stipend only, to the exclusion of fees) was Sir J. Fielding, the half-brother of Henry Fielding, the novelist. The following is a list of the chief magistrates from the institution of the office to the present day: — Sir John Fielding, Sir W. Addington, Sir Richard Ford, Mr. Bead, Sir Nathaniel Conant, Sir Eobert Baker, Sir Richard Birnie, Sir Frederic A. Roe, Mr. Hall, Sir Thomas Henry. Sir Robert Baker resigned his office in 1821, in consequence of a complaint that had been made of his conduct in allowing the funeral procession of Queen Caroline to be diverted from the appointed course. Sir Frederic A. Roe, who was knighted in 1832, received a baronetcy in 1836, upon succeeding to the estates of his uncle, Mr. Adair Roe. Sir Richard Birnie was the only chief magistrate who had not been a junior magistrate.
The great living machine keeps guard over our metropolis, with its millions of rateable property, and watches at night, in order that its resident population may sleep in safety; although six thousand professional thieves are constantly on the watch for opportunities to plunder. During the night the Police never cease patrolling the whole time they are on duty, being forbidden even to sit down. The Police District is mapped out into divisions, the divisions into subdivisions, the sub-divisions into sections, and the sections into beats, all being numbered, and the limit carefully defined. To every beat certain constables are specifically assigned ; and they are provided with little maps called beat-cards. So thoroughly has this arrangement been carried into effect, that every street, road, lane, alley, and court within the metropolitan district — that is, the whole of the metropolis — is visited constantly day and night by some of the police. Within a circle of six miles from St. Paul’s, the beats are ordinarily traversed in periods varying from 70 to 25 minutes j and there are points which, in fact, are never free from inspection. Nor must it be supposed that this system places the wealthier localities at a disadvantage ; for it is an axiom in police, that you guard St. James’s by watching St Giles’s.
” Intelligence is conveyed from one constable to the other till it reaches the station-house j thence, by an admirable arrangement of routes and messengers, it passes to the Central Office at Whitehall, thence along radiating lines to each division, and from the divisional station-house to every constable in the district. In a case of emergency, * The late Vincent George Dowling claimed to be the originator of the plan on which this new police system was organized: even the names of the officers— inspector, sergeant, &e. — were published in Bell’s Life in London (of which newspaper Dowling was editor) nearly two years before the system was proposed by Sir Robert Peel. Mr. T. Duffus Hardy contributed, from documents in the Record Office, important information to Sir Robert Peel on the ancient police arrangements of London.
The Commissioner could communicate intelligence to every man in the force, and collect the whole of the men in one place, in two hours. The power of rapid concentration has worked so effectually, that since the establishment of the Metropolitan Police, it has never been found necessary to call the military into actual operation in aid of the civil force. Nor can clearer proof be given of perfect discipline, than the fact that 5000 men in the prime and vigour of life, with moderate wages,— 2*. 5d. to 3*. per day, — exposed in an unusual degree to the worst temptations of London, and discharging, for the most part during the night, a very laborious duty, always irksome and often dangerous, are kept in complete control without any extraordinary coercive power.” — Edinburgh Review.
The Corporation have their own Police ; the ordering of the force being vested in the Commissioner, subject to the approbation of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, or any three of them ; and also of the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
In addition to a Commissioner, chief superintendent, surgeon, receiver, and four clerks, the force consists of 1 superintendent, 14 inspectors, 14 station-sergeants, 12 detective-sergeants, 56 sergeants, and 590 constables. The entire annual cost is about 65,000/. The clothing, helmets, stocks, and armlets cost, for the year, 2951/. Os. 2d. ; lanterns and oil, 310/. The estimated income for the year is 67,161/. 9*. 2d. ; derived from the following sources : — Produce of 8d. in the pound on the assessable rental of the City (1,518,332/.), after deducting 6 per cent, for poundage and deficiencies, 47,575/. ; proportion of expenses from City’s cash, 15,175/. 16s. 6d. ; estimated fines and penalties, 550/. ; payment out of Bridge-house estate for watching London and Blackfriars Bridges, 668/. 4*. ; rents from constables, 1078/. 4s. ; payment for men on private service at the Bank, Post-office, Blackwall Railway, City of London Union, Inland Revenue-office, Times-office, Guildhall justice-room, as assistant-gaoler, omnibus time-keepers, Messrs. Gooch and Cousens, Messrs. Pawson and Co., and Messrs. Kearns, Major, and Field, 2114/. 4s. 8d. These accounts show an estimated surplus of receipts over expenditure amounting to 2597/. 10s. 8d.
The Horse Patrol was added in 1836 ; and the Thames Police, with the Westminster Constabulary and the Police-office Agency, in 1838, when the old detective force was superseded.
Before the establishment of the Thames Police, by Mr. R. Colquhoun, the annual loss by robberies alone upon the river was half a million sterling ; the depredators being termed river-pirates, light and heavy horsemen, mud-larks, cope-men, scuffle-hunters. They were frequently known to weigh a ship’s anchor, hoist it with the cable into a boat, and when discovered, to hail the captain, tell him of his loss, and row away. They also cut craft and lighters adrift, ran them ashore, and cleared them. Many of the light-horsemen cleared five guineas a night ; and an apprentice to a game-waterman often kept his country-house and saddle-horse. In 1797, the first year of the Police, the saving to the West India merchants alone was computed at 100,0002. ; and 2200 culprits were convicted of misdemeanours on the river during the same period.
POPULATION.
TAPERELL and Innes’s Map of London and Westminster in the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1560), based upon Vertue’s Map, 1737, shows on the east the Tower, standing separated from London, and Finsbury and Spitalfields with their trees and hedge-rows; while on the west of Temple Bar, the villages of Charing, St. Giles’s, and other scattered hamlets are aggregated, and Westminster is a distinct city. The intervening north bank of the river Thames, or the Strand, has a line of seats and gardens of the nobility. At the date of this map London contained about 145,000 inhabitants. In the narrative of the visit of the Duke de Nayera to the Court of Henry VIII. in 1513, London is described as one of the largest cities in Christendom, ” its extent being near a league.” ” There were 150,000 houses in London before the Fire. About 15,000 or 16,000 die yearly in London when no plague, which is thrice more than in Amsterdam. The excise in London comes to about 12,000/. a year. London stands on 460 acres of ground. Lost in books 150,000/. at the Fire of London. London Bridge is 800 feet long, 60 feet high, and 30 broad ; it hath a drawbridge in the middle, and 20 feet between each arch.” — Diary of the Eev. John Ward, 1648 to 1673.
Sir William Petty, in his Political Arithmetic, printed in 1683, after much study of statistical returns and bills of mortality, demonstrates that the growth of the metropolis must stop of its own accord before the year of grace 1800; at which period the population would, by his computation, have arrived at exactly 5,359,000.
Nay more, were it not for this halt, he shows that the increase would double in forty years, with a slightly accelerating increment, as he gives the amount of human beings in the city for 1840 at 10,718,880 ! The identical year 1800, the commencement of a truly important century, found London still enlarging: brick-fields and scaffolding were invading all its outskirts ; but the inhabitants, who had increased in a reasonably rapid ratio, numbered only 830,000.
” There are no accurate accounts of the population of London previously to the Census of 1801. The population of the City was estimated by Graunt, in his famous Treatise on Bills of Mortality, at 384,000 in 1661; and adding one-fifth to this for the population of Westminster, Lambeth, Stepney, and other outlying parishes, he estimated the entire population at about 460,000. (Observations, &?., 5th ed. pp. 82, 105.) In 1696 the population of the City and the out-parishes was carefully estimated, by the celebrated Gregory King, at 527,560 ; and considering the great additions that had been made to the metropolis between the Restoration and the Revolution, this increase does not seem to be greater than we should have been led to infer from Graunt’s estimate. The population advanced slowly during the first half of the last century; indeed, it fell off between 1740 and 1750. In his tract on the population of England, published in 1782, Dr. Price estimated the population of London in 1777 at only 543,420 (p. 5).
But there can be no doubt that this estimate, like that which he gave of the population of the kingdom, was very decidedly under the mark; and the probability seems to be, that in 1777 London had from 640,000 to 650,000 inhabitants.” — Macculloeh s Qeographical Dictionary.
A return made in 1867 from the metropolitan police-office states that within a radius of six miles from Charing-cross there are 2637 miles of streets. Since 1849 the number of houses has increased by upwards of 60,000, and the length of streets by nearly 900 miles.
The Registrar-General, in his Report for 1866, says : — London is growing greater every day, and within its present bounds, extending over 122 square miles of territory, the population amounted last year by computation to 3,037,991 souls. In its midst is the ancient City, inhabited at night by about 100,000 people ; while around it, as far as a radius of 15 miles stretches from Charing-cross, an ever-thickening ring of people extend within the area which the metropolitan police watches over, making the whole number on an area of 687 square miles around St. Paul’s and Westminster Abbey 3,521,267 souls.
The “London” of the Registrar-General, which is identical with the Poor Law Union London, and is the London of the Census, stretching from Hampstead to Norwood, and from Hammersmith to Woolwich, is returned as comprising 194 parishes, 77,997 statute acres, and 2,803,989 people, with property assessed for the
county-rate at more than 12,000,000^. Of its area 2778 acres are covered with
water, being part of the river Thames. Of its population in 1861, 2,030,814 were in
the county of Middlesex, 579,748 in the county of Surrey, and 193,427 in the county
of Kent. Since the Census of 1851 the Middlesex portion of the population, nearly
three-fourths of the whole, had increased 16 per cent., the Surrey portion 20 per
cent., and the small portion in Kent (not much larger than Sheffield) no less than
44 per cent. ; the entire population increased 18*7 per cent., or 441,753 — a number
which would people all Liverpool or Manchester. This is more than a fifth of the
increase in all England and Wales, though the metropolis, even in 1861, did not
contain quite a seventh of the population. In the ten years, 1851-60, 528,306 persons
were married in the metropolis, 864,563 children were born there, and 610,473 persons
died there. Among its vai-ieties it has eight parishes, none of which has 100 in-
habitants ; and it has six parishes, each of which has above 100,000. At the census it
had 5625 in-patients in its hospitals, and 10,658 inmates of its orphan asylums, and
other principal charitable institutions. It has more than its share of women ; in 1851
there were 113*47 females to every 100 males, and in 1861 there was one female more
(11440) to every 100 males • but the births within the metropolis in the ten years,
1851-60, produced only 96*18 females to every 100 males; such are the changes
wrought by death and emigration. The returns state that at the date of the census,
in districts at the west-end containing 284,000 persons, 6120 residents were out of
town, and 2460 visitors were temporarily staying there; it was not the London
season, and it was but a week after Easter-day.
The revised Census returns show that on the 8th of April, 1861, the number of
PORT OF LONDON. 685
houses inhabited by the population of England and Wales was 3,739,506. There was,
therefore, one house to every 5*36 persons, or 536 persons to 100 houses. In 1851
there were 547 persons to 100 houses, so that notwithstanding increased numbers
there is rather more house-room than there was. In the metropolis, however, taken
as a whole, these returns show that the crowding is rather greater than less than it
was ; in 1851 there were 772 persons to 100 houses, in 1861 780 persons. Mr. Scott,
the City Chamberlain, shows by curious statistics, that, taking the area of the metro-
polis at sixteen miles from Charing Cross — which is the Metropolitan Police district—
the population of London, in 1801, ranged at equal distances, would stand each man
twenty-one yards from his neighbour. In 1851 each person would have stood fourteen
yards apart. In 1866, there would have been only nine yards between each person :
and in fifty years hence, supposing the population to go on increasing at its present rate,
to keep within the sixteen miles area, there will only be standing-room for each person.
A Census of the City shows the night population of the City and liberties numbered
113,387 : the mercantile and commercial population engaged in the City daily amounted
to 170,133; the total day population residing in the City to 283,520; and the number
of persons resorting to the City daily in sixteen hours, not included in the above, being
customers, clients, and others, to 509,611. The persons frequenting the City daily in
twelve hours, from 6 a.m. to 6 P.M., were 549,613 ; in sixteen hours, from 5 A.M. to
9 p.m., they were 679,744; and in twenty-four hours they were 728,986.
Taken as a whole, the more crowded part of London contained 1,150,000 persons in
1851, and about the same number were found there in 1861 ; but it is something to
have thrown into the suburbs the increase of the ten years — in the whole metropolis
440,000, almost precisely the population of Liverpool.
The present population of London is supposed to represent the number of inhabitants
living in England and Wales four centuries and a half ago, in the reign of Edward III.
A late return shows the number of passengers and vehicles passing over London Bridge in twenty-
four hours. The total number of passengers in carriages and on foot amounted, in the twenty-four
hours, to 167,910, or at the average rate of about 6996 per hour, night and day. The largest number
passed between ten and eleven in the morning, and eight and nine in the evening, averaging at those
hours 22-1 per minute. Between three and four in the morning is the quietest time in the streets of
London, and then as many as 111 persons passed over the bridge in an hour. If we take the above
167,910 as an average of the number of passengers who cross London Bridge during the working days,
and only half that number on the Sundays, the number will amount in the year to fifty-six millions.
This is nearly as many as twice the population of the United Kingdom. At times, during the throng
of business, there are 2000 persons on London Bridge. During the twenty-four hours the number of car-
riages amounted to 20,498, or an average of about 854 an hour. The greatest number of carriages in any
hour was between ten and eleven o’clock in the forenoon, when 1764 carriages passed over the bridge.
POST OF LONDON.
SIR JOHN HERSCHEL felicitously observes : ” It is a fact not a little interesting
to Englishmen, and, combined with our insular situation in the great highway of
nations, the Atlantic, not a little explanatory of our commercial eminence, that London
occupies nearly the centre of the terrestrial hemisphere.” — (Treatise on Astronomy).
On the other hand it is held that the great distance of London from the mouth of the
river, and also from the coal country and the centre of manufacturing districts, are
serious drawbacks, in spite of which London has become the immense port she un-
doubtedly is.
Tacitus describes London, in the year 61, as not dignified with the name of a colony,
but very celebrated for the number of its merchants and commerce. In 211 it was
styled ” a great and wealthy city ;” and in 359 there were engaged 800 vessels in the
import and export of corn to and from Londinum alone.
An edict of King Ethelred (a.d. 978) refers to the fact that ” the Emperor’s men,
or Easterlings, come with their ships to Billingsgate.” The Easterlings were the
merchants of the Steelyard, and paid a duty to the port. William the Norman fortified
London ; but in the charter which he granted to the inhabitants, he made no mention
of commerce. Henry I. and other sovereigns, however, granted them privileges ; and
Fitz-Stephen, in his Life of St. Thomas a Beeket, thus describes the merchandize of
London : —
“Arabia’s gold, Sabaea’s spice and incense,
Scythia’s keen weapons, and the oil of palms
From Babylon’s deep soil ; Nile’s precious gems ;
China’s bright, shiniug silks; and Gallic wines ;
Norway’s warm peltry, and the Russian sables ;
All here abound.”
Edward I. expelled the Jews, but offered some special advantages to other foreign
traders. Edward III. founded three of the great guilds which at one time held the
commerce of London in their hands — the Goldsmiths, the Merchant Taylors, and the
Skinners ; being the oldest of the now existing companies, with the single exception of
the Fishmongers, which was founded in the reign of Edward I. Before the close of
Edward IIL’s reign the Grocers, Salters, Drapers, and Vintners were founded. The
Mercers belong to the reign of Richard II. ; the Haberdashers to that of Henry VI. ;
and the Ironmongers and Clothworkers to that of Edward IV.
Under an Act of Charles II., the Port of London is held to extend as far as the
North Foreland. It, however, practically extends 6^ miles below London Bridge, to
Bugsby’s Hole, beyond Blackwall. The actual Port reaches to Limehouse, and consists
of the Upper Pool, the first bend or reach of the river, from London Bridge to near the
Thames Tunnel and Execution Dock ; and the Lower Pool, thence to Cuckold’s Point.
In the latter space colliers mostly lie in tiers ; a fair way of 300 feet being left for
shipping and steamers passing up and down. The depth of the river insures London
considerable advantage as a shipping port. Even at ebb-tide there are 12 or 13 feet
of water in the fair way of the river above Greenwich ; the mean range of the tide at
London Bridge is about 17 feet j of the highest spring-tides about 22 feet. To
Woolwich the river is navigable for ships of any burden ; to Blackwall for those of
1400 tons ; and to St. Katherine’s Docks for vessels of 800 tons.
The several Docks are described at pp. 309-312 ; the Custom House at p. 305 ;
and Billingsgate at p. 54.
” In one day (Sept. 17, 1849) there arrived in the Port 121 ships, navigated by 1387 seamen, with a
registered tonnage of 29,699 tons : 106 British, 15 foreign : 52 cargoes from our colonies, 69 from foreign
states— from the inhabitants of the whole circuit of the globe. The day’s cargoes included 32,280
packages of sugar, from the West Indies, Brazil, the East Indies, Penang, Manilla, and Rotterdam ;
317 oxen and calves, and 2734 sheep, principally from Belgium and Holland ; 3967 quarters of wheat,
13,314 quarters of oats from Archangel or the Baltic ; potatoes from Rotterdam ; 1200 packages of onions,
from Oporto ; 16,000 chests of tea, from China ; 7400 packages of coffee, from Ceylon, Brazil, and India;
532 bags.of cocoa from Grenada ; 1460 bags of rice from India, and 350 bags of tapioca from Brazil ; bacon
and pork from Hamburg, and 8000 packages of butter and 50,000 cheeses from Holland ; 767 packages
of eggs (900,000) ; of wool, 4458 bales, from the Cape and Australia; 15,000 hides, 100,000 horns, and
3600 packages of tallow, from South America and India ; hoofs of animals, 13 tons, from Port Philip,
and 140 elephants’ teeth from the Cape ; 1250 tons of granite from Guernsey, copper ore from Adelaide,
and cork from Spain ; 40,000 mats from Archangel, and 400 tons of brimstone from Sicily ; cod-liver oil,
and 3800 sealskins, from Newfoundland; 110 bales of bark from Arica, and 1100 casks of oil from the
Mediterranean; lard, oil-cake, and turpentine, from America; hemp from Russia, and potash from
Canada; 246 bales of rags, from Italy; staves for casks, timber for our houses, deals for packing-cases ;
rosewood, 876 pieces ; teak for ships, logwood for dye, lignum vita? for ships’ blocks, and ebony for
cabinets ; cotton from Bombay, zinc from Stettin, 1000 bundles of whisks from Trieste, yeast from
Rotterdam, and apples from Belgium ; of silk, 900 bales from China, finer sorts from Piedmont and
Tuscany, and 200 packages from China, Germany, and France : Cashmere shawls from Bombay; wine,
1800 packages, from France and Portugal ; rum from the East and West Indies, and scheidam from
Holland; nutmegs and cloves from Penang, cinnamon from Ceylon, 840 packages of pepper from
Bombay, and 1790 of ginger from Calcutta ; 100 barrels of anchovies from Leghorn, a cargo of pine-
apples from Nassau, and 50 fine live turtles; 54 blocks of marble from Leghorn; tobacco from America;
219 packages of treasure — Spanish dollars, Sycee silver from China, rupees from Hindostan, and English
sovereigns.” — A Day’s Business in the Port of London, by T. Howell, Esq.
” Again, in one day’s consumption, we find corahs, or silk handkerchiefs, from India ; whale-fins and
sperm-oil from our deep-sea fisheries ; from India shell-lac, indigo, and lac-dye ; saltpetre for gunpowder,
and hemp and jute for cordage ; quicksilver from the mines in Spain ; isinglass and bristles from Russia ;
Iceland moss, honey, and leeches from Hamburg; manna from Palermo, camphor from Calcutta, mac-
caroni from Naples, sugar-candy from Holland, and lemon-oil from Messina ; 81,0001bs. of currants from
the Ionian Islands, 5760 bars of iron from Sweden, and bees’-wax from the coast of Africa ; tea, sugar,
coffee, pepper, tobacco, spirits, and wine; watches, clocks, gloves, and glass-ware; needlework, ladies*
shoes, bonnets, and feathers ; toys, lace, and slate-pencils; zaffery and stavesacre from Hamburg; and
inkle from France.”— Ibid.
The river is protected by an admirable system of Police, established in 1798, and
merged into the Metropolitan Police in 1839. Execution Bock, at Wapping, the
name of one of the outlets of the river, preserves the memory of many a tale of murder
and piracy on the high seas ; for here used to be executed all pirates and sailors found
guilty of any of the greater crimes committed on ship-board. Opposite Blackwall we
remember to have seen the gibbets, on which the bodies were left to decay. The loss
PORTUGAL-STREET. 687
of life upon the Thames, by collision of vessels and other accidents, is of frightful
amount; 500 persons heing annually drowned in the river, and one-third of the number
in the Pool.
PORTUGAL-STREET,
IN the rear of the south side of Lincoln’s-Inn-fields (formerly Portugal-row) has been
the site of three theatres, upon the north side of the street. The first theatre
(named the Duke’s Theatre, from the Duke of York, its great patron ; and the Opera,
from its musical performances), was originally a tennis-court ; it was altered for Sir
William Davenant, and opened in 1662 with his operatic Siege of Rhodes, when
regular scenery was first introduced upon our stage. In the same year was produced
here Cowley’s Cutter of Coleman-street. Here Pepys saw, March 1st, 1662, Romeo
and Juliet, ” the first time it was ever acted f and May 28, ” Hamlett done,
giving us fresh reason never to think enough of Betterton.” ” Nov. 5. To the Duke’s
house to see Macbeth, a pretty good play, but admirably acted.” Pepys describes
“a mighty company of citizens, ordinary prentices, and mean people in the pit;”
where he first saw Nell Gwyn, April 3, 1665, during the performance of Lord Orrery’s
Muslapha, when the king and my Lady Castlemaine were there; Pepys sat in the
pit next to ” pretty witty Nell ” and Rebecca Marshall, of the King’s house. Etherege’s
Love in a Tub was so attractive here, that 1000Z. was received in one month, then a
great sum. Here female characters were first sustained by women ; for which purpose
Davenant engaged Elizabeth Davenport, the first Roxalana in the Siege of Rhodes ;
Mary Saunderson, famous as Queen Katherine and Juliet, and afterwards the wife of
Betterton; Mary or Moll Davis,* excellent in singing and dancing, afterwards the
mistress of Charles II. ; Mrs. Long, the mistress of the Duke of Richmond, celebrated
in male characters ; Mrs. Norris, mother of Jubilee Dicky ; Mrs. Johnson, noted as a
dancer, and as Carolina in Shadwell’s comedy of Epsom Wells. The famous
Mrs. Barry was brought out here after Davenant’s death.
Among the actors at the Duke’s were Thomas Betterton, the rival of Burbage and Garrick, and the
last survivor of the old school of actors : Joseph Harris, famous for acting Romeo, Wolsey, and Sir
Andrew Aguecheek ; William Smith, a barrister of Gray’s Inn, celebrated as Zanga in Lord Orrery’s
Mustapha; Samuel Sandford, called by King Charles II. the best representative of a villain in the
world ; James Nokes, famous for his bawling fops ; and Cave Underhill, clever as Cutter in Cowley’s
comedy, and as the grave-digger in Hamlet. — Abridged from Cunningham’s Story of Nell Gwyn.
From 1665 (the Plague) until after the Great Fire, the theatre was closed. Davenant
usually resided here.
“April 9th, 1668. I up and down to the Duke of York’s playhouse, there to see, which I did, Sir “W.
Davenant’s corpse carried out towards Westminster, there to be buried. Here were many coaches and
six horses, and many hacknies, that made it look, methought, as if it were the buriall of a poor poet.” —
Pepys.
In 1671-2, in Lord Orrery’s play of Henry V., at the Duke’s Theatre, the actors
Harris, Betterton, and Smith wore the coronation suits of King Charles, the Duke of
York, and Lord Oxford. This year the company removed to Dorset Gardens ; and
the King’s company, burnt out from Drury-lane, played at the Duke’s Theatre till
1673-4, when they left it, and it again became a tennis-court. It was refitted and re-
opened in 1695, with (first time) Congreve’s comedy of Love for Love. This second
theatre was taken down, and a new house built for Christopher Rich, and opened by
John Bich, in 1714, with Farquhar’s comedy of the Recruiting Officer ; when also
Rich introduced the first pantomime, Rich himself playing harlequin. Here Quin
played his best parts ; and from a fracas in which he was embroiled, originated the
sergeant’s guard at the Theatres Royal. The first English opera was performed here
in 1717-18 ; here was originally used the stage motto, Veluti in speculum ; and here
in 1727-8 the Beggar’s Opera was produced, and played sixty -two nights the first
season, making ” Gay rich and Rich gay.” In 1732, Rich having built a theatre in
Covent Garden, removed there ; and the Portugal-street house was by turns let for
* In the part of Celania, in the Rivals, altered by Davenant from Beaumont and Fletcher’s Two
Noble Kinsmen, Moll Davis sang “My lodging is on the cold ground” ” so charmingly, that not long
after it raised her from her bed on the cold ground to a bed royal.” — Downes’s Soscius Anglieanus,
p. 24, ed. 1703.
688 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
Italian operas, oratorios, for balls, concerts, and exhibitions ; to Giffard, of Goodman’s-
fields, in 1756 ; next as a barrack and auction-room ; and Spode and Copeland’s China
Repository, until 1848, when the premises were sold to the College of Surgeons,
August 28, and were taken down for enlarging their museum. Of the theatre little
remained, save the outer walls, built upon an arched cellar : there was a large Queen
Anne staircase, a saloon upon the first floor ; and the attic, lighted by windows in the
roof, had been probably the scene-painting loft. Upon this site the College of Surgeons
completed in 1854 a third Hall for their Museum, by aid of a Parliamentary grant of 15,000?.
In Carey-street, nearly opposite, was a public-house and stable-yard, described in Sir William Davenant’s Playhouse to be Let as ” our house inn, the Grange.” It was taken down in 1853 for the site of King’s College Hospital, see p. 438. At the north-east corner of Portugal-street was one of its olden resorts, Will’s Coffee-house.
Portugal-street was the last locality in London where stocks lingered; those of St. Clement Danes’ parish being removed from here about 1820 : they faced the burial-ground, where lay Joe Miller. Portugal-street acquired a sort of cant notoriety from the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors being here. (See p. 509.)
POST-OFFICE.
THE General Post-office has had five locations since the Postmaster to Charles I. fixed his receiving-house in Sherborne-lane, in 1635, whence dates ” the settling of the letter-office of England and Scotland.” The office was next removed to Cloak-lane, Dowgate ; and then to the Black Swan, Bishopsgate-street. After the Great Fire, the office was shifted to the Black Pillars, in Brydges-street, Covent-garden ; thence, early in the last century, to the mansion of Sir Robert Viner (close to Sherborne-lane), in Lombard-street (see pp. 394, 592) ; and the chief office to St. Martin’s-le-Grand in 1829.
The General Post-office occupies the site of the College of St. Martin’s-le-Grand, at the junction with Newgate-street. It was designed by Sir R. Smirke, R.A., and was built between 1825 and 1829 : it is insulated, and is externally of Portland stone ; 400 feet long, 130 wide, and 64 high. It stands in the three parishes of St. Anne and St. Agnes, St. Leonard, and St. Michael-le-quern ; and 131 houses and nearly 1000 inhabitants were displaced to make room for this single edifice. Several Roman remains were found during the progress of the work). The St. Martin’s-le-Grand facade has three Ionic porticoes : one at each end, tetrastyle, of four fluted columns j and one in the centre, hexastyle, of six columns (from the temple of Minerva Polias, at Athens) : it is surmounted by a pediment, in the tympanum of which are sculptured the imperial arms of the United Kingdom j and on the frieze is inscribed, ” Geoegio qtjaeto eege, mdcccxxix.” Beneath are entrances to the Grand Public Hall, 80 feet long by about 60 wide, divided by Ionic columns into a centre and two aisles j and in the vaulted basement are the warm-air apparatus and gasometers.
North of the Hall are the offices for newspapers, inland letters, and foreign letters ; south are the offices of the London local post ; the communication being by a tunnel and railway under the Hall floor. In the middle story north are the offices for dead, mis-sent, and returned letters j south, secretary’s offices, board-rooms, &c. The clock, over the principal entrance, was made by Vulliamy ; the bob of the pendulum weighs 448 lbs., the object being to counteract the effect of wind on the hands of the dial. In the eastern front, facing Foster-lane, the letter-bags are received. The mechanical contrivances for the despatch of the business of the office display great ingenuity ; steam-power is variously employed : two endless chains, worked by a steam-engine, carry, in rapid succession, a series of shelves, each holding four or five men and their letter-bags, which are thus raised to various parts of the building.
King James II. has the credit of having established something like an organized foreign post : when a man could more speedily receive a reply to a letter sent to Madrid than he could to one despatched to Ireland or Scotland. The home post was in the hands of carriers, and also of pedestrian wayfarers : and the former even could not convey a note to the North, and bring an answerback, under two months at the very earliest. Witherings, one of the chief postmasters of Charles I.’s days, reformed this abuse.
He established a running-post, as it was called, between England and Scotland, the riders pushing forward night and day; and it was hoped, if the thing was not actually accomplished at the time, that the writer of a letter from London to Edinburgh would receive a reply within a week! When this running, or rather riding, post was established, very sanguine was Witherings. ” If the post,” he said, ” be punctually paid, the news will come sooner than thought.” He considered that news which passed from Edinburgh to London in three days and nights, by relays of horses, whose swinging trot never ceased, was outstripping thought. — Athenaeum.
The arrangements for the Foreign Mails in the present day show, in a forcible man-
ner, the wonderful extent of British commerce and relationships. Here are depart-
ments for Austria, Baden, Bavaria, France, Norway, Denmark, and the most northern
latitudes ; the Brazils, Chili, the Equator, Spain, Sardinia, Switzerland, United States
of America, North America, the various districts of India, Australia, &c. Here arrange-
ments are made for the overland Indian and other mails. The letters, newspapers, and
books are secured in cases of sheet-iron, which, when full, are carefully soldered up and
inclosed in wooden chests, which are branded with crosses of red or black, and marked
with the name of the district, city, &c, at which its arrival is awaited. Each of the
boxes referred to weighs, when filled with letters and papers, about 86 lbs., and the
ordinary Australian mail, exclusive of the portion sent overland, generally consists of
480 boxes of books and newspapers, and 100 boxes of letters — in all 580 boxes. These
would weigh altogether 49,880 lbs., equal to nearly twenty-two tons and a half.
The Mails were originally conveyed on horseback and in light carts, until 1784,
when mail-coaches were substituted by Mr. Palmer. The first mail-coach left the
Three Kings yard, Piccadilly, for Bristol, Aug. 24th, 1784. The speed of the mails
was at once increased from three and a half to more than six miles an hour, and sub-
sequently still greater acceleration was effected. About the year 1818, Mr. Macadam’s
improved system of road-making began to be of great survice to the Post-office, by
enabling the mails to be much accelerated. Their speed was gradually increased to
ten miles an hour, and even more ; until, in the case of the Devonport mail, the journey
of 216 miles, including stoppages, was punctually performed in twenty-one hours and
fourteen minutes. In 1830, upon the opening of the line between Liverpool and
Manchester, the mails were for the first time conveyed by railway. In 1835 Lieu-
tenant Waghorn commenced transmission to India, by the direct route through the
Mediterranean and over the Isthmus of Suez, a line of communication subsequently
extended to China and Australia. In 1859 the distance over which mails were con-
veyed by mail-coaches, railways, foot-messengers, and steam-packets was about 133,000
miles per day, this being about 3000 miles more than in the year ending 1857. In
the year 1859 the whole distance traversed by the various mails was thirty-seven
millions, five hundred and forty -five thousand miles! The annual procession of the
mail-coaches on the birthday of George III. (June 4) was once a metropolitan sight
which the king loved to see from the windows of Buckingham House. The letters are
now conveyed to the railways in omnibuses, nine of which are sometimes filled by one
n’ght’s mail at one railway. In 1839 was invented the travelling post-office, in which
clerks sort the letters during the railway journey, and the guard ties in and exchanges
the letter-bags, without stopping the train. Four miles an hour was the common rate
of the first mail-carts; a railway mail-train now averages twenty -four miles an hour;
while, between certain stations on certain lines, a speed of fifty miles an hour is attained.
By the Pneumatic Despatch the mail-bags are blown through the tube in iron cars in
about one minute, the usual time occupied by the mail carts being about ten minutes.
Persons have been conveyed through the tube, and returned by vacuum, without having
experienced the slightest discomfort.
The Rates of Postage varied according to distance until December 5th, 1839, when
the uniform rate of 4d. was tried ; and January 10th, 1840, was commenced the uniform
rate of Id. per letter of half an ounce weight, &c. The Government received 2000
plans for a new system, and adopted that of Mr. Kowland Hill ; but not until the
change had been some years agitated by a Post Magazine established for the purpose.
Among the opponents of the uniform penny stamp was the Secretary of the Post-office,
who maintained that the revenue would not recover itself for half a century, and
that the poor would not write. Lord Lichfield pointed to the absurdity of supposing
that letters, the conveyance of which cost on an average twopence-halfpenny each,
could ever be carried for a penny and leave a profit on the transaction ! The uniform
rate was pronounced by Colonel Maberly to be ” impracticable ;” and as to pre-payment,
he was sure the public would object to it, however low the rate might be ! And a Scotch journalist ridiculed the idea of persons having to stick pieces of paper upon their letters !
The stamped postage-covers came into use May 6, 1840 ;* hut the idea of a prepaid
envelope is as old as the time of Louis XIV. A pictorial envelope was designed by W.
Mulready, R.A., but little used. A fancied value is attached to this envelope ; for we
have seen advertised in the Times : — ” The Mulready Postage Envelope — For sale, an
Indian-proof impression. One of six, from the original block engraved by John Thomp-
son in the year 1840, price 20 guineas.” The postage label-stamps were first used iu
1841 ; perforated, 1854.
Number of Letters.— The greatest number of letters, under the old system, ever
known to pass through the General Post-office in one day, was received there on July
15, 1839, viz. 90,000 ; the amount of postage being 40504, a sum greater by 5304
than any hitherto collected in one day. In the third week of February the number of
letters is usually highest. The ordinary daily average is 400,000 letters ; on 19th
August, 1 853, it reached 630,000. The number of letters which pass through the
Post-office in a year is nearly 400,000,000. In 1864, 679,084,822 letters passed through
the post, being an increase of 37,000,000 over the previous year ; and in the same
period the number of book-packets and newspapers which were transmitted rose to
over 50,000,000, or 7,000,000 more than in 1863.
” It is estimated that there lies, from time to time, in the Dead-Letter Office, undergoing the process
of finding owners, some 11,0004. annually, in cash alone. In July, 1847, for instance — only a two months*
accumulation — the post-haste of 4658 letters, all containing property, was arrested by the bad super-
scriptions of the writers. They were consigned — after a searching inquest upon each by that efficient
coroner, the ” blind clerk” — to the post-office Morgue. There were bank-notes of the value of 10104.,
and money-orders for 4074. 12s. But most of these ill-directed letters contained coin in small sums,
amounting to 3104. 9». 5d. On the 17th of July, 1847, there were lying in the Dead-Letter Office bills of
exchange for the immense sum of 40,4104. 5». Id.” (Dickens’s Household Words, No. 1.) The value of
property contained in missing letters, during twelve months, is about 200,0004.
There are employed in the General Post-office, including the London District letter-
carriers, but exclusive of the receivers, 2500 persons, in different offices : — Secretary’s,
Accountant’s, Receiver’s, Dead-Letter, Money- Order, Inland, and London District
Offices. For more than half a century there were only two secretaries to the Post-
office, Sir Francis Freeling and Colonel Maberly. Sir Francis was brought up in the
Post-office, had performed the humblest as well as the highest duties of the department,
and was a protege of Mr. Palmer, the great Post-office reformer. He was succeeded
by Lieut.-Col. Maberly, M.P., who retired in 1854, when Mr. Rowland Hill, the origi-
nator of the penny-post, was appointed secretary j his services were rewarded in 1846
by a public testimonial of 13,3604″. ; Knighthood and grant. It is singular that all postal
reformers have been unacquainted with the department which they have revolutionized.
The net Revenue of the Post Office to the end of the year 1865 was 1,482,522?. The number of effec-
tive persons employed was 25,082; of pensioners, 1274; salaries, wages, allowances, &c, 1,295,1534.;
postage stamps, 22,0644. ; stationery, 32,3964. ; buildings, repairs, &c, 75,3314. ; conveyance by coaches,
carts, &c, 140,5174. ; by railways, 528,2204. ; of mails by private ships and by packets, &c., 796,3974. ; over
the isthmuses of Suez and Panama, with salaries of Admiralty agents, &c., 28,7864. ; and for mail-bags
and boxes, tolls, &c, 22,2204. ; a total for conveyance of 1,516,4424.
The Penny Post was originally projected by Robert Murray, a milliner, of the
Company of Clothworkers ; and William Dockwra, a sub-searcher in the Customs. It
was commenced as a foot-post, in 1680, with four deliveries a day. These projectors,
however, quarrelled : Murray set up his office at Hall’s Coffee-house, in Wood-street ;
* But a Stockholm paper, The FrysHHen, says, that so far back as 1823, a Swedish officer, Lieutenant
Trekenber, petitioned the Chamber of Nobles to propose to the Government to issue stamped paper
specially destined to serve for envelopes for prepaid letters ; but the proposition, though warmly sup-
ported as likely to be convenient to the public and the post-office, was rejected by a large majority.
For ten years England alone made use of the postage stamp. Prance adopted ic on the 1st of January,
1849 ; the Tour and Taxis Office introduced it into Germany in the year 1850; and it is now in use in
69 countries in Europe, 9 in Africa, 5 in Asia, 36 in America, and 10 in Oceania. About 50 postage
stamps may be counted in the United States alone. Van Diemen’s Land possesses its own; also Hayti,
Natal, Honolulu, and Liberia. A very curious little book gives an account, in the form of a catalogue,
of the postage stamps of all nations. Of these there are more than 1200 varieties. Not only have the
colonies of this and other countries, as the Bahamas and Iceland, their separate stamps, but in America
many cities also, such as New Orleans and Nashville. No effigy is so frequently on postage stamps as
that of Queen Victoria. Some of the colonies, however, have indulged in a little variety. The New
Brunswick 17 cents stamp bears on it the figure of the Prince of Wales in a Scotch dress. In the same
colony a stamp was prepared having on it the effigy of Mr. O’Connell, the local postmaster-general,
but this appears not to have been issued.
POULTRY. 691
and Dockwra, at the Penny Post-house in Lime-street, formerly the mansion of Sir
Robert Abdy. But this was considered an infringement on the right of the Duke of
York, on whom the Post-office revenue had been settled j and in a suit to try the
question, a verdict was given against Dockwra. He was compensated by a pension,
and appointed Comptroller of the Penny Post, but was dismissed in 1698. The first
office was in Cornhill, near the ’Change : parcels were received. In 1708, one Povey
set up the ” Halfpenny Carriage” private post, which was soon suppressed by the Post-
office authorities. They continued to convey parcels down to 1765, when the weight
was limited to four ounces. The postage was paid in advance down to 1794. In 1801
the Penny Post became a Twopenny Post ; and the postage was advanced to three-
pence beyond the limits of London, Southwark, and Westminster ; but in 1840 they
were consolidated with the Penny General Post.
The Money-Order Office, a distinct branch of the Post-office, is a handsome new
edifice on the west side of St. Martin’s-le-Grand. Money-orders are issued by millions
during the year, in numbers and amount, and have considerably added by commission
to the Post-office revenue.
POULTBT.
THE street extending from the east end of Cheapside to Mansion-house-street was
anciently occupied by the poulterers’ stalls of Stocks Market, who in Stow’s
time had “but lately departed from thence into other streets” (Gracechurch-street
and Newgate-market). In Scalding-alley (now St. Mildred’s-court) was a large house
where the poulterers scalded their poultry for sale. It was also called Coneyhope, or
Conning-shop, or Cony-shop, lane, from the sign of three conies (rabbits) hanging
over a poulterer’s stall at the lane end. Here was built the chapel of St. Mildred,
called in old records, Ecclesia Mildredce super WalbrooTce, vel in Pulletria ; una cum
capella heatee MaricB de Conyhop eidem annexa : the site is now occupied by the
church of St. Mildred in the Poultry, described at p. 192.
On the same side, between Nos. 31 and 32, was the oultry Compter, a Sheriff’s
prison, taken down in 1817, and Poultry Chapel built upon the site. To the Compter
were sent persons committed by the Lord Mayor; and to the prisoners was given the
broken victuals from the Mansion-house tables. ” Doctor Lamb,” the conjuror, died
in this prison, Jan. 13, 1628, after being chased and pelted by the mob across Moor-
fields ; for which outrage the City was fined 6000£. Here died six Separatists who had
been committed by Bishop Bonner for hearing the Scriptures read in their own houses.
John Dunton, the bookseller, in 1688, on the day the Prince of Orange entered
London, transferred himself and his sign of the Black Baven opposite the Poultry
Compter, where he prospered for ten years. The prison was, in 1806, in a ruinous
condition ; but the court was cheerful, ” having water continually running :” it was
the only prison in England that had a ward exclusively for Jews ; there were ” the
Bell,” and two other rooms, “very strong, studded with nails,” for felons. The
debtors were allowed to walk upon the leads with the gaoler.
Hatton (1708) calls the Poultry ” a broad street of very tall buildings.” At No. 22
lived the booksellers Dilly, famed for their hospitality to literary men: here Dr.
Johnson first met Wilkes; and Boswell, Cumberland, Knox, and Isaac Reed often
met. Dilly was the first publisher of Boswell’s Life of Johnson; the firm was also
noted for the works of Doddridge, Watts, Lardner, &c. At No. 31 lived Vernor and
Hood, the publishers of Bloomfield’s poems ; and the Beauties of England and Wales,
an unequal and unsatisfactory work. Hood was the father of Thomas Hood, the wit
and humorist, who was born in the Poultry in 1798 : ” there was a dash of ink in
my blood (writes Tom) ; my father wrote two novels, and my brother was decidedly of
a, literary turn.”
No. 25, Poultry, was the old King’s Head Tavern, where Charles II. stopped, on
the day of his restoration, to salute the landlady. It was, to the last, noticed for its
” lively turtle.” In the Beaufoy Collection, in the Corporation Library, are Tokens of
the Bose Tavern, in the Poultry, mentioned by Ned Ward (London Spy, 1709) as famous for its wine ; the Three Cranes, destroyed in the Great Fire, hut rehuilt j and
the Exchange Tavern, 1671, with, on the ohverse, a view of the Royal Exchange
quadrangle. At the Three Cranes met “the Mendicants’ Convivial Club,” sub-
sequently removed to Dyot-street, St. Giles’s.
PRIMROSE HILL
WAS named from the primroses that formerly grew here in great plenty, when it
was comparatively an untrodden hillock, in the fields between Tottenham Court
and Hampstead. It has also been called Green Berry-Hill, from the names of three
persons executed for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey, whose body was found
here, Oct. 17, 1678. On the south side of the hill, during a summer drought, may be
traced a green line, which was once a ditch, extending from east to the ground west-
ward now occupied by the New-River Reservoir. In that ditch, near the site of the
Waterworks steam-engine chimney-shaft, was found Godfrey’s body, as thus described
in a letter written in 1681 :—
” As to the place, it was in a ditch on the south side of Primrose Hill, surrounded with divers closes,
fenced in with high mounds and ditches ; no roads near, only some deep, dirtyl” target=”_top”>anes, made only for the
convcniency of driving cows in and out of the ground ; and those very lanes not coming near five hun-
dred yards of the place, and impossible for any man on horseback with a dead corpse before him at
midnight to approach, unless gaps were made in the mounds, as the constable and his assistants found
by experience when they came on horseback thither.”
At the trial, before the Lord Chief- Justice Scroggs, Feb. 10, 1679, the infamous wit-
nesses, Oates, Prance, and Bedloe, declared that the unfortunate magistrate, Godfrey,
” was waylaid and inveigled into the Palace (Somerset House), under the pretence of
keeping the peace between two servants who were fighting in the yard; that he was
there strangled, his neck broke, and his own sword run through his body ; that he was
kept four days before they ventured to remove him ; at length his corpse was first
carried in a sedan-chair to Soho, and then on a horse to Primrose Hill,” as represented
on one of the several medals struck as memorials of the mysterious murder. The body
was carried to ” the White House,” then the farm-house of the estate of Chalcott’s,
abbreviated to Chalc’s, and then corrupted to Chalk Farm, which was long a tavern
noted for duels fought here. The summit of the hill is 206 feet above the Trinity
high-water mark of the Thames. (See Pbimbose-hill Paek, p. 650.)
Primrose Hill is a portion of the land bequeathed by ” sundry devout men of London”
to St. James’s Hospital, but granted by Henry VI. to Eton College, surrendered to
Henry VIII., but again returned to the College, who, a few years since, transferred it
to the Government in exchange for a piece of crown-land near Windsor; which was
done principally through the exertions of Mr. Hume, M.P., and an Association of per-
sons formed for securing the ground to the public. In the ridge adjoining is the Prim-
rose Hill Tunnel of the London and North- Western Railway ; its extent is 3493 feet,
or more than five-eighths of a mile : in tunnelling near the base of the hill, fossil
nautili were discovered.
The View from Primrose Sill comprises not only London, with its masses of houses and hundreds
of spires, but also the once rural retreats of Hampstead and Highgate, now almost become portions of
the great town itself. Opposite is St. John’s Wood, and in the rear of St. John’s Wood the graceful
spire of Harrow-on-the-Hill; nearer the spectator are the close streets of Portland Town, and the
elegant domain of Regent’s Park. The eye, after resting upon St. Paul’s as the nucleus oi the vast
city, glances over Islington and Holloway to the undulating hills of Kent and Surrey j and upon a clear
day may be descried the bright roofs of fie Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
PRISONS.
UPWARDS of 30,000 criminals and other persons (exclusive of debtors) are stated to
pass through the metropolitan gaols, houses of correction, bridewells, and peni-
tentiaries, every year. The number of prisons is smaller than half a century since ;
but the prisons themselves are of much larger extent. In 1796 there were eighteen
prisons in London, which in 1854 had been reduced one-third. About the year 1849
Mr. Dixon wrote in the Daily News an account of the chief prisons, which was re-
printed in 1850 ; and Mr. Henry Mayhew’s work on the Criminal Prisons, 1855, was
PEISONS. 693
completed in 1863. Mr. Dixon tells us that, ” All the great London gaols are pro-
vided with stands of arms, by which men could be armed in a few minutes ; beside s
signal- rockets, which would instantly convey intelligence to the Horse Guards, and to
the barracks in St. James’s and Hyde Parks, of any attack ; so that 2000 or 3000
men could be concentrated at any prison in half an hour.”
Bobough Cosiptee, Mill-lane, Tooley-street (solely for debtors from the Borough
of Southwark), was originally part of the church of St. Margaret, at St. Margaret’s
Hill, where the prison site is denoted by Counter (Compter) street.
Bridewell, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, the prison taken down in 1S62, is described
at pp. 62-65.
Beixton County House of Coeeection, Surrey, was built in 1820, for prisoners
sentenced to hard-labour. The plan of the prison is octagonal, with a chapel in the
centre. The prisoners are separated into classes; here have been imprisoned at one
time 340. The treadmill, adapted from an old contrivance, by Cubitt, an engineer,
of Lowestoft, was first set up at Brixton Prison in 1817; from its severity of applica-
tion it became very unpopular, and ” Brixton” became a low cant word.
City Peison, Camden-road, Holloway, is built upon land originally purchased by
the Corporation for a cemetery, during the raging of the cholera in 1832. The extent
is 10 acres within the boundary-wall, 18 feet high. The prison, designed by Bunning,
is built in the castellated style, has fortified gateways, and is embattled throughout the
six radiating wings; the number of cells is 436; the building is fire-proof; the venti-
lation is by a shaft 146 feet high ; the water-supply from an Artesian well, 319 feet
deep. The prisoners are variously employed ; and the discipline is neither entire sepa-
ration nor association, but the middle course. The prison was first opened Oct. 6,
1852. Cost, about 100,000/.
Clerkenwell Bridewell. — There were formerly two gaols in Clerkenwell, adjoining each other ; the oldest was the New Prison, or Bridewell, built by the Justices in 1615, upon the site of ” the Cage,” for the punishment and employment of rogues and vagabonds of Middlesex. On Shrove Tuesday, 1617, the turbulent London ’prentices ” had a cast at the New Bridewell.” Between 1622 and 1626, many popish priests were imprisoned here, among whom was Collington, whose release was granted at the instance of Count Gondomar. A friend of the wife of Pepys was imprisoned here in 1661 ; and the Diary tells us that he went, December 11, with his “wife by coach to Clerkenwell to see Mrs. Margaret Penny, who is at school there,” undergoing correction, of course. On Shrove Tuesday, 1668, a mob of the London ’prentices again assailed the New Prison, and released a number of their riotous associates imprisoned there. In 1679 the greatest part of the prison was burnt down, suspected to be the wicked work of a papist prisoner. About 1630, Taylor, the water poet, noticed the prison as ” A jayle for hereticks, For Brownists, Familists, and Schismaticks.”
In 1651 several enthusiasts were committed here for blasphemy. In 1669, Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist, was confined here for preaching in his own house at Acton.
The honest jailor allowed him to walk in the garden at Clerkenwell, and while here he published the second part of his Directions to the Converted. Here, 1775, was committed the first person convicted of dog-stealing. This bridewell was taken down about 1804. . (-See New Peison, p. 699.)
Clink, The, Bankside, was named from being the prison of the ” Clink Liberty,” in Southwark, belonging to the Bishops of Winchester ; and was used in old time ” for such as would brabble, frey, or break the peace on the said bank, or in the brothel-houses.” (Stow.) About 1745, the old prison, at the corner of Maid-lane, was abandoned, and a dwelling on the Bankside appropriated in its stead ; this was burnt in the riots of 1780, and no other prison has since been established for the liberty.
The palace of the Bishops of Winchester, at Bankside, was made a prison during the Civil Wars : Sir Kenehn Digby, while confined here as a Royalist, wrote his refutation of Browne’s Religio Medici.
Coldbath Fields Prison, or House of Correction, is for criminals sentenced to short terms of imprisonment, and is supported out of the county (Middlesex) rates.
The prisoners are compelled to labour as a punishment and towards their support.
The prison is named from the Coldbath well, the site of which is now occupied by the treadwheel. The original House of Correction was built in the reign of James I., the City authorities giving 5001. towards it, for keeping their poor employed. The
present gaol was erected by the county, in 1794, on the eastern slope of the Fleet,
on Gardner’s Farm, or Field, the ground being considerably raised ; architect, Charles
Middleton ; cost, 65,656£., providing for only 232 prisoners, in separate cells, upon the
plan of John Howard. It was opened in 1794, but soon got into disrepute ; ” men,
women, and boys were indiscriminately herded together in this chief county prison,
without employment or wholesome control ; while smoking, gaming, singing, and every
species of brutalizing conversation, tended to the unlimited advancement of crime and
pollution.” (Chesterton’s Revelations of Prison Life). The dungeons were composed
of bricks and stones, without fire or any furniture but straw, and no other barrier
against the weather but iron grates. The Minister Pitt, in the year 1799, visited
the prison, and found the prisoners without fire or candles, denied all society,
exposed to the cold and rain, allowed to breathe the air out of their cells only for an hour,
&c. ; Pitt ironically supposing that those who managed the prison ” kindly subjected
the prisoners to so much pain in this world, that less punishment might be inflicted on
them in the next.” Coleridge and Southey, in the Devil’s Walk, sung :
“As he pass’d through Coldbath Fields he looked
At a solitary cell,
And he was well pleased, for it gave him a hint
For improving his prisons in hell ;
He saw a turnkey tie a thief s hands,
With a cordial tug and a jerk;
* Nimbly,’ quoth he, ’ a man’s fingers can move
When his heart is in his work.’ ”
Much scandalous mismanagement continued so late as 1829. Captain Chesterton, in his Evidence
before the Magistrates, stated that ” on becoming Governor of the House of Correction he found it usual
to fleece the prisoners of every farthing they possessed or could procure from their friends — all the officers
having paid for their posts, and being eager to indemnify themselves. If a prisoner had no money he
was kicked and buffeted in the most merciless manner. The visit of a magistrate was always known
and prepared for beforehand. Every cell was a depot for contraband articles, especially for wine and
spirits. The prisoners slept three in a cell.”
The mixed system means silence by day and sleep at night in separate cells. The mark system means
substitution of a labour sentence for time sentences; instead of a sentence to fourteen years’ imprison-
ment, the culprit would be sentenced to perform a certain quantity of labour, represented by marks
instead of money; the criminal to be liberated when the prescribed task was accomplished, whether he
occupied one year or twenty about it. Here 272 persons were employed to superintend 682 prisoners;
yet even this large staff were found insufficient to prevent all intercourse among the. criminals. The
necessity for punishment perpetually arose. There were no less than 6794 punishments inflicted for
talking in a single year.
The governor Aris, formerly a baker in Clerkenwell, was denounced as ” a reputed
tyrant and torturer j” and in 1800, a riot took place in the prison, which the Clerken-
well volunteers suppressed. Volunteers from the adjacent parishes then watched the
prison, and the Clerkenwell cavalry paraded round the outer gates for several nights
to keep the mob off. Aris was dismissed from his office, and he died in poverty. In
1830, several persons were confined here for selling unstamped newspapers, when an
attack being meditated to liberate the ” political martyrs,” the prison was put in a
state of defence : ” we received,” says the late governor, Colonel Chesterton, ” in addi-
tion to what we already possessed, from the Tower, 25 carbines, 2000 rounds of ball-
cartridge, and 1500 hand-grenades;” scaling ladders were manufactured, and the
governor’s house was fortified, but no attack was made. In 1834 the silent system
was introduced, and 914 prisoners were suddenly apprised that ” all intercommunica-
tion by word, gesture, or sign was prohibited.” The treadwheel had been previously
introduced, 12,000 feet of ascent being the amount of the daily ” hard labour” sentence,
which being injurious to health, was limited to 1200 feet. The picking of oakum or
coir is enforced here, the silent associated system is continued, and the prison ” has
the thorough aspect of an old English jail.”
The prison uniform is coarse woollen blue cloth for misdemeanants, and dark grey for felons : each
prisoner is known only by the number on his back ; and a star upon the arm denotes good conduct.
The workshop is an interesting scene ; but the oakum-picking-room, with its felon faces, is a painful
sight : and the treadwheel, employing 320 prisoners at a time, is another repulsive feature. Carpenters,
PRISONS. 695
tinmen, blacksmiths, and other handicraftsmen work here; and in the ground is the upper part of a
vessel, with masts and rigging’, for teaching boys the sea-service ; there are also schools and reforma-
tory visits. (See Dixon’s London Prisons, 1850.)
Large additions have been made to this prison. In 1830, a vagrants’ ward for 150
was added, then a female ward for 300 ; the gaol has proper accommodation for
upwards of 1500 prisoners, males only. There were formerly six distinct treadwheels,
there is now treadwheel labour for 160 prisoners : the mill grinds wheat, and from the
flour which it yields (about 30 cwt. daily) bread for the three county prisons is made.
In 1862, there were here upwards of 1700 felons, misdemeanants, and vagrants, and
sometimes are 700 or 800 in excess of the number of cells. The annual ordinary
charge per prisoner has been estimated at 211. 19s. 4d. Money received in the year
for products of the prisoners’ labour, 1901Z. 3*. 5d. ; prisoners’ earnings in work for
the county, 43001. 18s. 3d. — viz., shoemaking, bricklaying, and other repairs, tailoring,
washing, needlework, and painting. There are two chapels and two chaplains, two
schoolmasters, and abundance of books of religious and secular instruction. The prison
is well described in Pinks’s History of Clerkenwell, 1865.
In 1820 the Cato-street conspirators were lodged here before being sent to the Tower. John Hunt
was imprisoned here for a libel on George IV. ” I sometimes,” says Mr. Bedding, ” beguiled an hour
with him at chess. He had a lofty and comfortable, though small apartment, at the top of the prison,
where the air was excellent. Towusend, one of the Bow-street officers, was governor of the prison, and
an excellent governor he made. John Hunt had the privilege of walking for a couple of hours daily in
the governor’s garden, for which he alone was indebted to the governor himself.”— -Cyrus Bedding’s
Jiecol lections.
In 1863, the prison was enlarged by the addition of 326 cells on the separate system,
heated, lighted, and ventilated, and each furnished with a bed or hammock ; previously,
about 250 slept every night on the floor of a work-room. The wall circuit has also
been extended, so as to inclose the piece of vacant ground facing the governor’s house,
and this has been rebuilt, as well as the lofty prison gateway, with the three sabres
and the conventional fetters, a pair of gigantic knockers, &c. The warders wear blue
uniforms instead of the gaolers’ habit as of old.
Fleet Pbison is described at pp. 344-346.
Giltsptjb-stbeet Compteb, or the City House of Correction, was built by George
Dance, in 1791, to supersede the wretched prison in Wood-street, whence the prisoners
were removed in 1791 : it was then only used for debtors, but subsequently for remands
and committals for trial, and minor offenders. The rear of the prison abntted on
Christ’s Hospital, and its towers are visible from the yard : the happy shouts of the
boys at play were heard by the prisoners, and the balls often fell within the prison-
yards, as if to remind the fallen inmates how much innocence they had outlived ! In
1808 Sheriff Phillips described Giltspur-street, with its corner, entitled ” Ludgate”
(for citizen debtors, clergymen, proctors, and attorneys), and the whole prison, as
greatly overcrowded by the removal to it of the Poultry Compter debtors. The soli-
tary confinement was in front of the building, where, however, the prisoners could see
the busy street, and the crowds to witness executions in front of Newgate. About 6000
prisoners were annually committed to Giltspur-street ; but it was one of the worst
managed and least secure of the metropolitan prisons, and the escapes from it were the
most frequent. As a proof of the lenity of its management, it is related that, on the
death of Mr. Teague, the humane governor of Giltspur-street Compter, in 1841, nearly
every prisoner wore a black crape hat-band ! The prison was closed in 1854, when
the keeper had a retiring allowance of 300Z. a year : it has since been taken down.
HoESEMONGEB-lANE Gaol, on the south side of Newington Causeway, was built
upon the plan of John Howard, in 1791-9 (George Gwilt, architect), upon the site of
a market-garden. It is a common gaol for the county of Surrey, under the Sheriff,
Court of Quarter Sessions, and Magistrates, and is for debtors and criminals. Three
sides of the prison quadrangle are for the confinement of felons, and one side for debtors,
the latter arranged in classes. Among several small benefactions to the debtors is a
donation made to the old White Lion Prison in Southwark (mentioned by Stow), by
Mrs. Margaret Symcott, or Eleanor Gwynne, of 65 penny-loaves, every eight weeks,
issuing from the Chamberlain’s office. (Manning and Bray’s Surrey, vol. iii. App.—
The employments are knitting, netting, oakum-picking, lime-washing, and cleansing the gaol : it will contain about 400 prisoners.
Upon the roof of the north lodge were executed, on Feb. 21, 1803, Colonel Edward
Marcus Despard and six associates, who had been tried and found guilty, by a special
commission, of high treason ; Richard Patch for murder, April 8, 1806 ; and Nov. 13,
1849, the Mannings, husband and wife, for murder. Leigh Hunt was imprisoned here
for a libel on the Prince Regent, in 1813; and here he was first introduced to Lord
Byron. (See Leigh Hunt’s Autobiography, vol. ii.) In June, 1849, three burglars
escaped from their cells in this prison by means of a key which they made from a
pewter pot ; but they were recaptured in scaling the 20-feet wall.
Lttdgate Pbison is described at page 538, where the romantic story of Sir Stephen
Forster is narrated. This ancient City gate was made a prison in 1373, for poor debtors
who were free of the City, who, however, had to pay lodgings, chamber-rent, and for
water, since Forster’s provisions were neglected. When the gate was taken down, the
prisoners were removed to the London Workhouse, in Bishopsgate-street.
This prison had some curious regulations. To preserve order the master, keeper, and prisoners
chose from among themselves a reader of divine service; an upper steward, called the master of the
box; an under steward, and seven assistants by turns daily; a running assistant, two churchwardens,
a scavenger, a chamberlain, a running post; and the criers or beggars at the gate (such as we remember at the Fleet), who were generally six in number. The reader, besides attending to prayers, had to
ring the bell twice a day, and for a quarter of an hour before nine at night, to warn strangers to
depart the prison : besides his salary and fees, he had a dish of meat out of the Lord Mayor’s basket.
The master of the box, with the under steward, assistants, and churchwardens were elected monthly by
the prisoners; and the election of other officers was conducted in the most orderly manner. The offi-
ciating assistant could commit a prisoner to the stocks, or shackles, for abusing any person, and he had
to see the cellar cleared out at ten o’clock ; he had also to set up candles, look after the dock, &c. The
churchwardens had to call to prayers, after the bell had done ringing. The scavenger had to keep the
prison clean, to fetter offenders, and put them in the stocks. The chamberlain took care of all the
prison bedding and linen, and appointed lodgings for new comers, and gave notice to strangers to leave
at ten o’clock. The running post had to fetch in a basket the broken meat from the Lord Mayor’s
table, provisions from the clerk of the market, from private families, and the charities given in the
streets. Two of the criers begged daily at the gates ; he at Ludgate-street was allowed a fourth of what
was given, and he on the Blackf’riars’ side one-half. Notwithstanding this complex machinery corrup-
tion crept in : the keeper and turnkey of the prison claimed fees without either right or reason. The
prisoners had to pay 8d. a month for clean sheets, and not above two were to lie in a bed ; for a couch,
Id. a week ; for chamber-room, &c, Id. a week for lamps and candles. A freeman of the City, on being
arrested for debt, could insist upon being carried to the Ludgate Prison ; bailiffs’ fees, 4s. or 5«., due
2d. If new comers could not pay the demands, the clothes of the poor prisoner were privately taken
from him, and not returned until the money was paid. He was, however, allowed to go abroad, ou
giving good security to return at night, for the charge of h keeper’s fee, 1*. 6rf.; head turnkey, 2s. Gd.
Often the discharge fees came to more than the debt. Hungry, and at times almost naked, the poor
prisoners lay in these unsanitary dens until death. There was a gift to this prison, called Nell G Wynne’s
dole, distributed to prisoners every ninth week. Some of the old statues from Ludgate remain, but
railway trains now rattle over the prison site.
As early as 1218, Ludgate was a common gaol for felons taken in London City; and
so lately as 1457, Newgate, and not the Tower, was the prison for the nobility and
great officers of State. In 1252, one John OfFrem, committed to this prison for having
killed a prior, escaped, which so displeased King Henry III. with the City, that the
sheriff’s were sent to the Tower, and there remained a month. In 1431, in consequence
of a false complaint made by the keeper of Newgate, eighteen freemen were taken to
the compters, and chained as if they had been felons.
Maeshalsea Pbison, “so called as pertaining to the Marshalles of England”
(Stow), stood in High-street, Southwark. Here were confined persons guilty of
piracies and other offences on the high seas. (See page 509). In 1377 it was broken
into by a mob of sailors, who murdered a gentleman confined in it for killing one of
their comrades, but had been pardoned. During the rebellion of Wat Tyler, in 1381,
the marshal of this prison, and the governor of the King’s Bench, Sir John Imworth,
was seized and beheaded.
• ” To the Marshalsea Bishop Bonner was sent, on losing his see of London for adherence to Rome.
A man meeting him cried, ’ Good morrow, bishop quondam – ;’ to which Bonner replied, ’ Farewell, knave
semper.’ He lived ten years in the Marshalsea, and died there Sept. 5, 1569; he was buried at mid-
night, with other prisoners, in St. George’s, Southwark. In the reigns of Henry VIII., Mary, and
Elizabeth, the Marshalsea was the second prison in importance in London, being inferior only to the
Tower. Christopher Brooke, the poet, was confined in the Marshalsea for being concerned in the
wedding of Dr. Donne. George Wither was committed here for writing the satire, Abuses Stript and
Whipt; but he procured his release by his Satire to the King.” — Dixon, London Prisons, abridged.
Garrick played for the benefit of the prisoners, at Drury-lane, ” being the first application of this
PRISONS. 697
kind,” the Provoked Wife, Sir John Brute, Garrick; Lady Fanciful, Mrs. Give; Lady Brute, Mrs.
Pritchard. Farce of Duke and No Duke, Trappolin, Mr. Woodward. Tickets to be had at the Marshal-
sea Prison, South wark.
The Marshalsea escaped the riots of 1780. The old prison, which contained ahout
sixty rooms and a chapel, occupied the site of the house, No. 119, High-street ; it was
then removed to other premises nearer St. George’s Church ; and these were taken
down in 1812, when the prisoners were drafted to the Queen’s Bench. (See Mab-
shalsea and Palace Couet, page 509.)
Millbank Pbison, Westminster, near the foot of Vauxhall Bridge, is the largest
penal establishment in England. The site was purchased, in 1799, of the Marquis of
Salisbury, for 12,000/. ; but the building was not commenced until 1812, when a con-
tract was entered into by the Government with Jeremy Bentham ; and the edifice is a
modification of his ” Panopticon, or Inspection House.” It was next changed into a
regular Government prison for criminals, adult and juvenile, and became the general
depot for transports waiting” to be drafted to other prisons, or placed on shipboard for
dockyard labour ; and here are sent the most reckless and hardened criminals from all
parts of the country. The soil of the site is a deep peat, and the buildings are laid on
a solid and expensive concrete j but the situation is low and unhealthy. The prison
cost half a million of money, or about 500/. for each cell ! The only entrance is in the
Thames front. The ground-plan consists of six pentagonal buildings, radiating from
a circle, wherein is the governor’s house ; and each line terminates in a tower in the
outer octagonal wall, which incloses about 16 acres; 7 covered with buildings, in-
cluding 12 chapels and airing-yards, and 9 laid out as gardens. The corridors are
upwards of 3 miles long ; there are about 1550 cells ; and from 4000 to 5000 persons
pass through the prison yearly. There are 40 staircases, making in all 3 miles distance.
In 1843 the name of the Penitentiary was changed, by Act of Parliament, to the
Millbank Prison. From the general resemblance of its conical-roofed towers to those
of the Bastile du Temple at Paris, as well as from the severity of its system, the Peni-
tentiary has been stigmatized as ” the English Bastile.”
” The dark cells, 20 steps below the ground-floor, are small, ill-ventilated, and doubly barred ; and no
glimpse of day ever enters this fearful place, where the offender is locked up for three days, fed upon
bread and water, and has only a board to sleep on.” — Dixon, 1850.
Newgate, on the east side of the Old Bailey, is now used as a gaol of detention for
persons about to be tried at the adjacent Central Criminal Court ; here are also con-
fined prisoners convicted of assaults or offences on the high seas, and those who are
under sentence of death. Until 1815, when Whitecross-street prison was built, New-
gate was used for debtors as well as felons : hence its ¦ Debtors’ Door.”
Sheriff Hoare, 1740-1, tells us how the names of the prisoners in each gaol were read over to him
and his colleague; the keepers acknowledged them, one by one, to be in their custody; and then ten-
dered the keys, which were delivered back to them again; and after having executed the indentures, the
Sheriffs partook of sack and walnuts, provided by the keepers of the prison, at a tavern adjoining Guild-
hall. Formerly the Sheriffs attended the Lord Mayor, on Easter-eve, ” through the streets, to collect
charity for the prisoners in the City prisons.”
Old Newgate prison was over and about the City gate ” so called, as built after the
four principal gates were reckoned old.” It was merely a tower or appendage to the
gate, which stretched across the west end of Newgate-street ; still, from the time of
King John to that of Charles II., it was sufficient prison-room for the City and county.
It was originally ” Chamberlain Gate,” and was rebuilt by the executors of Sir Richard
Whittington, whose statue, with the traditional cat, was placed in a niche upon the
wall. Here were also statues of Concord, Mercy, Justice and Truth, Peace and
Plenty, &c.
” In the Beaufoy Collection, at Guildhall, is a Newgate Prison Token, No. 715. Obv. Belonging to
ye cellor on the masters side at 1669. ’Rev. Newgate — View of Newgate and the Debtors’ Prison.
This token was struck as a monetary medium among the prisoners, and is of the utmost rarity and
interest, from the delineation of the prison it affords.” — Burn’s Descriptive Catalogue, p. 138.
Newgate was restored by Wren in 1672, after the Great Fire ; but it was burnt to
the ground in the riots of 1780, when the rioters stole the keys, which were found
some time after in the basin of water in St. James’s-square. Dr. Johnson and Dr.
Scott (Lord Stowell) saw Newgate in ruins, ” with the fire yet glowing :” the iron bars
were eaten through, and the stones vitrified by the intense heat.
698 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
On the top of Old Newgate, as shown in prints, was a windmill, an early attempt at ventilation.
” For,” says Chamberlain, in 1770, ” a contagious disease, called the gaol distemper, has frequently
destroyed great numbers of prisoners, and even carried its contagion into courts of justice, when trials
were held. To prevent as much as possible these dreadful effects, a ventilator has been placed on the
top of Newgate, to expel the foul air, and make way for the admission of such as is fresh; and during
the time that the sessions are held herbs are also strewed in the court of justice, and in the passages
leading thereto, to prevent infection,” which practice is continued to this day.
Memorable Imprisonments. — Newgate was used as a state-prison long before the Tower. Robert
Baldock, chancellor to Edward III., died here. Here were imprisoned John Bradford, of Manchester,
the friend of Kidley ; the intrepid John Bough; John Field and Thomas Wilcox, in 1572, for writing
the celebrated Admonition to Parliament for the Reformation of Church Discipline ; and here, in prison,
they maintained the Whitgift controversy. Dr. Leighton (ten years), for writing his Appeal to Par-
liament. George Wither, the poet, for writing the Vox Vulgi. George Sackville, poet, rake, and Earl
of Dorset, occupied a cell in Newgate. In 1672, Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was confined here
six months, for street-preaching ; Titus Oates and Dangerfield were sent here, and Dangerfield died in
the prison. At the Bevolution, Bishops Ellis and Leyburn were confined here, and were visited by
Burnet. Defoe was committed to Newgate for writing his Shortest Way with Dissenters ; and here he
wrote An Ode to the Pillory, and commenced his Review. Major Bernardi, suspected of plotting with
Bookwood against King William, died in Newgate, after seven years’ confinement. Richard Akerman,
Boswell’s friend, was gaoler. (Abridged from Dixon on the London Prisons.) Dr. Dodd, while impri-
soned here, finished a comedy (Sir Soger de Coverley) : and after conviction, wrote his Prison Thoughts.
Jack Sheppard escaped from “the Castle in Newgate;” and from “the Middle Stone Room,” after his
being retaken in Drury-lane. His portrait was painted in the prison by Sir James Thornhill. The
Beggar’s Opera was first called A Newgate Pastoral. The trials are reported in the Newgate Calendar ;
and in the Annals of Newgate, by the Rev. Mr. Vilette, Ordinary.
The present ” prison of Newgate” was designed, in 1770, by George Dance, R.A.,
and is one of his finest works : the architecture bespeaks the purposes of the structure,
and its solidity and security at once impress the spectator. The first stone was laid,
23rd May, 1770, by Lord Mayor Beckford, this being his last public act. John
Howard objected to the plan, but was overruled. While yet unfinished, in 1780,
Newgate was attacked by Lord George Gordon’s rioters, who broke open the doors of
the tenanted portion, and set 300 prisoners at large ; they then set fire to the building,
which was reduced to a shell : it was repaired and completed in 1782. The plan con-
sists of a centre (the keeper’s house) ; two lodges, stamped with gloomy grandeur and
severity ; and two wings of yards right and left, but not suited for the classification or
reformation of the prisoners. The facades are 297 feet and 115 feet long, and are
externally a good specimen of prison architecture. The outer walls are three feet
thick. Early in the present century nearly 800 prisoners were confined here at one
time, when a contagious fever raged. In 1808, Sheriff Phillips states, the women in
Newgate usually numbered from 100 to 130 ; and each had only 18 inches breadth
of sleeping-room, packed like slaves in the hold of a slave-ship ! In this shrievalty, the
cells were first ordered to be whitewashed twice a year. Mrs. Fry describes the women
as ” swearing, gaming, fighting, singing, dancing, drinking, and dressing up in men’s
clothes j” and in 1838, gambling, card-playing, and draughts were common among the
male prisoners. The chapel has galleries for the male and female prisoners : below,
and in the centre of the floor, is placed a chair for the condemned culprit ; but the
public are no longer admitted to hear the ” condemned sermons” on Sundays before
executions : the criminal’s coffin was also placed at his feet during the service ! For-
merly sixty persons have been seen on one Sunday in ” the condemned pew,” the wood-
work of which was cut with the name of many a hardened wretch. Here the Rev.
W. Dodd, D.D., preached his own funeral sermon from Acts xv. 23, on Friday, June 6,
1777, before he was hanged for forgery. The custom practised for many years in
Newgate of having a small portion of scripture read daily and explained, for the pri-
soners to meditate upon, was always attended with good results, but since the prisoners
have been kept separately the influence of it has been far greater.
In the lower room, on the south side of the prison, died Lord George Gordon, of
the gaol distemper, after several years’ imprisonment, for libelling the Queen of France.
The culprit in the furthest cell on the ground-floor is within a yard of the busy
passers-by in the street. In the hall is a collection of ropes j also casts taken from the
beads of the principal criminals who have been executed in the front of the prison.
The kitchen was formerly the hall in which debtors were received : it opens by ” the
Debtors’ Door,” through which criminals pass to the scaffold in the street, a passage
being made through the kitchen by black curtains. The place of execution was changed
to this spot in December, 1783, at the suggestion of John Howard
PRISONS. 699
Within the walls is a cemetery, where, since 1820, have been buried the bodies of executed criminals :
the first deposited there were Thistlewood and the other Cato-street conspirators. The bodies are
buried, without service, at eight in the evening of the day of their execution, and at each grave is a tali
stone with the rudely-inscribed name.
The Press-yard, between Newgate and the Old Bailey Courts, is described at page
556. It was formerly customary for the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, when proceeding
to proclaim Bartholomew Fair, on Sept. 2, to stop at Newgate, and drink ” a cool
tankard” to the health of the Governor of Newgate ; but this practice was discontinued
in the second mayoralty of Alderman Matthew Wood in 1821. Two watchmen are
stationed on the roof of the prison during the night.
One of the last persons confined in Newgate for apolitical offence was Mr. Hobhouse (now Lord
Broughton), for publishing his pamphlet, The Trifling Mistake; when Lord Byron’s prediction, that
Hobhouse ” having foamed himself into a reformer, would subside into Newgate,” literally came to
pass: and great was the enthusiasm of the people in the street at seeing Mr. Hobhouse’ s hat above the
prison parapet, as he walked upon the roof for exercise !
The cost of maintaining the prisoners in Newgate is 371. a head annually. The old
associated system is pursued here ; the silent system at Millbank, in Coldbath-fields,
and Tothill-fields ; and the separate system at Pentonville, Millbank, and the House of
Detention ; yet Newgate has the advantage, as seven out of eight of its prisoners never
return to it. Nevertheless, says an official authority :
” Newgate prison is a complete quarry of stone, without any order or possibility of order in it. There
are a vast number of rooms in it, over which there is no inspection whatever ; and nothing as a prison
can remedy it. It has a most imposing exterior, which is perhaps its greatest use as a deterrer from
crime, and the worst possible interior.” — Captain Williams, Prisons Inspector.
The interior of the prison has been reconstructed upon the cellular system, similar to that of the
City Prison, Holloway. The front portion of Newgate was completed in 1858. In the middle is a large
central corridor that occupies the entire length of the structure. On each side of it are four galleries,
which communicate with the cells of the prisoners There are no fireplaces in the cells, but warming
and ventilation is provided for by the admission of fresh air from an altitude of 40 feet, conveyed down-
wards, and which, passing through a tunnel under the building, comes in contact with a series of pipes
heated by steam. This heated air then passes through flues that have an area of 60 inches, and are
inserted in the middle of the walls, one flue passing to each cell, on the opposite side of which is a large
chamber common to all, by which the air is conveyed to a ventilating shaft, that is highly rarified by
coils of steam-pipes that generate the circulation. For the purposes of warming and ventilation, two
steam boilers have been provided, each 18 feet long by 5 feet 6 inches diameter. The basement of the
structure contains the reception and punishment cells, bath-rooms, boiler-house, and stores. The
building is so isolated all round that if a prisoner, in his attempt to escape, even gained the roof, he
could not possibly escape without running the risk of losing his life. The greatest improvements that
appear to have been effected by the system adopted in the new building, are separating the pri-
soners, affording adequate accommodation for the officers in charge of the inmates, and the provision of
airing-yards to admit of external exercise.
New Pbison was erected towards the close of the seventeenth century, south of
Clerkenwell Bridewell, intended ” as an ease for Newgate,” for such as were charged
with misdemeanours. Jack Sheppard was committed here, with Edgeworth Bess, on a
charge of felony, when they marvellously escaped. In 1774-5, the New Prison was
rebuilt : on the rusticated stone gate was sculptured a large head expressive of criminal
despair and anguish, chains with handcuffs, fetters, &c. In Howard’s time, 1776, there
were 83 felons confined here, with the county allowance of a penny -loaf a day, and each
new comer had to pay 1*. 4d. for ” garnish.” Near the outer gate was a trap, whence
the prisoners were supplied with liquors at a wicket made for the purpose in the wall.
In the Biots of 1780, the rioters with pickaxes broke open the gates and let the pri-
soners out. In 1812, the prisoners here were not even provided with straw, but slept
in their rugs on the boarded floor, and the county allowance was but one pound of
bread a day. In 1818, this prison was almost entirely rebuilt on a more extensive
plan, and cost upwards of 35,0001. to provide for 240 prisoners in separate cells. In
1845 the prison was taken down, and upon its site was built the House of Deten-
tion for the reception of prisoners before trial, the accused only : the first built upon
that plan, modified from the separate system at Pentonville ; there are 286 cells.
Here are shown Jack Sheppard’s fetters, double the usual weight ; and the boundary-
wall of New Prison remains.
Pentonville Pbison, in the road from the foot of Pentonville-hill to Holloway, and
over against Barnsbury, was commenced April 10, 1840, during the administration of
Lord John Russell, and completed in 1842, at a cost of nearly 100,000^., upon the plan
of Lieut.-Col. Jebb, E.E. The area within the lofty walls is 6 % acres, besides a cur-
700 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
tain-wall, with massive posterns in front, where is a frowning entrance-gateway, its
arched head filled with portcullis-work, and not altogether unpicturesque ; from
the main huilding rises a lofty Italian clock-tower. From the inspection or central hall
radiate five wings or galleries, on the sides of four of which are the cells, in three
stories.
Each cell is 13″ target=”_top”> feet long by 7$ feet broad, and 9 feet high : it has an iron water-closet, pail, and wash-
basin supplied with water; a three-legged stool, table, and shaded gas-burner, and a slung hammock,
with mattress and blankets ; in the door is an eyelet hole, that the officer may inspect from outside ;
and the meals are conveyed through a spring trap-door.
The heating is from stoves in the basement ; and the ventilation is by an immense
shaft from the roof of each wing. The chapel is fitted up with separate stalls or
sittings for the prisoners, of whom the officers have the entire surveillance. The organ
is by Gray. The exercising-yards, between and in front of the wings, are radiated,
so that an officer may watch the prisoners, each in a walled yard. The discipline is
the separate system and the silent system modified; and here were formerly sent con-
victs for probation, prior to transportation to the penal colonies, the plan being an
adaptation from the Philadelphian system. Each cell cost 180Z. ; victualling and
management nearly 361. a head; and the prisoners’ labour is unproductive. The
building was first named ” the Model Prison,” as the plan was proposed for the several
gaols in the kingdom ; but, from its partial success, the name has been changed to the
Pentonville Prison, although it is in the parish of Islington. The prison has been a
costly experiment, and was planned so as to be easily altered in case of failure. A set of
views of the Model Prison appeared in the Illustrated London News, 1843.
Poultry Compter is described at page 628.
Queen’s Prison, Southwark, formerly the King’s Bench and Queen’s Bench, was
situated here in the reign of Richard II., when the Kentish Rebels, under Wat Tyler,
” brake down the houses of the Marshalsey and King’s Bench, in Southwarke.”
(Stow.) To this prison the Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., was committed by
Chief Justice Gascoigne, for endeavouring to rescue a convicted prisoner, one of his
personal attendants (Stow’s Chronicle) ; and the room in which he was confined was
known as the Prince of Wales’s Chamber down to the time of Oldys. In 1579 the
prisoners daily dined and supped in a little low parlour adjoining the street. In this
year, through ” the sickness of the house,” the prisoners petitioned the Queen’s Privy
Council for the enlargement of the prison and the erection of a chapel. During the
Commonwealth it was called the Upper Bench Prison. Rushworth, author of the
Historical Collections, was confined here for six years; and Baxter, the Nonconformist,
was imprisoned here eighteen months, under a sentence passed by the infamous
Judge Jeffreys. The original King’s Bench was built on the east side of the High-
street, on the site of Layton’s-buildings, adjoining the Marshalsea and White Lion
prisons. Defoe describes the prison-house ” not near so good as the Fleet.” The
present prison is situated at the lower end of the Borough-road : Wilkes was one of
the early prisoners here.
After his return to Parliament for Middlesex, in 176S, Wilkes was arrested on a writ of capias
utlegatum, when he was rescued by the mob as the officers were conveying him to the King’s Bench
Prison, to which he afterwards went privately. He was still under confinement upon the meeting of
Parliament, when a mob assembled before the prison to convey him in triumph to the House of Com-
mons. A riot ensued — the military fired, and killed and wounded several rioters. Judgment was then
pronounced on Wilkes for two libels, and he was heavily fined, and sentenced to imprisonment for the
two terms often and twelve months ; during which upwards of 20,0OM. was raised for the payment of
his fines and debts, and presents of all kinds were heaped upon him — plate, jewels, wine, furniture, and
embroidered purses of gold !
The building was set on fire, and the prisoners were liberated, by the mob in the
Riots of 1780. (See St. George’s Fields, p. 376). By the Act 5 Victoria, c. 22, the
Queen’s Bench, Fleet, and Marshalsea were consolidated as the Queen’s Prison, for
debtors, prisoners committed for libel, assault, courts-martial, &c., under the control
of the Home Secretary of State. The dietary and other expenses, 15001, a year, were
paid by the English and Welsh counties.
” On the propriety of styling the especial Eoyal Court of Judicature — at which the sovereign
anciently presided in person— the Court of Queen’s Bench, some hesitation may arise, determinable,
however, by former practice. Does the Saxon derivation of Queen extend further in strict meaning
than a royal consort ; and is not the Queen regnant dc facto King, as exercising the kingly office ?” —
A. J. K., Gentleman’s Magazine, June, 1839
PRISONS. 701
” All that is squalid and miserable might now be summed up in the one word— Poet. That word
denoted a creature dressed like a scare-crow, familiar with compters and sponging-houses, and per-
fectly qualified to decide on the comparative merits of the Common Side in the King’s Bench Prison,
and of Mount Scoundrel in the Fleet.” — Edinburgh Review, No. 107 ; Macaulay on Croker’s Botwell.
The prison is inclosed by a wall 35 feet high, surmounted by chevaux-de-frise ; it
contains 224 rooms and a cbapel. The wall is well adapted for rackets, once much
played here. Defoe said, ” to a man who had money, the Bench was only the name
of a prison f but the classification of the prisoners abated its licence and riotous living.
In 1820 was published a humorous volume in verse, entitled Sketches of St. George’s
Fields. By Q-iorgione di Castelchiuso. The author portrays the characters and inci-
dents of the King’s Bench at the above period in some 170 pages ; and in his Preface
humorously describes the Bench as ” a certain spring of great repute,” and compares
temporary imprisonment here to drinking the waters (? of oblivion). ” I was only,”
he says, ” required to drink for some time at the very spring of a certain fountain
in St. George’s-fields, over which a pump is placed, and by which a vast casino is built,
capable of containing many hundreds of patients, and surrounded by a lofty wall.
These waters are in infinitely greater repute than those of Aix, of Pyrmont, or
Bareges; and I have in one morning met with inhabitants of remotely-distant
countries gathered together before this famous spring.” ” It was during the time in
which I partook of the salubrious potations of that spring, which, for I know not what
reason, is called Number Sixteen ” — the number of the staircase in the prison.
Remarkable persons confined in the King’s Bench. — Robert Recorde, physician,
” the first useful English writer,” his family Welsh, and he himself a Fellow of All
Souls’ College, Oxford, in 1531, died in 1558, in the King’s Bench, where he was
confined for debt : some have said he was physician to Edward VI. and Mary.
Sir William Reresby, Bart., son and heir of the celebrated author, Le Neve states,
in his MSS. preserved in the Heralds’ College, became a tapster in the King’s Bench
Prison, and was tried and imprisoned for cheating in 1711. He was addicted to the
fights of game-cocks, and the fine estate of Dennaby is said to have been staked and
lost by Sir William on a single main. — (Burke’s Anecdotes of the Aristocracy, 2nd S.)
The original prison was in that part of the Borough wbere was held Southwark
Fair ; for we read of Joe Miller mourning his departed master, Dogget, at the Angel
Tavern, which then stood next door to the King’s Bench; and among the Burney play-
bills for the year 1722, is this newspaper cutting : ” Miller is not with Pinkethman,
but by himself ! At the Angel Tavern, next door to the King’s Bench, who acts a new
droll called the Faithful Couple ; or, the Royal Shepherdess.” — (W. H. Wills.)
Chatterton was here in 1770 : he writes : ” A gentleman, who knows me at the
Chapter as an author, would have introduced me as a companion to the young Duke of
Northumberland, in his intended general tour. But alas ! I spoke no language but
my own. King’s Bench for the present, May 14, 1770.” — (Dix, p. 267.)
Colonel Hanger, the youngest son of Gabriel, first Lord Coleraine, was by turns a
successful gamester, a prisoner in the King’s Bench, a gallant soldier in King George’s
army, fighting against the Americans, and a favourite guest at the Prince of Wales’s
table, at Carlton House.
The amiable Valentine Morris, when Governor of the Isle of St. Vincent, and the
colony fell into the hands of the French, was refused reimbursement by the British
Government : thus sinned against, he was thrown into the King’s Bench Prison by his
creditors, on his return to England ; and during the space of seven years, endured all
the hardships of extreme poverty. Thus reduced, bis wife, who was niece to Lord
Peterborough, and who sold her clothes to purchase bread for her husband, became
insane. Morris was at length released, after long years of suffering.
George Morland, the painter, was long in the Bench and the Rules, and usually
spent his evenings at a tavern in the latter ; there it was that he astounded an old
gentleman by telling him he knew what would hang him, and then produced — a rope.
Jethro Tull, ” the father of* the drill and horse-hoeing husbandry,” died in the
Bench Prison, where he had been thrown by some merciless creditor.
Lord Cochrane was imprisoned here in 1815, for his Stock Exchange affair; he
escaped, and went immediately to the House of Commons, whence the Marshal of the
King’s Bench conducted him back to prison.
Henry Constantine Jennings, of Shiplake, Oxon, descended from the Nevils, and who
reckoned, the celebrated Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, among his progenitors, is
supposed to have died in the King’s Bench, about 1818; his inveterate love of the fine
arts was, no doubt, the cause of it. In 1815 he was living in Lindsey-row, Chelsea;
and in or about the same time he preferred a claim to an abeyant peerage.
About the year 1820, one Winch, a printer’s joiner, while confined here for debt,
constructed the working model of a printing machine, which resembled a mangle.
In 1821, Messrs. Weaver, Arrowsmith, and Shackell, proprietors of the John Bull
newspaper, were heavily fined, and imprisoned here nine months, for a libel upon the
memory of Lady Caroline Wrottesley.
William Hone, while writing his Every-day Book, was arrested by a creditor, and
thrown into the King’s Bench. Here he remained for about three years, during which
time he finished his Every-day Book, in two volumes ; and began and finished his
Table-book and Year-book, two volumes. These three works will probably preserve the
name of the compiler after everything else that he did shall be forgotten.
Dr. Mackay, who had lost 40,000Z. — which he had amassed in Mexico by a long life
of labour — on the Stock Exchange, was found by Haydon in the King’s Bench in
1827, planning steam- coaches, and to set off for Mexico as soon as he was free.
A friend finding a poor author in the Queen’s Bench for the third time, and in good
spirits, said, ” Why, you must like it.” So — of Haydon — to what humorous account
he turned his difficulties. In 1834 he notes : ” Directly after the Duke’s (Wellington)
letter came with its enclosed cheque, an execution was put in for the taxes. I made
the man sit for Cassandra’s hand, and put on a Persian bracelet. When the broker
came for his money, he burst out a laughing. There was the fellow, an old soldier,
pointing in the attitude of Cassandra — upright and steady, as if on guard. Lazarus’s
head was painted just after an arrest : Eucles finished from a man in possession ; the
beautiful face in Xenophon in the afternoon, after a morning spent in begging mercy
of lawyers ; and now Cassandra’s head was finished in agony not to be described, and
her hand completed from a broker’s man.” Haydon painted his ” Mock Election ” and
” Chairing Members ” from a burlesque election in the prison when he was confined
there; and thence he petitioned Government, and trumpeted his own distresses.
The best account of the King’s Bench of our time will be found in Haydon’s Auto-
liography ; and its motley life is the staple of three volumes of Scenes and Stories of
a Clergyman in Debt, written by F. W. N. Bayley.
In September, 1860, Sir Francis Desanges, who had been Sheriff of London and
Middlesex in 1818, and also Sheriff of Oxfordshire, expired in the Queen’s Prison, of
which he had been an inmate upwards of four years, at the suit of a solicitor ; he was
75 years old, and had long bitterly complained of his imprisonment.
The Rules (privileges for prisoners to live within three miles round the Prison, and
to go out on ” day rules “) are said to have been first granted in time of plague. For
these Eules large sums were paid to the Marshal, who, in 1813, received 2823Z. from
the rules and ” liberty tickets,” and 872Z. from the sale of beer ! These malversations
were, however, abolished. KitSmart, the translator of Horace, died within theRules; here
Smollett wrote his Sir Launcelot Greaves. Smollett has minutely described the King’s
Bench Prison in his Roderick Random, as quarters which Hatchway and Tom Pipes
coveted earnestly. Shadwell, in his comedy of Epsom Wells, 1676, says the Rules
extend to the East Indies ; which Lord Ellenborough quoted when he was applied to
to extend the Rules.
Public Advertiser, Oct. 4, 1764: ” A gentleman, a prisoner in the Eules of the King’s Bench, a branch
of the family of the Hydes, Earls of Clarendon and Rochester, has a most remarkable coffin by him,
against his interment. It was made out of a fine solid oak which grew on his estate in Kent, and
hollowed out with a chisel. The said gentleman often lies down and sleeps in his coffin, with the
greatest composure and serenity.” Oct. 6 it was added : the coffin ” weighs 600 lbs., and was not long
since filled with punch, when it held 41 gallons 2 quarts 1£ pint.”
John Palmer, the actor, was living within the Rules of the King’s Bench when he
was committed to the Surrey Gaol under the ” Rogue and Vagrant Act,” for illegal
performances at the Royal Circus, in 1789. Palmer’s engagement at this theatre (of
which he was acting-manager, at a weekly salary of 201.) led to the abridgment by
PRISONS. 703
Lord Chief Justice Kenyon, of the general privileges which dehtors had possessed in
Surrey, by excluding public-houses and places of amusement from the Rules.
William Combe was confined here when he received Rowlandson’s drawings, upon
which Combe wrote Dr. Syntax. He lived a reckless life, by turns in the King’s
Bench Prison and the Rules, the limits of which do not appear to have been to him
much punishment. Horace Smith, who knew Combe, refers to the strange adventures
and the freaks of fortune of which he had been a participator and a victim : ” a ready
writer of all-work for the booksellers, he passed all the latter portion of his time
within the Rules, to which suburban retreat the present writer was occasionally invited,
and never left without admiring his various acquirements, and the philosophical
equanimity with which he endured his reverses.” We remember him in the Rules, in
St. George’s-place, where we learnt that he had written a memoir of his chequered life.
Campbell, in his Life of Mrs. Siddons, states that Combe lived nearly 20 years in the
King’s Bench, which is not correct.
Theodore Hook, in April, 1824, was removed from a spunging house in Shire-lane,
to the Rules (Temple-place), where he worked hard, in addition to the editorship of
the John Bull, in founding his most profitable fame.
The King’s Bench Gazette, and other papers published from time to time, have portrayed the
recreant life of the prisoners. When Abbot Lord Tenterden was the Lord Chief Justice, the King’s
Bench was nicknamed “Abbot’s Priory,” and ” Tenterden Priory.” A Bolter is one who, having the
privilege of a day rule, runs off and leaves his bondsmen, or the marshal, to pay his debt; or who
decamps from the Rules. The Brace Tavern was originally kept by two brothers named Partridge, from
whence it obtained its punning name, they being a brace of partridges. The delicate address of the
Bench was 65, Belvedere-place ; as that of the Fleet Prison was No. 9, Fleet-market.
Latterly, the Prison was governed by Orders appointed by one of the Secretaries of
State ; the Rules were abolished, and the prisoners classified, which changes broke up
the licentious life of the place. It is now used as a military prison.
About the year 1843, the case of a Mr. Miller, who had been imprisoned 47 years for a debt which it is
doubtful if he ever owed, and who still remained in custody in the Queen’s Bench, excited great sym-
pathy. A subscription was made to place in a position above penury this poor man, who had reached
his 77th year, and who, without some such assistance, would, by the operation of the new Bank-
ruptcy Act, have been thrown penniless on the world.
Lord Chancellor Westbury, in submitting to the House of Lords a Bill for shutting
up this prison, June 28, 1862, gave the following precis of its history : —
” The prison, of which the present building was the representative, originated in very early times ; it
was probably coeval with the Court of Queen’s Bench itself. At a very early period there were three
principal prisons in London — the Queen’s Bench Prison, the Fleet Prison, and the Marshalsea. The
Queen’s Prison was appropriated to prisoners committed by the Court of Queen’s Bench, the
Court of Exchequer, and Court of Common Pleas. The Fleet prison received prisoners from the
Court of Chancery ; and the Marshalsea from the Lord Steward’s Court, the Palace Court, and the
Admiralty. The first fruits of the measure passed in 1842 for the abolition of arrest for debt on mesne
process was to enable Parliament to reduce the three prisons to one, the Queen’s Prison being substituted
for the Marshalsea and the Fleet. The present Queen’s Bench Prison was formed in 1759 ; it had
accommodation for 300 prisoners, and occupied an area of ground between two and three acres in extent.
He understood that the value of this space of ground was between 200,0002. and 300,0002. The sum
hitherto voted by Parliament for maintaining this prison was between 3000J. and 40002. a year, which
would be saved to the country, witli the exception of the allowances and continuous payments to which
an Act of this kind would necessarily give rise Their lordships would, therefore, see that the
necessity for continuing the Queen’s Bench had entirely ceased. The object of the present Bill was
to transfer the few prisoners therein confined to Whitecross-street Prison, where there was admirable
accommodation for a much greater number of persons than in all human probability would ever
be confined there for debt. Their lordships were probably aware that even the present number
of persons in the Queen’s Bench would not have been so large but for the practice which had
been introduced — he could hardly tell why — under which any debtor in any prison throughout the
country might be removed by writ of habeas to the Queen’s Bench. Prisoners often availed themselves
of this privilege, because in the Queen’s Bench they had amusements — such as playing at ball and other
games, by which time was whiled away.”
At an early clearance by Mr. Hazlitt, one of the Registrars in Bankruptcy, there came before
him the case of Mr. Whittington, who very reluctantly presented himself. In the course of his
examination he stated that he was not in custody for debt, but for costs in an action which
he had brought against Mr. Roupell, M.P., for trespass on some lands. He alleged that the costs
were really costs in the cause, and that besides, as the proceedings were still pending, his incarceration
was wholly illegal. He stated that he had no debts, and that his assets amounted to over 1,000,0002.
in value; that they consisted for the most part of lands in England, America, Australia, and the Falk-
land Islands. In the Falkland Islands he said he was possessed of 100 square miles of territory, and
he had 6pent 43,0002. in endeavouring to establish a colony there. He held also mortgages of property
of various kinds to the amount of 20,0002. He was adjudged a bankrupt, with instant discharge, a
course against which he protested.
Savoy Prison, the west end of the ancient Palace of the Savoy, on the south side of the Strand, was used as a military prison for deserters, impressed men, convict soldiers, and offenders from the Guards ; at one period their allowance was only fourpence a day. The gateway hore the arms of Henry VII., and the badges of the rose, fleur-de-lis, and portcullis. The premises were tat en down in 1819, to form the approach to Waterloo Bridge, after which deserters were imprisoned on board a vessel moored off Somerset House ; but the Savoy may be said to have been first used as a prison when John King of France was confined here after the battle of Poictiers, in 1356.
Tothill- fields’ Bridewell was first built, in 1618, as a House of Correction.
“Over the gate is this inscription : ’Here is several sorts of work for the poor of this parish of St. Margaret’s, Westminster; as also correction according to law for such as will beg and live idly in this City of Westminster. Anno 1655.’” — Hatton.
In the reign of Queen Anne it was converted into a gaol for criminals. ” Howard describes it as being remarkably well managed in his day ; and holds up its enlightened and careful keeper, one George Smith, as a model to other governors.” (Dixon’s London Prisons.) Here Colonel Despard, the traitor, was imprisoned in 1803.
Upon a site adjoining was commenced, in 1830, the erection of a new prison, from the design of Robert Abraham : it was first occupied in June, 1834, when the old Bridewell was deserted and taken down, and the stone bearing the above inscription was built into the present garden-wall. The new prison, seen from Victoria-street, resembles a substantial fortress : the entrance-porch, on the Vauxhall side, is formed of massive granite blocks, iron gates, portcullis, &c. It is built on the panopticon pton, and contains a gaol for untried male prisoners, a house of correction for male convicts, and a prison for women ; 8 wards, 2 schools, and 8 airing-yards ; 42 day-rooms and 348 sleeping-apartments ; besides 120 dark cells in the basement, all ranged round a well-kept garden ; while in front is the governor’s house, over which is built the chapel these forming the keep-like mass which is seen from Pimlico and Piccadilly, and is one of the finest specimens of brickwork in the metropolis. The prison will hold upwards of 800 prisoners : the only labour is oakum-picking and the treadwheel.
Towee, The, used as a state-prison from about 1457 to our own time, is described with the general history of that palace, prison, arsenal, and fortress.
Westminster Gatehouse, used as a prison for State, ecclesiastical, and parliamentary offenders, as well as for debtors and felons, is described at page 373.
Whitecross-steeet Prison, in the street of that name, Cripplegate, is entirely a Debtors’ Prison : the first stone was laid by Alderman Matthew Wood, in July, 1813.
The prisoners were classified as Sheriffs’ prisoners, Queen’s Bench prisoners, prisoners committed from the Bankruptcy Court and the County Courts. The prison is built to accommodate 365 prisoners. Those who are able to sustain themselves are allowed to do so, and are kept distinct from those who cannot do so : the latter class are called dietary prisoners, and have the following diet : — one and a half pound of bread daily, cocoa twice a day, three ounces of meat (without bone) daily, half-pound of potatoes four days a week, and so upon the other two days. The twenty-five dormitories have the beds separated by corrugated iron partitions. In the yard adjoining the female wards are two strong rooms or refractory cells, for turbulent prisoners. The doors of the building are massive, and loaded with iron. The cost for the year ending September 29th, 1862, amounted to no less a sum than 4663?. 13*. 8d., and that for the maintenance of an average number of about seventy prisoners. Here are no private apartments, but a modern instance of the wise saw, ” Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.” Opposite the Debtors’ Door, in Whitecross-street, is the City Greenyard, established in 1771 : here is kept the Lord Mayor’s State-Coach.
Wood-street (Cheapside) Comptee was first established in 1555, when the prisoners were removed here from Bread-street Compter. The first Wood-street Compter was burnt down in the Great Fire, but was rebuilt : its hall was hung with the story of the Prodigal Son ; the prisoners were removed from here to Giltspur-street in 1791.
QUEENHITHE,
UPPER Thames-street, was originally the Mthe (wharf or landing-place) of Edred
the Saxon, and thence called Edred’ s-hithej but falling into the hands of King Stephen, it was given by him to Will, de Ypre, who gave it to the Convent of the Holy Trinity within Aldgate : however, it came again to the Crown, and it is said to have been given by King John to his mother, Eleanor, queen of Henry II. ; whence it was called Ripa Regince, the queen’s bank, or queen’s hithe, it being a portion of her majesty’s dowry. It is described by Stow as ” the very chief and principal Watergate of this city,” ” equal with, and of old time far exceeding, Belinsgate.” In the reign of Henry III., ships and boats laden with corn and fish for sale were compelled to pass beyond London Bridge, ” to the Queen’s-hithe only,” a drawbridge being pulled up to admit the passage of large vessels. In 1463, the market at Queen-hithe was ” hindered by reason of the slackness of drawing up London Bridge.” Stow enumerates the customs and dues exacted from the ships and boats, and specifies *¦ salt, wheat, rye, or other corn, from beyond the seas ; or other grains, garlic, onions, herrings, sprats, eels, whiting, plaice, cod, mackerel, &c. :” but corn was the principal trade, whence the quay was sometimes called Cornhithe. Stow describes here a corn-mill placed between two barges or lighters, which ” ground corn, as water-mills in other places, to the wonder of many that had not seen the like.” The charge of Queenbithe was subsequently delivered to the sheriffs ; but Fabyan states, that in his time it was not worth above twenty marks a year. Its trade in fish must, however, have been considerable when Old Fish-street northward was the great fish-market of London, before Billingsgate, in 1699, became ” a free and open market.” Beaumont and Fletcher speak of ” a Queenhithe cold f and the locality is often mentioned by our old dramatists. It is now frequented by West-country barges laden with corn and flour ; the adjoining warehouses, with high-pitched gables, were built long since for stowage of corn ; and the opposite church of St. Michael, with its vane in the form of a ship, the hidl of which will contain a bushel of grain, is emblematic of the olden traffic in corn at the Hithe.
Tom Hill was originally a drysalter at Queenhithe ; and here he assembled a fine library, described by Southey as one of the most copious collections of English poetry in existence : it was valued at 60001., when, through a ruinous speculation in indigo, Hill retired upon the remains of his property to the Adelphi. (See p. 1.) Hill was the patron of the almost friendless poets, Bloomfield and Kirke White.
At Queenhithe, No. 17, lived Alderman Venables, lord mayor 1826-7; at Nos. 20-21, Alderman Hooper, lord mayor 1847-8; and at No. 23, Alderman Rose, lord mayor 1863-4.
Queenhithe gives name to the ward, wherein were seven churches in Stow’s time.
Westward is Broken Wharf, ” so called of being broken and fallen down into the Thames.” Here was the mansion of the Bigods and Mowbrays, Earls and Dukes of Norfolk; sold in 1540 to Sir Richard Gresham, father of Sir Thomas Gresham.
Within the gate of this house was built, in 1594-5, an engine, by Bevis Bulmer, for supplying the middle and west of the City with Thames water.
In 1809 or 1810 was found in the bed of the river, opposite Queenhithe, a massive silver seal, with a motto denoting it to have been the official seal of the port of London, temp. Edward I. It is engraved with Laing’s Plan of the Custom House.
RAILWAY TERMINI.
LONDON is girdled with Railways, and has an inner and outer circle ; but few of the
Termini present grand or noticeable features. The Blackwall line has a terminus
of elegant design, by W. Tite, F.R.S., at Brunswick Wharf. The Great Northern
Terminus, King’s Cross, occupies 45 acres of land. For the site of the Passenger
Station, the Small-pox Hospital and Fever Hospital were cleared away. The front
towards St. Pancras-road has two main arches, each 71 feet span, separated by a clock-
tower 120 feet high ; the clock has dials nine feet in diameter, and the principal bell
weighs 29 cwt. The Great Western Terminus, at Paddington, has few artistic
features; the handsome Hotel adjoining is described at p. 441. The North-Western
Terminus, at Euston-square, has a propylcBum, or architectural gateway, pure Grecian
Doric : its length exceeds 300 feet ; its cost was 35,OOOZ. ; and it contains 80,000 cubic
feet of Bramley Fall stone. The columns are higher than those of any other building
in London, and measure 44 feet 2 inches, and 8 feet 6 inches diameter at the base, or only 3 feet 1 inch less than that of the York column. The height, to tbe summit of
the acroterium, is 72 feet ; a winding staircase in one angle leads to an apartment
within the roof, used as the Company’s printing-office ; the rich bronze gates are by
Eramah.
This propylseum is unprecedented in our modern Greek architecture, and ” exhibits itself to most
advantage when viewed obliquely, so as to show its line of roof and depth, especially as the cornice is of
unusually bold and new design, being not only ornamented with projecting lion-heads, but crowned by
a series of deep antefixse ; while, when beheld from a greater distance, the large stone slabs are also
Been that cover the roof.” — Companion to the Almanack, 1839.
The paved platforms within the gateway contain nearly 16,000 superficial feet of
Yorkshire stone, some of the stones 70 to 80 square feet each ; and each shaft of the
granite Doric colonnade is a single stone. The Great Hall, designed by P. C. Hard-
wick, has the ceiling panelled, deeply recessed, and enriched, and is connected with the
walls by large ornamented consoles. The walls are splashed as granite ; and the Ionic
columns are painted like red granite, with white caps and bases. The sculpture, by
John Thomas, are a group, Britannia supported by Science and Industry ; and beneath
the ceiling, 8 panels, in alto-relievo, symbolic figures of London, Birmingham, Man-
chester, Chester, Northampton, Carlisle, Lancaster, and Liverpool. The hall is warmed
by some miles of hot-water pipes, on Perkins’s system. Here was placed, April 10,
1854, Baily’s colossal marble statue of George Stephenson, the originator of the rail-
way system : this statue was purchased by the subscriptions of 3150 working-men, at
2s. ; and 178 private friends, at 14£. each.* The South-eastern station, London Bridge,
is of great extent, and provides for the Greenwich Railway, opened December 14, 1836,
the first completed line from the metropolis. The large Hotel is described at p. 442.
The South-Western, Waterloo-road, is noticed at p. 501. The Charing Cross line from
London Bridge, through Southwark, has a station at Cannon-street, terminus at
Charing Cross, and two stupendous bridges across the Thames. The Hotels are
described at pp. 442-443. The Metropolitan, beneath the crowded streets of
London, Fowler, engineer-in-chief, extends from Paddington to Finsbury, 4″ target=”_top”> miles;
the difficulties of construction — through a labyrinth of sewers, gas and water mains,
churches to be avoided, and houses left secure — proved an herculean labour ; but
one of the greatest difficulties was to construct an engine of great power and speed,
capable of consuming its own smoke, and to give off” no steam. This Mr. Fowler sur-
mounted by inventing an engine which, in the open air, works like a common locomo-
tive, but when in the tunnel, consumes its own smoke, or rather makes no smoke, and
by condensing its own steam, gives off not a particle of vapour. It is proposed, by
extensions at either end of the underground line, and by a new line, to be called the
” Metropolitan District Railway,” to complete what will form pretty nearly an inner
circle, and will also throw out branches to connect itself with the suburban systems
north and south of the Thames ; so that when the entire scheme is in working order
we shall have something like a combination of two circles — the inner and the outer — as
a thorough railway system for the metropolis. Of the progress of the works a specimen is
afforded in 2000 men, 200 horses, and 58 engines many months working ; and whole
terraces, streets, and squares in south-west London being tunnelled under almost without
the knowledge of the inhabitants. The London, Chatham, and Lover extension line
has a massive bridge at Blackfriars, and Byzantine terminus at Ludgate. The North-
London line has few noticeable works.
The Pneumatic Hallway, Rammell, engineer, is an extension of the Atmospheric
principle : it had already been tested in a Despatch tube, through which parcels were
propelled on ledges or rails, in cars, on the signal being given, by the exhaustion and
pressure of the air in the tube by a high-pressure engine ; this motive power, in the
Pneumatic Railway, being applied to passengers in an enlarged tube. The propulsion
is likened to the action of a pea-shooter, the train to the pea, which is driven along in
one direction by a blast of air, and drawn back again in the opposite direction by the
exhaustion of the air in front of it ; the motion being modified by mechanical arrange-
ments. The air is exhausted from near one end of the tube by means of an apparatus,
* More than 2000 parcels per day are booked at the North-Western Railway Station. In Christmas
week, 5000 barrels of oysters have been sent off within twenty-four hours, each barrel containing 10O
oysters =half a million.— Lardner’s Railway Economy, p. 130.
RANELAGH. 707
from which the air is discharged by centrifugal force. The contrivance may be com-
pared to an ordinary exhausting fan. The rails are cast in the bottom of the tubes ; a
few strips of vulcanized India-rubber screwed round the fore-end of the carriage consti-
tute the piston, leaving three-eighths of an inch clear between the exterior of the
piston and interior of the tube j there is no friction, and the leakage of air does
not interfere with the speed of transit. The Whitehall and Waterloo Pneumatic
Railway will extend from the station in Scotland-yard, carried in brickwork beneath the
tunnel of the Underground District Eailway, and then under the Low Level Sewer to
the northern abutment, from which iron tubes of sixteen feet diameter are to be laid
on the clay beneath the Thames.
We shall not be expected to detail the various lines now in course of construction, or
projected, in and around the metropolis ; to attempt this might lead us to record the
construction of works never to be executed, and anticipations never to be realized. The
number of metropolitan lines and branches proposed in 1865 was 148, and the extent of
the whole in miles about 370. ” A New Map of Metropolitan Railways” is, from time
to time, published by Stanford, Charing Cross.
Sir Joseph Paxton proposed a magnificent railway extension, for the better communication between
different parts of the metropolis, so as to avoid all underground work. For this purpose he designed
an immense boulevard, or girdle railway, to run in an extended crystal palace of about 11 J miles ; to be
built of iron, and roofed with glass, 72 feet broad and 180 feet high. On either side were to be erected
houses and shops, with an ordinary roadway between them ; at the rear of these there were to be two
lines of railway, equal to eight sets of rails. The railways were to be constructed on the top of a raised
corridor, at the average height of 26 feet, so as to enable the line to pass over, without obstruction, the
present streets and thoroughfares ; and the premises under to be used as shops or tenements, were to
have double walls, with a current of air passing between them, which it was said would prevent annoy-
ance from the vibration and noise of the railway. The girdle was to commence at the Royal Exchange,
to cross Cheapside opposite the Old Jewry ; then to cross the river by a bridge of sufficient dimensions
to have houses built upon it, at Queenhitfie ; the road then to pass through the Borough, and next a
portion of Lambeth to the South- Western Railway ; from which a loop was to be constructed, to pass
over a bridge to be built near Hungerford, to terminate at the Regent-circus. The main line to cross
the South-Western Railway, carried direct over a bridge at Westminster, and thence, by Victoria-
street, through Belgravia, Brompton, Gore House, Kensington Gardens, Notting Hill, to the Great
Western station at Paddington. The line then to be carried on the north side to the London and North-
western and the Great Northern Railways ; and then through Islington to the starting-point at the
Royal Exchange. The railways were to be worked on the atmospheric principle. The total cost was
set down at about 34,000,0002., to be provided by a Government guarantee, at 4 per cent. Among the
receipts, the houses upon the three bridges, it was computed, would let each at 6001. a year; and this,
with other revenues, it was estimated, would leave a profit of nearly 400,0002. The drawings of this
great project were beautifully executed; but the scheme was altogether too gigantic and costly for
execution.
RANELAGH,
A PUBLIC garden, opened in 1742, on the site of the gardens of Ranelagh House,
eastward of Chelsea Hospital, was originally projected by Lacy, the patentee of
Drury-lane Theatre, as a sort of winter Vauxhall. The Rotunda, 185 feet in diameter,
had a Doric portico, an arcade, and gallery outside. There was also a Venetian
pavilion in the centre of a lake, upon which the company were rowed in boats ; and a
print of 1751 shows the grounds planted with trees and allies verts. The several
buildings were designed by Capon, the eminent scene-painter. The interior was fitted
with boxes for refreshments, and in each was a painting : in the centre was an ingenious
heating apparatus, concealed by arches, porticoes, and niches, paintings, &c. ; and sup-
porting the ceiling, which was decorated with celestial figures, festoons of flowers, and
arabesques, and lighted by circles of chandeliers. The Rotunda was opened with a
public breakfast, April 5, 1742. Walpole describes the high fashion of Ranelagh :
“The prince, princess, duke, much nobility, and much mob besides, were there.”
” My Lord Chesterfield is so fond of it, that he says he has ordered all his letters to be
directed thither.” The admission was one shilling ; but the ridottos, with supper and
music, were one guinea. Concerts were also given here : Dr. Arne composed the music,
Tenducci and Mara sang ; and here were first publicly performed the compositions of the
Catch Club. Fireworks and a mimic Etna were next introduced ; and lastly, masque-
rades, described in Fielding’s Amelia, and satirized in the Connoisseur, No. 66, May 1,
1755 ; wherein the Sunday-evening’s tea-drinkings at Ranelagh being laid aside, it is
proposed to exhibit the story of the Fall of Man in a masquerade ! Dr. Johnson said
there was more of Ranelagh than of the Pantheon; or rather, indeed, the whole Rotunda appeared at once, and it was better lighted: “the coup d’ceil was the finest
thing he had ever seen.” — Boswell’s Life of Johnson, vols. ii. and iii.
But the promenade of the Rotunda to the music of the orchestra and organ soon
declined : ” There’s your famous Bauelagh, that you make such a fuss about ; why
what a dull place is that !” (Miss Burney’s Evelina.) In 1802, the Installation Ball
of the Knights of the Bath was given here ; and the Picnic Society gave here a break-
fast to 2000 persons, when Garnerin ascended in his balloon. Of the Peace Fete which
took place here in 1803, and for which allegorical scenes were painted by Capon,
Bloomfield sings in homely rhyme :
” A thousand feet rustled on mats,
A carpet that once had been green ;
Men bow’d with their outlandish hats,
With corners so fearfully keen.
Fair maids, who at home, in their haste,
Had left all clothing else but a train,
Swept the floor clean, as slowly they paced,
Aud then — walk’d round and swept it again.”
Ranelagh was now deserted, and in 1804 the buildings were taken down. In 1813, the
foundation-walls of the Rotunda, the arches of some cellars, and the site of the
orchestra, could be traced : part of the ground was next included in ” the Old Men’s
Gardens” of Chelsea Hospital ; and the name is attached to the Sewers District, and
to a long street leading from Pimlico to the site of Ranelagh.
Ranelagh House was built about 1691, by Jones, first Earl of Ranelagh and third
Viscount, who was a great favourite of Charles II. The ground was granted to the
Earl by William III. ; and the mansion is shown in a view of the Thames-bank painted
by Canaletti in 1752.
In 1854, a large house built upon part of the site of Eanelagh, with some of its materials, and another
mansion, Clarence House, were cleared away, to form the new road from Sloane-street to the Suspension-
bridge and Battersea Park.
RECORDS, PUBLIC.
” rilHE Records of this country have no equal in the civilized world, in antiquity,
-L continuity, variety, extent, or amplitude of facts and details.* From Domesday
they contain the whole materials for the history of this country, civil, religious, political,
social, moral, or material, from the Norman Conquest to the present day. (Of the
decisions of the Law Courts a series is extant from the beginning of the reign of
Richard I.) With the Public Records are now united the State Papers and Government
Archives, and by their aid may be written the real history of the Courts of Common
Law and Equity ; the statistics of the kingdom in revenue, expenditure, population,
trade, commerce, or agriculture, can from the above sources be accurately investigated.
The Admiralty documents are important to naval history ; and others afford untouched
mines of information relating to the private history of families.” — Sir Francis Palgrave,
Deputy-Tceeper of the Records.
They include the official Records of the Courts of Common Law, of Parliament, of
Chancery, of the Admiralty, the Audit Office, the Registrar-General’s Office, the Com-
missariat, the Treasury Books, the Customs’ Books, the Privy Signet Office, the Welsh
and County Palatinate Courts, &c. These were deposited in more than sixty places,
until the passing of the Public Records Act, 1 & 2 Victoria, cap. 94, the great object
of which was the consolidation of all the Records in one depository ; which has been
attained by the erection of a building on the Rolls Estate, between Fetter-lane and
Chancery -lane. The architect is Mr. Pennethorne ; and the plan is to provide suf-
ficient space not merely for all the Records now in the custody of the Master of the
Rolls, but for all such as may be expected to accrue for fifty years to come. The
building consists of a north front and two wings ; the three portions to contain 228
rooms, 200 of which would receive nearly half a million cubic feet of Records. The front
faces the north : the style is late Gothic, or Tudoresque, somewhat of German character ;
the outer walls are supported by massive buttresses, between which are the windows,
which are Decorated. The materials are Kentish rag-stone, with dressings of Anstone-
* William Lambarde.the eminent lawyer and antiquary, was, in 1597, appointed Keeper of the Rolls
and House of Bolls, in Chancery-lane; and in 1600, Keeper of the Becords in the Tower.
RECORDS, PUBLIC. 709
stone. The floors are formed with wrought-iron girders and flat brick arches, laid ou
the top with white Suffolk tiles. The sashes and door-frames are of metal, the doors
of slate, the roof iron. The hall, entered from the south side of the building, has a
panelled ceiling, formed in zinc and emblazoned. Two windows are provided for each
room, which is fifteen feet high, divided by a gallery or iron floor : hence the windows
are unusually lofty, to light both floors, and to throw the light twenty-five feet down
the passages between the Records ; accordingly the front is a mass of window. As in the
same architect’s Museum of Practical Geology, in Piccadilly, there is no entrance in the
principal facade. Upon the front tower is a statue of Queen Victoria ; Durham, sculptor.
In the first consignment of documents to the New Repository were, among the papers
of the Solicitor to the Treasury, the Solicitor’s proceedings against Bishop Atterbury
and others ; with an important mass of papers respecting the rebellion of 1745-6 ; and
“very numerous documents relating to prosecutions brought by the Crown against
authors or publishers of pamphlets or newspapers.” The charge and superintendence
of the Public Records is vested in the Master of the Rolls, to whose custody the accu-
mulating Records above twenty years old are delivered. Searches may be made at any
of the departments of the Record Office by payment of the fees, and extracts taken ;
but the Deputy -keeper is authorized to grant any literary inquirer permission to search
and make notes, extracts, or copies, in pencil, without payment of fees, on the Deputy-
keeper being satisfied that the application is for a bond fide literary purpose. To show
the value of this privilege to literary inquirers, it may be stated that in 1852 one ap-
plicant consulted nearly 7000 documents, principally at the Rolls Chapel, for compiling
the history of a single township.
To Lord Romilly, Master of the Rolls, the nation is specially indebted for the able and efficient
manner in which has been carried out the recommendations of the Record Commission and the Par-
liamentary Committees of 1800 and 1836. In the latter Report the object first specified is, ” to provide
for the better arrangement and preservation of the Records of the Kingdom.” This is more fully
expressed in the executory clause of every Commission, which enjoins the Commissioners “to metho-
dize, regulate, and digest the records, rolls, instruments, books and papers in any of our public offices
and repositories, and to cause such of the said records, rolls, instruments, books and papers, as are
decayed and in danger of being destroyed, to be bound and secured.” The next object is, with a view to
providing for ” their more convenient use, to make Calendars and Indexes of any of the said records,
rolls, instruments, books and papers.” Sir John Romilly at once directed that the Calendars of the
diplomatic documents, then preserved in the Record Office in the Tower of London, which had been
some time in hand, should be prepared for publication. He gave directions for printing the Calendars
of documents in the Queen’s Remembrancer’s Office and Augmentation Office, upon which officers had
also been engaged for fifteen years. This was the true beginning of his task. It was not until the
incorporation of the State Paper Department with the Public Record Office, in the year 1854, that the
Master of the Rolls was enabled to accomplish his design. He applied to the Lords of Her Majesty’s
Treasury for assistance. He proposed that a certain number of competent persons, unconnected with
the office, should be employed to co-operate with the officers of the establishment in the compilation of
Calendars of the Diplomatic Papers, commencing with the reign of Henry VIII., the period at which
the modern history of Europe may be said to commence ; and to leave the portion anterior to that reign
in the Record Repository to be calendared by the officers of the establishment, whenever they could be
•spared from the performance of the current business of the office.
The proposition was readily approved by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and a number of
persons, including one lady, were appointed to the work. Every calendar which comes out has its own
interest, its own revelations. Every department of history and biography is enriched from day to day
by new discoveries. The life of this nation is being re-written for us, not at third hand, from the
guesses of those who knew little and invented much, but from the original vouchers of all true history.
These Calendars give us not only a new history of England, but the best history of England that has
ever been written.— (AtheruBum.) In graceful recognition of these eminent services, a marble bust of the
Master of the Rolls has been placed by subscription in the Record Office.
The several Records have been removed from the Branch Offices to the Repository.
The Chapter House has been entirely cleared of the remaining portion of its contents.
The Records brought from it have beeu incorporated in the Repository with the Com-
mon Law and other Records to which they respectively belong. In consequence of the
proposed destruction of the State Paper Office to make room for the erection of
new Government Offices, it was found necessary to remove the Records from the State
Paper Branch Office into the Repository. Here, also, have been removed the Home
Office Papers ; and the Records of the Colonial Office have been united with the other
Colonial Documents already to be found in the Repository, which contained about
4000 volumes of Colonial Papers ; together with the Foreign Papers to the end of the
reign of George II. Consequently, the whole of the Home, Foreign and Colonial Papers,
and all other Records, Printed Books, Maps, &c., have been removed to the Repository;
¦with the exception of the Foreign Correspondence commencing with the reign of George III, and Ratifications of Treaties, intended to be removed to two houses in
Whitehall-yard. In the Record Office are some very fine examples of bookbinding ;
there are also several curiously wrought cases for rolls and books, and coffers, in which
they have been kept for centuries. Amongst the most remarkable of these is an ancient
iron chest, which is called of Anglo-Norman date. The strength and massiveness of
this piece of smithwork is remarkable : it seems as solid as a sarcophagus. In this
coffer, in the Chapter-house of Westminster Abbey, the famous Domesday Book of
William was for many centuries kept with the greatest care.
In 1860 her Majesty’s Government, with the concurrence of the Master of the Rolls
(Lord Romilly), determined to apply the art of photozincography to the production of
a facsimile of the whole of the Domesday Survey, under the superintendence of Colonel
Sir Henry James, R.E., Director of the Ordnance Survey at Southampton, who had
devoted himself to the improvement of that scientific process, completed in 1863.
The Reports of the Deputy Keeper are annually made and laid before Parliament.
They usually include, in addition to the statement of proceedings in the Public Record
Office, appendices containing inventories and calendars of records made during each
year to which they relate, and refer to documents interesting and useful to the public
generally. They have been found especially valuable in assisting persons engaged in
genealogical, topographical, and antiquarian pursuits, and are of great practical use to
Government departments having papers deposited in the Public Record Office.
The Victoria Tower of the Houses of Parliament was originally intended to be used as a Record
repository ; but the only means of access to this tower is by a narrow winding staircase of 170 iron
steps up to the first floor ; and to the eighth floor (sixty-four rooms in all) there are 266 steps, which,
added to the 170 from the ground to the first landing, make a total of 436 steps. There are no fire-
places.
REGENT STREET,
IN length 1730 yards (30 yards less than a mile), was designed by John Nash, in
1813, and named from his patron the Prince Regent ; although in 1766 Gwynne had
proposed a great street to lead nearly in the same line. It commences at Waterloo-
place, opposite the site of Carlton House, and proceeds northward, crossing Piccadilly,
by a Circus, to the County Fire-Office, designed by Abraham, with a rustic arcade, like
that at Somerset House. The roadway is probably the finest specimen of macadamization
in the metropolis. On the East side are the Junior United Service Club (see p. 254) j
Gallery of Illustration (p. 308) ; the Parthenon Club (p. 254). On the West are St.
Philip’s Chapel (p. 215) ; and Club Chambers (p. 245).
At No. 5, Waterloo-place, in the collection of Thomas Walesby, in 1854, was George TV. and the Duke
of Wellington on the field of Waterloo, painted by B. E. Haydon ; Gore House, Kensington, with por-
traits of the Duke of Wellington, Lady Blessington, Count D’Orsay (the painter of the picture), &c;
also, Sir Joshua Reynolds’ sitters’ chair, after his decease in the possession of Sir Thomas Lawrence
and Sir M. A. Shee”.
From the County Fire-Office, the street trends north-west by a Quadrant, so as to
avoid a commonplace elbow : it exhibits Nash’s genius in overcoming difficulties, for
by no other contrivance could this sweep of the street have been made so ornamentid ;
its geometrical fitness can only be fully appreciated in the view from the balcony of the
York Column. The Quadrant had originally two Doric Colonnades, projecting tbe ex-
tent of the foot-pavement; the columns of cast-iron, from the Carron Foundry, each 16
feet 2 inches high, exclusive of the granite plinth, supported a balustraded roof. This
was a most scenic piece of street architecture ; the continuous rows of columns swept
in charming perspective, and the effect was very picturesque. The colonnades were
removed in November, 1848, and a balcony was added to the principal floor. The
property has been much improved by this change ; but the tasteful public unwillingly
parted with this grand street ornamentation, which reminded them of a classic city of
antiquity. The 270 columns were sold at 11. 5s. and 71. 10s. each.
No. 45, the junction of Regent Circus with the Quadrant, has a superb shop-front, designed, in
1839, by F. Hering, in the Revival style ; with fluted Ionic columns, Italianized arches, enriched pedi-
ment-heads, spandrels, escocheons, cognisances, and panels ; the ornaments being of composition laid
upon wood. Each plate of glass in the windows, 140 inches by 82 inches, cost 1602. ; the plate-glass in
the facade and interior 10002. ; and the entire execution nearly 40002.
BOMAN LONDON. 711
From the Quadrant the vista is very fine : the blocks or groups of houses, &c. are
by Nash, Soane, Cockerell, Repton, Abraham, Decimus Burton, &c.
East — Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel, between Nos. 172 and 174, is described at
p. 215. Foubert’s Place, between Nos. 206 and 208, is named from Monsieur or
Major Faubert, who, in 16S1, established here a riding-academy, on premises formerly
the mansion of the Countess of Bristol. Evelyn, in his Diary, mentions that Faubert’s
project was recommended by the Council of the Royal Society.
” ISth Dec. 1681. — I went with Lord Cornwallis to see the young gallants do their exercise, M.
Faubert having newly railed in a menage, and fitted it for the academy. Here were the Duke of Nor-
folk and Northumberland, Lord Newburgh, and a nephew of (Duras) Earle of Faversham. The exer-
cises were: 1. Running at the ring; 2. Flinging a javelin at a Moor’s head; 3. Discharging a pistol
at a mark; and lastly, taking up a gauntlet with the point of a sword; all these perform’d in full
Bpeede.”
When Swallow-street was removed, the riding-school premises, then livery -stables, were
taken down, except one house. The Argyll Rooms, built for musical entertainments,
at the corner of Little Argyll-street, were destroyed by fire in 1830. (See p. 22.)
If est — Nos. 207 and 209, the Cosmorama (see p. 308). Hanover Chapel, built
1823, by Cockerell (see p. 211). The line crosses Oxford-street by Regent Circus, and
extends thence to the tower and spire of All Souls’ Church (see p. 147). The street
then sweeps past the Langham Hotel (see p. 442), built upon the site of the gardens and
houses of Sir James Langham, and part of the site of Foley House, which was bought
by Nash, with the grounds, for 70,000/. : hence the crookedness of Regent-street.
No. 309, Regent-street, the Polytechnic Institution, erected by Thompson in 1838,
and enlarged in 1848, contains a Hall of Manufactures, with machines worked by
steam-power, and several other apartments filled with models, &c; Cosmoramic Rooms;
and Theatres for lectures and optical exhibitions. The Divmg-Bell, long the paramount
attraction, is of cast-iron, and weighs 3 tons ; 5 feet in height, and 4 feet 8 inches
in diameter at the mouth. The Bell is about one-third open at the bottom, has a seat
all round for the divers, and is lit by 12 openings of thick plate-glass. It is suspended
by a massive chain to a large swing-crane, with a powerful crab; the chain having
compensation weights, and working into a well beneath. The air is supplied from two
powerfid air-pumps, of 8-inch cylinder, conveyed by the leather hose to any depth : the
divers being seated in the Bell, it is moved over the water, and directly let down within
two feet of the bottom of the tank, and then drawn up ; the whole occupying only
two minutes and a half. Each person paid a fee for the descent, which produced
1000/. in one year. The cost of the Bell was about 400Z.
In the rear of the premises, at No. 5, Cavendish-square, then the St. George’s Chess
Club, was played, 27th May, 1851, the Chess Tournament, by the first general meeting
of players from different parts of the world ; among whom were, Szen, Horwitz,
Kieseritzky, Lowenthal, Staunton, and Anderssen. — See the Games, with notes, by H.
Staunton.
ROMAN LONDON.
ALTHOUGH Londinium was in the power of Rome for more than 400 years, or
nearly one-fourth of its existence in history, the aspect of Roman London is but
matter of conjecture; and tessellated pavements, incised stones, and sepulchral urns,
found upon its site, are but fragmentary evidences that wherever the Roman conquers
he inhabits. London was, however, previously a settlement of some importance, and of
British origin, as we read in Llyn-dun, the hill-fortress on the lake; or Llong-dinas,
the city of ships, from its maritime character ; whence the Roman designation Lon-
dinium. It is not mentioned by Caesar, though he entered the Thames; nor was it
occupied as a Roman station so early as Colchester and Verulam. The Romans are
supposed to have possessed themselves of London in the reign of Claudius, about 105
years after Caesar’s invasion. Londinium is first mentioned by Tacitus (Ann. xix. 33)
as not then dignified with the name of a colonia, but still as a place much frequented
by merchants, and as a great depot of merchandize. It was subsequently made a
colonia under the name of Augusta (Amm. Marcell. xxvii. 8).
Londinium, as we know, was a place of commercial activity before the Roman Conquest.
712 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
It was the principal mart of exchange between Britain and the Continent, and received
for the corn, the cattle, the minerals, the slaves, and the dogs of native production,
every article of southern luxury for which a market was to be found among our rude
ancestors. The site of London was, no doubt, peculiarly advantageous for commerce.
It was the only great maritime port on a tidal river known to the Romans ; and while
it was supplied by a very fertile tract of country behind it, its position on a gentle
declivity, with dense forests in the rear, and a broad expanse of swamp before it, ren-
dered it from the first a place of considerable strength. London probably remained
British, or rather Cosmopolitan j while such places as Colchester, Chester, and Caerleon,
the stations of legions and seats of government, became merely bastard Italian.
Ptolemy the geographer, who lived in the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus
Pius, places Londinium in the region of the Cantii, and some recent discoveries have
proved that the Roman city or its suburbs did actually extend over what is now known
as Southwark. The Itinerary of Antoninus shows that a large proportion of the British
routes are regulated and arranged with reference to Londinium, either as a starting-
point or a terminus. This city is made the central or chief station to which the main
military roads converge : a map of Roman Britain based on this Itinerary strikingly
resembles one of modern England ; so close is the analogy by which we may assign a
metropolitan importance to Roman London. When in the reign of Diocletian and
Maximian it was sacked by the Franks, it is termed by Eumenius the orator, oppidum
Londiniense ; and under the dominion of Carausius and Allectus it became a place of
mintage. ” P. Lon.” (Pecunia Londiniensis) appears on coins of Constantine, Helena,
Fausta, Crispus, Constantine the Younger, and Constantius the Younger ; and in the
Notitia Londinium takes a place among the capitals of the provinces under the title of
Augusta, as the seat of the Treasury of Britain, controlled by a special officer, — Pro-
positus thesaurorum Augustensium in Britannis. ” Vetus oppidum,” says Ammianus
Marcellinus, who wrote about a.d. 380, ” quod Augustam posteritas appellavit.”
The site of Roman London has been densely built on and inhabited, without inter-
ruption, from the first century of our era to the present time. It has been buried
beneath the foundations of the modern city, or rather beneath the ruins of a city several
times destroyed and as often rebuilt; and it is only at rare intervals that the excavators
of drains and other subterranean works strike down upon the venerable remains of the
earliest occupation. The Romans found the place a narrow strip of firm ground lying
between the great fen (Moorfields) almost parallel to the river. At right angles to
both ran the Walbrook, and on the east the Langbourne ; habitations ranged closely
from Finsbury to Dowgate, whence to the Tower site, villas studded the bank of the
Thames. The finding of sepulchral remains outside these natural boundaries proves the
Romans to have there had their burial-grounds, as it was their custom always to inter
their dead without their cities. That Southwark, on the opposite bank of the Thames,
was also a Roman settlement, is proved by relics of the reign of Nero ; outside which
are likewise evidences of Roman interment.
“Roman London thus enlarged itself from the Thames towards Moorfields, and the line of wall east
and south. The sepulchral deposits confirm its growth ; others, at more remote distances, indicate
subsequent enlargements ; while interments discovered at Holborn, Finsbury, Whitechapel, and the
extensive burial-places in Spitalfields and Goodman’s-fields, denote that those localities were fixed on
when Londinium, in process of time, had spread over the extensive space inclosed by the wall.” —
C. Roach Smith, F.S.A.
After the Great Fire, the excavations brought to light much of the antiquarian
wealth of ” the Roman stratum” of tessellated pavements, foundations of buildings, and
sculptural remains ; coins, urns, pottery, and utensils, tools, and ornaments. Whenever
excavations are made within the limits of the City of London, the workmen come to
the floors of Roman houses at a depth of from 12 to 18 or 20 feet under the present
level. (T. Wright, F.S.A.: The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, p. 123.) These floors
are often covered with fragments of the broken fresco-paintings of the walls, of which
Mr. Roach Smith has a large variety of patterns, such as foliage, animals, arabesque,
&c. ; and pieces of window-glass have often been found among these remains. — T.
Wright, F.S.A., Archceological Album.
London was inwalled a.d. 306. (See City Wall and Gates, pp. 233-246.)
ROMAN LONDON. 713
The following are the principal localities in which remains of Roman London have
been, from time to time, discovered : —
Aldgate, 1753. — Stone and brick tower of the Roman wall, discovered by Maitland,
south of Aldgate ; the bricks sound, as newly laid.
Barbican. — A roman specula, or watch-tower (the Castrum lExploratum of Stukeley’s
Itinerary), stood without London, near the north-west angle of the walls, and was
called in the Saxon times the Burghkenning or Barbican, which gave name to the
present steet leading from Aldersgate-street to Whitecross-street. — (Brayley’s Lon-
diniana, vol. i. p. 40.) See, also, Babbican, p. 32.
Bevis Marks. — A fine statue of a youth found, and rescued from the employes of the
Commissioners of Sewers by Mr. Roach Smith.
Billingsgate, 1774. — In the parish of St. Mary-at-Hill were found human bones,
fragments of Roman bricks, and coins of Domitian of the middle brass ; and, in 1824,
urns and pavements were discovered near St. Dunstan’s church, north of Billingsgate.
In 1848, portions of an apartment and a hypocaust were laid open in digging the foun-
dation of the new Coal Exchange, nearly opposite Billingsgate. The apartment is
paved with common red tesserse ; the outer wall, 3 feet thick, is built of tile-like bricks
and Kentish rag-stone, the mortar containing pounded brick, an unfailing evidence of
Roman w r ork. The hypocaust, or hollow floor for receiving heated air when wood was
burnt in the furnace, and thus to warm the apartment above (probably a bath), agrees
to half an inch in the dimensions with those given by Vitruvius in his instructions for
the hypocaustum. The bottom is formed of concrete ; and piers support the covering
tiles, also covered with concrete. Pipes were also found, which, opening into the
hypocaust, were inserted in the walls, and conducted the warm air throughout the
building. The whole has been preserved. 1859. — In excavating for a house on the
east side of the Coal Exchange, an additional portion of the Roman building, including
part of a hypocaust, was thrown open. It was found at a depth of about 11 feet from the
present surface. The hypocaust is nearly square, with a semicircle added towards the
east : the covering has been broken down, and exposes the piers formed of square tiles
as in other cases : some of these are also broken down. Bones of various descriptions,
Roman tiles and portions of flues, fragments of pottery and glass, portions of tessera}
about an inch square, and pieces of vessels of mediseval date, were discovered. To the
west of the hypocaust, against the Coal Exchange, is an ancient wall, built upon a
foundation of Roman materials : in one part formed of stones of large size : this may
have been a portion of the old wall of the Thames. {See Billingsgate, p. 54.)
Bishopsgate, 1707. — A tessellated pavement, urns with ashes and burnt bones, a blue
glass lachrymatory, and remains of the Roman wall, found at the west end of Camomile-
street, Bishopsgate, by Dr. Woodward. In rebuilding Bishopsgate Church iq 1725,
several urns, patera?, and other remains were discovered, with a vault arched with
equilateral Roman bricks, and Dr. Stukeley saw there, in 1726, a Roman grave, con-
structed with large tiles, which kept the earth from the body. In 1836 a pavement of
red, white, and grey tesserse, in a guilloche pattern, was discovered under a house at
the south-west angle of Crosby-square, Bishopsgate; supposed very early Anglo-Roman.
(Archceologia, vol. xxvii. p. 397.) Maitland describes a similar pavement found on the
north side of Little St. Helen’s gateway in 1712 ; the site of St. Helen’s Priory was
probably occupied by an extensive Roman building ; and remains of floors prove Crosby
Hall to be on the site of a magnificent Roman edifice.
Blackfriars. — A fragment of the old wall, and parts of the monastic buildings erected
upon it, are still preserved below the offices of the Times newspaper. One part of this
interesting relic is evidently much older than the other, and the most ancient was fouud
to be so hard, as to set at defiance the tools of the workmen. During alterations, seve-
ral encaustic tiles, the finials of the fleur-de-lis shape, a Roman tile, and in the neigh-
bourhood of the printing-office, several melting-pots and pieces of glass, mostly in a
half-manufactured state, were found : they are carefully preserved at the Times office.
(See Blackfriaks, p. 56.)
Broad-street, Old, 1854. — On taking down the Excise Office, at about 15 feet lower
than the foundations of Gresham House (on the site of which the Excise Office was
built), was found a pavement, 28 feet square.
It is a geometrical pattern of broad blue lines, forming intersections of octagon and lozenge com-
partments. The octagon figures are bordered with a cable pattern, shaded with grey, and interlaced
¦with a square border, shaded with red and yellow. In the centres, within a ring, are expanded flowers,
shaded in red, yellow, and grey ; the double row of leaves radiating from a figure called a true love-
knot, alternately with a figure something like the tiger-lily. Between the octagon figures are square
compartments bearing various devices : in the centre of the pavement is Ariadne, or a Bacchante,
reclining on the back of a panther; but only the fore-paws, one of the hind-paws, and the tail remain.
Over the head of the figure floats a light drapery, forming an arch. Another square contains a two-
handled vase. In the demi-octagons, at the sides of the pattern, are lunettes : one contains a fan orna-
ment; another, a bowl crowned with flowers. The lozenge intersections are variously embellished
with leaves, shells, truelove-knots, chequers, and an ornament shaped like a dice-box. At the corners
of the pattern are truelove-knots. Surrounding this pattern is a broad cable-like border, broad bands
of blue and white alternately ; then a floral scroll ; and beyond this an edge of demi-lozenges, in alter-
nate blue and white. An outer border, composed of plain red tesserae, surrounds the whole. The
ground of the pavement is white, and the other colours are a scale of full red, yellow, and a bluish grey.
This pavement is of late workmanship. Various Roman and mediaeval articles were turned up in the
same excavation : among these are a silver denarius of Hadrian, several copper coins of Constantine,
and a small copper coin bearing on the reverse the figures of Romulus and Remus suckled by the tra-
ditionary wolf; several Roman and mediaeval tiles and fragments of pottery; a small glass of a fine
blue colour, and coins and tradesmen’s tokens.
Cannon-street, 1852. — Tessellated pavement, fragments of Samian ware, earthen
•urns and lamp, and other Roman vessels, found from 12 to 20 feet deep, near Basin’g-
lane, New Cannon-street, upon the supposed site of Tower Royal. 1850. — Among
the ruins of a Roman edifice, at 11 feet deep, was found in Nicholas-lane, near Cannou-
street, a large slab, inscribed, ” nvm peot bbita” (Numini Caesaris Provincia
Britannia).
There was every reason to believe the residue was at hand, but neither the contractor
nor the civic authorities would countenance a search. With some little difficulty the
stone, apparently the dedicatory inscription of a temple, almost unique of its class in
this country, was received into the Guildhall, and deposited at the foot of the staircase
leading into the library ; but it has since disappeared.
Cheapside, 1595. — A vault and pavement found at the depth of 17 feet, at the
north-west corner of Bread-street ; and near it a tree cut into steps, on the supposed
edge of a brook that had run towards Walbrook. In 1671 Sir Christopher Wren, in
digging for the foundation of the church of St. Mary-le-Bow, at 18 feet deep, reached
a Roman causeway, of bricks and rubble firmly cemented, which, it is supposed, formed,
at the time it was constructed, the northern boundary of the colony ; and upon this was
laid the foundation of the church-tower. Wren mistook the crypt of the ancient
Norman church for Roman, from a number of Roman bricks being used in the arches.
(See Godwin’s Churches of London, 1839.)
Crutched Friars, 1842. — A group of the Lece Matres discovered in excavating a
sewer in Hart-street, Crutched Friars, at a considerable depth, among the ruins of Roman
buildings ; these sculptured remains are in the Guildhall Library.
Lowgate. — The discovery of a large building and tessellated pavement here has
suggested that Dowgate was the palace of the Roman prefect, and the basilica or court
of justice.
Finshury. — Opposite the Circus, at 19 feet deep, has been discovered a well-turned
Roman arch, at the entrance of which, on the Finsbury side, were iron bars, apparently
to restrain sedge and weeds from choking the water-passage.
Foster-lane, 1830. — In excavating for the New Goldsmith’s Hall, was found, 15 feet
below the level of the street, in a stratum of clay, a stone altar of Diana, 23 inches
high, sculptured in front with a figure closely resembling the Diana Venatrix of the
Louvre. The sides each contain the type of a tree ; on the back are the remains of an
inscription, below which are a tripod, a sacrificial vessel, and a hare. The finding of
this altar supports the inference that the ground was the site of the Temple of Diana,
referred by some antiquaries to the spot where St. Paul’s now stands. The altar is
preserved in Goldsmith’s Hall. (See Archceologia, vol. xxix. p. 145.)
Grey Friars, 1836. — A fluted pillar, supposed Roman, found in the fragment of a
wall of the Grey Friars’ Monastery : it is almost the only specimen of the kind
noticed.
Soundsditch, .1845. — The torso of a white marble statue of a slinger, discovered 17
feet deep, in Petticoat-lane.
ROMAN LONDON. 715
Islington. — In the fields, about midway between White Conduit House and Copen-
hagen House, near Islington, were, until built over, considerable remains of Reedmont
(or Redmont) Field ; a camp said to have been occupied by Suetonius Paulinus, a.d. 61,
whose contest with Boadicea at Battle-bridge has been confirmed by a Roman inscrip-
tion discovered in 1842. Highbury, the summer camp of the Romans, is noticed at
p. 420. In 1825, arrow heads and figured pavement were found at Reedmont.—
(Hone’s Lvery-day Book, vol. ii. p. 1566.)
King -William-street, Lothbury, and Princes-street, 1834, 1835, 1836. — Various
remains found in forming the new thoroughfare across the heart of the City, from
London Bridge to the line of the old wall at Moorgate. Evidences of Roman habita-
tions, at the depth of 14 and 20 feet, on either side of the line of King William -street.
Near St. Clement’s Church, pavement, earthenware lamps, Samian ware, and coins.
Along the line of Princes-street, brass scales, fibulae, styli, needles in brass and bone,
coins, a sharpening steel, several knives, and vessels of Samian ware. In Lothbury, at
10 or 12 feet deep, chisels, crowbars, hammers, &c. ; a leathern sandal, red and black
pottery, &c. j a coin of Antoninus Pius, with Britannia on the reverse. From Lothbury
to London Wall, brass coins of Claudius, Vespasian, and Trajan j spatula?, styli, needles,
a gold ring, brass tweezers, a hair-pin, and pottery. Near the Swan’s Nest in Coleman-
street, a pit of earthen vessels, a coin of Ailectus (296), a boat-hook, and a bucket-
handle. At Honey -lane, under some Saxon remains, a few Roman coins. In Bread*
street, richly figured Samian vases, circular earthen cooking-pans ; and wall designs,
fresh in colour, and resembling those of modern paper-hangings. (C. R. Smith, F.S.A.
ArchcBologia, vol. xxvii.) At the corner of St. Swithin’s-lane have been found several
skeletons, fragments of pottery ; and coins, in second-brass, of Antonia, Claudius, Nero,
and Vespasian.
Leadenhall-street, 1576. — A pavement found at the Leadenhall-street end of Lime-
street, at 12 feet deep ; and between Billiter-lane and Lime-street, a stone wall and
arched gate, which Stow supposes to have belonged to a Roman house destroyed by fire
in the reign of Stephen. 1803. — A magnificent pavement discovered in front of the
India House, Leadenhall-street, described at p. 319. 1863. — A pavement found near
the site of the portico of the India House in Leadenhall-street. It forms a square oi
about five feet, set in a floor of common red tesserae. The pattern is ingenious. Under
the pavement were found broken portions of plaster, with red, black, and grey stripes,
rery perfect as to colour.
Lombard-street, 1786. — At about 13 feet deep were found brick ruins, upon three
inches thick of wood ashes, beneath which was Roman pavement, common and tessellated
(Sir John Henniker ; Archceologia, vol. viii.). Also, near Sherborne-lane, at 12 feet
deep, a pavement running across Lombard-street, between which and the Post-office, but
along the north side, ran a wall 10 feet below the street-level, built of ¦ the smaller-
sized Roman bricks,” and pierced by perpendicular flues, the chimneys of a mansion.
Other fragments of walls and pavements were found; and in Birchin-lane was un-
covered a tessellated pavement of elegant design ; with great quantities of Roman coins,
fragments of pottery and glass bottles, keys and beads, a large vessel of figured Samian
ware, &c. {See Lombabd-stbeet, p. 531.)
London Stone, Cannon-street, is described at pp. 533-534.
Lothbury, 1805. — Tessellated pavement : now in the British Museum.
Ludgate. — Upon the site of the present church of St. Martin, Wren found a small
sepulchral stone monument to Vivianus Marcianus, a soldier of the second legion, erected
by his wife, and sculptured with his effigies and a dedicatory inscription : this monu-
ment is now among the Arundel Marbles at Oxford. 1792. — Barbican or watch-tower
of the City Wall discovered between Ludgate and the Fleet-ditch. 1800. — Sepulchral
monument found in the rear of the London Coffee-house, Ludgate-hill (see p. 539.)
This relic has been removed to the Corporation Museum, Guildhall.
Moorfields. — An inscribed stone, in memory of Grata, the daughter of Dagobitus,
has been discovered at London Wall. Mr. Roach Smith is of opinion that the London
of the Britons was situated in Moorfields ; and on this aboriginal establishment the
Romans afterwards enlarged. In 1818 a large portion of the wall on both sides of
Moorgate was demolished.
716 CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.
Pavements discovered in Bush-lane, Cannon-street, in 1666 ; near St. Andrew’s Church,
Holborn, in 1681 ; at Crutched Friars in 1787 ; behind the Old Navy Pay-Office in
Broad-street; in Northumberland-alley, Fenchurch-street ; and in Long- lane, Smith-
field, — about the commencement of the present century; near the church of St.
Dunstan’s-in-the-East, in 1824; in East Cheap in 1831 ; at St. Clement’s Church, and
in Lothbury, opposite Founders’-court, in 1834 ; in Crosby-square in 1836 ; behind
Winchester House, Bankside, in 1850 ; and in various places on both sides of High-
street, Southwark, between 1818 and 1831. (G. L. Craik, in Knight’s London, vol. i.)
Some stamped tiles bear the earliest abbreviation of the name of Londinium : they read
PBR LON and P-B-LON, supposed Probatum Londinii proved of the proper quality
at London; or Frima (cohors) BRitonum LON dinii, the first (cohort) of the Britons
at London. (C. R. Smith, F.S.A.) Or, Mr. Wright interprets P. PR. BR. upon
another tile, as Propraetor Britannice Londinii, the Propraetor of Britain at Londinium ;
showing that Roman London was the seat of the government of the province. See a
list of potter’s stamps on pottery found in different metropolitan localities in the Anti-
quarian and Architectural Year-book for 1844.
Royal Exchange, 1841. — In excavating for the foundations was opened an ancient
gravel-pit, filled with various Roman relics, described at p. 326 ; many of which are
preserved in the Corporation Museum. Remains of buildings covered the whole site of
the present Exchange, denoting this to have been one of the most magnificent portions
of Roman London.
Shadwell, 1615. — Two coffins (stone and lead), with bones, lachrymatories, and two
ivory sceptres, found in Sun Tavern Fields.
Southwark. — Discoveries of tessellated pavements on and about the site of St. Saviour’s
Church, and other remains of buildings, pottery, lamps, glass vessels, &c, throughout
the line of High-street, denote this to have been within Roman London ; and a burial-
ground of the period has been discovered on the site of that now attached to the Dis-
senters’ Chapel, Deverill-street, New Kent-road.
Spitalfields. — Urns, with ashes and burnt human bones, coins (Claudius, Nero, Ves-
pasian, and Antoninus Pius), lachrymatories, lamps, and Samian ware, found in the
Lottesworth or Spitalfield.
Strand. — ” The Old Roman Spring Bath” in Strand-lane, between Nos. 162 and
163, is of accredited antiquity. The bath itself is Roman : the walls being layers of
brick and thin layers of stucco ; and the pavement of similar brick covered with stucco,
and resting upon a mass of stucco and rubble : the bricks are 9^ inches long, 4^ inches
broad, and If inches thick, and resemble the bricks in the City Wall. The property
can be traced to the Danvers (or D’Anvers) family, of Swithland Hall, Leicestershire,
whose mansion stood upon the spot.
St. George ’ s-in-the-East, 1715. — Many sepulchral remains found in digging the
foundations of St. George’s Church, near Goodman’s Fields ; and in 1787, fragments of
urns and lachrymatories, and an inscribed Roman stone, were dug up in the Tenter-
ground.
St. Martin’ s-lane, 1772. — In digging the foundations of the new church of St. Martin-
in-the-Fields, were found, at 14 feet deep, a Roman brick arch ; and ” buffalo-heads,”
according to Gibbs, the architect. In Sir Hans Sloane’s Museum was a glass vase con-
taining ashes, which was found in a stone coffin upon the site of St. Martin’s portico.
St. Martin’ s-le- Grand, 1819. — Roman vaultings, discovered in digging for the foun-
dations of the General Post-office.
St. Pancras, 1758. — ” Caesar’s Camp,” near St. Pancras Church, discovered by Dr.
Stukeley (see p. 641).
St. Paul’s Churchyard. — In 1675, Wren, in excavating for the foundations of the
present St. Paul’s Cathedral, discovered many Saxon and British graves ; and 18 feet
or more deep, Roman urns intermixed,
” belonging to the colony, when the Romans and Britons lived and died together. The more remark-
able Roman urns, lamps, and lachrymatories, fragments of sacrificing vessels, &c. were found deep in
the ground, about a claypit (under the north-east angle of the present choir) which had been dug by
the Koman potters, ’in a stratum of close and hard pot-earth, that extends beneath the whole site of
St. Paul’s ;’ here ’ the urns, broken vessels, and pottery-ware* were met with in great abundance.” —
¦Wren’s Parentalia.
Wren ” rummaged” the ground, but failed to discover any traces of the Roman Temple
of Diana or Apollo reputed to have been built here. Dr. Woodward, however, possessed
sacrificing vessels, bearing representations of Diana, said to have been dug up at St. Paul’s ;
besides a brass figure of Diana, found between the Deanery and Blackfriars and believed
Roman.* As Londinium was the great centre of the commerce of Britain it might be ex-
pected that it would supply specimens of the pottery of antiquity: accordingly notohere in
~”*~ ~* ™™nna kinds been discovered. John Conyers,
* In excavating, in 1853, for Cook’s colossal warehouse (built in 90 days), on the south side of St.
Paul’s Churchyard, there was found at twenty feet deep a Danish gravestone, inscribed in Runic — Kin a
caused this stone to be laid over, or in memory of, Tuki. The date of this relic is about a.d. 1000;
and it is said to be the only Runic monument known to have been discovered in London. — Proc. Moyal
Society of Northern Antiquaries.
Pavements discovered in Bush-lane, Cannon-street, in 1666 ; near St. Andrew’s Church,
Holborn, in 1681 ; at Crutched Friars in 1787 ; behind the Old Navy Pay-Office in
Broad-street; in Northumberland-alley, Fenchurch -street ; and in Long- lane, Smith-
field, — about the commencement of the present century; near the church of St.
Dunstan’s-in-the-East, in 1824; in East Cheap in 1831 ; at St. Clement’s Church, and
in Lothbury, opposite Founders’-court, in 1834; in Crosby-square in 1836: behind
…
St. Paul’s Churchyard. — In 1675, Wren, in excavating for the foundations of the present St. Paul’s Cathedral, discovered many Saxon and British graves ; and 18 feet or more deep, Roman urns intermixed, ” belonging to the colony, when the Romans and Britons lived and died together. The more remarkable Roman urns, lamps, and lachrymatories, fragments of sacrificing vessels, &c. were found deep in the ground, about a claypit (under the north-east angle of the present choir) which had been dug by the Roman potters, ’in a stratum of close and hard pot-earth, that extends beneath the whole siteof St. Paul’s ;’ here ’ the urns, broken vessels, and pottery-ware’ were met with in great abundance.” — Wren’s Parentalia.
ROMAN LONDON. 717
Wren ” rummaged” the ground, but failed to discover any traces of the Roman Temple
of Diana or Apollo reputed to have been built here. Dr. Woodward, however, possessed
sacrificing vessels, bearing representations of Diana, said to have been dug up at St. Paul’s ;
besides a brass figure of Diana, found between the Deanery and Blackfriars and believed
Roman.* As Londinium was the great centre of the commerce of Britain it might be ex-
pected that it would supply specimens of the pottery of antiquity: accordingly nowhere in
England has such an immense quantity of various kinds been discovered. John Conyers,
the antiquary, in 1677, observed the remains of Roman kilns, which were brought to
light in digging the foundations of St. Paul’s. Specimens of the ornamented pottery
made in the Castor district have been also found here, and nowhere has the red glazed
pottery known as “Samian” ware, been found more plentifully; the potters’ stamps
present upwards of 300 varieties.
Thames River. — A silver Harpocrates found in 1825 in the bed of the Thames, and
now in the British Museum. 1837. — Bronzes found in ballast-heaving in the Thames,
near London Bridge, including Mercury, Apollo, and Atys; probably the penates of
some opulent Roman family. — (C. Roach Smith, F.S.A., Archaologia, vol. xxvii.) Brass
pins of various lengths, stated to have been found on the paper, in a cellar on the
northern bank of the Thames in excavating for the South-Eastern Railway bridge :
they have solid globose heads.
Threadneedle- street, 1840-1841. — Tessellated pavements found beneath the old
French Protestant Church in Threadneedle-street, at about 12 or 14 feet deep : they
are preserved in the British Museum. In 1854 was found a large deposit of Roman
debris, in excavating the site of the church of St. Bennet Fink ; consisting of Roman
tiles, flue-tiles, fragments of black, pale, and red Samian pottery ; glass, &c. Various
fragments of Roman vases found, together with the lid of an Early-English stone coffin
and part of the tracery of a Gothic window, probably part of the church that stood here
before the Great Fire.
Tower, 1777. — In digging the foundations of a new office for the Board of Ordnance,
within the Tower, at a great depth, were discovered remains of ancient buildings ; a
silver ingot impressed ” Ex optic. Honoeii,” and three gold coins of Honorius and
Arcadius ; a small glass crown, and an inscribed stone ; thus indicating that the Romans
had a fortress upon the Tower site.
Tower Hill, 1852. — Fragments of a Roman building found at the northern portion
of the City Wall, including the supposed volute of a capital, and other enriched remains ;
besides a Roman sarcophagus nearly entire : now in the British Museum. Also, inscrip-
tion in memory of Alfidius Pompus, set up in compliance with his will by his heir ;
another at the same time, in the same place, commemorating some person of greater
distinction.
Upper Thames-street, 1839. — Opposite Vintners’ Hall, at 10 feet from the surface,
were found remains of the Wall parallel w r ith the Thames ; and about the middle of
Queen-street, 19 feet from the surface, was unearthed a fine tessellated pavement.
1865. — At the corner of Suffolk-lane, on part of ” the Manor of the Rose,” from some
15 or 16 feet deep, a large quantity of Roman foundation-tiles and fragments of the
embankment-wall for the river. 1866.— Several articles from the old Steelyard, in-
cluding bone pins, styli, spatulae, and other Roman antiquities in bronze, together with
some iron keys. The bronze objects were of a brilliant golden hue, derived from the
damp soil in which they had been buried for, probably, not less than eighteen centuries.
Lower Thames-street. — Bricks and coins, urns and pavements ; a very fine hypocaust ;
and a portion of a Roman building and another hypocaust, remains of wall, &c.
Walbrook, 1774. — Wood-ashes found, 22 feet deep, in making a sewer from Dow-
gate through Walbrook.
Whitechapel, 1776. — Monumental stone to a soldier of the 24th legion, found in a burial-ground at the lower end of Whitechapel-lane.
* In excavating, in 1853, for Cook’s colossal warehouse (built in 90 days), on the south side of St.
Paul’s Churchyard, there was found at twenty feet deep a Danish gravestone, inscribed in Runic — Kixa
caused this stone to be laid over, or in memory of, Tuki. The date of this relic is about a.d. 1000;
and it is said to be the only Runic monument known to have been discovered in London. — Proc. Royal
Society of Northern Antiquaries.
In Mr. Charles Roach Smith’s Museum of London Antiquities, described at p. 590, are 528 Roman
items, collected in the metropolis during street-improvements, sewerage, and the deepening of the bed
of the Thames. These objects include Roman sculpture, bronzes, pottery, terra-cotta lamps, red glazed
pottery, potters’ stamps, glass ; tiles, pavements, and wall-paintings; personal ornaments, sandals in
leather, utensils and implements, and coins. The Museum contains the same number of Anglo-Saxon
and Norman, and Mediaeval remains. {See the Catalogue, with illustrations by F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A.,
printed for the Subscribers only, 1854)
The list of Koman coins found in London and enumerated in the above catalogue
amounts to upwards of 2000 ; yet this list contains those only which, for about the
last 30 years, have passed under the eye of Mr. Roach Smith, chiefly from the bed of
the Thames.
” A much larger number within that period of time must have been found. Six hundred, or more,
picked up from gravel dredged from the Thames, and strewed along the bank of the Surrey Canal, were
collected by the late Mr. R. Pimm, of Deptford. It is well to record this fact, because the gravel taken
from the bed of the Thames below London-bridge has been extensively used for repairing the banks of
the river at Barnes and other places, and this gravel contained large quantities of coins, the finding of
which in some future day may puzzle and deceive persons ignorant of their history. A hoard of denarii
of the Higher Empire was found in the City, which, the corporation having declined purchasing, was
bought by Mr. Mark Boyd. Vast quantities are said to have been found in removing the piers of old
London-bridge and in excavating the approaches to the new bridge. Of these, and of those exhumed
in the City in former times, scarcely a record has been preserved. The list here presented will not give
more than an imperfect notion of the number actually brought to light, but it will serve to convey a
faint idea of the incalculable quantity which must have been met with, both in modern times and in
past ages.”— C. Roach Smith, F.S.A.
ROTHERHITHE,
A MANOR and parish between Deptford and Bermondsey, on the Surrey bank of the Thames, was anciently called Retherhith, probably from the Saxon redhra, a mariner, and hyth, a haven — i.e. the sailor’s harbour. (Bray ley’s Surrey.) It is vulgarly Medriff. At the time of Domesday, it was included in the royal manor of
Bermondsey ; but it was not surrendered until the reign of Charles I. A fleet was
fitted out at Rotherhithe in the reign of Edward III., by order of the Black Prince
and John of Gaunt. Lambarde states that Henry IV. lodged in an ” old stone house
here whiles he was cured of a leprosie ;” and two of Henry’s charters are dated here,
July, 1412. The mother-church of St. Mary is described at p. 187 : Gataker, the
erudite Latin critic, was rector from 1611 to 1654 ; he was imprisoned in the Fleet by
Laud, and is buried here. In the churchyard lies Prince Le Boo. The registers, com-
mencing 1556, contain many entries of ages from 90 to 99 years, and one of 120 years.
Admiral Sir Charles Wager possessed the manor between 1740 and 1750. The brave
Admiral Sir John Leake was born here June, 1656 ; but Admiral Benbow, stated by
Manning and Bray to have been born at Rotherhithe, was a native of Coton-hill,
Shrewsbury. (See Gent. Mag. Dec. 1809.) George Lillo, the dramatist, who wrote
the plays of George Barnwell, Arden of Feversham, and Fatal Curiosity, was a jeweller
living at Rotherhithe in 1735.
Swift’s Captain Gulliver, he tells us, was long an inhabitant of Rotherhithe. There is such a
reality given to this person by Swift that one seaman is said to have sworn that he knew Captain
Gulliver very well, but he lived at Wapping, not at Rotherhithe. Lord Scarborough fell in company
with a master of a ship who told him he was very well acquainted with Gulliver, but that the printer
had mistaken ; that he lived in Wapping, not in Rotherhithe. ” It is as true as if Mr. Gulliver had
spoken it,” was a sort of proverb among his neighbours at Redriff. Rogers, the poet, remarked in the
churchyard at Banbury several inscriptions to persons named Gulliver, and on his return home, looking
into Oulliuer’s Travel*, Mr. Rogers found to his surprise that the said inscriptions are mentioned there
as a confirmation of Mr. Gulliver’s statement, that “his family came from Oxfordshire;” so completely
is the joke kept up.
” In five long years I took no second spouse ;
What Redriff wife so long hath kept her vows?”
Gay’s Epistle — Mary Gulliver to the Captain.
A fire, June 1, 1765, destroyed here 206 houses, and property worth 100,000^. In
1804, a tunnel from Rotherhithe, beneath the Thames, to Limehouse, was commenced
by Vasey and Trevethick, but failed. The ” Thames Tunnel,” by Brunei, commences
at a short distance east of St. Mary’s Church. The Commercial Docks at Rotherhithe
are described at p. 309.
Gerard mentions the Water Gladiole as growing ” by the famous river Thamesis, not far from a
peece of ground called the Divel’s neckerchiefe neere Redriffe by London,” The Devil’s Neckerchief
ROYAL SOCIETY. 719
was a zigzag piece of swampy ground, which became perverted to Neckinger, as the vulgar phrase Muck-
inner is applied to a pocket-handkerchief. The ground is now ” the Neckinger-road,” with Neckinger
Mills, &c. : it is in the parish of Bermondsey, not far from the boundary of Rotherhithe. It has been
called ” the devil’s neck in danger,” from the dangerous course of the road between two ditches, as
shown in Sayer’s Map of London, 1768, in which the name is spelled “Neckincher.” In Phillips’s Ber-
mondsey, 1841, it is stated that the Neckinger Ditch is an ancient water-course, and was formerly navi-
gable to Bermondsey Abbey. — See Notes and Queries, 2nd s. Nos. 71 and 73.
BOYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.— See Picttjee Galleeies, p. 676.
BOYAL EXCHANGE.— See Exchanges, pp. 322-329.
ROYAL INSTITUTION, THE,
NO. 21, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, was founded in 1799, ” for diffusing the know-
ledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and
improvements ; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments,
the application of science to the common purposes of life :” hence the motto of the
Institution, Illustrans commoda vitce. It was incorporated in 1800. The Institution
has been worthily designated as ” the workshop of the Royal Society ;” for within its
laboratory Sir Humphry Davy made those brilliant discoveries which were published
through the medium of the Transactions of the Royal Society ; and the example of
Davy has been followed by Faraday. Sir Joseph Banks, Count Rumford, and Mr.
Cavendish were among the founders of the Royal Institution. In the basement was an
experimental kitchen, with Rumford stoves, roasters, and boilers ; apparatus for heating
water by steam, &c. ; a workshop for coppersmiths and braziers. Above are a labora-
tory, lecture-theatre, museum, library (see p. 464), and model repository. Here
Davy gave his first lecture, April 25, 1801 ; and in 1807 discovered by galvanism the
composition of the fixed alkalis, and their metallic bases, potassium and sodium : his
great voltaic battery consisted of 2000 double plates of copper and zinc, of 4 inches
square, the whole surface being 128,000 square inches. Davy was succeeded by Brande ;
and Faraday was, in 1833, chosen for a second chair of Chemistry, the Fullerian,
founded by John Fuller, Esq., whose bequests have amounted to 10,0002. The mine-
ralogical collection in the museum was commenced by Davy.
The history of chemical science dates one of its principal epochs from the foundation of the labora-
tory of the Boyal Institution. Here the researches of Davy and Faraday extended over nearly half a
century : including the laws of electro-chemical decomposition, the decomposition of the fixed alkalis,
the establishment of the nature of chlorine, the philosophy of flame, the condensibility of many
gases, the science of magneto-electricity, the twofold magnetism of matter, and the magnetism of gases.
Here Coleridge gave his celebrated Lectures on Poetry. Among the MSS. in the Library are fifty-six
volumes of Letters, &c, respecting the American War ; Papers of Lord Stanhope ; and the Laboratory
Note-Books of Sir Humphry Davy.
The Institution building, originally five houses, received its present architectural
front, by L. Vulliamy, in 1839.
The institution owes much to the talent of Faraday, who, in the words of the Honorary Secre-
tary, ” has worked long and much for the love of the Institution, and little for its money. For forty
years, from 1813 to 1853, his fixed income from the Institution was not more than 200J. per annum. In
1853, Professor Tyndall was elected to lecture on Natural Philosophy for 2001. per annum. In 1859, he
received 300?. per annum.” Mr. Brande succeeded Sir Humphry Davy as Professor of Chemistry, and
was from 1820 associated with Mr. Faraday ; he died in 1866, at the age of 81.
ROYAL SOCIETY.
THIS is the oldest Society of its kind in Europe, except the Lyncean Academy at Rome, of which Galileo was a member. The Royal Society originated in London, about 1645, in the weekly meetings of ” divers worthy persons inquisitive into natural philosophy, and other parts of human learning ; and particularly the new philosophy, or experimental philosophy ” these meetings being first suggested by Theodore Haak, a German of the Palatinate, then resident in the metropolis. This is supposed to be the club which Mr. Boyle, in 1646, designated ” the Invisible or Philosophical Society.”
They met at Dr. Goddard’s lodgings in Wood-street ; at the Bull’s Head Tavern, Cheapside; and at Gresham College. About 1648-9, some of the members, including Dr. (afterwards Bishop) Wilkins, removed to Oxford, and were joined by Seth Smith, Ralph Bathurst, Sir William Petty, and the Hon. Robert Boyle, who met at Petty’s lodgings in an apothecary’s house, ” because of the convenience of inspecting drugs.”
The members in London continued also to meet, until, in 1658, they were ejected from Gresham College, which was required for barracks. Evelyn, Cowley, and Sir William Petty proposed separate plans for a ” philosophical college :” Sprat says that Cowley’s proposition accelerated the foundation of the Royal Society, in praise of which he subsequently wrote an ode. At the Restoration, in 1660, the meetings were revived ; and April 22, 1662, the Society was incorporated by royal charter, by Charles II. This charter is on four sheets of vellum, and has on the first sheet ornamental initials and flowers, and a finely executed portrait of Charles in Indian ink; appended is the Great Seal in green wax. The Charter empowers the President to wear his hat while in the chair, and the fellows addressed the President bareheaded till he made a sign for them to put on their hats ; customs now obsolete. Next year the King granted a second charter, which is of greater importance than the first ; and his Majesty presented the Society with the silver-gilt mace.
The Mace is about 4 feet in length, and weighs 190 oz. avoirdupois : its stem is chased with the thistle, and has an urn-shaped head, surmounted by a crown, ball, and cross. Upon the head are embossed figures of a rose, harp, thistle, and fleur-de-lis, and the initials C.R. four times repeated.
Under the crown are chased the royal arms ; and at the other extremity of the stem are two shields, one bearing the Society’s arms, the other a Latin inscription denoting the mace to have been presented to the Society by Charles II. in 1663. It was long believed by numberless visitors to be the ” bauble” mace turned out of the House of Commons by Cromwell when he dissolved the Long Parliament ; but Mr. Weld, the assistant-secretary and librarian, in a communication to the Society, April 30, 1846, proved this to be a popular error, by showing the warrant for making this mace and delivering it to Lord Brouncker, the first President of the Society. Again, the ” bauble” was altogether different in form from the Society’s mace, and was nearly destitute of ornament, and without the crown and cross, as described in Whitelock’s Memorials, and represented accordingly in West’s picture of the Dissolution of the Long Parliament.
From this session, 1663, date the Philosophical Transactions, wherein the proceedings and discoveries of the Society are registered. This year the Society exercised their privilege of claiming the bodies of criminals executed at Tyburn, which were to be dissected in Gresham College. In 1664, the king signed himself in the charter-book as the founder ; and his brother, the Duke of York, signed as a fellow. In 1667 Chelsea College was granted to the Society, for their meetings, laboratory, repository, and library ; but the building was too dilapidated, ” the annoyance of Prince Rupert’s glass-house” adjoined it, and the property was purchased back for the king’s use for
1Z001. The Society then resumed their meetings in Gresham College, until they were dispersed by the Great Plague and Fire, after which they met in Arundel House in the Strand. The Fellows now (1667) numbered 200, and their subscription Is. per week ; from the payment of which Newton, who joined the Society in 1674, was excused, on account of his narrow finances.
In 1674 the Society returned to Gresham College. They were fiercely attacked : a Warwick physician accused them of attempting to undermine the Universities, to bring in popery and absurd novelties ; but a severer satire was The Elephant in the Moon, by Butler. Among their early practices was the fellows gathering May-dew, and experimenting with the divining-rod; and the Hon. Robert Boyle believed in the efficacy of the touch of Greatrakes the Stroker for the evil. In 1686 Newton presented his Principia to the Society, whose clerk, Halley, the astronomer, printed the work. The MS., entirely in Newton’s hand, is preserved in the library.
In 1703 Sir Isaac Newton was elected president. In 1710 the society purchased the house of Dr. Brown, at the top of Crane-court, Fleet-street, ” being in the middle of the town and out of noise.” This house was built by Wren, after the Great Fire of 1666, upon the site of the mansion of Dr. Nicholas Barbon. This new purchase was considered unfortunate for the society. The house required several hundred pounds’ repairs ; the rooms were small and inconvenient compared with those of Gresham College ; and the removal led to the separation of the Society from the College Professors, after being associated for nearly fifty years. The house in Crane-court fronted a garden, where was a fishpond. There is a small hall on the ground floor, and a passage
from the staircase into the garden, fronting which are the meeting-room, feet by 16 feet, and a smaller room. In the former apartment, the Society met from 1710 till 1782. It is intact, and is very interesting as the room in which Newton sat in the presidential chair, which is preserved. The Library and Museum were removed here : the latter numbered several thousand specimens, the list of which fills twenty pages of Hatton’s London, 1708. The house formerly included the present No. 8, in which was kept the Society’s library, in cedar-wood cases. In 1782 the Society removed to Somerset House, and sold the Crane-court house to the Scottish Hospital.
The Royal Society then transferred most of their older curiosities to the British Museum. For their meeting-room they had a noble apartment in the east wing of Somerset House ; it has an enriched ceiling by Sir William Chambers, and here were given the conversazioni of the Presidents, Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Wollaston, Sir Humphry Davy, Mr. Davies Gilbert, the Earl of Rosse, and Lord Wrottesley. The Duke of Sussex received the Fellows at Kensington Palace; and the Marquis of Northampton at his mansion on the Terrace, Piccadilly. In 1857 the Society removed to Burlington House, which had recently been purchased by the Government, their meeting-room at Somerset House being then given to the Society of Antiquaries, who had hitherto occupied the adjoining rooms.
In ” Burlington’s fair palace” a large apartment in the western wing of the mansion is fitted up as the Royal Society’s meeting-room. In the elegant suite of rooms, with ceilings painted by Ricci, is the library ; and in these apartments the President holds his annual conversazioni, at which novelties in science and art are shown.
The meeting-room at Burlington House is hung round with the Society’s pictures, of which Mr. Weld has prepared an interesting catalogue raisonnee, privately printed : they include three portraits of Newton, by Jervas, Marchand, and Vanderbank ; Viscount Brouncker (first president), by Lely ; Sir Humphry Davy, by Lawrence ; Davies Gilbert and the Marquis of Northampton, by Phillips ; Sir John Pringle, by Reynolds ; Sir Hans Sloane, Lord Somers, Sir J. Williamson, and Sir Christopher Wren, by Kneller; Dr. Wollaston, by Jackson; the Duke of Sussex, by Phillips, &c. The Society also possess marble busts of Charles II. and George III., by Nollekens ; Sir Joseph Banks, by Chantrey ; John Dollond, by Garland ; Davies Gilbert, by Westmacott; Sir Isaac Newton, by Roubiliac ; Laplace; Mrs. Somerville, by Chantrey ; James Watt, after Chantrey ; and Cuvier, in bronze. The Museum is described at page 600.
Here also are the Exchequer standard yard set off upon the Society’s yard : it is of brass, and is of great value since the destruction of the parliamentary standard ; the Society’s standard barometer ; also the water-barometer, made by Professor Daniell, whose last official service was the refilling of this instrument, in 1844.
The Royal Society distribute four gold medals annually — the Rumford, two Royal (value 50 guineas each), and the Copley ; and from the donation-fund men of science are assisted in special researches.
The Charter-book is bound in crimson velvet, with gold clasps and corners, and inscription-plates — 1. The Shield of the Society ; 2. Crest : an eagle or, holding a shield with the arms of England. The leaves are fine vellum, and bear, superbly blazoned, the arms of England and the Society ; next, the third charter and statutes (60 pages). Autographs (1st page) : ornamented scroll-border and Royal shield, above the signatures, ” Chabi.es E., Founder” (written Jan. 9th, 1664-5) ; ” James, Fellow ;’* and ” George Rupert, Fellow.” In the next page are the autographs of various foreign ambassadors ; and the third and succeeding pages contain the signatures of the fellows beneath the obligation which holds each leaf: Clarendon, Boyle, Wallis, Wren, Hooke, Evelyn, Pepys, Norfolk, Flamsteed, and Newton, are here (the name beneath that of Newton is nearly obliterated by the sad habit of touching).
Seventy-one pages are occupied by the autographs of the fellows (including those on the foreign list). Here are the autographs of the successive kings and queens of England, and many sovereigns of foreign countries who have visited England. Queen Victoria has signed her name as patron of the Society ; and on the same richly illuminated page are the signatures of Prince Albert and the kings of Prussia and Saxony. — Weld’s Rittory of the Royal Society, vol. i. p. 177 (abridged).
See, also, Crane-court, p. 296; Royal Society Club, p. 256.