CHAPTER I.

This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.

A WALK

From London to Fulham

BY THE LATE

THOMAS CROFTON CROKER, F.S.A., M.R.I.A.

REVISED AND EDITED BY HIS SON,

T. F. DILLON CROKER, F.S.A., F.R.G.S.

WITH ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS, BY

F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A.

[Picture: Illustration]

LONDON: WILLIAM TEGG.

1860.

CONTENTS.

Note by T. F. Dillon Croker. v

Dedication to Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. vii

Memoir of the late Thomas Crofton Croker, F.S.A., M.R.I.A., ix

Etc.

Text of 'A Walk from London to Fulham.' 22

Index of Places. 250

Index of Names of Persons. 253

Footnotes.

NOTE.

A series of papers which originally appeared in 'Fraser' are now, for the

first time, published in a collected form with the consent of the

proprietors of that Magazine. It should, however, be stated, that this

is not a mere reprint, but that other matter has been inserted, and

several illustrations, which did not appear originally, are now added, by

which the work is very materially increased: the whole having undergone a

necessary revision.

Since the late Mr. Crofton Croker contributed to 'Fraser' the 'Walk from

London to Fulham,' there have been many important changes on the road:

time has continued to efface interesting associations; more old houses

have been pulled down, new ones built up, and great alterations and

improvements have taken place not contemplated a few years ago. It would

be impossible, for example, that any one who has not visited the locality

during the last few years could recognize the narrow lanes of yesterday

in the fine roads now diverging beyond the South Kensington Museum, which

building has so recently been erected at the commencement of Old

Brompton; but modern improvements are seemingly endless, and have of late

become frequent. It is in the belief that the following pages will be an

interesting and acceptable record of many places no longer in existence,

that they are submitted to the public in their present shape by

T. F. DILLON CROKER.

TO

THOMAS WRIGHT, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A.

MY DEAR MR. WRIGHT,

As a mark of sincere regard to an old and esteemed friend of my late

Father, I offer these pages to you.

Yours most faithfully,

T. F. DILLON CROKER.

19 _Pelham Place_,

_Brompton_, 1860.

MEMOIR

OF THE LATE

THOMAS CROFTON CROKER, F.S.A., M.R.I.A., ETC.

The late eminent genealogist, Sir W. Betham of Dublin, Ulster

King-at-Arms, well known as the author of numerous works on the

Antiquities of Ireland, and Mr. Richard Sainthill, an equally zealous

antiquary still living in Cork, were two of the most intimate friends and

correspondents of the late Mr. Crofton Croker.

The first-named gentleman drew up an elaborate table tracing the Croker

pedigree as far back as the battle of Agincourt. The Croker crest--"Deus

alit eos"--was granted to Sir John Croker, who accompanied Edward IV. on

his expedition to France in 1475, as cup and standard-bearer; but without

going back to the original generation, or tracing the Limerick or any

other branch of the family, it will be sufficient to say here that the

Crokers, if they did not "come over with William the Conqueror" came

originally from Devonshire, and settled in Ireland in the reign of

Elizabeth. Thomas Crofton Croker was the only son of Thomas Croker, who,

after twenty-five years of arduous and faithful military service in North

America, Holland, and Ireland, and after having purchased every step in

the army, was gazetted brevet-major on the 11th May, 1802, in the same

regiment which he had at first joined (the 38th, or 1st Staffordshire

Foot), and in which he had uninterruptedly served. Indeed, he was so

much attached to his regiment, that, in his case at least, the

Staffordshire knot became perfectly symbolic. The closer the knot was

drawn the firmer the tie became. He commenced, continued, and ended an

honourable life of activity in the service of his country from mere

boyhood, until ill-health and a broken constitution forced him to sell

his commission. Thomas Croker was the eldest son of Richard Croker, of

Mount Long in the county of Tipperary, who died on the 1st January, 1771;

and his mother was Anne, the daughter of James Long of Dublin, by the

Honourable Mary Butler, daughter of Theobald the seventh Earl of Cahir.

Thomas Croker was born on the 29th March, 1761. In 1796 he married

Maria, eldest daughter and co-heir of Croker Dillon of Baltidaniel in the

county of Cork, and on the 15th January, 1798, Thomas Crofton Croker was

born at the house of his maternal grandmother in Buckingham Square, Cork,

receiving his first Christian name after his father, and his second after

his godfather, the Honourable Sir E. Crofton, Bart.

While very young, during the years 1812 and 1815, Crofton Croker made

several excursions in the south of Ireland, studying the character and

traditions of the country, on which occasions he was frequently

accompanied by Mr. Joseph Humphreys, a Quaker, afterwards master of the

Deaf and Dumb Institution at Claremont near Dublin. In 1813 he was

placed with the mercantile firm of Messrs. Lecky and Mark, and in 1817 he

appeared as an exhibitor in the second exhibition of the Cork Society,

for he had already displayed considerable talent as an artist. In 1818

he contributed to an ephemeral production called 'The Literary and

Political Examiner:' on the 22nd March of that year his father died, and

he left Ireland, not to revisit it until he made a short excursion there

in 1821 with Alfred Nicholson and Miss Nicholson (who afterwards became

Mrs. Croker), children of the late Mr. Francis Nicholson, one of the

founders of the English water-colour school, and who died in 1844 at the

patriarchal age of ninety-one years.

Crofton Croker's first visit to England was paid to Thomas Moore in

Wiltshire; and soon after his establishing in London he received from the

late Right Hon. John Wilson Croker an appointment at the Admiralty, of

which office his namesake (but no relation) was secretary, and from which

he (Crofton) retired in 1850 as senior clerk of the first class, having

served upwards of thirty years, thirteen of which were passed in the

highest class. This retirement, although he stood first for promotion to

the office of chief clerk, was compulsory upon a reduction of office, and

was not a matter of private convenience. In 1830 Crofton Croker married

Miss Marianne Nicholson, and the result of their union was an only child,

Thomas Francis Dillon Croker, born 26th August, 1831, the writer of the

present memoir.

The literary labours of Crofton Croker were attended with more gratifying

results than his long and unwearied official services. The 'Researches

in the South of Ireland' (1824), an arrangement of notes made during

several excursions between the years 1812 and 1822, was his first

important work. It was published by John Murray, the father of the

present publisher of the 'Quarterly Review,' and contained illustrations

by Mr. Alfred and Miss Nicholson: with the 'Fairy Legends,' however, the

name of Crofton Croker became more especially associated, the first

edition of which appeared anonymously in 1825, and produced a

complimentary letter from Sir Walter Scott, which has been published in

all subsequent editions. The success of the first edition of the legends

was such as immediately to justify a second, which appeared the next

year, illustrated with etchings after sketches by Maclise, and which was

followed by a second series (Parts 2 and 3) in 1827. The third part,

although it appeared under the same title, namely 'Fairy Legends and

Traditions of the South of Ireland,' may be considered as forming almost

a separate work, inasmuch as it comprised the fairy superstitions of

Wales and other countries, in addition to those current in Ireland. A

translation of the legends by the Brothers Grimm appeared in Germany in

1825, and another in Paris in 1828 ('Les Contes Irlandais, precedes d'une

introduction par M. P. A. Dufau'), but it was not until 1834 that Murray

published them in a condensed form in his 'Family Library,' the copyright

of which edition, as revised by the author, was purchased of Murray by

the late Mr. Tegg, and is now published by his son. In October, 1826,

Croker was introduced to Sir Walter Scott at Lockhart's in Pall Mall.

Sir Walter recorded the interview thus:--"At breakfast Crofton Croker,

author of the Irish fairy tales--little as a dwarf, keen-eyed as a hawk,

and of easy, prepossessing manners, something like Tom Moore. Here were

also Terry, Allan Cunningham, Newton, and others." At this meeting, Sir

Walter Scott suggested the adventures of Daniel O'Rourke as the subject

for the Adelphi pantomime, and, at the request of Messrs. Terry and

Yates, Croker wrote a pantomime founded upon the legend, which was

produced at the Adelphi the same year. It succeeded, and underwent two

editions: the second was published in 1828, uniform with the legends, and

entitled 'Daniel O'Rourke; or, Rhymes of a Pantomime, founded on that

Story.' Croker wrote to his sister (Mrs. Eyre Coote, alive at the

present time) the following account of the breakfast party at Lockhart's,

which, though already published in 'The Gentleman's Magazine' (November,

1854), is sufficiently interesting to be repeated. He first mentions

"the writing and preparing for the Adelphi Theatre a Christmas pantomime

from the renowned adventures of Daniel O'Rourke, two or three meetings

with Sir Walter Scott, some anxious experiments in lithography under the

directions of Mr. Coindet, one of the partners of Englemann's house of

Paris, who has lately opened an establishment here, which will be of the

utmost importance to the advancement of the art in this country, and of

which I hope soon to send you specimens." Then he adds: "To tell half

the kindness and attention which I received from Sir Walter Scott would

be impossible. The breakfast party at Lockhart's consisted of Allan

Cunningham, Terry (the actor), Newton (the artist), a Dr. Yates of

Brighton, Captain, Mr., and Mrs. Lockhart, Miss Scott, Mr. Hogg, and your

humble servant. We had all assembled when Sir Walter entered the room.

Maclise's sketch does not give his expression, although there is

certainly a strong likeness--a likeness in it which cannot be mistaken;

but I have a very rough profile sketch in pen and ink by Newton, which is

admirable, and which some time or other I will copy and send you. When I

was introduced to the 'Great Unknown' I really had not the power of

speaking; it was a strange feeling of embarrassment, which I do not

remember having felt before in so strong a manner; and of course to his

'I am glad to see you, Mr. Croker, you and I are not unknown to each

other,' I could say nothing. He contrived to say something neat to every

one in the kindest manner--a well-turned compliment, without, however,

the slightest appearance of flattery--something at which every one felt

gratified. After speaking for a few moments to Mr. Terry and Allan

Cunningham, he returned to where I stood fixed and 'mute as the monument

on Fish Street Hill;' but I soon recovered the use of my tongue from the

easy manner in which he addressed me, and no longer seemed to feel myself

in the presence of some mighty and mysterious personage. He spoke

slowly, with a Scotch accent, and in rather a low tone of voice, so much

so, indeed, that I found it difficult to catch every word. He mentioned

my 'Fairy Legends,' and hoped he should soon have the very great

enjoyment of reading the second volume. 'You are our--I speak of the

Celtic nations' (said Sir Walter)--'great authority now on fairy

superstition, and have made Fairy Land your kingdom; most sincerely do I

hope it may prove a golden inheritance to you. To me,' (continued Sir

Walter) 'it is the land of promise of much future entertainment. I have

been reading the German translation of your tales and the Grimms' very

elaborate introduction.' Mr. Terry mentioned having received from me

Daniel O'Rourke in the shape of a Christmas pantomime. 'It is an

admirable subject,' said Sir Walter, 'and if Mr. Croker has only

dramatized it with half the skill of tricking up old wives' tales which

he has shown himself to possess, it must be, and I prophesy, although I

have not seen it, it will be as great a golden egg in your nest, Terry,

as Mother Goose was to one of the greater theatres some years ago.' He

then repeated by heart part of the conversation between Dan and the

Eagle, with great zest. I must confess it was most sweet from such a

man. But really I blush, or ought to blush, at writing all this

flattery." Here the origin of Maclise's illustrations to the legends is

thus given by the editor of the 'Gentleman's Magazine.' "The artist, who

had not then quitted his native city of Cork, was a frequent visitor to

Mr. Sainthill (the author of 'Olla Podrida'), at the time that the first

edition of the work appeared. Mr. Sainthill read the tales aloud from

time to time in the evening, and Maclise would frequently, on the next

morning, produce a drawing of what he had heard. These were not seen by

Mr. Croker until his next visit to Cork: but when he did see them he was

so much pleased with them that he prevailed upon Mr. Sainthill to allow

them to be copied for his forthcoming edition: and this was done by

Maclise, and the drawings were engraved by W. H. Brooke, and Maclise's

name was not attached to them, but merely mentioned by Mr. Croker in his

preface."

Scott made favourable mention of the 'Fairy Legends' in the collected

edition of the 'Waverley Novels' published in 1830. In a note on Fairy

Superstitions to Chapter XI. of 'Rob Roy,' speaking of the elfin

traditions peculiar to the wild scenery where Avon Dhu or the River Forth

has its birth, he observes: "The opinions entertained about these beings

are much the same with those of the Irish, so exquisitely well narrated

by Mr. Crofton Croker." Again, in his 'Letters on Demonology and

Witchcraft,' Scott says: "We know from the lively and entertaining

legends published by Mr. Crofton Croker, which, though in most cases,

told with the wit of the editor and the humour of his country, contain

points of curious antiquarian information" as to what the opinions of the

Irish are. And again, speaking of the Banshee: "The subject has been so

lately and beautifully investigated and illustrated by Mr. Crofton Croker

and others, that I may dispense with being very particular regarding it."

This was indeed gratifying from such an authority. The late Thomas

Haynes Bayley dedicated to Crofton Croker a volume entitled 'Songs from

Fairy Land.'

Having dwelt at considerable length upon the legends, the required limits

of this notice will not permit more than a reference to the literary

works of Mr. Croker which succeeded them; and as there is but occasion

for their enumeration, they shall be here given in the order of their

appearance, merely premising that the tales of 'Barney Mahoney' and 'My

Village _versus_ Our Village,' were not by Mr. Croker, although they bore

his name: they were, in reality, written by Mrs. Croker. The list stands

thus:--

1828-9. 'The Christmas-Box, an Annual Present for Children, a collection

of Tales edited by Mr. Croker, and published by Harrison Ainsworth' (Sir

Walter Scott, Lockhart, Ainsworth, Maria Edgeworth, and Miss Mitford were

among the contributors).

1829. 'Legends of the Lakes; or, Sayings and Doings at Killarney,

collected chiefly from the Manuscripts of R. Adolphus Lynch, Esq., H. P.

King's German Legion, with illustrations by Maclise (Ebers).' A second

edition, compressed into one volume as a guide to the Lakes, appeared in

1831. (Fisher.)

From this time Croker became contributor to the 'Gentleman's' and

'Fraser's' Magazines. In 1832 he was a steward at the famous literary

dinner given to Hogg the Ettrick Shepherd.

1835. 'Landscape Illustrations to Moore's Irish Melodies, with Comments

for the Curious.' (Only one number appeared.) (Power.)

1837. 'A Memoir of Joseph Holt, General of the Irish Rebels in 1798.

From Holt's Autobiographical MS. in the possession of Sir W. Betham.'

(Colburn.)

'The Journal of a Tour through Ireland in 1644, translated from the

French of M. de la Boullaye le Gouz, assisted by J. Roche, Father Prout,

and Thomas Wright.' (Boone.) Dedicated to the elder Disraeli, "in

remembrance of much attention and kindness received from him many years

ago;" which dedication was cordially responded to by that author.

1839. 'The Popular Songs of Ireland.' (Colburn.)

1843. A Description of Rosamond's Bower, Fulham {18} (the residence of

Mr. Croker for eight years), with an inventory of the pictures,

furniture, curiosities, etc., etc. (Privately printed.)

It was here that Moore, Rogers, Maria Edgeworth, Lucy Aikin, "Father

Prout" (Mahony), Barham (Ingoldsby), Sydney Smith, Jerdan, Theodore Hook,

Lover, Planche, Lords Braybrooke, Strangford, and Northampton, Sir G.

Back, John Barrow, Sir Emerson Tennent, Wyon, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall, T.

Wright, and many others were the guests of Mr. Croker. One room in the

house was fitted up as a Museum, where such visitors delighted to

assemble.

During subsequent years Mr. Croker produced several minor works on

antiquarian and popular subjects, some of them printed for private

circulation among his friends, and others as contributions to the

different societies of which he was a member. He died at his residence,

3, Gloucester Road, Old Brompton, on the 8th of August, 1854, aged 57,

and was buried in the private grave of his father-in-law, Mr. Francis

Nicholson, in the Brompton Cemetery, a sketch of which, by Mr. Fairholt,

appears in these pages. It should not be forgotten that Mr. Crofton

Croker was a contributor to the 'Amulet,' 'Literary Souvenir,' and

'Friendship's Offering,' as well as (more extensively) to the 'Literary

Gazette,' when that journal possessed considerable influence under the

editorship of W. Jerdan. Mr. Croker also edited for the Camden and Percy

Societies (in the formation of which he took an active part) many works

of antiquarian interest. He was connected, also, with the British

Archaeological Association as one of the secretaries (1844-9) under the

presidency of Lord Albert Conyngham (the late Lord Londesborough). That

recently-deceased nobleman was one of Mr. Croker's most attached friends,

and opposite his Lordship's pew in Grimston church, Yorkshire, a neat

marble tablet was erected bearing the following inscription: "In memory

of Thomas Crofton Croker, Esq., the amiable and accomplished author of

the 'Fairy Legends of Ireland,' and other works, Literary and

Antiquarian. This tablet is erected by his friend Lord Londesborough,

1855."

To enumerate all the societies and institutions of which Crofton Croker

was a member, honorary or otherwise, would in these pages be superfluous;

but one society shall be here especially mentioned as originating with

Mr. Croker and a few members of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1828 a

club was established, composed of a select few F.S.A.'s, in consequence

of an excursion during the summer to the site, which, in the time of the

Romans, had been occupied by the city of Noviomagus. In a field at

Keston, near Bromley Common in Kent, Mr. Croker had learned that the

remains of a Roman building were apparent above the grass, and it was to

ascertain this fact that the excursion was undertaken. An excavation was

made, and a few fragments of Roman pottery and a stone coffin were

discovered. From this circumstance the club was called the Noviomagian

Society. Mr. Croker was elected its president, and although most of the

original members had died off, he continued in that office until within a

very few months of his death. There are amongst them at the present time

many highly-valued friends of their late president, who succeed in

keeping up their meetings in the true Noviomagian spirit. Long may they

be spared to assemble together, occasionally introducing fresh life to

the little society, that its pleasant gatherings may not be allowed to

die out! A portrait of Mr. Croker was painted a few years before his

death by Mr. Stephen Pearce (the artist of the 'Arctic Council'). It is

a characteristic and an admirable likeness. The next best is that in

Maclise's well-known picture of 'All Hallow Eve' (exhibited in the Royal

Academy in 1833), on which Lover, in describing the engraving, has

remarked: "And who is that standing behind them?--he seems 'far more

genteel' than the rest of the company. Why, 'tis Crofton Croker, or, as

he is familiarly called amongst his friends, 'The honourable member for

fairy-land.' There you are, Crofty, my boy! with your note-book in your

hand; and maybe you won't pick up a trifle in such good company." It may

be added, that Mr. Croker was for many years one of the registrars of the

Royal Literary Fund. And now, in drawing this slight sketch of Mr.

Croker's life to a close, the writer hopes that it may not be an

uninteresting addition to the present volume.

T. F. D. C.

CHAPTER I.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE TO THE BELL AND HORNS, BROMPTON.

[Picture: Anyone] Obliged by circumstances to lead the life of a

pendulum, vibrating between a certain spot distant four miles from

London, and a certain spot just out of the smoke of the

metropolis,--going into town daily in the morning and returning in the

evening,--may be supposed, after the novelty has worn off, from the

different ways by which he can shape his course, to find little interest

in his monotonous movement. Indeed, I have heard many who live a short

distance from town complain of this swinging backwards and forwards, or,

rather, going forwards and backwards over the same ground every day, as

dull and wearisome; but I cannot sympathise with them. On the contrary,

I find that the more constantly any particular line of road is adhered

to, the more intimate an acquaintance with it is formed, and the more

interesting it becomes.

In some measure, this may be accounted for by studious habits; a

tolerable memory, apt to indulge in recollections of the past, and to

cherish rather than despise, when not impertinent, local gossip, which

re-peoples the district with its former inhabitants,--

"Sweet Memory! wafted by thy gentle gale

Oft up the tide of time I turn my sail,

To view the fairy haunts of long-lost hours

Blest with far greener shades--far fresher flowers."

"We have all by heart," observes the author of the _Curiosities of

Literature_, "the true and delightful reflection of Johnson on local

associations, where the scene we tread suggests to us the men or the

deeds which have left their celebrity to the spot. 'We are in the

presence of their fame, and feel its influence.'" How often have I

fancied, if the walls by which thousands now daily pass without a glance

of recognition or regard, if those walls could speak, and name some of

their former inmates, how great would be the regret of many at having

overlooked houses which they would perhaps have made a pilgrimage of

miles to behold, as associated with the memory of persons whose names

history, literature, or art has embalmed for posterity, or as the scene

of circumstances treasured up in recollection!

If the feelings could be recalled, and faithfully recorded, which the

dull brick walls that I cannot help regarding with interest must have

witnessed, what a romantic chapter in the history of the human mind would

be preserved for study and reflection!--

"Ay, beautiful the dreaming brought

By valleys and green fields;

But deeper feeling, higher thought,

Is what the City yields."

The difficulty, however, is incredible of procuring accurate information

as to any thing which has not been chronicled at the moment. None but

those who have had occasion to search after a date, or examine into a

particular fact, can properly estimate their value, or the many inquiries

that have to be made to ascertain what at first view would appear to be

without embarrassment,--so deceptive is the memory, and so easy a thing

is it to forget, especially numbers and localities, the aspect and even

names of which change with a wonderful degree of rapidity in the progress

of London out of town. Thus many places become daily more and more

confused, and at last completely lose their identity, to the regret of

the contemplative mind, which loves to associate objects with the

recollection of those who "have left their celebrity to the spot."

These considerations have induced the writer to arrange his notes, and

illustrate them by such sketches as will aid the recognition of the

points mentioned, the appearance of which must be familiar to all who

have journeyed between London and Fulham,--a district containing, beside

the ancient village of that name, and remarkable as adjacent to the

country seat of the Bishop of London, two smaller villages, called Walham

Green and Parson's Green. The former of which stands on the main London

road, the latter on the King's Road,--which roads form nearly parallel

lines between Fulham and the metropolis. For all information respecting

the neighbourhood of Knightsbridge the reader may be referred to a

recently published work "The Memorials of the Hamlet of Knightsbridge,

with notices of its immediate neighbourhood," by the late Henry George

Davis, edited by Charles Davis (Russell Smith).

From Knightsbridge, formerly a suburb, and now part of London, the main

roads to Fulham and Hammersmith branch off at the north end of Sloane

Street (about a quarter of a mile west of Hyde Park Corner), thus:--

[Picture: Map]

And at the south termination of Sloane Street, which is 3,299 feet in

length, the King's Road commences from Sloane Square.

THE MAIN FULHAM ROAD passes for about a mile through a district called by

the general name of Brompton, which is a hamlet in the parish of

Kensington. The house, No. 14 Queen's Buildings, Knightsbridge, on the

left-hand or south side of the road, [Picture: Hooper's Court] at the

corner of Hooper's Court, occupied, when sketched in 1844, as two shops,

by John Hutchins, dyer, and Moses Bayliss, tailor, and now (1860) by

Hutchins alone, was, from 1792 to 1797 inclusive, the residence of Mr. J.

C. Nattes, an artist, who deserves notice as one of the sixteen by whose

association, in 1805, the first exhibition of water-colour paintings was

formed.

From 1792 to 1797 this house was described as No. 14 Queen's Buildings,

Knightsbridge; but in the latter year the address was changed to No. 14

Knightsbridge Green. {25a} In 1800 it was known as No. 14 Knightsbridge,

and in 1803 as No. 14 Queen's Row, Knightsbridge. {25b} In 1810 as

Gloucester Buildings, Brompton. {25c} In 1811 as Queen's Buildings.

{25d} In 1828 as Gloucester Row. {25e} In 1831 as Gloucester Buildings;

{25f} and it has now reverted to its original name of Queen's Buildings,

_Knightsbridge_, in opposition to Queen's Buildings, _Brompton_, the

division being Hooper's Court, if, indeed, the original name was not

Queen's _Row_, Knightsbridge, as this in 1772 was the address of William

Wynne Ryland (the engraver who was hanged for forgery in 1783). When

houses began to be built on the same side of the way, beyond Queen's

_Row_, the term "_Buildings_" appears to have been assumed as a

distinction from the row west of Hooper's Court; which row would

naturally have been considered as a continuation, although, in 1786, the

Royal Academy Catalogue records Mr. J. G. Huck, an exhibitor, as residing

at No. 11 Gloster Row, Knightsbridge.

These six alterations of name within half a century, to say nothing of

the previous changes, illustrate the extreme difficulty which attends

precise local identification in London, and are merely offered at the

very starting point as evidence at least of the desire to be accurate.

About the year 1800, the late residence of Mr. Nattes became the lodgings

of Arthur Murphy, too well known as a literary character of the last

century to require here more than the mere mention of his name, even to

those who are accustomed to associate every thing with its pecuniary

value; as Murphy's portrait, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds for Mr.

Thrale, sold at Christie's in the sale of Mr. Watson Taylor's pictures

(June, 1823), for 94 pounds 10s. Murphy had prepared his translation of

Tacitus {26} for the press, at his house on Hammersmith Terrace (the last

at the west end); but declining health and circumstances induced his

removal into lodgings near London, at "14 Knightsbridge." From these

apartments "he soon removed to others in Brompton Row, where he did not

remain long, not liking the mistress of the house, but returned to his

former residence (No. 14), where he resided till the time of his death."

In 1803, the late Lord Sidmouth (then Mr. Addington), conferred a pension

of 200 pounds a-year on Murphy, "to mark the sense" his majesty

entertained "of literary merit, particularly when accompanied with sound

principles and unquestionable character;" which gracious mark of royal

favour Murphy acknowledged on the 2nd of March, from "14 Queen's Row,

Knightsbridge." Here he wrote his life of Garrick, {27a} a work which,

notwithstanding Mr. Foot's ingenious defence of it, shews that Garrick's

life remains to be written, and that Murphy's intellectual powers were,

at the time when he composed it, in a state of decay.

Murphy, according to his biographer, "possessed the first and second

floors of a very pleasant, neat house, where there was a long gravel walk

in the garden; {27b} and though his library had been much diminished,

yet, in the remaining part, he took care to reserve the Elzevir editions

of the classics. Mrs. Mangeon (the mistress of the house) was a neat and

intelligent woman, and Mr. Murphy secured her friendship by giving her

son a presentation to Christ's Hospital. Anne Dunn, his own

servant-maid, was an excellent servant, honest, faithful, and attentive;

so that, what with the services he had rendered to the mistress of the

house, and what with the intrinsic fidelity of his female domestic, he

could put the whole family into a state of requisition, and command an

elegant table, as well as ready attention, upon any particular occasion.

Such was the situation of a man of genius, and an author, in the decline

of a long life, and in a country at the highest pitch of grandeur and

wealth. But it must be remembered, that the comforts he possessed were

not derived from the profits of literature."

During the last year of Arthur Murphy's life he possessed a certain

income of 500 pounds, and added to this was 150 pounds for the copyright

of his Tacitus, which, however, was less than half the sum he had been

frequently offered for it. The translation of Sallust, which Murphy left

unfinished, was completed by Thomas Moore, and published in 1807.

Murphy appears to have perfectly reconciled his mind to the stroke of

death. He made his will thirteen days previous to it, and dictated and

signed plain and accurate orders respecting his funeral. He directed his

library of books and all his pictures to be sold by auction, and the

money arising therefrom, together with what money he might have at his

bankers or in his strong box, he bequeathed to his executor, Mr. Jesse

Foot, of Dean Street, Soho. To Mrs. Mangeon (his landlady) he gave "all

his prints in the room one pair of stairs and whatever articles of

furniture" he had in her house, "the bookcase excepted." And to his

servant, Anne Dunn, "twenty guineas, with all his linen and wearing

apparel." After the completion of this will, Murphy observed, "I have

been preparing for my journey to another region, and now do not care how

soon I take my departure." And on the day of his death (18th June, 1805)

he frequently repeated the lines of Pope:--

"Taught, half by reason, half by mere decay,

To welcome death and calmly pass away."

All that we can further glean respecting the interior of Murphy's

apartment is, that in it "there was a portrait of Dunning (Lord

Ashburton), a very striking likeness, painted in crayons by Ozias

Humphrey."

Humphrey, who was portrait-painter in crayons to George III., and in 1790

was elected member of the Royal Academy, resided, in 1792 and 1793, at

No. 19 Queen's Buildings, _Knightsbridge_; but whether this was the fifth

house beyond Nattes', or the No. 19 Queen's Buildings, now called

_Brompton Road_ (Mitchell's, a linen-draper's shop), I am unable, after

many inquiries, to determine. It will be remembered that Dr. Walcott

(Peter Pindar) introduced Opie to the patronage of Humphrey, and there

are many allusions to "honest Ozias," as he was called in the

contemporary literature.

"But Humphrey, by whom shall your labours be told,

How your colours enliven the young and the old?"

is the comment of Owen Cambridge; and Hayley says,

"Thy graces, Humphrey, and thy colours clear,

From miniatures' small circle disappear;

May their distinguished merit still prevail,

And shine with lustre on the larger scale."

A portrait of Ozias Humphrey, painted by Romney in 1772, is preserved at

Knowle, a memorial of the visit of those artists to the Duke of Dorset.

It has been twice engraved, and the private plate from it, executed by

Caroline Watson in 1784, is a work of very high merit. In 1799 Humphrey

resided at No. 13 High Row, Knightsbridge, nearly opposite to the house

in which Murphy lodged, and there, with the exception of the last few

months, he passed the remainder of his life.

At No. 21 Queen's Buildings (the second house beyond that occupied by

Ozias Humphrey), Mr. Thomas Trotter, an ingenious engraver and

draughtsman, resided in 1801. He engraved several portraits, of which

the most esteemed are a head of the Rev. Stephen Whiston and a head of

Lord Morpeth. Nearly the last work of his burin was a portrait of

Shakspeare, patronized by George Steevens. Trotter died on the 14th

February, 1803, having been prevented from following his profession in

consequence of a blow on one of his eyes, accidentally received by the

fall of a flower-pot from a window. He, however, obtained employment in

making drawings of churches and monuments for the late Sir Richard Hoare,

and other gentlemen interested in topographical illustration.

Queen's Buildings, Brompton, are divided, rather than terminated, at No.

28 (Green's, an earthenware-shop) by New Street, leading into Hans

Place--"snug Hans Place," which possesses one house, at least, that all

literary pilgrims would desire to turn out of their direct road to visit.

Miss Landon, alluding to "the fascinations of Hans Place," playfully

observes, "vivid must be the imagination that could discover them--

'Never hermit in his cell,

Where repose and silence dwell,

Human shape and human word

Never seen and never heard,'

had a life of duller calm than the indwellers of our square." Hans Place

may also be approached from Sloane Street, and No. 22 Hans Place, is the

south-east corner. [Picture: No. 22 Hans Place] Among its inmates have

been Lady Caroline Lamb, {31} Miss Mitford, Lady Bulwer, Miss Landon,

Mrs. S. C. Hall, and Miss Roberts. How much of the "romance and reality"

of life is in a moment conjured up in the mind by the mention of the

names here grouped in local association!

The editor of the memoirs of L. E. L. records two or three circumstances

which give a general interest to Hans Place. Here it was that Miss

Landon was born on the 14th August, 1802, in the house now No. 25; and

"it is remarkable that the greater portion of L. E. L.'s existence was

passed on the spot where she was born. From Hans Place and its

neighbourhood she was seldom absent, and then not for any great length of

time; until within a year or two of her death, she had there found her

home, not indeed in the house of her birth, but close by. Taken

occasionally during the earlier years of childhood into the country, it

was to Hans Place she returned. Here some of her school time was passed.

When her parents removed she yet clung to the old spot, and, as her own

mistress, chose the same scene for her residence. When one series of

inmates quitted it, she still resided there with their successors,

returning continually after every wandering, 'like a blackbird to his

nest.'"

The partiality of Miss Landon for London was extraordinary. In a letter,

written in 1834, and addressed to a reverend gentleman, she ominously

says, "When I have the good luck or ill luck (I rather lean to the latter

opinion) of being married, I shall certainly insist on the wedding

excursion not extending much beyond Hyde Park Corner."

When in her sixth year (1808), Miss Landon was sent to school at No. 22

Hans Place. This school was then kept by Miss Bowden, who in 1801 had

published 'A Poetical Introduction to the Study of Botany,' {32a} and in

1810 a poem entitled 'The Pleasures of Friendship.' {32b} Miss Bowden

became the Countess St. Quentin, and died some years ago in the

neighbourhood of Paris. In this house, where she had been educated, Miss

Landon afterwards resided for many years as a boarder with the Misses

Lance, who conducted a ladies' school. "It seems," observes the

biographer of L. E. L., "to have been appropriated to such purposes from

the time it was built, nor was L. E. L. the first who drank at the 'well

of English' within its walls. Miss Mitford, we believe, was educated

there, and Lady Caroline Lamb was an inmate for a time."

It is the remark of Miss Landon herself, that "a history of the how and

where works of imagination have been produced would often be more

extraordinary than the works themselves." "Her own case," observes a

female friend, "is, in some degree, an illustration of perfect

independence of mind over all external circumstances. Perhaps to the L.

E. L., of whom so many nonsensical things have been said, as that she

should write with a crystal pen, dipped in dew, upon silver paper, and

use for pounce the dust of a butterfly's wing, a dilettante of literature

would assign for the scene of her authorship a fairy-like boudoir, with

rose-coloured and silver hangings, fitted with all the luxuries of a

fastidious taste. How did the reality agree with this fancy sketch?

[Picture: Attic, No. 22 Hans Place] Miss Landon's drawing-room, {33}

indeed, was prettily furnished, but it was her invariable habit to write

in her bed-room. I see it now, that homely-looking, almost uncomfortable

room, fronting the street, and barely furnished with a simple white bed,

at the foot of which was a small, old, oblong-shaped, sort of

dressing-table, quite covered with a common worn writing-desk, heaped

with papers, while some strewed the ground, the table being too small for

aught besides the desk; a little high-backed cane chair, which gave you

any idea rather than that of comfort. A few books scattered about

completed the author's paraphernalia."

In this attic did the muse of L. E. L. dream of and describe music,

moonlight, and roses, and "apostrophise loves, memories, hopes, and

fears," with how much ultimate appetite for invention or sympathy may be

judged from her declaration that, "there is one conclusion at which I

have arrived, that a horse in a mill has an easier life than an author.

I am fairly fagged out of my life."

Miss Roberts, who had resided in the same house with Miss Landon,

prefixed a brief memoir to a collection of poems by that lamented lady,

which appeared shortly after her death, her own mournful lines--

"_Alas_! _hope is not prophecy_--_we dream_,

_But rarely does the glad fulfilment come_;

_We leave our land_, _and we return no more_."

And within less than twenty months from the selection of these lines they

became applicable to her who had quoted them.

Emma Roberts accompanied her sister, Mrs. M'Naughten, to India, where she

resided for some time. On her sister's death Miss Roberts returned to

England, and employed her pen assiduously and advantageously in

illustrating the condition of our eastern dominions. She returned to

India, and died at Poonah, on the 17th September, 1840. Though

considerably the elder, she was one of the early friends of Miss Landon,

having for several years previous to her first visit to India boarded

with the Misses Lance in Hans Place.

"These were happy days, and little boded the premature and melancholy

fate which awaited them in foreign climes. We believe," says the

editor of the 'Literary Gazette,' "that it was the example of the

literary pursuits of Miss Landon which stimulated Miss Roberts to try

her powers as an author, and we remember having the gratification to

assist her in launching her first essay--an historical production,

{35} which reflected high credit on her talents, and at once

established her in a fair position in the ranks of literature. Since

then she has been one of the most prolific of our female writers, and

given to the public a number of works of interest and value. The

expedition to India, on which she unfortunately perished, was

undertaken with comprehensive views towards the further illustration

of the East, and portions of her descriptions have appeared as she

journeyed to her destination in periodicals devoted to Asiatic

pursuits."

The influence of Miss Landon's literary popularity upon the mind of Miss

Roberts very probably caused that lady to desire similar celebrity.

Indeed, so imitative are the impulses of the human mind, that it may

fairly be questioned if Miss Landon would ever have attuned her lyre had

she mot been in the presence of Miss Mitford's and Miss Rowden's "fame,

and felt its influence." Miss Mitford has chronicled so minutely all the

sayings and doings of her school-days in Hans Place (H. P., as she

mysteriously writes it), that she admits us at once behind the scenes.

She describes herself as sent there (we will not supply the date, but

presume it to be somewhere about 1800) "a petted child of ten years old,

born and bred in the country, and as shy as a hare." The schoolmistress,

a Mrs. S---, "seldom came near us. Her post was to sit all day, nicely

dressed, in a nicely-furnished drawing-room, busy with some piece of

delicate needlework, receiving mammas, aunts, and godmammas, answering

questions, and administering as much praise as she conscientiously

could--perhaps a little more. In the school-room she ruled, like other

rulers, by ministers and delegates, of whom the French teacher was the

principal." This French teacher, the daughter of an _emigre_ of

distinction, left, upon the short peace of Amiens, to join her parents in

an attempt to recover their property, in which they succeeded. Her

successor is admirably sketched by Miss Mitford; and the mutual antipathy

which existed between the French and English teacher, in whom we at once

recognise Miss Rowden:--

"Never were two better haters. Their relative situations had

probably something to do with it, and yet it was wonderful that two

such excellent persons should so thoroughly detest each other. Miss

R.'s aversion was of the cold, phlegmatic, contemptuous, provoking

sort; she kept aloof, and said nothing. Madame's was acute, fiery,

and loquacious; she not only hated Miss R., but hated for her sake

knowledge, and literature, and wit, and, above all, poetry, which she

denounced as _something fatal and contagious_, _like the plague_."

Miss Mitford's literary and dramatic tastes seem to have been acquired

from Miss Rowden, whom she describes as "one of the most charming women

that she had ever known:"--

"The pretty word _graziosa_, by which Napoleon loved to describe

Josephine, seemed made for her. She was full of a delicate grace of

mind and person. Her little elegant figure and her fair mild face,

lighted up so brilliantly by her large hazel eyes, corresponded

exactly with the soft, gentle manners which were so often awakened

into a delightful playfulness, or an enthusiasm more charming still,

by the impulse of her quick and ardent spirit. To be sure she had a

slight touch of distraction about her (distraction French, not

distraction English), an interesting absence of mind. She united in

her own person all the sins of forgetfulness of all the young ladies;

mislaid her handkerchief, her shawl, her gloves, her work, her music,

her drawing, her scissors, her keys; would ask for a book when she

held it in her hand, and set a whole class hunting for her thimble,

whilst the said thimble was quietly perched upon her finger. Oh!

with what a pitying scorn our exact and recollective Frenchwoman used

to look down on such an incorrigible scatterbrain! But she was a

poetess, as Madame said, and what could you expect better!"

Such was Miss Landon's schoolmistress; and under this lady's especial

instruction did Miss Mitford pass the years 1802, 3, and 4; together they

read "chiefly poetry;" and "besides the readings," says Miss Mitford,

"Miss R. compensated in another way for my unwilling application. She

took me often to the theatre; whether as an extra branch of education, or

because she was herself in the height of a dramatic fever, it would be

invidious to inquire. The effect may be easily foreseen; my enthusiasm

soon equalled her own; we began to read Shakspeare, and read nothing

else."

In 1810 Miss Mitford first appeared as an authoress, by publishing a

volume of poems, which, in the course of the following year, passed into

a second edition.

At No. 21 Hans Place, the talented artistes, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wigan,

resided some time.

Returning from Hans Place to the Fulham Road through NEW STREET, No. 7

may he pointed out as the house formerly occupied by Chalon, "animal

painter to the royal family;" and No. 6 as the residence of the Right

Hon. David R. Pigot, the late Solicitor-General for Ireland, while (in

1824-25) studying in the chambers of the late Lord Chief-Justice Tindal,

for the profession of which his pupil rapidly became an eminent member.

BROMPTON was formerly an airy outlet to which the citizen, with his

spouse, were wont to resort for an afternoon of rustic enjoyment. It had

also the reputation of being a locality favourable to intrigue. Steele,

shrewdly writing on the 27th July, 1713, says:--

"Dear Wife,--If you please to call at Button's, we will go together

to Brompton.

"Yours ever,

"RICHARD STEELE." {38a}

Now is Brompton all built or being built over, which makes the precise

locality of crescents and rows puzzling to old gentlemen. Its heath is

gone, and its grove represented by a few dead trunks and some

unhealthy-looking trees which stand by the road-side, their branches

lopped and their growth restrained by order of the district surveyor; and

Brompton National School, nearly opposite to New Street, a building in

the Tudor style, was, in 1841, wedged in there "for the education of 400

children, after the design of Mr. George Godwin, jun.;" so at least the

newspapers of the day informed the public.

BROMPTON ROW on the north, or right-hand side of the main Fulham Road,

now consists of fifty-five respectable-looking houses, uniform, or nearly

so, in appearance; and, according to the statements in the 'Gentleman's

Magazine' {38b} and Mr. Faulkner's 'History of Kensington' {38c} here

died Arthur Murphy. But although this was not the case, in Brompton Row

have lived and died authors, and actors, and artists, whose performances

deserve full as much consideration from posterity.

No. 14 BROMPTON ROW was the abode for more than ten years (1820 to 1831)

of John Vendramini, a distinguished engraver. [Picture: No. 14 Brompton

Row] He was born at Roncade, near Bassano, in Italy, and died 8th

February, 1839, aged seventy. Vendramini was a pupil of Bartolozzi,

under whom he worked for many years, and of the effect he produced upon

British art much remains to be said. In 1805 Vendramini visited Russia,

and on his return to England engraved 'The Vision of St. Catherine,'

after Paul Veronese; the 'St. Sebastian,' after Spagnoletti; 'Leda,'

after Leonardo da Vinci; and the 'Raising of Lazarus,' from the Sebastian

del Piombo in the National Gallery.

No. 14 Brompton Row, in 1842, was the residence of the late Mr. George

Herbert Rodwell, a favourite musical and dramatic composer, who died

January 22nd, 1852.

At No. 23 Brompton Row resided Mr. Walter Hamilton, who, in 1819,

published, in two volumes 4to, 'A Geographical, Statistical, and

Historical Description of Hindostan and the Adjacent Country;' according

to Lowndes' 'Bibliographer's Manual,' "an inestimable compilation,

containing a more full, detailed, and faithful picture of the whole of

India than any former work on the subject." [Picture: Embellishment] Mr.

Hamilton subsequently lived for a short period at No. 8 Rawstorne Street,

which street divides No. 27 (a confectioner's shop), and No. 28 (the

Crown and Sceptre) Brompton Row, opposite to the Red Lion (a public-house

of which the peculiar and characteristic style of embellishment could

scarcely have escaped notice at the time when the annexed sketch was

made, 1844, but which decoration was removed in 1849.) Soon after his

return to his house in Brompton Row, Mr. Hamilton died there in July or

August, 1828.

Rawstorne Street leads to Montpellier Square (built about 1837). In this

square, No. 11, resides Mr. F. W. Fairholt, the distinguished artist and

antiquary, to whose pencil and for much valuable information the editor

of these pages is greatly indebted; and No. 38 may be mentioned as the

residence of Mr. Walter Lacy the favourite actor.

Mrs. Liston, the widow of the comedian, resided at No. 35 Brompton Row,

and No. 45 was the residence of the ingenious Count Rumford, the early

patron of Sir Humphry Davy. The Count occupied it between the years 1799

and 1802, when he finally left England for France, where he married the

widow of the famous chemist, Lavoisier, and died in 1814. Count

Rumford's name was Benjamin Thompson, or Thomson. He was a native of the

small town of Rumford (now Concord, in New England), and obtained the

rank of major in the Local Militia. In the war with America he rendered

important services to the officers commanding the British army, and

coming to England was employed by Lord George Germaine, and rewarded with

the rank of a provincial lieutenant-colonel, which entitled him to

half-pay. [Picture: No. 45 Brompton Row] In 1784 he was knighted, and

officiated for a short time as one of the under-secretaries of state. He

afterwards entered the service of the King of Bavaria, in which he

introduced various useful reforms in the civil and military departments,

and for which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and

created a count. At Munich, Count Rumford began those experiments for

the improvements of fire-places and the plans for the better feeding and

regulation of the poor, which have rendered his name familiar to every

one,

"As his own household hearth."

No. 45 was distinguished some years ago by peculiar projecting windows,

now removed, outside of the ordinary windows--an experimental contrivance

by Count Rumford, it is said, for raising the temperature of his rooms.

The same house, in 1810, was inhabited by the Rev. William Beloe, the

translator of Herodotus, and the author of various works between the

years 1783 and 1812. In his last publication, 'The Anecdotes of

Literature,' Mr. Beloe says, "He who has written and published not less

than forty volumes, which is my case, may well congratulate himself,

first, that Providence has graciously spared him for so long a period;

secondly, that sufficient health and opportunity have been afforded; and,

lastly, that he has passed through a career so extended and so perilous

without being seriously implicated in personal or literary hostilities."

It is strange that a man who could feel thus should immediately have

entered upon the composition of a work which appeared as a posthumous

publication in 1817, under the title of 'The Sexagenarian; or, the

Recollections of a Literary Life;' and which contains the following

note:--

"Dr. Parr branded Beloe as an ingrate and a slanderer. He says, 'The

worthy and enlightened Archdeacon Nares disdained to have any concern

in this infamous work.' The Rev. Mr. Rennell, of Kensington, could

know but little of Beloe; but, having read his slanderous book, Mr.

R., who is a sound scholar, an orthodox clergyman, and a most

animated writer, would have done well not to have written a sort of

postscript. From motives of regard and respect for Beloe's amiable

widow, Dr. Parr abstained from refuting B.'s wicked falsehoods; but

Dr. Butler, of Shrewsbury, repelled them very ably in the 'Monthly

Review.'"

At No. 46 Brompton Row, Mr. John Reeve, an exceedingly popular low

comedian, died, on the 24th of January, 1838, at the early age of forty.

Social habits led to habits of intemperance, and poor John was the

_Bottle Imp_ of every theatre he ever played in. "The last time I saw

him," says Mr. Bunn, in his 'Journal of the Stage,' "he was posting at a

rapid rate to a city dinner, and, on his drawing up to chat, I said,

'Well, Reeve, how do you find yourself to-day?' and he returned for

answer, 'The lord-mayor _finds_ me to-day!'"

BROMPTON GROVE commences on the south, or left-hand side of the main

Fulham Road, immediately beyond the Red Lion (before mentioned as

opposite to 28 Brompton Row), and continues to the Bunch of Grapes

public-house, which was pulled down in August, and rebuilt in September,

1844, opposite to No. 54 Brompton Row, and in the wall of which

public-house was placed a stone, with "YEOMAN'S ROW, 1767," engraved upon

it--the name of a street leading to the "Grange," and, in 1794, the

address of Michael Novosielski, the architect of the Italian Opera House.

In that year he exhibited, in the Royal Academy, three architectural

designs, viz:--

"558. Elevation of the Opera House, Haymarket;

"661. Section of the New Concert Room at the Haymarket; and

"663. Ceiling of the New Concert Room at the Opera House."

But of Novosielski and the Grange more hereafter.

Brompton Grove now consists of two rows of houses, standing a little way

back from the main road, between which rows there was a green space

(1811), now occupied by shops, which range close to the footway, and have

a street, called Grove Place, in the centre.

_Upper Brompton Grove_, or that division of the Grove nearest London,

consists of seven houses, of which No. 4 was the abode of Major Shadwell

Clerke, who has reflected literary lustre upon the 'United Service,' by

the able and judicious manner in which he conducted for so many years the

periodical journal distinguished by that name. Major Clerke died 19th

April, 1849.

_Lower Brompton Grove_ consisted of three houses only in 1844, numbered

8, 9, and 10; the 11 of former days being of superior size, and once

known as "Grove House." The 12, which stood a considerable way behind

it, as the "Hermitage," and the 13, as the "House next to the Bunch of

Grapes," all of which, except No. 8, claim a passing remark.

In No. 9, where he had long resided, died, on the 12th of August, 1842,

Mr. John Sidney Hawkins, at the age of eighty-five. He was the eldest

son of Sir John Hawkins, the well-known author of the 'History of Music,'

and one of the biographers of Dr. Johnson. Mr. Hawkins was brother of

Letitia Matilda Hawkins, the popular authoress, and a lady of whom the

elder Disraeli once remarked, that she was "the redeeming genius of her

family." Mr. Hawkins, however, was an antiquary of considerable

learning, research, and industry; but his temper was sour and jealous,

and, throughout his whole and long literary career, from 1782 to 1814, he

appears to have been embroiled in trifling disputes and immaterial

vindications of his father or himself.

No. 10 Brompton Grove, now occupied by the "Sisters of Compassion," was

the residence of James Petit Andrews, Esq., younger brother of Sir Joseph

Andrews, Bart., and one of the magistrates of Queen Square Police Office;

a gentleman remarkable for his humane feelings as well as for his

literary taste. His exertions, following up those of Jonas Hanway, were

the occasion of procuring an Act of Parliament in favour of chimney-sweep

apprentices. Mr. Andrews was the author of a volume of ancient and

modern anecdotes in 1789, to which a supplemental volume appeared the

following year. He also published a 'History of Great Britain, connected

with the Chronology of Europe;' {45a} and a continuation of Henry's

'History of Great Britain:' {45b} soon after the appearance of which he

died, on the 6th of August, 1797.

Grove House (called in 1809 and 1810, as already mentioned, No. 11

Brompton Grove), was, for many years, the residence of Sir John

Macpherson, Bart.; and here he died, at an advanced age, on the 12th of

January, 1821.

[Picture: Grove House]

In 1781 he was appointed Member of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and

when proceeding to the East Indies, in the 'Valentine,' Indiaman,

distinguished himself in an action with the French fleet in Praya Bay.

Sir John, who was a very large man, to encourage the sailors to stand to

their guns, promised and paid them from his own pocket five guineas a

man, which, coupled with his bravery during the action, so pleased the

seamen, that one of them swore "his soul must be as big as his body," and

the jokes occasioned by this burst of feeling terminated only with Sir

John Macpherson's life. "Fine soles!--soles, a match for Macpherson's!"

was a Brompton fishmonger's greeting to Sir John, etc. In the

neighbourhood of Brompton he was known by the _sobriquet_ of "the Gentle

Giant," from his usually riding a very small pony, flourishing in the

most determined manner a huge oak stick over the little animal's head,

but, of course, never touching it with his club.

Upon the after-dinner conversation at Grove House of Mr. Hugh Boyd rests

chiefly that gentleman's claim to be considered as one of the many

authors of 'Junius.' His host, having temporarily retired from table,

Boyd's words were, "that Sir John Macpherson little knew he was

entertaining in his mansion a political writer, whose sentiments were

once the occasion of a chivalrous appeal from Sir John to

arms,"--immediately adding, "_I am the author of 'Junius_.'" The will of

Sir John Macpherson is a remarkable document, and contains the following

tribute to the character of George IV.:--

"I conclude this, my last will and testament, in expressing my early

and unalterable admiration of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,

the truly glorious reigning prince of the British empire; and I

request my executors to wait upon his royal highness immediately

after my decease, and to state to him, as I do now, that I have

bequeathed to his royal highness my celebrated antique statue of

Minerva, which he often admired, with any one of my antique rings

that would please his royal highness. I likewise request you to

assure his royal highness that I will leave him certain papers, which

prove to a demonstration that the glorious system which he has

realised for his country and the world, in his difficult reign of

eight years, was the early system of his heart and his ambition."

The large room on the east side of Grove House, shown in the annexed

sketch, was used as the drawing-room, and measured thirty-two feet by

eighteen. It was built by Sir John Macpherson for the purpose of

entertaining the Prince Regent.

[Picture: Grove House from the East (1844)]

Grove House was afterwards occupied by Mr. Wilberforce, who, in his diary

of the 2nd of July, 1823, notes, "Took possession of our new house at

Brompton."

Mr. Wilberforce remained there about a year, and his successor in the

tenancy was Mr. Jerdan, the agreeable and well-known editor of the

'Literary Gazette' (1817-50). This house, pulled down in 1846, stood

upon the ground which now forms the road entrance to Ovington Square.

A narrow lane, which ran down by the west side of Grove House, led to the

Hermitage, a retreat of the much admired Madame Catalani during her

sojourn this country, and subsequently converted into an asylum for

insane persons. This building was pulled down in 1844, and Grove Place

has been erected on its site.

[Picture: The Hermitage (1844)]

In the house (No. 13 Brompton Grove) which stood a little way back from

the road, between Grove House and the Grapes public-house, and which was

taken down in December, 1844, and in the previous June, when sketched,

occupied by a stone-mason, Mr. Banim lodged from May, 1822, to October,

1824. [Picture: No. 13 Brompton Grove (1844)] While residing here, he

was engaged in contributing to and editing a short-lived weekly paper,

entitled the 'Literary Register,' the first number of which appeared on

the 6th of July, 1822, and which publication terminated with the

forty-fourth, on the 3rd of May, 1823, when Banim devoted his attention

to preparing the 'Tales of the O'Hara Family' for the press. It is a

remarkable local coincidence, that Gerald Griffin, who

"To his own mind had lived a mystery,"

the contemporary rival of Banim, as an Irish novelist and dramatist,

should have immediately succeeded him in the tenancy of "13 Brompton

Grove," as this house was sometimes called.

"About this period (1825) he [Griffin] took quiet, retired lodgings,

at a house at Brompton, now a stonemason's, close by Hermitage Lane,

which separated it from the then residence of the editor of the

'Literary Gazette,' and a literary intercourse rather than a personal

intimacy, though of a most agreeable nature, grew up between them."

{48}

On the 10th of November, 1824, Griffin, writing to his brother, commences

a letter full of literary gossip with,--

"Since my last I have visited Mr. J--- several times. The last time,

he wished me to dine with him, which I happened not to be able to do;

and was very sorry for it, for his acquaintance is to me a matter of

great importance, not only from the engine he wields--and a

formidable one it is, being the most widely-circulated journal in

Europe--but, also, because he is acquainted with all the principal

literary characters of the day, and a very pleasant kind of man."

To the honest support of the 'Literary Gazette' at this critical period

in Griffin's life may be ascribed the struggle which he made for fame and

fortune through the blind path of literary distinction. He came a raw

Irish lad to the metropolis, with indistinct visions of celebrity

floating through his poetical mind; or, as he candidly confesses

himself,--

"A young gentleman, totally unknown, even to a single family in

London, with a few pounds in one pocket and a brace of tragedies in

the other, supposing that the one will set him up before the others

are exhausted," which, he admits, "is not a very novel, but a very

laughable, delusion."

Banim's kindness--his sympathy, indeed, for Griffin, deserves notice.

"I cannot tell you here," writes the latter, "the many, many

instances in which Banim has shown his friendship since I wrote last;

let it suffice to say, that he is the sincerest, heartiest, most

disinterested being that breathes. His fireside is the only one

where I enjoy anything like social life or home. I go out (to

Brompton Grove) occasionally in an evening, and talk or read for some

hours, or have a bed, and leave next day."

Again, in a letter dated 31st of March, 1824, Griffin says:--

"What would I have done if I had not found Banim? I should have

instantly despaired on ****'s treatment of me. I should never be

tired of talking about and thinking of Banim. Mark me! he is a man,

the only one I have met since I left Ireland, almost. We walked over

Hyde Park together on St. Patrick's Day, and renewed our home

recollections by gathering shamrocks, and placing them in our hats,

even under the eye of John Bull."

MICHAEL'S PLACE, on the same side of the way with the Bunch of Grapes, is

railed off from the main Fulham Road, although a public footpath admits

the passenger as far as No. 14. It consists of forty-four houses, and

was a building speculation of Michael Novosielski, already mentioned,

whose Christian name it retains, having been commenced by him in 1786.

But the shells of his houses for many years remained unfinished, and in

1811, the two last houses (Nos. 43 and 44) of Michael's Place were not

built. Novosielski died at Ramsgate, in 1795; and his widow, for some

years after his death, occupied No. 13.

[Picture: No. 8 Michael's Place] No. 8 Michael's Place, to be recognized

by its bay-windows, was, for several years, the residence of the Rev. Dr.

Croly, now rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, distinguished in the pulpit

by his eloquence, admired as a writer in almost every walk of English

literature, and respected and beloved by those who know him. Croly's

fame must live and die with our language, which he has grasped with an

unrivalled command.

BROMPTON SQUARE is opposite to the commencement of Michael's Place, to

which it will be necessary to return, after a visit to the square.

At No. 6 has lived Mr. John Baldwin Buckstone, the actor-author, or

author-actor, so well known and esteemed by the public. And at No. 14

has resided Mr. Edward Fitzwilliam, the musical composer, who died on the

19th of January, 1857, at the early age of 33.

No. 21 was, between the years 1829 and 1833, the residence of

Spagnoletti, the leader of the Opera band. He was succeeded in the

tenancy by Mrs. Chatterly, a lively and accomplished actress, who

continued to occupy the same house after her marriage with Mr. Francis

Place.

[Picture: Nos. 22, 23, 24, Brompton Square] At No. 22 (which now belongs

to the well-known and much respected actor Mr. James Vining, and is at

present tenanted by Mr. Shirley Brooks) George Colman the younger died on

the 26th of October, 1836, at the age of 74, having removed to this house

from No. 5 Melina Place, Kent Road. "He ceased to exist on the 17th of

October, 1836," says his medical attendant, in a letter published in the

memoirs of the Colman family. But this is an error, as on the 19th of

October he appears to have written to Mr. Bunn. The last earthly

struggle of George Colman has been thus described:--

"It has never fallen to my lot to witness in the hour of death so

much serenity of mind, such perfect philosophy, or resignation more

complete. Up to within an hour of his decease he was perfectly

sensible of his danger, and bore excruciating pain with the utmost

fortitude.

"At one period of his life a more popular man was not in existence,"

observes Mr. Bunn; "for the festive board of the prince or the peer

was incomplete without Mr. Colman. He has left behind him a

perpetuity of fame in his dramatic works; and much is it to be

lamented that no chronicle has been preserved of his various and most

extraordinary _jeux-d'esprit_. He has, moreover, left behind quite

enough of renown, could he lay claim to none other, to be found in

the following tribute from the pen of Lord Byron:--'I have met George

Colman occasionally, and thought him extremely pleasant and

convivial. Sheridan's humour, or rather wit, was always saturnine,

and sometimes savage; he never laughed (at least that I saw and I

have watched him), but Colman did. If I had to _choose_, and could

not have both at a time, I should say, let me begin the evening with

Sheridan, and finish it with Colman. Sheridan for dinner, Colman for

supper. Sheridan for claret or port, but Colman for everything, from

the madeira and champagne at dinner, the claret with a layer of port

between the glasses, up to the punch of the night, and down to the

grog or gin-and-water of daybreak. Sheridan was a grenadier company

of life-guards, but Colman a whole regiment--of light infantry, to be

sure, but still a regiment.'"

The sale of Colman's effects took place on the 29th of November, 1837;

among the pictures sold was the well-known portrait of George Colman the

elder, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which has been engraved; another by

Gainsborough, also engraved; a third in crayons, by Rosalba; and a fourth

by Zoffani, which formerly belonged to Garrick, a highly-finished

miniature of Shakspeare, by Ozias Humphrey, executed in 1784 (a copy of

which, made for the Duchess of Chandos, sold at her sale for 40 pounds);

some watercolour drawings, by Emery, Mrs. Terry, and others; some

engravings; more than 1,000 volumes of French and English books; and a

collection of miscellanies, including the MSS. of the elder Colman's most

admired productions, and several by George Colman the younger,--amounting

in all to twenty-six pieces. John Reeve bought largely of the books; but

before two months had elapsed Reeve himself was no more.

No. 23 Brompton Square is occupied by Mr. William Farren, who was for a

long period the unrivalled representative of old men upon the stage, {53}

and who took his farewell at the Haymarket Theatre in 1855; and No. 24,

between the years 1840 and 1843, was the residence of Mr. Payne Collier,

who has given to the public several editions of Shakspeare, and who has

been long distinguished by his profound knowledge of dramatic literature

and history, and his extensive acquaintance with the early poetry of

England.

Mr. Collier's house, in Brompton Square, stood between that which Mr.

William Farren occupies, and one (No. 25) of which Mr. Farren was

proprietor, and has now been sold. At No. 28 resides Mr. William Frogatt

Robson, Solicitor and Comptroller of Droits of Admiralty. Mr. William

Farren has resided at No. 30, next door to Mr. Henry Luttrell (No. 31),

"the great London wit," as Sir Walter Scott terms him, well known in the

circles of literature as the author of many epigrams, and of a volume of

graceful poetry, entitled 'Advice to Julia,' and who died on 19th

December, 1851, aged 86.

In addition to these literary and dramatic associations of Brompton

Square, Liston resided for some time at No. 40, Mr. Yates and Mr. John

Reeve at 57 and 58; and that pair of comic theatrical gems, Mr. and Mrs.

Keeley, have been inhabitants of No. 19.

[Picture: First grave] BROMPTON NEW CHURCH, a little beyond the Square,

is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The architect was Mr. Donaldson, and

the first stone was laid in October, 1826. On the 6th of June, 1829, the

Bishop of London consecrated this church and its burial-ground, which had

been a flower-garden. When the first grave was made in the month

following, many of the flowers still appeared among the grass; and, after

viewing it, Miss Landon wrote the following verses. The "first grave" is

in the extreme south-west of the corner churchyard, close to the narrow

pathway that skirts the wall, leaving only space for a grave between.

The inscription on the stone which originally marked the "first grave,"

was,--

SACRED

TO THE MEMORY OF

MR. IOHN CORPE

OF THIS PARISH

OF ST. GEORGE'S HANOVER SQUARE

WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE

18TH OF JULY 1829

AGED 51 YEARS.

"A single grave! the only one

In this unbroken ground,

Where yet the garden leaf and flower

Are lingering around.

A single grave!--my heart has felt

How utterly alone

In crowded halls, where breathed for me

Not one familiar tone.

"The shade where forest-trees shut out

All but the distant sky,--

I've felt the loneliness of night,

When the dark winds pass'd by.

My pulse has quicken'd with its awe,

My lip has gasp'd for breath;

But what were they to such as this--

The solitude of death?

"A single grave!--we half forget

How sunder human ties,

When round the silent place of rest

A gather'd kindred lies.

We stand beneath the haunted yew,

And watch each quiet tomb,

And in the ancient churchyard feel

Solemnity, not gloom!

"The place is purified with hope--

The hope, that is, of prayer;

And human love, and heavenward thought,

And pious faith, are there!

The wild flowers spring amid the grass,

And many a stone appears

Carved by affection's memory,

Wet with affection's tears.

"The golden chord which binds us all

Is loosed, not rent in twain;

And love, and hope, and fear, unite

To bring the past again.

But _this_ grave is so desolate,

With no remembering stone,

No fellow-graves for sympathy,--

'Tis utterly alone!

"I do not know who sleeps beneath,

His history or name,

Whether, if lonely in his life,

He is in death the same,--

Whether he died unloved, unmourn'd,

The last leaf on the bough,

Or if some desolated hearth

Is weeping for him now?

"Perhaps this is too fanciful,

Though single be his sod,

Yet not the less it has around

The presence of his God!

It may be weakness of the heart,

But yet its kindliest, best;

Better if in our selfish world

It could be less repress'd.

"Those gentler charities which draw

Man closer with his kind,

Those sweet humilities which make

The music which they find:

How many a bitter word 't would hush,

How many a pang 't would save,

If life more precious held those ties

Which sanctify the grave."

Now (1860) the grave-stone has received two additional inscriptions, and

the character of the upright stone has been altered.

[Picture: Reeve's Grave] Corpe was a ladies' shoemaker, and his son

carried on that business at No. 126 Mount Street, Berkeley Square, after

the father's death. While sketching the grave, the sexton came up, and

observed, "No one has ever noticed that grave, sir, before, so much as to

draw it out for a pattern, as I suppose you are doing."

John Reeve's grave ("alas, poor Yorick!") is in the first avenue at the

back of the church, to the left hand, and immediately at the edge of the

path that runs parallel with the north side of the building. The stone,

which is similar to others in the same vicinity, is inscribed:--

IN MEMORY

OF

IOHN REEVE ESQ.

LATE OF THE

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.

OBIIT JANUARY. 24TH. 1838.

ALSO OF

IOHN REEVE ESQ.

UNCLE OF THE ABOVE

OBIIT JANY. 22ND. 1831 AGED 71.

In the central path, leading from the Church Tower, is the grave of

Harriet Elizabeth Farren, who died 16th of June, 1857, aged 68. She made

her first appearance in London in 1813, as Desdemona.

[Picture: Bell and Horns sign] Close to Brompton New Church, at a

public-house called the Bell and Horns, {58} the road branches off again;

that branch which goes straight forward leading to Old Brompton, Earl's

Court, Kensington, and North End, Fulham. The turn to the left, or bend

to the south, being the main Fulham Road. Here, till within the last few

years, was standing the stump of an old tree, shown in the accompanying

sketch. [Picture: Stump] A cluster of trees at the commencement of the

Old Brompton Road have also been removed, and the road has been

considerably widened. On the right-hand side, adjoining Brompton New

Church, is the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a Roman Catholic Establishment

of considerable extent, which stands on the ground once occupied by Mr.

Pollard's school. It was opened on 22nd March, 1851, and was originally

located in King William Street, Strand. It is bounded on the east by the

avenue of lime trees leading up to Holy Trinity Church, on the north by

its cemetery, on the west by the South Kensington Museum, and on the

south by the road, which has been widened by the commissioners to eighty

feet. The superior in London is the Rev. F. W. Faber, and at Birmingham,

the Rev. J. H. Newman, D.D. The building, which does not show its size

to advantage from the road, is erected in the shape of the letter T.

Some idea of the scale on which the building is executed may be gathered

from the following dimensions. The oratory 72 feet long, 30 wide, 29

high. The library 72 feet long, 30 wide, 23 high. The refectory 50 feet

long, 30 wide, 28 high. The corridors of the house 164 feet long, 9

wide, 14 high. The architect is Mr. Scoles. Next to the oratory is the

South Kensington Museum, which was built upon the Kensington Gore estate,

[Picture: Oratory and Museum] purchased by the Royal Commissioners with

the surplus funds derived from the Exhibition of 1851. It was opened on

the 24th June, 1857, and is a result of the School of Design, founded at

Somerset House in 1838. It is the head-quarters of the Government

Department of Science and Art, previously deposited in Marlborough House,

which is under the management of Mr. Henry Cole. The collections are

temporarily placed in a range of boiler-roofed buildings, hence the term

"Brompton boilers" has been applied to them. There are specimens here of

ornamental art, an architectural, trade, and economical museum; a court

of modern sculpture, and the gallery of British Art, founded on the

munificent gift of Mr. John Sheepshanks. Mr. Sheepshanks having bestowed

on the nation a collection of 234 oil paintings, mostly by modern British

artists, and some drawings, etc., the whole formed by himself, including

some of the most popular works of Wilkie, Mulready, Sir Edwin Landseer,

Leslie, and other eminent artists of the English school. To these have

been since added, in several large rooms, the Turner Collection, and the

pictures from the Vernon Gallery; also the collection bequeathed to the

nation by the late Mr. Jacob Bell, and the pictures by British artists

removed from the National Gallery; all which are well lighted from the

roof. The objects of ornamental art consist of medieval furniture and

decoration, painted glass, plaster casts, electrotype copies,

photographs, engravings, and drawings, etc., the whole designed with the

view of aiding general education, and of diffusing among all classes

those principles of science and art which are calculated to advance the

individual interests of the country, and to elevate the character of the

people: facilities are afforded for taking copies of objects upon

application at the Art Library. The Educational collections formed by

the Government, which are in the central portion of the building,

comprise specimens of scientific instruments, objects of natural history,

models, casts, and a library; refreshment and waiting rooms are provided;

and there are lectures delivered in a building devoted to that purpose.

The admission, which is from ten till four, five or six, according to the

season, is free on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, also on Monday and

Tuesday evening, from seven till ten, when the galleries are lighted; on

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, being students' days, the admission is

6d.

In form the building is rectangular, the centre or nave is 42 feet wide,

and is open from the floor to the roof. Along the aisles galleries run,

access to which is obtained by two large central staircases at the ends

of the building, which is for the most part lighted from the roofs.

There is ample ventilation, and by means of hot water pipes, the building

is heated when required. The exhibition space in floor and galleries is

nearly one acre and a half, exclusive of the wall space in the galleries

and aisles. The arrangement, it may be seen from this description, is

much the same as that adopted in the Great Exhibition of 1851. There are

separate catalogues for each department to be had, which give the visitor

all necessary information. The building was constructed from designs and

drawings prepared by Messrs. Charles D. Young and Co. of Great George

Street, Westminster. Opposite the Museum is Thurloe Place. No. 1 may be

mentioned as the residence of Mr. Henry Holl, well known some years ago

as the light comedian of the Haymarket Theatre. That gentleman has now

retired from the profession, but in addition to some dramatic productions

written many years since, he is the author of two or three successful

pieces recently produced. It is not the intention of the writer to

follow the course of the Old Brompton Road, but he will at once return to

the main road after alluding to the newly-formed magnificent approaches

from this point to Kensington, by Exhibition Road and Prince Albert's

Road, on the site of Brompton Park, now broken up. {62} A winter garden

is in course of formation here, and the Horticultural Society intend to

appropriate part of the ground for their annual fetes. The total amount

expended on the purchase and laying out of the Kensington Gore Estate

from 1851 to 1856 inclusive, was 277,309 pounds.