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Title: Survey of London, Volume 5 (of 14), the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, part 2
Author: Committee, London Survey, Council, London County, Cox, Montagu H.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Survey of London, Volume 5 (of 14), the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, part 2" ***
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL
SURVEY OF LONDON
ISSUED BY THE JOINT PUBLISHING COMMITTEE REPRESENTING THE LONDON COUNTY
COUNCIL AND THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SURVEY OF THE MEMORIALS OF GREATER
LONDON
UNDER THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF
SIR LAURENCE GOMME (_for the Council_)
PHILIP NORMAN (_for the Survey Committee_)
VOLUME V.
THE PARISH OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS
(Part II.)
PUBLISHED BY THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL, SPRING GARDENS, LONDON
1914
THE PARISH OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS (PART II.), BEING THE FIFTH VOLUME
OF THE SURVEY OF LONDON, WITH DRAWINGS, ILLUSTRATIONS AND ARCHITECTURAL
DESCRIPTIONS, BY W. EDWARD RILEY, ARCHITECT TO THE COUNCIL. EDITED, WITH
HISTORICAL NOTES, BY SIR LAURENCE GOMME, CLERK OF THE COUNCIL.
JOINT PUBLISHING COMMITTEE REPRESENTING THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL AND
THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SURVEY OF THE MEMORIALS OF GREATER LONDON.
_Chairman._
E. L. MEINERTZHAGEN.
_Members appointed by the Council._
GRANVILLE-SMITH, R. W.
JOHNSON, W. C.
MEINERTZHAGEN, E. L.
TAYLOR, ANDREW T.
_Members appointed by the Survey Committee._
GODFREY, WALTER H.
LOVELL, PERCY.
NORMAN, PHILIP.
MEMBERS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE WORK.
THE FORMER PRESIDENTS OF THE COMMITTEE WERE—
THE LATE LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A.
THE LATE RT. HON. AND RT. REV. DR. CREIGHTON, LORD BISHOP OF LONDON.
_President._
THE RT. HON. EARL CURZON OF KEDLESTON, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., F.R.S.
_Honorary Members and Subscribers._
The Rt. Hon. LORD ABERDARE.
The BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.
C. E. ALLEN.
Mrs. J. W. ALLEN.
Sir ROBERT ALLISON.
The SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.
WILLIAM SUMNER APPLETON.
The ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION.
The SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS.
The ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS.
The ATHENÆUM.
JOHN AVERY.
SAMUEL P. AVERY.
E. BURRELL BAGGALLAY.
E. J. BARRON.
B. T. BATSFORD.
BOYLSTON A. BEAL.
HENRY FORBES BIGELOW.
Mrs. PERCY BIGLAND.
ARTHUR L. BILHAM.
HARRY W. BIRKS.
The BIRMINGHAM CENTRAL LIBRARY.
The BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE.
JOHN BRIGGS.
E. W. BROOKS.
A. HERVE BROWNING.
ALFRED BURR.
Mrs. CADIC.
The WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF CARPENTERS.
Miss A. G. E. CARTHEW.
W. J. CHECKLEY.
CYRIL S. COBB.
E. C. COLQUHOUN.
The COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY.
The CONSTITUTIONAL CLUB.
WILLIAM W. CORDINGLEY.
The Rt. Hon. LORD COURTNEY OF PENWITH, P.C.
WALTER CRANE.
The Rt. Hon. the EARL OF CRAWFORD, F.S.A.
The CROYDON PUBLIC LIBRARY.
G. J. CROSBIE DAWSON.
GEORGE H. DUCKWORTH.
The BOARD OF EDUCATION.
The Rt. Hon. the EARL FERRERS.
Mrs. CHARLES FEWSTER.
OWEN FLEMING.
Mrs. WICKHAM FLOWER.
Miss FORBES.
Sir GEORGE FRAMPTON, R.A., F.S.A.
Miss AGNES GARRETT.
Sir RICKMAN GODLEE.
GOLDSMITHS’ LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.
A. GRAY, K.C.
Miss I. I. GREAVES.
Maj.-Gen. Sir COLERIDGE GROVE, K.C.B.
The GUILDHALL LIBRARY.
RICHARD WALDON HALE.
EDWIN T. HALL, F.R.I.B.A.
Mrs. HENRY HANKEY.
AMBROSE HEAL.
DAVID HILLS.
S. J. G. HOARE.
R. R. HODGSON.
V. T. HODGSON.
J. J. HOLDSWORTH.
CHARLES H. HOPWOOD, F.S.A.
E. J. HORNIMAN.
Miss HUTH.
Mrs. ALFRED HUTH.
EDWARD HUTH.
DOUGLAS ILLINGWORTH.
Mrs. ILLINGWORTH ILLINGWORTH.
Miss EDITH F. INDERWICK.
The Rt. Hon. the VISCOUNT IVEAGH, K.P., G.C.V.O., F.R.S.
EDWARD TYRRELL JAQUES.
GILBERT JENKINS.
PHILIP M. JOHNSTON, F.R.I.B.A., F.S.A.
Miss CAROLINE A. JONES.
C. H. F. KINDERMANN.
C. L. KINGSFORD.
Sir HUGH LANE.
Miss E. M. LANG.
G. C. LAWSON.
Sir W. H. LEVER, Bt., M.P.
H. W. LEWER.
OWEN C. LITTLE.
The LONDON LIBRARY.
Dr. G. B. LONGSTAFF.
MARY, COUNTESS OF LOVELACE.
W. L. LUCAS.
JUSTIN HUNTLY MCCARTHY.
WILLIAM MCGREGOR.
The MANCHESTER CENTRAL LIBRARY.
C. O. MASTERS.
Miss B. A. MEINERTZHAGEN.
The METROPOLITAN PUBLIC GARDENS ASSOCIATION.
G. VAUGHAN MORGAN.
JOHN MURRAY, F.R.I.B.A.
The NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.
ALLAN NICKINSON.
F. H. NORMAN.
R. C. NORMAN.
Mrs. ROBERT NORMAN.
The Rev. J. P. NOYES.
VERE L. OLIVER.
The OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB.
F. W. PETERS.
Mrs. W. WILTON PHIPPS.
F. W. PLATT.
D’ARCY POWER, F.R.C.S.
Sir E. J. POYNTER, P.R.A., F.S.A.
F. W. PROCTER.
The PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE.
Mrs. F. L. W. RICHARDSON.
COLIN E. READER.
The REFORM CLUB.
Sir JOSEPH SAVORY.
SION COLLEGE.
Mrs. VERNON SMITH.
A. G. SNELGROVE.
W. J. SONGHURST.
H. C. SOTHERAN.
WALTER L. SPIERS.
F. B. SPOONER.
The Rt. Hon. LORD ALEXANDER THYNNE.
A. G. WARREN.
The LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON.
Mrs. WESTLAKE.
Mrs. WHARRIE.
J. BARRINGTON WHITE.
Miss M. J. WILDE.
Dr. GEORGE C. WILLIAMSON.
WALTER WITHALL.
JOHN E. YERBURY.
KEITH D. YOUNG, F.R.I.B.A.
_Active Members._
C. R. ASHBEE.
OSWALD BARRON, F.S.A.
A. H. BLAKE.
W. W. BRAINES.
A. E. BULLOCK, A.R.I.B.A.
G. H. CHETTLE.
A. W. CLAPHAM, F.S.A.
GEORGE CLINCH, F.G.S., F.S.A., Scot.
A. O. COLLARD, F.R.I.B.A.
F. T. DEAR.
WILLIAM DODDINGTON.
H. W. FINCHAM.
MATT. GARBUTT.
WALTER H. GODFREY.
Mrs. ERNEST GODMAN.
T. FRANK GREEN, A.R.I.B.A.
EDWIN GUNN, A.R.I.B.A.
OSBORN C. HILLS, F.R.I.B.A.
E. W. HUDSON.
T. GORDON JACKSON, Licentiate R.I.B.A.
MAX JUDGE.
P. K. KIPPS, A.R.I.B.A.
GILBERT H. LOVEGROVE.
ERNEST A. MANN, Licentiate R.I.B.A.
E. T. MARRIOTT, M.A.
CECIL G. MCDOWELL.
W. MONK, R.E.
SYDNEY NEWCOMBE.
E. C. NISBET.
ROBERT PEARSALL.
A. WYATT PAPWORTH, A.R.I.B.A.
FRANCIS W. READER.
ERNEST RAILTON.
JOHN RAVENSHAW.
FRANCIS R. TAYLOR, Licentiate R.I.B.A.
GEORGE TROTMAN.
Miss E. M. B. WARREN.
W. A. WEBB, A.R.I.B.A.
A. P. WIRE.
W. WONNACOTT, A.R.I.B.A.
E. L. WRATTEN, A.R.I.B.A.
EDWARD YATES.
W. P. YOUNG.
PHILIP NORMAN, F.S.A., LL.D., _Editor of the Committee_.
E. L. MEINERTZHAGEN, J.P., _Treasurer of the Committee_.
PERCY LOVELL, B.A., A.R.I.B.A.,
_Secretary of the Committee_, 27, Abingdon Street, Westminster, S.W.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
GENERAL TITLE PAGE i
SPECIAL TITLE PAGE iii
MEMBERS OF THE JOINT PUBLISHING COMMITTEE iv
MEMBERS OF THE SURVEY COMMITTEE v
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES ix
PREFACE xv
THE SURVEY OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS:—
Boundary of the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields 1
High Holborn, from the Parish Boundary to Little Turnstile 3
Nos. 3 and 4, Gate Street 10
High Holborn, between Little Turnstile and Kingsway 13
No. 211, High Holborn 16
Smart’s Buildings and Goldsmith Street 18
Nos. 181 and 172, High Holborn 23
Site of Rose Field (Macklin Street, Shelton Street, Newton
Street (part) and Parker Street (part)) 27
No. 18, Parker Street 33
Great Queen Street (general) 34
No. 2, Great Queen Street 38
Nos. 26 to 28, Great Queen Street 40
Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street 42
Freemasons’ Hall 59
Markmasons’ Hall 84
Great Queen Street Chapel 86
Site of Weld House 93
Nos. 6 and 7, Wild Court 98
No. 16, Little Wild Street 99
No. 1, Sardinia Street 100
Site of Lennox House 101
Nos. 24 and 32, Betterton Street 104
No. 25, Endell Street 105
North of Short’s Gardens 106
Site of Marshland (Seven Dials) 112
The Church of All Saints, West Street 115
Site of the Hospital of St. Giles 117
Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields 127
Nos. 14 to 16, Compton Street 141
Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, Denmark Street 142
North of Denmark Place 144
Site of The Rookery 145
Nos. 100, 101 and 102, Great Russell Street 147
Bedford Square (General) 150
No. 1, Bedford Square 152
Nos. 6 and 6A, Bedford Square 154
No. 9, Bedford Square 157
No. 10, Bedford Square 158
No. 11, Bedford Square 161
No. 13, Bedford Square 163
No. 14, Bedford Square 164
No. 15, Bedford Square 165
No. 18, Bedford Square 166
No. 23, Bedford Square 167
No. 25, Bedford Square 168
No. 28, Bedford Square 170
No. 30, Bedford Square 171
No. 31, Bedford Square 172
No. 32, Bedford Square 174
No. 40, Bedford Square 176
No. 41, Bedford Square 177
No. 44, Bedford Square 178
No. 46, Bedford Square 179
No. 47, Bedford Square 180
No. 48, Bedford Square 181
No. 50, Bedford Square 183
No. 51, Bedford Square 184
Nos. 68 and 84, Gower Street 185
North and South Crescents and Alfred Place 186
House in rear of No. 196, Tottenham Court Road 188
INDEX
PLATES Nos. 1 to 107
MAP OF THE PARISH
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
PLATE.
1. Extract from Agas’s _Civitas Londinum_, showing the
neighbourhood of St. Giles-in-the-Fields _circ._ 1560–70.
2. Purse Field _circ._ 1609, from a deed dated
1650 in the Public Record Office.
3. Extract from Map by Hollar of the area now
forming the West Central District of London,
showing the neighbourhood of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields _circ._ 1658.
4. Extract from Map by Fairthorne and Newcourt
showing the neighbourhood of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields in 1658.
5. Map of the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields
_circ._ 1720 from Strype’s edition of Stow.
6. Plan of the Parishes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields
and St. George Bloomsbury by Hewett, 1815.
7. No. 3, Gate Street, Joinery Details on First Measured
Floor Drawing.
8. No. 211, High Holborn, Shop Front Photograph.
9. No. 181, High Holborn, Shop Front Photograph.
10. No. 172, High Holborn, Shop Front Photograph.
11. No. 1, Sardinia Street Photograph.
No. 18, Parker Street Photograph.
12. No. 2, Great Queen Street, Mahogany Staircase Measured
Drawing.
13. No. 2, Great Queen Street, Details of Staircase Measured
Drawing.
14. Nos. 27 and 28, Great Queen Street, Entrance Measured
Doorcases Drawing.
15. Lead Rainwater Heads and Cisterns Measured
Drawing.
No. 16, Little Wild Street, Carved Deal Mantel Measured
Shelf Drawing.
16. Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street in 1846, Photograph.
from a watercolour by J. W. Archer, “House
called Queen Anne’s Wardrobe,” preserved in
the British Museum
“House of the Sardinia Ambassador, Lincoln’s Photograph.
Inn Fields,” from a watercolour (1858) by J.
W. Archer, preserved in the British Museum
17. Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street, Ground, Measured
First and Second Floor Plans Drawing.
18. Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street, Elevation. Measured Drawing
Reproduced by kind permission of B. T. by James C.
Batsford, Ltd., from _Later Renaissance Cook.
Architecture in England_ by John Belcher and
Mervyn E. Macartney.
19. Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street (May 1906) Photograph.
20. No. 55, Great Queen Street, Staircase Photograph.
21. Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street, Details of Measured
Staircases Drawing.
22. Freemasons’ Hall, Elevation in 1779 Photograph.
Freemasons’ Hall, Plan of Premises before 1779 Photograph.
(Both are reproduced by kind permission of
the Grand Lodge from engravings in their
possession.)
23. Freemasons’ Hall in 1811 (Façade designed by W. Photograph.
Tyler in 1785), from an Engraving by S. Rawle
after I. Nixon
24. Freemasons’ Hall, Façade (designed by F. P. Photograph.
Cockerell, 1866)
25. Freemasons’ Hall, Elevation of North end of Photograph.
Temple in 1775 (designed by Thos. Sandby),
from an original drawing preserved in the
British Museum
26. Freemasons’ Hall, the Temple looking South Photograph.
27. Freemasons’ Hall, “View of the new Masonic Photograph.
Hall, looking South,” from an original pen
sketch design by Sir J. Soane, 1828,
preserved in the Soane Museum
28. Freemasons’ Hall, Grand Staircase Photograph.
Freemasons’ Hall, Vestibule to Temple Photograph.
29. Markmasons’ Hall, Chimneypiece in Boardroom Photograph.
30. Markmasons’ Hall, Ceiling in Boardroom Photograph.
31. Markmasons’ Hall, Ceiling in Grand Secretary’s Photograph.
Room
32. Great Queen Street Chapel, Exterior Photograph.
33. Great Queen Street Chapel, Interior from the Photograph.
Gallery
34. Little Wild Street, View looking North-east Photograph.
(1906)
35. No. 24, Betterton Street, Entrance Doorcase Measured
Drawing.
36. No. 32, Betterton Street, Entrance Doorcase Photograph.
37. “Queen Anne’s Bath,” No. 25, Endell Street, Photograph.
from a watercolour drawing by J. W. Archer
(1844), preserved in the British Museum
38. “The Bowl Brewery,” from a watercolour drawing Photograph.
by J. W. Archer (1846), preserved in the
British Museum
39. Plan of proposed setting out of Seven Dials, Drawing.
from a drawing on parchment preserved in the
Holborn Public Library
40. Seven Dials Column at Weybridge Photograph.
41. Little Earl Street looking East Photograph.
42. Nos. 14 to 16, New Compton Street, Shop Fronts Photographs.
43. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Ground Plan Measured
Drawing.
44. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Plan of Measured
Ceiling Drawing.
45. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, West Front, Measured Drawing
reproduced by kind permission of H. Cecil by H. Cecil
Newman Newman.
46. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Cross Measured Drawing
Section, reproduced by kind permission of H. by H. Cecil
Cecil Newman Newman.
47. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Exterior Photograph.
from the North-west
48. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Exterior Photograph.
from the North-east
49. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Interior, Photograph.
looking East, 1753. From an engraving by A.
Walker after J. Donowell
50. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Interior, Photograph.
looking West
51. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields: (_a_) Photographs.
Columns and Ceiling, (_b_) Altarpiece
52. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields: (_a_) Carved Photographs.
Oak Frame with Picture of Moses, (_b_)
Painted Glass Panel, probably from former
Church
53. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Lich Gate to Measured
Churchyard Drawing.
54. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Oak Panel Photograph.
(“Resurrection”) in lich gate
55. Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Vestry Photograph.
56. No. 5, Denmark Street, Details of Staircase Measured
Drawing.
57. No. 7, Denmark Street, Doorcase Measured
Drawing.
58. No. 7, Denmark Street, Details of Staircase Measured
Drawing.
59. Nos. 10 and 11, Denmark Street Photograph.
60. Denmark Passage, Blacksmith’s Forge Photograph.
61. Bedford Square, South Side Photograph.
62. No. 1, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Measured
Plans Drawing.
63. No. 1, Bedford Square, Front View Photograph.
64. No. 1, Bedford Square, Entrance Doorway Measured
Drawing.
65. No. 1, Bedford Square: Entrance Hall (_a_) Photographs.
looking South, (_b_) showing Staircase
66. No. 1, Bedford Square, Ceiling in Entrance Hall Photograph.
67. No. 1, Bedford Square, Chimney Breast, Rear Photograph.
Room, Ground Floor
68. No. 1, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling, with Photograph.
Painted Panels, Rear Room, First Floor
69. No. 6, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Measured
Plans Drawing.
70. No. 6, Bedford Square, Lantern over Staircase Photograph.
71. No. 6, Bedford Square, Chimneypiece, Front Photograph.
Room, First Floor
72. No. 9, Bedford Square, Plaster Plaques: (_a_) Photographs.
On Chimney Breast, Front Room, Ground Floor;
(_b_) On Chimney Breast, Rear Room, Ground
Floor; (_c_) Over Door, Front Room, Ground
Floor
73. No. 9, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling, Front Photograph.
Room, First Floor
74. No. 10, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling with Photograph.
Painted Panels, Front Room, First Floor
75. No. 11, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Measured
Plans Drawing.
76. No. 11, Bedford Square, Exterior Photograph.
77. No. 11, Bedford Square, Chimneypiece, Front Photograph.
Room, Ground Floor
78. No. 13, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling with Photograph.
Painted Panels, Front Room, First Floor
79. No. 14, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
80. No. 15, Bedford Square, Entrance Doorway Photograph.
81. No. 18, Bedford Square, Chimneypiece, Front Photograph.
Room, Ground Floor
82. No. 23, Bedford Square, Doors and Doorcase, Photograph.
Front Room, Ground Floor
83. No. 25, Bedford Square: (_a_) Chimney Breast, Photographs.
(_b_) Alcove, Front Room, Ground Floor
84. No. 25, Bedford Square, Chimneypieces: (_a_) Photographs.
Front Room, First Floor; (_b_) Rear Room,
First Floor
85. No. 25, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling with Photograph.
Painted Panels, Rear Room, First Floor
86. No. 28, Bedford Square: (_a_) Chimneypiece; Photographs.
(_b_) Detail of Central Panel; Front Room,
Ground Floor
87. No. 30, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
88. No. 31, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Rear Room, Photograph.
First Floor
89. No. 32, Bedford Square, Front Elevation Measured
Drawing.
90. No. 32, Bedford Square, Screen in Hall Photograph.
91. No. 32, Bedford Square: (_a_) Panel of Photographs.
Chimneypiece, Rear Room, First Floor; (_b_)
Detail of Chimneypiece, Rear Room, Ground
Floor
92. No. 32, Bedford Square, Ceilings: (_a_) Rear Photographs.
Room, Ground Floor; (_b_) Rear Room, First
Floor
93. No. 40, Bedford Square, Plaster Plaque, Front Photograph.
Room, Ground Floor
94. No. 40, Bedford Square, Plaster Ceiling with Photograph.
Painted Panels, Front Room, First Floor
95. No. 41, Bedford Square, Chimneypieces: (_a_) Photographs.
Rear Room, First Floor; (_b_) Front Room,
First Floor
96. No. 44, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
97. Nos. 46–47, Bedford Square, Exterior Photograph.
98. No. 46, Bedford Square, Chimneypieces: (_a_) Photographs.
Front Room, Ground Floor; (_b_) Front Room,
First Floor
99. No. 47, Bedford Square, Entrance Doorcase Measured and
Drawn by P. K.
Kipps.
100. No. 47, Bedford Square: (_a_) Ceiling over Photographs.
Staircase; (_b_) Chimneypiece, Front Room,
First Floor
101. No. 47, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
102. No. 48, Bedford Square, Chimneypiece, Front Photograph.
Room, First Floor
103. No. 48, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
104. No. 50, Bedford Square, Fanlight in Entrance Photograph.
Hall
105. No. 51, Bedford Square, Ceiling, Front Room, Photograph.
First Floor
106. (_a_) No. 68, Gower Street; (_b_) No. 84, Gower Photographs.
Street, Doorcases
107. House in rear of No. 196, Tottenham Court Road: Photographs.
(_a_) Exterior; (_b_) Chimneypiece, Front
Room, First Floor
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PAGE
1. Stone Boundary Tablet (1691) from No. 2, Sheffield Street 2
2. Rough Plan of High Holborn between the Turnstiles, _circ._
1590 4
3. Stone Tablet (1671), formerly on No. 27, Goldsmith Street 21
4. Stone Tablet (1765), formerly on flank wall of No. 166, Drury
Lane 31
5. Deal Stair Bracket to Outer String to No. 27, Great Queen
Street 41
6. Signature of Wm. Newton 43
7. Nos. 55–58, Great Queen Street. Sketch by J. Nash (1840),
reproduced from _The Growth of the English House_, by J.
Alfred Gotch, by kind permission of B. T. Batsford, Ltd. 48
8. The Disastrous Fire at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen
Street—the scene of the conflagration (1883), from a
woodcut in the _Illustrated London News_ 62
9. Freemasons’ Hall, Plan of Principal Floor before the
alterations of 1899 64
10. Cast-iron Hob Grates from Nos. 6 and 7, Wild Court 99
11. Wooden Key at No. 56, Castle Street 114
12. All Saints’ Church, West Street, Exterior. From a watercolour
drawing by T. G. Fraser, reproduced by kind permission of
the Rev. C. W. M. Steffens 115
13. The Top Part of Wesley’s Pulpit 116
14. The Old Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields as it appeared in
the year 1718, from a lithograph of G. Scharf after John
Hall 128
15. Recumbent Effigy of Lady Frances Kniveton 135
16. Tombstone of George Chapman, from a watercolour drawing by J.
W. Archer (1844), preserved in the British Museum 136
17. Cast-iron Enlargement of Seal of the Hospital of St. Giles 139
18. Thanet House, Great Russell Street, from a lithograph by G.
Scharf 148
19. No. 1, Bedford Square, Ornamental Plaster Frieze, Rear Room,
First Floor 153
20. No. 6, Bedford Square, Iron Stair Balusters 154
21. No. 6, Bedford Square, Detail of Plaster Decoration to
Staircase 155
22. No. 10, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Plans 158
23. No. 10, Bedford Square, Painted Panel in Ceiling, Rear Room,
First Floor 159
24. No. 11, Bedford Square, Frieze and Cornice in Drawing Room 161
25. No. 25, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Plans 168
26. No. 32, Bedford Square, Wrought-iron Stair Balusters 174
27. No. 48, Bedford Square, Ground and First Floor Plans 181
28. No. 51, Bedford Square, Sculptured Panel on Chimneypiece in
Entrance Hall 184
HERALDIC ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. DE BURGH _Or_, a cross _Gules_, in the dexter canton
a lion rampant _Sable_.
2. DIGBY _Azure_, a fleur-de-lis _Argent_, with a
molet for difference.
3. FAIRFAX _Argent_, three bars gemelles _Gules_,
surmounted by a lion rampant _Sable_.
4. CAVENDISH _Sable_, three bucks’ heads caboched
_Argent_.
5. SPENCER Quarterly _Argent_ and _Gules_, in the 2nd
and 3rd quarters a fret _Or_, over all, on
a bend _Sable_, three escallops of the
1st.
6. GREY Barry of six _Argent_ and _Azure_.
7. BROWNE _Sable_, three lions passant in bend between
two double cotisses _Argent_.
8. ELIZABETH, COUNTESS _Argent_, six lions rampant, three, two and
RIVERS. one, _Sable_.
9. O’BRIEN _Gules_, three lions passant guardant in
pale per pale _Or_ and _Argent_.
10. FREDERICK NASSAU DE Quarterly, 1st, _Azure_ semée of billets
ZUYLESTEIN, EARL OF _Or_, a lion rampant of the 2nd for
ROCHFORD. Nassau; 2nd, Or a lion rampant guardant
_Gules_, ducally crowned _Azure_ for
Dietz; 3rd, Gules, a fesse Argent for
Vianden; 4th, _Gules_, two lions passant
guardant in pale _Or_ for Catznellogen;
over all, in an escutcheon _Gules_ three
zules _Argent_, two and one, for
Zuylestein.
11. SHEFFIELD _Argent_, a chevron between three garbs
_Gules_.
12. BURNET _Argent_, three holly leaves in chief
_Vert_, and a hunting horn in base
_Sable_, garnished and stringed _Gules_,
with a molet _Azure_ in the fess point for
difference.
13. CONWAY _Sable_, on a bend cotised _Argent_, a rose
between two amulets _Gules_.
14. FINCH _Argent_, a chevron between three griffins
passant _Sable_.
15. NORTH _Azure_, a lion passant _Or_, between three
fleurs-de-lis _Argent_.
16. ESMÉ STUART, SEIGNEUR Quarterly, 1st and 4th _Azure_, three
D’AUBIGNY, DUKE OF fleurs-de-lis _Or_ within a bordure
LENNOX. _Gules_ charged with seven buckles of the
second, for Aubigny; 2nd and 3rd, _Or_, a
fess chequy _Azure_ and _Argent_ within a
bordure _Gules_ engrailed for Stuart of
Darnley; over all on an escutcheon
_Argent_ a saltire _Gules_ between four
roses of the same, for Lennox.
17. BROWNLOW _Or_, an escutcheon, with an orle of eight
martlets _Sable_.
18. DUDLEY _Or_, a lion rampant _Azure_, double queued
_Vert_.
19. BLOUNT Barry nebulée of six _Or_ and _Sable_.
20. RUSSELL _Argent_, a lion rampant _Gules_, on a chief
_Sable_ three escallops of the first.
PREFACE.
The present volume—the fifth in the Survey of London—completes the
record of the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields. As in the case of the
other volumes issued, the important part of the book, from the survey
point of view, is to be found in the photographs and drawings, to which
the letterpress is strictly subservient, but which form only a portion
of the actual collection in the hands of the Council. Nevertheless,
considerable attention has been devoted to history, the more
particularly because existing books on the parish, notably, Parton’s
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_ and Blott’s
_Blemundsbury_, are incomplete, and in many cases actually misleading.
An attempt has been made to retrace the history of each plot of land to
the time before the erection of buildings, that is, practically to the
reign of Elizabeth. No doubt, had time permitted, it would have been
possible to do this adequately in many instances where the investigation
has had to remain incomplete, though it is doubtful whether in all cases
the necessary records are in existence.
The materials for the history have been gathered from diverse sources,
and the lists of occupiers of the various houses dealt with have been
obtained principally from the parish and sewer ratebooks, supplemented
by the Hearth Tax Rolls and information given in deeds. The four Hearth
Tax Rolls used were described in the previous volume[1] dealing with St.
Giles. The sewer ratebooks have not proved of so great assistance in
supplementing the parish books (which begin only in 1730) as was the
case in the previous volume, since, with the important exception of
those containing Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Great Queen Street, there are
very few relating to this parish which date from the 17th century.
It is desired to take this opportunity of thanking those owners and
occupiers of houses who have kindly granted permission to the Council to
make surveys of the interior of their premises, and take photographs for
reproduction in this volume. The thanks of the Council are especially
due to His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G., for information most
willingly imparted with reference to those premises which are in the
Manor of Bloomsbury, and to the Holborn Metropolitan Borough Council for
the facilities given to the Council’s officers for the examination of
the parish ratebooks and other records.
I gladly repeat the acknowledgment, made in Vol. III. of this series, of
the great assistance rendered in connection with the preparation of this
volume by Mr. W. W. Braines, B.A. (Lond.), the officer in charge of the
Records, Publications and Museums Branch of my department.
LAURENCE GOMME.
County Hall,
Spring Gardens, S.W.
_13th March, 1914._
THE PARISH OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS
PART II.
BOUNDARY OF THE PARISH OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS.
The earliest mention of the parish boundary of St. Giles-in-the-Fields
occurs in a decree of 1222, terminating the dispute between the Abbey of
Westminster and the See of London respecting the ecclesiastical
franchise of the conventual church of St. Peter. According to this the
boundary of the Parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, began at the
watercourse of Tyburn and stretched towards London as far as the garden
of the Hospital of St. Giles, “thence as the way beyond the same garden
extends as far as the boundaries dividing Marshland and the parish of
St. Giles.”[2] This is pretty clear evidence that in those early days
the southern portion of the western boundary of St. Giles passed along
the thoroughfare bounding the Precinct and Marshland on the west, thus
agreeing precisely with the limits at the present day.
Although, however, there does not seem to have been any change in that
comparatively small part of the parish boundary, in many other respects
the limits of the parish have undergone serious modification. The first
considerable alteration took place in 1731, when the Parish of St.
George, Bloomsbury, was formed out of the old parish, and made to
include all that part which lay to the north of High Holborn and east of
Dyot Street and of a line drawn northwards from the latter’s termination
in Great Russell Street (see Plate 6). This northward line was
afterwards slightly modified. Again, quite recently, the parish was
further curtailed as a result of Orders made under the London Government
Act, 1899. The south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and the area lying
between Wild Street and Drury Lane, were thereby taken from St. Giles, a
give-and-take line was adopted between the west side of Lincoln’s Inn
Fields and the junction of Kemble Street and Wild Street, and certain
small additions to the parish were made at Francis Street on the north
and Broker’s Alley on the south.
The stone tablet, illustrated on the next page, is a relic of the old
boundary line of the parish. It was built into the wall of No. 2,
Sheffield Street, which premises were demolished in 1903 in connection
with the formation of Kingsway. The stone was preserved by the London
County Council and has been lent to the London Museum.
The boundary between the parishes of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and St.
George, Bloomsbury, cuts through Bedford Square in such a way that
although the greater part of the square is in the former, all the houses
on the east side and a few on the south side are in the parish of St.
George. As it was felt that there were advantages in dealing with the
square as a whole, it was decided that, as had been done in the case of
Lincoln’s Inn Fields,[3] the entire square should be treated in one
volume.
[Illustration]
XXII.—HIGH HOLBORN FROM THE PARISH BOUNDARY TO LITTLE TURNSTILE.
The whole of the space between the parish boundary and Great Turnstile
was occupied by houses at least as early as, and probably long before,
the reign of Henry VIII. In 1545, Edward Stockwood sold to Thomas
Dyxson, 5 messuages and 5 gardens in the parishes of St. Andrew,
Holborn, and St. Giles-in-the-Fields,[4] and when, in the following
year, Dyxson transferred the property to Richard Clyff, the western and
eastern boundaries are described[5] as the tenement of John Coke and the
inn called _The Antelope_, respectively. In the course of the next
century, the five houses seem to have been divided or rebuilt as seven
houses, four of which were in St. Giles, the remaining three being in
St. Andrew’s.[6]
Between the westernmost of these and Great Turnstile there were, in
1545, three houses in the possession of John Coke.[7] These had belonged
to the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem before the dissolution of that
monastery.[8]
Great Turnstile is mentioned as early as 1522, under the name
“Turngatlane”[9]; it was also known as “Turnpiklane.”[10] It is quite
certain that in 1545 no houses had been built along the sides of Great
Turnstile, and none probably were erected there until many years later.
The earliest records so far obtained of such houses on the eastern and
western sides of the lane are dated respectively 1632 and 1630[11], and
probably these dates are not far removed from the actual time of
building.
Reference was made in a previous volume[12] to the ten houses belonging
to the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem, which, in the reign of Henry
VIII., occupied the frontage of High Holborn, between Great Turnstile
and certain property belonging to the Hospital of St. Giles, and it was
then suggested that their western limit practically corresponded with
the boundary between Cup Field and Purse Field. Definite proof of this
has not been obtained, but it will be shown that the St. John’s property
must have extended to within a little of this, thus occupying the site
of about thirty numbers. Obviously, the houses must have been very
scattered. It is also possible that certain buildings were in existence
further to the west, towards Little Turnstile, as early as the reign of
Edward II.,[13] and certainly the whole of this part of the frontage to
High Holborn was covered in the early part of Elizabeth’s reign.
Agas’s map (Plate 1) shows a single line of buildings extending between
the two turnstiles, but this is not an adequate representation of the
state of affairs in the closing years of the sixteenth century. In order
to describe this, so far as the records which have come to light in the
course of the investigation for this volume will allow, it will be
necessary to go into some detail, but as the point has never before been
dealt with, it has been thought desirable to do so. Although the results
in some cases fall short of certainty, it is hoped that thereby an idea
may be gained of the somewhat complex system of houses, gardens and
orchards that existed between High Holborn and the site of Whetstone
Park. The accompanying plan will render the description of the
properties more easy to follow. It should be understood that the plan is
quite a rough one, and intended merely to give a general idea of the
situation about the year 1590. The discovery of further records would,
no doubt, modify it in certain details.
[Illustration:
HIGH HOLBORN, BETWEEN THE TURNSTILES, CIRC. 1590.
]
Where now is the entrance to Little Turnstile, there then existed an
open ditch or sewer. In the _Survey of Crown Lands_[14] taken in 1650,
reference is made to a certain property “scituate and adjoyninge to
Lincolnes Inn Fields _alias_ Pursefeild,” being 214 feet long from Purse
Field south, to Mr. Lane’s houses on the north, and 22 feet wide, which
ground was “heertofore a ditch or comon sewer and filled upp to bee part
of the Pursefeild.” Lane’s houses were on the projecting north side of
Little Turnstile, and the sewer lay 21 feet to the east of the present
line of Gate Street.[15]
In 1560, Lord and Lady Mountjoy sold[16] to Thomas Doughty and Henry
Heron “syxtene meses, mesuages or tenementes adioyninge nere
together ... scytuate and being in Holborne,” called by the name of
Purse Rents, together with six additional gardens. From the
inquisition[17] held on the death of Doughty in 1568 it appears that he
held eight of the houses and three of the gardens.
Eight years later (1576) Thomas Doughty, junior, sold[18] that part of
the property to “Buckharte Cranighe,[19] doctor of physyke.” In the same
year Queen Elizabeth granted[20] to John Farnham, one of her gentlemen
pensioners, the whole of the combined Doughty and Heron property,
increased on the Heron side by two houses, five cottages, three stables
and an orchard, none of which are mentioned in the previous deeds.
Farnham immediately sold the property afresh to Doughty[21] and
Heron.[22] The latter in 1589 sold to [23]Rowland Watson and Thomas
Owen, nine houses, which, by the names of the occupiers, can be
identified as nine of the ten sold by Farnham, and which are stated to
contain in length together on the street side 35½ yards. In 1669 the
same property, then consisting of seven houses, was sold[24] by William
Watson to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and is obviously to be identified
with the six houses in High Holborn leased by the college in 1800,[25]
and described as Nos. 246 to 251, High Holborn. The length of the
Holborn frontage of Nos. 246 to 251 accords well with the dimension
required (35½ yards), and the identification of these houses with the
property sold by Heron to Watson (B on accompanying plan) may be
regarded as fairly certain.
In 1592 Heron sold a further portion of his property[26], the purchaser
this time being Anne Carew.[27] This consisted of (i.) six messuages (C
on plan) abutting north upon the lands and tenements of Master Watson
(_i.e._ B), and south upon Heron’s garden; (ii.) a messuage in the
occupation of Sir Thomas Gerrard,[28] abutting north on Heron’s garden
and south on “the White Hart feilde”, (_i.e._, Purse Field, which was
held with _The White Hart_); (iii.) the said garden and an orchard[29]
lying together and containing three roods, the garden adjoining west on
“the lands late Burcharde Crainck,” and the orchard towards the east,
abutting on the messuage and garden of William Cook; and (iv.) the
messuage and garden of Cook (H on plan) abutting south on Cup Field, on
the north on a tenement of Mistress Buck, widow, and east on a garden
late of Thomas Raynesford. In the light of (iii.) it is now possible to
assign the Doughty property (afterwards Burrard Cranigh) to position A.
Plots A to F are thus roughly settled, but before leaving them it is
necessary to trace further the history of F until its development by
building. On the death of Anne Carew the property seems to have
passed[30] to her son George, afterwards Baron Carew of Clopton and Earl
of Totnes, and by him to have been bequeathed to Peter Apsley, grandson
of his brother Peter. In 1640, John Apsley sold[31] to Daniel Thelwall
and William Byerly, together with other adjacent property, a messuage
with an orchard containing half an acre, “scituate over against the said
messuage and extending from the way or path there to the feild side,”
all formerly in the occupation of John Waldron. Of this William
Whetstone held a lease, which he had obtained certainly before 1646[32],
and in 1653 reference is made[33] to “all the newe buildings thereon
erected.” It is most probable, therefore, that this was the scene of the
building operations described in the Earl of Dorset’s report to the
Privy Council on 11th December, 1636, when he complained that “one
William Whetstone,” having lately erected five brick houses in Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, without proper permission, had “for the better
countenanceing of himselfe therein, and for the finishinge and
mayntayneing the said buildings, counterfeited his Lo^{pps} hand, as
also the hand of his Se^{cre}, frameing a false lycence,” etc. It having
been decided that this was “a presumption of a high nature, and a fraud
and offence not fitt to be passed by w^{th}out exemplary punishment,”
instructions were given for the demolition of the houses,[34] but it is
not known whether this was actually done.
At any rate, Whetstone succeeded in stamping his name on the new
thoroughfare which parted the property in High Holborn from that in the
adjoining fields, though the western part was at first known as Phillips
Rents. The Phillips in question was perhaps the John Phillips mentioned
in a document[35] of 1672, as having lately been in occupation of a
piece of land in the rear of Purse Rents, “being southward upon a way
[_i.e._, Whetstone Park] leading from Partridge Alley towarde Great
Queene Street.”
Notice must now be taken of another property of Heron, “parcell of the
lands of the late dissolved Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.” In 1586
he sold to John Buck[36] eight houses (seven with gardens attached) and
one garden plot, the first house being described as “all that messuage
or tenement with a garden and backsyde, now in the tenure, farme or
occupacion of one Thomas Raynesford or his assignes.” The position of
Raynesford’s messuage and garden is obviously J (see above) and as H is
distinctly stated to be bounded on the north by a tenement of Mistress
Buck,[37] the Buck property may be assigned to position G.
In October 1583, Heron had sold[38] to Anne Carew five houses with
gardens, a garden with a little house, and three other gardens. The only
information given as to the position of the property is that it was
situated in St. Giles-in-the-Fields. It is, however, possible to locate
it approximately. In 1634, Peter Apsley sold[39] to Sir John Banks, the
attorney general, “all that messuage or tenement with appurtenances,
scituate in High Holborne, in St. Giles, together with the court or yard
lying on the south part of the said messuage, and the garden beyond the
said court, extending to the feildes lying on the south of the said
messuage, as the same is enclosed with a brick wall, and as the said
premises were lately heretofore in the occupation of Sir John Cowper,
Knt. and Bart. deceased, and formerly in the occupation of Sir Anthony
Asheley, Knt. and Bart. deceased.” In 1661 Sir Ralph Banks sold[40] the
house to William Goldsborough, and in 1716 Edward Goldsborough
assigned[41] the remainder of a lease of 500 years granted in January,
1692, by Grace and Robert Goldsborough in respect of premises described
as “all that messuage, tenement or inn, with appurtenances, scituate in
High Holborne in St. Giles-in-the-Fields, known by the name of _The
George_, together with a courtyard or backside lying on the south part
thereof, and the peice of vacant ground or garden beyond the said court
and belonging to the said messuage and extending to a certain street or
place there called Whetstones Park, lying on the south side of the said
messuage or inn.” There can be little doubt that the premises are
identical with those described in the deed of 1634, and it may therefore
be assumed that the Carew property included the site of _The George_,
which a reference to Horwood’s Map of 1819 will show is now occupied by
the eastern portion (No. 270) of the Inns of Court Hotel.
This identification is confirmed by the following. Sir Ralph Banks owned
two other houses, one behind the other, adjoining Goldsborough’s house
on the east, and these Goldsborough bought at the same time as he
purchased his own house. In 1663, he sold them to Edmond Newcombe, and
in the indenture[42] embodying the transaction they are described as
being 40 feet broad and 160 feet long, and bounded on the east by “the
house in which Firman now dwelleth.” In June, 1716, a mortgage was
effected by Prescott Pennyston and Thomasin, his wife, of two messuages
in High Holborn, adjoining the inn called _The Unicorn_. Thomasin was
the daughter and heir of Elizabeth Hollinghurst, formerly Tompson,
cousin and devisee of William Firmin. Now Unicorn Yard occupied a
position corresponding approximately to the western half of the present
No. 274 (the position is well shown on Horwood’s Map, though the
numbering does not quite accord with that of the present day), and
distant about 58 feet from No. 270. Assuming the two houses to be one
behind the other, as was the case in Newcombe’s property, this leaves
the 40 feet required for Newcombe’s house, and 18 feet for Firmin’s
house, corresponding almost exactly with the old No. 274 shown by
Horwood. The Carew property may therefore be assigned definitely to
position K with a fixed eastern limit at No. 270. It has not proved
possible to determine its frontage towards the west, and perhaps it did
not extend as far as Raynesford’s house (J). It is, however, known that
it included a tavern called _The Three Feathers_.[43] It seems a
reasonable assumption that this was in the neighbourhood of Feathers
Court, shown in Horwood’s Map as occupying much the same position as the
present Holborn Place, but entering High Holborn somewhat further east.
_The Three Feathers_ would therefore correspond approximately to the
present No. 263.
The adjoining properties (L and M) have already been referred to. The
house (M) next to _The Unicorn_ was in Elizabeth’s reign in the
possession of John Miller, and in 1607 was described as “all that
messuage, cottage, tenement or house with a forge,” in High Holborn,
“reaching to a certeyne pasture adjoyninge to Lincolnes Inne on the
south syde,” and bounded on the west by the house and land of John
Thornton.[44] Beatrice Thornton, widow, is shown in the Subsidy Rolls as
far back as 1588 as resident at or near this spot, and this circumstance
is undoubtedly to be connected with the name of Thornton’s Alley, which
was hereabouts.[45]
The premises (N), which in the early part of the seventeenth century
comprised a single inn, _The Unicorn_, had in 1574 been purchased by
Francis Johnson from John and Margaret Cowper, as three messuages and
three gardens,[46] and are described in 1626[47] as having been “now
longe since converted into one messuage or inn commonly called _The
Unicorne_.” Apparently its use as an inn was of recent date, for in the
description of (M), dated 1607, the eastern boundary of that property is
said to be “a tenement in the occupation of John Larchin, baker,” and in
1629, when the premises had been re-divided into two, one is said to
be[48] “now in the tenure of Mary Larchin, widdowe, and is now used by
her as a common inne, and is called by the name or signe of _The
Unycorne_.” The dimensions of the premises are given as 45 feet wide on
the north, 40 feet on the south on Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and 156 feet
long.
No records of the time of Elizabeth relating to property between _The
Unicorn_ and the house at the corner of Great Turnstile have, so far,
been discovered. The latter (O), having a frontage to High Holborn of 39
feet, was certainly at the time in the possession of the same John
Miller[49] who held the property (M).
XXIII-XXIV.—NOS. 3 AND 4, GATE STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD.
The ground landlord of No. 3 is the London County Council.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The area lying between Great Queen Street, Little Queen Street and Gate
Street (the east to west portion of which street was formerly known as
Princes Street) was originally a portion of Purse Field, the early
history of which has already been detailed.[50]
On 27th May, 1639, William Newton sold to John Fortescue[51] “all that
peece or parcell of ground, being part of Pursefeild and the pightells,
designed for two messuages to be built thereon by the said John
Fortescue, the foundations whereof be now laid.” The ground is described
as measuring 50 feet 3 inches from north to south, and 127 feet from
east to west. Between the ground and Princes Street (“a way leading upon
a backgate of an Inn lately called _The Falcon and Greyhound_”) lay the
houses (or their sites) of Lewis Richard and John Giffard, and a slip of
ground afterwards bought by Arthur Newman, having widths of 25 feet, 25
feet and 8½ feet respectively[52]. From these measurements it can be
shown that the ground sold to Fortescue was the site of what afterwards
became Nos. 3 and 4, Gate Street. The indenture contained, in common
with those relating to Richard’s and Giffard’s houses, a provision “that
there doth and soe perpetually shall lye open from the front of the said
messuage eastward, three score foote of assize, wherein there shall be
noe building erected or builded by the said William Newton, his
heirs ... or any other person or persons whatsoever, it being the
principall motive of the said John Fortescue to purchase the estate and
interest aforesaid, to have the said 60 foote in front to lye open for
an open place from the front of the building, except 11 foote to be
inclosed in before the house, and that there shal be noe buildinges
erected at the south-east end of the said open place by the space of 30
foote, to take away the prospect of the greate fielde, otherwise than a
fence wall, whether he, the said William Newton or his assignes, keepe
the same in his or their owne hands, or doth or doe depart with it to
any other.” It was also agreed “that there shall not at any tyme or
tymes hereafter be erected or built any manner of building whatsoever”
in the gardens of any of the four messuages[53] in question. These
conditions, as will be seen, have been more than observed.
From the above it is clear that the foundations of the two houses had
already been laid by 27th May, 1639, and the premises were accordingly
probably completed by the end of the year. No exact date can be assigned
to the rebuilding of the houses, but it seems probable that this took
place about the middle of the 18th century. The carved mouldings of the
joinery on the first floor of No. 3 are interesting, and details are
given in Plate 7.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
No. 4 was demolished about 1905. No. 3 has been much cut about,
and is now used as a workshop.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of these two houses[54], up to the year 1800, so far
as it has been possible to ascertain them, were as follows:—
_No. 3._ _No. 4._
1667. Richd. Sherbourne. 1659 until Thomas Povey.
after
1675.
1675. Judge Twisden. „ „
1683. Sir John Markham. 1683. “Jervas Perepont.”
Before Thomas Broomwhoerwood. 1708. John Partington.
1708.
1708–1732. Phineas Cheek. 1715. Mrs. Ann Partington.
1732–1735. J. Winstanley. 1723. William Thomson.
1735–1753. Phineas Cheek. From Mrs. Anne Thomson.
before
1730 until
1732.
1755–1763. Wm. Mackworth Praed. „ „
1763–1767. Dr. Jas. Walker. „ „
1768–1772. William Hamilton. 1732–1736. Elizabeth Partington.
1773. Wm. Everard. 1736–1743. [55]Henry Perrin.
1774–1786. The Rev. Chas. Everard. 1744–1746. Thomas Smith.
1786–1792. The Rev. Chas. Booth. 1746–1748. R. Symonds.
1794–1800. Robert Kekewitch. 1749–1753. Joseph Martin.
1753–1755. Thomas Western.
1760–1794. Charles Catton.
1795–1797. Messrs. Burton and Co.
1798– Thomas Burton.
Sir Thomas Twisden, second son of Sir William Twisden, was born at
East Peckham in 1602. In 1617 he was admitted to the Inner Temple,
and called to the Bar in 1626. Although a staunch royalist, he
prospered during the Commonwealth, and in 1653 was made serjeant
at law. At the Restoration he was confirmed in this dignity,
advanced to a puisne judgeship in the King’s Bench, and knighted.
In 1664 he was created a baronet. He died in 1683.
Thomas Povey was the son of Justinian Povey, auditor of the
exchequer and accountant general to Anne of Denmark. At the
outbreak of the civil war he at first joined neither party, and
published a treatise called _The Moderator: expecting sudden Peace
or certaine Ruine_. In 1647, however, he entered the Long
Parliament, and was subsequently appointed a member of the council
for the colonies. At the Restoration he was taken into favour, and
many lucrative appointments were bestowed on him. The dates of his
birth and death are unknown. His residence in Gate Street, then
known as Lincoln’s Inn Fields, seems to date from the latter part
of 1658 or the very commencement of 1659. A letter from him is
extant written from Lincoln’s Inn Fields, dated 9th February,
1658–9, while one dated 20th July, 1658 is written from “Graies
Inn.”[56] Apparently he took the house on the occasion of his
marriage, as in an undated letter, after mentioning certain family
bereavements, he proceeds: “I was [thus] driven to meditat on a
settlement of myself; and did therefore accept of such an
oportunitie, as it pleased God about that time to offer mee, of
adventuringe upon marriage, w^{ch} I have donn upon such grounds
as you have all waies heretofore proposed to myself, my wife being
a widdowe, about my own yeares, never having had a child; of a
fortune capable of giving a reasonable assistance to mine, and of
a humour privat and retired. Soe that I am now become a settled
person in a house of my own in Lincolnes Inn Fields.”[57] His
house was famous, and both Evelyn and Pepys have, in their
diaries, left a description of it. The former thus records a visit
paid by him on 1st July, 1664. “Went to see Mr. Povey’s elegant
house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where the perspective in his court,
painted by Streeter, is indeed excellent, with the vases in
imitation of porphyry, and fountains; the inlaying of his closet;
above all, his pretty cellar and ranging of his wine-bottles.”
Pepys had been there a few weeks before, and under date of 29–30th
May, 1664, writes: “Thence with Mr. Povy home to dinner; where
extraordinary cheer. And after dinner up and down to see his
house. And in a word, methinks, for his perspective upon his wall
in his garden, and the springs rising up with the perspective in
the little closet; his room floored above with woods of several
colours, like but above the best cabinetwork I ever saw; his
grotto and vault, with his bottles of wine, and a well therein to
keep them cool; his furniture of all sorts; his bath at the top of
his house, good pictures, and his manner of eating and drinking;
do surpass all that ever I did see of one man in all my life.”
Charles Catton, the elder, was born in Norwich in 1728. He was
apprenticed to a London coach painter, and attained eminence, not
only in this branch of the profession, but as a painter of
landscapes, cattle and subject pictures. He was appointed the
king’s coach painter, and was one of the foundation members of the
Royal Academy. He died in Judd Place, in 1798.
For a number of years (1776–1781) his son, Charles Catton, the
younger, is shown in the Royal Academy Catalogues as residing at
his father’s house in Gate Street. He was born in London in 1756,
and acquired a certain reputation as a scene-painter and
topographical draughtsman. He died in the United States in 1819.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
Exterior of No. 3 and cross to the memory of Mr. Booker, 1837
(photograph).
[58]Joinery details on first floor of No. 3 (measured drawing).
_The Ship_ Tavern, Gate Street—exterior, showing Little Turnstile
(photograph).
Twyford Buildings—View of court in 1906 (photograph).
XXV.—HIGH HOLBORN, BETWEEN LITTLE TURNSTILE AND KINGSWAY.
In 1592 a Commission on Incroached Lands reported[59] the existence of
certain property in St. Giles, held without any grant, state, or demise
from the sovereign. On 29th August, 1609, James I. granted the whole of
this to Robert Angell and John Walker. As the point is of importance,
the description of the premises included in the grant is here given in
some detail.[60]
“All that one messuage of ours with appurtenances in the tenure of
Thomas Greene, and one cottage with appurtenances, with garden, in the
tenure of Thomas Roberts, situated in the parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields ... and all those four cottages with appurtenances
lying and being on the south side of the public way leading from the
said town called St. Giles-in-the-Fields towards Holborne ... and all
those small cottages built within the small pightell called Pale Pingle,
lying and being within the parish of St. Giles opposite the aforesaid
cottages, namely, on the north side of the royal way between the town of
St. Giles aforesaid ... and Holborne.”
In 1650 a survey[61] was made of certain property “late belonginge to
Charles Stuart, late king of England,” and included therein were a
number of premises, which extended along the south side of High Holborn
for a distance of 234½ feet eastwards from Little Queen Street, and the
easternmost house of which was _The Falcon_.
To the reversion in fee farm of this property a Mr. Gibbert laid claim,
basing his pretensions on the identification of the property with
certain of that included in the grant of James I. above referred to, and
the surveyors reviewed at length his title, annexing a “plott of y^e
ground” (Plate 2). The conclusion to which they came was, that it was
“clere and aparent” that Green’s messuage and Roberts’ cottage and
garden, together with the four cottages opposite the Pale Pingle, were
the tenements granted to Gibbert, and that these were “at the least
40^{tie} pole” distant from the houses which he claimed. “Soe y^t his
clayme in those aforesaid houses is very unreasonable, false, imperfect
and untrue. And wee, whose names are heerunto subscribed, shall (if
Gibbert should bee so uncivell or shameles heereafter to lay clayme to
them before yo^r hono^{rs}) make it clerely appeare to the contrary if
at any tyme required.”
In spite of this emphatic condemnation of the unfortunate Mr. Gibbert,
there can be no doubt that the surveyors were wrong. They seem entirely
to have overlooked the possibility that the houses of Green and Roberts
were not adjacent to the four cottages opposite the Pale Pingle; in
fact, a perusal of the royal grant is sufficient to make it reasonably
certain that they were quite distinct. The matter is, however, capable
of definite proof.
A fortnight after the grant by James I., Angell and Walker conveyed the
whole of the property to Richard Reade and Henry Huddleston,[62] and
they in turn, on 23rd November, 1610, sold it to John Lee.[63] In the
indenture accompanying this sale the two first mentioned houses are
described as “all that messuage or tenement with appurtenances, late in
the tenure of one Thomas Greene ... _now called the signe of The
Falcon_, also one messuage or tenement or cottage there late in the
tenure of one Thomas Roberts.”
It is quite clear therefore that Gibbert was right in his contention,
and that the premises extending from Little Queen Street up to and
including _The Falcon_ had had their origin in the house of Green and
the cottage of Roberts, which had first been officially noticed in 1592.
There is also evidence (see below) that the land included in the grant
reached as far east as Little Turnstile.
With the above information it is possible to date the interesting plan
(Plate 2) appended by the surveyors to their report. It will be apparent
that this has almost exclusive reference to the property granted to
Angell and Walker in 1609. Thus, there are shown the four cottages by
the White Hart, opposite the Pale Pingle, the Pale Pingle itself, and
the land extending from Little Turnstile to Little Queen Street,
including Green’s premises, the only building which in the royal grant
is dignified with the name of “house.” It is therefore suggested with
confidence that the plan in question is a copy of the one appended to
the grant of 1609. With this assumption the title “Queene streete,”
given to the still unformed thoroughfare entering Purse Field is in
entire accord.[64]
Immediately after or shortly before Lee’s purchase, additional buildings
were erected, for on 11th December, 1610, he and Nicholas Hawley sold
_The Falcon_ to William Woodward,[65] “with all yards, wayes, waste
groundes, stables and appurtenances,” excepting, however, from the sale
“four little houses, cottages or tenements latelie builded on the west
side of the Falcon yarde.” Moreover, in 1612–13, the same vendors sold
to William Lane, junior, one messuage, two cottages, two gardens, and a
rood of land with appurtenances in the parish of St. Giles.[66] As in
1661 the property immediately to the west of Little Turnstile is
described as “now or late” in the possession of Mistress Lane,[67] it is
practically certain that the land sold in 1612 was identical therewith,
and Hollar’s plan of 1658 (Plate 3), which shows the area fully built
on, indicates the development which had taken place in the course of the
half century.
Building on the remaining portion of the land had also greatly
increased.[68] The survey of 1650 contains a detailed description of the
property, giving much interesting information as to the building
materials, arrangement of the rooms, outhouses, etc. The following is a
list of the premises. In most cases there were garrets in addition to
the storeys mentioned.
_The Falcon_ (2 storeys), and a house (3 storeys) in the rear. Frontage
15 feet. (Present No. 233.)
A house of three storeys. Frontage 33 feet. (Present No. 232 and site of
New Turnstile.)
_The King’s Head_ Inn (3 storeys), with an addition (2 storeys), a
gateway, a smith’s shop with room, stables, sadler’s house, tenement of
2 storeys, shed and coachhouses, houses of office. Frontage 54 feet.
(Present Nos. 229–231.)
Two small tenements lying in front of _The King’s Head_ (3 storeys), a
house (3 storeys), with small back addition. Frontage 19 feet.
A house (3 storeys), a garden with coach house and stable. Frontage 26
feet. (The site of these last two houses is now occupied by the Holborn
Station of the Piccadilly tube railway.)
_The Gate_ Tavern (3 storeys.) Special mention is made of the “very
faire and spacious dyneinge room, 38 feet in length,” on the first
floor. A bowling alley and gardens were in the rear. Frontage 38 feet.
The site is occupied partly by the Holborn station and partly by
Kingsway.
A house of 3 storeys, with a garden containing a small tenement of 2
storeys. Frontage 16 feet.
A similar house, with a garden containing a “small decayed tenement.”
Frontage 16 feet.
A tenement of 2 storeys, with a shop on the ground floor, a back
addition of 2 storeys. In the garden behind were two small tenements of
2 storeys. Frontage 17½ feet. The site of the three last mentioned
houses is now covered by Kingsway.
It will be seen from the above that New Turnstile was not included in
the original scheme for building. It is not shown in Morden and Lea’s
Map of 1682, nor in the map accompanying Hatton’s _New Guide to London_
of 1708, but appears in the sewer rate book for 1723.
XXVI.—NO. 211, HIGH HOLBORN (DEMOLISHED).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
It is very difficult to say when the south side of High Holborn, between
the sites of Kingsway and the Holborn Public Library, was first built
upon. Perhaps, even in Elizabeth’s reign, there were some scattered
buildings here, but certainly nothing like a continuous line of houses.
There seem to have been no building operations on a large scale, until
after the acquisition of the lease of Purse Field by Sir Charles
Cornwallis, in 1613.[69] Cornwallis sub-leased certain portions of the
Holborn frontage, extending south to the site of Parker Street, and on
these portions houses had been erected before 1650. No records of the
sub-leases have been found, but a part at least of the frontage to
Holborn had been sub-leased before 1634. Two years previously Charles I.
had confirmed a grant, made by his father to Trinity College, of six
markets and twelve fairs for the building of their hall. The college
sold to Henry Darell two markets and three fairs, and in August, 1634,
the latter petitioned to be allowed to set these up in St. Giles on His
Majesty’s inheritance.[70] This was granted on 15th December, 1634, a
writ of _Ad Quod Damnum_ issued, and on 10th March, 1634–5, an
inquisition by a jury was held, from which it appears that the proposal
was to hold the markets and fairs “in locis vocatis le pightells et
Pursfeild.”[71] The project aroused keen opposition on the part of the
Corporation of the City of London,[72] and in spite of its revival in
1637,[73] was eventually abandoned.
It is possible to identify the site of the proposed market, inasmuch as
in 1650 the frontage to Holborn between Little Queen Street and Newton
Street consisted of two “ranges” of buildings known as Shenton’s
tenements and Dayrell’s buildings, and it is clear that the latter
represent Henry Darell’s proposed market. Darell no doubt had already
obtained his lease before applying for a grant for a market, but no
houses would have been erected until after the failure of his scheme. It
is known[74] that one of his plots were let on a building lease on 23rd
November, 1639. The erection of buildings on this part of the Holborn
frontage may therefore be assigned provisionally to the year 1640.
Shenton’s tenements consisted of six houses in High Holborn and five in
Little Queen Street, extending 100 feet along the former and 115½ feet
along the latter thoroughfare. Their site is therefore wholly covered by
the Holborn Restaurant.
The largest house, then in occupation of Mrs. Shenton herself, was the
next but one to the corner, and is described in the survey of 1650 as
“all that tenement built as aforesaid[75] ... consistinge of one
kitchen, one hall, and one small larder, and adjoyninge one backside and
one garden, with severall necessary houses therein built and standinge.
And above stayres in the first story, one dyneinge roome with a balcony
there, and one chamber and a closett there. And above stayres in the
second story, two chambers with a closett there and two handsome garret
roomes over the same.”
Dayrell’s buildings consisted of twelve houses in High Holborn, and five
in Newton Street, and covered an area of 186 feet by 122 feet. They
were, on the whole, much superior to Shenton’s tenements. The
westernmost and largest house is described as “All y^t spacious brick
buildinge ... built with brick in a comely shape and very reguler, and
consistinge of 5 stepps in ascent leadinge into an entry leadinge into a
faire hall and parlour w^{th} sellers underneath the same, divided very
comodiously into a kitchen, a buttery and a larder. And above staires in
the first story a very faire dyneinge roome well floored, seeled and
lighted w^{th} a belcony there on the streete side alsoe, w^{th} said
roome is very well adorned and set fourth w^{th} a faire chimney peice
and frames all of black marble, and on the same floore backwards one
other faire chamber. And in the second story two faire chambers and a
closett in one of them. And in the 3rd story two more faire chambers and
a closett there, and over the same two faire garretes. Alsoe adjoyninge
to the same one garden.”
The houses appear to have been of different sizes, for their rentals
varied greatly, and this, combined with the fact that in subsequent
rebuilding nine houses took the place of the original twelve in High
Holborn, makes it impossible to identify the house which originally
occupied the site of No. 211.
The house was perhaps rebuilt in the latter part of the 17th
century.[76] A further rebuilding (perhaps the third) seems to have
taken place in 1815, when the premises were re-leased by the Crown.[77]
Plate 8 shows an interesting shop front. The ornamental iron guards to
the first floor windows are good specimens of wrought iron work.
The house was demolished in 1910.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION IS:—
[78]Shop front (photograph).
XXVII.—SMART’S BUILDINGS AND GOLDSMITH STREET.
At the time of the survey of 1650 Newton Street (_i.e._, the old Newton
Street, north of the stream which crossed it where Macklin Street now
joins, and separated it from Cross Lane), was fully built, and the
remaining frontage of Purse Field to Holborn, between Newton Street and
the site of the Holborn Public Library, was apparently occupied by nine
houses, held by Thomas Farmer and Henry Alsopp, to whom Francis
Cornwallis had assigned his lease so far as concerned that part of the
field.
The yard, formerly Green Dragon Yard, at the side of the Holborn Public
Library, marks the site of the ancient stream which formed the western
boundary of Purse Field. The stream seems to have remained open in this
part of its course until about 1650, as a deed dated 7th November in
that year,[79] in view of the fact that Thomas Vaughan and his wife
Elinor “are to be att greate cost and charges in the arching or
otherwise covering over the sewer or wydraught under mencioned, by
meanes whereof the inhabitants there adjacent shall not be annoyed as
formerly they were thereby, as for divers other good considerations them
hereunto moving,” provides that the said sewer “as the same is now
severed, sett out and fenced, scituate ... on the backside of a messuage
of the said Thomas Vaughan commonly called ... by the name or signe of
_The Greene Dragon_” shall be demised to the Vaughans.
The land immediately to the west of the yard in question originally
formed part of Rose Field, and was probably developed at the same time
as the rest of that estate. In 1650, William Short, the owner of Rose
Field, in conjunction with John De La Chambre, sold to Thomas Grover 4
messuages, 12 cottages, 12 gardens and one rood of land with
appurtenances, in St. Giles.[80] The precise position of this property
is not mentioned, but there does not seem to be much doubt that the
premises are identical with, or a portion of, those which Grover sold to
Edmond Medlicott in 1666,[81] and which consisted of 16 houses in
Holborn, including the “messuage commonly known by the name or signe of
_The Harrow_,” and also the “lane or alley called Wild boare Alley
_alias_ Harrow Alley, with all the severall messuages, tenements,
edifices and void peice or plot of ground in the said alley.” The
property is said to front upon Holborn on the north, and to have for its
eastern boundary a way or passage leading from Holborn to the house and
garden of Mr. Braithwait. The dimensions are given as: “In depth from
north to south at the west end, one hundred fourscore and ten foote, and
throughout the whole range and pile of buildings besides from north to
south fower score and seven foote, and in breadth from east to west
sixty and three foote.” The last figure is certainly wrong, for even if
half of the sixteen houses in Holborn were lying behind the rest (as
indeed was probably the case) this would only admit of an average
frontage of 8 feet to a house. A probable emendation is “six score and
three” which gives a 15 feet frontage to each house.
The land behind these premises, reached by the path along, and
afterwards over, the stream, was leased by William Short in 1632 to
Jeremiah Turpin for the remainder (20 years) of a term of 36 years,[82]
and then consisted of garden ground upon which Turpin had recently built
a house. It seems most probable that this[83] is the place referred to
in the petition,[84] dated 17th June, 1630, of the inhabitants of High
Holborn, calling attention to the fact that there was a dangerous and
noisome passage between High Holborn and St. Giles Fields, by reason of
a dead mud wall and certain old “housing,” which lately stood close to
the same, where divers people had been murdered and robbed, and praying
for leave for building to be erected thereon. In their report[85] on
this petition, the Earls of Dorset and Carlisle refer to it as
“concerning the building of Jeremy Turpin,” and recommend the granting
of leave to build.
It may therefore be concluded that the house was built between 1630 and
1632. A full description[86] of the property as it was in 1640 is
extant, and is interesting as giving an idea of the private gardens of
that time. Reference is made, among other things, to the arbour formed
of eight pine trees, the “sessamore” tree under the parlour window, 13
cherry trees against the brick wall on the east of the garden, 14 more
round the grass plot, rows of gooseberry bushes, rose trees and “curran
trees,” another arbour “set round about with sweete brier,” more cherry
trees, pear, quince, plum and apple trees, a box plot planted with
French and English flowers, six rosemary trees, one “apricock” tree and
a mulberry tree.
The ground on which Smart’s Buildings and Goldsmith Street were erected
at one time formed part of Bear Croft or Bear Close, so called, no
doubt, because it was used as pasture land in connection with _The Bear_
inn, on the south side of Broad Street, St. Giles.[87]
At about 1570 there were, immediately to the south of the _White Hart_
property at the corner of Drury Lane, eight houses. The three most
northerly abutted on the east upon “a close of grounde called the Bere
Close, late belonging to Robert Wise, gentilman”[88]; while the five
others, with the close itself (of 2½ acres) are described as “adjoynynge
to the Quenes highe waye ... leadinge from Strande ... to thest end of
the said towne of Saint Giles on the west parte, and abuttinge upon the
close nowe our said soveraigne ladye the Quenes Majesties, called the
Rose feilde, on thest and south partes, and abuttinge upon the messuage
or tenemente nowe or late in the tenure of one William Braynsgrave,[89]
and the tenement called _The White Harte_, late in the tenure ... of one
Matthewe Bucke, and nowe in that of one Richarde Cockshoote, and the
Quenes highe waye leadinge from Holborne towardes the est end of the
said towne of Saint Gyles on the north part.”[90]
The boundary line between Bear Close and Rose Field is nowhere
described. It is known, however,[91] that Rose Field reached as far
north as the line bounding the rear of the buildings in Macklin Street,
and there is reason to believe that this line marks the actual division
between the two fields. As regards the eastern boundary a line starting
from High Holborn between No. 191 and No. 192[92] and running along the
western side of the southerly spur of Goldsmith Street, seems to fulfil
all the conditions. It is not known what was the depth of the eight
houses and gardens fringing Bear Close on the west, but allowing 60
feet, the area of Bear Close, defined as above, amounts to two acres. It
is hardly possible, therefore, to limit its boundaries any further. It
seems probable that the quadrangle shown in Agas’s map (Plate 1) at the
north-east corner of Drury Lane was Bear Close, and it will be observed
that, according to the map, the houses south of _The White Hart_
stretched along the whole of the Drury Lane frontage of the close.
Bear Close formed a part of that portion of the property of the Hospital
of St. Giles which, after the dissolution, came into the hands of
Katherine Legh, afterwards Lady Mountjoy. With the five southernmost of
the houses separating Bear Close from Drury Lane, and other property, it
was purchased of the Mountjoys by George Harrison, from whom by various
stages it came into the possession of James Mascall.[90] The latter died
on 11th May, 1585,[93] leaving the whole of his property to his wife,
Anne, who subsequently married John Vavasour. From her the whole of the
property above mentioned[94] seems to have come into the hands of Olive
Godman, younger daughter of James and Anne. A portion of this, including
“all the ground or land lying on the backside of [certain] messuages
towards the east, contayning two acres, now or late in the occupation
of ... Thomas Burrage” was settled on her daughter, Frances, on the
marriage of the latter with Francis Gerard in 1634.[95] There seems
little doubt that the land in question was Bear Close.
It was apparently soon after this that the close was laid out for
building, the planning taking the form of a cross, the long and cross
beams being represented respectively by the present Goldsmith Street and
Smart’s Buildings. The former street was, up to 1883, known as The Coal
Yard, in consequence it is said, “of the place being used for the
storage of fuel.”[96] The tale has a somewhat suspicious look. The fact,
too, that “Mr. Francis Gerard,” the owner of Bear Close, and “Bassitt
Cole, Esq.,” are found living in two adjoining houses in Drury Lane
close by in 1646 rather suggests that “Cole Yard” is so called because
of the name of its builder.[97]
The date at which Bear Close seems to have been built upon favours the
above suggestion. The Hearth Tax Roll for 1666 gives 41 names which are
apparently to be referred to Coal Yard, while Hollar’s Plan of 1658
shows the area by no means covered. The Subsidy Roll for 1646 gives only
five names definitely in respect of “Cole Yard,” but there are 15 more
which probably must be assigned thereto.
At some time before 1666 the eight houses fronting Drury Lane had given
way to the present number of twelve. In the case of the four
northernmost, this happened shortly after 1636, when a building lease of
the sites of the houses was granted to Richard Brett.[98]
Built in the brick wall of an 18th-century tenement (No. 27, Goldsmith
Street) was a stone tablet, dated 1671. The premises have lately been
demolished, and at present the site is vacant.
[Illustration]
Smart’s Buildings is a comparatively modern name for that part of Coal
Yard which runs north into High Holborn. Hatton’s _New View of London_
(1708) does not mention Smart’s Buildings, but refers to “Cole Yard” as
“on the N.E. side of Drury Lane, near St. Giles’s, a passage into High
_Holbourn_ in 2 places”; Strype (1720) states that “the Coal Yard ...
hath a turning passage into _Holborn_”; and Rocque’s Map of 1746
definitely names it “Cole Yard.”
In a deed of 1756[99] it is referred to as “the passage leading into the
Coal Yard called Smart’s Buildings.” Which of the three Smarts,
grandfather, father and son (William, Lewis and John), mentioned in the
same deed, it was who gave his name to the street, there is nothing to
show. No record of the purchase of the property by any person of the
name has, so far, been discovered, but the deed of 1756 certainly
suggests that the ownership of the houses on the eastern side of the
passage originated with William, who is, moreover, described as
“carpenter,”[100] and in that case would date from the beginning of the
18th century.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[101]No. 27, Goldsmith Street. Stone tablet in front wall
(drawing).
Smart’s Buildings. General view of exterior (photograph).
XXVIII-XXIX. NOS. 181 AND 172, HIGH HOLBORN (DEMOLISHED).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The land at the eastern corner of Drury Lane and High Holborn may
perhaps be, either wholly or in part, identified with certain land held
of the Hospital of St. Giles by William Christmas in the reign of Henry
III. “with the houses and appurtenances thereon, situate _at the Cross_
by Aldewych.”[102] Aldewych was Drury Lane,[103] and the Cross by
Aldewych would almost certainly be situated at the junction of the two
roads. The identification of the western corner as the site of
Christmas’s land seems to be excluded by the fact that this was occupied
by property of John de Cruce,[104] who was certainly a contemporary of
William Christmas.[105] It is possible that the land in question was
situated on the north side of Broad Street, but as it is known that
Christmas owned land on the south side of the way, some of which may
even possibly be the actual land referred to, the identification
suggested above seems reasonable. Whether in Christmas’s time there was
at this spot an inn, the forerunner of the later _White Hart_, is
unknown.[106] Blott’s suggestion that the sign of the _White Hart_ was
adopted in honour of Richard II., whose badge it was, even if correct,
does not necessitate the assumption that no inn was there before that
king’s reign (1377–1399). The sign might possibly have been changed in
Richard’s honour.
The first mention of _The White Hart_ does not, however, occur until a
century and a half later. In 1537 Henry VIII. effected an exchange of
property with the Master of Burton Lazars, as a result of which there
passed into the royal hands “one messuage called _The Whyte Harte_, and
eighteen acres of pasture [Purse Field] to the same messuage
belonging.”[107] In 1524 “Katherine Smyth _alias_ Katherine Clerke” was
living in _The White Hart_.[108] She was apparently succeeded as tenant
by William Hosyer,[109] but there is no evidence whether he actually
resided in the inn.[110] In 1567 the occupant of the inn is said to be
Matthew Buck, and in 1582 it was Richard Cockshott.[111] In 1623 Hugh
Jones is mentioned as barber and victualler, at Holborn end, next Drury
Lane.[112] The survey of Crown Lands taken in 1650 describes the
premises as follows:—
“All that inn, messuage or tenement commonly called ... _The White
Harte_ scituate ... in St. Gyles in the feildes ... consistinge of one
small hall, one parlour and one kitchen, one larder and a seller
underneath the same, and above stayres in the same range, and over the
gatehouse, 9 chambers. Alsoe over against the said halle and parlour is
now settinge upp one bricke buildinge consistinge of 6 roomes, alsoe one
stable strongly built with brick and fflemish walle, contayninge 44
feete in length and 37 feete in breadth, lofted over and covered with
Dutch tyle; and two other stables next adjoyninge, built as aforesaid,
and 2 tenements or dwelling houses over the same. Alsoe one large yard
contayninge 110 feete in length and in breadth 46 feete. Now in the
occupation of one Anthony Ives, and is worth per annum
£38.
“All y^t tenement adjoyninge to y^e north side of the abovesaid house,
being a corner shopp, consisting of one seller and a faire shopp over
the same; alsoe one kitchin, and above stayres two chambers. Nowe in the
occupation of Richard Raynbowe, a grocer, and is worth per annum
£12.”
It would seem that at the time of the transfer of _The White Hart_ to
Henry VIII. there were no buildings to the east of the inn. The fact
that no such premises are mentioned in connection with the exchange is
not, indeed, conclusive, and it is more to the point to observe that no
mention of the buildings is contained in any of the grants of the
property, during the 16th century, which have been examined. Moreover,
on 13th November, 1592, a certificate was returned by the Commission for
Incroached Lands, etc.,[113] to the effect that four cottages, with
appurtenances, on the south side of the highway leading from St. Giles
towards Holborn, opposite certain small cottages built on the Pale
Pingle,[114] were possessed without any grant, state or demise from the
sovereign. Plate 2 shows the cottages in question, occupying the site of
the buildings to the east of _The White Hart_.
It may be taken therefore that these four cottages were the earliest
buildings on the site, and that they were erected probably not long
before 1592, when their existence was first officially noticed.
By 1650 they had grown to a long range of buildings. In that year they
were described as follows:—
“All that range of buildinge adjoyninge to thaforesaid inn called _The
White Hart_, abuttinge on the high way on the north, with two tenements
on the south side of _The White Hart_, lyenge uppon the way leadinge
into Drury Lane, all which said buildings are now divided into xxj
severall habitacions in the occupation of severall tenants, and are
worth per annum £24.”
The whole property, including _The White Hart_, the courtyards and
gardens, is said to “contayne in length from Drury Lane downe to the
first [tenement] 96 feete, and in breadth 76 feete; the other length
backward from the stables to the lower side of the garden 125 feete and
93 feete in breadth, bounded with the highway leadinge from St. Gyles
into Holburne on the north and Drury Lane on the west.” The entire site
therefore had a length of 221 feet, and a width of 76 feet along Drury
Lane, increasing to 93 feet behind the inn. Allowing for the subsequent
widening of High Holborn at this point, it is clear that the area is
represented at the present day by the sites of the houses from the
corner as far as and including No. 181, High Holborn, while the southern
boundary runs to the north of Nos. 190–191, Drury Lane, then turns to
the south a little beyond the eastern boundary of those premises, and
thence runs in a slightly curved line as far as the eastern boundary of
No. 181, High Holborn.[115]
A reference to the map in Strype’s edition of Stow (Plate 5) will show
that in the 18th century both High Holborn and Drury Lane were very
narrow at this spot. Moreover, in course of time, the large courtyard of
the inn became used as a public way, and grew crowded with small
tenements. In 1807 the leases of the property expired, and an
arrangement was come to between the Vestry of St. Giles and the Crown,
by which the latter and its lessees gave up sufficient land to enable
the frontage line both to High Holborn and Drury Lane to be amended,
with the result that the west end of the former and the north end of the
latter were widened by 15 feet and 7 feet respectively. On its part the
Vestry consented to the stopping up of White Hart yard and the building
thereon of the Crown lessees’ new premises.[116]
Two of the houses, Nos. 181 and 172, erected in accordance with the
arrangement, are illustrated in this volume.
Plate 9 shows the distinctive early 19th-century shop front, which was
attached to No. 181. The design embodied a large, slightly bowed window
with segmental head, flanked by two doorways. The window was fitted with
small panes of glass, having bars forming interlacing segmental panes
above the transom. The doors were of quiet and refined design, with
excellently treated side posts, having brackets, carved with acanthus
ornament, supporting the entablature. The whole exhibits a distinctly
Greek feeling.
Another interesting early 19th-century shop front existed at No. 172,
and is illustrated on Plate 10. The door to the house and that to the
shop adjoined one another in this case, and were slightly recessed. The
rounded angles to the window added interest to the design. The general
treatment, though simple, possessed much distinction.
Both houses have recently been demolished.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
No. 181. General view of premises (photograph).
[117]No. 181. Shop front (photograph).
[117]No. 172. Shop front (photograph).
XXX.—SITE OF ROSE FIELD (MACKLIN STREET, SHELTON STREET, NEWTON STREET
(PART), AND PARKER STREET (PART)).
Macklin Street (formerly Lewknor’s Lane), Shelton Street (formerly St.
Thomas’s Street, afterwards King Street), the lower end of Newton Street
(formerly much narrower and known as Cross Street) and the greater
portion of Parker Street, have all been formed on the site of Rose
Field, a pasture of a reputed area of six acres, attached to _The Rose_
inn.
From particulars given in various deeds it is clear that the field’s
western and eastern boundaries respectively were Drury Lane and the
stream[118] dividing it from Purse Field, and that its southern boundary
ran 50 feet to the south of Parker Street. As regards its northern
boundary, however, there is some uncertainty. The facts, so far as they
have been ascertained, are as follows.
The houses on the north side of Macklin Street were entirely in Rose
Field, as also were three houses in Drury Lane, north of Macklin
Street,[119] and the line bounding the rear of the Macklin Street
property certainly coincides, at least for a portion of its length, with
the boundary of that part of Rose Field leased to Thomas Burton.[120] It
may therefore be regarded as certain that at least for a portion of its
length this line represents the northern boundary of Rose Field.
Probably this is true as regards its whole length as far as Goldsmith
Street, which seems to be the point at which it turned northwards.[121]
The first reference to Rose Field (though not under that name) which has
been found, occurs in the deed concerning the exchange which Henry
VIII., in 1537, effected with the Hospital of Burton Lazars. According
to this, part of the property transferred to the Crown consisted of “one
messuage, called _The Rose_, and one pasture to the same messuage
belonging.”
In the following year the king leased the inn and pasture to George
Sutton and Ralph Martin.[122] In 1566 the property was leased to John
Walgrave for 21 years as from Michaelmas, 1574; in 1580 to George Buck
for 21 years, as from Michaelmas, 1595; and on 27th October, 1597, was,
together with other property, granted by Elizabeth in perpetuity to
Robert Bowes and Robert Milner, at a rent of £3 6s. 8d. Two days
afterwards Milner sold it to James White, of London, silk weaver, and on
19th January, 1599–1600, the latter in turn parted with it to William
Short.[123] Half a century later, William Short the younger took
advantage of the sale of the Fee Farm Rents during the Commonwealth to
redeem his rent for £29 12s. 6d.[124]
Before continuing the history of Rose Field, it may not be out of place
to consider where _The Rose_ inn, from which the field derived its name,
was situated.
Parton[125] quotes a deed, dated 1667, referring to the sale by Edward
Tooke to Luke Miller, of two tenements, situated in Lewknor’s Lane,
“which said two tenements doe abutt on the tenement formerly known by
the sign of _The Rose_, late in the tenure of Walter Gibbons,” and draws
the inference that the inn was “on the south side of Holborn, not far
eastward from _The White Hart_.” It is, however, doubtful if “the
tenement formerly known by the sign of _The Rose_” was _The Rose_ of
Rose Field; for when, ten years previously, William Short had sold to
Edward Tooke the first 21 houses on the north side of Lewknor’s Lane,
which must have included the two tenements subsequently sold by Tooke to
Miller, Walter Gibbons was in occupation of the twelfth house. It is
therefore most probable that _The Rose_ in question was a house in
Lewknor’s Lane, and not _The Rose_ of Rose Field at all.
As a matter of fact, the latter is almost certainly to be identified
with the inn of that name situated on the north side of Broad Street. In
1670 this inn was in possession of Sarah Hooper, widow of William
Hooper, and the latter’s son Benjamin, and is described in a deed[126],
dated 2nd November in that year, as “all that messuage or tenement and
brewhouse, with appurtenances, called _The Rose_, and all stables,
maulting roomes, yardes, backsides, etc.” On 26th March, 1723–4,
Benjamin Hooper granted[127] “all that messuage or tenement and
brewhouse, with the appurtenances, called _The Rose_ Brewhouse, scituate
in St. Giles-in-the-Fields, now or late in the tenure of Samuel Hellier,
Anthony Elmes, and Charles Hall, some or one of them, and all stables,
malting houses, yards, backsides, ways, passages, etc.,” to his two
daughters, Jane Edmonds and Sarah Mee. The sewer ratebook for 1718 shows
“Mr. Anthony Elmes” at a house in Broad Street close to Bow Street (now
Museum Street) corner,[128] and thus the site of _The Rose_ can be
roughly identified.[129]
The necessary connection between the Hoopers and William Short, who
owned _The Rose_ of Rose Field, seems to be supplied by an entry in the
_Feet of Fines_, dated 1640, concerning a purchase from the latter by
William Hooper of a messuage and one stable with appurtenances in St.
Giles-in-the-Fields.[130]
To return now to the history of Rose Field. William Short does not
appear to have taken any steps to develop the property for 15 years. On
28th July, 1615, however, he leased to Walter Burton the southern
portion of the field.[131] From particulars obtained from a number of
deeds it is known that the ground in question extended 50 feet on either
side of Parker Street, _i.e._, from the southern boundary of the field
as far north as the site of the garden afterwards in the occupation of
John Fotherly.[132] Whether the lease actually included the site of the
garden, it is not possible to say with certainty.
On 5th December, 1615, Short leased to Thomas Burton the portion to the
north of the garden, “the said parcell ... being mencioned in the said
indenture to abutt east on the lands of Sir Charles Cornwallis, Knt.
[_i.e._, Purse Field], west upon Drury Lane aforesaid, north upon the
common sewer[133] which then divided the same from other lands of the
said William Short then also in the occupation of the said Thomas
Burton,[134] and south upon the lands of the said William Short lately
demised to the said Walter Burton; and therein mencioned to conteyne in
breadth from north to south on the west end that did abutt on Drury Lane
233 feete, and at the east end thereof in breadth from north to south 80
feete, and in length from east to west, viz., from the Cornwallis lands
on the east to Drury Lane on the west 719 feete.”[135]
The earliest mention of Lewknor’s Lane which has been discovered is in
an entry in the Privy Council Register[136] for 27th January, 1633–4,
dealing with the case of Richard Harris, the owner of four houses “in
Lewkner’s Lane, backside of Drury Lane.” Harris explained that he
obtained the houses by purchase, and that they had been built six years.
This takes the date of at least some of the houses in the street back to
1627 or 1628, and the fact that the street is not mentioned in the
Subsidy Roll for the latter year makes it probable that these four
houses were among the first built.
The usual reason given for the name of the street (afterwards corrupted
to Lutenor, Newtenor) is that it was formed on the site of the house and
grounds of Sir Lewis Lewknor. It is known that Lewknor was living in
Drury Lane in 1620 and 1623[137] and the position of his name in the
Subsidy Roll for the latter year points to his house having been in
about the position suggested.[138] There is no evidence, however, that
the house was built before 1615, when the land was leased to Burton, and
it does not seem likely, therefore, that it would be pulled down by
1628.
The name of the street was subsequently changed to Charles Street, and
again altered to Macklin Street in 1878.
Shelton Street does not date back so far as the remaining streets formed
on Rose Field. As late as 1665,[139] when Lewknor’s Lane and Parker’s
Lane had long been laid out, the houses on the north side of the latter
were described as reaching to the garden “now or late” in the occupation
of John Fotherly. In a deed of 1650[140] the garden is said to be “now
in the occupation of the Lady Vere,” and a short time before it had been
in the tenure of Sir John Cotton.[141] The street was formed before
1682, it being shown in Morden and Lea’s Map of that date, and was at
first known as St. Thomas’s Street. In 1765 the name was changed to King
Street, probably out of compliment to Joseph King, who took a lease of a
large portion of the property in the street about that date.[142]
Formerly in the flank wall of No. 166, Drury Lane, was a stone tablet
bearing the inscription “King Street. 1765.” In 1877 the street received
the name of Shelton Street, and, with the carrying out of the Shelton
Street housing scheme by the London County Council was almost entirely
swept out of existence between 1889 and 1892.
[Illustration]
The earliest reference to Parker Street (formerly Parker’s Lane) so far
discovered, belongs to February,[143] 1620, when mention was made of “a
way or passage of twenty feet broad, lately marked out by the said
Walter Burton, leading from Drury Lane to and through the ground of the
said Sir Charles Cornwallis, knight, towards Holborn.”[144] The “marking
out” of Parker Street took place therefore between July, 1615, and
February, 1620. There seems great probability that the street owed its
name, as suggested by Parton,[145] to Philip Parker, who certainly had a
share in building the houses there.[146] That he actually held ground in
the neighbourhood of Parker Street is evident from the terms of Burton’s
lease to Edlyn of 1620, when, in granting his own interest in the land
on the south side of Parker Street for a space of 520 feet westwards
from the Rose Field boundary, he adds: “and the said Thomas Burton
grants to Edmund Edlyn all the interest, right, claim or demand which he
hath or ought to have in and to that piece of ground holden by Philip
Parker.” In the Subsidy Rolls for 1620–21 and 1618–9, Philip Parker is
shown as residing in Drury Lane, perhaps the house (the third on the
east side, north of Parker Street) where William Parker was living in
1646.[147]
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[148] No. 166, Drury Lane. Stone tablet (drawing).
XXXI.—NO. 18, PARKER STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD.
Name unobtained.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
No. 18, Parker Street seems to have been rebuilt in 1774.[149]
Plate 11 shows a typical ground floor front of an 18th-century tenement
in this parish. The window was probably provided with stout shuttering
for protection.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The house is in fair repair.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[150]No. 18, Parker Street. Exterior of ground floor (photograph).
No. 46, Parker Street. Exterior view, brick and weather boarded
structure (photograph).
No. 58, Parker Street. Exterior showing timber bay window
(photograph).
XXXII.—GREAT QUEEN STREET (GENERAL.)
The eastern part of Great Queen Street was formed upon Purse Field, but
the western and larger portion, together with Wild Street and Kemble
Street, occupies the site of the field known in Elizabethan times as
Aldwych Close. The boundaries of this close, which had a reputed area of
eight acres, were in the year 1567 described[151] as “the close nowe the
quenes majesties called Dalcona Close[152] on the easte parte, ... the
lane leading frome the Strond towardes the towne of Saynt Gyles
aforesaid of the west parte, ... the close of Sir Willm. Hollys and the
gardyn belonginge to Drurye House of the southe parte, and the close
nowe the Quenes Majesties called the Rosefelde on the north parte.” Of
these boundaries the northern is represented by the line dividing the
houses on the south side of Parker Street from those on the north side
of Great Queen Street,[153] and the eastern by the line of the court
between Nos. 6 and 7, Great Queen Street, continued to meet Sardinia
Place,[154] while the southern corresponds with the old parish boundary.
Aldwych Close was included in that part of the property of the Hospital
of St. Giles which eventually came into the hands of Lord Mountjoy,
through his wife, Katherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Legh.[155] On 20th
January, 1566–7, it was purchased of the Mountjoys by Richard Holford,
who was at the time actually in occupation of the field.[151] Holford
died on 12th January, 1569–70, leaving the property to his son Henry,
then aged 20,[156] during whose ownership the field began to be cut up
for building. In 1600 only two houses were in existence on the
close.[157] At about this time Holford began to mark out the close and
let portions on lease for building. There is no complete record of these
leases, but the largest transaction of the kind was effected on 28th
April, 1607, when Holford granted to Walter Burton, who has already been
mentioned in connection with the development of Rose Field, a lease, for
51 years from the previous Christmas, of “that peece or parcell of
grounde latlie taken out of the north side of the close of the said
Henry Holford called Oldwych Close ... as the same ys severed and
divided ffrom the residue of the same close with a pale latelie erected,
and all that mesuage or tenemente latelie erected uppon a parte of the
said peece or parcell off ground by one Henry Seagood, and nowe in the
occupacion of the said Henry Seagood, and alsoe twoe other mesuages or
teñts with the gardens, backsides, and garden plottes to the same
adioyninge or belongeinge in the tenure or occupacion of Humfrey Grey or
his assignees scituate on the west parte of Oldwych Close aforesaid, and
lately alsoe enclosed out of the said close.... And alsoe all that other
peece or parcell of ground which was then agreed and staked out to be
enclosed of and from the west side of the said close ... next adioyninge
unto Drewrie Lane.... By the name of three mesuages and three acres of
pasture with the appurtenances.”[158]
The three messuages in question can easily be identified. Henry
Seagood’s house occupied the site of Nos. 36–37, Great Queen
Street,[159] and the houses of Humphrey Grey (which no doubt were the
two houses in existence in 1600) are identified later[160] as _The White
Horse_, in Drury Lane, opposite Long Acre, and another house (divided
between 1635 and 1658 into two houses) adjoining it on the north. The
“three acres of pasture” was the remaining portion of the triangular
piece of ground now bounded by Drury Lane, Wild Street and Kemble
Street.[161]
From the foregoing it will be evident that by the year 1607 there were
the merest beginnings of building on the Drury Lane frontage of the
close. The first two streets to be formed were those now known as Kemble
Street and Great Queen Street, the former being probably an old public
way leading across Aldwych Close and Purse Field to Holborn, the route
of which was afterwards marked by the archway on the west side of
Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and the latter being in its origin a royal private
way through the fields,[162] used as the route to Theobalds, in
Hertfordshire, James I.’s favourite residence. Kingsgate Street
(formerly existing nearly opposite the northern termination of
Kingsway), where there were two gates[163] into the fields on either
side of Holborn (see Plate 2), and Theobald’s Road mark the continuation
of the royal way. There was also at first probably a gate[164] at the
street’s western entrance,[165] which was very narrow, and the first
mention we have of the street seems to refer to this. In a petition to
the Earl of Salisbury, undated, but evidently belonging to the period
1605–1612,[166] the “inhabitantes of the dwellinges at the _newe gate_
neere Drewry Lane” state that they have petitioned the Queen (obviously
Anne of Denmark, the consort of James I.) “to gyve a name unto that
place,” and have been referred to him; they therefore request him to
give it a name on her behalf.
It seems reasonable to conclude that it was as the result of this
application that the name “Queen Street” (or “Queen’s Street”)[167] was
given to the thoroughfare. Blott, indeed, states this as a fact, but no
entry in confirmation has been found in the Domestic State Papers.
Assuming, therefore, that the petition above mentioned had reference to
this street, and having regard to the probability, amounting to
practical certainty, that the plan of Purse Field reproduced in Plate 2
dates from 1609,[168] it follows that the title “Queen Street” must have
been given during the period 1605–1609. The name “Great Queen Street”
used to distinguish it from “Little Queen Street” does not seem to have
been in common use until about 1670.[169]
The earliest buildings erected in Great Queen Street were, contrary to
the usual statements made in the matter,[170] on the north side of the
street. The dates at which this took place cannot, unfortunately, be
determined with certainty. Clanricarde House was in existence in
1604.[171] Henry Seagood’s house (occupying the site of Nos. 36–37) was
built before April, 1607.[172] The site of Nos. 38–45, which in 1597
contained only a forge, was built on by May, 1612.[173] The site of Nos.
7–13 was leased for building purposes to Thomas Burton on 7th May, 1611.
These facts, fragmentary though they are, seem to point to the north
side of the street, so far as it was situated in Aldwych Close, being
built during the period 1603–1612.[174] In this connection it is
interesting to note the statement made, on unknown authority, by
Dobie,[175] that the house on the south side of the street in which Lord
Herbert of Cherbury died[176] was “one of the fifteen built in the third
year of James I. (1603).” The third year of James I. was actually
1605–6, but it is quite certain that no houses were built on the south
side of Great Queen Street for over thirty years afterwards. The date
seems, however, to fit in well with the facts concerning the _north_
side of the street.
XXXIII.—NO. 2, GREAT QUEEN STREET (DEMOLISHED).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The eastern portion of Great Queen Street, comprising the sites of Nos.
1 to 6 on the north side, and of all the houses above No. 69 on the
south side, was formed on Purse Field.
On 30th July, 1638, Newton leased to William Sandfield a portion of the
ground, on which at some time subsequently, but before January, 1640, a
house was built. On 29th March, 1642, the property is described[177] as
a plot of ground having a breadth of 26 feet at the north end, and 25
feet at the south, and a length of 76 feet on the east side, and 81 feet
on the west; “scituate at the east end of Queene Street, on the north
side of it, between the highway there leading to the Kinges Gate on the
east, a certen lane called Parker’s Lane on the north, and the King’s
highway leading into Queene Street on the south.” This is easily
identifiable with the site of No. 1, Great Queen Street, and other
property in the rear.
On 14th January, 1639–40, Newton sold to Francis Thriscrosse[178] a plot
of ground having a breadth of 23 feet 4 inches at the north end, and 22½
feet at the south, and a length of 81 feet on the east side and 86 feet
on the west, “and abutteth east upon a peece of ground and the house
thereon built let to William Sandfeild,” Parker’s Lane on the north, and
the King’s highway on the south. On this plot a house had been erected,
representing No. 2, Great Queen Street. Similarly it may be proved that
the site of No. 3 had been built on by Richard Webb by August,
1639.[179] As regards Nos. 4 to 6, no sufficiently early deeds have come
to light to enable the date of building to be ascertained, but it is
probable that all were built about the same time.
It would seem that these six houses were superior to most of the others
erected on the north side of the street. Such is certainly the
impression derived from Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3). Moreover,
Bagford, after alluding to the stateliness and magnificence of the
houses on the south side, goes on to say: “At y^e other side of y^e way,
near Little Queen Street, they began after y^e same manner with flower
de lices on y^e wall, but went no further.”[180]
The original buildings on the site of Nos. 1 and 2 were pulled down
about 1735, for a deed dated 7th February in that year, referring to the
site, describes it as “all that toft, peice or parcell of ground,
scituate in Great Queen Street on the north side of the same street, and
extending itself from Queen Street to Parker’s Lane, together with the
_old ruinous messuage or tenement_ and the coach house, stable, and
other erections and buildings thereupon standing.”[181] Moreover in the
sewer ratebook for 1734, there is a note against the house: “Pulled down
and rebuilt.”
The second building on the site of No. 2 was demolished in connection
with the formation of Kingsway. The front had little architectural
merit, judging from a water colour drawing by T. H. Shepherd, dated
1851, now in the Crace Collection.[182]
The interior had a notable mahogany staircase (Plates 12 and 13) of six
flights, the four lower ones having carved brackets, while the upper
part had straight strings more simply treated.
The beautiful balustrade and decorative details were preserved by the
London County Council when the house was pulled down, and have been lent
to and exhibited at the London Museum.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The indications as to who exactly were the occupants of particular
houses on the north side of Great Queen Street during the 17th
century are not always very clear, and the following list of
persons occupying No. 2 is perhaps occasionally during the period
named open to suspicion:—
1646. Sir M. Lumley[183] (?)
Before 1664 to after 1675. Matthew Hewitt.
Before 1683 to 1700. Henry Moreland.
1700 to after 1720. Samuel Knapton.
1727. Susan Knapton.
1734–75. John Crofts.
1784– Poyser Roper.
Sir Martin Lumley, of Bardfield Magna, Essex, son of Sir Martin
Lumley or Lomley, Lord Mayor of London (1623–4), was born about
1596. He was sheriff of Essex, 1639–40; and was M.P. for that
county in the Long Parliament, from February 1641, until secluded
in December, 1648. He was created a Baronet on 8th January, 1641,
being knighted at Whitehall on the day following. He died about
1651.[184]
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[185]Mahogany staircase, ground to second floor, and second to
third floor (measured drawing).
[185]Mahogany staircase, do., do., details (measured drawing).
XXXIV.–XXXVI.—NOS. 26 TO 28, GREAT QUEEN STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD.
The names of the ground landlords of Nos. 27 and 28 have not been
obtained.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The date of erection of the original houses on the sites of Nos. 26 to
35 is uncertain. The Subsidy Roll for 1628–9, however, among its few
(12) entries relating to Queen Street, contains the names of three
persons[186] who are known to have lived in this row, and that for
1620–21 contains one;[187] it is therefore fairly certain that the
houses on the site of Nos. 26 to 35 were already in existence by the
latter date.
The ground on which they stood had, it is known, been let on building
lease for a term expiring at Christmas, 1657, and it seems more than
likely that the lease in question was that granted to Walter Burton on
28th April, 1607. It will be noticed[188] that a part of that grant
comprised a piece of ground taken out of the north side of the close,
and Henry Seagood’s messuage erected on a part of that piece. Now
Seagood’s house occupied the site of Nos. 36–37[189], and the piece of
ground alluded to above certainly did not extend to the west of
Seagood’s house, as that property (the site of Nos. 38 to 45) had
already been disposed of by Holford. It seems, therefore, probable that
it included the ground to the east of the house, thus taking in the site
of Nos. 26 to 35.
The earliest description of the property which has been found is dated
30th May 1661,[190] where, evidently repeating the account given in the
lease of 1636 (when it was let for 51 years as from 27th December, 1657)
it is referred to as “all those severall messuages or tenements ... with
their appurtenances, scituate, lying and being on the north side of ...
Queene Street ... now or late in the several tenures of [here 13 names
are given]; abutting upon a messuage or tenement now or late in the
tenure ... of John Sparkes, his assigne or assignes, on the east, and on
a messuage or tenement, now or late in the tenure of one Henry Seagood,
his assigne or assignes, on the west part, and the said Queene Street on
the south ...; all which said messuages ... conteyne in length from east
to west 180 feet ... and in breadth from north to south 60 feet.” It is
clear from the entries in the ratebooks that the original houses on the
sites of Nos. 27 and 28 were pulled down between 1723 and 1734, a period
which agrees perfectly with the evidence of the dates on the cisterns
mentioned below.
The present houses have three floors in addition to a basement and an
attic storey. The fronts are treated in brickwork. No. 27 contains an
ornamental cast lead cistern (Plate 15) dated 1733, and in No. 26 is a
cistern of somewhat similar design, bearing the initials B.B. and the
date 1725. On the latter house is a cast lead rain-water head
illustrated on Plate 15.
The only external features of interest are the two doorcases, side by
side, which are of deal with Roman Doric pilasters, block entablatures
and pediments. The doorways are recessed, and have elliptical arches,
enclosing fanlights, as shown by the measured drawing (Plate 14).
The staircase of No. 27 has the original carved brackets. That of No. 28
is modern.
[Illustration:
DEAL STAIR BRACKET TO OUTER STRING TO N^o. 27 G^T. QUEEN ST.
]
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
No. 26 has been demolished. Nos. 27 and 28 are in good repair.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[191]Entrance doorcases to Nos. 27 and 28 (measured drawing).
Entrance doorcases to Nos. 27 and 28 (photograph).
[191]Ornamental cast lead cistern, No. 27 (measured drawing).
[191]Ornamental cast lead cistern, No. 26 (measured drawing).
[191]Carved deal stair bracket (measured drawing).
[191]Cast lead rain-water head, No. 26 (with others) (measured
drawing).
XXXVII.—NOS. 55 AND 56, GREAT QUEEN STREET.
GROUND LANDLORDS.
The United Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The largest of the three sections into which Aldwych Close was divided,
when roads were formed thereon, was that lying to the south of Great
Queen Street, and east of Wild Street. In 1618[192] Henry Holford leased
to John Ittery the southern portion of this section, and on 13th August,
1629, Richard Holford sold the remainder to Sir William Cawley and
George Strode in trust for Sir Edward Stradling and Sir Kenelm
Digby.[193] A wall was erected parallel to Great Queen Street, and
distant from it 197 feet, dividing Stradling’s part from Digby’s. The
later history of Stradling’s portion, lying to the south of the dividing
wall, is dealt with later.[194] Here we are concerned with that in the
ownership of Sir Kenelm Digby, forming the site of the houses and
gardens on the south side of Great Queen Street as far as Aldwych Close
extended. The ground in question (including that purchased by Sir Edward
Stradling) is described on 13th August, 1629, as “late in the tenure of
Richard Brett and John Parker,”[195] and a petition of the inhabitants
of the district, dated[196] 1st September, 1629, states that Parker and
Brett had “divers times attempted to build on a little close called Old
Witch, which has always lain open, free to all persons to walk therein,
and sweet and wholesome for the King and his servants to pass towards
Theobalds.” It is further alleged that Parker and Brett had been
imprisoned for these attempts, “but now they have pulled down the
bridges and stiles, and carried great store of bricks thither, and give
forth threatening speeches that they will go forward.” The petitioners
asked that the proposed buildings might be stopped, and expressed their
willingness to take a lease of the close and plant trees.
Parker and Brett seem in this latest instance to have been merely acting
for Sir Kenelm Digby, for the report[197] of the Commissioners for
Buildings, made only nine days later, definitely mentions the latter as
the person desirous of building. The Commissioners expressed themselves
as adverse to Digby’s proposal, which for a time dropped.
On 27th March, 1630, both Digby and Stradling petitioned for a licence
for each “to build a house with stables and coach houses in Old Witch
Close.” The Attorney-General was instructed to draw the licence, but
although Stradling in due course built his mansion[198], there is no
evidence that Digby ever availed himself of the permission.
The ground seems to have been used as a garden[199] until 1635. On 13th
April in that year Digby sold it to William Newton for building
purposes. No licence to Newton to build can be traced, but on 7th May,
1636, one was granted to Sir Robert Dalyell,[200] who probably assigned
it to Newton. From that document[201] it appears that the intention was
to build “14 faire dwelling houses or tenementes to conteyne in front
one with another neere 40 (fortie) feete a peice fitt for the habitacon
of able men.” Permission to build that number of houses “to front only
towardes Queene’s Streete” was granted, as well as “twelve coach howses
and stables in some remote part of the said ground,” all to be built of
brick or stone, “according to the true intent and meaning of our
Proclamations in that behalfe published.”
[Illustration:
_Signature of William Newton._
]
Newton seems to have taken care that the houses erected on that part of
Great Queen Street which was on the site of Purse Field should conform
generally to the style of those built in accordance with the
above-mentioned licence on the site of Aldwych Close[202]. The houses as
a whole occupied 13 ground plots, having a total frontage of about 628
feet, and a depth of 200 feet. Their general character was the same
throughout; the main cornices and front roofs were continuous, but the
pilasters were so arranged as to indicate the separate buildings without
the usual expedient of placing a pilaster partly on one plot and partly
on another.[203] On the middle house was placed a statue of Charles I.’s
Queen, Henrietta Maria. It has already been noticed[204] that Newton a
few years later adorned the central house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields with a
crowned female bust, and there can be no doubt that this was also in
honour of the Queen.
Various statements have been made as to the designer of the houses on
the south side of Great Queen Street. Horace Walpole, in his _Anecdotes
of Painting_[205] writes as follows: “Vertue says that Mr. Mills, one of
the four surveyors appointed after the fire of London, built the large
houses in Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, but this must be a
mistake, as we have seen in the preceding volume that Gerbier, a
contemporary, and rival, ascribed them to Webb.” It is known[206] that
Peter Mills built the original houses on the site of Nos. 66 to 68,
Great Queen Street, but there is no evidence that he had any hand in the
erection of other houses on the south side of the street.
The reference concerning Gerbier [1591?–1667], to which Walpole alludes
as occurring in his previous volume, seems to be the following: “He
[Gerbier] ridicules the heads of lions, which are creeping through the
pilasters on the houses in Great Queen Street built by Webb, the scholar
of Inigo Jones.” If this ascription could be found in any of Gerbier’s
works it would be very valuable evidence, but it has not been
discovered, and the passage relating to the pilasters contains no
mention of Webb.[207]
Bagford [1650–1716], writing somewhat later, says:[208] “He [Inigo
Jones] built Queen Street, also designed at first for a square, and as
reported at y^e charge of y^e Jesuits; in y^e middle whereof was left a
niche for y^e statue of Henrietta Maria, and this was y^e first uniform
street and y^e houses are stately and magnificent.... These buildings
were y^e designes of y^e Ld. Arundell, who was y^e first that introduced
brick building into England (I mean for private houses).”
That some architect was commissioned by Newton to design the façade, and
possibly the principal internal features, is most probable; but the
above evidence is unfortunately not sufficient to enable him to be
identified.
Hollar’s careful engraving (Plate 3) shows the long straight roof of the
road frontage, but the rear elevations show that the roofs were varied
for individual houses and were treated with gables. Whoever was the
designer of the façade to Great Queen Street, he was probably employed
by Newton as architect for the houses built on the west side of
Lincoln’s Inn Fields three years afterwards. These show a distinct
advance in design, being treated as a single symmetrical composition,
with a central feature composed of three houses of increased height, the
side wings being of equal lengths.[209]
The beautiful drawings by J. W. Archer[210] reproduced on Plate 16
exemplify the similarity of the two designs to a very marked degree, the
only important difference in detail being that in Great Queen Street the
Corinthian order was employed, in Lincoln’s Inn Fields the Ionic.
A description of the exterior of the only remaining fragment of the
Great Queen Street houses, Nos. 55 and 56, will suffice for the whole.
The front is constructed mostly of brick, the ground storey having
originally formed a simple base for the Corinthian order of pilasters.
These embrace the height of the first and second stories, the bases and
capitals being of stone, the ornament of the latter boldly carved, and
the volutes and abacus spreading to an unusual extent. (Plates 18 and
19.)
The pilasters were ornamented, if, as seems probable, it is to these
houses that Gerbier referred when, writing about 25 years after their
erection, he criticised certain “incongruities” perpetrated by those
pretending knowledge in ornaments “by placing between windows pilasters
through whose bodies lions are represented to creep; as those in Queen
Street without any necessity, or ground for the placing lions so
ill.”[211] These lions were probably of stucco, and affixed to the
pilasters in a position similar to that of the ornaments of the Tudor
rose and fleur de lis on the houses in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and those
at the eastern end of the north side of Great Queen Street.[212]
Walpole,[213] writing in 1763, continued the ridicule of these offending
ornaments, but by 1783 they must have been removed, for the engraving by
Bottomley of the Freemasons’ Tavern (Plate 22) does not show them, nor
can they now be traced on the brickwork of the pilasters.
Between the first and second floor windows is introduced a slightly
projecting ornamental device in brickwork, of somewhat Jacobean
character, which on the façade of the houses in Lincoln’s Inn Fields was
represented by a band, formerly seen at No. 2, Portsmouth Street. The
same feature is also shown in the Wilton House picture of Lincoln’s Inn
Fields.[214]
Above the capitals the entablature has been much restored, and its
former beauty correspondingly diminished. The architrave appears to have
been of wood, with three fascias (Plate 19), and crowning this is the
bed mould of the cornice, which has large wooden modillions, shaped and
enriched with acanthus leaves.
The modillions support a cyma and fascia with panelled soffit, the cyma
forming the front of a leaden gutter.
Surmounting the cornice was the high pitched roof, shown by Hollar, with
hipped dormer windows, of one and two lights alternating. Though none of
them retain the whole of their original construction, the two on the
right of the illustration may possibly be in their original form.
The present Nos. 55 and 56 represent one half of what must have been the
largest of the houses.[215] This was the mansion of which one of the
earliest occupiers was the Earl of St. Albans (Marquess of Clanricarde).
The house may be identified in two ways. (1) The frontages of the house
of the Earl of St. Albans, and of the three houses to the east, are
stated to be 88[216], 44, 44 and 88 feet respectively, and the last
mentioned house is said to be bounded on the east by a gateway, which,
from the description, was obviously Middle Yard. The western boundary of
the four houses in question may thus be shown to correspond with the
western side of New Yard, _i.e._, the western boundary of No. 55. (2) On
23rd January and 8th February, 1639–40, Newton sold certain plots of
ground, containing frontages of 41 and 45½ feet, having a depth of 190
feet, and after 120 feet diminishing in width from 83 to 60 feet. These
plots are stated to be bounded on the east by the dwelling house and
garden of the Earl of St. Albans. From the shape of the property
disclosed by the above figures, and the actual frontages given, there
can be no doubt that the houses afterwards erected thereon occupied the
sites of the present Nos. 51 to 54.[217] The house of the Earl of St.
Albans was therefore No. 55 and upwards.
The house was already in existence in January, 1637–8,[218] and as the
licence for building had only been obtained in May, 1636, the erection
of the house may, with practical certainty, be assigned to the year
1637.
In the 1638 deed it is described as “all that one new erected double
messuage or tenement with appurtenances, scituate in Queenes Streete ...
contayninge in front towardes Queenes Streete aforesaid 88 feet ... and
sydinge eastwards upon the house in the tenure of the Lord Leiger
Embassador of Spayne, together with a gardyn plott lyinge on the back
side of the said messuage and adjoyninge thereunto.”
The original mansion therefore occupied the site of the present Nos. 55
and 56, and adjoining property in New Yard, together with that of the
western block of the present Freemasons’ Buildings.
The first division of the house took place in, or shortly after, 1684.
In that year Lord Belasyse purchased the property, and at the date of
his will, five years later, the house had for some time been in double
occupation.
The division had, however, not been carried out in a very thorough
fashion. In 1718 it was stated that “there are severall roomes, chambers
and other apartments ... which interfere or mix within each other very
inconvenient for separate familyes to inhabit therein severally and
apart from each other.” In that year, therefore, an arrangement[219] was
made whereby “the kitchen under a roome heretofore called ... Mr.
Stonor’s dressing-roome,[220] the larder backwardes next the garden
under part of a room ... called Mr. Stonor’s bedchamber ... which were
then both used and enjoyed with the house in possession of ... Henry
Browne ... were to be added to the inheritance of the house of the said
Thos. Stonor in exchange” for “the cellar under the foreparlour next
Queen Street, and the uppermost room or garrett over the said parlour,
the lesser cellar adjoyning to that last before mentioned cellar and the
room backwards next the garden up two pair of stairs over the back
parlour, and upper with drawing roome,” structurally part of Browne’s
house, but occupied as part of Stonor’s.
Other alterations took place in 1732–3, when the western half was
divided, and probably portions of the present party wall, to the east of
No. 56, date from this and the earlier period.
During the last century many further alterations and partial rebuildings
were carried out. Shortly before 1816, the extensive grounds in the rear
were utilised for buildings, for in a deed[221] of that year reference
is made to “all those stables, coach houses and workshops and premises
erected ... in New Yard ... and which before the erecting of the
said ... stables, coach houses, shops and other premises, was a garden
ground.”
Subsequently the external west wall was rebuilt, and the south-western
premises, extending over the entrance to the yard (see Plate 17) were
erected.
The eastern half of the original mansion seems to have been demolished
between 1840 and 1846, for J. Nash, in a sketch made in the former year,
gives the complete elevation, whereas Archer in 1846 (Plate 16) shows a
commonplace building on the site of the eastern half.
[Illustration:
Nos. 55–58, GREAT QUEEN STREET IN 1840.
]
Having regard to the many alterations which the premises have undergone,
it is not surprising that very little of the first building is left. Of
the original walls remaining, that to the street is the most important.
Several of the chimney breasts, and parts of the walls to which they are
attached, are also original work, but it is extremely doubtful if any of
the external walls at the rear is coeval with the erection of the house.
This will account for the fact that Evelyn’s “long gallery”[222] no
longer exists.
The notable feature of No. 55 internally is the staircase. Although the
treads and risers are modern, the deal balustrading between the ground
and first floors may date from the erection of the house in 1637, or
from its re-occupation by the Digby family after the Restoration,
_i.e._, before 1664 (see p. 52). The staircase extends from the ground
to the first floor. It is constructed of straight strings, moulded and
carved; the centre moulding has a band of laurel leaves and berries
alternating with oak leaves, acorns and oak apples, while the upper
member is enriched with acanthus. The three newels are square. The one
at the ground floor level rests on the 19th-century floor, and has a
simple capping of mouldings similar to those on the handrail. The newel
at the half landing is of similar design to that below and receives the
strings of both flights. The newel at the first floor level has a modern
capping, but carries the original pendant below, the enrichment taking
the form of the open flower of a waterlily. The balusters are turned as
ornamental pillars, their capitals being floriated together with the
vase-like swellings included in their bases. Two of the base members are
also carved. The handrail of the lower flight is notched and fitted to
the string of the upper, the mouldings continue along the string
downwards to the newel, and a triangular panel fills the spandril space
beneath instead of diminishing balusters.
The simple character of the elliptical archway at the end of the passage
leading from the street to the staircase may be noted.
On the second floor of No. 56, is a deal balustrade (Plate 21), which
doubtless formed part of the original staircase landing, but has now
been adapted to protect an opening in the floor. The detail is very
similar to that of the staircase formerly at No. 52, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields,[223] which was erected shortly after this date.
The panelling of the room at the end of the ground floor passage is
apparently contemporary with the erection of the house.
The present front room on the second floor was at first two separate
apartments. Near the end of the 17th or early in the 18th century, a
wide opening was formed in the partition, the original door and doorway,
and part of the surrounding wall being, however, left. Probably at the
same time, the little lobby and powder closet were formed. The latter
has a small opening in its southern wall.
The small staircase in front of the opening leading to the attics
appears to have been erected about 1732–3, as also the portion of the
staircases leading from the second to the first floors, and a short
length of balustrading (Plate 21) at the first floor level.
The front room on the ground floor was dismantled early in the 19th
century and nothing of interest is left.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The indenture[224] relating to the sale of the freehold by Newton
on 26th October, 1639, to Sir Henry Compton, Sir Lewis Dive and
Thos. Brewer, refers to the house as “late in the tenure of the
Rt. Hon. Thomas, Lord Arundell, Baron of Warder, now deceased.”
Thomas Arundell, first Baron Arundell of Wardour, was born in
1560. He greatly distinguished himself in the wars against the
Turks in Hungary, and for his valour, was, in 1590, created Count
of the Holy Roman Empire. He was raised to the English peerage by
James I. in 1605, and died in 1639.
In the sale mentioned above, Compton, Dive and Brewer were acting
on behalf of the Marquess of Clanricarde, and the latter is
referred to as actually in occupation of the house in January,
1639–40.[225]
[Illustration:
_De Burgh._
]
Ulick De Burgh, Marquess of Clanricarde, Earl of St. Albans, was
born “in Clanricarde House, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields, London”[226] in 1604. The exact position of this house is
not known, but it must have been on the north side of the street,
as the south was not built on for many years afterwards. From his
father he inherited, together with the viscounty of Galway, vast
estates and an enormous influence in the south of Ireland. He sat
in the Short Parliament, and accompanied the King in his
expedition against the Scots in 1640. His occupation of the house
on the _south_ side was brief, for in September, 1641, he disposed
of the property to the Earl of Bristol.[227] In the summer of the
latter year[228] he had taken up his residence in Ireland. During
the troublous times that followed the outbreak of the Irish
rebellion in that year, Clanricarde played a prominent part.
Although many of his relatives joined the Irish Confederation, he
alone among the Irish Roman Catholic nobility remained loyal to
the king, kept Galway, of which he was governor, neutral, and made
“his houses and towns a refuge, nay even a hospital, for the
distressed English.”[229] When the Viceroy, Ormonde, quitted
Ireland in 1650, Clanricarde was appointed his deputy, but his
efforts against the parliamentary forces were rendered fruitless
by the distrust with which he was regarded by many of the Irish
royalists. In 1652 he received Charles’s permission to make the
best terms possible with the parliamentarians, and articles were
accordingly concluded, by virtue of which he was able in the same
year to withdraw from Ireland. Though expressly excepted by
statute from pardon for life and estate, he was enabled, by
permits renewed from time to time, to retire for the remainder of
his life to his seat at Summerhill, Kent, where he died in 1657.
Though he was the object of bitter denunciation by the native
Irish faction, he has earned the commendation of Hallam as being
“perhaps the most unsullied character in the annals of
Ireland.”[230]
John Digby, first Earl of Bristol, who followed Clanricarde in the
occupation of the house in Great Queen Street, was the son of Sir
George Digby, of Coleshill, Warwickshire, and was born in 1580. He
gained the favour of James I. and was knighted in 1607. Four years
later he was sent as ambassador to Madrid, and from that time
until 1624 was frequently employed on diplomatic missions of
first-rate importance. In 1618 he was raised to the peerage, and
in 1622 was created Earl of Bristol. In the following year, while
engaged at Madrid in connection with a project for the marriage of
the Infanta Maria and Prince Charles, he managed to offend
bitterly both the latter and Buckingham, who had come to Spain on
a surprise visit. In 1624 he came home and found himself in
disgrace. For the first few years of Charles’s reign, he continued
to be an object of the king’s resentment and spent several months
in the Tower. After 1628 he took no part in politics until the war
against the Scots in 1639. He was the leader of the Great Council
held at York in 1640. Though he came forward in the Long
Parliament as a reformer of the government, yet when it became
necessary to take up a definite side in the civil strife he threw
in his lot with the king. He was with him at Oxford for some time
after the battle of Edgehill, removing thence to Sherborne, and
subsequently, in 1644, to Exeter. On the capitulation of that city
to Fairfax in 1646, he was given a pass to go beyond the seas. He
died in Paris in 1653, and by his will[231] bequeathed to his
second son, John, his house in Queen Street. This house had formed
his residence at the most from September, 1641, to some time
before the battle of Edgehill in October, 1642. By the parliament
he was regarded with peculiar abhorrence, due partly, no doubt, to
the acts of his uncontrollable son, and in August, 1644, an
ordinance was passed providing _inter alia_ that “the house of
John, Earl of Bristol ... in Queen Street ... with the gardens,
stables, edifices and buildings thereunto belonging, with their
appurtenances, heretofore the mansion house of the said Earl of
Bristoll,” should be granted to Lady Brooke for her life, and
after her decease to her youngest son, Fulke Greville.
[Illustration:
_Digby._
]
There is, however, no evidence that Lady Brooke[232] ever lived
there, and the next record that has been found as to the
occupation of Bristol House is contained in a deed[233] of 1654,
by which Antony Wither purchased from the “Trustees for the Sale
of Estates forfeited for Treason, all that messuage or
tenement ... situate in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields ...
in a streete there called Queene Streete ... late in the tenure or
occupation of Thomas, Lord Fayrfax, and now or late in the
tenure ... of Sir William Paston, Knt., ... which said
premises ... are mentioned to have bin late parcell of the
possessions of John, Earle of Bristoll ... whose estate hath bin
and is thereby declared and adjudged to be justly forfeited by him
for his treason against the Parliament and people of England.”
Thomas Fairfax, third Baron Fairfax, was the son of Ferdinando,
second Lord Fairfax, and was born at Denton, in Yorkshire, on 17th
January, 1612. He served in the Low Countries under Sir Horace
Vere, whose daughter he afterwards married. He held a command
during the first Scotch war, and was knighted by the king in
January, 1640. On the outbreak of the Civil War he took up arms on
behalf of the Parliament and gained great distinction. In 1645,
consequent upon the compulsory retirement of officers who were
members of either house (his father among others), he was
appointed to the chief command of the parliamentary forces. He
arrived in London on 18th February, accompanied by his uncle, Sir
William Constable,[234] and two or three officers, and took up his
quarters at “the house in Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn, which had
been hired for the new general during his stay in London.”[235]
During his absence in the field his house in Queen Street was
occupied by his father, with whom he kept up a constant
correspondence.[236] In June, 1645, Fairfax amply vindicated the
Parliament’s choice by his annihilation of the royal army at
Naseby, and on 12th November, 1646, having brought the first
portion of the Civil War to a successful close, he returned to
London to receive the thanks of Parliament and of the City.
Accompanied by dense crowds, “he was conducted to his house in
Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn, amidst deafening cheers and the
ringing of bells; and was received at the door by his wife and his
father, the old lord, with his new bride.”[237] Two days later
both houses of Parliament paid a congratulatory visit to Fairfax
in his house in Queen Street. His father died in March, 1648. In
the second portion of the Civil War, which began later on in the
same year, Fairfax was at first principally occupied with the
siege of Colchester, and his execution of Lucas and Lisle on the
surrender of that town in July, 1648, though bitterly denounced,
seems not to have been without justification. In the events which
led up to the death of Charles in 1649 he seems to have been an
unwilling instrument of the army. In 1650 he resigned the
commandership-in-chief, to which he had again been elected, rather
than take part in the attack on Scotland, and during the whole of
the remaining period, until the death of Cromwell, he lived in
retirement at Nun Appleton, in Yorkshire. He took a leading part
in bringing about the Restoration, but after that was successfully
accomplished he again retired to Nun Appleton, where he spent the
rest of his days in religious exercises. He died on 16th October,
1665.
[Illustration:
_Fairfax._
]
As the house in Great Queen Street had been provided by Parliament
for use as his official residence, his occupation of it probably
ceased on his resignation in June, 1650.
Of Sir William Paston’s residence we have but little record. There
is, however, a letter from him, headed “Queen Street,” and
presumably written from this house, dated 30th January,
1650–51.[238] The deed mentioned above leaves it uncertain whether
he was, in June, 1654, still in occupation of the house.[239] He
had been high sheriff of Norfolk in 1636, was created a baronet in
June, 1642, and died in February, 1663. He was the father of the
first Earl of Yarmouth.
At the Restoration the house again came into the hands of the
Digby family. In a deed of 6th January, 1663–4,[240] it is
referred to as “now in the tenure of George, Earl of Bristol, or
his assignes,” and in the Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665 and 1666, the
Earl of Bristol is shown as in occupation of the house. This was
George, the second Earl, who was born at Madrid, in October, 1612.
When only twelve years old he appeared at the bar of the House of
Commons on behalf of his father, who had been committed to the
Tower, and his graceful person, gallant bearing, and eloquent
speech made a great impression. He enjoyed a distinguished career
at Oxford, and afterwards displayed some literary ability in the
_Letters between the Lord George Digby and Sir Kenelm Digby, Knt.,
concerning Religion_, written in 1638–9. He entered Parliament in
1640, where, although at first hostile to the Court, he afterwards
became one of its strongest adherents. He was responsible for the
proposal for the prosecution of the five members, and even
suggested that they should be followed into the City and taken by
force. In February, 1642, he was impeached of high treason and
fled to Holland, but soon returned. In September, 1643, he was
appointed one of the secretaries of state, and as one of the
king’s chief advisers did incalculable harm to the royal cause. In
October, 1645, he was made lieutenant-general of the royal forces
north of the Trent, and was defeated at Sherburn. The next few
years he spent chiefly in Ireland, whence, on its surrender to the
Parliament, he escaped to the Continent, gaining and losing favour
in France, joining Prince Charles at Bruges and accompanying him
to Spain. In 1657 he became a Roman Catholic. On the Restoration
he returned to England. Being debarred from office on account of
his religion, his energy found vent in an unreasoning hostility to
Clarendon, in which he went so far that he provoked the keenest
resentment on the part of the king, and had to remain in
concealment for nearly two years. He died at Beaufort House,
Chelsea,[241] in March, 1677, leaving behind him a reputation for
brilliant but misdirected ability.
His residence in Great Queen Street seems to have terminated
before 1671,[242] for under date of 26th May in that year, Evelyn
records: “The Earl of Bristol’s house in Queen Street was taken
for the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and furnished with
rich hangings of the King’s. It consisted of seven rooms on a
floor, with a long gallery, gardens, etc.... We then took our
places at the Board in the Council Chamber, a very large roome
furnished with atlasses, maps, charts, globes, etc.”[243] Evelyn
had only recently (see Diary for 28th February) been appointed on
the Council of Foreign Plantations,[244] and the above entry
refers to the first occasion on which he attended as a member, and
gives no clue as to the date on which the house had been taken for
the use of either of the Commissions.[245] On 12th February,
1671–2, Evelyn records the determination of the Council to meet in
future at Whitehall.[246]
The Hearth Tax Rolls for 1673 and 1675 show the Earl of Devonshire
as then in occupation of the house. He would, indeed, seem to have
acquired most of the interests in the premises by or before July,
1667,[247] and it is quite possible that his residence extended on
both sides of the short occupation by the Boards of Trade and
Plantations.
[Illustration:
_Cavendish._
]
William Cavendish, third Earl of Devonshire, was born in 1617. He
derived his education in part from his father’s old tutor, Thomas
Hobbes, the philosopher, in whose company he travelled abroad from
1634 to 1637. At the beginning of the Civil War he embraced the
royalist cause, and on being impeached by Parliament, refused to
submit, and left the country. In 1645 he returned to England, and
on payment of a large fine received a pardon for his former
delinquency. During the remainder of the Commonwealth period he
lived in retirement at Latimers, in Buckinghamshire, and even
after the Restoration he resided mainly in the country. He was one
of the original fellows of the Royal Society, and in 1669 was
appointed a commissioner of trade.[248] He died in 1684 at
Roehampton.
In June, 1674, the Earl of Devonshire had sold the remainder of
the original 99 years’ lease of the house to the Earl of
Sunderland,[249] who in the Jury Presentment Roll for 1683 is
shown in occupation of the house. He parted with his interests in
the property in April, 1684, and his occupation may therefore with
reasonable certainty be assigned to the period 1674–84.[250]
[Illustration:
_Spencer._
]
Robert Spencer, second Earl of Sunderland, the only son of Henry
Spencer, the first Earl, and “Sacharissa,” was born in 1640, and
succeeded to the earldom only three years later. In 1665 he
married Lady Anne Digby, younger daughter of the second Earl of
Bristol. In preparation for his future political career, he now
began paying court to the royal favourites, and in 1671 invited
Mdlle. de Keroualle (afterwards Duchess of Portsmouth) “to his
town house in Queen Street, and lost enormous sums to her at
basset.”[251] This can hardly have been Bristol House, for the
facts seem quite inconsistent with Sunderland’s residence there so
early as 1671. More probably it was his mother’s house at the
eastern end of Great Queen Street. From 1671 to 1678 he was
employed on several diplomatic errands abroad. In 1679 he became
secretary of state for the northern department, but in 1681
incurred the king’s displeasure, and consequently lost both his
secretaryship and his seat on the Privy Council. Afterwards he
regained his place by the influence of the Duchess of Portsmouth,
and on the accession of James II. in 1685 he speedily ingratiated
himself with the new king, who made him Lord President of the
Council. While assiduously cultivating James’s favour, he was also
receiving a substantial secret pension from Louis XIV. for the
promotion of French interests, and through his wife’s lover, Henry
Sidney, was furnishing William of Orange with particulars of the
most secret transactions of the English Court. By degrees his
position became more and more difficult and, although in 1687 he
had embraced the Roman Catholic faith, not all his duplicity could
prevent the growing dissatisfaction with which James regarded what
he considered as his lukewarm service, and in 1688 he was
dismissed and fled to Holland. Though excepted from the Act of
Indemnity, he was in 1691 permitted to return to England. He
declared himself again a Protestant, and his advice soon became
indispensable to William. His influence gradually grew until in
1697 all the hatred and jealousy with which he was regarded came
to a head, and he resigned in a panic. The rest of his life he
passed in seclusion at Althorp, and he died in 1702. “With the
possible exception of Northumberland in Edward VI.’s reign, it is
doubtful whether English history has to show a more crafty and
unprincipled intriguer.”[252]
In the course of 1684 all interests in the house in Great Queen
Street were acquired[253] by John, Lord Belasyse,[254] and the
premises were now divided into two, afterwards respectively Nos.
55–56, and Nos. 57–58. The later history of the latter will come
naturally under the head of the Freemasons’ Hall, a part of which
now occupies the site.
As regards Nos. 55–56, we learn that prior to 1689[255] this
portion of the original mansion had been occupied by the Duke of
Norfolk.
Henry Howard, seventh Duke of Norfolk, was born in January, 1655,
and succeeded to the title in January, 1684. He was noted for his
staunch Protestantism. He joined in the invitation to the Prince
of Orange, and on the latter’s landing brought over the eastern
counties to his interest. He died at Norfolk House, St. James’s
Square, in 1701. His residence at Nos. 55–56, Great Queen Street
must have fallen in the period 1684–1689.
Subsequently the house was occupied by Thomas Stonor, who had
married the Hon. Isabella Belasyse, to whom her father, Lord
Belasyse, had bequeathed this portion of the original house.
Stonor is shown in occupation in 1698, 1700 and 1703. In 1718 the
house was sold[256] to Sir Godfrey Kneller, then already in
occupation of the premises.
Sir Godfrey Kneller (originally Gottfried Kniller) was born at
Lübeck in 1646, son of a portrait painter. He was at first
intended for the military profession, but his love for painting
proved so strong that his father sent him to Amsterdam to study
under Ferdinand Bol. In 1672 he went to Italy, and soon acquired a
considerable reputation. Afterwards he visited Hamburg, and in
1675 came to England, where his work attracted the notice of the
Duke of Monmouth, by whose influence he was in 1678 introduced to
Charles II. He at once leaped into popularity, and after the death
of Sir Peter Lely in 1680 reigned supreme in the domain of
portrait painting. He acquired great wealth, and, though he lost
heavily in the South Sea Bubble, he left a large fortune. His
residence at Nos. 55–56, Great Queen Street seems to have
commenced about 1703,[257] and here he lived until his death in
1723. By his will[258] he left to his wife, amongst other
property, “all that my messuage or house, outhouses, stableyards
and garden thereunto belonging in Great Queen Street ... in which
I now dwell,” as well as the next door house (Nos. 57–58), which
he had also purchased. He also mentions the “six pictures of mine
and my wife’s relations painted by myself, and now in my great
dining room in my said dwelling house in Great Queen Street, and
also the three pictures put up for ornament over the doors in the
said room.”
The well-known interchange of wit between Kneller and Dr.
Radcliffe is by several authors[259] said to have taken place in
Great Queen Street. Radcliffe, it appears, was Kneller’s next door
neighbour, and there being great intimacy between them, Kneller
allowed the former to have a door into his garden where he had a
fine collection of flowers. On Radcliffe’s servants picking the
flowers, Kneller sent word to the doctor that he would shut up the
door. The latter replied that he might do anything with it but
_paint_ it; whereupon Kneller rejoined that he could take anything
from the doctor but his _physic_. There is, however, no evidence
that Radcliffe ever lived in Great Queen Street. He settled in Bow
Street, Covent Garden in 1684[260]; he was still in Covent Garden
in 1706 according to the _Catalogue_ of the College of Physicians;
and the issues of the _Catalogue_ for 1707 onwards show him at
Southampton Square. He died in 1714. Wheatley and Cunningham[261]
appear to be right in assigning the incident to the time when
Kneller was living in the Piazza, Covent Garden.
No records concerning the occupation of the house are available
between 1723 and 1730. It would seem, however, that prior to the
latter year, the Earl of Bellamont had been resident there,[262]
for the entry in that year consists of the name “Lord Bellment,”
erased, and followed by the name of Robert Holdmay. In 1732 the
house is shown as empty, and on its re-occupation in the following
year it was further divided, as at present, into the two houses
Nos. 55 and 56. The names of the residents, as given on the
ratebooks, from that time until 1800 are as follows:—
_No. 55._ _No. 56._
1733–42. Barth. Dandridge. 1733–37. Coston Aston.
1746–48. [263]Lady Dinely 1740–44. Madame Bowne.
Goodyer.
1751–58. Chas. Hoare. 1744. [263]Chas. Leivez.
1758–61. Lord Halton. 1745. —— Pritchard.
1761–65. Chas. Hoare. 1746–50. Chas. Leivez.
1766. Widow Hoare. 1750–61. Ben Wilson.
1767–70. [264]Godfrey Kneller. 1761–68. Jno. Palmer.
1770–82. Coach Office. 1768–69. W. Brereton.
1782–90. Jas. McGee. 1770–74. Ed. Taylor.
1790–99. Jas. Wilson. 1775–78. Wm. Mattingnon.
1799– [264]J. Kneller. 1779. Miss Lavell.
1780–82. —— Bowen.
1782–86. John Hoole.
1786–88. Jas. Boswell.
1788–89. Ed. Jones.
1791– W. Chippendale.
Bartholomew Dandridge obtained a considerable practice in the
reign of George II. as a painter of portraits; he also painted
small conversation-pieces.[265]
Benjamin Wilson was born at Leeds in 1721. His father, Major
Wilson, a wealthy clothier, lost his money while Benjamin was
still a youth, and the latter came to London to earn a living. If
his statements are true, the frugality which he exercised must
have been extraordinary. At all events, he managed to save, and
obtaining after a time a position with some little leisure, he
resumed the artistic studies which he had been compelled to
renounce. By degrees his perseverance and ability made him known,
and from 1748 to 1750 he was in Ireland executing commissions for
portraits. On his return he settled at No. 56, Great Queen Street.
While here his reputation steadily increased, and 1761 he moved to
Nos. 57–58, a larger house.[266] In 1771 he again removed, this
time to Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury. In 1767 he was appointed
painter to the Board of Ordnance. Wilson was also a student of
chemistry, and had a reputation for his knowledge of electricity,
receiving in 1760 the gold medal of the Royal Society for his
electrical experiments. He died at his house in Great Russell
Street[267] in 1788.
John Hoole, translator, was born in Moorfields in 1727, the son of
a watchmaker and inventive mechanician. He obtained a position in
the accomptant’s office of the East India Company, and rose to be
successively auditor of Indian accompts and principal auditor. He
resigned about the end of 1785. His residence in Great Queen
Street seems to have commenced in 1782, and it lasted to April,
1786, when he retired to the parsonage at Abinger, Surrey. He died
at Dorking in 1803. His chief works are the translations of Tasso
and Ariosto. He also wrote the life of John Scott of Amwell,
which, as it was published in 1785, was probably composed in the
house in Great Queen Street, and three plays.
James Boswell, biographer, son of Alexander Boswell, Lord
Auchinleck, was born in Edinburgh in 1740. In 1760 he first
visited London, and in 1762, with much difficulty, prevailed upon
his father to let him return there. On 7th May, 1763, he was
introduced by Davies the actor to Dr. Johnson. From August, 1763,
to February, 1766, he was on the Continent studying law at
Utrecht, travelling in Italy, and consorting with Paoli in
Corsica, and returned with his head full of the latter. The result
was the publication in 1768 of _An Account of Corsica; the Journal
of a Tour to that Island_. He now commenced work in earnest as an
advocate at the Scottish bar, and for some years visited London
but seldom. In November, 1769, he married his cousin, Margaret
Montgomery. In 1773 he accompanied Johnson on the journey which is
described in the _Journal of a Tour in the Hebrides_; the
indiscretions of the narrative produced a rapid sale when it was
printed some years afterwards. In June 1784, he met Johnson for
the last time. In 1786 he was called to the English Bar, and moved
to London. In a letter, dated May, 1786, to Mickle, the translator
of the Lusiad, he writes[268] that he has the house of his friend
Hoole (who, as has been seen above, left No. 56, Great Queen
Street in April, 1786), and a later letter,[269] dated 9th
February, 1788, to Bishop Percy, is headed “London, Great Queen
Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.” In 1789 he removed to Queen Anne
Street West, and subsequently to No. 122 (formerly 47), Great
Portland Street, where he died in May, 1795. His fame rests upon
his biography of Dr. Johnson, one of the greatest books ever
written. There can be no doubt that a portion of the book was
composed in No. 56, Great Queen Street. In 1905 the London County
Council affixed to the house a tablet of blue encaustic ware,
commemorative of Boswell’s residence.[270]
In Wheatley and Cunningham’s _London, Past and Present_[271] it is
stated that after the occupation of Hoole (whose residence is
wrongly identified with that of Worlidge, see p. 77) the house
“was rented by Chippendale, the cabinet-maker, whose furniture has
during the last few years been so eagerly sought after and
imitated.” Inasmuch, however, as Chippendale died in 1779, and
Hoole’s residence did not terminate until 1786, this is
impossible. The statement probably originated in the fact that a
person of the same name is shown in the ratebooks as an occupant
of this house (see above). But it is William Chippendale, not
Thomas; the period of his occupation is from 1791 onwards; and he
was not a furniture maker, but an attorney.[272]
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[273] Ground, first and second floor plans (measured drawing).
Attic floor plan (measured drawing).
Elevation of houses in Great Queen Street by Sir J. Soane,
preserved in the Soane Museum (photograph).
[721] Sketch, by J. Nash in 1840 (print).
[721] “House called Queen Anne’s Wardrobe,” drawn by J. W. Archer,
1846 (photograph).
[721] “House of the Sardinia Ambassador,” drawn by J. W. Archer,
1858 (photograph).
Elevation measured by J. Cooke (print).
[721] The exterior, May, 1906 (photograph).
The exterior, June, 1906 (photograph).
Staircase in No. 55—
[721]Ground to first floor (photograph).
First floor level (photograph).
[721] Archway from passageway to staircase in No. 55.
[721] Staircases in Nos. 55 and 56, details (measured drawing).
XXXVIII.—FREEMASONS’ HALL.
GROUND LANDLORDS.
The United Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The present Freemasons’ Hall and buildings connected therewith occupy
the sites of two original houses and parts of two others. These were
reckoning from west to east: (i.) the eastern half of Bristol House;
(ii.) Rivers House; (iii.) the house on which the statue of the Queen
was placed; (iv.) the western half of Conway House.
The origin of (i.) has already been described.[274] It was, in its turn,
divided into two in 1812 or 1813,[275] and seems to have been demolished
between 1840 and 1846.
(ii.) The house to the east of Bristol House is easily identifiable with
that which is described in a deed[276] dated 31st July, 1641, as
abutting on the west “upon another mesuage of the same building now in
the occupacion of the Earle of St. Albans [_i.e._, Clanricarde].” The
premises had a frontage of 44 feet upon Queen Street, and the ground
extended southward 200 feet or “neere thereabout” to the garden of
Humfrey Weld. The eastern boundary was “a new messuage where the statue
of the Queenes Majestie is placed.” It is mentioned that the Countess
Rivers then had tenure of the house, which had previously been in the
occupation of “the ledger Embassador of the King of Spaine.” As the
house is mentioned as being in existence and in fact occupied by the
Spanish Ambassador on 22nd January, 1637–8,[277] its erection may be
assigned with certainty to the year 1637.
The original house was pulled down in 1739, and on the site two houses
were built fronting Great Queen Street, and a number of others on the
ground behind.[278] In the centre of the Great Queen Street frontage was
an archway leading to the premises in the rear, and known as Queen’s
Court.[279] Whether this simply reproduced a feature of the old mansion
(there were similar archways on the west side of Bristol House and the
east side of Conway House), or whether it was consequent on the
necessity for communication between the street and the new houses
behind, is uncertain.
(iii.) It has been seen above that the next house eastwards was “a new
messuage where the statue of the Queenes Majestie is placed.” This,
therefore, is the house referred to in an indenture[280] of 20 May,
1674, as “fronting upon the streete called Queene Street, wherein is
made a nichy or place for a statue to be placed in.” The property is
said to contain 44 feet frontage, to extend southwards 200 feet, and to
have belonged originally to Anthony Wither. It may thus be identified
with the messuage and garden in St. Giles-in-the-Fields referred to as
having been sold in 1637 by William Newton to Anthony Wyther,[281] so
that in this case also 1637 was the date of erection. The statue of the
Queen, which was gilt, was pulled down in 1651,[282] which accounts for
the fact that the deed of 1674 could only record the existence of a
niche, with no statue. At some time between 1702 and 1709 the premises
were divided, not lengthwise but breadthwise, a passage being formed to
lead from the street to that house which was in the rear. In 1774 the
houses were purchased by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.
(iv.) The fourth house is mentioned in a deed[283] of 20th December,
1641, as “all that capitall messuage or tenement with one yard, one
court and one garden plott, stable, coachhouses and outhouses, as they
are now erected, built and inclosed with brick wall to the same
belonging or therewithal now used or enjoyed, scituate and being in
Queene Street ... now being in the tenure or occupation of Edward, Lord
Viscount Conway and Killultagh which ... conteyneth in front towards
Queene Street 88 feet ... and the said messuage, yard, court and garden
plott doe extend from the said streete backward towards the south unto
the garden of Humfrey Weld, Esq., 199 feet or thereabouts, scituate
lying and being between the messuage, yard and garden plote of Anthony
Wither, Esq., now in the tenure ... of the Lord Awbyney on the west, and
the messuage of Peter Mills, bricklayer, now in the tenure of the
Countess of Essex. And also all those greate gates and gateway[284] over
which some part of Peter Mills messuage is erected, leading out of
Queene Street into the courtyard and garden, with liberty of way by a
dore made or to be made out of the south-east corner of the said garden
in by and through a way and passage of 8 feet in breadth intended to be
made by William Newton over the sewer ... and to lead into ... Princes
Street.”
In 1696 the house was in a dangerous condition, and an Act of Parliament
was obtained authorising its repair and letting on lease for 51
years[285]. The house was still in existence in May, 1743[286]. By
November of the same year, however, it had been demolished, and on its
site four houses, each 22 feet wide, had been erected, or were then in
course of erection on the Great Queen Street frontage.
Having thus dealt with the history of the earlier buildings on the site,
it remains to describe the various processes by which the existing
premises came to be erected. We will therefore return to the purchase,
in 1774, by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, of the house on
which the statue of Queen Henrietta Maria had formerly stood.
This site is now occupied by the eastern half of the main block,
including the Temple. The premises (as shown on the plan and elevation
Plate 22) consisted of a house facing the street and a small house at
the back adjoining the garden, which was probably used subsequently as a
museum. The former was let on a short lease to a Mr. Brooks, paper
stainer, and the latter became the original Freemasons’ Coffee House or
Tavern, a portion being fitted up as offices (with Committee Room) for
the use of the Grand Lodge. The front house was in design similar to
Nos. 55 and 56, except that the elevation showed a parapet, added in
1779, and the front of the ground floor storey had also been
considerably altered.
“Notwithstanding the large expenditure in repairs and alterations of the
old premises ... it was found that, as the business increased, they were
ill adapted for tavern purposes; the Grand Lodge therefore, on the
advice of Thomas Sandby, Esq., R.A., Grand Architect, and William Tyler,
Esq., P. G. Steward, another eminent architect, decided to demolish the
old buildings and erect instead a large tavern connected with the Hall,
with suitable accommodation for the Grand Secretary and the meetings of
Lodges and other Societies. This was a serious undertaking in view of
the fact that the Hall was not yet paid for and the amount received for
its use was barely enough for working expenses—still it was, no doubt,
the right thing to do, considering the great age of the structure.”[287]
The Hall (or Temple) was built in 1775 by Thomas Sandby, and was opened
on 23rd May, 1776. The tavern was built in 1786 by William Tyler, and a
view of the front is preserved in the Grand Lodge Library (Plate 23).
[Illustration:
THE DISASTROUS FIRE AT FREEMASONS’ HALL, GREAT QUEEN STREET—THE SCENE
OF THE CONFLAGRATION
]
The Temple is the only remaining structure of this period. It is
rectangular in shape, 78 feet long, 38 feet wide, and about 58 feet
high. It was designed to represent the interior of a Roman Doric Temple.
The side walls are enriched with pilasters, and the ends with attached
columns. A gallery is placed over the vestibule at the entrance end. It
is fitted with an ornamental balustrade stretching between the columns,
which here rise clear and support the main entablature. Opposite is a
small apse which contains a statue of the Duke of Sussex, executed by E.
H. Bailey in 1839. In the original design a small gallery was placed in
either angle of this end of the Temple, but these were not replaced
after the fire of 1883. Illustrations of the Temple before and after the
fire are preserved in the Grand Lodge Library. The ceiling is flat, with
an enriched modelled ornament somewhat out of keeping with the rest of
the design. It is connected with the cornice of the order by a deep cove
pierced with semi-circular windows, but those originally existing on the
east side have been lately filled in. The decorations are in excellent
taste, and treated with soft colouring, the mouldings and enrichments
being picked out in gold, the whole generally harmonising with the
portraits and other paintings and panels on the walls.
The vestibule to the Temple (see Plate 28) is paved with mosaic brought
by Mr. W. H. Mordsley from Jerusalem, and laid in position in 1873, the
inscription on the floor being as follows:—
“THIS PAVEMENT FORMED OF ANTIQUE TESSERÆ COLLECTED AT JERUSALEM BY
THE W. HENRY MORDSLEY, P.G.D., AND PRESENTED BY HIM TO THE GRAND
LODGE WAS LAID IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE GRAND MASTERSHIP OF
H.R.H. ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, A.L., 5877.
F. P. COCKERELL, GD. SUPT. OF WORKS.”
In 1815 the two houses comprising the western half of Conway House were
acquired by the aid of Sir John Soane. These were connected by openings,
and used by the Grand Lodge. Shortly afterwards, Soane commenced the
designing of additional premises at the rear of these two houses. In
1828 building operations were begun, and in the following year the works
were completed. The Grand Lodge in 1832 thanked Sir John Soane for his
completion of the work and for his donation of £500.[288]
Plate 27 is a reproduction of a pen and ink drawing in the Soane Museum,
probably by Soane himself, showing his design for the new Hall of the
Tavern. It is evidently the original sketch for the elaborate water
colour drawing, in the Hogarth Room, executed by either J. M. Gandy,
A.R.A., or C. J. Richardson. This hall did not long exist. In 1863 the
two houses on the site of Rivers House were demolished, together with
all the Tavern and Grand Lodge premises, excepting Sandby’s Temple, and
preparations were made for the erection of a new building after designs
by F. P. Cockerell, son of Professor C. R. Cockerell, R.A. The
foundation stone was laid on 27th April, 1864, and the building was
finished in 1866. The exterior is shown on Plate 24 and the principal
features of the interior not already mentioned, are the staircase (Plate
28) and the first floor corridor.[289]
In 1899 a western wing on the site of the eastern half of Bristol
House[290] was added, from the designs of Henry L. Florence, to provide
more accommodation for the Grand Lodge, including a Library and Museum.
The most recent alterations and additions to the Tavern were made in
1910, when these premises were named “The Connaught Rooms.” These works
were carried out by Messrs. Brown and Barrow. Very little of Cockerell’s
work in the Banqueting Hall has been retained.
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS HALL GREAT QUEEN STREET W.C.
PLAN OF FIRST FLOOR
BEFORE THE ALTERATIONS IN 1899.
]
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in excellent condition.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
_Bristol House, Eastern Half._
After the division of Bristol House into two about 1684, the first
four occupants of the eastern half (Nos. 57–58) were[291] the Earl
of Wiltshire, the Earl of Stamford, Henry, Viscount Montagu, and
the Portuguese Envoy.
Charles Powlett, afterwards second Duke of Bolton, second and
eldest surviving son of the first Duke, was born in 1661. During
the lifetime of his father he was known as the Earl of Wiltshire.
He accompanied the Prince of Orange on his expedition in 1688,
having a few months previously gone over to Holland, and was one
of the advanced guard who entered Exeter with him. He seems to
have stood high in William’s favour. He succeeded his father in
the dukedom in 1699, and was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in
1717. He continued to occupy a fairly prominent place about the
court until his death in 1722. His residence in Great Queen Street
began in 1684, or a little later, and he was still in occupation
of the house on 22nd April, 1689.[291]
[Illustration:
_Grey._
]
Thomas Grey, second Earl of Stamford, born in 1654, was the only
son of Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby. He succeeded his
grandfather in the earldom in 1673. In 1681 he was arrested on a
charge of complicity in the Rye House plot, and remained in the
Tower until March, 1686. On the landing of the Prince of Orange he
took up arms in his favour, and afterwards was appointed to
numerous official positions, becoming Lord Lieutenant of
Devonshire, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and President of
the Board of Trade and Foreign Plantations. On the accession of
Anne, he was dismissed from all his offices, but afterwards
regained his position at the head of the Board of Trade. He died
in 1720. His residence in Great Queen Street must have terminated
some time before 1703, at which date “Henry Browne” is shown in
occupation.
[Illustration:
_Browne._
]
Henry Browne, fifth Viscount Montagu, was born some time before
1641.[292] He succeeded his brother Francis in the title in June,
1708. His residence at the house in Great Queen Street commenced
some time, probably not long, before 1703,[293] and lasted at
least until 1715,[294] possibly until his death, which occurred in
1717 at Epsom.[295] He was succeeded in the title by his son,
Anthony, who three years later married Barbara Webb, to whose
mother, Lady Barbara Webb, daughter of Lord Belasyse, the eastern
half of Bristol House had come by way of bequest.
After the occupation by Lord Montagu the house was used as the
residence of the Portuguese Envoy.[296] The earliest mention of
him as occupying the house is dated 5th March, 1718–9. How long
the Embassy was situated here is uncertain. The house is referred
to in Sir Godfrey Kneller’s will,[297] dated 27th April, 1723, as
“now in the possession of the Portugal Envoy.” In a codicil, dated
18th July, in the same year, it is described as “now or late in
the occupation of the Portugal Envoy,” and Kneller states that the
premises are much out of repair, and that he proposes to spend a
sum of £200 in works. It would almost seem therefore that the
envoy left the house between April and July, 1723, and some
confirmation of this suggestion is found in the fact that in the
Westminster sewer ratebook, dated 18th July, 1723, the name, not
of the Portuguese Envoy, but of Sir Godfrey Kneller, the owner,
appears for the house.
After the departure of the Portuguese Envoy, the house was used
for the purposes of the Great Wardrobe.[298] The parish ratebooks
from 1730 (the earliest extant) until 1748 show “Thos. Dummer,
Esq.,” the deputy[299] of John, Duke of Montagu, keeper of the
Great Wardrobe, as in occupation.
The occupants of Nos. 57–58 from the time of the Great Wardrobe
were as follows:—
1750–60. John Jackson.
1761–71. Benjamin Wilson.
1771–72. —— Salvadore.
1772–76. John Henderson.
1777–82. Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
1782–90. A. and E. Boak.
1791– Boak and Banson.
For particulars as to Benjamin Wilson, see under Nos. 55–56, Great
Queen Street (p. 57).
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, son of Thomas Sheridan, actor and
“orthoepist,” was born in Dublin in 1751. When he was nineteen
years of age, his father settled at Bath. In the winter of 1773,
soon after his marriage with Miss Linley, the couple came to live
in London,[300] and Sheridan essayed to earn his living by
writing. In January, 1775, _The Rivals_ appeared, and by the end
of the year Sheridan had become a favourite with playgoers. Next
year he became manager and part-proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre.
In 1791–4 the theatre was pulled down and rebuilt, and the
expenditure greatly exceeding the estimate, Sheridan undertook to
pay the liabilities thus incurred. The destruction of the new
theatre by fire, however, in 1809, involved him in financial
troubles which continued until his death. As a dramatic writer he
far excelled all his contemporaries. His chief plays were: _The
Rivals_, _St. Patrick’s Day_, _The Duenna_, _A Trip to
Scarborough_, _The School for Scandal_, _The Critic_, _Pizarro_.
From 1780 he was no less prominent in political than in literary
life. In September of that year he entered the House of Commons as
member for Stafford, and soon became noted as an orator. For two
periods of short duration in 1782–3 he was respectively
under-secretary for foreign affairs and secretary to the Treasury,
and in 1806–7 was treasurer to the Navy. Among his most noteworthy
oratorical achievements must be placed his speeches in connection
with the trial of Warren Hastings. His last speech in Parliament
was made in June, 1812. Soon after his entry into Parliament he
had become personally acquainted with the Prince of Wales, and
ever after acted as his confidential adviser. Sheridan died in
Savile Row in July, 1816, and was awarded a public funeral in
Westminster Abbey.
His occupation of the house in Great Queen Street is shown by the
parish ratebooks to have lasted from 1777 to 1782.[301] The former
date is confirmed by a letter from W. Windham, dated 5th January,
1778, directed to “Ric. Brinsley Sheridan, Esq.,” at “Queen
Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.”[302] It is said that on the day of
Garrick’s funeral (1779), after the ceremony was over, Sheridan
“spent the remainder of the day in silence, with a few select
friends, at his residence in Great Queen Street.”[303]
_Rivers House._
The first occupant of the house immediately to the east of Bristol
House, occupying the site of what were afterwards Nos. 59 and 60,
Great Queen Street, was the Spanish Ambassador, who has been shown
above[304] to have been in residence on 22nd January, 1637–8. A
reference to his occupation of the house occurs in the following:
“May 10, 1638. The Spanish Ambassador, the Conde de Oniate,
accompanied with an Irish gentleman of the order of Calatrava, in
the Holy Week, came to Denmark House to do his devotions in the
Queen’s Chapel there. He went off thence about 10 o’clock, a dozen
torches carried before him by his servants, and some behind him.
He and the Irish gentleman were in the front with their beads in
their hands, which hung at a cross, some English also were among
them; so that with their own company and many who followed after,
they appeared a great troop. They walk from Denmark House down the
Strand in great formality, turn into the Covent Garden, thence to
Seignior Con’s house in Long Acre, so to his own house in Queen’s
Street.”[305] Writing to Sir John Pennington from the Earl of
Northumberland’s residence [_i.e._, probably next door] on 21st
November, 1638, Thomas Smith says: “The Spanish Ambassador was
robbed here last night of all his church plate. The thieves are
not heard of.”[306]
In July, 1641, the Countess Rivers purchased the house, being
already in occupation of the premises.[307] This was Elizabeth,
eldest daughter and co-heir of Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy of Chich,
afterwards created Viscount Colchester and (on 4th November, 1626)
Earl Rivers. She married, in 1602, Sir Thos. Savage, Bt., of Rock
Savage, Chester, who was created Viscount Savage on the same day
that his father-in-law was raised to the earldom. He died in 1635,
and in April, 1641, about fifteen months after her father’s death,
his widow was created Countess Rivers for life. She died in March,
1651.
[Illustration:
_Elizabeth, Countess Rivers._
]
The Subsidy Roll for 1646 contains among the few items relating to
the south side of Great Queen Street, one, “The Lady Savige her
house,” which undoubtedly refers to the Countess Rivers. That she
was resident at the house that year appears from the fact that in
April, 1646, she petitioned[308] the House of Lords, stating that
her houses in Suffolk and Essex, with all her personal estate, had
been utterly wasted and destroyed, so that if she and her family
were forced to leave their present residence they must be exposed
to a misery not to be expressed. She pointed out that both she and
her servants had taken the negative oath, and therefore she prayed
for a licence for herself and family to remain in her house in
Queen Street.
On the Countess’s death the house presumably came into the
possession of her son, the second Earl Rivers. John Savage, born
before 1610, succeeded his father as Viscount Savage in 1635, and
his maternal grandfather as Earl Rivers in 1640. He died in 1654,
and was succeeded by his son Thomas, third Earl Rivers, born
before 1626.[309] The third Earl’s residence at the house in Great
Queen Street was divided into two periods, the house having
apparently been let for some time _circ._ 1670–80. That the Savage
family were in occupation in 1658 is clear from the terms of a
letter[310] dated 24th September in that year from Sir William
Persall:
“Our Queen Street news is ill; my Lady Rivers[311] is in a very
ill condition of health.” The Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665 and
1666[312] give the name of the Earl in connection with the house,
and to this period is apparently to be assigned the further
letter[313] dated 3rd October, in an unknown year, by Sir William
Persall, in the following terms: “Give me leave to render you the
history of our Queen Street family, and the reason of the bill on
the door which found at my coming up. They had intelligence that
the constables were to come and present the names of all church
absentees popishly affected;[314] so they consulted in my absence
and resolved to set the bill on the door, and give it out my Lady
Rivers was in the country, Sir Francis Petre[315] in common
garden[316] out of the parish, Sir Will. Persall gone to live at
his house in the country, none but servants left; when everyday
half-a-dozen coaches come to visit us, and the baskets of meat as
full as ever, and two or three brewers still carrying in ale and
beer; and all for Tom Browne, who, poor man, is already half
damn’d with telling of lies to all that come to inquire of us, as
well friends as others. But they have given us in, as Tom Brown
reported that we were all gone except my Lady Mary,[317] who is
but fifteen, and so incapable to take the oath, and yet I hear
they have taken our names again.”
In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1673 Col. Thos. Howard is shown as
occupying the house. He was succeeded by “Lord Obryant” (_Hearth
Tax Roll_ for 1675). This is undoubtedly Lord O’Brien, afterwards
the second Earl of Inchiquin.
[Illustration:
_O’Brien._
]
William O’Brien, son of Murrough O’Brien, sixth Baron and first
Earl of Inchiquin, was born about 1638. He was brought up in
London at the house of Sir Philip Perceval, and afterwards saw
much military service with his father in France and Spain. In 1660
they were both captured by an Algerian corsair, and carried into
Algiers, but were subsequently ransomed by the English Government.
His residence in the house in Great Queen Street seems to have
begun about November, 1673. Writing to Williamson on the 28th of
that month,[318] he says: “I rejoice at nothing more in my remove
to Queen Street than to be able to assure you that besides a
hearty welcome, there is a couple of good rooms at your command.”
Again, on 20th February, 1673–4,[319] he writes to Williamson with
reference to the latter’s German voyage, adding that “your poor
friends in Queen Street wish you really as well as any of those
that contrive this voyage for you.” A few weeks afterwards he was
appointed captain general of the forces in Africa and governor and
vice-admiral of Tangier, a position which he held for six years.
He succeeded his father in the title on 9th September, 1674. On
the Revolution he supported William III. and in 1690 was appointed
captain general and governor of Jamaica, where his troubles with
the French and negroes, increased by his want of tact, undoubtedly
shortened his life. He died in January, 1691–2.
The ratebook for 1683 shows the house again in the occupation of
Earl Rivers. He died in 1694 at the house in Great Queen
Street.[320]
The Jury Presentment Roll for 1698 shows “Lady Rivers” at the
house, but whether this refers to the widow of the third Earl[321]
or the second wife of the fourth Earl[322] is not known.
In the ratebook for 1700 no name appears against the house, but in
those for 1703 and 1709 Earl Rivers is shown in occupation.
Richard, the fourth Earl (“Tyburn Dick”) was handsome, brave, and
a most notorious rake. As Lord Colchester (a title he obtained
after his elder brother’s death), he had been the first nobleman
to welcome the Prince of Orange on his landing. During William’s
reign he saw a great deal of military service in Ireland and on
the Continent. Being strongly recommended by Marlborough, he was
in 1706 appointed to the command of a force originally intended
for a descent on France, but afterwards diverted to Portugal.
Rivers was, however, superseded within a few weeks after his
landing and returned home. He owed much to Marlborough’s
influence, but being unable, in 1709, to induce him to support his
candidature for the position of constable of the Tower, he paid
court to the other side, and the grant to him of the appointment
on the recommendation of Harley was the first sign of the coming
fall of the Whigs. High in favour, he was in 1710 sent on a
delicate political mission to Hanover, and in 1711 was created
master of the ordnance. He died in August, 1712, at his house at
Ealing Grove.
In his will[323] he left to Mrs. Elizabeth Colleton _alias_
Johnson,[324] “all my mansion house called Rivers House, scituate
in Great Queen Street,” and in the ratebook for 1715 the occupant
of the house is given as “Mrs. Eliz. Collington,” with a note “an
ambassador’s house and gone away.”
The next occupant of the house was apparently William, sixth Baron
North.[325] He was son of Charles, fifth Baron North, who had on
his marriage with Catherine, only daughter of William, Lord Grey
of Wark, taken the title of Lord Grey. He succeeded to the titles
in 1691. He served with Marlborough throughout the war of the
Spanish Succession, at the end of which he held the rank of
lieutenant-general. During the latter part of Anne’s reign his
Jacobite sympathies became more and more pronounced. On the
accession of the Hanoverian dynasty he therefore became an object
of suspicion, and on 28th September, 1722, was committed to the
Tower for complicity in Atterbury’s plot.[326] He escaped and was
re-arrested, but subsequently was admitted to heavy bail. Shortly
afterwards he left the country and never returned, dying at Madrid
in October, 1734. His residence at Rivers House must have been
short, commencing some time between 1715 and 1720, and terminating
either at or before his committal to the Tower in 1722.
In the will of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers, there is mention of
“Miss Bessy Savage,” to whom the Earl left £10,000 on condition
that she married with the consent of Mrs. Colleton. “Bessy” was
the Earl’s illegitimate daughter by the latter, and in August,
1714, when she was fifteen years old, she married “with consent of
her mother”[327] the third Earl of Rochford. As Rivers House is
found in her possession, she evidently obtained it, either by gift
or bequest, from her mother, to whom Lord Rivers had left it.
[Illustration:
_Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein,
Earl of Rochford._
]
Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein, third Earl of Rochford, was born
in 1683, and succeeded to the title in 1710. His occupation of
Rivers House began some time before 1723, the ratebook for the
latter date giving his name in connection with the house, which
continued to be his town residence[328] until the end of his life.
He died on 14th June, 1738, at his house in Great Queen
Street,[327] and his wife, with but little delay, married
again,[329] her second husband being the Rev. Philip Carter. Early
in the following year Rivers House was sold[330] and demolished,
two houses being erected on the frontage to Great Queen Street.
The names of the occupiers of these two houses (Nos. 59 and 60) up
to 1800 were as follows:—
_No. 59._ _No. 60._
1743–46. Mrs. Clive. 1743–46. Matthew Hone.
1747. Cath. Clive. 1747–52. Edw. Borrett.
1748–53. Eliz. Hill. 1753. W. G. Freeman.
1754–57. —— Cheeke. 1754–60. Joseph Blisset.
1758. Mrs. Pont. 1760–74. John Twelves.
1758–62. Thos. Webb. 1775. John Cooper.
1763–68. Augustin Noverre. 1776–79. Thos. Cooper.
1768–79. Thos. Vaughan. 1780–81. —— Plowden.
1779–82. Miss Savill. 1781–84. —— Burnett.
1782–84. —— Hughes. 1784–95. Miss Ride.
1784–85. —— Garnault. 1795–99. Wm. Byrn.
1785–99. John Hughes. 1799– John Crace.
1799– —— Jackson.
The Catherine Clive, who is shown by the ratebooks of 1743 to 1747
as the occupier of No. 59, Great Queen Street, is almost certainly
the famous singer and actress usually known as Kitty Clive, but
apart from Heckethorn’s statement,[331] for which no authority is
quoted, that about the year 1733 she was probably living at No.
56, no evidence to confirm the fact of her residence in the street
has been found. She was born in 1711, her father, William Raftor,
being an Irish lawyer, who supported James II. at the battle of
the Boyne, and afterwards settled in London. Kitty’s lack of
refinement and even of the rudiments of education suggests that
her training as a child was neglected, but the story that while
engaged in cleaning the steps of a lodging-house she attracted the
notice of some actors under whose auspices she was introduced to
the stage is open to considerable doubt. Her marriage to George
Clive, a barrister, was a mistake, and the parties agreed to
separate. They were living together in 1734 when Fielding wrote of
her in the preface to the _Intriguing Chambermaid_. “Great
favourite as you ... are with your audience you would be much more
so ... did they see you ... acting in real life the part of the
best wife, the best daughter, the best sister, and the best
friend.” She acted generally at Drury Lane, being almost entirely
in Garrick’s company from 1746 until her retirement in 1769.
Although she excelled in comedy and character parts of middle and
low life, she occasionally essayed work of a higher character, as,
for instance, when she sang the music of “Delilah” at the first
production in 1742, of Handel’s _Samson_. On her retirement she
withdrew to a house at Strawberry Hill, which Horace Walpole had
given her some years before,[332] and here she died in 1785.
Johnson had a high opinion of her acting, and his opinion of her
as a woman is shown by his remarks to Boswell. “Clive, sir, is a
good thing to sit by; she always understands what you say.... In
the sprightliness of humour I have never seen her equalled.”[333]
Thomas Vaughan, nicknamed “Dapper” by Colman, was a mediocre
dramatist of the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning
of the nineteenth centuries. One of his chief plays, _The Hotel;
or the Double Valet_, has the preface dated: “Great Queen Street,
2nd December, 1776.” Vaughan is said to have been the original of
Dangle in Sheridan’s _Critic_.
_House adorned with the Queen’s statue._
It has been seen[334] that the house adjoining Rivers House on the
east was built in 1637. Although not certain, it seems very
probable that the first occupant was the Earl of Northumberland.
It is known that Northumberland’s house adjoined Conway
House,[335] the next in order to the east from that which is here
in question, but there is no definite evidence as to whether it
lay to the east or west of it. It would, however, seem that the
house to the east was not built until 1640,[336] and as
Northumberland was certainly in residence in Great Queen Street in
1638 it follows, if the assumption be correct, that his house
adjoined Conway House on the _west_.
Algernon Percy, tenth Earl of Northumberland, was born in London
in 1602, and succeeded to the title in November, 1632. He was much
favoured by Charles I., who was most anxious to secure his
support, and who, as the king himself afterwards declared,
“courted him as his mistress.”[337] He received the Order of the
Garter in 1635. In 1636, and again in 1637, he was appointed
admiral of the fleet raised by means of ship money. In March,
1638, he was made Lord High Admiral of England; in July of the
same year he was placed on the committee for Scottish affairs; and
in the following March was appointed general of the forces south
of the Trent and a member of the Council of Regency. He had taken
up his residence in Great Queen Street some time before November,
1638, for, beginning in that month,[338] there are many letters
extant, written by him or on his behalf, headed “Queen Street,”
“Earl of Northumberland’s house in Queen Street,”[339] “My house
in Queen Street.”[340] The last that has been discovered is dated
10th June, 1640.[341] In February of the latter year he was
appointed general of the forces raised for the second Scottish
War, but he fell ill in August and his place was taken by
Strafford. Always dissatisfied with the king’s policy,
Northumberland showed himself more and more in sympathy with
Parliament as the conflict drew near, and his position secured to
the parliamentary leaders the control of the navy, his dismissal
by the king in June, 1642, coming too late. From this time until
the king’s death, Northumberland conscientiously acted the role of
peacemaker. He strongly opposed the king’s trial and after its
tragic conclusion, held entirely aloof from public affairs. On the
Restoration he was sworn a member of the privy council, and was
appointed lord-lieutenant of Sussex and of Northumberland, but
took no part in politics. He died in 1668.
Whichever of the houses on either side of Conway House formed the
Earl’s residence, he had left it before the end of 1641, for
according to a deed[342] of 20th December in that year, the house
to the east of Conway House was then in the occupation of the
Countess of Essex, while that on the west, with which we are here
concerned, was occupied by the “Lord Awbyney.”
George Stuart, ninth seigneur D’Aubigny, was the fourth son of
Esmé, third Duke of Lennox. He married Catherine Howard, eldest
daughter of the second Earl of Suffolk.[343] On the outbreak of
the Civil War he embraced the royal cause, and was slain at
Edgehill in October, 1642.
The exact period of his residence in the house in Great Queen
Street is uncertain. Assuming that the Earl of Northumberland was
the previous occupant, D’Aubigny must have entered into occupation
some time between May, 1640, and December, 1641. Some ground for
assuming that he had at the latter date quite recently taken up
his residence here may be found in the fact that in a deed dated
31st July, 1641,[344] relating to Rivers House, the premises
mentioned as the eastern boundary are simply referred to as “a new
messuage where the statue of the Queenes Majestie is placed,”
without any occupant’s name being given. This detail is, on the
contrary, given in the case of the western boundary of the
property, and it seems likely that the omission in the former case
is due to the fact that the house was then unoccupied. Too much
weight, however, cannot be assigned to the argument.
The next mention of the house is in October 1645, when it was in
the occupation of Colonel Popham.[345] From the following, dated
24th February, 1653, it would appear that either before 1645, or
between then and 1653, Lord Montagu had acquired an interest in
the house. “Upon hearing of Colonel Alexander Popham, a member of
Parliament, concerning the house which he holds from ye Lord
Mountague scituate.... It is ordered that ye said Colonel Popham
doe pay ⅔ of the rent due for ye said house to ye use of ye
Commonwealth which is sequestered for the recusancy of the said
Lord Mountague.”[346] Afterwards Lord Montagu himself resided at
the house, the Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665, 1666 and 1673 giving his
name in respect of the premises.[347]
Francis Browne, third Viscount Montagu, the only son of Anthony
Maria Montagu, the second Viscount, was born in 1610, and
succeeded to the title in October, 1629. He died in November,
1682.[348] The Hearth Tax Roll for 1675 shows Lady Montagu[349] at
the house.
The next occupant whose name is known was “Lord Dilleage,”[350] of
whom nothing can be found.
In two much later documents[351] it is stated that before the
division of the house into two it formed the residence of the
Marquess of Normanby, and the Jury Presentment Roll for 1698 shows
the Marquess in occupation of the house in that year. This was
John Sheffield, son of Edmund Sheffield, second Earl of Mulgrave.
He was born in 1648, and succeeded to the earldom ten years later.
He saw both naval and military service during the reign of Charles
II., and in 1680 commanded an expedition for the relief of
Tangier. With James II. he was in high favour. At the Revolution
he quietly submitted, but was for several years in opposition to
the court party. In 1693–4 he showed signs of a desire to support
the government, and in May, 1694, was encouraged in his attitude
by being created Marquess of Normanby. Two years later, however,
he resumed his policy of opposition. On the accession of Anne he
was at once taken into favour and appointed Lord Privy Seal. In
March, 1703, he was made Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, and
later on was appointed one of the commissioners to arrange the
treaty of union with Scotland. In 1710 he became Lord President of
the Council. On the arrival of George I. he was removed from all
his offices. He died in February, 1721, at Buckingham House, St.
James’s Park.
[Illustration:
_Sheffield._
]
He was not only a munificent patron of literature, Dryden and Pope
particularly being under obligations to him, but also himself an
author. Chief among his writings were: _Essay on Poetry_, _Essay
on Satire_, _Account of the Revolution_. Mention should also be
made of his extraordinary revision of _Julius Cæsar_, which he
broke up into two plays and rewrote, and into which he introduced
love scenes.
The period of his residence at the house in Great Queen Street
cannot be exactly determined. He was not there in 1683, but a
letter from him (as Lord Mulgrave) to Dykevelt, headed “Queen
Street,” dated, “March 8th,” and assigned to the year 1691,[352]
affords some evidence towards limiting the date of the beginning
of his occupation. His removal from the house seems to lie between
1698 and 1700, the ratebook for the latter year having no entry in
respect of the house.
In 1702 the house was purchased of William Withers by Robert Lane
and Jonathan Blackwell,[353] apparently on behalf of their
brother, Ralph Lane, an eminent Turkey merchant. Lane divided the
house, letting off the portion fronting the street, and reserving
for his own use that in the rear. This he used as his own
house[354] until his death in 1732. By his will,[355] dated 15th
June, 1726, he left his “two messuages or tenements” in Great
Queen Street to his wife Elizabeth for her widowhood, and the
reversion to his brothers in trust for his daughters, the Lady
Parker[356] and Byzantia.[357] A codicil of 6th July, 1728,
however, revoked this and settled the property on his wife
absolutely.
The widow is shown in the ratebooks as occupying the house from
1733 to 1753 inclusive. She died in March, 1754, leaving[358] her
“two freehold messuages scituate in Great Queen Street ... one of
them being in [her] own occupation, and the other adjoyning
thereto, in the occupation of Mr. Hudson,” to her grandson, George
Lane Parker, the younger son of her daughter and the Earl of
Macclesfield.
In 1764 Parker sold[359] both of the houses to Philip Carteret
Webb, who was already in occupation of the house in the rear,
having, in fact, succeeded Mrs. Lane in the year in which she
died.
Philip Carteret Webb was born about 1700. In 1724 he was admitted
attorney-at-law, and soon acquired a great reputation for
knowledge of records and of precedents of constitutional law. He
was employed in connection with the prosecution of the prisoners
taken in the rebellion of 1745, and in that of John Wilkes. For
his share in the latter he incurred great obloquy, culminating in
1764 in a trial for perjury, in which, however, the jury returned
a verdict of “Not guilty.” When in January, 1769, he was charged
in the House of Commons with having used the public money to bribe
witnesses against Wilkes, counsel pleaded on his behalf that he
was now blind and of impaired intellect, and the motion against
him was defeated. He died in the following year, leaving[360] all
his property to his wife Rhoda.
Webb was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal
Society. He had acquired large collections of MSS., coins and
medals, marble busts and bronzes.
His widow married, in 1771, Edward Beavor, whose name is found in
the ratebooks in connection with the house from that date until
1774. On 16th November, in the latter year, the two houses were
sold[361] to Trustees for the Freemasons, who have ever since held
the property.
It is now time to return and trace the history of the other of the
two portions into which Lane had divided the house, viz., that
part which fronted Great Queen Street.
[Illustration:
_Burnet._
]
The ratebook for 1709 gives “the Bishop of Salisbury” as the name
of the occupant at that time. This must refer to the famous
Gilbert Burnet, who held the see of Salisbury from 1689 until his
death in 1715. He was born in Edinburgh on 18th September, 1643,
and having, as a precocious boy, entered the Marischal College of
Aberdeen at the age of ten, he became master of arts by the time
he was fourteen. The next few years were devoted to the study of
divinity and history and to travel. In 1665 he was appointed
minister of Saltoun, but resigned in 1669, when he became
professor of divinity at Glasgow University. He made several
visits to London, and in 1674, having incurred the jealousy of
Lauderdale, he resigned his professorship and settled in London.
In 1675 he was made chaplain to the Rolls Chapel, the lectureship
to St. Clement’s being added shortly afterwards. In 1676 he took a
house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, next door to Sir Thomas Littleton,
and stayed there apparently for six years.[362] Littleton at some
time between 1675 and 1683 occupied No. 52, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields,[363] and though, in the absence of more definite
information, it cannot be proved that this was the house he was
occupying in 1676, it is extremely probable that this was the
case. If so, Burnet’s house was No. 51, as it is known that Nos.
53–4, the house on the other side, was at the same time in the
occupation of the Countess of Bath. After the Rye House plot in
1683 and the execution of his friend William, Lord Russell, Burnet
withdrew to France, and on his return in 1684 was deprived of his
positions. Upon the accession of James he again withdrew to the
Continent, finally accepting an invitation from William and Mary
to settle at the Hague, where he was instrumental in reconciling
them.[364] He accompanied William to England, was responsible for
the form in which William’s Declaration appeared in English,[365]
and was rewarded for his services with the Bishopric of Salisbury.
Notwithstanding a subsequent decrease in favour with William, he
was offered in 1698 the position of governor to the young Duke of
Gloucester, and accepted it on conditions which allowed him to
attend to the affairs of his diocese.[366] The most lasting
achievement of his later years was the provision for the
augmentation of poor livings, generally known as Queen Anne’s
Bounty, which became law in 1704. He died on 17th March, 1714–15,
and was buried in St. James’, Clerkenwell, having resided at St.
John’s Court in that parish for some years.[367] His chief
characteristic was tolerance, which he continually urged, whether
towards Scotch Presbyterians in his early days, to Roman Catholics
at the time of the “popish plot” in 1678, or to non-jurors and
Presbyterians in his own diocese. His chief literary works
were:—_History of the Reformation_, published between 1679 and
1714; _Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles_, published in 1699;
and a _History of My Own Time_, which was published posthumously
in 1723 and 1734.
The ratebooks for 1715 and 1720 show “Lady Anne Dashwood” at the
house. Apparently this was Anne, daughter of John Smith, of
Tudworth, Hants, widow of Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor in
1702–3, who was knighted in July, 1684, and died in 1705.[368] She
died on 16th June, 1721.[369]
In 1723 “Lord Bellomonte” was resident at the house. This was
Richard Coote, fourth Earl Bellamont. He was born in 1683, and
succeeded to the earldom in 1708. He was married twice, his second
marriage (to Lady Oxenden) taking place in 1721 at St.
Giles-in-the-Fields. On his death in 1766 the earldom became
extinct.[370] Lord Bellamont seems to have removed to Nos. 55–56,
Great Queen Street and to have left there in 1729 or 1730.[371]
From 1730 onwards, until the date of acquisition by the
Freemasons, the occupants of the house were as follows:—
1730–33. Thos. Iley.
1737. Earl of Macclesfield.
1740–42. —— Vanblew.
1746. Geo. Hudson.
1747–64. Thos. Hudson.
1765–67. Thos. Worlidge.
1768–75. Jas. Ashley.
George Parker, second Earl of Macclesfield, was born in 1697. He
married in 1722 Mary Lane,[372] and succeeded to the earldom in
1732, at which time he was resident in Soho Square.[373] He had a
great taste for mathematics, in which he had been instructed by
Abraham de Moivre and William Jones, and, aided by James Bradley,
who afterwards, by his influence, became astronomer-royal, erected
about 1739 an astronomical observatory at his residence at
Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire. From 1740 until near his death, he
carried out a series of personal astronomical observations.
Macclesfield was the principal author of the measure which brought
about the change of style in 1752, and in consequence incurred
great unpopularity among the ignorant, who imagined that they had
been robbed of eleven days. In 1762 he was elected President of
the Royal Society, a position which he held until his death in
1764.
Thomas Hudson was born in Devonshire in 1701. He became a pupil of
Jonathan Richardson, the elder, portrait painter (with whose
daughter he made a runaway match), and on setting up for himself
in the same profession, soon attained to great eminence, though
his prosperity faded with the rise of one of his pupils, Joshua
Reynolds.[374] His residence in Great Queen Street began about
1746,[375] and continued until about 1764,[376] when he retired to
Twickenham[377] where he died in January, 1779.
He was succeeded in his occupation of the house in Great Queen
Street by Thomas Worlidge,[378] painter and etcher. Worlidge was
born at Peterborough in 1700. He came to London about 1740, and
settled in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden, where he remained
for the rest of his life, residing at various times in The Piazza,
Bedford Street, King Street, and, finally, Great Queen Street. He
first made a name by his miniature portraits, but eventually
concentrated his energies on etching in the style of Rembrandt. He
died at Hammersmith in September, 1766. His name appears in the
ratebook also for 1767, and this is explained by the fact that his
widow “carried on the sale of his etchings at his house in Great
Queen Street.”[379] Shortly afterwards Mrs. Worlidge married a
wine and spirit merchant named Ashley,[379] who had been one of
Worlidge’s intimate friends, and in accordance with this is the
fact that in the ratebook for the following year (1768) “James
Ashley” is shown at the house.
In 1774, the premises were occupied for a short time by Mary
Robinson (_née_ Darby), afterwards known as “Perdita,” who had
just got married. Perdita’s own account of the matter is as
follows: “On our return to London after ten days’ absence, a house
was hired in Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It was a
large, old-fashioned mansion, and stood on the spot where the
Freemasons’ Tavern has since been erected. This house was the
property of a lady, an acquaintance of my mother; the widow of Mr.
Worlidge, an artist of considerable celebrity. It was handsomely
furnished, and contained many valuable pictures by various
masters. I resided with my mother; Mr. Robinson continued at the
house of Mr. Vernon and Elderton in Southampton Buildings.”[380]
Mary, who was born at Bristol in 1758, had spent an unhappy
childhood, and had now, when only sixteen, contracted a loveless
marriage. At her husband’s request the nuptials were kept secret,
but after four months her mother insisted on their being made
public. After a visit to the west of England and stay of “many
days” at Bristol, she removed from Great Queen Street to No. 13,
Hatton Garden, a house which had been recently built.[381] Her
remarkable beauty caused her to receive many attentions, and she
was neglected by her husband. On his imprisonment for debt,
however, after less than two years’ married life, she shared his
confinement, and was for nearly ten months in the King’s Bench
Prison. She then secured an engagement at Drury Lane, where she
made her first appearance in December, 1776, as Juliet. Her stage
career lasted until May, 1780. When taking the part of “Perdita”
in a performance of the _Winter’s Tale_ in December, 1778, she
captivated the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), and after
a correspondence in which the writers signed themselves “Florizel”
and “Perdita” she became his mistress for about two years. He then
deserted her, dishonouring his bond for £20,000, payable on his
coming of age. In 1783 she managed to obtain a pension of £500 a
year. She never returned to the stage, but devoted herself to
literature. In her own day she was called the English Sappho, but
her reputation in this respect has not endured. She died, crippled
and impoverished, at Englefield Cottage, Surrey, in 1800.
_Conway House._
[Illustration:
_Conway._
]
The first occupant of the fourth house on the site of the
Freemasons’ buildings seems to have been Lord Conway. A deed,
dated 20th December, 1641,[382] mentions Edward, Lord Viscount
Conway, as then in occupation, and no doubt the house is identical
with that referred to as Lord Conway’s residence in Queen Street
in a letter dated 31st March, 1639.[383]
Edward, second Viscount Conway and Killultagh, was born in 1594,
and succeeded to the title in February, 1631.[384] Shortly
afterwards he was living in Drury Lane.[385]
His residence in Great Queen Street dates from 1638 or the
commencement of 1639, but he did not purchase the house until 17th
July, 1645.[386]
Conway died at Lyons in 1655[387], and was succeeded by his son
Edward, the third Viscount and first Earl of Conway, born about
1623. He held several important military appointments, and was for
two years, 1681–3, secretary of state for the north department. He
was the author of a work entitled _Opuscula Philosophica_. He was
married three times, his first wife being Anne, the daughter of
Sir Henry Finch. Lady Conway was a most accomplished woman, her
chief study being metaphysical science, which she carried on with
the utmost assiduity in spite of tormenting headaches which never
left her. In later life she adopted the tenets of the Society of
Friends. She died on 23rd February, 1679, while her husband was
absent in Ireland, but in order that he might be enabled to see
her features again, Van Helmont, her physician, preserved the body
in spirits of wine and placed it in a coffin with a glass over the
face. The burial finally took place on 17th April, 1679. She was
the author of numerous works, but only one, a philosophical
treatise, was printed, and that in a Latin translation published
at Amsterdam in 1690. Conway was created an Earl in 1679 and died
in August, 1683, leaving his estates to his cousin, Popham
Seymour, who assumed the name of Conway.
Up to 1670 the Earl seems to have resided frequently in Great
Queen Street. The Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665 and 1666 show him as
occupier, though the former contains a note: “Note, Lord Wharton
to pay,”[388] and several references to his residence there occur
in the correspondence of the time. Thus on 18th March, 1664–5, he
writes to Sir Edward Harley, “Direct to me at my house in Queen
Street”;[389] in June [?], 1665, he informs Sir John Finch: “I am
settled in my house in Queen Street”;[390] a letter to him
describes how on the occasion of the Great Fire in 1666, “your
servant in Queen Street put some of your best chairs and fine
goods into your rich coach and sent for my horses to draw them to
Kensington, where they now are”;[391] on 19th October, 1667, his
mother writes to him at “Great Queen Street, London”;[392] in
February, 1667–8, he tells Sir J. Finch that he hopes “you will
ere long be merry in my house in Queen Street, which you are to
look upon as your own”;[393] and on 4th March, 1668–9, Robert
Bransby asks for payment of his bill of £200 “for goods delivered
at your house in Queen Street.”[394] On 25th September, 1669, we
learn that a new (or perhaps rather an additional) resident is
expected, Edward Wayte mentioning in a letter that “the room your
lordship wished to have new floored is going to be occupied by
Lord Orrery’s[395] daughter, who is coming with her mother to
England.”[396] The visit evidently took place, for on 4th
November, 1669, Conway’s importunate creditor, Bransby, writes, in
connection with the non-payment of his account, “I beg the
delivery of divers goods in the house in Queen Street, which are
being used by some of Lord Orrery’s family, and also of some green
serge chairs lent, which are in your study”;[397] and again on
15th March, 1669–70: “there are some goods belonging to me in the
house in Queen Street, which are in Lord Orrery’s wearing.”[398]
Later in the same year the house seems to have been given up, as
Bransby on 27th September in the course of another pitiful
complaint says: “I hear that you have disposed of your house in
Queen Street and sent the furniture to Ragley.”
The Hearth Tax Roll for 1673 shows the house in occupation of
“Slingsby, Esq.,” who was probably the immediate successor of
Conway.
In the absence of more definite information Slingsby cannot be
identified. It is just possible that he was Henry Slingsby, the
Master of the Mint, and friend of Evelyn.
In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1675 the house is shown as empty, and
in the ratebook for 1683 the name of the occupier is given as:
“Sir Fr. North, Knt., Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.”
It is known (see below) that the offices of the Great Seal were
situated in this street in 1677, and there can be no doubt that
this was the house.
It would appear, therefore, that the premises were taken for the
purpose of the offices of the Great Seal some time in the period
1675–77, and consequently during the time that the seal was in the
custody of Finch.
Heneage Finch, first Earl of Nottingham, was born in 1621, the
eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, recorder of London and speaker in
Charles I.’s first parliament. On leaving Christ Church he joined
the Inner Temple, where he acquired a great reputation and an
extensive practice. On the Restoration he became solicitor-general
and was created a baronet. As the official representative of the
court in the House of Commons, he seems to have given every
satisfaction to the king, despite the fact that on at least one
important point (the toleration of dissent) he opposed the royal
desire. He was indeed in such favour that the king, with all the
great officers of state, attended a banquet in his house at the
Inner Temple in 1661. In 1670, he became attorney-general and
counsellor to the queen. On the dismissal of Shaftesbury in 1673,
he was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and was raised to the
peerage as Baron Finch of Daventry, and a year afterwards was
appointed Lord Chancellor. During his term of office the
well-known burglary took place at the house in Great Queen Street.
Under date of 7th February, 1676–7, Anthony Wood writes: “About
one or two in the morning the Lord Chancellor his mace was stolen
out of his house in Queen Street. The seal lay under his pillow,
so the thief missed it. The famous thief that did it was Thomas
Sadler, soon after taken and hanged for it at Tyburn.”[399]
[Illustration:
_Finch._
]
As Lord Chancellor, Finch had the unpleasant task of explaining to
the House of Commons how the royal pardon given to Danby in bar of
the impeachment bore the great seal. He was created Earl of
Nottingham in 1681 and died in December, 1682. “The fact that
throughout an unceasing official career of more than twenty years,
in a time of passion and intrigue, Finch was never once the
subject of parliamentary attack, nor ever lost the royal
confidence, is a remarkable testimony both to his probity and
discretion.”[400] He was the Amri of Dryden’s _Absalom and
Achitophel_.
[Illustration:
_North._
]
Francis North, first Baron Guilford, was the third son of Dudley,
fourth Baron North, and was born in 1637. He entered the Middle
Temple in 1655, and at once gave himself up to hard study. He was
called to the Bar in 1661, and seems very early to have acquired
practice. His first great case occurred in 1668, when he was
called upon, in the attorney-general’s absence, to argue in the
House of Lords for the King _v._ Holles and others. He at once
sprang into favour and became king’s counsel. In 1671 he was made
solicitor-general and received the honour of knighthood. In 1673,
he succeeded Finch as attorney-general, and in 1675 was appointed
chief justice of the common pleas. On the death of the Earl of
Nottingham in 1682 he succeeded him as Lord Keeper, and from that
day, his brother Roger says, “he never (as poor folks say), joyed
after it, and he hath often vowed to me that he had not known a
peaceful minute since he touched that cursed seal.”[401] In 1683
he was raised to the peerage as Baron Guilford. From this time his
health began more and more to fail, and though he continued
diligently to perform his duties, he was compelled in the summer
of 1685 to retire to his seat at Wroxton, Oxfordshire, taking the
seal with him and attended by the officers of the court. Here he
died on 5th September, 1685, and the next day his brothers,
accompanied by the officials, took the seal to Windsor, and
delivered it up to the king, who at once entrusted it to Jeffreys.
George Jeffreys, first Baron Jeffreys of Wem, was born in 1648 at
Acton in Denbighshire. He was ambitious to be a great lawyer, and
after overcoming with difficulty his father’s objections, he was
admitted to the Inner Temple in 1663. He was called to the Bar in
1668, and by his wit and convivial habits making friends of the
attorneys practising at the Old Bailey and Hicks’s Hall, he soon
gained a good practice. He was appointed common serjeant of the
City of London in 1671. He now began to plead in Westminster Hall,
and by somewhat doubtful means he obtained an introduction to the
court. In 1677 he was made solicitor-general to the Duke of York,
and was knighted, and in 1678 became Recorder of the City. Both as
counsel and recorder he took a prominent part in the prosecutions
arising from the Popish Plot, and as a reward for his services in
this direction, and for initiating the movement of the “abhorrers”
against the “petitioners,” who were voicing the popular demand for
the summoning of parliament, he was appointed chief justice of
Chester.
The City having complained to the House of Commons of the action
of its recorder in obstructing the citizens in their attempts to
have a parliament summoned, the House passed a resolution
requesting the king to remove him from all public offices. The
king took no such action, but Jeffreys submitted to a reprimand on
his knees at the bar of the House, and resigned the recordership,
eliciting the remark from Charles that he was “not parliament
proof.”
In 1683, Jeffreys was promoted to be Lord Chief Justice, and was
soon a member of the privy council. Shortly afterwards he tried
Algernon Sidney for high treason, conducting the proceedings with
manifest unfairness and convicting the prisoner on quite illegal
grounds. On the accession of James II. in 1685, he was raised to
the peerage, an honour never before conferred upon a chief justice
during his tenure of office.
In July, after the battle of Sedgmoor, he was appointed president
of the commission for the western circuit, and on 25th August he
opened the commission at Winchester. This, the “bloody assizes,”
was conducted with merciless severity, but the king was so
satisfied that, on Jeffreys calling at Windsor on his return to
London, he was given the custody of the great seal with the title
of Lord Chancellor. During the next three years he vigorously
supported the king in his claims to prerogative. He presided over
the ecclesiastical commission, and over the proceedings against
the Universities. Jeffreys thus became identified with the most
tyrannical measures of James II., and therefore, when the king in
December, 1688, fled from the country, he also endeavoured to
escape. He disguised himself as a common sailor, but was
recognised, and was only saved from lynching by a company of the
train-bands. He was confined at his own request in the Tower, and
here, his health having been seriously undermined by long
continued disease and dissipation, he died in April, 1689. His
name has become a by-word of infamy, although there can be little
doubt that he was not entirely as black as he has been painted,
and no impartial account can fail to insist on the traditional
picture of him being modified in many respects. Nevertheless, when
every allowance is made, the character of Jeffreys is one of the
most hateful in English history.
On his accepting the Great Seal he also took over the house in
Great Queen Street,[402] but about 1687 he removed to the new
mansion, which he had had built in Westminster overlooking the
park.[403]
For the next few years the history of Conway House is a blank. In
1696 a private Act[404] was obtained, which, after reciting that
there was a mansion house, with stables and outhouses, in Queen
Street, St. Giles, forming portion of the estate belonging to the
Marchioness of Normanby[405] (life tenant) and of the estate
belonging to Popham Seymour _alias_ Conway, and that the house was
liable to fall down from want of repair, gave authority to arrange
with a builder to effect the repairs and to let the house for 51
years at a proper rent.
The work was evidently carried out without delay, for the Jury
Presentment Roll for 1698 has the entry “Dr. Chamberlain for the
Land Credit Office,” but little luck seems to have attended the
house during most of its remaining half-century of existence.
The sewer ratebooks for 1700 and 1703 make no mention of the
house. Those for 1715, 1720 and 1723, and the parish ratebooks
from their commencement in 1730 until 1734 mention it as “The Land
Bank.” The first entry refers to it as “Empty many years,” and it
was still empty in 1720. Certain deeds of later date[406] allude
to the premises as a “large old house or building commonly called
or known by the name of the Land Bank.”[407]
The Land Bank, as known to history, was an institution founded in
1696, for the purpose of raising a public loan of two millions on
the basis of the estimated value of real property. Its promoter
was Dr. Chamberlain, an accoucheur.[408] It is unnecessary to give
here a full account of the scheme, but it may be regarded as
certain that it would never have been supported in Parliament but
for the satisfaction felt by many influential members in dealing a
blow at the recently formed Bank of England.
The evidence given above is decisive as to some connection between
the house and this scheme, but no reference to the former has been
found amongst the literature on the Land Bank.[409] The fact that
Dr. Chamberlain was in occupation of the premises in 1698, two
years after the ignominious collapse of the scheme, shows that the
Land Bank still pursued some kind of existence, and, indeed, there
is other evidence that it was surviving in some form in January,
1698.[410]
The above evidence shows that for many years after Dr.
Chamberlain’s tenancy the house lay empty, and not until 1735 is
the name of an occupier given. This was Thomas Galloway, who
stayed until 1739. After this, the house again remained empty,
until in 1743 it was pulled down, and its frontage to Great Queen
Street was occupied by four smaller houses. The residents in the
two westernmost of these (the other two occupied the site of
Markmasons’ Hall) were as follows:—
Eastern house. Western house.
1746–47. Chas. Green. 1746–49. Jas. Lacey.
1748–51. —— Dickenson. 1750–61. Mrs. Eliz. Morris.
1751. Jas. Ord. 1761–63. J. Fanshawe.
1753–57. Mrs. Barbra Johnson. 1763–83. Eliz. Pollard.
1758. W. Westbrook Richardson. 1783–91. John Opie.
1759–75. John Johnson. 1791. — Leverton.
1776–83. J. Twiney. 1792– Mallard and Richold.
1783– Thos. Pope.
John Opie, portrait and historic painter, was born in Cornwall in
1761. Instead of following his father’s trade as a carpenter, he
took up painting and attracted the notice of Dr. Wolcot (Peter
Pindar), who brought him after a while to Exeter, and in 1780 to
London. Here Opie became known as the “Cornish wonder,” and,
indeed, the fact that he, a carpenter’s son in a remote Cornish
village, without any regular instruction or opportunity of
studying the work of great painters, should at the age of nineteen
have produced pictures which the most distinguished artists in the
country admired and envied, justified the name. Wolcot’s
introductions were the means of Opie securing many valuable
commissions, and his popularity became enormous. During the spring
of 1782, his lodgings in Orange Court, Castle Street, Leicester
Square, were thronged with rank and fashion, and after he had
moved to Great Queen Street in the following year, the street was
at times blocked with the carriages of his sitters. His
popularity, however, waned as suddenly as it had risen. This he
had expected, and had striven, and continued to strive, to perfect
himself in his art, and to supply the deficiencies in his
education. In 1791, he moved from Great Queen Street to No. 8,
Berners Street. In 1805 he was elected professor of painting to
the Royal Academy, and the lectures which were delivered only a
few weeks before his death form a contribution of permanent value
to the literature of art criticism. He died in April, 1807, and
was buried in St. Paul’s.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[411]Plan of premises before 1779 (photograph).
[411]Elevation of premises in 1779 (photograph).
[411]Exterior of the tavern in 1811 as designed by William Tyler
in 1785 (photograph).
[411]The façade, designed by F. P. Cockerell (1866) (photograph).
[411]Elevation of the north end of the Temple, as designed by
Thomas Sandby in 1775 (photograph).
[411]The disastrous fire at Freemasons’ Hall. The scene of the
conflagration of 1883, from a woodcut (photograph).
[411]The Temple, looking south (photograph).
The Temple, looking north (photograph).
The chair of the Grand Master (photograph).
[411]View of the New Masonic Hall, looking south, pen sketch
design by Sir J. Soane, (1828) (photograph).
Plan of the ground floor before the alterations of 1899 (measured
drawing).
[411]Plan of the principal floor before the alterations of 1899
(drawing).
[411]Grand staircase (photograph).
First floor corridor (photograph).
[411]Vestibule to Temple, showing mosaic paving (photograph).
Interior of Banqueting Hall—Connaught Rooms looking north
(photograph).
Three swords in museum (photograph).
XXXIX.—MARKMASONS’ HALL.
GROUND LANDLORDS.
The United Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The origin of these premises, comprising the two easternmost of the four
houses built in 1743 on the site of Conway House, has already been
described.[412] In 1889 the houses, which had for many years been used
for the purposes of Bacon’s Hotel, were occupied by the Grand Lodge of
Mark Master Masons. The exterior and most of the interior has been
rebuilt or modernised, with the exception of the two rooms on the first
floor facing Great Queen Street, which appear to date from the
rebuilding in 1743. The Board Room, to the east, has a fine carved deal
mantelpiece and overmantel (Plate 29). The mantelpiece has a carved
head, representing Bacchus in the frieze and scrolls at the sides. The
overmantel takes the form of a picture with a carved frame and bold
broken pediment over; the tympanum is filled with a finely carved basket
containing flowers and fruit. The other feature of the room is a
decorative ceiling (Plate 30), having a large central medallion
representing children.
The Grand Secretary’s room has also a decorative plaster ceiling (Plate
31), with four oval medallions containing trees and flowers. The
chimneypiece is a modern replica in wood and plaster of the one already
mentioned.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in excellent repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The residents in the two easternmost of the four houses built on
the site of Conway House in 1743 were as follows:—
Eastern house. Western house.
1745–47. John Williams. 1745–51. John Moreton.
1748–51. Lily Aynscombe. 1753–58. Is. Hawkins Browne.
1753–56. Henry Shiffner. 1759–68. Mrs. Mary Clarke.
1758–87. Joseph Pickering. 1768–72. Ch. Raymond.
1787–91. —— Leverton. 1772–93. Joseph Hill.
1791–94. Wm. Hutchins. 1793–99. J. Bower.
1795. —— Savage. 1799– —— Baines.
1795– —— Dickenson.
Henry Shiffner, on leaving the house in Great Queen Street,
removed to No. 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where he has left
permanent traces of his occupation.[413]
The “Leverton” whose name appears in connection with the first and
fourth (see p. 83) of the houses erected on the site of Conway
House for the years 1787–91 and 1791 respectively, was almost
certainly Thomas Leverton, the architect. The _Royal Academy
Catalogues_ give the addresses of T. Leverton as follows: 1773–78,
1780–83 (Great Queen Street), 1784–5, 1787 (Charlotte Street,
Bedford Square), 1794 (Great Queen Street), 1797 (Bedford Square).
The Catalogue for 1792 shows “Leverton” (without initial) at 60,
Great Queen Street. Unfortunately, his name does not appear in the
_Catalogues_ for the period 1787–91, and thus direct confirmation
of his identity with the occupier of the houses in question is not
possible. It may be added that there is no mention in the ratebook
of any “Leverton” at No. 60 in 1792, and Leverton’s residences in
Great Queen Street in the other years mentioned[414] would seem to
have been in lodgings, as no trace of them can be discovered.
Isaac Hawkins Browne, poet, was born in 1705 at Burton-on-Trent,
his father being vicar of the parish. Although called to the Bar
he did not take up his profession in earnest. He was twice M.P.
for the borough of Wenlock. His chief English works were a poem on
_Design and Beauty_, and an ode entitled _A Pipe of Tobacco_, but
his principal achievement was a Latin poem _De Animi
Immortalitate_. He died in 1760. Mrs. Piozzi relates that Dr.
Johnson said that Browne was “of all conversers ... the most
delightful with whom I ever was in company; his talk was at once
so elegant, so apparently artless, so pure, and so pleasing, it
seemed a perpetual stream of sentiment, enlivened by gaiety, and
sparkling with images.”[415] Johnson also used Browne as an
illustration of the proposition that a man’s powers were not to be
judged by his capacity for public speech: “Isaac Hawkins Browne,
one of the first wits of this country, got into Parliament and
never opened his mouth.”[416]
Browne’s son, also named Isaac Hawkins, must also have been a
resident at the house in Great Queen Street, for he was only eight
years old at the time of the removal of the family thither in
1753. He represented Bridgnorth in Parliament for twenty-eight
years, and though no orator, when he spoke “his established
reputation for superior knowledge and judgment secured to him that
attention which might have been wanting to him on other
accounts.”[417] He edited his father’s poems, and also wrote
_Essays, Religious and Moral_, and _Essays on Subjects of
Important Inquiry in Metaphysics, Morals and Religion_. He died in
1818.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[418]Ornamental plaster ceiling in Board Room on first floor
(photograph).
[418]Carved deal chimneypiece in Board Room (photograph).
[418]Ornamental plaster ceiling in Grand Secretary’s Room, first
floor (photograph).
XL.—GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL (DEMOLISHED).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
Before its destruction in 1910 the Wesleyan Chapel in Great Queen Street
occupied the greater portion of the sites of three houses with their
gardens. These were Nos. 66 to 68, intervening between Conway House and
the stream which divided Aldwych Close from Purse Field.
The land on which these three houses were erected was roughly the shape
of a truncated right-angled triangle, the base of which was represented
by Great Queen Street, the perpendicular by the line of Middle Yard, and
the hypotenuse by the course of the stream. The land in question was
leased[419] by Newton to Peter Mills[420], of Christchurch, London,
bricklayer, and it would seem that at that date (15th September, 1639)
no houses had been erected thereon.[421] The building was therefore
carried out probably in 1640; at any rate No. 66 is known to have been
occupied in December, 1641. No information can be gleaned from the
ratebooks as to when the three houses were rebuilt, but at least one
(No. 67) seems to have been still standing at about 1817, when an
illustration of it was included in Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields_.
The first reference that has been found to the building of a chapel of
ease for the parish occurs in the Vestry Minutes under the year
1693:[422] “Ordered, to inquire of the gentry in Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
which of them will take pews in case a chappell should be erected in the
neighbourhood of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and report to be made to the next
Vestry.” It was, however, left to private enterprise to provide such a
building.
In 1706 a Mr. Baguley took a house (apparently No. 67)[423], built a
chapel in the rear, and seems even to have officiated therein, although
not in Priest’s orders. Naturally enough, he soon got into trouble with
the Rector of St. Giles, who, as Baguley affirmed,[424] induced the
vendor of the house and land to break off his agreement with Baguley,
and sell to “one Burges, a coachmaker.” According, however, to the
ratebooks the house occupied by Burges was No. 68. Between 1720 and 1723
the assessment of No. 68 also dropped. Whether this implies an extension
of the chapel over a portion of the ground in the rear of that house is
uncertain, but it will be seen that when the chapel comes, as it were,
into the light of day, at the beginning of the 19th century, it covers
nearly the whole of the rear of _both_ houses.
The whole of its early history, however, is shrouded in obscurity, and
no reference to it or to the services held therein has been found
between 1728[425] and its acquisition by the Rev. Thomas Francklyn. Even
the date at which this occurred cannot be definitely stated. The chapel
seems to have been in his hands in February, 1758, for on the 17th of
that month he preached a sermon there, which he published in the same
year.[426] In 1759 his name appears in the parish ratebook in connection
with the chapel.[427] His residence at the _house_ (No. 67) does not
seem to have begun until 1761. On Francklyn’s death in 1784, his
executors appear to have carried on the work of the chapel. On 19th
July, 1798, Mrs. Francklyn’s executors sold to the Society formerly
carrying on the West Street Chapel, Seven Dials, their leasehold
interest in the two houses and the chapel for £3,507 10s.[428]
The chapel was at that time, says Blott,[429] a very homely structure;
it was dark, and, lying below the level of the street, could not easily
be kept clean, and the entrance to it was by a passage through a
dwelling house. The surrounding houses overlooking it were at times a
means of annoyance during service. Negotiations were therefore entered
into with the owners of No. 66, and on 14th March, 1815, a purchase was
effected of the whole of the back part of the premises, bounded by
Middle Yard on the one side and the old chapel on the other, and having
a length of 102½ feet and a breadth of 31 feet.[430] The new chapel was
opened on 25th September, 1817.[431] Alterations were carried out in
1840, when an improved frontage and new portico were constructed.[432]
The elevation to Great Queen Street (Plate 32) was of brick faced with
stucco, the lower part having a portico of four Greek Ionic columns the
full width of the building, executed in Talacre stone from North
Wales.[432] Above this, in the main wall of the chapel was a three light
window with Corinthian columns and pilasters supporting an entablature,
over which was a semi-circular pediment and tympanum. Crowning the whole
was a bold modillion cornice.
The interior (Plate 33) had a horseshoe gallery supported by Ionic
columns; above the back of the side galleries were other smaller
galleries. Facing the entrance was an apse ornamented with Corinthian
columns, pilasters and entablature carrying an elliptical arch. Covering
the whole area was a flat ornamental ceiling.
There is preserved by the West London Mission a measured drawing of the
elevation of the Chapel to Great Queen Street with the adjacent
buildings by R. Payne, Architect, June 21 (18)56, and an internal view
in perspective drawn with ink and coloured, probably executed by the
same hand and about the same date. Both these drawings agree with the
illustrations taken in 1906, and reproduced in Plates 32 and 33. The
premises were demolished in 1910, and new buildings erected. The room
over the portico was used at first as a day school room, but in 1860 the
school was removed to new premises in the rear.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
_No. 66._
The first occupant of No. 66, of whom any record has been found,
was the Countess of Essex, who was there in December, 1641.[433]
This was Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir William Paulet, who, in
1631, became the second wife of Robert Devereux, third Earl of
Essex. The marriage turned out very unhappily, and eventually a
separation took place. Subsequently she married Thomas Higgons
(knighted after her death), who survived her. She died in
1656.[434]
The Subsidy Roll for 1646 contains the item: “The Lord Kensington
in the Countes of Essex house.” This was presumably Robert Rich,
son of Henry Rich, first Earl of Holland, the latter having been
created Baron Kensington in 1623. The former in 1673 succeeded his
cousin Charles, as fifth Earl of Warwick.
In 1665 and 1666 Magdalen Elliott is shown at the house, and in
1673 Lady Porter. The entries in the Hearth Tax Rolls, Jury
Presentment Rolls and sewer ratebook from this time until 1700
vary between “Lady Porter,” “Lady Diana Portland,” and “Lady Ann
Porter.” There can be no doubt that they all refer to the same
individual, viz., Lady Diana Porter. She was a daughter of George
Goring, Earl of Norwich, and married (1) Thomas Covert, of
Slaugham, Essex, and (2) George Porter,[435] eldest son of
Endymion Porter, royalist and patron of literature. George Porter
served as lieutenant-general in the western royal army, under the
command of his brother-in-law, Lord Goring. The latter described
him as “the best company, but the worst officer that ever served
the king.” Porter died in 1683.
The ratebook for 1703 contains the name “Ralph Lane” crossed out,
and “Wortley” substituted. This seems to point to Lane having
recently moved and “Wortley” taken his place. The “Ralph Lane” in
question is no doubt the person of the same name, who had in the
previous year purchased the house to the west of Conway House (see
p. 74). His residence at No. 66 could not have lasted more than
about two years. The “Wortley” of the 1703 ratebook is expanded in
the records of 1709 and 1715 to “Wortley Montague, Esq.” and
“Sidney Wortley _als_ Montague, Esq.” This was Sidney, second son
of Edward Montagu, first Earl of Sandwich, who married Anne,
daughter and heir of Sir Francis Wortley, Bt., and assumed the
surname of Wortley. His eldest son, Edward Wortley Montagu,
married Lady Mary Pierrepont, the famous Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu. Sidney Montagu died in 1727.
After Montagu’s residence the occupiers of No. 66 seem to have
been as follows:—
Before 1720 until after 1723. Martin Wright.
Before 1730. Elizabeth Perry.
1730–42. William Aspin.
1743–45. Dr. John Taylor.
1746. —— Davis.
1747. Lilley Smith.
1748. “Augusti” Arne.
1749–51. Col. Guy Dickens.
1753–61. Elizabeth Falconer.
1761–62. —— Davis.
1762–63. The Rev. Mr. Francklin.
1763–64. Miss Faulkner.
1764–83. —— Davis.
1783–87. —— Saunders.
1789–94. Ric. Sadler.
1795– J. Savage.
“Augusti” Arne is almost certainly Thomas Augustine Arne, the
celebrated composer. He was the son of Thomas Arne, an
upholsterer, and was born in 1710. On leaving school he was placed
in a lawyer’s office, but his love of music overcame all
obstacles, and eventually his father was induced to allow him to
cultivate his talent in this respect. His first work, a setting of
Addison’s _Rosamond_, was produced at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre
in 1733. This proving successful, it was quickly followed by the
_Opera of Operas_ and _Dido and Æneas_. In 1738 he established his
reputation by his music to _Comus_, and in 1740 he wrote the music
to Thomson and Mallet’s _Masque of Alfred_, containing _Rule
Britannia_. His later works included the songs _Where the bee
sucks_, _Under the greenwood tree_, _Blow, blow, thou winter
wind_, the oratorios _Abel_ and _Judith_, and the opera
_Artaxerxes_. In 1769 he set to music the ode by Garrick,
performed at the Shakespeare jubilee at Stratford on Avon. He died
in 1778.
No allusions have been found to his residence at No. 66, Great
Queen Street. He is stated to have been living “next door to the
Crown in Great Queen Street,” in 1744[436] but that must refer to
a different house. The sewer ratebook for 1734 shows a “Mr. Arne”
resident at No. 34, Great Queen Street, but there is no proof that
this was the musician. His residence at No. 215, King’s Road,
Chelsea, has already been mentioned.[437]
_No. 67._
Early records of the residents at No. 67 are wanting. The first
mention of the house occurs in the Hearth Tax Roll for 1665, which
gives “Lady Thimbleby” as the occupier. This was Elizabeth, one of
the six daughters of Sir Thomas Savage and Elizabeth, Countess
Rivers (see p. 67). She married Sir John Thimbleby of Irnham, in
Lincolnshire.[438] How long she had been at No. 67 in 1665 is
unknown, but it is permissible to suggest that she was there while
her mother was still living three doors away. It seems likely that
during Lady Thimbleby’s stay here, her sister, Henrietta Maria,
who had married Ralph Sheldon, of Beoley,[439] also came to live
close by, for the Jury Presentment Roll for 1683 shows “Ralph
Sheldon,” in occupation of No. 69. Another sister, Anne, who had
married Robert Brudenell, afterwards second Earl of Cardigan, was
also only a short distance away, on the south side of Lincoln’s
Inn Fields.[440]
Lady Thimbleby’s residence lasted until between 1700 and 1703, and
in the latter year the name of John Thimbleby appears in respect
of the house. He had left before 1709, when the house is shown as
empty. The occupiers after that date were as follows:—
1715. Mr. Vaune.
1720. Mr. Froude.[441]
Before 1723 until 1734. Mary Forrester.
1735–51. Adam Hallam.
1751–54. William Pritchard.
1755–61. Stephen Hunt.
1761–84. The Rev. Thomas Francklin.
1784–95. Mrs. Francklin.
1795–98. Francis Const.[442]
1798. —— Rowley.
Thomas Francklin, son of Richard Francklin, a bookseller of Covent
Garden, was born in 1721. He was educated at Westminster School
and Trinity College, Cambridge. For some time he found employment
as usher in his old school, and in 1750 he became Greek professor
at Cambridge, a position which he held until 1759, when he was
presented to the vicarage of Ware. At the same time he was
fulfilling other clerical duties in London. As early as 1749 he
seems to have held a chapel in Bloomsbury, for in June of that
year he performed the marriage ceremony for Garrick there.[443] By
1758 he had obtained the lectureship at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden,
and was installed in the Great Queen Street Chapel. He was
appointed King’s chaplain in 1767, and ten years later he vacated
the living at Ware for the rectory of Brasted, in Kent. Through
the influence of Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was
appointed chaplain to the Royal Academy, and on the death of
Goldsmith in 1774 he obtained the professorship of ancient
history. His literary output was considerable. In 1757 he brought
out a periodical paper called _The Centinel_, which only lasted
two years. He wrote four plays, the most important of which was
_The Earl of Warwick_. His translations were numerous, those of
Sophocles’ tragedies being long considered the best in the English
language. After a laborious life he died in his house in Great
Queen Street[444] in March, 1784. His widow died in 1796.[445]
_No. 68._
In the case of No. 68 also, no records of the names of any
occupiers exist before the Hearth Tax Roll for 1665. In that
document the occupant’s name is given as “Sir Willm. Hartupp.”
This seems to have been Sir William Hartopp, of Rotherby, son of
Sir Thomas Hartopp, of Burton Lazars. Sir William married Agnes,
daughter of Sir Martin Lister.[446]
The Hearth Tax Roll for 1666 shows the house “Empty,” and that for
1672, “Empty—Mr. Bradshaw owner.” It seems probable that between
these dates occurred the joint occupancy of Lord Roos and Lady
Chaworth, if indeed that can be referred to this house at all. An
item in Lord Roos’s expenditure under date of 25th February,
1667–8, runs: “Paid Major Seales for Sir William Hartopp for one
quarter’s rent for the house in Queen Street, beginning the 18th
October, when his Lordship had the keyes, at 80_li_ per annum,
Lady Ch[aworth] is to pay the next quarter, 20_li_.”[447] That Sir
William Hartopp’s house in 1667 was the same as that in 1665 is
probable, but unfortunately cannot be considered certain.
Assuming, however, that such is the case, Lord Roos’s occupation
is seen to have commenced on 18th October, 1667.
John Manners, third son of the eighth Earl of Rutland, was born in
1638. On the death of his two elder brothers, he assumed,
apparently without right,[448] the title of Lord Roos.[449] His
first marriage, in 1658, to Lady Anne Pierrepoint, was unhappy,
and he was divorced from her by Act of Parliament in 1670. In 1677
he was made Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. He succeeded to the
earldom in 1679. At the coronation of James II. in 1685 he bore
the Queen’s sceptre, but he does not seem to have been in favour
and in 1687 was dismissed from his lord lieutenancy. He supported
William at the Revolution, and was soon after restored to his
office. In 1703 he was created Marquess of Granby and Duke of
Rutland. He died in 1711.
His sister Grace married Patricius Chaworth, third Viscount
Chaworth.[450] Apparently the expenses of the house in Great Queen
Street were shared equally between her and her brother, for
numerous items such as the following occur in the Accounts of Lord
Roos’s Expenditure contained in the Duke of Rutland’s MSS.:—[451]
“1670. April 21. For the repaires of the parish church and maimed
soldiers, etc., this Queene Street house is taxed 5s., whereof
Lady Chaworth paying ½, his lordship ½, comes to 2s. 6d.”
“To the beadle for watching the Queene Street house ending the
above said Christmasse [1671] 4s.; Lady Cha[worth] paying ½, his
lordship other ½, comes to 2s.”
“July 3, 1669. The hire of paper windowes last year, 1668, to save
the hangings in the dining roome and drawing roome, the ½ of cost,
Lady Cha[worth] payes the other half, 5s.”
Some indication of the reason that influenced Lady Chaworth in
setting up housekeeping with her brother may be afforded from a
letter dated 25th June, 1670, from Lord Chaworth to his wife, at
Lord Roos’s house in Great Queen Street, requesting her to return
to him, and offering to receive her with respect and
affection.[452]
In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1673, the house is shown as “Empty.”
Two years later “The Lady Morpeth” is shown in occupation. This
was Elizabeth, dowager lady Berkeley, wife of Edward Howard,
Viscount Morpeth, afterwards second Earl of Carlisle. It was in
this same year that her eldest son Charles, afterwards third earl,
was born. Later occupants of the house were:—
1683. Sir Edward Mosen.
Before 1698 until after 1709. Mrs. Eleanor Complin.
Before 1715 until after 1720. Thomas Burges.
Before 1723 until 1732. Ashburnham Froude and Thomas Burges.[453]
1733. Ashburnhame Froud.
1733–1740. Madame Eaton.
1740–44. Madame Pain (Paign).
1746. —— Davis.
1747–51. Elizabeth Falconer.
1753–55. James Ward.
1755–57. G. Stewart.
1758–70. Thos. Brock (Brooke).
1770–74. Thos. Rudd.
1775–78. Ric. Rudd.
1779. —— Thomas.
1780–86. Mrs. Thomas.
1786– John Arthur.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[454]Exterior (photograph).
Side entrance in Middle Yard, erected 1859–60 (photograph).
Interior from the gallery (photograph).
Interior looking south (photograph).
Interior looking north (photograph).
Fanlight under stairs (photograph).
Staircase (photograph).
Lantern light over staircase (photograph).
Loculi in crypt (photograph).
Two silver chalices dated MDCIIIC, originally presented for use in
West Street Chapel (photograph).
XLI.—SITE OF WELD HOUSE.
The history of that part of Aldwych Close lying within the angle formed
by Great Queen Street and Wild Street has already been traced[455] up to
the division of the greater portion of it between Sir Edward Stradling
and Sir Kenelm Digby in 1629. Eleven years previously, Henry Holford had
leased to John Ittery the extreme southern portion, reaching 100 feet
northwards from Sardinia Street, and a trench had been dug separating
Ittery’s portion from that lying to the north. On the transfer of the
latter to Sir W. Calley and Geo. Strode in trust for Stradling and
Digby, Ittery’s portion was included, and added to Stradling’s share.
Stradling without delay began the erection on his portion of “a faire
mansion house with stables and other outhouses.”[456] On 12th December,
1632, the ground, with the mansion, etc., was sold by Calley and Strode
to Stradling, and was then described as extending south from the
partition wall[457] between Digby’s and Stradling’s portions “together
with that parte formerly demised to the said John Ittery, and then
enclosed together with the same, at the end next Drewry Lane by a square
lyne 300 foote, and at the other end next Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 296
foote.” By 1632 Stradling had also divided his portion into two by a
brick wall, “beginninge at the west end towards Drewry Lane and
extendinge itselfe eastwards towards Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 144 foote,
and then towards the north in length 132 foote, and then again eastwards
towards Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 132 foote, and standinge distant at the
west end thereof from the fore-mentioned partition wall 157 foote, and
at the other end next Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 31 foote.”[458]
On 20th December, 1632, Stradling sold that part lying to the north of
this second partition wall, including the house, etc., to George Gage.
The house had not yet been completed, but a provision was subsequently
made that Strode was to finish, before Easter, 1634, “the dwelling house
and buildings now erected or begun to be erected, within and without ...
in all respects, fitt and necessary for one or more dwelling house or
houses.”[459]
The date of completion of the house may therefore be ascribed with
probability to the year 1634.
Gage used the house as his own residence, and while “lyeinge sicke in
the said messuage of the sickness whereof he died” made his will on 14th
August, 1638, bequeathing the premises,[460] together with other
property, to William Darrell and William Bierly to sell for the payment
of his debts. On 25th February, 1639–40, it was purchased by Humphrey
Weld for £2,600.[461]
The portion of Stradling’s property which lay to the south of the second
partition wall, and which extended to the southern limits of Aldwych
Close, Stradling seems to have sold to Dr. Gifford for 500 years for
£400 without right of redemption.[462] In 1649 Andrew Gifford sold the
property for £650 to Weld, who assigned it to his mother, Dame Frances
Weld, in trust. Three years later she re-assigned it to him.
Humphrey Weld thus became possessed of the whole of Aldwych Close lying
to the east of Wild Street, and to the south of the gardens of the Great
Queen Street houses, and he now began to develop the property by
building. A reference to Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) shows that by
that year the whole of the east side of Wild Street, south of Weld
House, and all the north side of Sardinia Street had been covered with
houses.[463] Weld himself stated about 1670, that he had by that time
laid out £15,600 in building.[461]
The street which had at least since 1629,[464] and probably since
1618,[465] led from Great Queen Street to Kemble Street, then Princes
Street, seems for some time to have been without a name. It is referred
to in early deeds as “the back side of Drury Lane,” “a way leading from
Princes Street to Queen Street on the back side of Drury Lane,” etc. In
the Subsidy Rolls up to 1646 inclusive, it is merged in “Cockpit Side.”
The earliest instance of the name Weld Street or Wild Street[466] so far
discovered is in a deed of 24th April, 1658,[467] which refers to “the
street now called Wild Street, but heretofore called a way or passage of
40 foote breadth leading from Queenes Street to Princes Streete.”
How far Weld House was identical with the mansion built by Stradling and
Strode is uncertain. Blott, after mentioning the latter, says:
“Adjoining it, on the south side, were the grounds and premises of Weld
House, Drury Lane, occupied by Lady Frances Weld, widow. In 1657, Weld
House and Stradling House underwent a complete transformation, the two
houses were united together and became one building, having, besides
extensive additions made to it, a chapel[468] built in the garden; the
front arranged to face Aldwyche Close instead of Drury Lane, and an
approach made to it called Weld Street. This extraordinary enlargement
was not to make the building a residence suitable to the dignity of the
Welds, but rather for State purposes, such as the accommodation of
princes and ambassadors in London.”[469]
Blott gives no authority for his statements, one of which, relating to
the formation of Weld Street, is demonstrably wrong. The statement that
the “extraordinary enlargement” was carried out with a view to the
reception of princes and ambassadors in the building is probably only an
inference from the indisputable fact that ambassadors did afterwards
reside in a portion of the house.[470] Nevertheless the view of the
house given in Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) certainly does suggest
the amalgamation of two distinct houses, and the Subsidy Roll for 1646
shows that at that date two large residences existed side by side,[471]
although of course these may have been only portions of one very large
house.
As early as 1664 the house (or houses) seems to have been split up among
a number of occupants. The entries in the Hearth Tax Rolls for 1664–1674
in respect of this portion of the street (amending the wrong order of
the first roll) are as follows. The numbers in brackets represent the
number of hearths taxed.
1665. 1666.
Sam Nelson (6) Samuel Nelson (6)
Lord Baltimore (15) Cecill, Lord Baltimore (15)
Lady Spencer (16) Lord Marquess of Winchester in 2
houses (30)[472]
A. Gilbt. Crouch, Esq. (7) Widow Tattershall (6)
B. John Wolstenholm (14) John Wolstenholme, Esq. (14)
C. Humph. Wild, Esq. (14) E (20)
The Portugall Embassador’s House. „
D. Humph. Wild, Esq. (16) Humfrey Weild, Esq. (16)
E. Countess of Exeter (9) E (10)
F. Mary Sanders (9) Mrs. Mary Sanders (9)
G. John Worsley (3) John Worsley, Marc^{ht} of
Intercost (6)
1673. 1675.
Samuel Nelson (6) Samuel Nelson (6)
Lord Baltimore (15) The Lady Baltimore (15)
Marquess of Winchester (3) Marquess of Winchester (30)
A. Thomas Hawker[473] (7) Thomas Hawker (7)
B. Mary James (13) E (13)
C. The French Embassadour (20) Spanish Ambassador (20)
D. Humphrey Wild, Esq. (16) Humphrey Wild, Esq. (16)
E. Thomas Weedon, Esq. (5) Madd. James (5)
F. Mary Saunders (9) Mary Saunders (9)
Mary Watson (1) Mrs. Watson (1)
G. John Worseley (6) John Worsley (6)
Of these neither (A)[473] nor (G)[474] formed part of Weld House, and
(B) is doubtful. (C) and (F) however, certainly did, the former being
the ambassadorial residence (see below) and the latter being mentioned
in a deed of 1673, quoted by Parton[475], as “the wing of the said great
house, late in Mary Saunders’s possession.” The house was therefore at
this time in at least four distinct occupations.[476]
The two chief residences thus formed were evidently the house occupied
by Weld himself and the ambassadorial house, immediately adjoining on
the south. The former was the scene of a wild riot in 1671, when,
Humphrey Weld having attempted to arrest the ringleaders in a tumult
close by, the rabble, in a fury, attacked his house.[477]
The Portuguese Ambassador seems to have taken up his residence at Weld
House in 1659, for on 9th July in that year he (Francisco de Mello)
wrote from “Wild Street” to William Lenthall, announcing the arrival of
his credentials, and asking for an audience.[478] The extracts from the
Hearth Tax Rolls given above show that he was still there in 1665, gone
in 1666, that the French Ambassador was there in 1673,[479] and the
Spanish Ambassador in 1675. Numerous references to the residence of the
last mentioned occur.[480] On the flight of James II. in December, 1688,
the mob sacked the ambassador’s house.
Shortly afterwards Weld House and the ground belonging to it were
purchased by Isaac Foxcroft, who let out the property on building
lease.[481] The house, or a portion of it, was however, still standing
in 1694.[482]
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION IS:—
North-east side of Great Wild Street, in 1906, looking south-east
(photograph).
XLII.–XLIII.—NOS. 6 AND 7, WILD COURT.
The Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring
Classes are the ground landlords of these houses.
The only objects of interest which the premises contain are four
18th-century hob grates, illustrated below.
[Illustration]
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[483]Four cast-iron hob grates (measured drawing).
XLIV.—NO. 16, LITTLE WILD STREET (DEMOLISHED).
Little Wild Street was formed about 1690, for a deed,[484] dated 1st
September in that year, refers to a “toft, peece or parcell of ground,
being parcell of the garden late belonging to Weld House in or near Weld
Streete ... abutting towards the south to a new streete or passage of
thirty foote in breadth there made or intended to be made, to lead out
of Weld Streete towards Duke Streete [Sardinia Street] and the arch in
Great Lincolne’s Inn Fields.”
Plate 34 shows the south side of the street in 1906. The tenement houses
were probably some of the original houses erected about 1690, and their
effect is charming.
The name of the street was altered in 1905 to Keeley Street.
On Plate 15 is a drawing showing the frieze of an 18th-century deal
mantelpiece now on loan at the London Museum.
The house has recently been demolished.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[485] Little Wild Street. View in 1906 looking north-east
(photograph).
[485] No. 16, Little Wild Street. Frieze, etc., of carved deal
mantelpiece (measured drawing).
Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Exterior before demolition of
adjoining stables (photograph).
Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Exterior after demolition of
stables (photograph).
Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Interior (photograph).
XLV.—NO. 1, SARDINIA STREET (DEMOLISHED).
The land lying to the south of Sardinia Street between Wild Street and
Drury Lane, was leased by Henry Holford to John Ittery on 20th April,
1618, when it was described[486] as “one hundred foote of ground from
the south side of the ... close, called Oldwich Close, as the same then
was marked and measured out north and south in bredth, and extending in
length downe to the ditch there towardes the east, which plott of ground
was then to be forthwith inclosed by the said John Ittery from the
residue of the close.” Before 1629, this ground had been “inclosed with
a trench or ditch on the north side ... and on the west end ... with a
mudd wall.” The southern and eastern boundaries were respectively the
lands of the Earl of Clare and the common sewer. At the latter date what
soon afterwards became known as Duke Street, and was subsequently called
Sardinia Street, was described as “the pathway on the south side
thereof, leading from Princes Streete towardes Holbourne, the said
pathway conteyning in breadth 10 foote.” It may, therefore be taken for
granted that no houses had at that time been built on the north side of
Sardinia Street. In 1652 the land came into the hands of Humphrey
Weld[487] who apparently developed the Duke Street frontage of his
property at the same time as the Wild Street frontage. There is a record
of one house in Duke Street built by Weld “to which hee added a yard or
backside” and let on 5th October, 1661, on a 21 years’ lease.[488]
Moreover, it will be noticed that Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) shows
the Duke Street frontage fully built.
No. 1 was demolished in 1906, in connection with the formation of
Kingsway and its subsidiary streets, when old Sardinia Street itself was
abolished.
The ground floor treatment of the premises (Plate 11) was typical of the
18th-century tenement design. The windows were strongly shuttered to
afford protection when required.
A boundary stone of the parish of St. Clement Danes and an iron tablet
of that of St. Giles were attached to the premises, and appear in the
view.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
Sardinia Street—View looking west in 1906 (photograph).
[489]No. 1, Sardinia Street—ground floor (photograph).
Sardinia Place—View looking north from Sardinia Street (1906)
(photograph).
Sardinia Place—View looking north from Little Wild Street (1906)
(photograph).
XLVI.—SITE OF LENNOX HOUSE.
In 1590 William Short, the same who ten years later bought Rose Field,
purchased of John Vavasour two messuages, two gardens and four acres of
land, with appurtenances, in St. Giles.[490] The precise position of the
property is not stated, but from evidence which will be referred to, it
is known that it lay to the west of Drury Lane, and comprised _The
Greyhound_ inn in Broad Street, with land to the south lying on both
sides of what is now Short’s Gardens.
[Illustration:
_Esmé Stuart, Seigneur D’Aubigny, Duke of
Lennox._
]
A portion of this property he leased,[491] in 1623–4, to Esmé Stuart,
Earl of March (afterwards Duke of Lennox), for a term of 51 years as
from Michaelmas, 1617. It is possible to ascertain within a little the
boundaries of this part of the Short estate. In a deed[492] dated 10th
January, 1614–5, relating to Elm Field, the land lying between Castle
Street and Long Acre, the northern boundary is stated to be “certain
closes called by the name of Marshlands _alias_ Marshlins, and a garden
sometime in the tenure of William Short or his assignes”; and in a later
deed,[493] dated 2nd February, 1632–3, relating to a portion of the same
field, the northern boundary, said to be 249 feet distant from Long
Acre, is referred to as “a way or back lane of 20 feet adjoining the
garden wall of the Right Honble. the Duchess of Lenox.”
The distance of the “back lane” from Long Acre corresponds exactly with
that of the present Castle Street, and it is therefore clear that this
was the southern boundary. The property afterwards came into the
possession of the Brownlow family, and an examination of the leases
which were granted in the early part of the 18th century, shows that it
reached as far as Drury Lane on the east and Short’s gardens on the
north. On the west it stretched as far as Marshland.[494]
Whether the house leased to the Earl of March was one of the two (the
other being _The Greyhound_) purchased by Short in 1590, or a house
quite recently built, there is no evidence to show.
The Earl, in February, 1623–4, succeeded to the dukedom of Lennox, and
on 30th July of the same year he died. His widow[495] continued to
reside at the house. Letters from her, headed “Drury Lane,” and dating
from 1625 to 1629, are extant,[496] and she also, in 1628, joined with
other “inhabitants adjoining the house of the Countess of Castlehaven,
in Drury Lane,” in a petition to the Privy Council.[497] There is,
therefore, ample evidence that she actually resided at the house.
In 1632 she married James Hamilton, second Earl of Abercorn, and died on
17th September, 1637, leaving to her husband, in trust for their son
James, “all that my capitall house, scituate in Drury Lane.”[498]
The Earl sold the remainder of the lease[499] to the Duchess’s cousin,
Adrian Scroope, who apparently let the house, as the Subsidy Roll for
1646 shows the “Earl of Downe” as occupying the premises.[500] In 1647
Sir Gervase Scroope, Adrian’s son, sold the lease to Sir John
Brownlow,[499] who certainly acquired the freehold also, though no
record of the transaction has come to light. Finding the house too
large[501] Sir John divided it in two, and in 1662 Lady Allington[502]
was paying a rent of £50 for the smaller of the two residences.[499] Sir
John died in November, 1679. By his will[503] (signed 10th April, 1673)
he left to his wife all the plate, jewels, etc. “which shall be in her
closett within or neare our bedd chamber at London in my house at Drury
Lane ... and the household stuffe in the said house, except all that
shall then be in my chamber where the most part of my bookes and boxes
of my evidences are usually kept, and except all those in the same house
that shall then be in the chamber where I use to dresse myselfe, both
which chambers have lights towardes the garden.” He also left to his
wife “that part of my house in Drury Lane which is now in my own
possession for her life if she continue my widowe,” together with “that
house or part of my house wherein the Lady Allington did heretofore
live, ... by which houses I meane yards, gardens and all grounds
therewith used”; and moreover the furniture “of two roomes in my house
in Drury Lane where I use to dresse myself, and where my evidences and
bookes are usually kept.”
[Illustration:
_Brownlow._
]
The estate afterwards came into the hands of Sir John Brownlow, son of
his nephew, Sir Richard Brownlow, who at once took steps to develop the
property, letting plots on building lease for a term of years expiring
in 1728. Except in one case, information is not to hand as to the date
on which these leases were granted, but in that instance it is stated to
be 21st May, 1682,[504] a date which may be regarded as approximately
that of the beginning of the development of the interior part of the
estate by building,[505] though at least a part of the frontages to
Drury Lane and Castle Street had been built on before 1658 (see Plate
3).
At the same time (_circ._ 1682) apparently Lennox House was, either
wholly or in part, demolished. A deed of 1722[506] relates to the
assignment of two leases of a parcel of ground “lately belonging to the
capital messuage or tenement of Sir John Brownlow _then in part
demolished_, scituate in Drury Lane, in St. Giles, sometime called Lenox
House.” The description is obviously borrowed from the original leases,
since reference is also made to “a new street there then to be built,
intended to be called Belton Street,” which street was certainly in
existence in 1683.[507] What is apparently Lennox House is shown in
Morden and Lea’s Map of 1682 as occupying a position in the central
portion of the estate, with a wide approach from Drury Lane, and this is
to a certain extent confirmed by the tradition that the first Lying-In
Hospital in Brownlow Street (occupying the site of the present No. 30)
was a portion of the original building. It is remarkable, however, that
no hint of a house in this position is given either in Hollar’s Plan of
1658 (Plate 3) or in Faithorne’s Map of the same date (Plate 4).
The name of Brownlow Street was in 1877 altered to Betterton Street.
XLVII.–XLVIII.—NOS. 24 AND 32, BETTERTON STREET.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
No. 24, Betterton Street, dating from the 18th century, must at one time
have been a fine residence, but there is now nothing in it to record.
The doorcase is illustrated on Plate 35.
No. 32 also dates from the 18th century. Attached to these premises is a
boldly recessed carved wooden doorcase of interesting design,
illustrated on Plate 36. The interior of the house contains a wood and
compo chimney piece of some interest in the front room of the ground
floor, and one of white marble, relieved with a little carving and red
stone inlay, in the corresponding room on the floor above.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The houses are in fair repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The sewer ratebook for 1718 shows “John Bannister” in occupation
of No. 32. This was probably John Bannister, the younger, “who
came from an old St. Giles’s family, his father having been a
musician, composer and violinist, and his grandfather one of the
parish waits. He himself was in the royal band during the reigns
of Charles II., James II., William and Mary, and Anne, and played
first violin at Drury Lane theatre, when Italian operas were first
introduced into England.”[508]
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
No. 24, Betterton Street—General exterior (photograph).
[509]No. 24, Betterton Street—Entrance doorway (measured drawing).
[509]No. 32, Betterton Street—Entrance doorway (photograph).
No. 32, Betterton Street—Marble chimneypiece, front room, first
floor (photograph).
XLIX.—NO. 25, ENDELL STREET.
GROUND LANDLORDS.
The Trustees of the late John King, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
Plots of land on both sides of Belton Street were leased for building by
Sir John Brownlow, apparently in 1682,[510] and a stone tablet[511] gave
the date of the street’s formation as 1683. The name obviously refers to
the seat of the Brownlow family at Belton in Lincolnshire.
About 1846 the street was widened on the eastern side and renamed Endell
Street, after the Rev. James Endell Tyler, then Rector of St. Giles.
At the expiration of the original leases in 1728, Peter Walter purchased
portions of the Brownlow property, including a house in Belton Street
“in the occupation of Daniel Holme,[512] surgeon, and used by him as a
bagnio.”[513] Holme’s Bagnio was, it appears, the fourth house
(inclusive) from the corner of Castle Street, and is therefore to be
identified with the present No. 25, Endell Street.
At the rear of these premises is an apartment, about 16 feet by 9 feet,
which is known as “Queen Anne’s Bath.” It has a coved ceiling surmounted
by a small lantern, and on each side bull’s eye windows are constructed
in the coved part of the ceiling. The roof is covered with tiles. The
form of the chamber can be seen by Plate 37, which is taken from a
watercolour drawing made by J. W. Archer in 1844. There are some blue
and white tiles still affixed to the walls, but there is insufficient
evidence to enable a definite date to be given to these. The level of
the top of the steps is about 10 feet below the present street pavement.
The floor of the bath is said to be about 18 feet below that level, but
it cannot be seen as the bath is filled with soil and rubbish to an
estimated depth of about 8 feet. The structure is dilapidated and
floored over at about 18 inches below pavement level, and is now used as
an iron merchant’s store.
Tradition asserts that the bath was frequented by Queen Anne,[514] a
statement that it is not possible to confirm. The apartment is, however,
very possibly a relic of the old “bagnio.”
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[515]No. 25, Endell Street—Queen Anne’s Bath (photograph).
No. 41, Endell Street—Exterior (photograph).
L.—NORTH OF SHORT’S GARDENS.
The land to the north-east of Short’s Gardens seems also to have formed
part of that acquired by William Short in 1590, for certain premises
which can be identified as occupying a site to the rear of the centre of
the frontage to Drury Lane between Short’s Gardens and Broad Street, are
stated to be bounded on the south by ground of Robert Clifton, “which
ground was heretofore the inheritance of William Short, deceased.”[516]
The fact that the property in Crown Court sold by Thomas Short in
1679[517] was also bounded on the south by land “late in the possession
of Robert Clifton” shows that the Short property originally extended
further westwards. It stretched, in fact, as far as the eastern boundary
of Marshland.[518]
The Subsidy Roll for 1646 gives three names between that of the Earl of
Downe, probably representing Lennox House, and Paviors Alley, afterwards
Ashlin Place. The first is that of “Mr. Edw. Smyth,” who was taxed 6s.
8d. for land, and 8s. for goods, and was evidently a person of much more
substance than his two neighbours, who figure each at 2s. for land only.
Mr. Smith had caused much concern by his building. As early as June,
1618, the Privy Council wrote[519] to the justices pointing out that
“there is a faire building now goeing up in Drury Lane, w^{ch} is by
credible information erected upon a new foundacion,” that the “said
building is under his Ma^{ties} eye as he passeth that way, and is
observed as a speciall marke of contempt amongst all the rest,” and
asking for particulars as to the date of the foundation, etc. As a
result it was found that Smith’s new building, which had been assigned
him by William Short,[520] was contrary to the proclamation as going
beyond the old foundations, and converting a stable into a dwelling
house,[521] and order was accordingly given for the demolition of that
part,[522] but Smith seems to have made a successful protest. Eighteen
years elapsed, and Smith was again in trouble. On 20th June, 1636, the
Earl of Dorset reported to the Privy Council that “one Smith hath lately
erected an house in or neare Drury Lane suddenly and for the most part
by stealth in the night, not onely contrary to His Ma^{ties}
proclamation, but after he was commanded by his Lo^{pp} to forbeare to
proceed in the building thereof.” Smith was thereupon committed to
prison until the house should be wholly demolished.[523]
The north-eastern angle of land formed by Drury Lane and Broad Street,
like the land on the opposite side of the way, is one of the very few
sites which can be identified with certainty in the book of grants to
the Hospital of St. Giles. In some unknown year, but apparently in the
reign of Henry III., John de Cruce demised to Hugh, the smith, “all that
his land situate at the angle or corner formed by the meeting of the two
streets, whereof the one comes from St. Giles and is called St. Giles
Street, and the other goes towards the Thames by the forge of the said
Hugh, and is called Aldewych. And which land begins on the east part of
the said corner, and stretches westwards towards the Hospital of St.
Giles; and again beginning at the said corner or forge, and facing the
spring,[524] extends southwards towards the Thames, in a line with the
street called Aldewych, by the garden of Roger, the son of Alan.”[525]
Before Elizabethan times the forge had disappeared, and the site in
question was occupied by _The Bear_ inn, and property connected
therewith.
In 1567 George Harrison purchased[526] from Lord and Lady Mountjoy,
_inter alia_, the messuage called _The Bear_, two messuages lying
between _The Bear_ on the east and the tenement of Godfrey Matthew
(_i.e._, _The Swan_) on the west, and all other houses, etc., lying
between Godfrey Matthew’s tenement on the west and the Queen’s highway
from the Strand to St. Giles on the east. Harrison sold the property in
1568 to John Walgrave who in the following year parted with it to
Johanna Wise, who subsequently married James Briscowe, and in 1582[527]
the property, including brewing vessels and other implements belonging
to the inn and the brewhouse, was acquired by James Mascall, brewer, who
was then actually in occupation of _The Bear_. The property continued in
the Mascall family, and in 1634, according to a deed[528] relating to
the marriage portion of Frances Godman, daughter of Olive Godman (_née_
Mascall) it included (i.) a messuage sometime in the tenure of John
Vavasour and then of Matthew Quire, (ii.) the messuage, inn or tenement
commonly called _The Black Bear_, sometime in the tenure of Richard
Robins and then of Matthew Quire, (iii.) ten messuages in Black Bear
Yard, (iv.) a number of other messuages,[529] and (v.) two gardens to
the rear of Black Bear Yard, one of them formerly in the tenure of John
Vavasour, and the other occupied with the inn. Vavasour’s house, it is
known, occupied the site of Ragged Staff Court,[530] which was situated
about 60 feet northwards from Paviors Alley,[531] and as no mention of
it occurs in the sale to Mascall, it may be taken for granted that it
was built either by the latter within the course of the next three
years,[532] or by John Vavasour, who married Mascall’s widow. The first
building on that spot therefore was erected some time between 1582 and
1608.[533]
To the west of _The Bear_ property was _The Swan_. In 1566 Lord and Lady
Mountjoy sold to Thomas Allen[534] all that messuage or tenement
“sometyme called ... _The Swanne_,” in the tenure of Geoffrey Matthew,
abutting to the east on _The Bear_, west on the tenement of Robert
Bromeley, “sometyme called _The Grayhounde_,” south-west on Matthew’s
stables, south on the Greyhound Close, and north on the Queen’s highway.
It has unfortunately not proved possible to trace the later history of
_The Swan_, but there can be no doubt that the property is identical
with that sold in 1723 by William Gyles to Peniston Lamb and Thos.
Hanson,[535] and which consisted of three houses in the main street with
the alley behind, formerly called Cock alley and then Gyles’ Court, and
is described as having a frontage to the street of 44½ feet and a depth
of 114 feet, and bounded on the south by the brewhouse late Mr.
Theedham’s,[536] on the east partly by messuages and lands in the
occupation of Theedham, and on the west by messuages and lands
“heretofore of one Short” (_i.e._, _The Greyhound_).
A comparison between the names of the occupiers of the three houses as
given in the deed of 1723, and the entries in various issues of the
sewer ratebook, shows that the houses in question corresponded with the
present Nos. 59 to 61 (formerly 56 to 58).
There does not seem any reason to doubt the identity of _The Swan_ of
the time of Elizabeth with _Le Swan on le Hop_,[537] demised by the
Hospital of St. Giles to John de Polton in 1360–61. It was then
described as standing south on land of the said Hospital and north on
the king’s highway. This description certainly does not warrant the
statement of Parton that the inn must “have been situate somewhat
eastward from Drury Lane end, and on the south side of Holborn.”[538]
Immediately to the west of _The Swan_ came _The Greyhound_.
Unfortunately no description of the inn or the property connected with
it has come down from Elizabethan times. In 1679, however, Thomas Short,
son and heir of Dudley Short, sold the whole to John Pery, and the
indenture[539] embodying the transaction gave a description of the
property as it then existed. It included two houses in the main
thoroughfare, both extending southward to Greyhound Court and one of
them being “commonly called ... or knowne by the name or signe of _The
Crowne_.” It would seem therefore that _The Greyhound_ had by now been
renamed _The Crown_, although the court still retained the old name. By
1704 the court had also been renamed Crown Court.[540] Included in the
sale was a quantity of land in the rear, with buildings, garden ground
and other ground, including the house in Greyhound Court where Thomas
Short had himself lived. The details given, though full, are not
sufficient to enable a plan to be drawn of the property. It certainly
included the eastern portion of the site of St. Giles’s Workhouse,[541]
and did not extend as far south as Short’s Gardens, as it is said to be
bounded in that direction by a “peice of ground commonly called the
mulberry garden, late in the possession of Robert Clifton.”
To the west of _The Greyhound_, were a number of houses, which in 1567
were sold[542] by Lord and Lady Mountjoy to Henry Ampthill.[543] They
are described as in eleven occupations, adjoining _The Greyhound_ on the
east, the highway on the north, and a close (probably Greyhound Close)
on the south. The western boundary, unfortunately, is not given. The
property was subsequently split up, about half coming into the hands of
a family named Hawkins,[544] and this in 1726 certainly included
property on either side of Lamb Alley,[545] probably as far as the site
of the present No. 45, Broad Street. How much further the Ampthill
property extended is not known.
In 1631 Ann Barber, widow, and her son Thomas, sold[546] to Henry Lambe
a tenement and two acres of land, the said two acres being garden ground
and adjoining on the west “a parcell of ground called Masslings,” on the
south “a parcell of ground in the occupation of one Master Smith,” on
the east a “parcell of ground in the occupation of Mistris Margarett
Hamlyn,” and on the north certain tenements and garden plots in the
occupation of Robert Johnson and others. In 1654 John Lambe sold the
property to Henry Stratton, who in the following year parted with it to
Thomas Blythe.[547] In the indenture accompanying the latter sale, the
two acres are stated to be “a garden or ground late in the occupation of
Samuel Bennet,” and the remainder of the property is described as 10
messuages late in the tenure of Edmund Lawrence, 4 small messuages also
late in Lawrence’s occupation, a chamber commonly called the Gate House,
a messuage called _The Bowl_, and a messuage called _The Black Lamb_.
The property had formerly belonged to William Barber,[548] Ann’s
husband. There is nothing to show how he became possessed of it, but it
is possible that the property is identical with the “one messuage, one
garden and two acres of land with appurtenances” sold by John Vavasour
in 1590 to Thomas Young.[549]
The eastern limits of the property above described may be fixed within a
little, as it is known that a portion of it was utilised in the 18th
century for the building of the original workhouse, and is described in
a deed quoted by Parton[550] as bounded on the east by the backs of
houses in Crown Court. It may be regarded therefore as including the
site of the central portion of the present workhouse. The “parcel of
ground in the occupation of one Master Smith” described as the southern
boundary, and referred to in a deed of 1680[551] as the garden and
grounds of William Short, is obviously the strip of ground on the north
side of Short’s Gardens, leased by Short to Edward Smith.[552] The
western boundary, “Masslings,” has been strangely misconstrued. Parton
read it as “Noselings,”[553] which he regarded as a corruption of
“Newlands,”[554] and located the ground on the east side of Neal Street.
Blott copied the error and, in a highly imaginative paragraph, connected
it with Noseley, in Leicestershire.[555] As a matter of fact, there is
not the slightest doubt that “Masslings”[556] is “Marshlands,” between
which the form “Marshlins” appearing in a deed of 1615[557] is evidently
a connecting link.
The boundary between Marshland and _The Bowl_ property is shown on Plate
39.
By 1680[558] a considerable portion of _The Bowl_ property had been
built on and Bowl Yard had been formed. In the first instance, the
latter led by a narrow passage into Short’s Gardens, but afterwards the
entrance was widened, and the southern part of the thoroughfare was
named New Belton Street, Belton Street proper being distinguished as Old
Belton Street. About 1846 both were widened on the east side to form
Endell Street, and the still remaining portion of Bowl Yard at the
northern end was swept away. Bowl Yard obviously derived its name from
_The Bowl_ inn, which, together with _The Black Lamb_, is mentioned in
the deed of 1655, above referred to. The sign had no doubt reference to
the custom mentioned by Stow[559] that criminals on their way to
execution at Tyburn were, at St. Giles’s Hospital, presented with a
great bowl of ale “thereof to drinke at theyr pleasure, as to be theyr
last refreshing in this life.” The inn itself probably fronted Broad
Street, and the brewhouse attached to it was situated behind, on the
west side of Bowl Yard.
Plate 38 shows the west front of _The Bowl_ Brewery in 1846, and the
houses at the northern end of Belton Street.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[560] _The Bowl_ Brewery in 1846 (photograph).
Nos. 7 and 9, Broad Street. Exterior (photograph).
LI.—SITE OF MARSHLAND (SEVEN DIALS.)
Included in the property transferred to Henry VIII. in 1537 was “one
close called Marshland.”[561] In 1594, Queen Elizabeth farmed the close
to Thomas Stydolph, his wife, and his son, Francis, for the life of the
longest liver, and in 1598 she farmed it for the sixty years following
the death of the longest lived of the three to Nicholas Morgan and
Thomas Horne. The latter immediately conveyed their interest to James
White, and subsequently it came into the hands of Sir Francis Stydolph,
who thus held a lease for the length of his own life and for sixty years
afterwards. In 1650, while he was still in possession of the close, it
was surveyed by Commissioners appointed by Parliament[562]. In their
report, the close is described as “all y^t peice or parcell of pasture
ground comonly called ... Marsh close _alias_ Marshland ... on the north
side of Longe Acre,[563] and ... betwene a way leadinge from Drury Lane
to St. Martin’s Lane on the north;[564] and a way leadinge from St.
Gyles to Knightsbridge, and a way leadinge from Hogg Lane into St.
Martin’s Lane on the west;[565] and Bennet’s Garden[566] and Sir John
Bromley[567] and Mr. Short on the east.” These boundaries are in accord
with the plan showing the design for laying out (Plate 39), and with
Faithorne’s Map of 1658 (Plate 4). The extension of Marshland to the
east of Neal Street (formerly King Street) has never been noticed, but
the fact is quite clear. One proof will suffice. On 23rd September,
1728, James Joye sold to trustees of the charity schools of St. Giles,
Cripplegate, property specified as “part of the Marshlands in St.
Giles-in-the-Fields,”[568] and situated on the _east_ side of King
Street. Part of the property has since been thrown into the public way,
but part can still be identified as No. 82, Neal Street,[569] on the
_east_ side.
In 1650 the buildings on the Close were:—
(i.) _The Cock and Pye_ inn, a brick building of two storeys and a
garret, standing on ground 117 feet from north to south, with a breadth
of 48 feet at the north end. This is probably the building shown on
Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3), at the southern angle of the close.
From it the close was sometimes known as Cock and Pye Fields.
(ii.) A house with wheelwright’s shop and shed attached, covering with
yards, gardens, etc., 3 roods.
(iii.) A shed of timber and Flemish wall, with tiled roof, containing
two small dwelling rooms, occupying, with a garden, half an acre.
(iv.) A piece of ground, half an acre in extent, “late converted into a
garden, beinge very well planted w^{th} rootes.”
(v.) Three tenements of timber and Flemish wall, with thatched roof, on
the north side of what was afterwards Castle Street, occupying, with
gardens, etc., half an acre.
(vi.) “All that conduit scituate and adjoyninge to the aforesaid 3
tenements, and standeth on the southest corner of the aforesaid Marsh
Close, consistinge of one roome heirtofore used to convey water to the
Excheq^r. Office, but of late not used.”
Sir Francis Stydolph died on 12th March, 1655–6, and his successor, Sir
Richard, at once entered on the remaining 60 years’ term and in 1672
obtained an extension of this for 15 years.[570] Morden and Lea’s Map of
1682 shows that by that date a considerable amount of building had taken
place on the close, though the details are not clear.[571] This is
probably to be connected with the lease which James Kendricke obtained
for 31 years as from Michaelmas, 1660.[572] In 1693 Thomas Neale,
“intending to improve the said premisses by building”[573], obtained a
lease of the close until 10th March, 1731–2, undertaking to build within
two years sufficient houses to form ground rents amounting to £1,200,
the ground rents to be calculated at from 5s. to 8s. a foot frontage,
except in the case of houses fronting King Street (now Neal Street),
Monmouth Street (now Shaftesbury Avenue), St. Andrew Street and Earl
Street, where the amount was to be from 8s. to 12s. a foot. Building
operations were apparently started immediately,[574] but do not seem to
have been completed until well into the 18th century.[575]
Neale’s plan was one which excited considerable notice at the time, the
streets all radiating from a common centre. Evelyn records in his Diary
under date of 5th October, 1694: “I went to see the building neere St.
Giles’s, where 7 streets make a star from a Doric pillar plac’d in the
middle of a circular area.” From the fact that on the summit of the
column were dials, each facing one of the streets, the district obtained
the name of Seven Dials. The top part of the pillar, however, has only
six faces, a fact which has worried antiquaries. In explanation Mr. W.
A. Taylor, the Holborn Librarian, has pointed out[576] that the plan
(Plate 39) now at the Holborn Public Library, of the proposed laying out
shows only six streets, Little White Lion Street not being provided
for.[577]
The pillar was taken down in July, 1773, on the supposition that a
considerable sum of money was lodged at the base. “But the search was
ineffectual, and the pillar was removed to Sayes Court, Addlestone, with
a view to its erection in the park. This, however, was not done, and it
lay there neglected until the death of Frederica, Duchess of York, in
1820, when the inhabitants of Weybridge, desiring to commemorate her
thirty years’ residence at Oatlands and her active benevolence to the
poor of the neighbourhood, bethought them of the prostrate column,
purchased it, placed a coronet instead of the dials on the summit, and a
suitable inscription on the base, and erected it, August, 1822, on the
green. The stone on which were the dials, not being required, was
utilised as the horseblock at a neighbouring inn, but has been removed
and now reposes on the edge of the green, opposite the column.”[578]
Plate 40 shows the column as at present.
[Illustration]
Little of architectural interest now remains in the district of Seven
Dials. Plate 41 is a view of Little Earl Street at the present day.
Suspended from No. 56, Castle Street is a wooden key used as a street
sign and trade mark, probably dating from the reign of George III., at
which time the predecessors of the present firm carried on a locksmith’s
business at the premises. The exterior retains an 18th-century
appearance, and a small Georgian coat of arms remains over the doorway.
The interior has been many times reconstructed, and does not now contain
anything of architectural interest.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
No. 54, Neal Street. Exterior (photograph).
No. 54, Neal Street. Detail of staircase (measured drawing).
Nos. 54, 56 and 58, Castle Street. Exterior (photograph).
[579]No. 56, Castle Street. Street sign (photograph).
No. 50, Castle Street. Exterior (photograph).
Nos. 1–6, Little White Lion Street. General view (photograph).
No. 10, Lumber Court. Exterior of ground floor (photograph).
[579]Little Earl Street. General view looking east (photograph).
Little Earl Street. General view and No. 15 (photograph).
No. 15, Little Earl Street. Exterior (photograph).
Nos. 12–16, Great White Lion Street. General view of exteriors
(photograph).
LII.—THE CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, WEST STREET.
[Illustration: Wesley’s Chapel, West S^t., Seven Dials]
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th February, 1699–1700, John Ardowin obtained a lease of a plot of
Marshland, 73 feet long, by 46 feet deep, abutting south on West Street
and north on Tower Street, “as the same was laid out and designed for a
chapel.”[580] The chapel in question, which was for the use of the
little colony of Huguenots lately settled in the district, was duly
built, and received the title of “La Pyramide de la Tremblade.” The
following inscription, however, which occurs on two chalices in the
possession of the West London Mission, shows that the congregation had
for more than two years had a temporary place of worship on this spot.
“Hi duo Calices dono dati sunt ab Honesto Viro Petro FENOWILLET die
octavo Julii MDCIIIC in usum Congregationis Gallicae quae habetur in via
vulgo dicta West Street de Parochia S. Ægidii. Si vero dissolvitur
Congregatio in usum Pauperum venundabuntur.” In 1742 the congregation
removed elsewhere, and in the following year John Wesley took a seven
years’ lease of the building, holding his first service there on Trinity
Sunday, 1743. His house, which stood immediately to the west of the
chapel, was demolished in 1902. The lease of the chapel was renewed from
time to time until Wesley’s death in 1791, after which the premises were
used for various religious purposes until 1888, when they were purchased
for the use of the Seven Dials Mission.[581]
The exterior is of stock brick with large semi-circular headed windows,
as shown on the previous page.
The interior has three large galleries supported on panelled square wood
pillars. The ceiling and roof are carried by Ionic columns. Over the bay
of the nave next to the chancel is a large square lantern with flat
ceiling; in each side of the lantern are three light windows.
The chancel is the full width of the nave between the galleries. The end
wall had a window, known in Wesley’s time as the “Nicodemus Window.” It
connected with Wesley’s house, and by its means many of his secret
admirers could take part in the service without being observed by the
congregation. It was filled in after Wesley’s death and was not found
again until 1901, when the wall was pulled down and rebuilt. Vestries
with rooms over now occupy the sides of the chancel, but formerly these
were a portion of the church.
[Illustration]
The top part of the pulpit, formerly a “three decker,” occupied by
Wesley, is still in use as the reading desk. The present pulpit, of
18th-century oak, was a gift from the church of St. George, Bloomsbury,
and the white marble font, dated 1810, came from the parish church of
St. Giles.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[582]Church of All Saints, West Street. Exterior in 1901
(photograph).
General view of interior (photograph).
[582]Top part of Wesley’s pulpit (photograph).
LIII.—SITE OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. GILES.
The Hospital of St. Giles-in-the-Fields was founded by Maud,[583] Henry
I.’s Queen, probably in 1117 or 1118.[584] Stow[585] giving, on unknown
authority, the date as “about the yeare 1117,” and the Cottonian MS.
_Nero_ C.V.[586] placing the event in 1118. The number of lepers to be
maintained in the Hospital was stated, in the course of the suit between
the Abbot of St. Mary Graces and the Master of Burton Lazars in the
fourth year of Henry IV.’s reign, to be fourteen,[587] and this is to a
certain extent confirmed by a petition[588] from the brethren of the
Hospital, dating from the end of Edward I.’s reign, which gives the
number as “xiij,” apparently a clerical error. On the other hand, the
jury who were sworn to give evidence at the above-mentioned suit,
declared that from time immemorial it had not been the custom to
maintain fourteen, but that sometimes there had been only three, four or
five.
Maud had assigned 60s. rent, issuing from Queenhithe, for the support of
the lepers, and had afterwards granted the ward of the Hospital to the
citizens of London,[589] who appointed two persons to supervise the
Hospital. Certain of the citizens had given rents, etc., amounting to
upwards of £80 a year towards the maintenance of lepers of the City and
suburbs,[590] and an arrangement come to[591] in the reign of Edward
III. between the City and the Warden of the Hospital provided that,
apparently in accordance with the ancient custom, the whole of the
fourteen lepers should be taken from the City and suburbs and presented
by the Mayor and Commonalty, or that if there were not so many within
those limits, the County of Middlesex should be included, and that in
the event of further gifts to the Hospital by good men of the City, the
number of lepers should be increased in proportion. It will be seen,
therefore, that the Hospital of St. Giles was, in early times, a
peculiarly London institution, and very closely connected with the
governing body of the City.
On 4th April, 1299,[592] it was granted to the Hospital of Burton Lazars
in Leicestershire. It thus became a cell to that house, and a member of
the order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. Except for a short intermission,
it remained under the control of the house of Burton Lazars until the
dissolution in 1539, but it must long before have ceased to serve its
original purpose. Its constitution during the later period of its
existence is obscure, but the place of the lepers was probably taken by
infirm persons, when leprosy became extinct. The hospital appears to
have been governed by a Warden, who was subordinate to the Master of
Burton Lazars.
The Precinct of the Hospital probably included the whole of the island
site now bounded by High Street, Charing Cross Road[593] and Shaftesbury
Avenue; it was entered by a Gatehouse in High Street. The Hospital
church is sufficiently represented by the present parish church, while
the other buildings of the hospital included the Master’s House
(subsequently called the Mansion House) to the west of the church, and
the Spittle Houses, which probably stood in the High Street to the east
of the church. There is no evidence of the internal arrangement of these
buildings, with the exception of the church, which survived till 1623,
and will be described below.
THE GATEHOUSE.
The position of The Gatehouse may be roughly gathered from a deed of
1618[594], which refers to “all that old decayed building or house
commonly called the Gatehouse, adjoyning next unto one small old
tenement or building set and being att or neare unto or uppon the
north-west corner of the brickwall inclosing the north and west parte of
the churchyard.”
MANSION HOUSE AND ADJACENT BUILDINGS.
A few years after the dissolution in 1539, the property of the Hospital
was divided between Lord Lisle and Katherine Legh[595], when there fell
to the share of the former the mansion place or capital house of the
Hospital; a messuage, part of the Hospital, with orchards and gardens,
in the tenure of Doctor Borde; and a messuage, part of the Hospital,
with orchard and garden, in the tenure of Master Densyle, formerly of
Master Wynter. Lisle transferred the property to Sir Wymonde Carew, who
at his death was found to be seized of and in “the capital mansion of
the Hospital of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and of and in certain parcels of
land with appurtenances in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields.”[596]
Thomas Carew, his son, seems to have disposed of the whole of the
property, and in 1563 the above-mentioned, described as four messuages,
were in the possession of Francis Downes.
On 10th April, 1566, Robert and Edward Downes sold[597] to John Graunge
“all those messuages, tenements, houses, edyfices, barns, stables,
gardens, orchards, meadows, etc., with the appurtenances, now or late in
the several occupations of the Right Hon. Sir Willyam Herbert, knyght,
now Erell of Pembroke, —— Byrcke, Esq., Johan Wyse, wydowe, Anthony
Vuidele, Thomas More, Henrye Hye, and —— Troughton, —— Wylson, lyng and
being in St. Gyles in the Fieldes.”
There are no records by which the history of these several houses may be
traced, but at the beginning of the 17th century the property, having
then passed into the hands of Robert Lloyd[598] (Floyd, or Flood), seems
chiefly to have comprised five large houses.[599]
On 19th March, 1617–8, Robert Lloyd[600] sold to Isaac Bringhurst the
reversion of a house, formerly in the occupation of Jas. Bristowe and
then in that of Thomas Whitesaunder, situated “nere unto the west end of
the ... parish church” and to the south of Sir Edward Cope’s residence,
having an enclosure on its east side 45 feet wide by 17½ and 18 feet,
and gardens and ground on the west side, extending 288½ feet to Hog
Lane. Assuming a depth of from 30 to 40 feet for the house itself, it
will be seen that the premises stretched between the church and Hog Lane
for a distance of about 340 feet, and after making due allowance for the
fact that Hog Lane was much narrower than Charing Cross Road, its modern
representative, it will be apparent that the only possible course taken
by the above mentioned property was along the line of Little Denmark
Street, formerly Lloyd’s Court. Unfortunately the history of the house
in question cannot be definitely traced after 1629[601], but if the site
suggested above is correct, the premises subsequently came into the
possession of Elizabeth Saywell (_née_ Lloyd) who, by will dated 5th
January, 1712–3, gave all her real estate in St. Giles, after several
estates for life, to Benjamin Carter for his life, and devised a fourth
part of her estate to trustees for charitable purposes. Benjamin Carter
on 12th March, 1727, accordingly granted to trustees all that old
capital messuage or tenement wherein Mrs. Saywell had resided, “which
said capital messuage had been pulled down and several messuages, houses
or tenements, had been erected on the ground whereon the said capital
messuage stood situated in a certain place, commonly called Lloyd’s
Court.”[602]
Immediately to the north of the last mentioned house was the mansion of
Sir Edward Cope, described in 1612[603] as “with twoe litle gardens
before on the north side thereof impalled, and a large garden with a
pumpe and a banquetting house on the south side of the same tenement,
walled about with bricke, and a stable and the stable yard adjoyning to
the same garden.”
If the site ascribed to the previous house is correct, Sir Edward Cope’s
mansion must have been identical with that shown in the map in Strype’s
edition of Stow (Plate 5) as “Ld. Wharton’s,” situated between the
houses on the north side of Lloyd’s Court and on the south side of
Denmark Street. In 1652, the house was in the tenure of John Barkstead
or his assigns.[604] Philip, 4th Lord Wharton, was resident in St. Giles
in 1677,[605] probably at this house, and the “garden of Lord Wharton”
is in 1687 mentioned[606] as the southern boundary of premises in
Denmark Street. It seems a reasonable suggestion that this house was
originally the _capitalis mansio_, or master’s house.
The same deed of 1612 mentions(i) a house in the tenure of Tristram
Gibbs, with a stable towards the street on the north side, and a large
garden on the south, “walled on the east side and toward a lane of the
south side,” abutting west on the garden of Frances Varney’s house; and
(ii) a house “now or latelie in the tenure of Alice, the Lady Dudley,”
with a paved court on the north side before the door, a stable on the
north side towards the street, another paved court backwards towards the
south, walled with brick, and a large walled garden on the south side.
The position of Tristram Gibbs’s house can be roughly identified by the
fact that a parcel of ground abutting north on Denmark Street and south
on Lord Wharton’s garden and ground is stated[607] to have been formerly
“part of the garden belonging to the messuage in tenure of Tristram
Gibbs, Esq.” The house was therefore to the north of Lord Wharton’s
house, and its site probably extended over part of Denmark Street.
The position of Lady Dudley’s house may be roughly ascertained from the
particulars given in the deed of 1618,[608] which mentions the
Gatehouse. Therein reference is made to the site of a certain house
formerly adjoining the north part of the Gatehouse, “conteyninge in
length from the north part to the south part, viz., from the end or
corner of a certain stone wall, being the wall of the house or stable
there of the Lady Dudley unto the south-east corner post or utmost
lymittes of the said Gatehouse 39½ feet, and in breadth att the north
end, viz., from the uttermost side of the said stone wall att the south
east corner thereof to a certen little shed or building there called a
coach house of the said Lady Dudley, 19 feet; and in length from south
to north, viz., from the uttermost lymittes or south-west corner post of
the said Gatehouse to a certen old foundacion of a wall lying neare unto
the south side of the said coache house 28 feet, and in breadth from
east to west att the south end and so throughe all the full length of
the said 28 feet of the said soile or ground 28½ feet.” The above is not
as clear as it might be, but it certainly shows that Lady Dudley’s
stable was to the north of the Gatehouse, which, as has been shown, was
near the north-west angle of the churchyard. Lady Dudley’s house,
therefore, probably occupied a site to the north of Denmark Street.
The most northerly of the five large houses existing here at the
beginning of the 17th century was the White House. This was, in 1618,
when it was sold by Robert Lloyd to Isaac Bringhurst,[609] in the
occupation of Edmund Verney, and was then described as “all that one
messuage or tenement, with appurtenances, commonly known by the name of
the White House, and one yard, one garden and one long walke, and one
stable with a hay lofte over the same.” In 1631 it was purchased by Lady
Dudley,[610] who three years later transferred[611] it to trustees to be
used for the purposes of a parsonage. At the time a lease of the
premises for three lives was held by Edward Smith, and this was not
determined until 1681, when the house had become “very ruinous and
scarcely habitable.”[612] The Rector at once entered into an agreement
with John Boswell, a hatmaker of St. Dunstan’s West, for rebuilding, and
it was arranged that the houses to be erected on the site should be
built “with all materials and scantlings conformable to the third rate
buildings prescribed by the Act of Parliament for rebuilding the City of
London.” The result was presumably Dudley Court, now Denmark Place.
THE SPITTLE HOUSES.
Among the properties which fell to the portion of Katherine Legh, after
the dissolution of the Hospital were “all those messuages, houses and
buyldinges, landes and tenements callyd the Spyttell howses, with all
the orchards and gardens thereunto adjoyning.” The only property
situated within the Precinct that can be traced as belonging to
Katherine, consists of (i.) four houses and gardens, immediately to the
east of the churchyard[613] and, between these and what is now
Shaftesbury Avenue, (ii.) a house, garden and orchard.[614] The
westernmost house of (i.) was probably _The Angel_, which is definitely
mentioned as having been transferred to Katherine, but the remaining
houses, etc., almost certainly were the Spittle houses, with their
orchards and gardens. They are shown distinctly on Agas’s Map (Plate 1).
PASTURE GROUND.
The whole of the remainder of the Precinct to the south of the Hospital
was, in the days of Elizabeth, pasture ground, and is probably to be
identified with the close lying within the Precinct, commonly called the
Pale Close, which is stated[615] to have formed part of the property
transferred to Lord Lisle. The first specific mention of the ground
occurs in 1564, when the jurors holding the _Inquisitionem Post Mortem_
on Francis Downes found[616] that he was seized, _inter alia_, of and in
four messuages and four acres of pasture in the parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields. Downes, it is stated, purchased the property from
Thomas Carew, son and heir of Sir Wymonde Carew, to whom it had been
sold by Lord Lisle.
The four acres subsequently passed to John Graunge, in 1566, whose son
sold them in 1611 to Robert Lloyd (otherwise called Floyd or Flood). On
the latter’s death in 1617, he was found to be seized of and in a house
with a garden on the east side, a barn and garden on the south of the
house, and a stable and two closes of pasture, containing four acres,
adjoining the barn and garden.[617] The next reference to the ground is
in 1622, when it is referred to[618] as “two closes, formerly pasture,
late converted into gardens and purchased ... by Abraham Speckard and
Dorothy his wife.” It next passed to Sir Richard Stydolph, for Charles
Tryon, his grandson, refers in his will,[619] signed 2nd November, 1705,
to “a piece or parcell of ground containing about four acres lying in
the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields ... near the church ... on which
said ground are now standing ... severall houses and other buildings
held by severall leases thereof granted by Sir Richard Stydolphe ... all
or most whereof will in few years expire.” With this fact is undoubtedly
to be connected the licence granted in July, 1671, to Sir Richard
Stydolph to continue building at the back of St. Giles’s church. The
licence[620] sets forth that Stydolph had let ground “on the backside of
St. Giles’ Church in the way to Pickadilly to severall poore men who
build hansome and uniforme houses, some whereof were quite covered and
the fundacions of the rest laid,” before the proclamation prohibiting
building on new foundations had been issued. In due course, “Christopher
Wren, Esq.,” viewed the place and made a report, approving generally of
the scheme and suggesting that it might “tend in some measure to cure
the noisomnesse of that part,” provided that the building was carried
out in accordance with a settled design. On this condition the necessary
permission was given, and it was provided that two copies of the
“designe, mapp or charte” should be made, neither of which,
unfortunately, is available at the present day. Stidwell Street
preserved for some time, in garbled form, the name of the owner of these
lands.
THE MANOR AND POSSESSIONS OF ST. GILES’ HOSPITAL.
Up to within a few years of its dissolution, the Hospital of St.
Giles, or rather that of Burton Lazars, in whose custody it was,
owned the greater portion of the present Parish of St. Giles,
together with large estates in other parishes.
On 2nd June, 1536, however, Henry VIII. effected an exchange[621]
with the Master of Burton Lazars, whereby the latter received
certain property in Leicestershire and transferred to the King the
undermentioned:—
Manors of Feltham and Heston.
Messuages, etc., in Feltham and Heston.
2 acres of meadow in the Fields of St. Martins.
25 acres of pasture lying in the village of St. Giles.[622]
5 acres of pasture near Colman’s Hedge.[622]
5 acres of pasture in Colmanhedge Field.[622]
A close called Conduit Close, of five acres.
A close called Marshland.
A messuage called _The White Hart_, and 18 acres of pasture
thereto belonging.
A messuage called _The Rose_, and a pasture thereto belonging.
A messuage called _The Vine_.
[Illustration:
_Dudley._
]
Reserved were the church and rectory of Feltham, and all glebes,
tithes, etc., belonging thereto.
Of the lands and houses above-mentioned, only the last four were
in the parish of St. Giles, and three of them have already been
dealt with. _The Vine_ was on the north side of High Holborn, and
its site, with that of the close behind, is now marked by Grape
Street, formerly Vine Street.
Very shortly afterwards, Sir Thomas Legh, the notorious visitor of
the monasteries, made a determined effort to gain possession of
the Hospital of Burton Lazars,[623] and obtained from Thomas
Radclyff, then master, the next advowson of the Hospital for his
life. This was confirmed in March, 1536–7, by Letters Patent.[624]
In 1539 the Hospital was dissolved, and its possessions reverted
to the Crown. Legh, however, for several years continued to hold
the property, and enjoy the profits, spiritual and temporal, until
on 6th May, 1544, the King granted to Sir John Dudley, Viscount
Lisle, the Hospital with all its possessions in Leicestershire,
St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and elsewhere. Very naturally, this
resulted in “contencion, varyence and stryfe” being “reysed,
stirred and dependyng betweene the said Viscount Lisle ... and the
said Sir Thomas Legh ... of for and aboute the right, tytle,
interest, occupation and possession of the seyd late Hospytall,”
and the Lord Chancellor, Lord Wriothesley, was appointed
arbitrator to settle the matter.
In the course of the same year (1544) Wriothesley gave his award,
dividing the property between the two claimants, but as the
arrangement was never completed it is not necessary to give
details here.[625]
It appears that when the award in question was being obtained,
Lord Lisle was absent from the country, “beinge occupied in the
parties beyond the see in and aboute the Kynges Majesties affaires
concernynge his warres,” and on his return refused to carry out
the decree, claiming that “the veray trewe and hoole tytle of the
seyde Viscounte of and in the premysses” had not been disclosed.
On 24th November, 1545, Sir Thomas Legh died,[626] leaving as his
sole heir a daughter, Katherine, aged five years. His widow, Joan,
pressed for the execution of the award, and eventually on 8th
March, 1545–6, a further decree[627] was made modifying the
former. In accordance therewith an indenture[628] was on 24th
March drawn up between Lord Lisle and Dame Joan Legh, providing
for the transfer to the latter during her life, with remainder to
Katherine, of the undermentioned property.
“All those messuages, houses, and buyldinges, landes and tenements
callyd the Spyttell howses, with all the orchards, gardens
thereunto adjoyning.”
A close called St. Giles’ Wood.[629]
_The Chequer._[630]
4 cottages in the occupation of John Baron.
11 cottages in the occupation of William Wilkinson.
_The Maidenhead_,[703] with a garden.
_The Bear_ and 2 cottages adjoining.
Bear Close and Aldwych Close.
_The George._[703]
A “mese” in the occupation of John Smith.
_The Angel._
6 cottages in the occupation of William Hosyer.
_The King’s Head._[703]
2 cottages near _The Greyhound_.
Rents from _The Crown_ and a brewhouse.
The tithe of two fields[631] in Bloomsbury.
13 cottages in St. Andrew’s, Holborn.
The Round Rents[632] and other tenements and cottages in St.
Andrew’s, Holborn.
Lands in Essex, Sussex, Northampton, York, Northumberland and
Norfolk.
Rents from a large number of properties in the City of London, St.
Clement Danes, etc.
In Lord Lisle’s hands remained:—
“The capitall house of the seyd late Hospitall of Seynte Gyles in
the feldes and all the stables, barnes, orchards and gardeyns
thereunto adjoyninge.”
Two “meses” parcels of the same site, with orchards and gardens,
etc., late in the tenure of Dr. Borde and Master Densyll.
A close of 16 acres lying before the Great Gate, in the occupation
of Master Magnus.
A close lying within the precinct, commonly called the Pale Close.
A close of 20 acres called The Newlands.[633]
A piece of ground called The Lane.[633]
Certain lands in Norfolk.
Lisle retained the property only for a few months, selling it in
the same year[634] (1546) to John Wymond Carew, (afterwards Sir
Wymond). Sir Wymond died on 23rd August, 1549, when he was
found[635] to be seized of “and in the capital mansion of the
Hospital of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and of and in certain
parcels of land with appurtenances in the parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields ... in his demesne as of fee.”
In December, 1561, his widow, Dame Martha Carew, gave up, in
return for an annuity, to his son Thomas “all those lands,
tenements, rents, hereditaments, etc., lieing and being in St.
Gyles and Maribone, nere London, late belonging to Burton Lazar,
which she holds by way of jointure”;[636] and Thomas sold them to
Francis Downes. On the latter’s death in 1564 they were
particularised[637] as four messuages, and four acres of pasture
in St. Giles, and 20 acres of pasture in St. Marylebone.
[Illustration:
_Blount._
]
Although the manor of St. Giles is not mentioned, it must have
been included in the portion assigned to Katherine Legh, for it is
found afterwards in her possession. Sir Thomas’s widow died on 5th
January, 1555–6[638] (having previously remarried[639]), leaving
Katherine in her sixteenth year. Such a desirable prize was not
likely to remain long in the matrimonial market, and a husband was
soon found in the person of Sir James Blount, Lord Mountjoy.
Blount’s life seems to have been one of continual financial worry,
and his mortgages and recognisances figure very prominently in the
Close Rolls of the period.[640]
The date of his marriage with Katherine Legh is not known
precisely, but it was certainly within 13 months of the death of
her mother.[641] By degrees the greater portion of Lady
Katherine’s inheritance was converted into ready money, and among
other transactions, the manor of St. Giles was on 18th July, 1565,
mortgaged to Robert Browne, citizen and goldsmith of London, and
Thomas his son.[642] The mortgage was never redeemed,[643] and on
20th June, 1579, Thomas Browne parted with the manor to Thos.
Harris, who in turn sold it on 12th February, 1582–3, to John
Blomeson. Blomeson retained it for nine years, and on 3rd May,
1592, sold it to “Walter Cope, of the Strand, Esq.,”[644]
afterwards Sir Walter Cope.[645] On his death in 1614, the manor
came into the possession of his daughter and sole heiress,
Isabella, who married Sir Henry Rich, and on 2nd April, 1616, it
was sold to Philip Gifford and Thos. Risley, in trust for Henry,
third Earl of Southampton.[646]
[Illustration:
_Russell._
]
On the death of the fourth earl in 1668, it became the property of
his daughter, Lady Rachel Russell, from whom it descended to the
Dukes of Bedford, who now hold it.
LIV.—THE CHURCH OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS.
FIRST CHURCH.
In a book,[647] now in the possession of the Holborn Metropolitan
Borough Council, containing a number of extracts apparently copied from
an earlier volume, is the copy of a document dated 26th January,
1630–31, in which it is stated that Queen Maud, about the year 1110,
here built a church “pulchram satis et magnificam,” and called it by the
name of St. Giles-in-the-Fields. It is possible that the statement is
merely based on the fact of the foundation of the hospital, including
the church, at about that date.
Although there is no record of any presentation to the living before the
Hospital was suppressed in 1539, the fact that the parish of St. Giles
was in existence at least as early as 1222[648] necessitates the
assumption that the church was partially used for parochial purposes.
After the suppression of the Hospital the whole fabric became parochial.
The earliest institution that has been found to[649] this church is
dated 20th April, 1547, and was at the presentation of Sir Wymond Carew.
On the next occasion (1571) the privilege was exercised by Queen
Elizabeth, and since that time the patronage has always been in the
hands of the Crown.
Very little information remains as to the architectural character of the
church (whether the original structure or not) at the time of the
dissolution.[650]
Besides the high altar there must have been an altar to the patron
saint, St. Giles. There is also evidence of the existence of a chapel of
St. Michael, for in the 46th year of Henry III. Robert of Portpool
bequeathed certain rents to provide for the maintenance of a chaplain
“to celebrate perpetually divine service in the chapel of St. Michael,
within the hospital church of S. Giles.”[651]
According to an order of the Vestry of 8th August, 1623, there then
existed a nave and a chancel, both with pillars, clerestory walls over,
and aisles on either side.
The Vestry minutes of 21st April, 1617, record the erection of a steeple
with a peal of bells, but from the fact that “casting the bells” is
mentioned as well as the buying of new bells, and from the reference to
it in the following year (9th September, 1618) as “the new steeple,” it
seems probable that something of the kind had existed before.
Parton[652] says that there was in early times a small round bell tower,
with a conical top, at the western end of the church, but his authority
for the statement is very doubtful.
The size of the church, measured within the walls, was 153 feet by 65
feet.[653]
SECOND CHURCH.
The church was, in the early years of the 17th century, in danger of
falling, as indeed some of it did, causing a void at the upper end of
the chancel “which was stored with Lumber, as the Boards of Coffins and
Deadmen’s Bones.” A screen was erected at the expense of Lady Dudley “to
hide it from the beholders’ eyes, which could not but be troubled at
it.”[654] A further collapse caused the parishioners to decide to erect
a new church. This was begun in 1623 and finished in 1631. The cost of
building amounted to £2,068, all of which, with the exception of £252
borrowed, was obtained from voluntary offerings. The largest contributor
was Lady Dudley, who gave £250, and, in addition, paid for the paving of
the church and chancel. A small sketch of the church is given by Hollar
in his plan of 1658 (Plate 3), and a lithograph (here reproduced) by G.
Scharf is in Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_.
[Illustration: Del^t. John Hall Med Templ Lond Marti 17 1718. G Scharf
Lithog The Old Church of S^t. Giles in the Fields as it Appeared in the
Year 1718]
Hatton[655] gives the length as 123 feet and the breadth 57 feet. The
church and steeple appear to have been built of rubbed brick[656],
surmounted with battlements, and coped with stone.[656] A western
gallery was erected in 1671, and others to the north and south in
1676–7.
The chancel had a large east window, and one on either side. The nave
had a window over the chancel arch, and a large one at the west end.
There were north and south aisles, which must have been of considerable
height to admit of the galleries which were subsequently added. They
appear to have been of three bays,[657] with two windows in each. All
the windows, except the westernmost one in the north aisle, were glazed
with coloured and painted glass. There were three doors to the church,
one beneath the west window and others under the third window from the
east of the north aisle and the westernmost window of the south aisle.
No window is mentioned by Strype at the west end of the north aisle, so
that it is probable that the tower was attached to the church in this
situation. This had battlements and was provided with a vane.
The interior was well furnished and provided with numerous ornaments,
many of which were the gift of Lady Dudley.[658] Chief among the latter
must be mentioned an elaborate screen of carved oak placed where one had
formerly stood in the old church. This, as stated in a petition to
Parliament in 1640,[659] was “in the figure of a beautifull gate, in
which is carved two large pillars, and three large statues: on the one
side is Paul, with his sword; on the other Barnabas, with his book; and
over them Peter with his keyes. They are all set above with winged
cherubims, and beneath supported by lions.”
The church had a pair of organs with case richly gilded, and the organ
loft was painted with a representation of the Twelve Apostles.
Very costly and handsome rails were provided to guard the altar. This
balustrade extended the full width of the chancel, and stood 7 or 8 feet
east of the screen at the top of three steps.
The altar stood close up to the east wall, with a desk raised upon it in
various degrees of advancement.
The upper end of the church was paved with marble, and six bells were
provided in the steeple.
In 1640 the reformers were very bitterly incensed against the rector
with regard to the fittings in the church, and a petition was presented
to Parliament enumerating the various articles which were considered
superstitious and idolatrous. The result of this action was that most of
the ornaments were sold in 1643, while Lady Dudley was still alive.
After the Restoration the church was repaired and decorated, and a
striking clock and dials added to the tower.
In 1716 the church had a very valuable addition made to its plate in the
form of an engraved gold communion cup, weighing 45 ozs., which had been
purchased pursuant to the will of Thomas Woodville, a parishioner who
died at sea. This valuable chalice, together with the rest of the
sacramental and other plate, was stolen from the vestry room in 1804.
The church was obviously not well constructed, for by 1715 it was
reported to be in a ruinous condition. Under a moderate computation it
appeared that it would cost £3,000 to put it in order. The ground
outside being above the floor of the church, caused the air to be damp
and unwholesome, and proved inconvenient in other ways. In these
circumstances it was thought better to recommend a complete
reconstruction of the church.
The parishioners accordingly petitioned that the church should be
included in the 50 new churches to be built in the cities of London and
Westminster and the suburbs, and the necessary authority for this was
eventually obtained in 1718.[660] Nothing, however, was done until 1729,
when an arrangement was come to whereby the Parish of St. Giles agreed
to make provision for the stipend of the rector of the new parish of St.
George, Bloomsbury, on condition that the Commissioners acting under the
Act of Queen Anne should pay a sum not exceeding £8,000 for the
rebuilding of St. Giles Church. The arrangement was sanctioned by an Act
of Parliament of the same year.[661] By 1731, Henry Flitcroft had
prepared plans and entered into an agreement to begin pulling down by
31st August of that year, and to have the new church completely finished
on or before 25th December, 1733. For this work the architect was to
receive £7,030, but in fact the contract was exceeded by over £1,000,
Flitcroft’s receipt being for £8,436 19s. 6d.[662]
THIRD CHURCH.
The interior dimensions of the church are as follows: length from the
west wall to the east wall of the chancel, 102 feet; length from the
west wall of the nave to the east wall of the nave, 74 feet; depth of
the chancel, 8 feet; width of the nave and aisles, 57 feet 6 inches.
The plan is a nave of five bays with side aisles (Plate 43), over which
are galleries, these being connected by a western one in the last bay of
the nave. A shallow sanctuary is placed at the eastern end, and at the
west is the steeple and a vestibule containing the entrances and the
staircases to the galleries and tower.
The general treatment of the exterior of the church (Plates 45 and 47)
is plain in character, but of pleasing effect. The walling is faced with
Portland stone rusticated (chamfered at the joints) to a projecting band
marking the gallery level. Above, the walling is of plain ashlaring with
rusticated quoins. The gallery windows have semi-circular heads with
keystones, moulded architraves and plain impost blocks. The whole is
surmounted by a bold modillion cornice, with blocking course above.
Emphasis is given to the sanctuary by a pediment and by a large
semi-circular-headed window with panels on either side forming a
decorative composition.
The western end has a similar pediment with the tower rising above. The
central entrance doorway lacks emphasis and the importance which its
position seems to require, and is almost the same in design as those to
the vestibules facing north and south, which are relatively unimportant.
On the main frieze below the cornice is the inscription—H. FLITCROFT,
ARCHITECTUS.
Rising immediately behind the western pediment is the steeple of about
150 feet in height.
Flitcroft’s able design was evidently influenced by that of Gibbs for
the neighbouring church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, but it lacks the
vigorous character of that noble structure. The banding to the obelisk
above the belfry tends to make this feature appear somewhat overheavy in
comparison with the graceful lantern beneath. The change from square to
octagon at the clock face level is cleverly managed, and will bear
comparison with the same feature at St. Martin’s Church.
The following extract from _A Critical Review of the Public Buildings,
Statues and Ornaments in and About London and Westminster_ made by Ralph
in 1734, is of interest, as it gives an opinion upon the architecture of
this church shortly after its erection:—
“The new church of St. Giles’s is one of the most simple and
elegant of the modern structures: it is rais’d at very little
expence, has very few ornaments, and little beside the propriety
of its parts, and the harmony of the whole, to excite attention,
and challenge applause: yet still it pleases, and justly too; the
east end is both plain and majestick, and there is nothing in the
west to object to but the smallness of the doors, and the poverty
of appearance that must necessarily follow. The steeple is light,
airy and genteel, argues a good deal of genius in the architect,
and looks very well both in comparison with the body of the
church, and when ’tis consider’d as a building by itself, in a
distant prospect.”
Ralph disliked the position of the church, and would have altered its
direction, making what is the east end the main front, and placing it in
such a manner as to have ended the vista of Broad Street.
The interior (Plate 49) is much finer than the exterior would suggest,
and is an excellent example of a well thought-out design. Square
panelled piers rising to the underside of the galleries support Ionic
columns with block entablatures, all of Portland stone (Plate 46). These
carry the roof and ceiling. The ceiling of the nave is barrel-vaulted in
form, panelled and divided into bays by mouldings. The ceilings of the
aisle-galleries (Plates 44 and 51) take the form of a species of groined
vaults intersecting the barrel ceiling of the nave. The whole is covered
by a roof of one span.
The treatment of the galleries is more than usually satisfactory, for
the fronts, instead of being housed into the columns—giving the
suggestion of a necessary after addition—rest comfortably upon the piers
supporting the columns, and, if taken away, would mar the proportion of
the columns to their pedestals.
The shallow sanctuary is almost the full width of the nave. It is ceiled
with an ornamental panelled barrel vault following that of the nave, and
the eastern wall is filled by an architectural composition harmonising
with the general treatment of the nave.
On the frieze of the altar piece (Plate 51) is carved a cherub’s head,
and above is a scrolled pediment having in the centre a pelican feeding
her young in the nest.
The lower panels on either side of the altar and of the sanctuary, are
four in number, and enclosed in carved wood frames. Two contain
pictures; that of Moses to the left (Plate 52) and of Aaron to the right
of the altar.
The pulpit is of carved oak with inlay panels. The ironwork to the choir
balustrade is of wrought work, and the old iron bound chest in the
north-west vestibule is of interest.
The organ (Plate 50) is of considerable interest, and Mr. George E.
Dunn, the organist, has been good enough to supply the following
information. The instrument was built by the celebrated Bernard Schmidt
(known as Father Smith) for the second church in 1671, when he was 41
years old. He was known chiefly for the perfection of his diapason
stops—the true organ tone—and those in this organ are among his best
specimens. When the church was rebuilt by Flitcroft he evidently did not
desire to interfere with the organ, and adopted the unusual expedient of
erecting the tower of the new church partially round the organ;
consequently the back and part of two sides are covered by the walling
of the tower. Father Smith’s original specification remained until 1856,
when many of the stops had become decayed after 180 years’ use. Dr. G.
C. Verrinder, the organist at that time, had it restored and enlarged by
Messrs. Gray and Davidson, and further repairs and alterations were made
in 1884 by the same firm, under the instructions of the late Dr. W.
Little, the organist at that date. In 1889–1900 further alterations were
made by Messrs. Henry Jones and Sons, in collaboration with the present
organist. But through all the decay and changes the organ has undergone
Father Smith’s original diapasons in the front organ remain and are
still perfect. The blowing is done by hand, but the well-balanced lever
renders this comparatively easy, while, despite the retention of the old
tracker action, the instrument is quite free from the “rattling” so
often found in these old actions. In front are carved the royal arms of
George I.
All the glass to the windows, except a small panel (Plate 52) in the
west window of the south vestibule, is modern. This fragment, which is
probably from the earlier church, represents St. Giles’s tame hind
struck by the arrow.
The majority of the monuments in the church belong to the 19th century.
Those of earlier date are as follows:—
On the north-east wall of the nave is a tablet of white marble, on a
black marble slab, with the following inscription:
H. S. E.
GULIELMUS WATSON EQUES
SOCIETATIS REGALIS APUD LONDINUM,
ET COLLEGII REGALIS MEDICORUM SOCIUS,
REGALI ETIAM ACADEMIÆ MADRITENSI ADSCRIPTUS,
IN UNIVERSITATIBUS HALÆ ET VIRTEMBERGIÆ
MEDICINÆ DOCTOR
HONORIS ERGO ELECTUS
VIR SUI TEMPORIS
SCIENTIÆ INDAGATOR STUDIOSISSIMUS:
ARTIS MEDICÆ ET BOTANICÆ, NECNON PHILOSOPHIÆ NATURALIS,
PRÆCIPUE QUOD AD VIM ELECTRICAM ATTINET
INTER PRIMOS PERITUS.
OBIIT DIE MAII 10. A.D. 1787. ÆTAT. SUÆ 72.
HOC MARMOR NEC SUPERBUM,
NEC QUIDQUAM HABENS ORNATUS:
PRAETER IPSUM EJUS NOMEN,
FILIO PIENTISSIMO LEGANTE,
TESTAMENTI CURATORES
PONI JUSSERUNT.
Above, surmounted by a crest, is placed a coat of arms: (_Argent_) on a
chevron engrailed (_Azure_) between three martlets (_Sable_) as many
crescents (_of the first_).
On the wall of the north aisle is a white marble tablet to the memory of
John Barnfather, who died on 17th September, 1793, in the 75th year of
his age. A tribute is paid to his strictness and impartiality in the
execution of his duties as a justice of the peace, and to his “mildness
of Temper and benignity of mind” in private life. The tablet is
surmounted by a mourning female figure, and fixed on an oval slab of
black marble.
A little to the west along the aisle is a tablet of black marble, with
white marble cornice and base, bearing an inscription to the memory of
other members of the same family, viz., Robert Barnfather, who died on
23rd October, 1741, aged 54, and his wife Mary, who died on 6th
December, 1754, aged 67. A long account of the latter’s many good
qualities is contributed by “their most Affectionate Son.”
Still further westward is a tablet with the following inscription:—
NEAR UNTO THIS PLACE LYETH THE BODY OF
ANDREW MARVELL ESQUIRE, A MAN SO ENDOWED BY NATURE
SO IMPROVED BY EDUCATION, STUDY & TRAVELL, SO CONSUMMATED
BY PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE: THAT JOINING THE MOST PECULIAR GRACES
OF WIT & LEARNING WITH A SINGULAR PENETRATION & STRENGTH OF
JUDGMENT, & EXERCISING ALL THESE IN THE WHOLE COURSE OF HIS LIFE
WITH AN UNALTERABLE STEADINESS IN THE WAYS OF VIRTUE, HE BECAME
THE ORNAMENT & EXAMPLE OF HIS AGE; BELOVED BY GOOD MEN, FEAR’D
BY BAD, ADMIR’D BY ALL, THO IMITATED ALASS! BY FEW, & SCARCE FULLY
PARALLELLED BY ANY. BUT A TOMB STONE CAN NEITHER CONTAIN HIS CHARACTER,
NOR IS MARBLE NECESSARY TO TRANSMIT IT TO POSTERITY, IT WILL BE ALWAYS
LEGIBLE IN HIS INIMITABLE WRITINGS. HE SERVED THE TOWN OF KINGSTON
UPON HULL, ABOVE 20 YEARS SUCCESSIVELY IN PARLIAMENT, & THAT WITH SUCH
WISDOM, DEXTERITY, INTEGRITY & COURAGE AS BECOMES A TRUE PATRIOT
HE DYED THE 16. AUGUST 1678 IN THE 58^{TH}. YEAR OF HIS AGE.
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF ANDREW MARVELL ESQ^{R.} AS A STRENUOUS ASSERTER OF
THE CONSTITUTIONS, LAWS & LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND,
AND OUT OF FAMILY AFFECTION & ADMIRATION OF
THE UNCORRUPT PROBITY OF HIS LIFE & MANNERS
ROBERT NETTLETON OF LONDON MERCHANT HIS GRAND NEPHEW
HATH CAUSED THIS SMALL MEMORIAL OF HIM
TO BE ERECTED IN THE YEAR 1764.
Further is a tablet of white marble, in the form of an ornamental
cartouche, recording the death of John Hawford and Elizabeth his wife,
and their two sons John and William. All four deaths occurred between
December, 1712, and July, 1715.
Next is a tablet to the memory of Thomas Edwards, who died on 9th July,
1781, in the 71st year of his age. The tablet is of white marble,
surmounted by a black cinerary urn, on an oval slab of painted marble.
The inscription records his various bequests for the use of the poor of
the parish, and explains that the monument was erected by his widow not
only as a tribute of gratitude and affection, but with a view to
inciting others “whom God has blessed with Abilities and Success” to
follow his example. Her own death, on 23rd November, 1818, is also
mentioned.
Still in the north aisle, but near the entrance, is a tomb bearing a
white marble recumbent effigy of Lady Frances Kniveton, resting on a
black marble slab above a stone base. This is one of the two memorials
preserved from the second church. The inscription, contained on a white
marble tablet, reads as follows:—
In Memory of the Right Hon^{ble.} Lady FRANCES KNIVETON, (Wife of S^{r.}
GILBERT KNIVETON,/of Bradley, in the County of Derby Bar^{t.}) lyeth
buried in the Chancel of this Church./She was one of the 5 Daughters &
Co-heirs of the R^{t.} Hon^{ble.} S^{r.} ROBERT DUDLEY K^{t.} Duke of
the/Empire; by the Lady ALICE his Wife & Dutchess. which ROBERT. was Son
of the R^{t.} Hon^{ble.}/ROBERT DUDLEY, late Earle of LEICESTER. & his
Dutchess was Daughter of S^{r.} THO: LEIGH,/and Aunt to the R^{t.}
Hon^{ble.} THO^{s.} late Lord LEIGH of Stoneleigh, in the County of
Warwick./And the said Honour & Title of Dutchess DUDLEY, was by Letters
Patents of his late Majesty,/of glorious Memory, King CHARLES y^e 1^{st}
allowed; & since graciously confirmed to her, by his/now Majesty King
CHARLES y^e 2^d and She lived & died worthy of that Honour.
_Since the rebuilding of this_ Church _this_ Monument _was resett up by
the/Hon^{ble.}_ CHARLES LEIGH _of_ Leighton, _in_ Bedfordshire: 1738.
[Illustration]
At the west end of the north aisle is the stone monument, originally in
the churchyard, of George Chapman, the poet, said to have been designed
and given by Inigo Jones. The stone on which the inscription is cut was
inserted in 1827.
[Illustration]
On the west wall of the nave is an oval tablet of white marble,
recording the gift by the Hon. Robert Bertie, son of the 1st Earl of
Lindsey, of fifty pounds, the interest of which was to be utilised in
the distribution of bread and money to the poor of the parish.
On a pillar on the north side of the nave is the other memorial which
was originally in the second church. This is to the memory of Sir Roger
L’Estrange.
In the centre of a cartouche under a coat of arms: (_Gules_) two
lioncels passant guardant (_Argent_), is the inscription:
In the Middle Isle near
this Place lyeth the Body of
S^R ROGER L’ESTRANGE
Kn^t.
Born y^e 17^{th} of Dec^{r.} 1616
Dyed y^e 11^{th} of Dec^{r.} 1704
On a pillar on the south side of the nave is an oval tablet of
white marble, mounted on a black marble slab, and bearing an
inscription to the memory of the Rev. Richard Southgate, rector of
Warsop, sub-librarian of the British Museum, and Curate of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields, who died on 21st January, 1795.
_Reader_
_If thou canst = excell him:
It will be well,
If thou canst equal him._
In the south porch are three tablets. The first, which is of marble, and
was formerly affixed to a monument which stood on the north side of the
chancel in the second church[663], reads as follows:—
This Monument was Erected in the Year of Our Lord 1736. by the Pious
Direction of the Honourable/Dame BARBARA WEBB wife of S^{r.} JOHN WEBB
of Canford Magna in the County of Dorset Bar^{t.} and the
Honourable/CATHERINE TALBOT wife of the Honourable JOHN TALBOT of
Longford in the County of Salop Esq. Surviveing/Daughters and Coheirs of
the Right Honourable JOHN Lord BELASYSE Second Son of THOMAS Lord
Viscount/FAUCONBERG, in memory of their most dear Father his wives and
Children./
Who for his Loyalty Prudence and Courage was promoted to Several
Commands of great Trust by their/Majesty’s King CHARLES the First and
Second (Viz.) Having raised Six Regiments of Horse and Foot in the late
Civil Wars/He commanded a Tertia in his Majesty’s Armies att the Battles
of Edge Hill, Newbury, and Knaseby, y^e Seiges of Reading/and Bristol.
Afterwards being made Governour of York and Commander in Chief of all
his Majesty’s Forces in/Yorkshire, He fought the Battle of Selby with
the Lord Fairfax, then being Lieutenant General of y^e Countys of
Lincoln,/Nottingham, Darby, and Rutland, and Governour of Newark. He
Valiantly defended that Garrison against the English/and Scotch Armies,
till his Majesty Came in Person to the Scotch Quarters and Commanded the
surrender of it./At which time he also had the honour of being General
of the Kings Horse Guards. in all which Services dureing/the Wars and
other Atchievements, he deported himself with eminent Courage & Conduct
& received many wounds/Sustained Three Imprisonments in the Tower of
London, and after the Happy Restauration of King CHARLES the second/He
was made Lord Lieutenant of the East Rideing of the County of York,
Governour of Hull, General of His Majesty’s/Forces in Africa, Governour
of Tangier, Captain of his Majesty’s Guards of Gentlemen Pensioners, &
First Lord/Commissioner of the Treasury to King JAMES the Second. He
dyed the 10^{TH} day of September 1689. whose remaines/are deposited in
this Vault./
He married to his first wife JANE daughter and Sole Heiress of S^{r.}
ROBERT BOTELER of Woodhall in the/County of Hertford, Kn^{t.} by whom he
had S^{r.} HENRY BELASYSE Kn^{t.} of the most Honourable Order of the
Bath/interr’d in this Vault, MARY Viscountess DUNBAR, and FRANCES both
Deceased.
He married to his second Wife ANN Daughter and Coheir to S^{r.} ROBERT
CRANE of Chilton in y^e County/of Suffolk Bar^{t.} who also lyes
interr’d here.
He married to his third Wife the Right Honourable the Lady ANN POWLET
Second Daughter of the/Right Noble JOHN Marquiss of Winchester, sister
to CHARLES late Duke of Bolton, and is here interr’d, the/Issue by that
Marriage as above.
The two remaining memorials in the south porch consist of inscribed
marble tablets containing a record (1) of the gift of Richard Holford,
who left the sum of £29 a year, issuing out of three houses in the
parish, to be distributed quarterly amongst the “most aged &
necessitated poore people of the said parish”; and (2) of the gift of
John Pearson (died 1707), who bequeathed the sum of £50 a year for 99
years, one half to be utilised for the apprenticeship of boys “Sons of
poor decay’d Houskeepers,” and the other half to go to “the 20 Women in
the Almeshouses at y^e end of Monmouth Street.
In the north porch is an inscribed marble tablet recording the provision
made by Sir William Cony for the interest on £50 to be utilised in the
distribution of bread to the poor, “that is to say twelve penyworth
every Sunday in every yeare and eight holy dayes in the same yeare.”
Of the tombs in the churchyard only a few bear inscriptions which can be
dated before 1800.
A stone, now placed against the east wall of the churchyard, records the
birth and death of several persons named Hammond, including George
Hammond, died 13th September, 1789; George Aust. Hammond, born 6th May,
1761, died 8th November, 179–; Mrs. P. Hammond, died 11th June, 1798;
and John Hammond (inscription mutilated).
A stone, now placed against the west wall of the churchyard, records the
death of William Harding on 23rd January, 1749, aged 76; and of his
wife, Margaret, on 29th October, 1754, aged 82. On the same stone have
been cut the later names (19th century) of persons named Orme.
By the side of the path running past the east end of the church is the
tomb of Richard Pendrell “Preserver and Conductor to his sacred Majesty
King Charles the Second ... after his escape from Worcester Fight.” The
visible tomb is not the original one, the raising of the churchyard in
the early part of the 19th century[664] having made it necessary for a
new monument to be erected. This stands upon the black marble top of the
older one.
On the plinth at the west end of the church is a stone recording the
death of William Collins on 14th April, 1785, at the age of 27 years.
A lich gate (Plate 53) is placed at the western side of the churchyard,
opposite the entrance to the church. It is of stone, in the Roman Doric
order, and bears the following inscription on the east side of the
tympanum: “This gate formerly stood in High Street, A.D. 1800—John, Lord
Bishop of Chichester, D.D., Rector—W. L. Davies, William
Leverton—Churchwardens—was built in this place A.D. 1865. Anthony W.
Thorold, M.A., Rector. J. F. Corben, Thomas Willson—Churchwardens.”
The west side of the tympanum contains a carved oak lunette representing
the Resurrection (Plate 54). Other representations of the same subject
are to be seen at St. Mary-at-Hill, in the north-west vestibule (stone);
St. Stephen, Coleman Street, in the vestry (wood), a replica of which is
over the doorway to the churchyard from the street; St. Andrew, Holborn,
in the north wall facing Holborn (stone); and St. Nicholas, Deptford, on
the east wall of the south aisle (oak, now in a glass case).
The carving is probably the work of a wood-carver, named Love. In 1686,
directions were given by the vestry to erect “a substantial gate out of
the wall of the churchyard near the round house.” The gateway, which was
of brick, was completed in 1687. It cost, with the necessary alterations
to the churchyard, £185 14s. 6d., Love’s bill being £27.[665] In 1800,
according to the inscription, it was rebuilt, this time in stone, and
remained on the north side of the churchyard until 1865. The main
entrance to the church is still from a gate in the iron railings, at
about the same spot.
[Illustration]
To the south-west of the church, and now connected by a corridor, are
the church rooms which form the vestry. The larger room (Plate 55) is
panelled in deal with a wood cornice. Over the chimneypiece is a list of
rectors of the parish from 1547, and portraits of rectors hang on the
walls. There is a fine large oak table, dating from 1701, and on the
walls is a cast iron enlargement facsimile of the old seal of St. Giles’
Hospital.
The Rectors of the Parish up to the year 1800, according to
Hennessy,[666] were as follows:—
_Date of Appointment._
William Rowlandson, pr. 1547, April 20.
Galfridus Evans, cl. 1571, Nov. 8.
William Steward, cl. 1579, Aug. 3.
Nathaniel Baxter, A.M. 1590, Aug. 15.
Thomas Salisbury, A.B. 1591, Dec. 24.
John Clarke, A.M. 1592, Sept. 16.
Roger Maynwaring, A.M. 1616, June 3.
Wm. Heywood, S.T.B. 1635–6, Jan. 8 (ejected 1636).
Gilbert Dillingham (died Dec., 1635).
Brian Walton, A.M. 1635–6, Jan. 15.
Wm. Heywood, S.T.B. 1660 restored.
Robert Boreman, S.T.P. 1663, Nov. 18.
John Sharp, A.M. 1675–6, Jan. 3.
John Scott, S.T.B. 1691, Aug. 7.
William Haley, cl. 1695, April 4.
William Baker, S.T.P. 1715, Nov. 10.
Henry Gally, D.D. 1732, Dec. 9.
John Smyth, A.M. 1769, Sept. 21.
John Buckner, LL.B. 1788, May 22.
John Buckner, LL.D. 1798, Sept. 17.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[667]Old Church of St. Giles in 1718 (print).
[667]Plan of Church at ground level (measured drawing).
[667]Plan of Church at gallery level, looking up (measured
drawing).
[667]West front (measured drawing).
[667]West front, cross section (measured drawing).
[667]The exterior from the north-west (photograph).
[667]The exterior from the north-east (photograph).
The exterior from the south-east (photograph).
[667]Sectional view of the interior looking east (photograph).
General view of the interior from the west gallery (photograph).
[667]General view looking west (photograph).
[667]The columns and ceiling from the gallery (photograph).
The upper part of the chancel from the gallery (photograph).
[667]The altar and altar piece (photograph).
[667]Picture of Moses and carved frame, left-hand side of altar
(photograph).
Wrought iron chancel railing (photograph).
[667]Recumbent effigy of Lady Frances Kniveton (photograph).
[667]Painted glass panel in window over south-west staircase
(photograph).
Iron bound chest in north porch (photograph).
Plan of Vestry (measured drawing).
[667]General view of Vestry (photograph).
[667]Cast iron enlargement of Seal (photograph).
[667]Monument to Chapman drawn by J. W. Archer, 1844 (preserved in
the British Museum) (photograph).
[667]The Lich Gate (measured drawing).
The Lich Gate (photograph).
[667]Oak panel in the tympanum of the Lich Gate (photograph).
OLD PRINTS, ETC.
The christening of Joey. View of old church of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields. Heal Collection, Holborn Public Library, No.
320 (engraving).
The outside north-west view of St. Giles’ Church in the Fields,
built 1733. H. Flitcroft, Architect. D. F. Donnowell, Del. A.
Walker, Sculp. 16 × 12½, 1753. (British Museum Crace Collection,
Port. 28, No. 118) (engraving).
North-west view of St. Giles’s Church, in the style of T. H.
Shepherd, ink and watercolour, 25½ × 21½. Preserved in the Church
Vestry.
“The old entrance gateway to St. Giles’s Church Yard with the
bas-relief of the Resurrection, 1687.” (A water colour drawing by
T. H. Shepherd, 1851. 7 × 10. British Museum Crace Collection.
Portfolio 28, No. 122.)
“The new entrance gateway to St. Giles’s Church Yard, introducing
the old bas-relief. W. Leverton, Architect.” (A watercolour
drawing by T. H. Shepherd, 1851. 7 in. × 6½ in. British Museum
Crace Collection. Portfolio 28, No. 123.)
LV.–LVII.—NOS. 14 TO 16, NEW COMPTON STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD.
— Brinckman, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The laying out of Stidwell Street on the pasture ground formerly
appertaining to the Hospital has already been referred to.[668]
In 1775–6, concurrently with the rebuilding of a great many of the
houses, the name of the street was changed to New Compton Street, and
the thoroughfare was at the same time extended over what had formerly
been known as Kendricke’s Yard.
In common with many other houses, Nos. 14 to 16, New Compton Street
seem, from the evidence of the rate books, to have been rebuilt in 1776,
and it is not possible to equate them with any premises existing before
that date.
Plate 42 shows three interesting 18th-century shop fronts. Nos. 14 and
15 have unfortunately lost the original bow glazing, the outline of
which is indicated by the fascias. No. 16 still retains its original
square bay windows.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in fair repair.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[669]Nos. 14 to 16, New Compton Street. Shop fronts (photograph).
No. 6, New Compton Street. Shop front (photograph).
LXVIII.–LXIV.—NOS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 AND 11, DENMARK STREET.
GROUND LANDLORDS.
The ground landlord of No. 5 is Archibald Lawrence Langman, Esq.; of No.
6, Messrs. E. E. Belfour and C. H. Turner; of No. 7, the Combined
Estates Company; and of No. 11, the Rev. R. N. Buckmaster.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
From the description which has been given of the sites of the buildings
appurtenant to the Hospital, it would seem that Denmark Street occupies
the site of one or perhaps two of those immediately north of the
Master’s house. The street appears to have been formed a little before
the year 1687. It is not shown in Morden and Lea’s Map of 1682, but is
referred to in a deed of the former year[670] as containing plots
unbuilt on. Its name was apparently given in honour of Prince George of
Denmark, who had in 1683 married the Princess (afterwards Queen) Anne.
Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, Denmark Street seem all to be the original
houses erected towards the end of the 17th century, but have been
considerably altered both externally and internally.
No. 4 retains its original deal doorcase with carved consoles; it has a
lion’s head in the centre over the doorway. The staircase has a
continuous newel with winders housed into it.
No. 5 still has its original deal staircase with panelled walls, close
strings and twisted balusters, a detail of which is given on Plate 56.
No. 6 is somewhat similar.
No. 7 has a doorcase somewhat similar to that of No. 4, but with a
pediment (Plate 57). The interior is of interest, as the original
staircase remains (Plate 58). It has close moulded strings, square
newels and turned and twisted balusters.
No. 9 has the original staircase with turned and twisted balusters.
No. 10 has a somewhat similar staircase, but the doorcase shown on Plate
59 is an 18th-century addition.
No. 11 has been demolished. It was an 18th-century building. The stone
doorhead is shown on Plate 59.
Hidden behind the rear of No. 27, Denmark Street is the old-fashioned
smithy shown on Plate 60. It is not a little surprising to discover an
example of such manual labour surrounded by firms using modern
mechanical labour-saving devices.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Dr. John Purcell, a prominent London physician, who published _A
Treatise on Vapours or Hysteric Fits_ and _A Treatise of the
Cholick_ was living at No. 10 in 1730. He died in the same year.
The “Rev. Mr. Majendie,” afterwards “Rev. Dr. Majendie,” is shown
by the ratebooks as occupying No. 10 from 1758 to 1771. He was
probably John James Majendie, son of the Bishop of Chester and
Bangor. He was the author of several religious works in English
and French, and in 1774 became Canon of Windsor. He died in 1783.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
Denmark Street. View of south side from the east (photograph).
[671]No. 5, Denmark Street. Details of staircase (measured
drawing).
No. 7, Denmark Street. Entrance doorway (photograph).
[671]No. 7, Denmark Street. Entrance doorway (measured drawing).
[671]No. 7, Denmark Street. Details of staircase (measured
drawing).
[671]Nos. 10 and 11 Denmark Street. Doorcases (photograph).
[671]Blacksmith’s forge (photograph).
LXV.—NORTH OF DENMARK PLACE.
To the north of Denmark Place the frontage to High Street seems to have
been fully built on before 1658 (Plate 3). Originally the garden of the
Hospital extended as far as here, for the limits of the parish of St.
Margaret, Westminster, are described in 1222, as stretching along what
is now Oxford Street as far as the Hospital garden.[672] In somewhat
later times the principal feature of this triangular plot was _The
Crown_ inn and brewhouse, which is referred to as early as 1452[673] as
“a brewhouse called _The Crowne_” with six cottages adjoining. It will
be seen, therefore, that even at that date there were a number of
buildings on this plot. Included in the portion of the Hospital’s
property which fell to the share of Katherine Legh were “one close rent
xij^s and iiij^d by the yere there goinge oute of a mese called _The
Crowne_, and one chieff rente of vi^s by yere goyng oute of a brew house
there, nowe so late in the tenure or occupacion of one Richard
Lightfoot.” When next heard of _The Crown_ brewhouse, with a close of 3
acres[674] and an orchard and garden adjoining, belonged to John
Vavasour, whose son Nicholas in 1615 sold it to William Bowes.[675]
At a spot immediately opposite _The Crown_ at one time stood the pound,
and according to Maitland[676], this was also the situation of the
gallows, between the date of their removal from the Elms in Smithfield
about the year 1413, and their further subsequent removal to Tyburn. It
does not appear, however, that Maitland had any authority for the
statement as to the removal of the gallows from Smithfield. As regards
the further removal to Tyburn, if it ever took place it must have been
before the year 1478, when it is quite certain that the gallows were
already in the position occupied by them for centuries to come, viz.,
opposite the southern end of Edgware Road. There is, indeed, a very
considerable probability that this was the case even in Edward I.’s
reign,[677] and it seems improbable that a permanent gallows ever stood
in St. Giles at all.[678]
The pound was originally[679] in High Street, St. Giles, just to the
west of where Endell Street now issues, and was removed thence in 1656
to the junction of High Street, Oxford Street and Tottenham Court
Road.[680]
LXVI.—SITE OF “THE ROOKERY” (BAINBRIDGE STREET, LAWRENCE STREET, MAYNARD
STREET, ARTHUR STREET AND BUCKNALL STREET).
Included in that part of the Hospital property which fell to Lord
Lisle’s share was “one close lyinge before the greate gate there
conteyninge by estimacion 16 acres, with appurtenances, nowe or late in
the occupacion of Maister Magnus.”[681] From this description Parton had
some justification in assuming that the ground covered the site of
Baynbridge Street, Arthur Street, etc. If this is correct, however, the
close must have been split up by the early part of Elizabeth’s reign,
and that part which covered the sites of the streets in question was, in
1583, in the possession of George Harrison. On his death in that year it
was found[682] that he was seized _inter alia_ of “a close ... called
_Le Church Close_ in the parish of St. Giles, containing by estimation
five acres of pasture.” He also owned 13 messuages with gardens on the
north side of High Street, stretching westward from _The
Maidenhead_,[683] which he had purchased from Lord Mountjoy,[684] but no
record has been found which might enable the previous owners of Church
Close to be traced. In 1632 John Barbor _alias_ Grigge bought[685] a
number of the houses, together with “all that close of meadow or
pasture ... called ... Church Close _alias_ Williamsfeild ... conteyning
5 acres,” and in 1649 the property was further transferred to Henry
Bainbridge.[686]
Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) shows the commencement of building on
this area, and Parton[687] notes that Bainbridge Street and Buckridge
Street were built on before 1672. These two streets, with Maynard Place
and Dyott Street, obviously took their names from the persons mentioned
in a fine of 1676,[688] from which it seems probable that Maynard,
Buckridge and Dyott were the married names of Bainbridge’s three
daughters. Church Lane and Church Street had obvious reference to Church
Close. The locality subsequently became one of the most disreputable
districts in London,[689] a state of things which was finally put an end
to by driving New Oxford Street[690] through the midst. At the same time
several of the old streets were abolished, and some of those which
remained had their names altered.
PRINTS, WATER COLOUR DRAWINGS, ETC.:—
In the collection of water colour drawings by J. W. Archer,
preserved at the British Museum are three of The Rookery,
representing:
Entrance from High Street.
Part of The Rookery in 1844.
A cellar in The Rookery.
In the Heal Collection, preserved in the Holborn Public Library,
are a series of views illustrating The Rookery.
LXVII.—NOS. 100, 101 AND 102, GREAT RUSSELL STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD.
His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
Northward from the site of The Rookery extends the manor of Bloomsbury,
a full account of which is reserved for the volume dealing with the
parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
A plan of part of the manor in 1664–5, preserved in the British Museum
and reproduced in Clinch’s _Bloomsbury and St. Giles_, shows that the
western end of Great Russell Street and the whole of Bedford Square[691]
occupy the sites of two fields called Cowles Field and Cowles Pasture.
In Morden and Lea’s map of 1682, the only buildings shown on the site of
these fields are a few at the southern end of Tottenham Court Road.
Great Russell Street had, however, already been formed,[692] and houses
were in existence on the south side.
Nos. 100 to 102 formed originally one house, which in 1785–6 was in the
occupation of John Sheldon. It would therefore seem that this was the
house referred to by Elmes, who stated[693] that Sir Christopher Wren
designed a fine mansion in this street which was afterwards occupied by
his son, and “more recently by the celebrated surgeon and anatomist, Mr.
Shelden.”
The records of His Grace the Duke of Bedford, however, lend no
countenance whatever to the suggestion that Wren’s son occupied the
house, and indeed show Stephen Wren as residing in a house, afterwards
known as No. 32, on the south side of the street, in 1751, when he wrote
the letters “headed Great Russell Street,” on which Elmes apparently
relied in making his statement. As regards the ascription of the design
of the house to Sir Christopher Wren, the Bedford Estate records afford
no direct evidence.
There is, however, no doubt that these premises were originally “Thanet
House,” the Earl of Thanet having taken a lease of the house for a term
of 62 years from Michaelmas, 1693. It would seem, indeed, that the Earl
was actually in occupation some years previously, if this was the
mansion referred to in the statement that the Earl’s eldest son was born
“at Thanet House in Great Russell Street, on April 29th, 1686.”[694]
After 1787 it was divided into two houses, and is thus shown in the
illustration included in Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, a
reproduction of which is given on the next page. A further division took
place about 1820.
Writing in 1823, Elmes says:[695] “Sir Christopher’s noble front, with
its majestic cantaliver cornice, has now been taken down by a
speculative builder, and common Act of Parliament fronts run up.” The
present elevation corresponds to this description, and the interiors of
the houses are without any noteworthy features. It is interesting to
note that the “speculative builder” is shown by the Bedford Estate
records to have been Thomas Cubitt.
[Illustration:
_G. Scharf. Lithog._
_Thanet House. Great Russell Street._
]
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, was born in 1644, and died in
1729.[696] Parton[697] mentions that the autograph of the Earl, as
a vestryman of St. Giles, occurs in the parish books between the
years 1684 and 1690. The death of his eldest son at “Thanet House
in Great Russell Street,” in 1686 has already been referred to.
When the Bloomsbury Rentals of His Grace the Duke of Bedford begin
in 1729 they show Sir Thomas Coke, Lord Lovel, in occupation of
the house. Sir Thomas Coke was a son of Edward Coke of Holkham. In
1718 he married Lady Margaret Tufton, daughter and co-heir of the
6th Earl of Thanet. In 1728 he was raised to the peerage as Baron
Lovel, of Minster Lovel, and in 1744 was created Viscount Coke, of
Holkham, and Earl of Leicester. He died in 1759.
In 1755, on the expiration of the Earl of Thanet’s lease, he had
obtained a reversionary lease of Thanet House, and the Countess of
Leicester is shown by the parish ratebooks in occupation for
1759–60.
For the years 1760–62 the same books give the name of “John
Bristow” in connection with the premises.
In 1765, until his death in 1767, the Marquess of Tavistock was in
occupation. This was Francis, son of John, fourth Duke of Bedford,
by his second wife, Gertrude, eldest daughter of John, first Earl
Gower.
In 1768 Lady Tavistock was still residing at the house, and in
1770 Richard Heron was the occupier.
In 1771 the house was taken by Lord Apsley, afterwards Earl
Bathurst. Henry Bathurst, second Earl Bathurst, was born in 1714.
He was called to the Bar in 1736, and became King’s counsel ten
years after. From 1735 to 1754 he represented Cirencester in
Parliament, and his attachment to the party of the Prince of Wales
secured for him the offices of solicitor-general and
attorney-general to the Prince. In 1754 he was appointed judge of
the common pleas. In 1770 the great seal was entrusted to three
commissioners, of whom Bathurst was one, and in the following
year, to every one’s surprise, he was created Lord Chancellor and
raised to the peerage as Baron Apsley. In 1775 he succeeded his
father in the earldom. He resigned the seal in 1778, but from 1779
to 1782 was again a member of the ministry as lord president of
the Council. He died at Oakley Grove near Cirencester in 1794. “By
a universal consensus of opinion Earl Bathurst is pronounced to
have been the least efficient lord chancellor of the last
century.”[698] His residence at Thanet House lasted until 1778.
In the following year the Bloomsbury Rentals show that the Hon.
Topham Beauclerk was in occupation. Topham Beauclerk, born in
1739, was the only son of Lord Sydney Beauclerk. A man of wide
reading and sprightly conversation, he owes his fame principally
to his great friendship with Dr. Johnson, and the space which he
occupies in the latter’s great biography. He married Lady Diana
Spencer, eldest daughter of the second Duke of Marlborough,
formerly wife of Lord Bolingbroke. Lady Diana was an amateur
artist, whose abilities excited the enthusiasm of Horace Walpole.
Beauclerk died at Thanet House on 11th March, 1780, and his
library of 30,000 volumes, housed in a building “that reaches half
way to Highgate,”[699] was sold by auction in the following year.
Lady Diana survived him for many years, dying in 1808.
In 1905 His Grace the Duke of Bedford affixed at Nos. 101 and 102,
Great Russell Street, a bronze tablet commemorative of the
residence of Topham and Lady Diana Beauclerk.
In 1781 William Murray, first Earl of Mansfield took up his
residence at the house. Particulars of his life have already been
given in the previous volume of this series dealing with St.
Giles-in-the-Fields.[700] His occupation of Thanet House dates
from the destruction of his mansion in Bloomsbury Square by the
Gordon Rioters in 1780. At Michaelmas, 1785, he removed to Nos.
57–58, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
The next occupant was John Sheldon, a distinguished anatomist,
whose residence here was apparently confined to the period 1786–7.
He was born in London in 1752. In due course he was apprenticed to
Henry Watson and studied anatomy at the latter’s private museum in
Tottenham Court Road. From 1777 to 1786[701] he maintained a
private theatre at No. 70, Great Queen Street, where he taught and
carried on research work. He died in 1808.
After 1787 the house was divided into two, the residents at which,
up to 1800, were Harvey Christian Combe and Charles Steers.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
No. 19, Great Russell Street—View of front (photograph).
[702]“Thanet House,” Great Russell Street—Lithograph by G. Scharf
(print).
LVIII.—BEDFORD SQUARE (GENERAL).
During the period including the latter half of the 17th and the early
years of the 19th century, several large estates were laid out in the
western district of London. The planning of these generally included
several squares, each provided with a central garden for the use only of
the residents living in the surrounding houses.
When the 112 acres composing the Duke of Bedford’s Bloomsbury estate
were developed, over 20 acres were laid out as gardens for the use of
the occupiers of the houses overlooking them.[703] This estate, with its
wide streets and spacious squares, is an excellent example of early town
planning, and affords an illustration of the advantages gained by the
community when a large area such as this is dealt with on generous lines
by the owner.
Bedford Square is about 520 feet long and 320 feet wide between the
houses, and the oval and beautifully wooded garden (Plate 61) measures
375 feet on the major and 255 feet on the minor axis.
The general architectural scheme of the square is interesting. Each side
is separately treated as an entire block of buildings, having a central
feature and wings. The central feature of each side is carried out in
stucco, having pilasters and pediments in the Ionic order, those to the
north and south having five pilasters (Plate 97), and those to the east
and west, four (Plate 89). The western house being smaller, however, has
not the additional walling extending beyond the pilasters.
The houses at the ends of each block have balustrades above the main
cornice, and, generally, the windows are ornamented with iron balconies
at the first floor level.
The round-headed entrance doorways, other than those to the central
houses, are rusticated in Coade’s artificial stone,[704] and enclose a
variety of fanlights, of which a typical example is shown in No. 15
(Plate 80).
No drawing has been found showing the design for the laying out of
Bedford Square, which was carried out between the years 1775 and 1780.
The plots were leased by the Duke to various building owners. One plot
was taken by Thomas Leverton, architect, and 24 by Robert Crews and
William Scott, builders.[703]
These builders acquired many more plots on the estate, and it may be
supposed that, as they at times worked in partnership, the whole of the
buildings in the square and the houses in several of the adjoining
streets were erected by them, partly as a speculation and partly as
builders for other lessees.
There is much to support the view that Thomas Leverton was the author of
the general scheme and the designer of the houses. He took up a building
lease of No. 13 in 1775, practically at the beginning of building
operations. He was a well-known architect, who adopted the style of the
period as represented by Henry Holland and the Brothers Adam.[705] His
work shows well-balanced composition and refinement of detail. He
employed, moreover, many of the designers who worked for the Brothers
Adam, such as Bonomi, the clever draughtsman and architect, Angelica
Kauffmann and Antonio Zucchi, the Italian artist. It is also said that
he employed Flaxman to execute carving, and skilled Italian workmen to
carry out his beautiful designs for plaster work on ceilings, several of
which are illustrated in this volume.
An example of his work has already been described in the previous volume
dealing with this parish,[706] namely at No. 65, Lincoln’s Inn Fields,
erected in 1772. It will be seen, by examining plates Nos. 86 and 97 in
that volume, that these designs show a similar architectural expression
to the houses of this square, and the internal decoration (especially of
his own house, and of No. 44) follows the general character of that in
Lincoln’s Inn Fields.
With regard to the suggestion[707] that the Brothers Adam were the
designers of Bedford Square, it may be said that the only drawings found
appertaining to the square by these celebrated architects are preserved
in the Soane Museum, and represent two ceilings designed for
Stainsforth, Esq., dated 1779. Geo. Stainsforth took up his residence at
No. 8, Bedford Square in that year,[708] but the house had already been
in existence for some time, as it is referred to as the northern
boundary of No. 7, on 20th November, 1777.[709] There is no evidence
that designs for the ceilings referred to were actually carried out, as
the present ceilings of the house are plain.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
Bedford Square—
General view looking north-east (photograph).
[710]General view looking south-east (photograph).
General view of north side (photograph).
LXIX.—NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE.[711]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessee, Weedon Grossmith, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
This house fills a gap between the premises in Bloomsbury Street
(formerly Charlotte Street) and those forming the eastern block of the
square. It is distinctive in its elevation (Plate 63), and has marked
characteristics of a Leverton design. The well-proportioned entrance,
though finished in plaster work, is highly ornamented, the detail being
unusually refined (Plate 64). The introduction of an ornamental panel
above the main cornice of the building gives a graceful balance to the
composition. In passing, it may be noticed that the cornice of No. 2,
although not in alignment with that of this house, is of the same
section.
The entrance doorway affords direct access to a hall of uncommonly
beautiful design, extending the full width of the house, and divided by
piers into three bays (Plate 62). The central bay has two recesses, and
is ceiled with a decorative plaster oval dome resting on pendentives and
segmental arches (Plate 66). The right-hand bay has semi-circular ends
(Plate 65) flanked by niches, and there is also a niche in the centre of
the side wall, over which is placed a circular plaque. The bay to the
left contains the staircase (Plate 65). This also has semi-circular
ends. The stone steps have shaped soffits, the balustrades being of
bronze, of graceful curvature and tasteful design. The principal rooms
have fine decorative detail to the doors and windows, and rounded
internal angles are given to the walls. The dining room contains a
carved wood mantelpiece (Plate 67) and “Empire” grate; the chimney
breast above being ornamented with an oval plaque surrounded with floral
festoons. The lowest member of the cornice should be noticed, as it is
similar to that in the dining room of No. 13, Leverton’s own house, and
is composed of diminutive Greek Doric pillars suspended by their
capitals, a somewhat unusual form of decoration suggestive of tassels.
The first floor has two rooms, that in the front containing a white
marble chimneypiece. The rear room is the studio. The chimneypiece is of
white marble, very delicately carved with a fine pier glass over. Great
care has been taken with the ornamental plaster frieze (illustrated on
the next page) and ceiling (Plate 68), both of which are of exceptional
merit. The painted panels are said[712] to be by Antonio Zucchi. It is
difficult to dissociate his work from that of Angelica Kauffmann, whom
he afterwards (1781) married, but on close examination it will be
noticed that the panels reputed to be by the latter in No. 25[713]
(Plate 85) are somewhat different in arrangement and composition.
[Illustration]
The studio cornice and ceiling have been repeated in No. 10, even to the
paintings, a fact which points to one controlling influence in the
decorative treatment of these houses.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
According to the ratebooks the first occupier of No. 1 was Sir
Lionel Lyde, who took up his residence here in 1781. In 1791 he
was succeeded by Geo. Gosling, who remained until after the close
of the century.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[714]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[714]Front view (photograph).
[714]Entrance porch (measured drawing).
[714]Entrance hall, view looking south (photograph).
[714]Entrance hall, view looking north, showing staircase
(photograph).
[714]Centre portion of ornamental ceiling in entrance hall
(photograph).
[714]Chimney breast in rear room on ground floor (photograph).
General view of rear room on first floor (photograph).
Chimneypiece in rear room on first floor (photograph).
[714]Ornamental plaster frieze in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
[714]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in rear room
on first floor (photograph).
LXX.—NOS. 6 AND 6A, BEDFORD SQUARE.[715]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEES.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessees, William Harris, Esq. (No. 6),
Walter F. Trow, Esq. (No. 6A).
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
This house was not in existence on 20th November, 1777, as the lease of
No. 7, Bedford Square, granted on that date,[716] mentions as the
southern boundary “ground contracted to be built upon.” It first appears
in the parish ratebooks in 1781.
[Illustration:
IRON STAIR BALUSTERS
]
The house is centrally placed on the east side, and is the largest in
the square (Plate 69). It is now in two occupations, each being given a
separate entrance. The hall has been divided and a few of the earlier
openings closed, but otherwise the premises are, on the whole, as
originally erected.
An important feature is the hall containing a staircase to the first
floor, constructed of stone, with a balustrade of wrought iron formed
with pairs of simple bars alternating with an ornamental baluster. There
is an enriched cornice and ceiling below the first floor landing and
this level is marked on the wall of the hall by a beautiful band of
ornament (illustrated on the next page). The side walls above this level
are enriched with plaster mouldings. The end walls are semi-circular in
plan. The ceiling at the second floor level is an exceptionally good
example of design in plaster (Plate 70), composed of two decorated and
fluted semi-domes over the end walls, supporting pendentives which carry
a circular cornice, from which springs a domical lantern. The front room
on the ground floor has a white marble inlay chimneypiece. The front
room on the first floor to the south has a much damaged painted ceiling,
and a fine marble chimneypiece (Plate 71) with Ionic columns and
sculptured panel in the frieze.
The long room to the front on the same floor in No. 6A has a segmental
ceiling similar to that in No. 10 (Plate 74), but is not decorated.
There are two ornamental plaques in the frieze of the end walls, and the
eastern back room on the second floor contains a white marble
chimneypiece with sculptured figure and festoons.
[Illustration]
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The ratebooks show that the first occupant of the house was Lord
Loughborough, whose residence here began in 1781 and lasted until
1798. Particulars of the life of Alexander Wedderburn, Baron
Loughborough, afterwards Earl of Rosslyn, have already been given
in the previous volume dealing with the Parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields.[717]
In 1798 Loughborough was succeeded in the occupation of the house
by Lord Eldon.
John Scott, first Earl of Eldon, was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne
in 1751. The son of a coal-factor, he was at first intended for
that business, but through the influence of his brother William
(afterwards Lord Stowell), he went to Oxford in 1766, with a view
to taking orders. After his marriage in 1772, he gave up the
church and turned to the law. He became a student at Middle Temple
in January, 1773, and was called to the Bar in 1776. In 1783 he
became King’s counsel and was returned to Parliament as member for
the close borough of Weobley, Herefordshire. In Parliament he gave
general support to Pitt and in 1788 was appointed
solicitor-general, and was knighted. He succeeded in 1793 to the
attorney-generalship, in which he conducted the vigorous
prosecutions against British sympathisers with French
Republicanism, and became for the time the best hated man in
England. In 1799 he became Lord Chief Justice of the Court of
Common Pleas, and on the formation of Addington’s ministry in
1801, he was appointed Lord Chancellor. Lord Eldon continued in
office as Chancellor under Pitt (1804–1806), and on the formation
of the Portland administration in 1807, resumed the Great Seal,
which he retained for twenty years. His influence in the Cabinet
was supreme, and he was, in all but name, prime minister of
England. His one aim in politics was to keep in office and
maintain things as he found them. In 1821, Lord Eldon was created
Viscount Encombe and Earl of Eldon. He died in London on 13th
January, 1838.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[718]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
Staircase in No. 6 (photograph).
[718]Stair balusters (measured drawing).
Ornamental ceiling of landing and lantern light over staircase
(photograph).
[718]Lantern over staircase (photograph).
Panel on wall of staircase (photograph).
[718]Detail of plaster decoration of staircase (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
General view of rear room on ground floor (photograph).
[718]Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in rear room on second floor (photograph).
General view of front room on first floor (No. 6A)
(photograph).
No. 8, Bedford Square—
Inner doorway and fanlight (photograph).
Lantern over staircase (photograph).
LXXI.—NO. 9, BEDFORD SQUARE.[719]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessees, executors to the late Mrs. Edward
Clarke.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[720] was granted, as from Michaelmas,
1775, of “all that parcel of ground, with the messuage thereon erected
on the east side of Bedford Square ... being the second house southward
from the opening opposite Bedford Street [Bayley Street].” The house was
obviously No. 9, which first appears in the parish ratebooks for the
year 1779.
The ground floor front room has a white marble chimneypiece inlaid with
coloured marble, over which, on the chimney breast, is an oval plaque
with a figure subject (Plate 72) and ornamental plaster decorations.
There are two other plaques (Plate 72) of the same shape, one over the
door of this room and the other on the chimney breast in the rear room.
Another piece of figure work is placed over the door to the front room
on the first floor, representing Anacreon and Eros.
The two rooms on the first floor have finely ornamented ceilings, that
in the front room being illustrated in Plate 73. The chimneypieces are
chiefly of white marble, the one in the front room having Ionic capitals
and coloured marble shafts, while that in the rear room is inlaid with
coloured marble, and has a sculptured panel in the frieze.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The ratebooks show that Jas. Langston lived at No. 9 from 1779 to
1797, and Mrs. Langston is shown in occupation of the house during
the remainder of the century.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[721]Chimneypiece in front room on ground floor (plaque and frieze
reproduced) (photograph).
[721]Plaque over door and frieze in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
[721]Plaque on chimney-breast and frieze in rear room on ground
floor (photograph).
Alto relievo over entrance to drawing room (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in rear room on first floor (photograph).
[721]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXII.—NO. 10, BEDFORD SQUARE.[722]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessees, The Virol Research Laboratories,
Ltd.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE:—
No. 10 was not built by 20th November, 1777, for a lease[723] of No. 9,
granted on that date, refers to the northern boundary as “ground
contracted to be built upon.” It does not find a place in the parish
ratebooks until 1781.
This house is the northernmost of the eastern block. The plan has been
considerably altered, especially on the ground floor.
[Illustration: GROUND FLOOR PLAN FIRST FLOOR PLAN]
The alterations made on that floor include the removal of the partition
at the rear of the front room, the formation of a passage to the modern
premises at the rear, the closing of the windows in the rear wall, the
shifting of the fireplace from the flank to the rear wall, and the
construction of a large bay window in its place. On the first floor a
portion of the external wall has been removed, and a small addition
constructed for use as offices.
Fortunately the beautiful ceilings on this floor have been preserved.
That to the front room is segmental in shape and ornamented with plaster
decorations and three painted circular panels (Plate 74). The frieze and
ceiling of the rear room are similar to those of No. 1, Bedford
Square,[724] even to the painted panels. The paintings are well
preserved. The central panel, reproduced below, should be compared with
that illustrated in Plate 68.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
[Illustration]
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The names of the occupants of the house during the latter part of
the 18th century are given by the ratebooks as follows:—
1781–83. —— Lande.
1783–89. —— Lyde.
1789–90. Chas. Shaw Lefevre.
1790–97. John Lefevre.
1797–98. Chas. Lefevre.
1798– Henry Davison.
The “Chas. Shaw Lefevre” and “Chas. Lefevre” shown in the parish
ratebooks as occupying the house in 1789–90 and 1797–98[725]
respectively was Charles Shaw, a barrister, who, on his marriage
with Helena, only daughter of John Lefevre (possibly the occupier
in 1790–96), assumed the additional name of Lefevre. His eldest
son, Charles, afterwards Viscount Eversley, was born in 1794, and,
therefore, while the family was not resident here; but the birth
of his second son, John George (afterwards Sir John George
Shaw-Lefevre) took place at this house on 24th January, 1797.[726]
John George had a distinguished career as a public official. He
had a passion for acquiring languages, and mastered fourteen. He
died in 1879.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[727]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[727]General view of front room on first floor showing paintings
on ceiling (photograph).
[726]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in rear room
on first floor (central panel reproduced) (photograph).
LXXIII.—NO. 11, BEDFORD SQUARE.[728]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, The Crown; lessee, George Frederick Hatfield, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
This house (Plate 76) is situated at the south-eastern end of Gower
Street, with its entrance in Montague Place. It has no connection with
the Bedford Square blocks. The boundary between the parishes of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields and St. George, Bloomsbury, passes through the
house, and is indicated by two tablets fixed to the flank wall.
The house has an interesting plan (Plate 75). The small hall is entered
through a semi-octagonal bay, and beyond is the staircase lighted by a
lantern. To the left is the original dining room with a cleverly
screened serving door at the head of the basement stairs. The white
marble and inlay chimneypiece in this room is a fine specimen of carving
(Plate 77).
The room to the right is now used as the dining room. It has been
considerably altered in appearance by a modern partition, but its
original form can be seen by the plan. The eastern side is circular, and
has a casement window affording access to a verandah, which is screened
by the two small rooms on either side. A curious feature to note is that
the northern room impinges upon the first house in Gower Street.
The drawing room on the first floor has a sculptured white marble
chimneypiece, and an enriched frieze and cornice (illustrated below).
[Illustration]
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The ratebooks show that the occupants of this house before 1800
were as follows:—
1782–84. Dr. Tye.
1784–86. Hon. John Cavendish.
1786– Hon. Henry Cavendish.
Henry Cavendish was the elder son of Lord Charles Cavendish,
brother of the third Duke of Devonshire, and was born in 1731. His
only interest in life seems to have been in natural philosophy,
and his manners were characterised by extraordinary reticence and
timidity. His scientific discoveries were remarkable, and his work
was not only exceedingly wide in scope, but marked by extreme
accuracy. In 1766 he began a brilliant series of communications to
the Royal Society on the chemistry of gases, containing amongst
others his discoveries of the compound nature of water and the
composition of nitric acid. He apparently anticipated Black in the
discovery of latent heat and specific heat; and he will ever be
known to fame as the first man to determine accurately the density
of the earth. He died on 10th March, 1810. Most of his time seems
to have been spent at his residence near Clapham Common, No. 11,
Bedford Square serving as a town house. In 1904, the Duke of
Bedford affixed on the latter house a bronze tablet commemorative
of Cavendish’s residence.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[729]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[729]Exterior (photograph).
General view of staircase from entrance hall (photograph).
[729]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
Rear room on ground floor (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in drawing room on first floor (photograph).
[729]Detail of frieze and cornice in drawing room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXIV.—NO. 13, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Halsey
Ricardo, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
Thomas Leverton, the architect, took the building lease of these
premises in 1775,[730] and subsequently resided here. The house,
however, is not mentioned in the parish ratebooks until 1781. It has
been much altered by the original staircase having been removed, and a
wooden one substituted, enabling some small rooms to be formed at the
front and rear.
The front room on the ground floor has a white marble chimneypiece with
Ionic columns, having Siena marble shafts. The frieze is omitted in this
case with good effect. The cornice of the room is similar to that of the
ground floor back room of No. 1, being decorated with diminutive Greek
Doric columns, suspended by their capitals, as in No. 1.
The first floor front room has a white marble chimneypiece of
19th-century design, but the ornamental plaster ceiling (Plate 78) is
original. It has painted panels after the manner of Antonio Zucchi or
Angelica Kauffmann, and is probably by the latter artist.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of this house during the end of the 18th century
were, according to the ratebooks, as follows:—
1781. Jas. Richardson.
1782–83. Richard Walker.
1784–91. Marchant Tubb.
1791–95. Mrs. Royal.
1796– Thos. Leverton.
Thomas Leverton, son of Lancelot Leverton, a builder, was born in
1743 at Woodford. He became an architect and gradually acquired an
extensive practice. His share in the design of houses in Bedford
Square has already been noticed.[731]
Before settling at No. 13, Bedford Square, his chief residences
seem to have been in Great Queen Street and Charlotte Street.[732]
He died at the house in Bedford Square in 1824.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor (photograph).
[733]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in front room
on first floor (photograph).
LXXV.—NO. 14, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Arthur
Rhuvon Guest, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The front room on the first floor has a well designed plaster ceiling
(Plate 79), the wall frieze being enriched with griffins, of a slightly
different type to those in No. 11. The chimneypiece is of white marble
with a central decorative panel.
The rear room on the same floor has also an ornamental plaster ceiling
of very simple design, and the white marble chimneypiece is inlaid with
Siena marble.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
According to the ratebooks the first occupant of the house was
Thos. Hibbart, who resided there during 1780 and 1781. He was
followed by Jas. Bailey from 1782 to 1793, and from the latter
year, Sir Alexander Monro was in occupation.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE THE FOLLOWING:—
[734]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXVI.—NO. 15, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessees, the
Associated Board of the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of
Music for Local Examinations in Music.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The front doorway (Plate 80), with its decorative leadwork fanlight, is
a typical example of the majority in the square.
The first floor front room has an ornamental plaster ceiling, somewhat
similar to others already noticed. There is an interesting plaster
cornice in the rear room of the same floor, and a carved marble chimney
piece on the second floor.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of this house, according to the ratebooks, were as
follows:—
1780–81. —— Pole.
1784–90. John Cologan.
1790–94. Jno. Stephenson.
1794–95. Mrs. Stephenson.
1795–98. Robt. Tubbs.
1798– Jas. Williams.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[735]Entrance doorway (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in front room on second floor (photograph).
LXXVII.—NO. 18, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Herbert
Sefton-Jones, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
This house forms the eastern half of the central feature on the north
side of the square. Its interior has been considerably altered, but the
original carved white marble chimneypiece shown on Plate 81 still
remains.
The motif of the central panel is similar to that at No. 11, but is not
quite so gracefully expressed. The shelf appears to be a modern
substitute, and out of harmony with the requirements of the design.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The earliest occupier of this house was, according to the
ratebooks, the Rev. Frederick Hamilton, who resided there from
1784 to 1786. In the latter year he was succeeded by Thos. Hankey,
who remained at the house until after the close of the century.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION IS:—
[736]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
LXXVIII.—NO. 23, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD.
His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
This house was not in existence on 20th November, 1777,[737] and the
first mention of it in the parish ratebooks occurs in 1781. Few of the
decorations in the house are original, the two principal exceptions
being the plaster ceiling of the front room on the first floor, and a
fine doorcase and pair of doors (Plate 82), connecting that room with
the one in the rear.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
In 1781 “Jas. Bailey” is shown as the occupier of the house. For
the next few years no name is given, but in 1785 that of Thomas
Burn appears and continues for the remainder of the century.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[738]No. 23, Bedford Square. Doors and doorcase in front room on
ground floor (photograph).
No. 24, Bedford Square. Entrance doorway (photograph).
LXXIX.—NO. 25, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, the Rev.
Lewis Gilbertson, M.A., F.S.A.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[739] was granted of a plot of ground
with three messuages thereon, on the north side of Bedford Square, being
the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth houses eastward from Tottenham
Court Road, abutting east upon ground to be built upon, west upon a
messuage in Bedford Street (now Bayley Street), and north upon ground
belonging to the City of London. The dimensions of the plot are said to
be: 99¼ feet on the south, 73 feet on the east, 67½ feet on the west,
and 98½ feet on the north, thus corresponding to the sites of Nos. 24 to
27 (_four_ houses) at the present day.
[Illustration: GROUND FLOOR PLAN FIRST FLOOR PLAN]
No. 25 is the westernmost house of the northern block included in the
design for the square, the two houses adjoining to the west being in
harmony with the remaining premises in Bayley Street. The house is of
special interest.
The vestibule is divided from the hall by a screen similar in
architectural character to the front doorcase, and still retains the
original fanlight. The staircase is of stone with a wrought-iron
balustrade and mahogany handrail. Beneath the first floor landing is a
moulded plaster frieze.
The ground floor front room has a fine carved wooden chimneypiece with
jasper lining (Plate 83). On the chimney breast above is a circular
plaque enclosing figure ornament and other decorative plaster work. The
side of the room facing the window is treated as a segmental alcove,
shown on the above plan, with coved ceiling as shown on Plate 83.
The front room on the first floor has carved joinery to the doors and
windows, and the white and coloured marble chimneypiece (Plate 84) is a
good example of the period. The ceiling of this room has a decorative
plaster design with four oval figure plaques.
The rear room on this floor has also good joinery, and a white marble
chimneypiece (Plate 84) with painted panels. The decorative plaster
ceiling (Plate 85) is ornamented with painted panels which, according to
the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson, the occupier, are the work of Angelica
Kauffmann.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The first occupant of the house was John Boddington, whose
residence there apparently lasted from 1780 to 1786, when he was
succeeded by Cuthbert Fisher, who stayed until 1799. In the latter
year Mrs. Bootle took the house.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[740]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[740]Chimney breast in front room on ground floor (photograph).
[740]Alcove in front room on ground floor (photograph).
General view of front room on first floor (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[740]Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[740]Marble chimneypiece in rear room on first floor (photograph).
Detail of doorcase in rear room on first floor (photograph).
[740]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in rear room
on first floor (photograph).
LXXX.—NO. 28, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessees, the
Society of Architects.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 1st November, 1776, a lease was granted[741] of a messuage at the
west end of Bedford Square, “on the south side of a new street called
Bedford Street” (now Bayley Street), having a frontage to the square of
28¾ feet, and a depth of about 143 feet. The premises referred to are
obviously No. 28, the northernmost house of the west block. The house
has been greatly altered, and partly rebuilt. It retains in the ground
floor front room the original white marble chimneypiece shown on Plate
86, with a sculptured panel in the frieze, which is also shown to a
larger scale.
The front room on the first floor contains a decorative plaster ceiling,
and a carved wood and composition chimneypiece, which, though in keeping
with the style of the room, is probably not contemporary with the
erection of the house.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The house first appears in the ratebook for 1779. Geo. Drake was
then the occupier and he continued to reside there until after
1800.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[742]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
[742]Detail of central panel of marble chimneypiece in front room
on ground floor (photograph).
Wood chimneypiece in front room on first floor (photograph).
LXXXI.—NO. 30, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, the
Russian Consulate-General.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 1st November, 1776, a lease was granted[743] as from Michaelmas,
1775, of “all that parcel of ground, with a messuage thereon, on the
west side of Bedford Square, being the third house southward from
Bedford Street,” now Bayley Street.
The front room on the ground floor has a chimneypiece of white and
coloured marble. The frieze is fluted, and contains sculptured figures.
The front room on the first floor has its walls treated as large panels,
and over the two doors are decorative paintings. The chimney piece is of
white marble, and the flutings of the pilasters are inlaid with coloured
marble. The ornamental plaster ceiling (Plate 87) is of very delicate
design. The figures in the oval medallion are modelled on classical
lines, and in their delicacy are suggestive of cameos.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupiers of this house, according to the ratebooks, were:—
1778–79. Jas. Lee.
1779–93. Robt. Cooper Lee.
1793– Wm. Tatnell.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor (photograph).
[744]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXXII.—NO. 31, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford; lessee, Mrs. Whitehead.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 1st November, 1776, a lease[745] was also granted of the fourth house
from Bedford Street, on the west side of the square. This was evidently
No. 31.
The screen between the vestibule and hall has an ornamental fanlight;
the stone stairs have wrought-iron scroll balusters and the wood work
generally has enriched mouldings.
The front room on the ground floor contains a white marble chimneypiece,
with Ionic pilasters, and is inlaid with coloured marble.
The rear room on the same floor has a wood and composition ornamental
chimneypiece, with coupled columns at the sides, and a decorative panel
in the frieze.
The ceiling of the front room on the first floor is a remarkable example
of ornamental plaster work. Another of the same design is in No. 47, and
is illustrated on Plate 101.
The rear room on the same floor has a white marble chimneypiece, with
green marble inlay, and a well designed plaster ceiling with four square
panels containing oval plaques forming part of the design (Plate 88).
Another of almost similar pattern is in No. 41, Bedford Square.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The ratebooks give the following names in connection with the
house:—
1778–79. —— Scott.
1779–82. The “Hon. Baron Perryn.”
1783–89. Sir Samuel Hanney.
1789–94. Silvester Douglas.
1794–98. Geo. L. Newnham.
1798– Jno. Godfrey.
Sir Richard Perryn, born in 1723, was the son of a merchant of
Flint. After an education at Ruthin grammar school and Queen’s
College, Oxford, he took up the profession of the law, and was
called to the Bar in 1747. In 1770 he became vice-chamberlain of
Chester, King’s counsel, and a bencher of the Inner Temple. In
1776 he was appointed baron of the exchequer and was knighted. He
retired from the Bench in 1799, and died in 1803. After leaving
Bedford Square he resided at No. 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, at
which house he is shown by the ratebooks for the years 1784 to
1791.[746]
Sylvester Douglas, Baron Glenbervie, son of John Douglas of
Fechil, Aberdeenshire, was born in 1743. He was educated at the
Universities of Aberdeen and Leyden, and at first proposed to
adopt a medical career, but subsequently took up the legal
profession, being called to the Bar in 1776. In 1793 he was
appointed King’s counsel, but shortly afterwards relinquished his
legal career and devoted himself to politics, a decision probably
influenced by the fact that he had in 1789 married the daughter of
Lord North, afterwards second Earl of Guildford. In 1794 he became
Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and was elected a
member of the Irish Parliament. In the same year, he was sworn a
member of the English privy council, and in 1795 he relinquished
his secretarial position and was returned to the English
Parliament as member for Fowey. He afterwards represented Midhurst
and Plympton Earls. For some time he had a seat on the board of
control, and was from 1797 to 1800 a lord of the Treasury, a
position which he resigned on being appointed Governor of the Cape
of Good Hope, though he never took up the appointment. In the same
year (1800) he was created Baron Glenbervie of Kincardine in the
peerage of Ireland. In 1801 he became joint paymaster-general and
subsequently held the positions of vice-president of the Board of
Trade, and surveyor-general of woods and forests, with which
latter office, that of surveyor-general of the land revenue was
afterwards united. He died at Cheltenham in 1823.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[747]Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXXIII.—NO. 32, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Henry
Alexander McPherson, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 1st November, 1776, a lease[748] was also granted of the fifth house
southward from Bedford Street, on the west side of the square, that is
No. 32.
This house, which is in the centre of the west block, has a front (Plate
89) of less width than that of the corresponding house on the opposite
side (Nos. 6 and 6A).
The entrance doorway is placed at the side, and enriched with Greek
Doric attached columns.
The vestibule is divided from the hall by a screen with a semi-circular
fanlight, and beyond this is another separating the staircase (Plate
90). The latter has two detached Ionic columns, each with a block
architrave and frieze, and a cornice spanning across to the wall. The
semi-circular arch above has the spandrils ornamented on both faces with
decorative plaster designs, that facing the entrance being the more
interesting.
The staircase is of stone with spandril treads, having moulded soffits.
The handrail is of mahogany, and the balustrading of plain wrought iron
bars, excepting that at the ends and the middle of each flight are
ornamental balusters of scroll design giving interest to the treatment.
[Illustration:
WROUGHT IRON STAIR BALUSTERS
]
The front room on the ground floor has an ornamental plaster ceiling of
a more severe type than is met with generally in the houses of this
square.
The back room on the same floor has also a good decorative plaster
ceiling (Plate 92), and a white marble chimney piece with buff mottled
marble lining and panelled pilasters (Plate 91).
The front room on the first floor has a chimneypiece of white marble,
and the ceiling an ornamental centre and border.
The rear room contains a white marble chimneypiece with a sculptured
central panel representing Britannia and Commerce. The ceiling is
elaborately treated in ornamental plaster work (Plate 92).
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of this house, according to the ratebooks, were:
1780–92. Sir John Skinner.
1792–95. Jas. Jackson.
1796–99. Mrs. Jackson.
1799– Mr. Justice Le Blanc.
Sir Simon Le Blanc was born about 1748, and was called to the Bar
in 1773. In course of time he acquired considerable practice, and
in 1787 was called to the degree of serjeant-at-law. In 1799 he
was appointed puisne judge of the King’s bench, and was knighted.
He had a great reputation as a lawyer, and was regarded as an
exceptionally able judge. He died in his house in Bedford Square
in 1816[749].
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
No. 32, Bedford Square.
[750]Front elevation (measured drawing).
Internal screen in hall (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling over staircase (photograph).
[750]Detail of wrought iron balustrade to staircase (measured
drawing).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
[750]Detail of chimneypiece in rear room on ground floor
(photograph).
[750]Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on ground floor
(photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[750]Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
Detail of frieze and cornice in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
[750]Detail of marble chimneypiece in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
No. 34, Bedford Square.
Plaster panel “Summer and Winter” in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
No. 35, Bedford Square.
Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
No. 38, Bedford Square.
Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
Wood and decorative chimneypiece (photograph).
LXXXIV.—NO. 40, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Mrs.
Monico.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[751] was granted of a parcel of ground,
and a messuage thereon on the south side of Bedford Square, and the east
side of Caroline Street, “being a corner house.” This was obviously No.
40, the house at the western end of the south block.
The front room on the ground floor contains a white marble chimneypiece
of simple design, with inlay panels of Siena marble. Above is a fine
oval plaque (Plate 93), containing figures. The frieze and cornice to
the room appear to be part of the original work.
The front room on the first floor has a plaster ceiling (Plate 94) of
simple and delicate design with circular painted panels in the style of
Antonio Zucchi, or Angelica Kauffmann.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The earliest occupant of the house seems to have been William
Dickey who, according to the ratebooks, resided there from 1782 to
1791. From 1792 until after the close of the century, Thomas Green
was the occupier.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
[752]Chimney-breast in front room on ground floor (plaster plaque
illustrated) (photograph).
[752]Ornamental plaster ceiling with painted panels in front room
on first floor (photograph).
LXXXV.—NO. 41, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground Landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Anthony
Hope Hawkins, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[753] was granted of the thirteenth house
from Charlotte Street, on the south side of Bedford Square. This is now
No. 41, Bedford Square.
The premises have been considerably modernized, but four chimneypieces
remain, that in the front room on the ground floor being Greek in
character, with panelled pilasters and acanthus capitals. The one in the
rear room on the same floor is treated with three-quarter Ionic columns
carrying the cornice directly over, to which a shelf of later date has
been added.
On the first floor, the chimneypiece in the front room (Plate 95) has
coupled and bracketed pilasters and sculptured frieze. That in the rear
room (Plate 95) is inlaid with mottled green marble. It retains the
original cast-iron grate. The ornamental plaster ceiling in this room
has four oval plaques in square panels. According to Mr. Anthony Hope
Hawkins, the present occupier, it is composed partly of old portions of
a ceiling formerly in No. 30 or No. 31, Bedford Square, the remaining
part being a copy of a ceiling still existing in one of these houses.
The ceiling appears to be a replica of that in the rear room of No. 31
(Plate 88), with the exception that it is of less width, and
consequently the central design, instead of being circular, is
compressed into an oval form.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
According to the ratebooks, Robert Peers took the house in 1782
and remained there until after the close of the century.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
Detail of marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
Detail of marble chimneypiece in rear room on ground floor
(photograph).
[754]Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
[754]Marble chimneypiece in rear room on first floor (photograph).
LXXXVI.—NO. 44, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Philip
Morrell, Esq., M.P.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[755] was granted of the tenth house
westward from Charlotte Street, on the south side of Bedford Square.
This was No. 44, Bedford Square.
The front room on the first floor has a ceiling of good design (Plate
96), and in the room behind the staircase is a small white marble
chimneypiece, carved in low relief, and decorated with inlay of Siena
marble.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupiers of this house, according to the ratebooks, were as
follows:—
1782–84. Thos. Hibbert.
1784–94. T. S. Jackson.
1794– Henry Gregg.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[756]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXXVII.—NO. 46, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessees, Messrs.
Royds, Rawstorne and Co.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
The lease[757] granted on 20th November, 1777, of No. 45, Bedford
Square, refers to that house’s eastern boundary as “a messuage lately
erected.”
No. 46 forms the western half of the central feature on the southern
side of the square. It will be noticed in the photograph (Plate 97) that
an unusual expedient has been adopted by introducing a central pilaster.
The staircase is of stone, with wrought-iron balustrade of coupled plain
bars, alternating with balusters of scroll work. The handrail is of
mahogany, and the lighting is obtained by an oval-shaped lantern.
The principal doors are of mahogany, with finely marked panels, and the
metal fittings are silver plated.
There are three carved white marble chimneypieces. In the case of that
in the front room on the ground floor (Plate 98), coloured marble is
introduced as a Greek fret in the frieze, and as plain strips at the
sides, and the central panel is carved to represent a Cupid sleeping.
That in the front room on the first floor (Plate 98) has two
three-quarter columns with coloured marble shafts supporting Ionic
capitals. The frieze is finely carved, the central panel representing
three Cupids at play. The chimneypiece in the rear room on the same
floor has also good carving in low relief with a central panel.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The following are the names of the occupiers of the house during
the 18th century, according to the ratebooks:—
1782–90. Samuel Castell.
1790–96. Andrew Reid.
1796– Jas. Bailie.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[758]Exterior, with that of No. 47 (photograph).
[758]Marble chimneypiece in front room on ground floor
(photograph).
[758]Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Marble chimneypiece in back room on first floor (photograph).
LXXXVIII.—NO. 47, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, Frederick
W. Lanchester, Esq.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 20th November, 1777, a lease[759] was granted of the seventh house
westward from Charlotte Street, on the south side of Bedford Square.
This was No. 47, Bedford Square.
In plan and arrangement this house is similar to No. 46. The doorway is
well shown on Plate 99. A photograph of the ceiling above the staircase
is given on Plate 100. The front room on the first floor contains a
remarkable ceiling, a portion of which is shown on Plate 101. Another of
similar design is in the front room of No. 31. The carved wood
chimneypiece (Plate 100) in the same room has a central panel
representing a sacrifice (bull before an altar).
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of this house are given by the ratebooks as
follows:—
1782–89. John Raymond.
1789–99. John Raymond Barker.
1799– Peter Pole.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[760]Entrance doorway (measured drawing).
[760]Ornamental plaster ceiling and lantern light over staircase
(photograph).
[760]Carved wood chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[760]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
LXXXIX.—NO. 48, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD.
His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 16th January, 1777, a lease[761] was granted of the sixth house
westward from Charlotte Street, on the south side of the square. This
was No. 48.
[Illustration: GROUND FLOOR PLAN FIRST FLOOR PLAN.]
There were formerly four fine marble chimneypieces in this house.
Unfortunately burglars have destroyed three of these by breaking away
all the sculptured portions, and have mutilated the fourth by the
removal of its central panel. This last is situated in the front room on
the first floor, and is shown on Plate 102. It is of large size, and has
three-quarter attached Ionic columns, mottled buff coloured marble
surrounds, and inlaid flutings in the frieze, and when complete it would
appear to have been an excellent example of the period.
The ceiling in the same room (Plate 103) is in ornamental plaster work,
with small plaques.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupiers of this house, according to the ratebooks, were:—
1782–83. —— Bevan.
1784–89. Samuel Gaussen.
1789– Robt. Parnther.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[762]Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[762]Marble chimneypiece in front room on first floor
(photograph).
[762]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
XC.—NO. 50, BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND LANDLORD.
His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 16th January, 1777, a lease[763] was granted of the fourth house
westward from Charlotte Street, on the south side of the square. This
was No. 50.
The premises are a good example of the general planning of houses on
this side of the square. The fanlight (Plate 104) to the screen between
the vestibule and hall is characteristic of others in this district. The
staircase is of stone with mahogany handrail and wrought-iron balustrade
of coupled bars, alternating with one of scroll design, as has been
described in other cases. The end of the staircase is semi-circular in
plan. The ceiling is of ornamental plaster work, pierced by a large oval
lantern. The front room on the first floor has a good decorative
ceiling.
The rear room on the same floor has an ornamental ceiling with designs
in the angles of the central portion, representing drama, painting,
music, and agriculture.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The first occupier of the house, according to the ratebooks, was
“Mr. Serjt. Glynn,” who was resident here in 1778. John Glynn was
born in Cornwall in 1722. He entered the legal profession and was
called to the Bar in 1748. In 1763 he was created serjeant-at-law,
and the following year Recorder of Exeter. He enjoyed a great
reputation for legal knowledge, which he placed, in many cases
gratuitously, at the disposal of the adherents of Wilkes, in the
legal proceedings connected with the latter’s agitation. In 1768,
and again in 1774, he was elected as one of the representatives of
Middlesex in Parliament. In 1772 he was elected Recorder of the
City of London. He died in 1779.
In 1779 William Lushington was at No. 50, Bedford Square, and
remained until 1781, when he was succeeded by John Hunter, whose
tenancy lasted over the end of the century.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
Ground and first floor plans (measured drawing).
[764]Fanlight in entrance hall (photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
Ornamental plaster ceiling in rear room on first floor
(photograph).
XCI.—NO. 51, BEDFORD SQUARE.[765]
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEE.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G.; lessee, the French
Consulate-General.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
On 16th January, 1777, a lease[766] was granted of the third house
westward from Charlotte Street, thus corresponding to No. 51.
In the vestibule of this house is fitted a small chimneypiece with a
sculptured marble panel.
[Illustration]
The staircase is similar to that of No. 50, and the friezes beneath the
ceilings have moulded plaster designs.
The front room on the ground floor has a white marble chimneypiece with
Ionic pilasters, the rear room on the same floor having one of simpler
design in the same material. The chimneypiece of the front room on the
first floor is also simply treated in white marble, with three-quarter
Ionic columns. The ceiling (Plate 105) is decorated in moulded plaster
work of good design.
The rear room on the same floor has a white marble and green inlay
chimneypiece and a decorative plaster ceiling.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
The premises are in good repair.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
In 1778 John Boldero was in occupation of the premises. His name
appears in the ratebooks until 1791, when it is replaced by that
of Mrs. Boldero.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[767]Sculptured panel of chimneypiece in entrance hall
(photograph).
[767]Ornamental plaster ceiling in front room on first floor
(photograph).
XCII.–XCIII.—NOS. 68 AND 84, GOWER STREET.
GROUND LANDLORD AND LESSEES.
Ground landlord, His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G. The lessee of No.
68 is Miss Janet McKerrow.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.
Gower Street was formed at the same time as Bedford Square, and many of
the houses on the west side as well as some on the east still present
their original fronts.
No. 68, Gower Street, is provided with a bold and simple wood door case
(Plate 106) of excellent proportions, with Roman unfluted Doric columns
and ornamental fanlight. It is a very good example of late 18th-century
design.
The door case (Plate 106) to No. 84, Gower Street, was of simple and
tasteful design, well adapted for its purpose, and typical of many
others in the neighbourhood.
CONDITION OF REPAIR.
No. 68, Gower Street, is in good repair.
No. 84 was demolished in 1907.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
The occupants of these two houses during the 18th century were,
according to the ratebooks:
_No. 68._ _No. 84._
1787–93. Thos. Gatteker. 1789–1800. Sir John Scott.
1794–97. T. C. Porter.
1797– Mrs. Peters.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
No. 46, Gower Street. Doorcase (photograph).
No. 63, Gower Street. Exterior (photograph).
[768]No. 68, Gower Street. Doorcase (photograph).
[768]No. 84, Gower Street. Doorcase (photograph).
XCIV.—NORTH AND SOUTH CRESCENTS AND ALFRED PLACE (DEMOLISHED).
The sites of North and South Crescents and Alfred Place, together with
the corresponding portion of the east side of Tottenham Court Road,
belong to the City of London Corporation, and form a part of the
property of which some of the proceeds are by the Act 4 and 5 William
IV., cap. 35 (private), devoted to the upkeep of the City of London
School.
For many years before the passing of the Act an annual sum of £19 10s.
had been paid by the Corporation, out of the rents of certain lands
usually called the estates of John Carpenter, towards the education and
clothing of four boys. These estates were popularly identified with
certain properties in Thames Street, Bridge Street, Westcheap and
Houndsditch, and the North and South Crescents area in St.
Giles-in-the-Fields. Unfortunately, no direct connection can be traced
between the last mentioned property and John Carpenter, who died about
1441.
It seems probable, however, that this part of the City estates had a
different origin.
In 1567 Lord and Lady Mountjoy sold to Sir Nicholas Bacon the tithes of
two closes in Bloomsbury, known as the Great Close of Bloomsbury,
containing 45 acres, and Wilkinson’s Close, containing 4 acres, together
with a third close, having an area of 5 acres, and being then or lately
in the tenure of John Hunt.[769] The tithes are mentioned in the account
of the division of the property of St. Giles’s Hospital[770] as falling
to the share of Katherine Legh (afterwards Lady Mountjoy), but no
reference occurs to the third close, which nevertheless was most
probably obtained at the same time. In 1574 an exchange of land was
effected between Sir Nicholas Bacon and Sir Rowland Hayward and other
City dignitaries, whereby the latter acquired the five-acre close in
question.[771] The deed relating to the exchange does not appear to have
been enrolled, and consequently no particulars are available as to the
property which was transferred to Sir Nicholas Bacon.
The earliest record in the possession of the Corporation relating to the
estate in St. Giles is contained in a rental of 1667,[772] “The Rentall
of the Lands and Tenements, sometimes of Mr. John Carpenter, sometimes
Town Clarke of the Citty of London,” and is as follows: “Margaret the
Relict and Executrix of Richard Reede, late Margaret Pennell, for a
Close with the appurtenances cont. by estimacon five acres, more or
lease, and being in the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields to him demised
for 61 years from Lady-day, 1652, at £4.” Two other properties included
in the rental are described as having been taken by the Corporation in
exchange from Sir Nicholas Bacon, but it is unfortunate that no such
statement is made with regard to the 5–acre close, as such would have
prevented any doubt as to its identification. Nevertheless, scarcely any
doubt is possible. The rental of 1667 shows that the John Carpenter
estate included property acquired by way of exchange from Bacon, and the
presumption of the identity of the 5–acre close contained in that
exchange with the 5–acre close leased to Richard Reede in 1652 is
practically overwhelming. Moreover, it is difficult to see with what
other land the close could possibly be identified. It is quite certain
that it was not in that part of the parish of St. Giles which lay to the
south of Bloomsbury Manor, for there was in that direction no 5–acre
field, of which the history, as detailed in this volume, does not
preclude the possibility of its being identified with the close in
question. It is moreover fairly obvious that the close could not have
been actually included in the Manor of Bloomsbury, since it was in the
hands of Mountjoy.
We are thus almost bound to identify the latter with the North and South
Crescents estate, which, with one exception (Cantelowe Close), is the
only St. Giles property in the neighbourhood not in the manor of
Bloomsbury.
It may, therefore, be assumed that the connection of the land with the
Carpenter Estate only dates from 1574, and that it was obtained by the
trustees of that estate in exchange for other property.
The land remained unbuilt on until the estate was laid out early in the
19th century. Although the houses were of no architectural merit, the
plan is by no means uninteresting. It consists of Alfred Place running
parallel with Tottenham Court Road, with a connecting cross road at
either end, crescents being formed in these opposite the north and south
ends of Alfred Place.
It is probable that George Dance, the younger, who was City Architect at
the time, modified his idea for the improvement of the Port of London in
the preparation of this design.[773] The former scheme is embodied in a
coloured engraving[774] by William Daniell, published in 1802.[775]
All the houses have recently been demolished.
IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—
North Crescent—General view (photograph).
South Crescent—General view (photograph).
XCV.—HOUSE IN REAR OF NO. 196, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD.
The land immediately to the north of the City estate was formerly a
field known as Cantelowe Close. In an inquisition held on 20th May,
1639,[776] it was found that John, Earl of Clare,[777] had died in
possession of, _inter alia_, a parcel of land in the parish of St.
Giles, called “Cantlowe Close,” containing seven acres.[778] The land
seems to have continued in the Holles family until the death of John
Holles, Duke of Newcastle, in 1711, and then to have passed with most of
the latter’s possessions to his nephew, Thomas Pelham-Holles, afterwards
(1715) Duke of Newcastle, for the plan of the new road from Paddington
to Islington which appeared in the _London Magazine_ for 1756 marked the
field to the north of “The City Lands” as the “Duke of Newcastle’s.” In
1772 the Duke of Newcastle sold to the Duchess of Bedford and others,
trustees for the late Duke, “all that close or parcell of ground,
scituate in the parish of St. Pancras,[779] commonly called ...
Cantelowe Close, containing nine acres and a half or thereabouts.”[780]
In 1776 the trustees granted to William Mace, carpenter, a lease for 78
years of a portion of the ground “in consideration of the great expense
he hath been at in erecting a farmhouse on part of a field known as
Cantelowe Close, and that he, the said William Mace, shall build proper
and convenient sheds and other outhouses for the accommodation of 40
cows at the least.”[781] It is therefore clear that the house was built
in or shortly before 1776.
It stood about 150 feet east of Tottenham Court Road. The exterior
(Plate 107) was of stock brickwork, with red brick window heads. The
entrance doorcase was of wood, and above were two tablets showing that
formerly the parish boundary between St. Giles and St. Pancras passed
through the house.
The interior had a decorated wood and composition chimneypiece (Plate
107) in the north front room on the first floor.
The premises were demolished in 1914.
THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—
[782]East front (photograph).
[782]Chimneypiece in front room on first floor (photograph).
INDEX OF NAMES AND TITLES.
Abercorn, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of, 102
Adam Brothers, 151
Alan, 107
Aldewych, 23, 107
Aldewych (Oldwych) Close, 34, 35, 37, 42, 43, 93, 94, 100, 125
Aldewych Cross, 23
Alfred Place, 186
Allen, John, 3_n_
Allen, Thomas, 108
Allington, Lady, 102
Allington, Lord, 102_n_
All Saints’ Church, West Street, 115–116
Almshouses in Monmouth Street, 138
Alsopp, Henry, 18
Ampthill, Henry, 109
Ampthill, John, 109_n_
Angel, The, 122, 125
Angell, Robert, 13, 14
Antelope Inn, 3
Apsley, Henry, Lord (afterwards Earl Bathurst), 149
Apsley, John, 6, 8_n_
Apsley, Peter, 6, 7
Archer, J. W., 45, 48, 105
Ardowin, John, 115
Arne, Thomas, 89
Arne, Thomas Augustine, 89
Arthur, John, 92
Arthur Street, 145
Arundell, Thomas Howard, Earl of, 44
Arundell, Thomas, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour, 50
Ashburnham, Francis, 119_n_
Ashley, Sir Anthony, 7, 9_n_
Ashley, James, 76, 77
Ashley, Mrs. (formerly Worlidge), 77
Ashlin Place (formerly Paviors Alley), 106, 108
Aspin, William, 89
Aston, Coston, 56
Aubigny, Seigneurs d’ (_See_ Stuart.)
Auchinleck, Alexander Boswell, Lord, 57
Aynscombe, Lily, 84
Back garden, Weld Street, 95_n_
Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 186, 187
Bacon’s Hotel, Great Queen Street, 84
Bagford, John, 38, 44
Baguley, Mr., 86, 87
Bailey, Anthony, 3_n_, 9_n_
Bailey, E. H., 62
Bailey, Jas., 164, 167
Bailie, Jas., 179
Bainbridge (Baynbrigge), Jane, 145_n_
Bainbridge, Henry, 145
Bainbridge Street, 145
Baines, —, 84
Baker, Ric., 103_n_
Baker, William, 139
Baltimore (Battimore), Lord, 95, 96
Baltimore, Lady, 96
Banks, Sir John, 7
Banks, Sir Ralph, 7, 8
Bannister, John, 104
Banqueting Hall, Freemasons’ Tavern, 63
Banson, —, 66
Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street, 99
Barber, Ann, 110
Barber, Thomas, 110
Barber, William, 110
Barbor (_alias_ Grigge), John, 145
Barker, John Raymond, 180
Barker, Thos., 7_n_
Barkstead, John, 120
Barnard, William, 11_n_
Barnett, Thomas, 28_n_
Barnfather, John, 133
Barnfather, Mary, 134
Barnfather, Robert, 134
Baron, John, 125
Barrington, Sir Thos., 39
Bath, Countess of, 75
Bathurst, Henry, 2nd Earl of, 149
Baxter, Nathaniel, 139
Bear, The, Broad Street, 19, 107, 108, 125
Bear Brewhouse, 108_n_
Bear (Bere) Close, 19, 20, 21, 29_n_, 30_n_, 125
Bear Croft, 19
Beauclerk, Lady Diana, 149
Beauclerk, Lord Sydney, 149
Beauclerk, Hon. Topham, 149
Beaufort, Henry, Duke of, 75_n_
Beaufort House, Chelsea, 53
Beavor, Edward, 75
Beavor, Rhoda (formerly Webb), 75
Bedford, Dukes of, 126
Bedford, Francis Russell, Earl of, 23_n_, 51_n_
Bedford, Gertrude, Duchess of, 149, 188
Bedford, Herbrand Arthur, 11th Duke of, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151_n_,
162, 163_n_
Bedford, John, 4th Duke of, 149
Bedford Square, 147, 150–184
Bedloe, Mr., 97_n_
Belasyse, Ann, Lady (formerly Lady Ann Powlet), 137
Belasyse, Ann, Lady (daughter of Sir Robert Crane), 137
Belasyse, Frances, 137
Belasyse, Sir Henry, 137
Belasyse, Hon. Isabella, 55
Belasyse, Jane, Lady, 137
Belasyse, John, Baron Belasyse, 47, 55, 65, 137
Bell, William, 19_n_
Bellamont, Richard Coote, 4th Earl, 56, 76
Bellamont, Countess (formerly Lady Oxenden), 76
Belton Street, 103, 105, 111
Bennet, Samuel, 110
Bennet’s Garden (The Bowl property), 112
Berkeley, Elizabeth, dowager Lady, 92
Berkstead, Col., 60_n_
Bertie, Hon. Robert, 136
Bethell, Zachery, 119_n_, 122_n_
Betterton Street, 103, 104
Bevan, —, 182
Bierly, William. (_See_ Byerly)
Bigg, John, 39_n_
Bigg, Walter, 120_n_
Bishop, John, 3_n_
Bishopp, Samuel, 3_n_
Black Bear Inn, 107
Black Bear Yard, 108
Black Lamb, 110, 111
Blacksmith’s forge, 144
Blackwell, Jonathan, 74
Blackwell, Rev. Thos., 115_n_
Blague, Mary, 16_n_
Blisset, Joseph, 70
Blomeson, John, 126
Bloomsbury Great Close, 125_n_, 187
Blount, Charles (afterwards Earl of Devonshire), 126_n_
Blount (Blunt), Sir James. (_See_ Mountjoy.)
Blumsberrie Fieldes, 110_n_
Blyke, Ric., 75_n_
Blythe, Arthur, 110_n_, 111_n_
Blythe, Thomas, 110
Boak, —, 66
Boak, Ann, 66, 67_n_
Boak, E., 66
Bochier, Thomas, 3_n_
Boddington, John, 169
Bol, Ferdinand, 55
Boldero, John, 184
Boldero, Mrs., 184
Bolingbroke, Lord, 149
Bolton, Charles Powlett, 2nd Duke of, 65
Bonomi, —, 151
Booker, Mr., 12
Booth, Rev. Chas., 11
Bootle, Mrs., 169
Borde, Doctor, 119, 125
Boreman, Robert, 139
Borrett, Edw., 70
Bosomysynne, 23_n_
Boswell, Alexander, Lord Auchinleck, 57
Boswell, Jas., 57
Boswell, John, 121
Boteler, Sir Robert, 137
Bothwell, Lord, 6_n_
Bothwell House, 6_n_
Bottomley, Joseph, 44_n_, 46
Boundary of parish, 1–2
Bowen, —, 57
Bower, J., 84
Bowes, Robert, 28
Bowes, William, 144
Bowl, The, 110, 111, 112_n_
Bowl Yard, 111
Bowne, Madame, 56
Boyle, Roger, 1st Earl of Orrery, 79
Bradley, James, 76
Bradshaw, Mr., 91
Braithwait, Mr., 18
Bramston, Sir John, 145_n_
Bransby, Robert, 79
Braynsgrave, William, 20
Brereton, W., 56
Brett, Richard, 21, 42, 43
Brewer, Thomas, 46_n_, 50
Bringhurst, Anne, 121_n_
Bringhurst, Isaac, 118_n_, 119, 121
Briscowe, James, 20_n_, 24_n_, 107
Briscowe, Joan (_née_ Wise), 107, 119
Bristol, George Digby, 2nd Earl of, 52, 54
Bristol, John Digby, Earl of, 23_n_, 47_n_, 50, 51
Bristol House (Nos. 55 and 56, Great Queen Street), 42–58, 59, 60, 63,
65
Bristow, John, 149
Bristowe, Jas., 119
British Lying-In Hospital, 103
Broad Street, 101, 106–111
Brock (Brooke), Thos., 92
Bromeley, Robert, 108
Bromley, Sir John. (_See_ Brownlow.)
Brooke, Catherine, Lady, 51
Brooke, Robert Greville, 2nd Baron, 51_n_
Brooks, Mr., 61
Broome, Peter, 7_n_
Broomwhoerwood, Thomas, 11
Brown and Barrow, Messrs., 63
Browne, Henry, 47, 48
Browne, Henry, 5th Viscount Montagu, 65
Browne, Isaac Hawkins (father and son), 84, 85
Browne, Robert, 126
Browne, Thomas, 126
Browne, Tom, 68
Brownlow (Bromley), Sir John, 102, 112
Brownlow, Sir John, 103, 105
Brownlow, Sir Richard, 103
Brownlow Street, 103
Brownlow Street Lying-In Hospital, 103
Brudenell, Anne, Countess of Cardigan, 90
Brudenell, Robert, 2nd Earl of Cardigan, 90
Buck, George, 28
Buck, John, 7
Buck, Margaret, 6, 7
Buck, Matthew, 20, 24
Buckeridge, Edmund, 145_n_
Buckeridge, Nicholas, 145_n_
Buckeridge, Sara, 145_n_
Buckingham, George Villiers, 1st Duke of, 91_n_
Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of, 91_n_
Buckingham, Katherine, Duchess of, 91_n_
Buckingham and Normanby, John Sheffield, Duke of, 74
Bucknall Street, 145
Buckner, John, (afterwards Bishop of Chichester), 138, 139
Buckridge Street, 145
Burges, Thos., 87, 92
Burgh, Ulick de. (_See_ Clanricarde).
Burghe, Edw., 59_n_, 60_n_, 67_n_
Burn, Thomas, 167
Burnet, Gilbert, Bishop of Salisbury, 75
Burnett, —, 71
Burrage, Thomas, 21
Burton, Thomas, 27, 29, 30, 31_n_, 32, 35_n_, 37
Burton, Thomas, 11
Burton, Walter, 29, 30, 31, 35, 40
Burton and Co., 11
Burton Lazars, 24, 27, 117–126
Byerly (Bierly), William, 6, 8_n_, 94
Byng, Ed., 65_n_
Byrcke, — Esq., 119
Byrn, Wm., 71
Calley (Cawley), Sir W., 42, 93
Cantelowe Close, 187, 188
Cardigan, Anne, Countess of, 90
Cardigan, Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of, 90
Carew, Anne, 6, 7
Carew, George, Dean of Windsor, 6_n_
Carew, Sir George, Baron Carew of Clopton and Earl of Totnes, 6
Carew, Lady Martha, 125
Carew, Peter, 6
Carew, Thomas, 119, 122, 125
Carew, Sir Wymonde, 119, 122, 125, 127
Carlisle, Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of, 92
Carlisle, Edward Howard, 2nd Earl of, 92
Carlisle, James Hay, Earl of, 19
Carnwath, Robert Dalyell, Earl of, 43
Carpenter, John, 186, 187
Carter, Benjamin, 120
Carter, Rev. Philip, 59_n_, 70
Cartwright, William, 74_n_
Cary, Lord, 101_n_
Case, Thomas, 78_n_
Castell, Samuel, 179
Castle Street, 112_n_, 113, 114
Castlehaven, Countess of, 102
Catton, Charles (Senior), 11, 12
Catton, Charles (Junior), 12
Cavendish, Lord Charles, 162
Cavendish, Hon. Henry, 162
Cavendish, Hon. John, 162
Cavendish, William, 3rd Earl of Devonshire, 54
Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, 36
Chaloner, Joan, Lady (widow of Sir Thomas Legh), 124, 126
Chaloner, Sir Thomas, 126_n_
Chamberlain, Dr., 82
Chamberlain’s Stable, 5_n_
Chandler, Nathaniel, 29_n_
Chandler, Samuel, 29_n_
Chandos, Henry, Duke of, 75_n_
Chapman, George, 135
Charing Cross Road, 118, 119
Charles I., 13
Charles Street (now Macklin Street), 30
Chaworth, Lady, 91, 92
Chaworth, Patricius, 3rd Viscount, 91
Cheek, Phineas, 11
Cheeke, —, 70
Chequer, The, Broad Street, 125
Chichester, John Buckner, Bishop of, 138, 139
Chippendale, Thomas, 58, 67_n_
Chippendale, William, 57, 58
Christmas, John, 23_n_
Christmas, William, 23
Christmasse estate, 30_n_
Church of All Saints, West Street, 115–116
Church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, 127–140
Church Close (Williamsfeild), 144_n_, 145
Church Lane, 145
Church Street, 145
City of London, Corporation of, 16, 186, 187
City of London School, 187
Clanricarde, Marquess of, 2nd Earl of St. Albans, 46, 47, 50, 59
Clanricarde House, Great Queen Street, 37, 50
Clare, John Holles, 1st Earl of, 100, 188
Clarendon, Lord, 97_n_
Clarke, John (Rector), 139
Clarke, John, 32_n_
Clarke, Mrs. Mary, 84
Clarke (_alias_ Sadler), Thomas, 80
Clements, Thomas, 3_n_
Clerke, Katherine (_alias_ Smyth), 24
Cleveland, Duchess of, 53_n_
Clifton, Gervase, Lord, 101_n_
Clifton, Katherine, Duchess of Lennox, 101, 102
Clifton, Robert, 106, 109
Clive, Catherine (Kitty), 70, 71
Clive, George, 71
Clyff, Richard, 3
Coach Office, No. 55, Great Queen Street, 56
Coal Yard (afterwards Goldsmith Street), 21, 22
Cobham, Lord, 144_n_
Cock Alley, 108
Cock and Coffin, High Holborn, 3_n_
Cock and Pye Fields, 112
Cock and Pye Inn, Marshlands, 112
Cockerell, F. P., 63
Cockerell, Professor C. R., 63
Cockpit Side, 94
Cockshott (Cockeshute, Cockshoote), Richard, 20, 24
Coke, Edward, 148
Coke, John, 3
Coke, Sir Thomas, Lord Lovel, 148
Colchester, Richard, Lord (afterwards 4th Earl Rivers), 69, 70
Colchester, Thomas Darcy (afterwards Viscount), 67
Cole, Bassitt, 21
Cole, Francis, 9_n_
Cole, Salomon, 21_n_
Colleton, Sir John, 70_n_
Colleton, Sir Peter, 69_n_
Colleton (_alias_ Johnson), Mrs. Elizabeth, 69, 70
Collins, William, 138
Colmanhedge Field, 123
Colman’s Hedge, 123
Cologan, John, 165
Column at Seven Dials, 113–114
Combe, Harvey Christian, 149
Complin, Mrs. Eleanor, 92
Compton, Sir Henry, 46_n_, 47_n_, 50
Con, Seignior, 67
Conduit Close, 123
Connaught Rooms, Freemasons’ Tavern, 55, 63
Const, Francis, 90, 91_n_
Constable, Dorothy, Lady, 51_n_
Constable, Sir William, 51
Conway, Anne, Lady, 78
Conway, Edward, 1st Viscount (Secretary), 30
Conway, Edward, 2nd Viscount, 59_n_, 60, 71_n_, 73_n_, 78
Conway, Edward, 3rd Viscount, and 1st Earl of Conway, 37_n_, 78, 82_n_
Conway, Francis Seymour, 5th Baron Conway, 61_n_
Conway, Popham Seymour, 78, 82
Conway, Ursula, Marchioness of Normanby, 82
Conway House, 46_n_, 60, 63, 78–83, 84
Cony, Sir William, 138
Cook, William, 6
Cooper, John, 71
Cooper, Thos., 71
Coote, Sir Charles, 79
Coote, Richard, 4th Earl Bellamont, 56, 76
Cope, Dame Dorothy, 126_n_
Cope, Isabella (afterwards Lady Rich), 126
Cope, Sir Edward, 119, 120
Cope, Sir Walter, 126
Cope (Rope), Master, 126_n_
Corben, J. F., 138
Cornwallis, Sir Charles, 16, 29, 31
Cornwallis, Francis, 18
Cornwallis, Sir William, 30_n_
Coronell, Augustine, 95_n_
Corrance, John, 95_n_, 100_n_
Cotham, Philip, 3_n_
Cotton, Sir John, 51
Covert, Thomas, 88
Cowles Field, 147
Cowles Pasture, 147
Cowper, Sir John, 7, 9_n_
Cowper, John, 9
Cowper, Margaret, 9
Crace, John, 71
Crane, Sir Robert, 137
Cranigh (Crainck), Burrard (Burcharde, Buckharte), 5, 6
Craven, Earl of, 96_n_
Crewe, Master, 11_n_
Crews, Robert, 150
Crofts, John, 39
Cromwell, Thomas, 123_n_
Crook, Thos., 59_n_
Cross at Aldewych, 23
Cross Lane, 18
Cross Street (now Newton Street), 27
Crouch, Gilbt., 96
Crouton, John, 23_n_, 144_n_
Crown, The, Broad Street, 109
Crown, The, Great Queen Street, 89
Crown, The, High Street, 125, 144
Crown Court, 106, 109
Cruce, John de, 23, 107
Curtis, William, 18_n_
Dalcona Close (Pursefield), 34
Dallison, Sir Chas., 8_n_
Dalyell, Sir Robert, Earl of Carnwath, 43
Dance, George (the younger), 187
Dandridge, Bartholomew, 56, 57
Daniell, William, 187
Darby, Mary (afterwards Robinson) (“Perdita”), 77–78
Darcy, Elizabeth (afterwards Lady Savage and Countess Rivers), 59, 67,
68, 73_n_, 90
Darcy, Thomas, Baron Darcy of Chich, afterwards Earl Rivers, 67
Darell, Henry, 16, 17
Darrell, William, 94
Dashwood, Lady Anne, 76
Dashwood, Sir Samuel, 76
D’Aubigny, Seigneurs. (_See_ Stuart).
Davies, W. L., 138
Davis, —, 89, 92
Davison, Henry, 159
Dawes, Sir William, Archbishop of York, 110_n_
Dayrell’s Buildings, 16, 17
Deane, Jeremy, 38_n_
de Cruce, John, 23, 107
De la Chambre, John, 18
Denmark, Prince George of, 142
Denmark House, 67
Denmark Place, 121, 144
Denmark Street, 120, 121, 142
Densyle (Densyll), Master, 119, 125
Devereux, Robert, 3rd Earl of Essex, 88
Devil’s Gap, 36_n_
Devonshire, Charles Blount, Earl of, 126_n_
Devonshire, William, 3rd Duke of, 162
Devonshire, William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of, 54
Dickens, Col. Guy, 89
Dickenson, —, 83
Dickenson, —, 84
Dickey, William, 176
Digby, Lady Anne (afterwards Countess of Sunderland), 54
Digby, George, 2nd Earl of Bristol, 52, 54
Digby, Sir George, of Coleshill, 50
Digby, John, 1st Earl of Bristol, 23_n_, 47_n_, 50, 51
Digby, Hon. John, 51, 52_n_
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 42, 43, 93
Dilleage, Lord, 73
Dillingham, Gilbert, 139
Dive, Sir Lewis, 46_n_, 50
Dodswell, Jonathan, 29_n_
Dorset, Earl of, 6, 19, 106
Doughty, Thomas, 5
Doughty, Thomas, Junior, 5
Douglas, Captain, 97_n_
Douglas, John, 173
Douglas, Sylvester, Baron Glenbervie, 172, 173
Downe, Earl of, 102, 106
Downes, Edward, 119
Downes, Francis, 119, 122, 126
Downes, John, 69_n_
Downes, Penelope (afterwards Countess Rivers), 69_n_
Downes, Robert, 119
Drake, Geo., 170
Drury House, 23_n_, 34
Drury Lane (Aldewych), 23, 25, 30, 35, 107
Drury Lane. (_See also_ Aldwych Close.)
Duckett, William, 6_n_
Dudley, Alice, Lady, 93_n_, 120, 121, 128, 129, 130, 135
Dudley, Sir John. (_See_ Lisle).
Dudley, Sir Robert, 135
Dudley Court, 121
Duke Street (afterwards Sardinia Street), 100
Dummer, Thos., 66
Dunbar, Mary, Viscountess, 137
Dunn, George E., 132
Dyott, Jane, 145_n_
Dyott, Simon, 145_n_
Dyott Street, 145
Dysart, Countess of, 102_n_
Dyxson, Thomas, 3
Eagle and Child, High Holborn, 3_n_
Earl Street, 113
Eaton, Madame, 92
Edlyn, Edmund, 31_n_, 32
Edmonds, Jane, 29
Edwards, Thomas, 134
Eldon, John Scott, 1st Earl of, 155
Elliott, Magdalen, 88
Ellys, Thos., 3_n_
Elm Field, 23_n_, 101, 112_n_
Elmes, Anthony, 29, 108_n_
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 5
Endell Street, Nos. 23 and 25, 105
Ennys, Captain, 97_n_
Essex, Elizabeth Paulet, Countess of, 61, 72, 86_n_, 88
Essex, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of, 88
Evans, Galfridus, 139
Evelyn, George, 31_n_
Evelyn, John, 12, 53, 113
Everard, Rev. Chas., 11
Everard, Wm., 11
Eversley, Charles, Viscount, 160
Exchequer Office, 113
Exeter, Countess of, 96
Fairfax, Dorothy (afterwards Lady Constable), 51_n_
Fairfax, Ferdinando, 2nd Lord, 51, 52
Fairfax, Thomas, 1st Lord, 51_n_
Fairfax, Thomas, 3rd Baron, 51
Falcon (Falcon and Greyhound), High Holborn, 10, 13, 14, 15
Falconer, Elizabeth, 89, 92
Fanshawe, J., 83
Farmer, Thomas, 18
Farmhouse in rear of No. 196, Tottenham Court Road, 188
Farnham, John, 5
Fauconberg, Thomas, 1st Lord, 55_n_, 137
Faulkner, Miss, 89
Fawlcon Yard, 15_n_
Feathers Court, High Holborn, 8
Feltham, manor and messuages in, 123, 124
Fenowillet, Peter, 115
Ferrand, William, 87_n_
Ferrers, Washington, Earl, 75_n_
Fielding, Henry, 71
Finch, Heneage, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 79
Finch, Sir Heneage, 79
Finch, Sir Henry, 78
Finch, Sir John, 79
Fire at Freemasons’ Hall, 62
Firmin (Firman), William, 8
Fisher, Cuthbert, 169
Fisher, Sir Edward, 119_n_
Fisher, Sir Thomas, 21_n_
Fisher, Thos., 3_n_
Flaxman, John, 151
Flitcroft, Henry, 130, 131, 132
Flood, John, 119_n_, 122_n_
Flood, William, 119_n_, 122_n_
Flood. (_See also_ Lloyd.)
Florence, Henry L., 63
Flower, Geo., 9
Floyd (Flood), Robert. (_See_ Lloyd.)
Fonseca, Don Manuel, 37_n_
Foote, Anne, 109_n_
Foote, James, 109_n_
Foote, Robert, 109_n_
Foote, Thomas, 109_n_
Forrester, Mary, 90
Fort, Edward, 37_n_
Fortescue, John, 10, 11_n_
Fortescue, Sir John, 23_n_
Fortescue Lane (_alias_ Drury Lane), 23_n_
Foster, Henry, 34_n_
Foster, Margaret, 34_n_
Fotherly, John, 27_n_, 29, 31
Foxcroft, Isaac, 97, 99_n_
Francis, Matthew, 101_n_
Francklin, Richard, 90
Francklyn, Mrs., 87, 90–91
Francklyn, Rev. Thomas, 87, 89, 90
Freeman, Sir Ralph, 47_n_, 50_n_
Freeman, W. G., 70
Freemasons, Trustees for, 73_n_, 75
Freemasons’ Hall and Tavern, 47, 55, 59–84
French Ambassador, 96, 97
Froude, Mr., 90
Froude, Ashburnham, 90_n_, 92
Gage, George, 93
Galloway, Thomas, 82
Gallows, 144
Gally, Henry, 139
Gandy, J. M., 63
Garnault, —, 71
Garrett, Frauncis, 107_n_
Garrick, David, 67, 90
Gate House (near Broad Street), 110
Gate House (Great Gate) St. Giles’s Hospital, 118, 121, 125, 145
Gate Street, 5, 10
Gate Tavern, High Holborn, 15
Gatteker, Thos., 185
Gaussen, Samuel, 182
Gentleman, George, 8_n_
George, Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), 78
George, The, Broad Street, 125
George, The, High Holborn, 8
Gerard, Frances (née Godman), 21, 107
Gerard, Francis, 21, 107_n_
Gerard, Philip, 21_n_
Gerbier, —, 44, 45
Gerrard, Sir Thomas, 6
Gibbert, Mr., 13, 14
Gibbons, Walter, 28
Gibbs, Tristram, 120
Giffard, John, 10
Gifford, Dr. Andrew, 94
Gifford, Philip, 126
Gilbertson, Rev. Lewis, 153_n_, 169
Glenbervie, Sylvester Douglas, Baron, 172, 173
Gloucester, Duke of, 75
Glynn, John, 183
Goddard, Alexander, 3_n_
Godfrey, Jno., 172
Godman (afterwards Gerard), Frances, 21, 107
Godman, Olive, 21, 107
Godman, Thos., 21_n_
Goldsborough, Edward, 7
Goldsborough, Grace, 8
Goldsborough, Robert, 8
Goldsborough, William, 7
Goldsmith Street, 18–22
Goodman, George, 15_n_
Goodyer, Lady Dinely, 56
Goring, George, Earl of Norwich, 88
Gosling, Geo., 153
Gower, John, 1st Earl of, 149
Gower, Lady, 70_n_
Gower Street, 185
Granby, John Manners, Marquess of, 91
Grange, Sir John, 125_n_
Grape Street (formerly Vine Street), 124
Graunge, John, 119, 122
Gray and Davidson, Messrs., 132
Grayhound. (_See_ Greyhound.)
Great Close of Bloomsbury, 125_n_, 186
Great Gate, St. Giles’ Hospital. (_See_ Gatehouse.)
Great Portland Street, No. 122 (formerly 47), 58
Great Queen Street (Queen Street), 11_n_, 14, 34, 92, 149
Great Queen Street Chapel, 86–92
Great Russell Street, Thanet House, 147–149
Great St. Andrew Street, 113
Great Turnstile, 3
Great Wardrobe, Nos. 57–58, Great Queen Street, 66
Great White Lion Street, 114
Great Wild Street (Wild Street), 34, 93–97
Green, Chas., 83
Green, Thomas, 176
Green Dragon Yard, High Holborn, 18
Greene Dragon, The, 18
Greene, Thomas, 13, 14
Gregg, Henry, 178
Gregory, Edmond, 5_n_
Greville, Fulk, 51
Greville, Robert, 2nd Baron Brooke, 51_n_
Grey, Humfrey (Humphrey), 35
Grey, Thomas, 2nd Earl of Stamford, 65
Grey, Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby, 65
Grey, William, Lord, 6th Baron North, 70
Grey of Wark, William, Lord, 70
Greyhound Inn, Broad Street, 101, 108, 109, 125
Greyhound Close, 108
Greyhound Court, 109
Gridiron, High Holborn, 3_n_
Grigge (_alias_ Barbor), John, 145
Grove, Thos., 67_n_
Grover, Thomas, 18, 30_n_
Guerin, Peter, 39_n_
Guildford, Lord North, 2nd Earl of, 173
Guilford, Francis North, 1st Baron, 79, 80
Gwilliam, Thomas, 29_n_
Gyles’ Court, 108
Gyles, William, 108
Hahn, Daniel, 105_n_
Haley, William, 139
Hall, Charles, 29, 108_n_
Hallam, Adam, 90
Hallifax, Rev. Jas., 73_n_, 75_n_
Halton, Lord, 56
Hamilton, Rev. Frederick, 166
Hamilton, James, 2nd Earl of Abercorn, 102
Hamilton, James, Lord Paisley, 102
Hamilton, William, 11
Hamlyn, Mistress Margaret, 110
Hammond, George, 138
Hammond, George Aust., 138
Hammond, John, 138
Hammond, Mrs. P., 138
Hankey, Thos., 166
Hanney, Sir Samuel, 172
Hannott, Anthony, 28_n_
Hanson, John, 54_n_
Hanson, Thomas, 108
Harboard, Sir Charles, 54_n_
Harborne, Symond, 101_n_
Harding, Margaret, 138
Harding, William, 138
Harley, Sir Edward, 79
Harman, John, 120_n_
Harris, Richard, 30
Harris, Robert, 3_n_
Harris, Thos., 126
Harrison, George, 20, 24_n_, 107
Harrison, George, 145
Harrow, The, High Holborn, 18
Harrow Alley, 18
Hartopp, Lady, 91
Hartopp, Sir Thomas, 91
Hartopp, Sir William, 91
Hartoppe, William, 32_n_
Harvey, Sir Nicolas, 6_n_
Harwell, Henry, 6_n_
Hatton Garden, No. 13, 78
Hawford, Elizabeth, 134
Hawford, John (father and son), 134
Hawford, William, 134
Hawker, Thomas, 95_n_, 96
Hawkins, Abraham, 109_n_
Hawkins, Anthony Hope, 177
Hawkins, Jane, 110_n_
Hawkins, John, 109_n_
Hawley, Nicholas, 14
Hawte, Sir William, 188_n_
Hayward, Sir Roland, 186
Hell Gate, 36_n_
Hellier, Samuel, 29
Henderson, John, 66, 67_n_
Henrietta Maria, Queen, Statue of, 44, 59, 60, 61, 71–77
Herbert, Lord, of Cherbury, 37
Herbert, Sir William, Earl of Pembroke, 119
Heron, Henry, 5, 7
Heron, Richard, 149
Herriot, William, 97_n_
Heston, manor and messuages in, 123
Hewitt, Matthew, 39
Heywood, Wm., 139
Hibbart, Thos., 164
Hibbert, Thos., 178
Higgons, Thomas, 88
Higgs, John, 22_n_
High Holborn, 3–9, 13–17, 23–26
High Street, St. Giles, 118, 144
Hill, Eliz., 70
Hill, Joseph, 84
Hippisley, Sir John, 29_n_
Hoare, Chas., 56
Hoare, Widow, 56
Hobbes, Thomas, 54
Hog Lane, 112, 118_n_, 119
Hogarth Room, Freemasons’ Tavern, 63
Holborn Place, 8
Holborn Public Library, 18, 20_n_, 114
Holborn Restaurant, 16
Holborn Station, 15
Holden, Nicholas, 122_n_
Holdmay, Robert, 56
Holford, Henry, 34, 35, 36_n_, 40_n_, 42, 93, 100
Holford, Jane, 35_n_, 37_n_, 40_n_
Holford, Richard, 34_n_, 35_n_, 37_n_, 40, 42, 94_n_, 100_n_, 137
Holland, Henry Rich, 1st Earl of, 88
Holles, John, Duke of Newcastle, 188
Holles, John, 1st Earl of Clare, 100, 188
Holles, Sir William, 188_n_
Holles, Thomas Pelham. (_See_ Pelham-Holles).
Hollinghurst, Elizabeth (formerly Tompson), 8
Hollys, Sir William, 34
Holme, Daniel, 105
Holme’s Bagnio, 105
Holt, Rowland, 75_n_
Holt, William, 120
Hone, Matthew, 70
Hooker, John, 120_n_
Hoole, John, 57, 67_n_
Hooper, Benjamin, 28
Hooper, Sarah, 28
Hooper, William, 28, 29
Horn, Wm., 23_n_, 144_n_
Horne, Thomas, 112
Horseman, Richd., 29_n_, 31_n_
Hospital of Burton Lazars. (_See_ Burton Lazars.)
Hospital of St. Giles. (_See_ St. Giles, Hospital of.)
Hosyer, William, 24, 125
Howard, Catherine, 72
Howard, Charles, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, 92
Howard, Edward, Viscount Morpeth, 92
Howard, Henry, 7th Duke of Norfolk, 55
Howard, Col. Thos., 68
Howard, Thomas, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, 124_n_
Huckle, Godfrey Kneller, 56
Huddleston, Henry, 14
Hudson, George, 76, 77_n_
Hudson, Thomas, 67_n_, 74, 76–77
Hugh, the Smith, 107
Hughes, 71
Hughes, John, 71
Huguenots’ Chapel, 115
Hunt, John, 186
Hunt, Stephen, 90
Hunter, John, 183
Hurlestone, Henry, 3_n_
Hutchins, Wm., 84
Hye, Henrye, 119
Iley, Thos., 76
Inchiquin, Murrough O’Brien, 1st Earl of, 69
Inchiquin, William O’Brien, 2nd Earl of, 69
Inns of Court Hotel, High Holborn, 8
Ittery, John, 42, 93, 94_n_, 100
Ives, Anthony, 24
Ivey, Lady, 102_n_
Jackson, 71
Jackson, Mrs., 175
Jackson, Jas., 175
Jackson, John, 66
Jackson, T. S., 178
James, Madd., 96
James, Mary, 96
Jeffreys, George, 1st Baron Jeffreys, 81
Jennens, William, 113_n_
John de Cruce, 23, 107
John de Fonte the Elder, 23_n_
John of Good Memory, 23_n_
Johnson, Mrs. Barbra, 83
Johnson, Francis, 9
Johnson, Frederick, 9_n_
Johnson, John, 3_n_, 9_n_
Johnson, John, 83
Johnson, Robert, 110
Johnson, Samuel, 57, 71, 85, 149
Johnson (_alias_ Colleton), Mrs. Elizabeth, 69, 70
Johnson (_alias_ Trueman), William, 80_n_
Jones, Ed., 57
Jones, Henry, and Sons, 133
Jones, Hugh, 24
Jones, Hugh, 99_n_
Jones, Inigo, 44, 136
Jones, John, 37_n_
Jones, William, 76
Jordayne, Thos., 24_n_
Joye, James, 112, 115_n_
Juxon, William, 65_n_
Kauffmann, Angelica, 151, 152, 153, 163, 169, 176
Keeley Street (formerly Little Wild Street), 99
Kekewitch, Robert, 11
Kemble Street, 34, 35
Kendricke, James, 113
Kendricke’s Yard, 141
Kensington, Henry Rich, Baron, 88
Kensington, Robert Rich, Baron, 88
Keroualle, Mdlle. de (afterwards Duchess of Portsmouth), 54
Killigrew, Elizabeth, 40_n_
King, Joseph, 31
King’s Gate, 21_n_
Kingsgate Street, 36
King’s Head, The, Broad Street, 125
King’s Head Inn, High Holborn, 15
Kingston (Kyngston), Edward, 20_n_, 24_n_, 122_n_
King Street (now Neal Street), 112, 113
King Street (now Shelton Street), 27, 30–31
Kingsway Theatre, 31_n_
Knapton, Samuel, 39
Knapton, Susan, 39
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 47_n_, 54_n_, 55, 56_n_, 65_n_, 66
Kneller, Godfrey, the younger (Godfrey Kneller Huckle), 56
Kneller, G. J., 59_n_
Kneller, John, 56, 67_n_
Kneller, Sophia, 59_n_
Kniveton, Lady Frances, 135
Kniveton, Sir Gilbert, 135
Kyngston, Edward. (_See_ Kingston.)
Lacey, Jas., 83
Lacost, John, 29_n_
Lamb Alley, 110
Lamb, Peniston, 108
Lambe, Henry, 110
Lambe, John, 110
Land Bank (Land Credit Office), 82
Lande, —, 159
Lane, Byzantia (afterwards Cartwright), 74
Lane, Mistress Elinor, 15
Lane, Elizabeth, 74
Lane, Mary (afterwards Countess of Macclesfield), 74, 76
Lane, Ralph, 74, 89
Lane, Robert, 74
Lane, William, Junior, 4, 5, 14, 15_n_
Lane, The, 125
Langhorn, Sir William, 91_n_
Langhorne, Richard, 52_n_
Langston, Jas., 157
Langston, Mrs., 157
Larchin, John, 9
Larchin, Mary, 9
Lavell, Miss, 56
Lawrence, Edmund, 110
Lawrence Street, 145
Layton, Richard, 123_n_
Le Blanc, Sir Simon, 175
Lee, Jas., 171
Lee, John, 14
Lee, Robt. Cooper, 171
Lefevre, Chas. Shaw, 159, 160
Lefevre, Helena (afterwards Shaw Lefevre), 160
Lefevre, John, 159, 160
Legh, Joan, Lady (afterwards Chaloner), 124, 126
Legh, Katherine. (_See_ Mountjoy, Lady).
Legh, Sir Thomas, 34, 124, 126
Leicester, Countess of, 148
Leicester, Thomas Coke, Lord Lovel (afterwards Earl of), 148
Leigh, Hon. Charles, 135
Leivez (Leviez), Charles, 56
Lennox, Esmé Stuart, Duke of, 72, 101
Lennox House, 101, 106
Lennox, Katherine Clifton, Duchess of, 101, 102
Lenthall, William, 97
Lepers, Hospital for, 117–126
L’Estrange, Sir Roger, 136
Leverton, Lancelot, 163
Leverton, Thomas, 83, 84, 85, 150, 151, 152, 163
Leverton, William, 138
Leviez (Leivez), Charles, 56
Lewis, Jane, 110_n_
Lewknor, Sir Lewis, 30
Lewknor’s (Lutenor, Newtenor) Lane (now Macklin Street), 27–30
Lich Gate in St. Giles’ Churchyard, 138
Lightfoot, Richard, 144
Lindsey, 1st Earl of, 136
Lindsey House, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 45_n_
Linley, Elizabeth Ann (afterwards Mrs. Sheridan), 66
Lisle, Sir John Dudley, Viscount, 118, 122, 124, 125, 145
Lister, Agnes (afterwards Lady Hartopp), 91
Lister, Sir Martin, 91
Little, Dr. W., 133
Little Denmark Street, 119
Little Earl Street, 113, 114
Little Queen Street, 14, 16, 37
Littleton, Sir Thomas, 75
Little Turnstile, 4, 5, 19_n_
Little White Lion Street, 114
Little Wild Street, No. 16, 99
Livingstone, Sir James (afterwards Earl of Newburgh), 72_n_
Lloyd, Elizabeth (afterwards Saywell), 119–120
Lloyd (Floyd or Flood), Robert, 118_n_, 119, 120_n_, 121_n_, 122
Lloyd, William, 113_n_
Lloyd. (_See also_ Flood.)
Lloyd’s Court, 119, 120
London, Corporation of City of, 16, 186, 187
London Museum, 39
Long Acre (Field), 112
Loringe, William, 101_n_
Loughborough, Alexander Wedderburn, Lord, 155
Love, —, 138, 139
Loveday, Henry, 145_n_
Lovel, Sir Thomas Coke, Lord, 148
Lovell, Chas., 21_n_
Lovell, Nicholas, 105_n_
Lucas, John, 73_n_
Lumber Court, 114
Lumley, Sir Martin (of Bardfield Magna, Essex), 39
Lumley or Lomley, Sir Martin, (Lord Mayor), 39
Lushington, William, 183
Lutenor Street. (_See_ Lewknor’s Lane.)
Lyde, —, 159
Lyde, Sir Lionel, 153
Lying-In Hospital, Brownlow Street, 103
Mabb, Edward, 60_n_
Macclesfield, George Parker, 2nd Earl of, 74, 76
Macclesfield, Mary, Countess of, 74, 76
Mace, William, 188
McGee, Jas., 56
Macklin Street (formerly Lewknor’s Lane and Charles Street), 18, 27–30
Magnus, Master, 125, 145
Maidenhead, The, Dyott Street, 125, 145
Majendie, Rev. Dr., 143
Mallard, —, 83
Mallors, Jas., 59_n_, 60_n_, 70_n_, 82_n_
Manners, Grace, (afterwards Lady Chaworth), 91–92
Manners, John, Marquess of Granby and Duke of Rutland (Lord Roos),
80_n_, 91–92
Mansfield, William Murray, 1st Earl of, 149
Mansion House, St. Giles’ Hospital, 118
March, Esmé Stuart, Earl of (afterwards Duke of Lennox), 72, 101
Market, proposed, in High Holborn, 16
Markham, Sir John, 11
Markmasons’ Hall, 84
Marlborough, 2nd Duke of, 149
Marshlands (Masslings, Maslyn), 101, 106, 110–111, 112–114, 123
Martin, Joseph, 11
Martin, Oliver, 115_n_
Martin, Ralph, 28
Marvell, Andrew, 134
Mascall, Anne (afterwards Vavasour), 20
Mascall, James, 20, 24_n_, 107, 108, 126_n_
Mascall, Roger, 109_n_
Maslyn Fields (_See_ Marshlands.)
Maslyn’s Pond, 111_n_
Massingberd, Henry, 11_n_
Masslings. (_See_ Marshlands.)
Masters, Alexander, 29_n_
Matthew, Geoffrey, 108
Matthew, Godfrey, 107
Matthew’s Stables, 108
Mattingnon, Wm., 56
Maud, Queen, 117, 127
Maynard, Mary, 145_n_
Maynard, William, 145_n_
Maynard Place, 145
Maynard Street, 145
Maynwaring, Roger, 139
Medlicott, Edmond, 18
Mee, Sarah, 29
Mello, Francisco de, 97
Mennes, Capt. John, 72_n_
Mery, John, 126_n_
Methodist Chapel. (_See_ Great Queen Street Chapel.)
Mickle, —, 57
Middle Row (Round Rents), Holborn, 125
Middle Yard, Great Queen Street, 46, 61, 86, 87
Miller, Gregory, 9
Miller, John, 8, 9
Miller, Luke, 28
Mills, Peter, 29_n_, 31_n_, 44, 60, 61, 86
Milner, Robert, 28
Moivre, Abraham de, 76
Monmouth, Duke of, 55
Monmouth Street, 112_n_, 113, 138
Monro, Sir Alexander, 164
Montagu, Anne Wortley, 89
Montagu, Anthony Maria, 2nd Viscount, 73
Montagu, Anthony, 6th Viscount, 65
Montagu, Barbara, Viscountess, 65
Montagu, Edward, 1st Earl of Sandwich, 89
Montagu, Edward Wortley, 89
Montagu, Elizabeth, Lady, 73
Montagu, Francis Browne, 3rd Viscount, 73
Montagu, Francis, 4th Viscount, 65
Montagu, Henry Browne, 5th Viscount, 65
Montagu, John, Duke of, 66
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 89
Montagu, Sydney Wortley, 89
Montgomery, Margaret, 57
Mordsley, W. H., 63
More, Thomas, 119
Moreland, Henry, 39
Moreton, John, 84
Morgan, Sir Anthony, 52_n_
Morgan, Nicholas, 112
Morpeth, Edward Howard, Viscount, 92
Morpeth, Elizabeth, Lady, 92
Morris, Mrs. Eliz., 83
Mosen, Sir Edward, 92
Mountjoy, Lady Katherine Legh, 5, 20, 34, 107, 108, 109, 118, 121, 122,
124, 125_n_, 126, 144, 186
Mountjoy, Lord (Sir James Blount), 5, 20_n_, 24_n_, 34, 107, 108, 109,
122_n_, 125_n_, 126, 145, 186, 187
Mulberry Garden, 109
Mulgrave, Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Earl of, 73
Mulgrave, John Sheffield, 3rd Earl of, 73–74
Murray, William, 1st Earl of Mansfield, 149
Museum Street (formerly Bow Street), 29
Nash, J., 48
Nayler, John, 23_n_, 144_n_
Nayler, Katherine, 23_n_, 144_n_
Neal Street (formerly King Street), 111, 112, 113
Neale, Thomas, 113, 114_n_
Nelson, Samuel, 95, 96
Nettleton, Robert, 134
New Belton Street, 111
Newburgh, James, Earl of, 72_n_
Newcastle, Henry Fiennes Clinton, Duke of, 188
Newcastle, John Holles, Duke of, 188
Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of, 188
Newcombe, Edmond, 8
New Compton Street, Nos. 14–16, 141
Newlands, 111, 125
Newman, Arthur, 5_n_, 6_n_, 10, 15_n_
Newnham, Geo. L., 172
New Oxford Street, 146
Newtenor Street, 30
Newton, Humfrey, 6_n_, 10_n_
Newton, Joan, 9_n_
Newton, Thomas, 15_n_
Newton, William, 3_n_, 6_n_, 9_n_, 10, 11_n_, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46,
47_n_, 50, 59_n_, 60, 86
Newton, William, Junior, 59_n_
Newton Street, 17, 18, 27
New Turnstile, 15
New Yard, Great Queen Street, 46, 47, 48
Norfolk, Henry Howard, 7th Duke of, 55
Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of, 124_n_
Norfolk House, St. James’s Square, 55
Normanby, John Sheffield, Marquess of, 73, 74
Normanby, Ursula, Marchioness of, 82
North, Catherine, 70
North, Charles, 5th Baron North and Lord Grey, 70
North, Dudley, 4th Baron, 80
North, Francis, 1st Baron Guilford, 79, 80
North, Frederick, Lord, 2nd Earl of Guilford, 173
North, Roger, 80
North, William, 6th Baron, 70
Northampton, Earl of, 11_n_
North Crescent, 186
Northumberland, Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of, 67, 71–72
Norton, Thos., 36_n_
Norwich, George Goring, Earl of, 88
Noseley, in Leicestershire, 111
“Noselings” (_See_ Marshlands.)
Nottingham, Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of, 79
Noverre, Augustin, 71
O’Brien, Murrough, 6th Baron and 1st Earl of Inchiquin, 69
O’Brien, William, Lord, afterwards 2nd Earl of Inchiquin, 69
Offley, Robert, 9_n_
Olde White Hart. (_See_ White Hart.)
Oldwych Close. (_See_ Aldwych Close.)
Oniate, Conde de. (_See_ Spanish Ambassador.)
Opie, John, 83
Ord, Jas., 83
Orme, —, 138
Orrery, Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of, 79
Owen, Thomas, 5
Oxenden, Lady (afterwards Countess Bellamont), 76
Paddy, Francis, 61_n_, 82_n_
Page, Wm., 87_n_
Pain (Paign), Madame, 92
Pale Close (St. Giles’ Precinct), 122, 125
Pale Pingle, 13, 14, 24_n_, 25, 29_n_
Palmer, Jno., 56
Paoli, —, 57
Parker, George, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, 74, 76
Parker, Geo. Lane, 73_n_, 74
Parker, John, 42, 43
Parker, Mary, Lady (afterwards Countess of Macclesfield), 74, 76
Parker (Parcar), Philip, 31–32
Parker, William, 32
Parker Street, 16, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33
Parker’s Lane, 30, 31
Parnell, Thos., 87_n_
Parnther, Robt., 182
Parsons, Mrs. F. M., 67_n_
Partington, Mrs. Ann, 11
Partington, Elizabeth, 11
Partington, John, 11
Partridge Alley, 6_n_, 7
Paston, Sir William, 51, 52
Paulet, Elizabeth (afterwards Countess of Essex), 61, 72, 86_n_, 88
Paulet, Sir William, 88
Pavior’s Alley, 106, 108
Payne, R., 88
Pearson, John, 137
Peers, Robert, 177
Pelham-Holles, Thomas, Duke of Newcastle, 188
Pembroke, William Herbert, 1st Earl of, 119
Pembroke, William, 3rd Earl of, 30_n_
Pendrell, Richard, 138
Pennell, Margaret (afterwards Reede), 186
Pennington, Sir John, 67, 72_n_
Pennyston, Prescott, 8
Pennyston, Thomasin, 8
Pepys, Samuel, 12
Perceval, Sir Philip, 69
Percival, Rowland, 122_n_
Percy, Algernon, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 67, 71–72
Percy, Bishop, 57
“Perdita.” (Mary Robinson), 77–78
“Perepont, Jervas”, 11
Perrin, Henry, 11
Perry, Elizabeth, 89
Perryn, Sir Richard, 172
Persall, Sir William, 68
Pery, John, 109
Perye, William, 125_n_
Petre, Sir Francis, 68
Petre, Robert Edward, Lord, 75_n_
Pettit, John, 29_n_
Peters, Mrs., 186
Phillips, John, 7
Phillips Rents, 7
Pickering, Joseph, 84
Pierrepoint, Lady Anne, 91
Pierrepont, Lady Mary (afterwards Lady Mary Wortley Montagu), 89
Pillar at Seven Dials, 113–114
Pindar, Peter (Dr. Wolcot), 83
Piozzi, Mrs., 85
Plowden, —, 71
Plumer, John, 21_n_
Pole, —, 165
Pole, Peter, 180
Pollard, Eliz., 83
Polton, John de, 109
Pont, Mrs., 71
Pope, Thos., 83
Popham, Colonel Alexander, 73
Port of London, scheme for improving, 187
Porter, Endymion, 88
Porter, George, 88
Porter, Lady Diana (Ann), 88
Porter, T. C., 185
Portsmouth, Duchess of (formerly Mdlle. de Keroualle), 54
Portsmouth Street, No. 2, 46
Portuguese Embassy, 65–66, 96, 97
Pound, St. Giles’, 144
Povey, Justinian, 12
Povey, Thomas, 11, 12
Powell, Giles, 106_n_
Powell, Richard, 36_n_
Powlet, Lady Ann (afterwards Belasyse), 137
Powlett, Charles, Earl of Wiltshire (afterwards Duke of Bolton), 65
Praed, Wm. Mackworth, 11
Prescott, Jeoffery, 35_n_, 37_n_, 40_n_
Princes Street, 10
Pritchard, —, 56
Pritchard, William, 90
Purcell, Dr. John, 142
Purse Field, 4, 6, 10, 24, 34
Purse Rents, 5, 7
Pynchon, John, 11_n_
“Pyramide de la Tremblade”, 115
Queen Anne Street West, 58
Queen Anne’s Bath, Endell Street, 105
Queen Anne’s Bounty, 76
Queen Anne’s Wardrobe, 45_n_, 66
Queenhithe, 117
Queen’s Court, 60
Queen Street. (_See_ Great Queen Street, Little Queen Street.)
Quire, Matthew, 107
Radcliffe, Dr., 56
Radclyff, Thomas, 124
Raftor, William, 71
Ragged Staff Court, 108
Ralph, James, 131
Rawlinson, Mary, 106_n_, 108_n_
Raye, Thomas, 60_n_
Raymond, Ch., 84
Raymond, John, 180
Raynbowe, Richard, 25
Raynseford, Thomas, 6, 7
Read, Jonathan, 3_n_
Reade, Richard, 14
Reading, Roger, 15_n_
Redditt, Nicholas, 38_n_
Reede, Margaret (late Margaret Pennell), 186
Reede, Richard, 186, 187
Reid, Andrew, 179
Reneger, Thomas, 80_n_
Reynolds, Joshua, 76–77
Rich, Sir Henry, 126
Rich, Henry, 1st Earl of Holland, Baron Kensington, 88
Rich, Robert, Baron Kensington, 5th Earl of Warwick, 88
Richard II., 23
Richard, Lewis, 10_n_
Richardes, Lewis, 40_n_
Richardson, C. J., 63
Richardson, Jas., 163
Richardson, Jonathan, 76
Richardson, W. Westbrook, 83
Richold, —, 83
Ride, Miss, 71
Ridge, Jeremiah, 106_n_
Risley, Thos., 126
Rivers, Arabella, Lady, 69
Rivers, Elizabeth Scroope (afterwards Countess), 68
Rivers, Elizabeth, Countess of (_née_ Darcy), 59, 67–68, 73_n_, 90
Rivers, John Savage, 2nd Earl, 68
Rivers, Margaret, Lady (formerly Tryon), 69
Rivers, Mary, Countess Dowager, 68_n_
Rivers, Penelope, Lady, 69
Rivers, Richard, 4th Earl (“Tyburn Dick”), 69, 70
Rivers, Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy of Chich (afterwards Earl), 67
Rivers, Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl, 68, 69
Rivers House, Great Queen Street, 59, 63, 67
Roberts, Thomas, 13, 14
Robins, Richard, 107
Robinson, Mr., 77–78
Robinson (_née_ Darby), Mary (“Perdita”), 77–78
Rochford, Bessy, Countess of, 70
Rochford, Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein, 3rd Earl of, 70
Rochford, William Henry, Earl of, 70_n_
Roger, son of Alan, 107
Ronquillio, Don Pedro de, 97_n_
Rookery, St. Giles, 145–146
Roos (Rous), Lord, 80_n_, 91, 92
Rope, Master, 126_n_
Roper, Poyser, 39
Ros of Hamlake, Barony of, 91_n_
Ros of Roos, Barony of, 91_n_
Rose Inn, 27, 28, 123
Rose, tenement in Lewknor’s Lane, 28
Rose Field, 18, 20, 27–32, 34
Rosslyn, Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of, 155
Round Rents (Middle Row), Holborn, 125
Rous. (_See_ Roos.)
Rowland, Percival, 122_n_
Rowlandson, William, 139
Rowley, —, 90
Royal, Mrs., 163
Rudd, Ric., 92
Rudd, Thos., 92
Russell, Francis, Earl of Bedford, 23_n_, 51_n_
Russell, Lady Rachel, 126
Russell, Thos., 115_n_
Russell, William, Lord, 75
Rutland, Duchess of, 70_n_
Rutland, Earls of, 91
Rutland, John Manners, 9th Earl of. (_See_ Roos.)
Rymes, William, 3_n_
“Sacharissa” (Dorothy Spencer, Countess of Sunderland), 54
Sadler, Ric., 89
Sadler (_alias_ Clarke), Thomas, 80
St. Albans, Earl of (Marquess of Clanricarde), 46, 47, 50, 59
St. Amond, Jas., 65_n_
St. Andrew Street, 113
St. Giles, Cripplegate, Charity Schools, 112
St. Giles-in-the-Fields Church, 127–140
St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Hospital of, 20, 23, 34, 107, 109, 111,
117–126, 186
St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Rectors of, 87, 139
St. Giles’s Lane, 23_n_, 35_n_
St. Giles’s Pound, 144
St. Giles, Vestry of, 26
St. Giles’ Wood, Edmonton, 125
St. Giles’ Workhouse, 109, 110
St. John, Lord, Earl of Wilts., and Marquess of Winchester, 95, 96, 137
St. John of Jerusalem, Priory of, 3, 7
St. John’s Court, 76
St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, Order of, 118
St. Mary Graces, Abbot of, 117–118
St. Thomas’s Street (now Shelton Street), 27, 31
Salisbury, Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of, 75
Salisbury, Robert Cecil, Earl of, 36
Salisbury, Thomas, 139
Salvadore, —, 66
Sandby, Thomas, 61, 62, 63
Sanders (Saunders), Mary, 96
Sandfeild, William, 38
Sandwich, Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of, 89
Sardinia Ambassador, 45_n_
Sardinia Place, 34
Sardinia Street, 93, 94, 100
Saunders, —, 89
Savage, —, 84
Savage, Miss Bessy (afterwards Countess of Rochford), 70
Savage, Elizabeth (afterwards Lady Thimbleby), 90
Savage, Elizabeth (_née_ Darcy), Countess Rivers, 59, 67, 68, 73_n_, 90
Savage, J., 89
Savage, John, 2nd Earl Rivers, 68
Savage, Lady Mary, 68
Savage, Sir Thomas (afterwards Viscount Savage), 67, 90
Savage, Thomas, 3rd Earl Rivers, 68, 69
Savill, Miss, 71
Sayes Court, Addlestone, 114
Saywell (_née_ Lloyd), Elizabeth, 119–120
Schmidt, Bernard (Father Smith), 132
Scott, —, 172
Scott, John, 1st Earl of Eldon, 155
Scott, Sir John, 186
Scott, John (Rector), 139
Scott, William, 150
Scott, William (afterwards Lord Stowell), 155
Scroope, Adrian, 102
Scroope, Elizabeth (afterwards Countess Rivers), 68
Scroope, Sir Gervase, 102
Seagood, Henry, 35, 37, 40, 41
Seal, Office of the Lord Keeper of, 79, 80, 81
Seales, Major, 91
Segar (Seager), Sir William and Lady, 6_n_
Seven Dials, 113–114
Seven Dials. (_See also_ Marshland.)
Seven Dials Mission, 116
Seymour, Francis, 5th Baron Conway, 61_n_
Seymour (_alias_ Conway), Popham, 78, 82
Shaftesbury Avenue, 112_n_, 113, 118
Sharp, John, 139
Shaw, Charles (afterwards Shaw-Lefevre), 160
Shaw-Lefevre, Charles (afterwards Viscount Eversley), 160
Shaw-Lefevre, Sir John George, 160
Sheffield, Edmund, 2nd Earl of Mulgrave, 73
Sheffield, John, Marquess of Normanby, 73–74
Sheffield Street, boundary stone in, 1
Sheldon, Lady Henrietta Maria, 90
Sheldon, John, 147, 149
Sheldon, Ralph, 90
Shelton Street, 27, 30–31
Shenton, Mrs., 17
Shenton’s Tenements, 16, 17
Sherbourne, Richd., 11
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 66–67
Sheridan, Thomas, 66
Shiffner, Henry, 84
Ship Tavern, Gate Street, 12
Short, Dudley, 109
Short, Gregory, 18_n_
Short, Thomas, 106, 108, 109
Short, William (the Elder), 28, 101, 106
Short, William (the Younger), 18, 19, 27_n_, 28, 29, 30, 31_n_, 101,
110, 112
Short’s Gardens, 101, 106–111
Sidney, Algernon, 81
Sidney, Henry, 54
Skinner, Sir John, 175
Slingsby, —, 79
Slingsby, Henry, 53_n_, 79
Smallbone, Sir John, 110_n_
Smart, John, 22
Smart, Lewis, 22
Smart, William, 22
Smart’s Buildings, 18–22
Smith, Edward, 80_n_
Smith (Smyth), Edward, 106, 110, 121
Smith, Father (Bernard Schmidt), 132
Smith, John, 125
Smith, John, of Tudworth, 76
Smith, Lilley, 89
Smith, Thomas, 67, 72_n_
Smith, Thomas, 11
Smithfield Gallows, 144
Smithson, George, 6_n_, 8_n_
Smyth, John, 139
Smyth, Katherine (_alias_ Katherine Clerke), 24
Soane, Sir John, 63
Soho Square, 76
Somaster, Sir Samuel, 19_n_
Southampton, Henry, 3rd Earl of, 126
Southampton Buildings, 77
Southampton Square, 56
South Crescent, 186
Southgate, Rev. Richard, 136
Spanish Ambassador, 47, 59, 67, 96, 97
Sparkes, John, 41
Speaks, Hugh, 6_n_
Speckard, Abraham, 122
Speckard, Dorothy, 122
Spencer, Lady, 95
Spencer, Anne (_née_ Digby), Countess of Sunderland, 54
Spencer, Lady Diana (afterwards Beauclerk), 149
Spencer, Dorothy (Countess of Sunderland) (“Sacharissa”), 54
Spencer, Henry, 1st Earl of Sunderland, 54
Spencer, Robert, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, 54
Spiller, Sir Henry, 29_n_
Spittle Houses, St. Giles’s Hospital, 118, 121–122, 125
Stafey, John, 119_n_, 121_n_
Stainsforth, George, 151
Stamford, Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of, 65
Star, High Holborn, 3_n_
Statue of Queen Henrietta Maria, 44, 59, 60, 61, 71–77
Steers, Charles, 149
Stephenson, Jno., 165
Stephenson, Mrs., 165
Steward, P. G., 61
Steward, William, 139
Stewart, G., 92
Stidwell Street, 123, 141
Stoake, Thomas, 40_n_
Stockwood, Edward, 3
Stonor, Thos., 47, 48, 54_n_, 55
Stowell, William, Lord, 155
Stradling, Sir Edward, 42, 43, 93, 94, 100_n_
Stradling, Sir Edward (Junior), 94_n_
Stradling House, 95
Strange, Sir Robert, 44_n_
Stratton, Edward, 94_n_
Stratton, Elizabeth, 17_n_
Stratton, Henry, 110
Stratton, Robert, 35_n_
Strode, George, 42, 93
Stuart, Esmé, Seigneur D’Aubigny, Earl of March (afterwards Duke of
Lennox), 72, 101
Stuart, George Seigneur D’Aubigny, 60, 72
Stydolph, Sir Francis, 112, 113
Stydolph, Sir Richard, 113, 122, 123
Stydolph, Thomas, 112
Suffolk, Earl of, 72
Sun and Dolphin, High Holborn, 3_n_
Sunderland, Anne, Countess of, 54
Sunderland, Dorothy Spencer, Countess of (“Sacharissa”), 54
Sunderland, Henry Spencer, 1st Earl of, 54
Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of, 54
Sussex, Duke of, 62
Sutton, George, 27–28
Swan, The, 107, 108
Swan on le Hop, 108
Symonds, R., 11
Tahairdin, Peter, 67_n_
Talbot, Hon. Catherine, 136
Talbot, Hon. John, 136
Tamworth, Viscount, 75_n_
Tatnell, Wm., 171
Tattershall, Widow, 96
Tavistock, Francis, Marquess of, 149
Tavistock, Lady, 149
Taylor, Ed., 56
Taylor, Dr. John, 89
Taylor, Richard, 28_n_
Taylor, W. A., 113–114
Taylor, William, 15_n_
Temple, Freemasons’ Tavern, 61, 62
Thanet, Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of, 147, 148
Thanet House, 147–149
Theedham, Edward, 108
Thelwall, Daniel, 6, 8_n_
Theobalds, Hertfordshire, road to, 36, 42
Thimbleby, Elizabeth, Lady, 89–90
Thimbleby, John, 90
Thimbleby, Sir John, 11_n_, 90
Thomas, —, 92
Thomas, Mrs., 92
Thomson, Mrs. Anne, 11
Thomson, William, 11
Thornton, Beatrice, 9
Thornton, John, 9
Thornton’s Alley, 9
Thorold, Anthony W., 138
Three Anchors, Salisbury Court, 82_n_
Three Feathers Tavern, High Holborn, 8
Thriscrosse, Francis, 38
Tomkins, Packington, 73_n_
Tompson, Elizabeth (afterwards Hollinghurst), 8
Tooke, Edward, 27_n_, 28, 30_n_
Tottenham Court Road, 187, 188
Tower Street, 113_n_
Trinity College, 16
Troughton, —, 119
Trueman (_alias_ Johnson), William, 80_n_
Tryon, Charles, 122
Tryon, Mrs. Margaret, 69
Tubb, Marchant, 163
Tubbs, Robt., 165
Tufton, Lady Margaret, 148
Tufton, Thomas, 6th Earl of Thanet, 147, 148
Turngatlane, 3
Turnpiklane, 3
Turpin, Jeremiah, 19
Twelves, John, 71
Twiney, J., 83
Twisden, Sir Thomas, 11
Twisden, Sir William, 11
Twyford Buildings, Gate Street, 12
“Tyburn Dick”, 69
Tyburn Gallows, 144
Tye, Dr., 162
Tyler, Rev. James Endell, 105
Tyler, William, 61, 62
Umfreville, Chas., 103_n_
Umfreville, Gilbert, 103_n_
Unicorn Inn, High Holborn, 8, 9
Unicorn Yard, High Holborn, 8
Vanblew, —, 76, 77_n_
Van Helmont, —, 78
Varney, Frances, 120
Vaughan, Elinor, 18
Vaughan, Thomas, 18
Vaughan, Thomas (“Dapper”), 71
Vaune, Mr., 90
Vavasour, Anne, 20
Vavasour, John, 20, 101, 107, 108, 110, 144
Vavasour, Nicholas, 144
Vere, Lady, 31
Vere, Sir Horace, 51
Verney, Edmund, 121
Verney, Sir R., 120_n_
Vernon, Mr., 77
Verrinder, Dr. G. C., 132
Vertue, —, 44
Vestry of St. Giles, 26
Villiers, George, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 91_n_
Villiers, George, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 91_n_
Villiers House, 53_n_
Vine, The, High Holborn, 123, 124
Vine Street (now Grape Street), 124
Violetti, Eva Maria, 90_n_
Vuidele, Anthony, 119
Waldron, John, 6
Wales, George, Prince of (afterwards George IV.), 78
Walgrave, John, 28, 107
Walker, Dr. Jas., 11
Walker, John, 13, 14
Walker, Richard, 163
Walker, Thomas, 29_n_, 31_n_
Walpole, Horace, 44, 46, 56_n_, 71
Walter, Peter, 105
Walton, Brian, 139
Ward, James, 92
Wardrobe, Great Queen Street, 45_n_, 66
Warner, Henry, 34_n_
Warwick, Charles, Earl of, 88
Warwick, Robert, Earl of, 88
Watson, Mrs., 96
Watson, Henry, 149
Watson, Mary, 96
Watson, Rowland, 5, 6
Watson, William, 5
Watson, Sir William, 133
Wayte, Edward, 79
Webb, Barbara (afterwards Viscountess Montagu), 65
Webb, Lady Barbara, 65, 136
Webb, Sir John, 47_n_, 65_n_, 136
Webb, John, Architect, 44
Webb, Philip Carteret, 73_n_, 74
Webb, Rhoda (afterwards Beavor), 75
Webb, Richard, 38
Webb, Thos., 71
Wedderburn, Alexander, Lord Loughborough (afterwards Earl of Rosslyn),
155
Weedon, Thomas, 96
Weld, Lady Frances, 94, 95_n_
Weld (Wild, Wield), Humfrey, 59, 60, 94, 95_n_, 96, 97_n_, 100
Weld House, 93–97, 99
Weld Street. (_See_ Wild Street.)
Wesley, John, 115, 116
Wesleyan Chapel, Great Queen Street, 86–92
West London Mission, 88, 115
West Street, 112_n_, 115
West Street Chapel, Seven Dials, 87
Western, Thomas, 11
Weston (Whetstone), John, 5_n_
Westone, William, 109_n_
Wetherell, Philip, 21_n_
Wharton, Philip, 4th Lord, 79, 120
Whetstone, William, 6–7
Whetstone Park, 4, 8
White, James, 28, 112
White Hart, 14, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29_n_, 30_n_, 123
White Hart Feilde, 6
—(_See also_ Pursefield.)
White Hart Yard, 26
White Horse in Drury Lane, 35
White House, St. Giles’s Precinct, 121
White Lion Street, 113_n_, 114
Whitesaunder, Thomas, 119
White Swan in Queen Street, 37_n_
Whitfield, Henry Fotherley, 31_n_
Whitfield, Thomas, 110_n_, 111_n_
Wigg, William, 110_n_, 111_n_
Wild. (_See_ Weld.)
Wild Boare Alley, 18
Wild Court, Nos. 6 and 7, 98
Wild Street (Weld Street), 34, 93–97
—(_See also_ Little Wild Street.)
Wilkes, John, 74–75
Wilkinson, William, 125
Wilkinson’s Close, 125_n_, 187
Williams, Jas., 165
Williams, John, 84
Williams, Paul, 40_n_
Williamson, Sir Joseph, 69
Williamsfeild (_alias_ Church Close), 145
Willoughby, Philip, 60_n_
Willson, Thomas, 138
Wilson, Benjamin, 56, 57, 66, 67_n_
Wilson, Jas., 56
Wilson, Major, 57
Wilton House, Picture of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 46
Wiltshire, Charles Powlett, Earl of (afterwards Duke of Bolton), 65
Winchester, John, Marquiss of, 95, 96, 137
Windell, Richard, 109_n_
Windham, W., 67
Winstanley, J., 11
Wise (Wyse), Joan (afterwards Briscowe), 107, 119
Wise, John, 107_n_
Wise, Robert, 20
Wither, Thomas, 60_n_
Withers (Wither, Wyther), Anthony, 51, 60, 73_n_
Withers, William, 74
Wolcot, Dr. (Peter Pindar), 83
Wolstenholme, John, 96
Wood, Anthony, 80
Woodville, Thomas, 130
Woodward, William, 14
Worcester, Edward (1st Marquess of), 73
Worliche, Mary, 9_n_
Worlidge, Mrs., 77
Worlidge, Thomas 58, 67_n_, 76, 77
Worsley, John, 96
Wortley, Sir Francis, 89
Wray, Sir John, 95_n_
Wren, Sir Christopher, 123, 147
Wren, Stephen, 147
Wright, —, 96_n_
Wright, Martin, 89
Wriothesley, Lord, 124
Wylson, —, 119
Wynter, Master, 119
Wyse. (_See_ Wise.)
Yarmouth, 1st Earl of, 52
York, Frederica, Duchess of, 114
York, Sir William Dawes, Archbishop of, 110_n_
Young, Thomas, 110
Zucchi, Antonio, 151, 153, 163, 176
Zuylestein, Frederick Nassau de, 3rd Earl of Rochford, 70
PRINTED FOR THE LONDON COUNTY
COUNCIL BY ODHAMS LIMITED,
LONG ACRE, W.C. MDCCCCXIV.
Sold by Messrs. P. S. King and Son,
2 and 4, Great Smith Street, Westminster, S.W.
Publication No. 1663. Price £1 1s.
PLATE 1
[Illustration:
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS, _circ._ 1560–1570 (AGAS)
]
PLATE 2
[Illustration:
PURSE FIELD, _circ._ 1609
]
PLATE 3
[Illustration:
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS, _circ._ 1658 (HOLLAR)
]
PLATE 4
[Illustration:
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS, 1658. (FAITHORNE AND
NEWCOURT)
]
PLATE 5
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS, _circ._ 1720 (STRYPE)
]
PLATE 6
[Illustration: _A Plan of the Parish of S^t. Giles and S^t. George’s
Bloomsbury by Hewett._]
PLATE 7
[Illustration: N^O. 3 GATE STREET. JOINERY DETAILS ON FIRST FLOOR.]
PLATE 8
[Illustration:
NO. 211, HIGH HOLBORN, SHOP FRONT
]
PLATE 9
[Illustration:
NO. 181, HIGH HOLBORN, SHOP FRONT
]
PLATE 10
[Illustration:
NO. 172, HIGH HOLBORN, SHOP FRONT
]
PLATE 11
[Illustration:
NO. 1, SARDINIA STREET
]
[Illustration:
NO. 18, PARKER STREET
]
PLATE 12
[Illustration:
N^o. 2 GREAT QUEEN STREET. MAHOGANY STAIRCASE.
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL BALUSTRADING.
(FROM SECOND TO THIRD FLOOR).
]
PLATE 13
[Illustration: MAHOGANY STAIRCASE N^O. 2 G^T. QUEEN STREET W.C.]
PLATE 14
[Illustration: ENTRANCE DOORCASES. N^{OS}. 27 and 28 GREAT QUEEN STREET]
PLATE 15
[Illustration: LEAD RAINWATER HEADS AND CISTERNS. CARVED DEAL MANTEL
SHELF, N^O. 16 LITTLE WILD STREET.]
PLATE 16
[Illustration:
NOS. 55 AND 56, GREAT QUEEN STREET IN 1846
]
[Illustration:
HOUSE OF THE SARDINIA AMBASSADOR, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS
]
PLATE 17
[Illustration: N^{os}. 55–56 GREAT QUEEN STREET.]
PLATE 18
[Illustration:
N^{os}. 55 & 56, GREAT QUEEN STREET, ELEVATION.
]
PLATE 19
[Illustration:
Nos. 55–56, GREAT QUEEN STREET, (MAY, 1906)
]
PLATE 20
[Illustration:
NO. 55, GREAT QUEEN STREET, STAIRCASE
]
PLATE 21
[Illustration: N^{os}. 55–56 GREAT QUEEN STREET. DETAILS OF DEAL
STAIRCASE.]
PLATE 22
[Illustration:
ELEVATION IN 1779
]
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL, PLAN OF PREMISES BEFORE 1779
]
PLATE 23
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL IN 1811
]
PLATE 24
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL, FAÇADE
]
PLATE 25
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL, ELEVATION OF NORTH END OF TEMPLE IN 1775
]
PLATE 26
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL, THE TEMPLE, LOOKING SOUTH
]
PLATE 27
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL, SIR J. SOANE’S DESIGN FOR NEW MASONIC HALL (1828)
]
PLATE 28
[Illustration:
FREEMASONS’ HALL. GRAND STAIRCASE
]
[Illustration:
VESTIBULE TO TEMPLE SHOWING MOSAIC PAVING
]
PLATE 29
[Illustration:
MARKMASONS’ HALL, CHIMNEYPIECE IN BOARD ROOM
]
PLATE 30
[Illustration:
MARKMASONS’ HALL, CEILING IN BOARD ROOM
]
PLATE 31
[Illustration:
MARKMASONS’ HALL, CEILING IN GRAND SECRETARY’S ROOM
]
PLATE 32
[Illustration:
GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL
]
PLATE 33
[Illustration:
GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL, INTERIOR
]
PLATE 34
[Illustration:
LITTLE WILD STREET, VIEW LOOKING NORTH-EAST (1906)
]
PLATE 35
[Illustration: DEAL DOORCASE. N^o. 24 BETTERTON ST.]
PLATE 36
[Illustration:
NO. 32, BETTERTON STREET, ENTRANCE DOORCASE
]
PLATE 37
[Illustration:
“QUEEN ANNE’S BATH,” NO. 25, ENDELL STREET
]
PLATE 38
[Illustration:
THE BOWL BREWERY IN 1846
]
PLATE 39
[Illustration: PLAN OF PROPOSED SETTING OUT OF SEVEN DIALS 1691]
PLATE 40
[Illustration:
SEVEN DIALS COLUMN AT WEYBRIDGE
]
PLATE 41
[Illustration:
LITTLE EARL STREET, LOOKING EAST
]
PLATE 42
[Illustration:
NOS. 14 TO 16, NEW COMPTON STREET, SHOP FRONTS
]
PLATE 43
[Illustration: PARISH CHURCH OF S^T. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS. GROUND PLAN]
PLATE 44
[Illustration: PARISH CHURCH OF S^T. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS. PLAN OF
CEILING]
PLATE 45
[Illustration:
S^T. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS. WEST FRONT.
]
PLATE 46
[Illustration:
S^T. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS. CROSS SECTION.
]
PLATE 47
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH FROM THE NORTH-WEST
]
PLATE 48
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH FROM THE NORTH-EAST
]
PLATE 49
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST, 1753
]
PLATE 50
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, INTERIOR, LOOKING WEST
]
PLATE 51
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, COLUMNS AND CEILING
]
[Illustration:
ALTARPIECE
]
PLATE 52
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, OAK FRAME WITH PICTURE
]
[Illustration:
PAINTED GLASS PANEL, PROBABLY FROM FORMER CHURCH
]
PLATE 53
[Illustration: LICH GATE TO CHURCHYARD S^t. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS.]
PLATE 54
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, OAK PANEL IN LICH GATE
]
PLATE 55
[Illustration:
ST. GILES-IN-THE-FIELDS CHURCH, VESTRY
]
PLATE 56
[Illustration: N^O. 5 DENMARK STREET. DETAILS OF STAIRCASE.]
PLATE 57
[Illustration: DEAL DOORCASE N^O. 7 DENMARK ST.]
PLATE 58
[Illustration: N^O. 7 DENMARK STREET. DETAILS OF DEAL STAIRCASE.]
PLATE 59
[Illustration:
Nos. 10 and 11, DENMARK STREET
]
PLATE 60
[Illustration:
DENMARK PASSAGE, BLACKSMITH’S FORGE
]
PLATE 61
[Illustration:
BEDFORD SQUARE, SOUTH SIDE
]
PLATE 62
[Illustration:
N^o. 1 BEDFORD SQUARE.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN.
FIRST FLOOR PLAN.
]
PLATE 63
[Illustration:
NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE, FRONT VIEW
]
PLATE 64
[Illustration: ENTRANCE DOORWAY TO N^O. 1 BEDFORD SQUARE.]
PLATE 65
[Illustration:
ENTRANCE HALL, LOOKING SOUTH
]
[Illustration:
ENTRANCE HALL, SHOWING STAIRCASE, NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
PLATE 66
[Illustration:
NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING IN ENTRANCE HALL
]
PLATE 67
[Illustration:
NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEY BREAST, REAR ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 68
[Illustration:
NO. 1, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 69
[Illustration:
NO. 6, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
PLATE 70
[Illustration:
NO. 6, BEDFORD SQUARE, LANTERN OVER STAIRCASE
]
PLATE 71
[Illustration:
NO. 6, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 72
[Illustration:
ON CHIMNEY BREAST, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
[Illustration:
ON CHIMNEY BREAST, REAR ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
[Illustration:
NO. 9, BEDFORD SQUARE, PLASTER PLAQUES OVER DOOR, FRONT ROOM, GROUND
FLOOR
]
PLATE 73
[Illustration:
NO. 9, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 74
[Illustration:
NO. 10, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 75
[Illustration: N^o. 11 BEDFORD SQUARE.]
PLATE 76
[Illustration:
NO. 11, BEDFORD SQUARE, EXTERIOR
]
PLATE 77
[Illustration:
NO. 11, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 78
[Illustration:
NO. 13, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 79
[Illustration:
NO. 14, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 80
[Illustration:
NO. 15, BEDFORD SQUARE, ENTRANCE DOORWAY
]
PLATE 81
[Illustration:
NO. 8, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 82
[Illustration:
NO. 23, BEDFORD SQUARE, DOORS AND DOORCASE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 83
[Illustration:
CHIMNEY BREAST
]
[Illustration:
ALCOVE
NO. 25, BEDFORD SQUARE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 84
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR,
NO. 25, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
PLATE 85
[Illustration:
NO. 25, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 86
[Illustration:
DETAIL OF CENTRAL PANEL
]
[Illustration:
NO. 28, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 87
[Illustration:
NO. 30, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 88
[Illustration:
NO. 31, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 89
[Illustration: N^o. 32 BEDFORD SQUARE.]
PLATE 90
[Illustration:
NO. 32, BEDFORD SQUARE, SCREEN IN HALL
]
PLATE 91
[Illustration:
PANEL OF CHIMNEYPIECE, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
[Illustration:
DETAIL OF CHIMNEYPIECE, REAR ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
NO. 32, BEDFORD SQUARE.
]
PLATE 92
[Illustration:
CEILING, REAR ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 92
[Illustration:
CEILING, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
NO. 32, BEDFORD SQUARE.
]
PLATE 93
[Illustration:
NO. 40, BEDFORD SQUARE, PLASTER PLAQUE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
]
PLATE 94
[Illustration:
NO. 40, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 95
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, REAR ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR NO. 41, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
PLATE 96
[Illustration:
NO. 44, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 97
[Illustration:
Nos. 46–47, BEDFORD SQUARE, EXTERIOR
]
PLATE 98
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, GROUND FLOOR
NO. 46, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 99
[Illustration:
N^O. 47 BEDFORD SQUARE.
]
PLATE 100
[Illustration:
CEILING OVER STAIRCASE
]
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
NO. 47, BEDFORD SQUARE
]
PLATE 101
[Illustration:
NO. 47, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 102
[Illustration:
NO. 48, BEDFORD SQUARE, CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 103
[Illustration:
NO. 48, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 104
[Illustration:
NO. 50, BEDFORD SQUARE, FANLIGHT IN ENTRANCE HALL
]
PLATE 105
[Illustration:
NO. 51, BEDFORD SQUARE, CEILING, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR
]
PLATE 106
[Illustration:
NO. 68, GOWER STREET, DOORCASE
]
[Illustration:
NO. 84, GOWER STREET, DOORCASE
]
PLATE 107
[Illustration:
CHIMNEYPIECE, FRONT ROOM, FIRST FLOOR HOUSE IN REAR OF NO. 196,
TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD
]
[Illustration:
EXTERIOR
]
[Illustration]
-----
Footnote 1:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III., p. xviii.
Footnote 2:
“Exinde secundum quod via extra idem gardinum protenditur usque ad
metas dividentes Mersland et parochiam S. Ægidii.”
Footnote 3:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
xvi.
Footnote 4:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 37 Henry VIII., Mich.
Footnote 5:
_British Museum Addl. MS._, Charters, 15636.
Footnote 6:
Namely, reckoning west to east: (i.) _Star_; (ii.) unnamed house of
John Bishop; (iii.) _Sun and Dolphin_; (iv.) _Gridiron_ (easternmost
house in St. Giles); (v.) _Eagle and Child_; (vi.) _Cock and Coffin_;
(vii.) unnamed house in occupation of Thos. Fisher. (_Close Rolls_,
(_a_) 1652, Alexander Goddard, etc., and Philip Cotham; (_b_) 1652,
Alexander Goddard, etc., and Jonathan Read; (_c_) 13 Chas. II., Samuel
Bishopp and William Rymes).
Footnote 7:
Sale by Robert Harris to John Coke (_Land Revenue Enrolments and
Grants_, vol. 311, p. 204.)
Footnote 8:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
3.
Footnote 9:
_British Museum MS. Claudius_ E VI, 218_b_–219.
Footnote 10:
Grant to Thos. Ellys, 22 Henry VIII (_Land Revenue Miscellaneous
Books_, No. 62); grant to Thomas Bochier (_Patent Roll_, 36 Henry
VIII. (745)).
Footnote 11:
Lease of 21st July, 8 Chas. I., by Henry Hurlestone to John Allen and
Thomas Clements (_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_ 5–105,—Suit of John
King); _Close Roll_, 6 Chas. I. (2853)—Indenture between Wm. Newton
and Anthony Bailey and John Johnson.
Footnote 12:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), pp.
3–4.
Footnote 13:
Certain properties, some of which include houses, are mentioned as
extending from Holborn on the north to Fickett’s Field on the south,
but some, at least, of these may have been to the west of Little
Turnstile. The records in question, when dateable, may be referred to
the time of Henry III. or Edward I.
Footnote 14:
_Parliamentary Survey (Augmentation Office)_, No. 25.
Footnote 15:
It was afterwards occupied by Chamberlain’s Stable (_Survey of Crown
Lands_) and this formed the eastern boundary of a piece of ground, 21
feet in width “abutting upon the footeway leading from Master Newman’s
building [west portion of north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields] to the
Little Turnstile on the west,” purchased by John Weston [Whetstone]
from Edmond Gregory in 1661, (_Close Roll_, 13 Chas. II. (4087).)
Footnote 16:
_Close Roll_, 2 Elizabeth (566).
Footnote 17:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, Vol. 149 (74).
Footnote 18:
_Close Roll_, 18 Elizabeth (990).
Footnote 19:
Burrard Cranigh, M.D., by his will proved 21st November, 1578, left
his lands, etc., in Holborn to be sold to pay his debts and legacies
(_Somerset House Wills, Langley_, 41).
Footnote 20:
_Patent Roll_, 20th July, 18 Elizabeth (1144).
Footnote 21:
_Close Roll_, 18 Elizabeth (990).
Footnote 22:
_Close Roll_, 18 Elizabeth (994).
Footnote 23:
_Close Roll_, 31 Elizabeth (1318).
Footnote 24:
_Close Roll_, 21 Charles II. (4270).
Footnote 25:
Blott’s _Blemundsbury_, p. 201.
Footnote 26:
_Close Roll_, 33 Elizabeth (1375).
Footnote 27:
Daughter of Sir Nicolas Harvey, and widow of George Carew, dean of
Windsor, who died in June, 1583, and was buried in the church of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields (_Dictionary of National Biography_).
Footnote 28:
No doubt the same afterwards occupied by Sir William and Lady Segar,
and Lord Bothwell (see plan of 1658 in _Black Books of Lincoln’s Inn_,
Vol, II.) The easternmost portion of the northern boundary of Purse
Field is described as “the late garden wall of Sir William Seager,
Knt.” in the grant of the field to Newton in 1638 (_Patent Roll_, 13
Charles I. (2775)), and as “the garden of Bothwell House” in the sale
of that part of the field in 1653 (_Close Roll_, 1653
(3715))—(Indenture between Humfrey Newton and Arthur Newman).
Footnote 29:
It is no doubt this intermixture of gardens and houses that caused the
peculiar shape of Partridge Alley, seen on the map accompanying
Strype’s edition of Stow (Plate 5), and better still on Hollar’s Plan
of 1658 (Plate 3).
Footnote 30:
It is strange, however, that her will (_Somerset House Wills, Hayes_,
61) bequeathing her property to her son, Sir George Carew, only
mentions “all such _leases_ as are in my possession, as _inter alia_
Savoy, St. Giles.”
Footnote 31:
_Close Roll_, 16 Charles I. (3228).
Footnote 32:
_Chancery Proceedings_, Bridges XX, 45. Suit of Henry Harwell.
Footnote 33:
_Chancery Decree Roll_, 1922. Suit of William Duckett and Hugh Speaks
against Henry Harwell, George Smithson, Daniel Thelwall and William
Byerly.
Footnote 34:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 47, p. 24.
Footnote 35:
_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 447–82. Suit of Peter Broome and
Thos. Barker.
Footnote 36:
_Close Roll_, 28 Elizabeth (1263).
Footnote 37:
On 13th June, 1592, administration of probate was granted to John
Buck’s widow, Margaret Buck. He had, therefore, died quite a short
time previously (_Arch. London Probate Acts_, II., 88).
Footnote 38:
_Close Roll_, 25 Elizabeth (1155).
Footnote 39:
_Close Roll_, 10 Charles I. (3018).
Footnote 40:
_Close Roll_, 13 Charles II. (4086).
Footnote 41:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1716, III., 63.
Footnote 42:
_Close Roll_, 15 Charles II. (4143).
Footnote 43:
John Apsley sold the inn in 1639 to Daniel Thelwall, William Bierley
and Sir Chas. Dallison. See _Close Roll_, 22 Charles I.
(3343)—Indenture between Dallison, Thelwall, Bierley, and George
Smithson _and_ George Gentleman.
Footnote 44:
_Close Roll_, 5 James I. (1910). Indenture between Gregory Miller and
Geo. Flower.
Footnote 45:
Parton (_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 354)
records the fact of the residence of Sir Anthony Ashley and Sir John
Cowper (see above) in Thornton’s Alley.
Footnote 46:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 16 Elizabeth, Easter.
Footnote 47:
_Close Roll_, 2 Charles I. (2677). Indenture between Frederick Johnson
and Mary Worliche and Francis Cole.
Footnote 48:
_Close Roll_, 5 Charles I. (2800). Indenture between Francis Cole and
Robert Offley.
Footnote 49:
See warrant given in Indenture of 9th April, 1630, between Wm. and
Joan Newton _and_ Anthony Bailey and John Johnson. (_Close Roll_, 6
Charles I. (2853). Newton, the designer of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, had
married the daughter and heir of Gregory Miller, son of John.)
Footnote 50:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.) pp.
5–6.
Footnote 51:
_Close Roll_, 15 Chas. I. (3193).
Footnote 52:
_Close Rolls_, 20th July, 1639, between William Newton and Lewis
Richard (15 Chas. I. (3191)); 15th March, 1638–9, between Wm. Newton
and John Giffard (15 Chas. I. (3188)); 1st October, 1657, between
Humfrey Newton and Arthur Newman (1657 (3945)).
Footnote 53:
The houses to the south of Fortescue’s premises seem to have been
built originally as three houses. The southern boundary of Fortescue’s
houses is said to be “a greate house lately built by the said William
Newton.” This, according to the Hearth Tax Rolls, was the Earl of
Northampton’s mansion. Then came “a faire messuage or howse of one
Master Crewe,” and to the south of this, at the corner of Great Queen
Street, and having a width from north to south of 42 feet, was in 1648
a plot of ground on which “Henry Massingberd intends to erect a
house.” (_Close Roll_, 24 Chas. I. (3411.) Indenture between Humfrey
Newton and Henry Massingberd.) If, however, only one house was built
on this plot, it was divided quite early, as the premises already
appear in two occupations in the Hearth Tax Roll for 1666.
Footnote 54:
One of the two houses was in 1643 in the tenure of Sir John Thimbleby
(_Close Roll_, 18 Chas. I. (3295)—Indenture between John Fortescue
_and_ John Pynchon and Wm. Barnard).
Footnote 55:
Moved to No. 1, Lincoln’s Fields, in 1743 (_Survey of London_, Vol.
III., p. 24.)
Footnote 56:
_British Museum Additional MS._, 11,411, ff. 70 and 77.
Footnote 57:
_Ibid._, f. 17_b._
Footnote 58:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 59:
See _Land Revenue Enrolments_, Book IV., No. 52, p. 120.
Footnote 60:
_Patent Roll_, 7 Jas. I. (1802) (Translated from the Latin).
Footnote 61:
_Parliamentary Survey_ (Augmentation Office), No. 25.
Middlesex—tenements in St. Giles-in-the-Fields and High Holborn.
Footnote 62:
_Close Roll_, 7 Jas. I. (1971).
Footnote 63:
_Close Roll_, 8 Jas. I. (2032).
Footnote 64:
See p. 36.
Footnote 65:
_Close Roll_, 9 Jas. I. (2083).
Footnote 66:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 10 Jas. I., Easter.
Footnote 67:
_Close Roll_, 13 Chas. II. (4084). Indenture between Thos. Newton and
Geo. Goodman _and_ Arthur Newman. William Lane, by his will dated 15th
February, 1653–4, left nine messuages in Holborn to his grandson, who
enjoyed two-thirds leaving one-third to his grandmother Elinor. The
premises were rebuilt about 1698–1701. (_Chancery Proceedings_,
_Bridges_, 328–31. Suit of Roger Reading, 3rd February, 1703–4.)
Footnote 68:
In 1618 William Taylor was reported to the Privy Council for building
a house “in Fawlcon yard in the upper end of Holborne where none was
before.” (_Privy Council Register_, No. 29, 493).
Footnote 69:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
7.
Footnote 70:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 47, p. 410.
Footnote 71:
_Inquisitio Ad Quod Damnum—Brevia Regia_, Petty Bag Office, No. 17.
Footnote 72:
_Petition of the Lord Mayor_, _etc._, dated 10th April, 1635.
(_Calendar of State Papers_, _Domestic_, 1635–6, p. 17).
Footnote 73:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 47, p. 370.
Footnote 74:
_Close Roll_, 16 Chas. I. (3232)—Indenture between Henry Darrell and
Mary Blague.
Footnote 75:
_I.e._, “very well with brick and covered with tyle.”
Footnote 76:
In the case of Shenton’s tenements, built probably at about the same
time, it is known that rebuilding was carried out before October,
1682. (_Chancery Proceedings_, _Bridges_, 271–13. Suit of Elizabeth
Stratton).
Footnote 77:
_3rd Report of H.M. Commissioners of Woods and Forests_ (1819), App.
2, pp. 38–9.
Footnote 78:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 79:
_Close Roll_, 1650 (3510)—Indenture between William Short, Gregory
Short and William and Magdalen Curtis _and_ Thomas and Elinor Vaughan.
Footnote 80:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 1650, Easter.
Footnote 81:
_Close Roll_, 18 Chas. II. (4195).
Footnote 82:
_Exchequer Pleas_ 582 (2)—Suit of William Bell (Easter term, 18 Chas.
I.) against Sir Samuel Somaster.
Footnote 83:
Blott’s suggestion (_Blemundsbury_, pp. 201–2) that the place referred
to was Little Turnstile, has nothing to recommend it.
Footnote 84:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1629–31, p. 284.
Footnote 85:
_Ibid._, pp. 321–2.
Footnote 86:
_Exchequer Pleas_ 582 (2), cited above.
Footnote 87:
See p. 107.
Footnote 88:
_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz. (742)—Indenture, dated 1st February, 1566–7,
between Lord and Lady Mountjoy and Edward Kingston.
Footnote 89:
The southernmost of the three northerly houses mentioned above.
Footnote 90:
_Close Roll_, 24 Eliz. (1129)—Indenture, dated 30th July, 1582,
between Jas. Briscowe, etc., and Jas. Mascall.
Footnote 91:
See p. 27.
Footnote 92:
It will be remembered that the houses, including, and for a little
distance west of, No. 198, High Holborn (the Public Library), are on
the site of Rose Field (see p. 18).
Footnote 93:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, _Middx._, Series II., vol. 208.
Footnote 94:
Together with a moiety of the three northernmost of the 8 houses and
of other property on the north side of High Holborn, acquired by
Mascall of Edward Kingston.
Footnote 95:
_Close Roll_, 11 Chas. I. (3057)—Indenture between Thos. Godman and
Olive his wife _and_ Francis Gerard and Frances his wife.
Footnote 96:
Blott’s _Blemundsbury_, p. 381.
Footnote 97:
As showing the connection between the Gerard and Cole families
attention may be drawn to the fact that Philip Gerard, successor of
Francis Gerard in Drury Lane, and probably his son, was associated
with Salomon Cole in a deed relating to property at King’s Gate.
(_Close Roll_, 1658—Indenture between Sir Thos. Fisher, Gerard and
Cole _and_ John Plumer).
Footnote 98:
_Close Roll_, 1655 (3857)—Indenture between Chas. Lovell, etc., and
Philip Wetherell.
Footnote 99:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1756, II., 325–6—Indenture between
John Smart and John Higgs.
Footnote 100:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1717, II., 272.
Footnote 101:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 102:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 71.
Footnote 103:
From deeds quoted by Parton (_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_) it is
evident that in the 13th century Drury Lane was known as “Aldewych” or
“Via de Aldewych.” The name “Drury Lane,” given later, was no doubt
due to the existence of Drury House near the Strand end of the road.
How late “Via de Aldewych” was used there is nothing to show. In
certain deeds of the 17th century (_e.g._, _Close Roll_, 24 November,
8 Charles I.—Indenture between Francis, Lord Russell, and Earl of
Bedford _and_ John, Earl of Bristol, etc.) the road is called “Drury
Lane _alias_ Fortescue Lane.” It is just possible that the latter name
is to be connected with Sir John Fortescue, who held the Elm Field
(_i.e._, the land between Castle Street and Long Acre) in the reign of
Henry VI. (_Close Roll_, 30 Henry VI. (302)—Grant by John Crouton and
Wm. Horn to John and Katherine Nayler); in fact there is reason for
thinking that the “viam regiam ducentem ... a villa Sci. Egidii versus
Bosomysynne modo Johis. Fortescue militis” mentioned in the same deed
is actually Drury Lane. The road seems also to have gone by the name
of St. Giles’s Lane in the early part of the 17th century. (See p.
35_n_.)
Footnote 104:
See p. 107.
Footnote 105:
They appear together as witnesses in many deeds. Two deeds bearing the
name of William Christmas as witness can be dated with certainty
1257–8 and 1276.
Footnote 106:
Blott’s statement that here “stood the mansion house of the
Christmasse family, with its pasture land and orchard bordering the
King’s Highway, Oldborne, the domain reaching to Ficquet Fields,” goes
beyond the evidence, and his imaginative history, based on an
identification of “John of Good Memory,” late chaplain of St. Giles,
mentioned in Henry II.’s Charter (_not_ the original foundation
charter, as Blott says), with a John Christmas = John de Cruce the
elder = John de Fonte the elder (all equally hypothetical persons) is
absolutely unjustifiable (_Blemundsbury_, pp. 333–4).
Footnote 107:
_Augmentation Office_, Deeds of purchase and exchange, E. 19.
Footnote 108:
The premises, together with a cottage and Purse Field with the
pightells, were farmed to her on 6 June, 1524, by the Master of Burton
Lazars, and it is stated that she was then living there. (_Patent
Roll_, 7 Elizabeth, pt. 3, Grant to Thos. Jordayne.)
Footnote 109:
“Et de liij^s iiij^d de Willelmo Hosyer pro redditu cujusdam messuagii
vocati le White Harte in Hamelett S^{ci} Egidii et xviij acr’ pasture
ac unius parvi clausi vocati Pale Close.” (_Ministers’ Accounts_,
2101, Henry VIII.)
Footnote 110:
Uncertainty on this point and on the date of the period of his tenancy
unfortunately stands in the way of accepting the following note as a
contribution to the history of _The White Hart_. “Will. Hosyer, of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields, London—Licence (he having had his house burnt
down 9th Oct. last [1539] and lost all his goods therein to the value
of £200) to collect alms in England and Wales for his relief.”
(_Patent Roll_, 32 Henry VIII. pt. 4.)
Footnote 111:
_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz. (733)—Indenture between Lord Mountjoy and Geo.
Harrison; and _Close Roll_, 24 Eliz. (1129)—Indenture between Jas.
Briscowe, etc., and Jas. Mascall. Cockshott was apparently there in
1579, for the piece of ground or garden plot which 12 years before had
been used as “a greate garden belonginge to ... the _White Harte_,”
(_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz. (742)—Indenture between Lord Mountjoy and
Edward Kyngston) was in that year described as “then or late in the
tenure of Richard Cockeshute.” (_Close Roll_, 21 Eliz.
(1058)—Indenture between Ed. Kyngston and James Mascall.)
Footnote 112:
Parton, _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, pp. 131–2.
Footnote 113:
See _Land Revenue Enrolments_, Book IV., No. 52, p. 120.
Footnote 114:
Situated on the north side of High Holborn, just to the west of the
present junction with New Oxford Street.
Footnote 115:
It will be seen that the present _Ye Olde White Hart_, No. 191, Drury
Lane, is not on the site either of the old _White Hart_, or even of
the land formerly belonging to it.
Footnote 116:
Parton, _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 238.
Footnote 117:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 118:
The course of this stream as shown in the map accompanying Volume III.
of the _Survey of London_ requires a slight modification, as deeds,
which have since come to light, show that to the south of High Holborn
it followed exactly the winding red line indicating the course of the
later sewer, and not the straight line there suggested.
Footnote 119:
_Close Roll_, 1657 (3940).—Indenture between William Short and Edward
Tooke.
Footnote 120:
Thomas Burton’s land, which included the site of all the houses in
Drury Lane mentioned in the above deed, had a width along that street
of 233 feet. These houses reached as far south as the house belonging
to Mr. Fotherley, on whose garden St. Thomas’s Street was subsequently
formed. (Parton, _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p.
275.) The distance between the boundary line and the northern side of
Shelton Street, the modern representative of St. Thomas’s Street, is
243 feet, thus allowing a 10 feet extension of the garden northwards
beyond the street.
Footnote 121:
See p. 20.
Footnote 122:
The occupier of _The Rose_ at this time was Richard Taylor. See
Petition of Geo. Sutton complaining of a confederacy between Taylor
and “one Thomas Barnett, brewer,” to whom Taylor had let the premises
after Sutton had given him lawful warning to avoid. (_Augmentation
Proceedings_, 22–25.) The property is described as “one tenement
called _The Roose_, lieing and being within the said parish of Saint
Gyles in the feldes, with one barne and syxe acres of land, with
appurtenances to the same.”
Footnote 123:
_Close Roll_, 42 Elizabeth (1666).
Footnote 124:
_Augmentation Office, Miscellaneous Books_, 140, p. 56.
Footnote 125:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 239.
Footnote 126:
_Close Roll_, 22 Chas. II. (4290).—Indenture between Sarah Hooper,
etc., and Anthony Hannott.
Footnote 127:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1723, III., 289, 390.
Footnote 128:
The entries in the ratebook, from the corner of Duke Street (now
represented by the first courtyard to the east of Grape Street) to the
corner of Bow Street, are as follows:—Jonathan Dodswell, 2 houses
(£20); Samuel Chandler (£20); Nathaniel Chandler (£25); John Lacost
(£25); Mr. Anthony Elmes (£70); Thomas Gwilliam (£20); Alexander
Masters (£16); John Pettit (£10).
Footnote 129:
This rough identification is confirmed by the fact that _The Rose_ can
be shown by comparison of particulars given in various deeds to have
been the 8th house westward from the Pale Pingle, the westernmost
limit of which seems to have been opposite the centre of the frontage
of the _White Hart_ property. (See Plate 2).
Footnote 130:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 16 Chas. I., Trin. Of course, in the
absence of more definite details, there is nothing to _prove_ that
this refers to _The Rose_.
Footnote 131:
_Close Roll_, 1650 (3542).—Indenture between William Short and Thos.
Walker, Peter Mills _and_ Richd. Horseman.
Footnote 132:
See p. 31.
Footnote 133:
“July 8, 1640. Warrant to the Petty Constables of the parishes of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields and St. Clement’s Danes to give notice to the
persons whose names are underwritten to appear ... before Sir John
Hippisley and Sir Henry Spiller to show cause why they neglect and
refuse to cleanse and repair their parts of a common sewer near
Lewknor’s lane, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, which has become a public
nuisance.” (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1640, p. 459). This
sewer, which ran about 74 feet north of Lewknor’s lane (Parton’s
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 101), seems to have originally,
as an open ditch, formed the boundary between Rose Field and Bear
Close.
Footnote 134:
Either this means that Short had purchased a portion of Bear Close,
or, more probably, it refers to that portion of Rose Field which
bounded Bear Close on the east. This had before 1650 been sold to
Thomas Grover. (_Close Roll_, 1654 (3813).—Indenture between William
Short and Wm. Atkinson.)
Footnote 135:
_Close Roll_, 1657 (3940)—Indenture between William Short and Edward
Tooke.
Footnote 136:
_Privy Council Register_, vol. 258, 46.
Footnote 137:
See letters from him addressed to (_a_) the Earl of Pembroke, 22nd
November, 1620; (_b_) Secretary Conway, 23rd November, 1623 (_Calendar
of State Papers, Domestic_, 1619–23, p. 194, and 1623–5, p. 117).
Footnote 138:
It need hardly be said that Blott’s (_Blemundsbury_, pp. 357–362)
identification of Lewknor’s house with “Cornwallis House, Drury Lane,”
the residence of Sir William Cornwallis, “adjoining the grounds of the
White Hart Inn ... at the Holborn end of Drury Lane” is a pure
fiction. There is no evidence that Sir William Cornwallis ever lived
in Drury Lane. His statement that “it is a long task to trace how the
Christmasse estate passed into the Cornwallis family, who appears to
have been the immediate successors to the great inheritance in Drury
Lane,” is delightful, seeing that “the Christmasse estate” was
situated at White Hart corner, and the Cornwallis “inheritance,”
which, by the way, was acquired only in 1613, some years after Sir
William Cornwallis’s death, consisted of Purse Field, which nowhere
reached within 500 feet of Drury Lane.
Footnote 139:
_Coram Rege Roll_, Easter term, 17 Chas. II., No. 469.
Footnote 140:
_Close Roll_, 1650 (3542).—Indenture between William Short and
Thomas Walker, Peter Mills _and_ Richard Horseman.
Footnote 141:
This is stated in the deed (20 June, 1652) relating to the sale of the
property by George Evelyn (who had married Sir John Cotton’s widow) to
John Fotherley (_Common Pleas, Recovery Roll_, 1652, Trin., 278), and
Cotton’s name is given in respect of the house in the Subsidy Roll of
1646.
Footnote 142:
See, _e.g._—Indenture between Henry Fotherley Whitfield and Joseph
King (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1766, I., 379) concerning a
parcel of ground in “St. Thomas’s Street, now intended to be called
King Street.”
Footnote 143:
Lease dated 23rd February, 1619–20, by Thomas Burton to Edmund Edlyn,
quoted in Blott’s _Blemundsbury_, pp. 358–9. It should be explained
that Walter Burton had sublet to Thomas Burton a portion of the ground
leased to him by William Short.
Footnote 144:
It should be noticed that the eastern portion of Parker Street (beyond
the alley lying to the east of the Kingsway Theatre) is on the site of
Purse Field, not of Rose Field.
Footnote 145:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 358.
Footnote 146:
“Philip Parcar, for 5 houses built neare Drury Lane in Parcar’s Lane,
to the Star Chamber.” (_Privy Council Register_ (1633–4), vol. 258,
No. 46).
Footnote 147:
Philip Parker is seen in a different role in the following:
“Recognisances ... for the appearance of ... William Hartoppe ... to
answer ... for refusinge to ayde Phillip Parker to search for a
seminary priest in the house of John Clarke, of St. Gyles in the
Feildes” (11th April, 1626) (_Middlesex Sessions Rolls_, III., p.
160).
Footnote 148:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 149:
A change of tenancy in 1775 is accompanied by an increase in the
rateable value from £8 to £18.
Footnote 150:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 151:
_Close Roll_, 9 Elizabeth (748)—Indenture, dated 20th January, 1566–7,
between Lord and Lady Mountjoy and Richard Holford.
Footnote 152:
From other documents it is quite obvious that this must be another
name for Purse Field, but the name has not been met with elsewhere.
Footnote 153:
The deeds show that all the western portion of Parker Street, both
south and north sides, was in Rose Field, and all the western part of
Great Queen Street was in Aldwych Close.
Footnote 154:
This was the line of the sewer, or open stream, which formed the
western boundary of Purse Field. In later deeds relating to the
central portion of Aldwych Close, the latter is described as extending
to the common sewer on the east side towards Lincoln’s Inn. (See
_e.g._ _Recovery Roll_, 1633, 9 Chas. I., Easter (201).)
Footnote 155:
See p. 124.
Footnote 156:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem (Middlesex)_, 18 Eliz., vol. 174 (32).
Footnote 157:
_I.e._, according to a deed referred to in the inquisition on Henry
Holford (16th June, 1624) (_Ibid._, 22 Jas. I., vol. 428 (87)). There
was also, however, or there had been three years before, “a little
howse, forge or shedd” on what was afterwards the north-west corner of
Great Queen Street (_Close Roll_, 40 Eliz. (1597)—Demise by Henry
Holford to Henry Foster, Margaret Foster and Henry Warner).
Footnote 158:
Recited in lease of 30th April, 1607, by Walter Burton to Thomas
Burton, in possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 159:
See p. 40.
Footnote 160:
See indentures between Richard Holford _and_ Robert Stratton and
Edward Stratton respectively, dated 28th July, 1635, and 24th April,
1658. (_Close Rolls_, 11 Chas. I. (3060) and 1658 (3984)).
Footnote 161:
This triangular piece, and the ground on which the houses on the south
side of Kemble Street are built, both originally being portions of
Aldwych Close, have recently been taken out of the Parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields.
Footnote 162:
“The private way in Oldwitch Close for the King and Councell to passe
through leading from St. Giles his lane in the feildes east towardes
Holborne.” (_Close Roll_, 22 James I. (2601)—Indenture between Jane
and Richard Holford and Jeoffery Prescott.)
Footnote 163:
The two gates are referred to in the petition (ascribed to March,
1632), of the Surveyor-General of His Majesty’s Ways, who complained
that on the day before the King and Queen went last to Theobalds, he
warned Richard Powell, the scavenger for High Holborn, to cleanse _the
passage between the two gates_ in Holborn, where many loads of noisome
soil lay stopping up the way; but Powell neglected to do this, and at
the time of the Royal passage a cart laden with soil stood in the
passage blocking the way. (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_,
1631–3, p. 298.)
Footnote 164:
On 31st October, 1617, a warrant was issued to Thos. Norton, “Surveyor
of His Majesty’s Wayes and Passages,” calling attention to the fact
that in spite of the King’s commands, “sundry persons have gotten and
used false keyes for opening the lockes and gates of His Majesties
private passages through the feildes neere the Cittie of London, and
that divers unruly coachmen, carters, and others, have and doe use
with great hammers and other like tools to breake open the said
gates.” (_Privy Council Register_, XXIX., 153.) This warrant seems
almost too late to refer to Great Queen Street, and yet the fact that
it also deals with the steps to be taken against “one Holford and his
tennantes” for their default in allowing “the streete in Drury Lane in
his Ma^{ties} ordinary way” to be very noisome, seems to point to the
Theobalds route. Perhaps the fields north of Holborn are referred to.
Footnote 165:
The entrance became known as “Hell Gate” or “Devil’s Gap.” The
widening of the street to its present measurements is said to have
been carried out in 1765 (Blott’s _Blemundsbury_, p. 370).
Footnote 166:
_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1611–18, James I., vol. 69 (36).
Robert Cecil was created Earl of Salisbury in May, 1605; he died in
May, 1612.
Footnote 167:
This form of the name occurs frequently.
Footnote 168:
See p. 14.
Footnote 169:
In January, 1669–70, references occur to “John Jones, the master of
the White Swan in Queen Street, Drury Lane,” and “John Jones,
victualler, at the White Swan in Queen’s Street” (_Historical MSS.
Commission, Ho. of Commons Calendar_, App. to 8th Rep. I., 155_b_,
157_a_). As late as 8th April, 1677, a letter was addressed to “Don
Manuel Fonseca, Queen Street” (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_,
1677–8, p. 82). On the other hand, the title Great Queen Street is
found in 1667 as the address of Viscount Conway (_Ibid._, 1667, p.
535), and occurs even in a passage which must have been written at
least fifteen years earlier (see p. 50).
Footnote 170:
See, _e.g._ Wheatley and Cunningham’s _London, Past and Present_,
III., p. 135: “The houses in the first instance were built on the
south side only”; Heckethorn’s _Lincoln’s Inn Fields_, p. 171;
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 133.
Footnote 171:
See p. 50.
Footnote 172:
See p. 35.
Footnote 173:
Lease to Edward Fort of 18th May, 1612, quoted in indenture of 10th
February, 1625, between Jane and Richard Holford _and_ Jeoffery
Prescott (_Close Roll_, 22 Jas. I. (2601)).
Footnote 174:
In the absence of deeds relating to the early history of Nos. 14–35,
it is impossible to be more precise. There may, of course, have been
gaps in the north side (excluding Nos. 1–6) even later than 1612. In
the Subsidy Rolls of 21 James I. (1623–4) and 4 Charles I. (1628–9),
preserved at the Record Office, thirteen names of occupiers of houses
in the street are given, and the assessment in 1623 for the rebuilding
of St. Giles’ Church gives fifteen housekeepers in the street (Parton,
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 136_n_). No adequate idea of
the number of houses in the street can, however, be gained from these
facts, for the subsidy rolls certainly do not give all the occupiers,
and, as the assessment was not compulsory, it is improbable that every
householder made a contribution.
Footnote 175:
_History of ... St. Giles-in-the-Fields and St. George, Bloomsbury_,
p. 58.
Footnote 176:
No evidence has come to light in the course of the investigations for
this volume whereby Lord Herbert’s house might be identified. In his
will, dated 1st August, 1648, proved 5th October, 1648, he refers more
than once to his “house in Queene Streete”. (_Somerset House Wills,
Essex_, 138).
Footnote 177:
_Close Roll_, 18 Chas. I. (3295).—Indenture between W. Newton and
Francis Thriscrosse.
Footnote 178:
_Close Roll_, 15 Chas. I. (3192).
Footnote 179:
_Close Roll_, 15 Chas. I. (3190)—Indenture between W. Newton _and_
Ric. Webb, Nicholas Redditt and Jeremy Deane.
Footnote 180:
_Harl. MS._, 5,900, fol. 57_b_.
Footnote 181:
Indenture, dated 7th February, 1734–5, between John Bigg and Peter
Guerin. (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1734, V., 85.)
Footnote 182:
British Museum, Crace Colln., Portfolio 28, No. 53.
Footnote 183:
It is possible that in 1646 Sir Martin Lumley was resident at this
house, but not certain. In the Subsidy Roll for that year his name is
the first on the north side of the street, and precedes Sir Thos.
Barrington’s, who, it may be proved, lived at No. 3. It may be,
therefore, that Lumley was the occupant of No. 1.
Footnote 184:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Baronetage_, II., p. 80.
Footnote 185:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 186:
Elizabeth Killigrew, Lewis Richardes, Thomas Stoake.
Footnote 187:
Lewis Richardes.
Footnote 188:
See p. 35.
Footnote 189:
It is given (_Close Roll_, 22 Jas. I. (2601).—Indenture between Jane
and Richard Holford _and_ Jeoffrey Prescott) as the _eastern_ boundary
of Prescott’s property, which extended along the north side of Great
Queen Street from Drury Lane, and the length of which is given as 120
feet. Thus the Prescott property was on the site of the present Nos.
38 to 45. A deed dated 20 June, 1721, refers to property of which
Seagood’s house had formerly formed the _western_ boundary. This deed
gives the names of the occupants of the houses to which it relates
both in 1636 and at that time, and the latter list clearly identifies
the property as Nos. 26 to 35, thus leaving 36 and 37 for Seagood’s
house. That this house corresponded to two numbers is rendered quite
certain by a careful comparison of the entries in the series of Hearth
Tax Rolls. In fact, the house is on two occasions taxed for 30
hearths, which seems an over estimate, as the assessment is afterwards
reduced to 24 hearths. Even this implies a very large house.
Footnote 190:
_Close Roll_, 13 Chas. II. (3123).—Indenture between Henry Holford and
Paul Williams, etc.
Footnote 191:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 192:
_Close Roll_, 5 Chas. I. (2800). Indenture between Richard Holford and
Sir Edw. Stradling—reciting indenture of 1618.
Footnote 193:
See _Recovery Roll_, 9 Chas. I. rot. 23 (201). Indenture between
Edward Stradling and George Gage.
Footnote 194:
See p. 93.
Footnote 195:
_Close Roll_, 5 Chas. I. (2800). Indenture between Richard Holford
_and_ Sir William Cawley and Geo. Strode.
Footnote 196:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1629–31, p. 47.
Footnote 197:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1629–35, p. 55.
Footnote 198:
See p. 93.
Footnote 199:
_Close Roll_, 11 Chas. I. (3059). Indenture between Sir Kenelm Digby
and William Newton.
Footnote 200:
He succeeded his father as Earl of Carnwath in 1639.
Footnote 201:
_Patent Roll_, 12 Chas. I. (2740).
Footnote 202:
The means taken to enforce a uniform design may be gathered from the
fact that the purchaser of certain plots to the west of Nos. 55–56 was
required to build three houses “to front and range towards Queenes
Streete ... in the same uniformity, forme and beauty as the other
houses already ... erected by the said William Newton in Queenes
Streete are of.”
Footnote 203:
The evidence for this statement is gathered from the undermentioned
illustrations:
No. 51. Sir Robert Strange’s House (Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of
St. Giles_, p. 250), 3 bays, 4 pilasters. Western portion of third
plot 41 feet wide.
Nos. 55–6, 57–8. Bristol House (_Ibid._). Double façade each 44 feet
wide, 5 bays, 6 pilasters. Fifth plot 88 feet wide.
Nos. 55–6, 57–8. J. Nash, 1840. (_The Growth of the English House_, J.
Alfred Gotch.)
Original Freemasons’ Tavern. Engraving by Joseph Bottomley, 1783. 5
bays, 6 pilasters. Seventh plot 44 feet wide.
Queen Street Chapel (Parton, _op. cit._ p. 250). Western portion of
tenth plot 59 feet 6 inches wide.
No. 70. (Photograph taken by the London County Council in 1903.)
Refronted on old lines, 4 bays, 5 pilasters on plot 35 feet wide.
Footnote 204:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
97.
Footnote 205:
II., p. 174.
Footnote 206:
See p. 86.
Footnote 207:
See full quotation on p. 45 footnote.
Footnote 208:
_Harl. MS._, 5,900, 57_b_.
Footnote 209:
The reason why Lindsey House is now not in the middle of the west side
of the Fields is that in the original design the west row extended
from Gate Street to No. 2, Portsmouth Street. The building of the
houses on the north and south sides of the Fields, not included in the
original design, encroached on both sides of the west row, but the
encroachment on the north being the greater, the axis of the square
was thereby moved further south.
Footnote 210:
British Museum. J. W. Archer Collection. “The house called Queen
Anne’s Wardrobe,” drawn 1846 (No. 55–6, Great Queen Street) and “House
of the Sardinia Ambassador,” drawn 1858 (No. 54, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields).
Footnote 211:
“The expert surveyour will repart the windows to the front of a
palace, that they may (besides the affording of sufficient light to
the rooms) leave a solid peeres between them, and to place some
pleasing ornament thereon, not prejudicial to the structure, nor too
chargeable for the builder, shunning incongruities, as many
(pretending knowledge in ornaments) have committed, by placing between
windows pilasters, through whose bodies lions are represented to
creep; as those in Queen Street without any necessity, or ground for
the placing lions so ill, which are commonly represented but as
supporters, either of weight, or of arms on herauldry.” (_Counsel and
Advice to All Builders_, pp. 13–14.)
Footnote 212:
See p. 38.
Footnote 213:
_Anecdotes of Painting_, II., p. 60.
Footnote 214:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.),
Plate 6.
Footnote 215:
It was assessed for the hearth tax at 40 hearths, while Conway House,
although of the same frontage, was only assessed at 31.
Footnote 216:
The frontage of this house is stated in certain deeds in the London
County Council’s possession (_e.g._, Indenture of 26th October, 1639,
between Wm. Newton _and_ Compton, Dive and Brewer) to be 98 feet, but
in others (_e.g._, Release by Wm. Newton senr., to Wm. Newton, junr.,
dated 22nd January, 1637–8) is given as 88 feet. That the latter is
correct may be regarded as certain from the perfect accord of the
total number of feet thus obtained with the present boundaries.
Footnote 217:
The deeds from which these particulars are taken are (1) _Close Roll_,
15 Chas. I. (3196)—Indenture between Wm. Newton and Sir Ralph Freeman;
and (2) a deed in the possession of the Council—Indenture between
Newton and Sir Henry Compton, etc. The former deed, in error, reverses
the eastern and western boundaries.
Footnote 218:
A release by deed poll from Wm. Newton the elder to Wm. Newton the
younger, in the possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 219:
_Close Roll_, 5 Geo. I. (5117)—Indenture dated 16th May, 4 Geo. I.,
between Sir John Webb and Thos. Stonor, _and_ Sir Godfrey Kneller,
etc.
Footnote 220:
Mr. Stonor inhabited the western half of the original house, now
forming Nos. 55 and 56; Mr. Browne was in occupation of the eastern
half, afterwards Nos. 57 and 58.
Footnote 221:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1832, V., 93.
Footnote 222:
See p. 53.
Footnote 223:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields. Part I.),
Plate 66.
Footnote 224:
In possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 225:
_Close Roll_, 15 Charles I. (3196). Indenture between Wm. Newton and
Sir Ralph Freeman.
Footnote 226:
Marginal note in his private journal (_Memoirs and letters of Marquis
of Clanricarde_, ed. by K. De Burgh, p. 68).
Footnote 227:
Deed in possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 228:
_Memoirs and Letters of the Marquis of Clanricarde_, p. xiv.
Footnote 229:
_Hist. MSS. Comm.; MSS. of the Earl of Egmont_, I., p. 223.
Footnote 230:
_Constitutional History of England_ (ed. 1854) III., 389_n_.
Footnote 231:
_Somerset House Wills, Nabbs_, 117.
Footnote 232:
She was Catherine, daughter of Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford; her
husband, Robert Greville, second Baron Brooke, distinguished himself
as a general of the parliamentary forces in the Civil War, and was
killed at Lichfield in 1643. Fulke Greville, who was not born until
after his father’s death, eventually succeeded to the title, and died
in 1710.
Footnote 233:
_Close Roll_, 1654 (3814).
Footnote 234:
Sir William Constable was afterwards possibly an occupant of the
house, for on 24th May, 1647, he wrote to the old Lord Fairfax from
“Queen Street.” (_Hist. MSS. Comm.; Morrison MSS._, Report IX., Part
II., App. p. 439.) Constable had married in 1608, Dorothy, daughter of
Thomas, first Lord Fairfax. He contrived with difficulty to raise a
regiment of foot in the Civil War, and greatly distinguished himself
in the field. He was afterwards one of the king’s judges and signed
the warrant for his execution. He died in 1655.
Footnote 235:
C. R. Markham’s _The Great Lord Fairfax_, p. 191.
Footnote 236:
_Ibid._, p. 254.
Footnote 237:
_Ibid._, p. 274. The old lord had recently married again. He announced
the fact to his brother in a letter dated “Queen Street, October 20th,
1646.”
Footnote 238:
_Hist. MSS. Comm., Pembroke College MSS._, Report V., App. p. 487.
Footnote 239:
He was still in the parish (possibly in this house) in 1658, for
Parton quotes (_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 356) an entry in
the churchwardens’ accounts for that year: “Pd. and expended at the
sessions, about Sir William Paston’s complaynt, of his being double
rated.”
Footnote 240:
_Close Roll_, 15 Chas. II. (4143)—Indenture between the Hon. John
Digby _and_ Sir Anthony Morgan and Richard Langhorne.
Footnote 241:
Described in _Survey of London_, Vol. IV. (Chelsea, Part II.), pp.
18–27.
Footnote 242:
Some time between 1666 and 1675 he removed to No. 51, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields (_Survey of London_, Vol. III., p. 71).
Footnote 243:
See also North’s account: “The great House in Queen Street was taken
for the use of this Commission. Mr. Henry Slingsby sometime Master of
the Mint, was the Secretary; and they had a formal Board with Green
Cloth and standishes, clerks’ good store, a tall Porter and staff and
sitting attendance below, and a huge Luminary at the Door. And, in
Winter Time, when the Board met, as was two or three times a week, or
oftener, all the Rooms were lighted, Coaches at the Door, and great
passing in and out, as if a Council of State in good earnest had been
sitting. All cases, Complaints and Deliberations of Trade were
referred to this Commission, and they reported their opinion,
whereupon the King in Council ordered as of course. So that they had
the Province of a Committee of Council; and the whole Privy Council
was less charge to the King than this.” (_Examen_, p. 461.)
Footnote 244:
The Council of Trade was established on 7th November, 1660, and by
patent dated 1st December in the same year Charles II. also created
the Council of Foreign Plantations. (Haydn’s _Book of Dignities_,
1894, p. 263.)
Footnote 245:
Slingsby writes on behalf of the Council for Foreign Plantations from
Queen Street, on 27th April, 1671. (_Calendar of State Papers,
Domestic_, 1671, p. 204.)
Footnote 246:
In October, 1672, the Council of Plantations was united to that of
Trade (Evelyn, _Diary_, 13th October, 1672), and the united Council
seems thenceforth to have utilised a portion of “Villiers House,” the
house of the Duchess of Cleveland. (_Audit Office, Declared Accounts,
Trade, etc._, 2303 (2)).
Footnote 247:
See schedules of deeds appended to Indentures between Thos. Stonor,
etc., and Sir Godfrey Kneller, dated 11th and 12th March, 1717–8
(_Close Roll_, 5 Geo. I. (5117)).
Footnote 248:
_Chancery Warrants_ (_Series II._), Signet Office, 16th April, 1669
(21 Chas. II., 2386).
Footnote 249:
Indenture of 24th June, 1674, between Sir Chas. Harboard and John
Hanson, by direction of the Earl of Devonshire, _and_ the Earl of
Sunderland, recited in Indenture of 12th March, 1717–8, between Thos.
Stonor, etc. _and_ Sir Godfrey Kneller (_Close Roll_, 5 Geo. I.
(5117)). Sunderland’s purchase of the Earl of Bristol’s interest in
the freehold was not effected until February, 1683–4 (Deed in
possession of the London County Council) just before his sale of the
premises.
Footnote 250:
The fact that the 1675 Hearth Tax Roll shows the Earl of Devonshire at
the house is not conclusive against this, as it is probable, from
other considerations, that this particular roll, though bearing the
date 1675, represents the state of affairs in 1674.
Footnote 251:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 252:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 253:
Freehold and 99 years’ lease in April, subsidiary lease in June.
Footnote 254:
Second son of Thomas, first Lord Fauconberg, a prominent royalist.
Died in 1689.
Footnote 255:
Will of Lord Belasyse, quoted in Indenture of 12th March, 1717–8,
between Thos. Stonor, etc., and Sir Godfrey Kneller (_Close Roll_, 5
Geo. I. (5117)).
Footnote 256:
Indenture of 12th March, 1717–8, between Thos. Stonor, etc., and Sir
Godfrey Kneller (_Close Roll_, 5 Geo. I. (5117)).
Footnote 257:
The sewer ratebook for 1703 (representing probably the state of things
in the previous year) shows “Thomas Stonor, Esq.” still in occupation;
that for 1709 (the next issue) gives “Sir Godfrey Kneller.” _The
Dictionary of National Biography_ says he _purchased_ the house in
1703, but this is obviously an error. (_See above_).
Footnote 258:
_Somerset House Wills, Richmond_, 161.
Footnote 259:
The statement seems to have originated with Horace Walpole (_Anecdotes
of Painting_, Wornum ed. (1888), II., pp. 209–210).
Footnote 260:
Munk’s _Roll of the Royal College of Physicians_, I., p. 456.
Footnote 261:
_London Past and Present_, III., p. 137.
Footnote 262:
See p. 76.
Footnote 263:
A deed of 27th November, 1745, shows “Lady Goodyear” and Mr. Charles
Leviez then in occupation. (_Midd. Registry Memorials_, 1745, III.,
No. 156).
Footnote 264:
Sir Godfrey Kneller left his Great Queen Street property to his wife
for her lifetime, with reversion to his godson, Godfrey Kneller
Huckle, “provided the surname of Kneller be adopted.” Godfrey Kneller,
the younger, died in 1781, and his son, John Kneller, in 1814.
Footnote 265:
Bryan’s _Dictionary of Artists_; Walpole’s _Anecdotes_, p. 702.
Footnote 266:
_The Dictionary of National Biography_ is in error in stating that he
_added_ this house to the other.
Footnote 267:
Redgrave’s _Dictionary of Painters and Engravers_.
Footnote 268:
Leask’s _James Boswell_, p. 125.
Footnote 269:
Nichol’s _Illustrations of Literature_, VII., pp. 308–9.
Footnote 270:
Details of Boswell’s residence there are given in the Council’s
publication, _Indication of Houses of Historical Interest_, I., pp.
79–84.
Footnote 271:
III., p. 137.
Footnote 272:
Holden’s _Triennial Directory_ for 1802–4.
Footnote 273:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 274:
See p. 47.
Footnote 275:
“All that messuage ... lately divided into two shops or dwelling
houses.” Indenture, dated 7th October, 1813, between Sophia Kneller
and G. J. Kneller _and_ Thos. Crook. (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_,
1813, IX., 129.) The ratebook for 1812 shows the house in single
occupation.
Footnote 276:
_Close Roll_, 17 Chas. I. (3275)—Indenture between Edward, Lord
Viscount Conway, Edw. Burghe, and William Newton _and_ Elizabeth,
Countess Rivers.
Footnote 277:
Release and quit claim by Wm. Newton, jnr., in possession of the
London County Council.
Footnote 278:
The house was still standing on 12th February, 1738–9 (see indenture
of that date between Philip Carter and Jas. Mallors, _Middlesex
Registry Memorials_, 1739, I., 450–1), but by 22nd May in that year it
had been demolished, the two houses fronting Great Queen Street were
then in course of erection, and others were intended to be built. The
parish ratebook for 1739 shows the house as “Empty”; that for 1740
gives: “Empty. 12 houses made out of one.”
Footnote 279:
That the archway was exactly in the centre may be proved by the fact
that when the two houses were sold to Jas. Mallors in the year 1742,
they were each described as 22 feet in width, including half of the
passage into Queen’s Court (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1741, IV.,
424 and 1742, I., 435).
Footnote 280:
Between Thomas Wither and Thomas Raye (_Common Pleas Recovery Roll_,
26 Chas. II., Trinity, Rot. 4).
Footnote 281:
_Feet of Fines, Middlesex_, 13 Chas. I., Trinity.
Footnote 282:
(27th January, 1650–1.) “Col. Berkstead to take care for the pulling
down of the gilt image of the late Queen, and also of the King, the
one in Queen Street, and the other at the upper end of the same
street, towards Holborn, and the said images are to be broken in
pieces.” (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1651, p. 25.)
Footnote 283:
_Recovery Roll_ (_Common Pleas_), 17 Chas. I., Hilary, 236.—Indenture
between William Newton, Philip Willoughby and Edward Mabb _and_ Edward
Burghe.
Footnote 284:
Afterwards Middle Yard.
Footnote 285:
See p. 82.
Footnote 286:
See Indenture of 18th May, 16 Geo. II., between Lord Conway and
Francis Paddy (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1743, I., 334–5).
Footnote 287:
Henry Sadler, _Some memorials of the Globe Lodge No. 23 of the Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons of England_, p. 11.
Footnote 288:
Documents and drawings preserved in the Soane Museum.
Footnote 289:
Photographs of various modern features, although not coming properly
within the scope of this volume, have been inserted for the purpose of
showing the historic continuity of the buildings on the site of the
old Hall.
Footnote 290:
The premises had been purchased in 1880. (_Middlesex Registry
Memorials_, 1880, 962).
Footnote 291:
Indenture of 5th March, 1718–9, between Lord Montagu, etc. (1),
William Juxon and Jas. St. Amond (2), and Sir Godfrey Kneller and Ed.
Byng (3), in the possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 292:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 293:
The sewer ratebook for this year shows “Henry Browne” in occupation of
the house, but that for 1700 has the entry “— Webb, Esq.,” referring
to the owner.
Footnote 294:
The sewer ratebook for this year shows “Henry, Lord Montague” in
occupation.
Footnote 295:
_Burke’s Extinct Peerage._
Footnote 296:
For other houses used for the purpose of the Portuguese Embassy in St.
Giles-in-the-Fields, see p. 97, and _Survey of London_, Vol. III., pp.
13, 82.
Footnote 297:
_Somerset House Wills, Richmond_, 161.
Footnote 298:
The house is referred to later on as “all that messuage, _etc._,
formerly called by the name of the Great Wardrobe” (_Middlesex
Registry Memorials_, 1811, VI., 104). It will be noticed that the
title “Queen Anne’s Wardrobe” given to the western half of Bristol
House in 1846 (Plate 16) is doubly incorrect. In the first place it is
assigned to the wrong half of Bristol House, and secondly the dates
show that it could not possibly have had any connection with Queen
Anne.
Footnote 299:
See copy of deed, dated 11th March, 1708–9, for the appointment of
Dummer as deputy. (_Treasury Papers, Cal._ 1708–14, CXIII., No. 12.)
Footnote 300:
Shortly before 4th February, 1774, Sheridan took a house in Orchard
Street (Sanders’ _Life of Sheridan_, p. 23).
Footnote 301:
His name in the ratebooks is given as “Richard Sheridan” only, but a
deed of 1811, giving the names of occupants of the house mentions him
by his full name: “formerly in occupation of Benjamin Wilson, painter,
afterwards of John Henderson, sometime since in the possession of
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and now of Ann Boak, milliner.” (Indenture
of 20th June, 1811, between Jno. Kneller, Peter Tahairdin, and Thos.
Grove—_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1811, VI., 104.)
Footnote 302:
Moore’s _Memoirs of Sheridan_, p. 213.
Footnote 303:
F. M. Parsons’ _Garrick and His Circle_, p. 369. As an example of how
false history comes to be written, it is interesting to note that Mrs.
Parsons describes the house as “an Inigo Jones house, in which five
men known to fame: Hudson, the painter; scritch-scratch Worlidge, the
etcher; Hoole, Tasso’s translator, whom Johnson loved; now Sheridan;
and after him, Chippendale, the cabinet maker, successively lived.”
None of the other individuals mentioned lived in the house occupied by
Sheridan.
Footnote 304:
See p. 59.
Footnote 305:
Stafford’s _Letters_ (Ed. Wm. Knowler, 1739), II., p. 165
Footnote 306:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1638–9, p. 113.
Footnote 307:
_Close Roll_, 17 Charles I. (3275). Indenture between Lord Conway,
Edw. Burghe and Wm. Newton _and_ Elizabeth, Countess Rivers.
Footnote 308:
_Historical MSS. Commission, House of Lords Calendar_, Appendix to VI.
Report, p. 109_b_.
Footnote 309:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_. The _Dictionary of National Biography_
states that he was born in 1628, and was the son of John Savage, a
colonel in the royal army.
Footnote 310:
_Historical MSS. Commission_, Frere MSS., Appendix to 7th Report, p.
531_a_.
Footnote 311:
Elizabeth Scroope, married to the Earl in 1647.
Footnote 312:
“Lord Rivers denies entrance to survey and payment,” and “Earle Rivers
refuseth to pay.”
Footnote 313:
_Historical MSS. Commission_, Frere MSS., Appendix to 7th Report, p.
531_a_.
Footnote 314:
At first a Roman Catholic, the Earl subsequently joined the English
Communion.
Footnote 315:
Mary, the second wife of the second Earl, at this time Countess
Dowager Rivers, by her will, proved 25th January, 1657–8 (in which she
is described as “of St. Giles”) left £400 to Sir Francis Petre
(_Somerset House Wills, Wootton_, 5).
Footnote 316:
Covent Garden.
Footnote 317:
Was this the third Earl’s sister of that name, youngest daughter but
one of the second Earl by his first wife?
Footnote 318:
_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1673–5, p. 37.
Footnote 319:
_Ibid._, p. 174.
Footnote 320:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 321:
Arabella, died _s.p._ 21st March, 1717. (G. E. C[ockayne’s]
_Peerage_.)
Footnote 322:
He married, in 1679, Penelope, daughter of John Downes; and in 1688
Mrs. Margaret Tryon. (_Ibid._)
Footnote 323:
_Somerset House Wills, Barnes_, 209.
Footnote 324:
Daughter of Sir Peter Colleton, and one of the Earl’s numerous
mistresses.
Footnote 325:
Sewer ratebook for 1720: “Lord North and Grey.”
Footnote 326:
On 29th September, 1722, the Duchess of Rutland wrote to Lady Gower:
“The two lords went there [to the Tower] last night, Orrery and North
and Gray, through their own want of consideration and indiscretion,
’twas said.” (_Hist. MSS. Commission, MSS. of Duke of Sutherland_,
Report V., p. 191.)
Footnote 327:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 328:
His country residence was St. Osyth’s Priory, Essex.
Footnote 329:
She died on 23rd June, 1746. (_Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1746, p. 328.)
Footnote 330:
Indenture of 12th February, 1738–9, between “Philip Carter of Tunstal,
Suffolk, clerk, and Bessy, his wife (widow of Frederick late Earl of
Rochford, deceased, and now commonly called Countess Dowager of
Rochford), William Henry, Earl of Rochford, eldest son and heir of the
said Frederick by the said Bessy, and Sir John Colleton, of Exmouth,
Bt., brother and heir at law of Elizabeth Colleton _alias_ Johnson,
deceased, _and_ James Mallors”; purporting to be a lease “for a year
to vest the possession of and concerning all that capital messuage or
mansion house situate on the south side of Great Queen Street where
the said Frederick did lately dwell, which said messuage or mansion
house was heretofore the house of Richard, Earl Rivers, and then
called or known by the name of Rivers House.” (_Middlesex Registry
Memorials_, 1739, I., 450–1.)
Footnote 331:
_Lincoln’s Inn Fields_, p. 174.
Footnote 332:
FitzGerald, _Life of Mrs. Catherine Clive_, p. 84.
Footnote 333:
Boswell, _Life of Johnson_, Vol. IV., pp. 7, 243.
Footnote 334:
See p. 60.
Footnote 335:
“March 31, 1638–9.... Direct your letter to be left with Lord Conway’s
maid in Queen Street, so it will come more speedily to me, since I am
very often with the Lord Admiral [Earl of Northumberland], whose house
is next to Lord Conway’s, as I think you know” (_Calendar State
Papers, Domestic_, 1638–9, p. 630).
Footnote 336:
See p. 86.
Footnote 337:
Clarendon’s _History of the Great Rebellion_, Book III., par. 228.
Footnote 338:
Letters from Thos. Smith to Sir John Pennington (_Calendar of State
Papers, Domestic_, for 1638–9, pp. 92, 103, 113, 130).
Footnote 339:
Order of the Committee of the Council of War (_Ibid._, p. 166.)
Footnote 340:
March 5th, 1638–9. Instructions from the Lord Admiral to Capt. John
Mennes of the _Victory_ (_Ibid._, p. 537).
Footnote 341:
Letter, headed “Queen Street,” from Northumberland to the deputy
lieutenants of Nottinghamshire (_Hist. MSS. Commission_, Reports on
MSS. in Various Collections, VII., 295).
Footnote 342:
_Recovery Roll_ (_Common Pleas_), 17 Chas. I., Hilary (236).
Footnote 343:
After her husband’s death she fell under the displeasure of
Parliament, and “endured a long imprisonment ... and had ... been put
to death if she had not made her escape to Oxford.” (Clarendon’s
_History of the Great Rebellion_, Book XI., par. 222.) She afterwards
(in 1648) married Sir James Livingstone, who became Earl of Newburgh.
Footnote 344:
_Close Roll_, 17 Chas. I. (3275)—Indenture between Lord Conway, etc.,
and Countess Rivers.
Footnote 345:
John Lucas, etc., “say they carried divers pictures, with frames,
others without frames, and some rayles into Mr. Withers House [it will
be remembered that Anthony Withers had purchased the house from Newton
in 1637–8] in Queen’s Street, now in the possession of Col. Popham,
the which goods above said these examiners say are the proper goods of
Mr. Withers” (_Interregnum Papers_, A., 98). Withers was reported as a
delinquent in October, 1645 (_Domestic Interregnum Committee for
Advance of Money_ (Order Book), A., 4 (295)), and was sequestrated in
January, 1646 (_Interregnum Papers_ A., 98 (13)).
Footnote 346:
_Interregnum Papers_ G., 17 (704).
Footnote 347:
A deed relating to the house, dated 20th May, 1674, refers to it as
being “now or late in the tenure ... of the Right Hon. Francis, Lord
Viscount Mountague” (_Common Pleas Recovery Roll_, 26 Chas. II.,
Trinity, vol. 4 (366)).
Footnote 348:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 349:
She was Elizabeth, daughter of Edward, first Marquess of Worcester.
She died in 1684.
Footnote 350:
Sewer ratebook for 1683.
Footnote 351:
Indenture, 9th May, 1764, between Packington Tomkins (1), the Hon.
Geo. Lane Parker (2) and Philip Carteret Webb (3) (_Middlesex Registry
Memorials_, 1764, II., 491); indenture 16th November, 1774, between
the Rev. Jas. Hallifax, etc., and Trustees for the Freemasons
(_Ibid._, 1775, II., 122).
Footnote 352:
_Historical MSS. Commission, Earl of Denbigh’s MSS._ Appendix to 8th
Report, Part I., p. 556_b_.
Footnote 353:
_Feet of Fines_ (_Middlesex_), 1 Anne, Hilary.
Footnote 354:
His country residence was Woodberry Hall, Cambridge.
Footnote 355:
_Somerset House Wills, Bedford_, 210–211.
Footnote 356:
Mary, his eldest daughter, married (with a dower of £30,000) George,
Viscount Parker, who in 1732 succeeded his father as (second) Earl of
Macclesfield.
Footnote 357:
Afterwards married William Cartwright, of Aynho, Northampton.
Footnote 358:
See her will, dated 22nd June, 1753 (_Somerset House Wills, Pinfold_,
80).
Footnote 359:
Indenture of 9th May, 1764 (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1764, II.,
491).
Footnote 360:
See his will dated 7th February, 1770 (_Somerset House Wills, Jenner_,
417).
Footnote 361:
Indenture between the Rev. Jas. Hallifax, Ric. Blyke, Edw. Beavor of
Farnham and Rhoda, his wife (lately Rhoda Webb, widow of Philip
Carteret Webb, late of Busbridge, Surrey, deceased) _and_ the Rt. Hon.
Robert Edward Lord Petre, Henry Duke of Beaufort, Henry Duke of
Chandos, Washington Earl Ferrers, Viscount Tamworth and Rowland Holt
(_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1775, II., 122).
Footnote 362:
Foxcroft’s _Life of Gilbert Burnet_, p. 144.
Footnote 363:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III., p. 75.
Footnote 364:
Macaulay, _History of England_, II., p. 180.
Footnote 365:
_Ibid._, II., p. 460.
Footnote 366:
Foxcroft’s _Life of Gilbert Burnet_, I., p. lvii.
Footnote 367:
Foxcroft’s _Life of Gilbert Burnet_, I., p. lix.
Footnote 368:
Beaven’s _Aldermen of the City of London_, II., pp. 109, 186.
Footnote 369:
Lipscombe’s _History of Buckinghamshire_, II., p. 222.
Footnote 370:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 371:
See p. 56.
Footnote 372:
See p. 74.
Footnote 373:
Campbell’s _Lives of the Lord Chancellors_, IV., p. 560.
Footnote 374:
Wheatley and Cunningham (_London Past and Present_, III., p. 137),
mentioning his residence, which they wrongly identify with Nos. 55–56,
say: “Here on October 18, 1740, the young Joshua Reynolds came to him
as a house pupil and remained under his roof till July, 1743.” Leslie,
in his _Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds_, also states that this occurred
at Hudson’s house in Great Queen Street. The ratebooks, however, show
quite clearly that in 1740–42, “Vanblew,” was in occupation, and that
from 1743 to 1745 the house was empty. The first year in which Hudson
is shown as the occupier is 1746. Reynolds’ residence with Hudson,
therefore, must have terminated before the latter had moved to the
house in Great Queen Street.
Footnote 375:
The entry “_Geo._ Hudson” in the issue of the ratebook for this year
is probably a mistake.
Footnote 376:
_The Dictionary of National Biography_ states that Worlidge settled in
Great Queen Street in 1763, and the fact that Hudson’s name appears in
the 1764 ratebook is not conclusive against this. On the other hand, a
deed dated 9th May, 1764, mentions the house as being then in the
occupation of Hudson (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1764, II., 491).
Footnote 377:
The parish ratebook for 1764 shows Hudson still in occupation of the
house, but he had apparently built his house at Twickenham before
this. “In 1762 Reynolds dined one Saturday with his old master,
Hudson, at ‘Twitenham,’ where he had built a house in the meadows”
(Leslie’s _Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds_, I., p. 213).
Footnote 378:
A deed of 16th November, 1774, refers to the house as “formerly in the
tenure of Mr. Hudson, painter, and late in that of Mr. Worlidge”
(_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1775, II., 122).
Footnote 379:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 380:
_Memoirs of Mrs. Robinson_, ed. by M. E. Robinson, I., pp. 74–5.
Footnote 381:
_Memoirs of Mrs. Robinson_, I., p. 94.
Footnote 382:
See p. 60.
Footnote 383:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1638–9, p. 630.
Footnote 384:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 385:
Letter, dated 16th May, 1631, from Thomas Case ... to Edward, Viscount
Conway, _etc._, “at his house in Drury Lane” (_Calendar State Papers,
Domestic_, 1631–3, p. 45).
Footnote 386:
_Recovery Roll, Common Pleas_, 21 Chas. I., Mich., rot. x (251).
Footnote 387:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 388:
Possibly Lord Wharton was the actual occupant of the house at the
time.
Footnote 389:
_Historical MSS. Commission, Duke of Portland’s MSS._, Vol. III., p.
291.
Footnote 390:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic, Addenda_, 1660–70, p. 701.
Footnote 391:
_Ibid._, pp. 712–3.
Footnote 392:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1667, p. 535.
Footnote 393:
_Ibid._, 1667–8, p. 259.
Footnote 394:
_Ibid._, 1668–9, p. 223.
Footnote 395:
Roger Boyle, Baron Broghill and 1st Earl of Orrery (1621–1679)
rendered great service to the Parliamentarians in Ireland, but
afterwards realising that Richard Cromwell’s cause was hopeless, he
combined with Sir Charles Coote to secure Ireland for Charles II. He
was also a dramatist of some repute.
Footnote 396:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1668–9, p. 502.
Footnote 397:
_Ibid._, 1668–9, p. 567.
Footnote 398:
_Ibid._, 1670, p. 111.
Footnote 399:
A less known contemporary account is the following: “Wednesday night
last ... some mischievous persons to dishonour my Lord Chancellour
crept through a window of his house in Queen Street and stole the mace
and the two purses, but by good chance could not find the seal. There
was upon the table a great silver standish, and a thousand guineyes in
a cabinet, as they report, but nothing of them touched, the design
being upon another score than bare robbery” (Letter, dated 8th
February, 1676–7, from Edward Smith to Lord Rous, _Historical MSS.
Commission, Rutland MSS._, XII. Report, App. V., p. 37).
The entry in the Middlesex Sessions Records concerning the event is as
follows: “7 February, 29 Charles II.—True Bill that, at St.
Giles-in-the-Fields, Co. Midd., in the night between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
of the said day, Thomas Sadler _alias_ Clarke, William Johnson _alias_
Trueman and Thomas Reneger, all three late of the said parish,
laborers, broke burglariously into the dwelling house of Heneage Lord
Finch the Lord Chancellor of the said Lord the King and then and there
stole and carried off a silver mace gilt gold worth one hundred pounds
and two velvet purses imbroydered with gold and silver and sett with
pearles, worth forty pounds, of the goods and chattels of the said
Lord the King. Found ‘Guilty,’ all three burglars were sentenced to be
‘hanged.’” (_Middlesex Sessions Records_, IV., p. 75).
Footnote 400:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 401:
Roger North’s _Autobiography_, p. 165.
Footnote 402:
“After we came to London, we were to wait on the Lord Jeffreys, who
had the Seal, to congratulate and offer him all the service we could
do, and to receive his commands touching the house in Queen Street
where the Lord Keeper lived, and it was so proceeded that he took the
house” (Roger North’s _Autobiography_, p. 195).
Footnote 403:
H. B. Irving’s _Judge Jeffreys_, p. 332.
Footnote 404:
7 and 8 Will. III., cap. 27 (sessional number, 53).
Footnote 405:
Then resident next door, see pp. 73–4. She was Ursula, widow of Edward
Conway, first Earl of Conway.
Footnote 406:
See _e.g._, Indenture of lease, dated 18th November, 1743, between
Francis Paddey and Jas. Mallors (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1743,
III., 453).
Footnote 407:
The vestry minutes for 1712 also refer to the house under this title:
“That a proper place for the site of a new parish church, and a house
for a minister, would be at the great house in Great Queen Street,
commonly called by the name of the Land Bank” (Parton’s _Hospital and
Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 291).
Footnote 408:
He wrote several medical books, as well as a _Narrative of the Birth
of the Prince of Wales_. He had been summoned to attend the
confinement of James II.’s queen, but was away from London and arrived
too late.
Footnote 409:
Subscriptions were to be paid at Mercers’ Hall and Exeter Change
(_London Gazette_, May 28th–June 1st, 1696), and Dr. Chamberlain’s
office was, at any rate, at first in New Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn
(_Ibid._, June 20th–23rd, 1696).
Footnote 410:
“The trustees of the Land Bank, late at Exeter Change (now removed to
the Three Anchors, over against Salisbury Court in Fleet Street) do
give notice, that on the 11th day of February next they will make a
dividend to such persons as are Heads of classes to whom transfers are
made” (_The Post Boy_, January 25th–27th, 1697–8).
Footnote 411:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 412:
See pp. 60–61, 63.
Footnote 413:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III., p. 98.
Footnote 414:
Confirmation of his residence in Great Queen Street about 1794 is
found by the mention of “Thos. Leverton of Great Queen Street” in a
deed of 29th September, 1795 (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1795,
VI., 211).
Footnote 415:
Mrs. Piozzi’s _Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson_ (1786), p. 173.
Footnote 416:
Boswell’s _Life of Johnson_, 5th April, 1775.
Footnote 417:
Obituary notice in _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 88, part ii., 179.
Footnote 418:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 419:
Indenture of 19th July, 1798 (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1798,
III., 185), referring to the sites of Nos. 67 and 68, recites the
lease so far as it concerns those sites. The recital also refers to
other ground dealt with by the lease, and this was almost certainly
the site of No. 66, which it is known was also a Mills house, the
eastern boundary of Conway House being described as “the messuage of
Peter Mills, bricklayer, now in the tenure of the Countess of Essex.”
(_Recovery Roll_ (_Common Pleas_), 17 Chas. I., Hilary (236).)
Footnote 420:
Peter Mills died in 1670, then being resident in Little St.
Bartholomew’s. (_Somerset House Wills, Penn_, 147.)
Footnote 421:
There is a clause referring to “such messuages and buildings as then
were or afterwards should be erected thereon,” which is quite
indefinite, but if there had been any houses the names of the
occupiers would almost certainly have been given. The _Finalis
Concordia_ relating to the transaction does not mention houses, but
only half a rood of pasture.
Footnote 422:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 290.
Footnote 423:
The occupier of No. 68 seems to have persisted later than 1709 (see
below). Moreover, the assessable value of No. 67 drops from £40 in
1703 to £25 in 1715 (the next record), a fact which seems to point to
the curtailment of the property due to the erection of the chapel.
Footnote 424:
Baguley’s _The True State of the Case_.
Footnote 425:
On 3rd September, 1728, Thos. Burges sold to Thos. Parnell and Wm.
Page certain houses (one of which was certainly No. 68), and “all that
building or chappell, together with all and singular the pews, seats,
gallereyes and other rights and privileges thereunto belonging.”
(_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1728, I., 251).
Footnote 426:
_A Sermon preached at Queen Street Chapel and St. Paul’s, Covent
Garden, on ... the day appointed for a general fast._
Footnote 427:
He was certainly in possession on 19th June, 1758, for on that date he
mortgaged the whole of the property to William Ferrand (_Middlesex
Registry Memorials_, 1758, III., 4).
Footnote 428:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1798, III., 185.
Footnote 429:
_Blemundsbury_, p. 397.
Footnote 430:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1815, III., 227.
Footnote 431:
“The new Methodist Chapel erected on the south side of Great Queen
Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was opened yesterday morning. It is a
spacious, handsome building, and will accommodate a larger
congregation than most of our churches. It has a range of two
galleries on each side. The altar is an appropriate and beautiful
piece of architecture.” (_Morning Herald_, 26th September, 1817).
Footnote 432:
Heckethorn’s _Lincoln’s Inn Fields_, p. 183.
Footnote 433:
See p. 61.
Footnote 434:
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.
Footnote 435:
A much mutilated Hearth Tax Roll, dating apparently from some time
between 1666 and 1672, shows “Geo. Porter, Esq.,” residing on the
south side of Great Queen Street, but it cannot be proved that the
entry refers to the same house.
Footnote 436:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 437:
_Survey of London_, Vol. IV., p. 81.
Footnote 438:
Burke’s _Extinct Peerage_. Knighted, 7th August, 1624 (Shaw’s _Knights
of England_, II., p. 186).
Footnote 439:
_Peerage of England_, 1710 (2nd edn.), p. 232.
Footnote 440:
See _Survey of London_, III., p. 53.
Footnote 441:
Probably the “Ashburnham Froude” who is shown in joint occupation with
Burges of No. 68 in 1723 (see p. 92).
Footnote 442:
Francis Const (1751–1839), legal writer. “Wrote some epilogues and
prologues, and numbered among his convivial companions Henderson, John
Kemble, Stephen Storace, Twiss, Porson, Dr. Burney and Sheridan.”
(_Dic. Nat. Biog._).
Footnote 443:
“Yesterday was married by the Rev. Mr. Francklin at his chapel near
Russel Street, Bloomsbury, David Garrick, Esq., to Eva Maria
Violetti.” (_General Advertiser_, 23rd June, 1749). Fitzgerald (_Life
of David Garrick_, p. 126) wrongly says: “at the _church in_ Russell
Street, Bloomsbury.” The statement of Mrs. Parsons (_Garrick and his
Circle_, p. 143) that it was “at Dr. Francklin’s Chapel in Queen
Street (the modern Museum Street)” is based on unknown, but possibly
quite good, evidence.
Footnote 444:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 445:
_The Dictionary of National Biography_ states that her death also took
place in Great Queen Street. It is difficult to reconcile this with
the fact that the parish ratebook for 1795 shows that Francis Const
took up his residence in the house in the course of that year. She
was, however, certainly resident there on 4 June, 1795, the date of
her will.
Footnote 446:
Burke’s _Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland_, III., p. 402.
Footnote 447:
_Historical MSS. Commission, MSS. of Duke of Rutland_, IV., p. 545.
Footnote 448:
“The style of Lord Ros of Roos continued to be still used (wrongfully)
by the Earls of Rutland, as, indeed, it was until a much later period,
and the well-known divorce of John Manners ... was granted to him ...
under the designation of Lord Roos, to which he was _not_ entitled.”
(G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_.)
Footnote 449:
On the death of the sixth Earl of Rutland, the Barony of Ros of
Hamlake expired, and the old Barony of Ros devolved upon his daughter,
Katherine, who married George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham. She
died in or before 1663, and was succeeded in the title (of Ros) by her
son George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham (Burke’s _Peerage_ and
G. E. C[ockayne’s] _Peerage_).
Footnote 450:
After his death she married Sir William Langhorn, Bt.
Footnote 451:
_Historical MSS. Commission, MSS. of Duke of Rutland_, Vol. IV.
Footnote 452:
_Ibid._, II., p. 19.
Footnote 453:
The latter is probably for the whole of this period in respect of the
Chapel. In 1733 a separate entry is made for Burges and the Chapel.
Footnote 454:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 455:
See p. 42.
Footnote 456:
The licence was granted in 1630 (see p. 43).
Footnote 457:
This ran parallel to Great Queen Street, 197 feet distant therefrom.
Footnote 458:
The above particulars are taken from _Recovery Roll_, 9 Chas. I.
(Easter) (201). Rot. 23.
Footnote 459:
Indenture dated 9th August, 1633, between Geo. Gage and the Lady Alice
Dudley (_Close Roll_, 10 Chas. I. (2652)).
Footnote 460:
Then (under the indenture of 9th August, 1633, mentioned above)
charged with a rent of £150 a year, during the life of Lady Dudley
(_Chancery Proceedings_, Series II., 409–73).
Footnote 461:
See _Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 562–24. Suit of Sir Edw.
Stradling.
Footnote 462:
Such was the statement made by Weld in answer to the claim advanced by
Sir Edward Stradling, junr., grandson of the other Sir Edward, who,
however, suggested that the transaction was a mortgage containing a
proviso for redemption for £416. (_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_,
562–24).
Footnote 463:
Parton (_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 138)
mentions a tablet at one end of Wild Street, with an inscription
suggesting that the east side of the street was finished in 1653. This
fits in quite well with the above-mentioned facts.
Footnote 464:
It is mentioned as “the way ... leading on the back side of Drury Lane
from Princes Streete to Queene Streete” in Indenture of 13th August,
1629, between Richard Holford and Sir Edw. Stradling (_Close Roll_, 5
Chas. I. (2800)).
Footnote 465:
The date of the lease to Ittery (see p. 93).
Footnote 466:
Weld’s own name, though usually spelt with an “e” is also found in the
forms: Wild, Wield, Weild.
Footnote 467:
Indenture between Richard Holford and Edward Stratton (_Close Roll_,
1658 (3984)).
Footnote 468:
Weld having been ordered to build a wall to prevent back avenues to
his chapel, at his house, was in 1679 accused of having evaded the
order by leaving a door in the wall, “whereby there will be as free
access to the chapel as before.” (_Historical MSS. Commission, House
of Lords MSS._ App. to 11th Report, Part II., p. 127).
Footnote 469:
_Blemundsbury_, p. 384.
Footnote 470:
The lease was not held directly by the ambassadors; see particulars of
a mortgage of Weld House, 20 June, 1665, wherein was reserved a lease
made on 10 May, 1678, by Weld of the ambassador’s house to Augustine
Coronell for 10 years at a rent of £300. (_Chancery Proceedings,
Bridges_, 438–48).
Footnote 471:
Lands. Goods.
Lady Francis Weld and Mr. Humphrey Weld 2 10 0 2 0 0
Sir John Wray. 1 0 0 1 0 0
Footnote 472:
“John Corrance ... sheweth that ... Humphry Weld, of Weld Street,
esq., ... built these several messuages, viz. ... and two other
messuages scituate in Weld Street, with two coach houses, stables and
hay lofts over, being at the further end of a garden in his,
Humphry’s, possession, and by indenture of 17th May, 1665, demised
them to John, Lord St. John, of Basing, Earle of Wilts and Marquis of
Winchester, for twenty yeares, at a rent of £160; and also one other
house in Weld Street, which messuage with the use of a house of office
at the end of a garden of Weld’s called the Back garden, and the use
of a pumpe in a stable yard thereto adjoyning in common with his other
tenants by indenture of July 31st, 1671, Weld demised to Thomas
Hawker, of St. Giles, gentleman, for 11¼ years at a rent of £30.”
(_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 465–184).
Footnote 473:
See previous note.
Footnote 474:
Worsley’s residence was the last house but one in Great Queen Street,
and the premises held by him in Wild Street obviously backed on to his
residence.
Footnote 475:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 248.
Footnote 476:
It is impossible to make the entries in the Hearth Tax Rolls agree
with all the particulars of occupations given by Parton, and copies of
the deeds from which he quotes have not come to light in the course of
the investigations for this volume.
Footnote 477:
“Finding them, however, to be too numerous, they ventured to apprehend
only some few that stood outmost, and hurrying them away as fast as
they could, by the time they were well within my gates, the rest made
after them, attempted to break open my doors, fell upon the watchmen,
broke their halberts, flung brickbats and stones up against my house,
cried out: ‘This is the grand justice that hangs and quarters us all,
and caused Jones and Wright to be executed the last sessions,’ divided
themselves into two parties, sent one to beset the back lane behind my
garden, having information given them that I sent prisoners out that
way to avoid a rescue, and had not the Horse Guards opportunely fell
in upon them, as they lay battering before my house, it had not been
in my power to have prevented a further mischief.” (Letter from
Humphrey Weld to the Earl of Craven in _Calendar of State Papers,
Domestic_, 1671, pp. 241–2).
Footnote 478:
_Historical MSS. Commission, Duke of Portland’s MSS._, Report XIII.,
App. 1, 683.
Footnote 479:
He was certainly there in April of that year. “Letter for the French
Ambassador brought by a sea captain enclosed to Humphrey Wield, at his
house in Wield Street, London.” (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_,
1673, p. 166).
Footnote 480:
For example: (i) 10 March 1676–7. Information of William Herriot that
“at Nieuport he met Captains Douglas and Ennys, who desired him to
make his address to the Spanish Ambassador at London, who lived at
Wild House.” (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1677–8, p. 14);
(ii.) 29 March, 1679. Lord Clarendon reports that “in Mr. Weld’s
garden in a grotto are 27 chests of goods.... Mr. Bedloe present said
they belonged to Don Pedro de Ronquillio who was present at the search
and would not admit to have the letters perused.” (_Historical MSS.
Commission, House of Lords MSS._, App. to 11th Report, Part II., pp.
126–7); (iii.) 26 April, 1681. Evelyn records his visit to “Don Pietro
Ronquillio’s, the Spanish Ambassador, at Wild House”; (iv.) 9th
September, 1686. “The Spanish Ambassador made a bonfire at Wild House
last night and brought out wine for the mob, but the rabble overthrew
the bonfires, broke the cask of wine and broke the windows, and pulled
down some of the brick wall.” (_Historical MSS. Commission, Duke of
Portland’s MSS._, III., p. 397).
Footnote 481:
See _Petition and Appeal of Ralph Lister_, MSS. of House of Lords, New
Series, IV., pp. 274–5.
Footnote 482:
21st December, 1693. “The Spanish Ambassador has taken a house in the
Old Spring Garden, where the Duke of Norfolk lately lived, and has, in
a manner, fitted up his chapel. Notice was sent to his Excellency that
for some reasons a Romish chapel could not be permitted within the
verge of the Court, so he is removing back to Weld House.” (_Calendar
of State Papers, Domestic_, 1693, p. 433).
“Weld House is to be Lett, containing 33 Rooms, Garrets and Cellars,
with other suitable conveniences, in Weld Street near L.I. Fields.
Enquire at Weld House, or at Marybone House.” (_London Gazette_, Sep.
13–17, 1694).
Footnote 483:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 484:
Indenture between Isaac Foxcroft and others _and_ Hugh Jones (in
possession of the London County Council).
Footnote 485:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 486:
_Close Roll_, 5 Chas. I. (2800)—Indenture between Richard Holford and
Sir Edward Stradling, reciting the earlier indenture.
Footnote 487:
See p. 93.
Footnote 488:
_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 465–184. Plea of John Corrance.
Footnote 489:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 490:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 32 Eliz., Hilary.
Footnote 491:
_Ibid._, 21 Jas. I., Easter.
Footnote 492:
Recited in Indenture between Matthew Francis and Symond Harborne, in
the possession of the London County Council.
Footnote 493:
Lease by the Rt. Hon. Lord Cary to William Loringe, in the possession
of the London County Council.
Footnote 494:
See p. 112.
Footnote 495:
Katherine Clifton, only daughter and heiress of Gervase, Lord Clifton
of Leighton Bromswold.
Footnote 496:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1623–5, p. 488; 1627–8, p. 10;
1628–9, p. 359; 1629–31, p. 38.
Footnote 497:
_Ibid._, 1628–9, p. 369.
Footnote 498:
_Somerset House Wills, Harvey_, 6 (Proved 15th January, 1638–9).
Footnote 499:
Lady Elizabeth Cust’s _The Brownlows of Belton_ (_Records of the Cust
Family_ Series), II., p. 61.
Footnote 500:
This is not quite certain, but there does not seem much doubt that the
entry refers to Lennox House.
Footnote 501:
The two portions were subsequently assessed for the Hearth Tax at 26
and 11 hearths respectively. The whole house was therefore comparable
in size with Bristol House, assessed at 40 hearths.
Footnote 502:
The Countess of Dysart writes from “Lady Allington’s house, Drury
Lane,” on 22nd August, 1667 (_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1667,
p. 409), and in November, 1668 or 1669, Lord Allington refers to his
mother’s house in Drury Lane (_Ibid._, 1668–9, p. 55). Lady Allington
was succeeded in this house by Lady Ivey (_Hearth Tax Roll_ for 1675).
Footnote 503:
_Somerset House Wills, Batt_, 136. (Proved, with 39 codicils, 28th
June, 1680).
Footnote 504:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1716, III., 24.
Footnote 505:
Parton states that Brownlow Street appears in the parish books in
1685.
Footnote 506:
Indenture of 28th April, 1722, between Gilbert Umfreville and Chas.
Umfreville _and_ Ric. Baker (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1722,
VI., 85).
Footnote 507:
See p. 105.
Footnote 508:
Grey’s _St. Giles’s of the Lepers_, pp. 114–5.
Footnote 509:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 510:
See p. 103.
Footnote 511:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 125.
Footnote 512:
The ratebooks from 1730 (earliest extant) to 1746 show “Daniel Hahn,”
possibly a more correct form of the name, at this house.
Footnote 513:
Indenture dated 27th May, 1728, between Peter Walter and Nicholas
Lovell (_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1728, VI., 15).
Footnote 514:
Grey’s _St. Giles’s of the Lepers_, p. 116.
Footnote 515:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 516:
_Close Roll_, 12 William III. (4863)—Indenture between (1) Mary
Rawlinson, (2) Giles Powell and (3) Jeremiah Ridge.
Footnote 517:
See p. 109.
Footnote 518:
See p. 112.
Footnote 519:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 29, p. 424.
Footnote 520:
_Calendar State Papers, Domestic_, 1611–18, p. 551.
Footnote 521:
_Ibid._, p. 555.
Footnote 522:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 29, p. 484.
Footnote 523:
_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 46, p. 274.
Footnote 524:
It is just possible that a later reference to the spring is to be
found in the petition dated 7th July, 1637, of the inhabitants of the
Old Town of St. Giles, “complayning of y^e stopping up of a fair large
and open well in y^e said towne; being of great use and comfort to y^e
pet^{ers} who now find y^e want thereof in these times of contagion,
y^e same being continued to bee stopped up as aforesaid, by y^e now
landlord Frauncis Garrett.” (_Privy Council Register_, Vol. 48, p.
105).
Footnote 525:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 114.
Footnote 526:
_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz. (742).
Footnote 527:
_Close Roll_, 24 Eliz. (1129)—Indenture between Jas. Briscowe, Joan
his wife and John Wise _and_ Jas. Mascall.
Footnote 528:
_Close Roll_, 11 Chas. I. (3057).—Indenture between Thos. and Olive
Godman and Francis and Frances Gerard.
Footnote 529:
Property on the east side of Drury Lane and on the north side of Broad
Street is mixed up with this, and it is not possible entirely to
separate them.
Footnote 530:
“... abutting east on a court called Ragged Staffe Court (which court
was heretofore in the possession of John Vavasour.” (_Close Roll_, 12
William III. (4863)—Indenture between Mary Rawlinson, etc., cited
above).
Footnote 531:
Parton’s statement that the two were identical (_Hospital and Parish
of St. Giles_, p. 127) is incorrect. The Hearth Tax Rolls mention
both, and both are clearly shown in the map accompanying Strype’s
edition of Stow (Plate 5).
Footnote 532:
He died in 1585 (_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, Series II., Vol. 208
(173).)
Footnote 533:
John Vavasour’s will (_Somerset House Wills, Winderbanck_, 65), was
proved on 18th June, 1608.
Footnote 534:
_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz., (749).
Footnote 535:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1723, V., 181–2.
Footnote 536:
On 16th January, 1717–8, Edward Theedham leased to Chas. Hall and Ant.
Elmes _The Bear_ Brewhouse, in St. Giles (_Middlesex Registry
Memorials_, 1717, IV., 263).
Footnote 537:
Ancient tavern signs were nearly always “on the hoop,” which seems to
have originated “in the highly ornamented bush or crown, which
latterly was made of hoops covered with evergreens.” (Larwood and
Hotton, _History of Signboards_, p. 504.)
Footnote 538:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 237.
Footnote 539:
_Close Roll_, 31 Chas. II. (4527).
Footnote 540:
_Sewer Rate Book_ for that year.
Footnote 541:
_Parton’s Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 320.
Footnote 542:
_Close Roll_, 9 Eliz. (742).
Footnote 543:
On 27th March, 1573, Henry Amptill and Roger Mascall, brewers, were
convicted of having set at large certain suspected persons, whom
William Westone, a “hedborowe” of St. Giles, had taken in a certain
tenement of the said Henry Amptill and had imprisoned. (_Middlesex
County Records, Sessions Rolls_, I., p. 82).
Footnote 544:
In 1621, John Ampthill was granted leave to alienate 5 messuages, 11
cottages and 4 gardens to Anne, Robert, James and Thomas Foote
(_Patent Roll_, 19 Jas. I. (2263)); in 1614 he sold 3 houses to
Richard Windell (_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 12 Jas I., Mich.), whose
grandson in 1630 parted with them to Abraham Hawkins (_Close Roll_, 6
Chas. I. (2823)); and in 1625 he obtained leave to alienate 14
messauges to John and Abraham Hawkins. On the death of Abraham in
1645, he was still in possession of 14 messuages in St. Giles
(_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, 2nd Series, 707 (41).)
Footnote 545:
The Hawkins property seems to have descended to Sir William Dawes,
Archbishop of York, whose mother was Jane Hawkins. By a deed of 1726
(_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1726, IV., 389) Jane Lewis sold the
remainder of a lease granted by Sir William, and comprising _inter
alia_ a house which by reference to the ratebooks can be shown to be
the second westwards from Lamb Alley.
Footnote 546:
_Close Roll_, 7 Chas. I. (2895).
Footnote 547:
_Close Roll_, 1655 (3866).
Footnote 548:
On 3rd December, 1603, William Barber, of St. Giles, gardener, was
convicted, with others, of throwing filth and dung near the highway in
a certain close called “Blumsberrie fieldes.” (_Middlesex County
Records, Sessions Rolls_, II., p. 4).
Footnote 549:
_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 32 Eliz., Easter.
Footnote 550:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 319.
Footnote 551:
Sale by Arthur Blythe to William Wigg and Thomas Whitfield, in trust
for John Smallbone, dated 1680, and quoted by Parton (_op. cit._) p.
126.
Footnote 552:
See p. 106.
Footnote 553:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 125.
Footnote 554:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 113. Newlands was actually in
the parish of St. Marylebone (see p. 125).
Footnote 555:
_Blemundsbury_, p. 308.
Footnote 556:
“Maslyn’s Pond” and “Maslyn Fields” are mentioned in the parish books
in 1644 and 1656 (Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, pp.
270–1).
Footnote 557:
See p. 101.
Footnote 558:
See Sale by Arthur Blythe to Wigg and Whitfield, quoted by Parton
(_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 126).
Footnote 559:
Kingsford’s edition, II., p. 91.
Footnote 560:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 561:
See p. 123. The Close had a reputed area of 10 acres (See _e.g._,
_Rents of Henry VIII. in London and the Suburbs_, 35 Henry VIII.
(Rentals and Surveys, General Series), Roll 452).
Footnote 562:
_Parliamentary Survey_ (Augmentation Office), Middlesex, 24.
Footnote 563:
_I.e._, the field called Long Acre or Elm Field, lying between Castle
Street and the street called Long Acre.
Footnote 564:
Obviously a mistake for “south”; Castle Street is the thoroughfare
meant.
Footnote 565:
Monmouth Street, now Shaftesbury Avenue, and West Street.
Footnote 566:
_I.e._, _The Bowl_ property, see p. 110.
Footnote 567:
Sir John Brownlow. The same variation occurs in the Hearth Tax Rolls.
Footnote 568:
_Close Roll_, 2 Geo. II. (5363).
Footnote 569:
_Endowed Charities, County of London_, Vol. V., p. 946.
Footnote 570:
_Patent Roll_, 24 Charles II. (3137).
Footnote 571:
The existence of a “Tower Street” between King Street and White Lion
Street is impossible. A portion of the close was in 1690 used as a
laystall (_Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1689–90, p. 389).
Footnote 572:
_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 36–47. Suit of Jas. Kendricke.
Footnote 573:
_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 614–105. Suit of William Jennens.
Footnote 574:
There are records _inter alia of_ (_a_) four houses built in Great St.
Andrew Street, between Michaelmas, 1693, and August, 1694 (_Middlesex
Registry Memorials_, 1734, V., 266), and (_b_) houses built in
Monmouth Street and Little Earl Street in July, 1693, and October,
1694 (_Chancery Decree Roll_, 1933. Suit of William Lloyd).
Footnote 575:
The leases of many of the houses erected on the south-west of the
close do not seem to have been granted before 1708–9.
Footnote 576:
_Notes and Queries_, 11th Series, VIII., pp. 182–3.
Footnote 577:
The plan is probably a little later than 1691 (the date assigned to
it), for, as has been shown, Neale did not obtain his lease until
1693.
Footnote 578:
Wheatley and Cunningham’s _London Past and Present_, III., p. 234.
Footnote 579:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 580:
Recited in Indenture of 25th October, 1728, between Jas. Joye (1),
Oliver Martin and Thos. Russell (2) and Rev. Thos. Blackwell (3)
(_Close Roll_, 2 Geo. II. (5364)).
Footnote 581:
Much of the above information is taken from Emily Dibdin’s _Seven
Dials Mission: the story of the old Huguenot Church of All Saints,
West Street_.
Footnote 582:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 583:
It should be mentioned, however, that in a petition, probably
belonging to the year 1354, the Mayor and Commonalty of London claimed
that the Hospital had been founded by a citizen of London suffering
from leprosy. (_Calendar of Letterbooks of the City of London_,
Letterbook G., p. 27).
Footnote 584:
Parton (_History of the Hospital and Parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 1) and, following him, Dugdale (_Monasticon_
VII., p. 635) give the date of the Hospital’s foundation as 1101. This
is certainly wrong. Parton’s authority was an entry in Leland’s
_Collectanea_, I., p. 418 (2nd edn.), which under the date 1101
mentions several events, (i.) Henry’s marriage with Maud, (ii.) his
appointment of a military guard for his brother Robert who was in
prison, (iii.) Maud’s foundation of the Hospital of St. Giles. The
next entry is dated 1109. The date 1101 is obviously only intended to
cover (i.) (which took place strictly speaking in 1100), for Robert
was not taken prisoner until the battle of Tinchebray in 1106. The
passage therefore would seem to suggest a date between 1106 and 1109
for the foundation of St. Giles.
Footnote 585:
_Survey of London_ (Kingsford’s edn.), II., p. 90.
Footnote 586:
_Historia Anglicana_, p. 176_b_.
Footnote 587:
Parton in his transcription of the document reads “forty” throughout,
and has been copied by everybody. It is, however, clearly
“quatuordecim” in all cases.
Footnote 588:
_Ancient Petitions_, E. 617.
Footnote 589:
_Ancient Petitions_, E. 617; 2448.
Footnote 590:
_Calendar of Letterbooks of the City of London_, Letterbook G., p. 28.
Footnote 591:
_Ibid._, p. 29.
Footnote 592:
_I.e._, 27 Edw. I. (_Calendar of Patent Rolls_, p. 404). It has been
generally assumed that the date was 1354, _i.e._, 27 Edw. III., no
doubt because Parton (_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, pp. 23, 26)
when translating the document relating to the suit between the Abbot
of St. Mary Graces and the Master of Burton Lazars gave the name of
the King as Edward the son of Edward, whereas the reading is clearly
“Edward the son of Henry.”
Footnote 593:
It really extended somewhat to the west of the eastern side of the
modern road, which has been formed by widening the ancient Hog Lane.
Footnote 594:
_Close Roll_, 16 James I. (2384).—Indenture, dated 19 March, 1617–8,
between Robert Lloyd and Isaac Bringhurst.
Footnote 595:
See p. 124.
Footnote 596:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, 3 Edward VI. (89).
Footnote 597:
_Close Roll_, 8 Elizabeth (722).
Footnote 598:
_Close Roll_, 8 James I. (2066)—Indenture, dated 20th February,
1610–11, between John Graunge and Robert Lloyd.
Footnote 599:
A sixth was sold in 1622 by John and William Flood to Zachery Bethel,
lying to the south of Sir Edward Fisher’s house, but this seems to
have only recently been built on land taken out of the four acres (see
p. 122).
Footnote 600:
_Close Roll_, 16 James I. (2384).
Footnote 601:
The reversion was then sold to Francis Ashburnham (_Close Roll_, 5
Charles I. (2800)—Indenture, dated 1st March, 1628–9, between John
Stafey and Isaac Bringhurst _and_ The Worshipful Francis Ashburnham).
Footnote 602:
_Endowed Charities_ (_County of London_), Vol. III. (1900), p. 348.
Footnote 603:
_Close Roll_, 10 James I. (2123)—Indenture between Robert Floyd _and_
William Holt and John Harman.
Footnote 604:
_Close Roll_, 1652 (3683)—Indenture between John Hooker and Walter
Bigg.
Footnote 605:
Letter dated 5th May, 1677, from Philip, Lord Wharton to Sir R. Verney
(_Historical MSS. Commission, Verney MSS._, App. to VII. Report, p.
469).
Footnote 606:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 117.
Footnote 607:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1727, VI., 138.
Footnote 608:
_Close Roll_, 16 James I. (2384)—Indenture between Robert Lloyd and
Isaac Bringhurst.
Footnote 609:
_Close Roll_, 16 James I. (2384).
Footnote 610:
_Close Roll_, 7 Charles I. (2895)—Indenture between Anne Bringhurst
and John Stafey _and_ the Lady Alice Dudley.
Footnote 611:
_Close Roll_, 10 Charles I. (3017).
Footnote 612:
_Chancery Proceedings, Bridges_, 455–66.—Suit of John Boswell.
Footnote 613:
The boundaries are given as (E) tenement now in occupation of Nicholas
Holden; (W) churchyard; (N) Kilburn to Holborn Highway; (S) orchard of
Nicholas Holden (_Close Roll_, 9 Elizabeth (742)—Indenture between
Lord Mountjoy and Percival Rowland).
Footnote 614:
The boundaries are given as: (S) highway from St. Giles to
Knightsbridge; (W) a tenement late of Rowland Percival, and a close of
John Graunge; (N) highway through St. Giles to Uxbridge (_Close Roll_,
11 Elizabeth (797)—Indenture between Lord Mountjoy and Edward
Kyngston).
Footnote 615:
See p. 125.
Footnote 616:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, Vol. 139 (134).
Footnote 617:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, Vol. 384 (139).
Footnote 618:
_Recovery Roll_, 21 James I. Trinity.—Indenture between John and
William Flood, and Zachery Bethel.
Footnote 619:
_Somerset House Wills, Gee_, 159.
Footnote 620:
_Patent Roll_, 23 Charles II. (3125).
Footnote 621:
_Augmentation Office, Deed of Sale_, E. 19. The Master of Burton
Lazars apparently lost by the transaction, but from a letter, dated
1st April, 1535, written by Richard Layton to Cromwell, it would seem
that at one time there was a distinct prospect of his faring still
worse. “I sent for the Master of Burton Lazer as you desired,
advertising him of the King’s pleasure commanding him to be here by
Easter eve, and desire you to intercede for him with the King that he
might obtain other lands for his lands of St. Giles’s. He came, and I
have been with him divers times. I have persuaded him to put his sole
trust in you and that he shall not go to the King in anywise before
you bring him to His Grace. He is content to do so. When you wish that
I should bring him unto you to make further declaration to him of the
King’s pleasure, let me know.” (_Calendar of Letters of Henry VIII._,
26 H. VIII., p. 168).
Footnote 622:
These were in St. Anne’s, Soho.
Footnote 623:
After the Duke of Norfolk had heard that Legh was scheming to get the
mastership, he wrote that Legh was married, adding, “Alas! what pity
it were that such a vicious man should have the governance of that
honest house!” (_Letters and Papers of Henry VIII._, XII., i., p.
282).
Footnote 624:
_Patent Roll_, 28 Henry VIII. (671).
Footnote 625:
The whole of the above information is obtained from _Chancery Decree
Roll_ (1).
Footnote 626:
_Abstracts of Inquisitiones Post Mortem relating to the City of
London_, ed. Geo. S. Fry, Part I., p. 62. Legh was buried in the old
church of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, and an illustration of his effigy
is given in Ellis’s _Antiquities of Shoreditch_. The following
inscription was underneath (Hatton’s _New View of London_, 1908):—
“Here under lye the Ashes and the Bones
Of Sir Tho. Leigh, that good and learned Knight,
Whose hasty Death, alas, the Godly still bemoan,
Tho his Soul always rejoice in God’s sight,
Great was his Wisdom, and greater was his Wit,
His Visage comely, with no sad Change dismay’d,
A Man in all Affairs a King to serve most fit,
Had not Death so soon his mortal Life betray’d.”
Footnote 627:
_Chancery Decree Roll_, No. 3.
Footnote 628:
_Close Roll_, 37 Henry VIII. (444).
Footnote 629:
This was in the parish of Edmonton, now Southgate.
Footnote 630:
On the north side of Broad Street, now in the parish of St. George,
Bloomsbury.
Footnote 631:
The Great Close of Bloomsbury and Wilkinson’s Close.
Footnote 632:
_I.e._, Middle Row (see _Close Roll_, 12 Elizabeth (832).—Indenture
between Lord and Lady Mountjoy and William Perye), formerly standing
just outside Holborn Bars.
Footnote 633:
These were in St. Marylebone. The Inquisition on the death of Sir John
Grange (1611) refers to “a close of land commonly known by the name of
Newlondes containing 24 acres, and ... all that parcel of land or lane
(“venelle”) near adjoining the aforesaid close ... situated within the
parish of Marylebone.” (_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, Vol.
686 (113)).
Footnote 634:
Licence to alienate granted 6th July, 1546.
Footnote 635:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, 3 Edward VI. (89).
Footnote 636:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, 15 Elizabeth, Vol. 165, on Thomas Carew.
Footnote 637:
_Ibid._, 6 Elizabeth, Vol. 139.
Footnote 638:
_Ibid._, Series II. (49), Vol. 109.
Footnote 639:
Her second husband was Sir Thomas Chaloner.
Footnote 640:
According to the _Dictionary of National Biography_, he “spent the
fortune of his family in the pursuit of alchemy.”
Footnote 641:
The “Lorde Mountjoye and the Lady Katherine” are mentioned in a
mortgage by the former to John Mery, dated 1st February, 1556–7.
(_Close Roll_, 4 and 5, Philip and Mary (547)).
Footnote 642:
_Close Roll_, 7 Eliz. (695).
Footnote 643:
Considerable doubt seems to have existed on this point. Side by side
with assertions to the contrary, there are plain statements that the
mortgage _was_ redeemed (see _e.g._, _Chancery Decree Roll_, 54,
concerning a complaint by Jas. Mascall against Thomas Harrys and
others). Nevertheless it is quite certain that the statement in the
text is true, for (1) the recognisance accompanying the mortgage is
not cancelled; (2) Blount’s son Charles (afterwards Earl of
Devonshire) definitely stated that the manor was not redeemed
(_Chancery Proceedings_, Elizabeth B. 15–52), suit of Charles Blount;
(3) the steps by which the manor descended from the Brownes are known.
Footnote 644:
_Close Roll_, 21 Eliz. (1059); _Common Plea Roll_, 25 Eliz., Hilary,
4010; _Close Roll_, 34 Eliz. (1425). Parton (_Hospital and Parish of
St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 331) bridges over the gap between Blount
and Cope by the supposition that the manor came into the hands of the
last-named in consequence of a mortgage to one “Master Cope, citizen
of London.” But (1) the mortgage is not of the manor of St. Giles, and
(2) the proper reading is not “Cope” but “Rope.”
Footnote 645:
He was knighted on 20th April, 1603.
Footnote 646:
_Close Roll_, 14 Jas. I. (2308)—Indenture between Sir Henry Rich, Dame
Isabella, and Dame Dorothy Cope and Gifford _and_ Risley.
Footnote 647:
_Vestry Minutes_, 1624–1719.
Footnote 648:
See p. 1.
Footnote 649:
Newcourt, _op. cit._, p. 612.
Footnote 650:
The sketch given by Parton, _Hospital and Parish of St.
Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 54, is quite untrustworthy, and is in
conflict with the little that is known of the church. He gives no
authority for the sketch save that it was as “preserved in rude
delineations of it, made near the time.”
Footnote 651:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 56.
Footnote 652:
_Ibid._, pp. 191–2.
Footnote 653:
_Vestry Minutes_, 1624–1719, f. 4.
Footnote 654:
_A Mirrour of Christianity and a Miracle of Charity, etc._, by R. B.
[_i.e._, Robert Boreman], p. 121.
Footnote 655:
_A New View of London_ (1708), I., p. 259.
Footnote 656:
_Strype’s edition of Stow_, 1720, II., pp. 77_ff_. The greater portion
of what follows is taken from Strype’s description.
Footnote 657:
See illustrations on map in _Strype’s edition of Stow_ (Plate 5).
Footnote 658:
A list of Lady Dudley’s benefactions comprises the following: “She
gave to the Church of St. Giles, the greatest bell in the steeple; and
divers great pieces of massive plate; paved the chancel with marble,
built the fair blue gate at the entrance to the churchyard, and
purchased a fair house of £30 a year value for the perpetual
incumbent. She also gave the hangings for the choir, which cost £80
10s., 2 service books, embroidered in gold, £5; velvet altar cloth
with gold fringe £60; a cambric cloth to lay over it with a deep bone
lace £4 10s.; another fine damask cloth £3; 2 cushions for the altar,
richly embroidered with gold, £10; a Turkey carpet to lay before the
altar £6; a long screen to sever the chancel from the church, richly
carved and gilt, £200; a fair organ £100; the organ loft richly
wrought and gilt, and a tablet of the Ten Commandments, the Creed and
Lord’s Prayer, richly adorned, £80; the rails before the altar
curiously carved and gilt, £40.” (_Calendar of State Papers,
Domestic_, 1668–9, p. 176).
Footnote 659:
_Parton’s Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, pp. 200–1.
Footnote 660:
4 Geo. I., cap. 14.
Footnote 661:
3 Geo. II., cap. 19.
Footnote 662:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 213.
Footnote 663:
Hatton’s _New View of London_ (1708), p. 262.
Footnote 664:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 224
Footnote 665:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, pp. 216–7.
Footnote 666:
_Novum Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense_, p. 173.
Footnote 667:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 668:
See p. 123.
Footnote 669:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 670:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 117.
Footnote 671:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 672:
See p. 1.
Footnote 673:
_Close Roll_, 30 Henry VI.—Grant, dated 2nd April, 1452, by Jo.
Crouton and W. Horn to Jo. and Katherine Nayler.
Footnote 674:
To the east of Church Close.
Footnote 675:
_Close Roll_, 13 James I. (2275).
Footnote 676:
_History of London_, p. 1363.
Footnote 677:
_Tyburn Gallows_ (published by the London County Council), p. 16.
Footnote 678:
The gallows in St. Giles Fields erected for the execution of Lord
Cobham were obviously put up for that special purpose. There may, of
course, have been a manorial gallows, but no mention of such for St.
Giles occurs in the _Quo Warranto_ Rolls.
Footnote 679:
_Endowed Charities, County of London_, III., p. 350.
Footnote 680:
Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 228.
Footnote 681:
_Chancery Decree Roll_, No. 3.
Footnote 682:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, II. Series, Middlesex, Vol. 200 (5).
Footnote 683:
Formerly on the east side of Dyott Street, just outside the parish
boundary.
Footnote 684:
_Close Roll_, 9 Elizabeth (742).
Footnote 685:
_Close Roll_, 8 Charles I. (2946).
Footnote 686:
_Close Roll_, 1649 (31). Indenture, dated 20th March, 1648–9, between
John Barber _als_ Grigg and Henry Baynbrigge.
Footnote 687:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_, p. 152.
Footnote 688:
Edmund Buckeridge and Henry Loveday _querentes_: and Jane Baynbrigge,
widow; William Maynard and Mary, his wife; Nicholas Buckeridge, and
Sara, his wife; and Simon Dyott and Jane, his wife, _deforciantes_; of
100 messuages, 200 cottages, 40 gardens and 10 acres of land in St.
Giles, Mary, Sara and Jane renounce for their heirs. It will be seen
that the property had grown, and it is known that Bainbridge had
purchased more (see _e.g._, purchase from Sir John Bramston and
others, _Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 1665, Trinity).
Footnote 689:
“The Rookery,” was a triangular space bounded by Bainbridge, George,
and High Streets; it was one dense mass of houses, through which
curved narrow tortuous lanes, from which again diverged close
courts—one great mass, as if the houses had originally been one block
of stone, eaten by slugs into numberless small chambers and connecting
passages. The lanes were thronged with loiterers; and stagnant
gutters, and piles of garbage and filth infested the air. In the
windows, wisps of straw, old hats, and lumps of bed-tick or brown
paper, alternated with shivered panes of broken glass, the walls were
the colour of bleached soot, and doors fell from their hinges and
worm-eaten posts. Many of the windows announced, “Lodgings at 3d. a
night,” where the wild wanderers from town to town held their nightly
revels.” (Timbs’ _Curiosities of London_ (1867), p. 378.)
Footnote 690:
Opened in 1847.
Footnote 691:
Except perhaps the extreme east.
Footnote 692:
Wheatley and Cunningham (_London, Past and Present_) give the date of
the street’s formation as approximately 1670.
Footnote 693:
_Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren_ (1823), p.
522.
Footnote 694:
Collins’s _Peerage of England_, 5th Edition, III., p. 328.
Footnote 695:
_Memoirs of the Life and Works of Sir Christopher Wren_, p. 522.
Footnote 696:
Burke’s _Peerage_.
Footnote 697:
_Hospital and Parish of St. Giles_, p. 372.
Footnote 698:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 699:
Walpole’s _Letters_ (Toynbee Edn.) XI., p. 52.
Footnote 700:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III., pp. 88–89.
Footnote 701:
Parish ratebooks.
Footnote 702:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 703:
Information kindly supplied by His Grace the Duke of Bedford.
Footnote 704:
Richardson and Gill’s _London Houses from 1660 to 1820_, p. 67.
Footnote 705:
A. E. Richardson’s _Monumental Classic Architecture in Great Britain
and Ireland_.
Footnote 706:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
108.
Footnote 707:
Beresford Chancellor’s _History of the Squares of London_, pp. 202–10.
Footnote 708:
Information kindly supplied by His Grace the Duke of Bedford.
Footnote 709:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1778, II., 409.
Footnote 710:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 711:
In the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 712:
_Painted Decoration—the Georgian Period_, by Ingleson C. Goodison
(_Architectural Review_, January, 1913).
Footnote 713:
Information kindly supplied by the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson, M.A., F.S.A.
Footnote 714:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 715:
In the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 716:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1778, II., 409.
Footnote 717:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
67.
Footnote 718:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 719:
In the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 720:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1778, IV., 505.
Footnote 721:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 722:
In the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 723:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1778, IV., 505.
Footnote 724:
See p. 153.
Footnote 725:
Boyle’s _Court Guide_, however, shows him at the house from 1796 to
1799.
Footnote 726:
_The Dictionary of National Biography_ says that it was at No. 11,
Bedford Square.
Footnote 727:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 728:
Partly in the Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields and partly in that of
St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 729:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 730:
Information kindly supplied by His Grace the Duke of Bedford.
Footnote 731:
See p. 151.
Footnote 732:
See pp. 84–5.
Footnote 733:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 734:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 735:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 736:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 737:
See p. 168.
Footnote 738:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 739:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 263.
Footnote 740:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 741:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1776, VI., 487.
Footnote 742:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 743:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1776, VI., 630.
Footnote 744:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 745:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, VI., 631.
Footnote 746:
_Survey of London_, Vol. III. (St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Part I.), p.
102.
Footnote 747:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 748:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1778, II., 314.
Footnote 749:
_Dictionary of National Biography._
Footnote 750:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 751:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 351.
Footnote 752:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 753:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 353.
Footnote 754:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 755:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 254.
Footnote 756:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 757:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 252.
Footnote 758:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 759:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, VII., 257.
Footnote 760:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 761:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, I., 637.
Footnote 762:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 763:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, II., 526.
Footnote 764:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 765:
In the Parish of St. George, Bloomsbury.
Footnote 766:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1777, I., 631.
Footnote 767:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 768:
Reproduced here.
Footnote 769:
See licence to alienate granted in _Patent Roll_, 9 Elizabeth (1038).
Footnote 770:
See p. 125.
Footnote 771:
See pardon for alienation granted in _Patent Roll_, 30 Elizabeth
(1321).
Footnote 772:
Information kindly supplied by the City of London Corporation.
Footnote 773:
A. E. Richardson’s _Monumental Classic Architecture_.
Footnote 774:
A copy is in the County Hall collection.
Footnote 775:
It was the last of several designs prepared for a Select Committee of
the House of Commons who engaged in deliberating on the improvements
to the Port, including a new London Bridge. The view shows two bridges
of six arches each, with a drawbridge in the centre intended for the
passage of ships. Between the bridges flights of steps lead down to
the river. The two large areas beyond the bridges are terminated by
crescents. The Monument stands in the chord of the northern crescent,
and a large obelisk in that of the southern.
Footnote 776:
_Inquisitiones Post Mortem_, Chas. I. (765), 37.
Footnote 777:
John Holles, first Earl of Clare (1564?–1637).
Footnote 778:
It seems probable that the land in question (which, being partly in
St. Giles and partly in St. Pancras, was described sometimes as in one
parish, sometimes in the other) is identical with the land in St.
Pancras sold, together with Clement’s Inn, by Sir William Hawte to
William (afterwards Sir William) Holles, ancestor of the Earls of
Clare, in 1532 (_Middlesex Feet of Fines_, 23 Henry VIII., Hil.).
Footnote 779:
The boundary between St. Giles and St. Pancras used to run through the
middle of the close.
Footnote 780:
_Middlesex Registry Memorials_, 1772, VI., 111.
Footnote 781:
_The Old Farm House in Tottenham Court Road_, by Ambrose Heal.
Footnote 782:
Reproduced here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
4. Denoted superscripts by a caret before a single superscript
character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in
curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.
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