NORTH END.
NORTH END may be described as a series of residences on each side the
lane, more than a mile in length, which runs from the church at Walham
Green to the main road from Kensington to Hammersmith. There were but
few houses in it when Faulkner published his map in 1813. Market gardens
were on both sides the road, and the gardeners cottagers were very old.
[Picture: Panelled Door] The panelled door, here represented, was fitted
to one of them, and evidently was fashioned in the seventeenth century.
The celebrated bookseller, Jacob Tonson, lived for some time at North
End. At York Cottage, which is on the right hand side of the road, about
a quarter of a mile from the church, resided for many years Mr. J. B.
Pyne, the landscape painter. At a short distance beyond, the road from
Old Brompton crosses into Fulham Fields. Here, at one corner, is a house
(Hermitage Lodge) which was originally constructed as stables to the
residence of Foote, the dramatist and comedian, {196} which still stands
on the opposite side of the road leading to Brompton, and where he lived
for many years, expending large sums upon its improvement. It is now
called "The Hermitage," and is completely surrounded by a large garden
enclosed by high walls.
[Picture: Hermitage Lodge (1844) and The Hermitage]
Exactly opposite to this house, in the angle of the road, stands an old
house in a moderate-sized garden (Cambridge Lodge). Francis Bartolozzi,
the celebrated engraver, who arrived in England in 1764, came to reside
here in 1777. He was born at Florence in 1730, and died at Lisbon in
1813. His son, Gaetano Bartolozzi, father to the late Madame Vestris,
was born in 1757, and died August 25th, 1813. Passing up the road,
beside market gardens, is the old garden wall of Normand House, with some
curious brick gates (now closed in): the house is very old; the date,
1661, is in the centre arch, over the principal gateway, and it is said
to have been used as a hospital for persons recovering from the Great
Plague in 1665. [Picture: Bartolozzi's House] Sir E. Bulwer Lytton has
resided here. In 1813 "it was appropriated for the reception of insane
ladies" (Faulkner), and it is now a lunatic asylum for ladies, with the
name of "Talfourd" on a brass plate. A little further on the road, out
of which we have turned, is a cottage to the right named Wentworth
Cottage. Here Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall once resided. The willow in front
of the cottage was planted by them from a slip of that over the grave of
Napoleon at St. Helena. The land opposite this cottage is now to be let
on building lease. This district, now known as "Fulham Fields," was
formerly called "No Man's Land," and according to Faulkner, the local
historian, contained, in 1813, "about six houses." One of these was "an
ancient house, once the residence of the family of Plumbe," which was
pulled down about twenty-three years ago, and replaced by a cluster of
dwellings for the labourers in the surrounding market gardens, which
extend from Walham Green nearly to the Thames in a north-west direction;
"the North End Road," as it is called, forming the eastern boundary of
"Fulham Fields." To establish the connection of Sylvester's lines,
quoted in the late Mr. Crofton Croker's Paper on the "Golden Lion," with
this locality, the antiquary who pointed it out observed that--
"Our poet had an uncle named William Plumbe, who resided at North
End, Fulham, having married the widow of John Gresham, the second son
of Sir John Gresham, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1547, and which
lady was the only daughter and heir of Edward Dormer of Fulham. Here
it was, while visiting his uncle, that Sylvester formed the
attachment which is the subject of his poem (see the folio edition of
his works, 1621). Uncle Plumbe had been a widower; and from
monuments which exist, or existed, in the parish church of Fulham,
appears to have departed this life on the 9th February, 1593-4, aged
sixty. In the previous May, his widow had lost her son Edmund (or
Edward) Gresham, at the age of sixteen; and seriously touched by the
rapid proofs of mortality within her house, from which the hand of
death had within twelve months removed both a husband and a child,
made preparations for her own demise by recording her intention to
repose beside their remains: and to her husband's memory she raised,
in Fulham Church, a monument 'of alabaster, inlaid and ornamented
with various-coloured marble,' leaving a space after her name for the
insertion of the date of her death and age, which appear never to
have been supplied."
The arms of "Dormer, impaled with Gresham," we are told remain, "those of
Plumbe are gone." Sylvester's "Triumph of Faith" is consecrated "to the
grateful memory of the first kind fosterer of our tender Muses, by my
never sufficiently honoured dear uncle, W. Plumb, Esq." It is not our
intention to linger over the recollections connected with the age of
Elizabeth in Fulham Fields or at North End, although there can be no
doubt that a little research might bring some curious local particulars
to light connected with the history of the literature, the drama, and the
fine arts of that period,
The gardens here provide the London markets with a large supply of
vegetables. A very primitive form of draw-well was common here,
consisting of a pole, balanced horizontally on an upright, the bucket
being affixed to a rope at one end. [Picture: Draw-well] The pole is
pulled downward for the bucket to descend the well, and when filled, is
raised by the weight of wood attached to the opposite end of the pole.
This mode of raising water is still in use in the East, and Wilkinson, in
his 'Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,' Series I. vol. ii. p.
4, has engraved representations of this machine, from paintings on the
walls of Thebes, of the time of the Pharaohs. [Picture: Cottage in
Fulham Fields] In "Fulham Fields" are still standing many old cottages,
inhabited by market-gardeners. A sketch, taken in 1844, of one of the
best examples then existing, is here given as a specimen.
A little beyond "Wentworth Cottage," the road branches off, the turning
to the right going to Hammersmith, and that to the left leading to
Fulham. Hammersmith was a part of Fulham until 1834, when it was formed
into a separate parish by Act of Parliament.
[Picture: Elm House] Returning to the lane at North End, immediately
beyond Bartolozzi's house, is an old wall, apparently of the time of
Charles II., enclosing a tall peculiar-looking house, now called Elm
House, once the residence of Cheeseman the engraver, of whom little is
known, except that he was a pupil of Bartolozzi, and lived in Newman
Street about thirty years ago. He is said to have been very fond of
music, and having a small independence and less ambition, he was content
to engrave but little, and with his violoncello and musical friends,
passed a very happy life.
A little further on the opposite side of the road stood Walnut-Tree
Cottage (pulled down in 1846), once the residence of Edmund Kean, and
also of Copley the artist, which took its name from the tree in the
fore-court. [Picture: Walnut-Tree Cottage] We then come to the North End
Sunday and Day Schools, erected in 1857. The road here curves round by
the wall of Kensington Hall, a large mansion on the right, built by
Slater, the well-known butcher of Kensington, and it has been called in
consequence Slater's Mansion. It is at present a school, kept by Mr. and
Mrs. Johnson, but it is to be let or sold.
A little further to the left is Deadman's Lane. Here, in the midst of
garden grounds, stands a venerable and isolated fabric, which would
appear to have been built in the reign of James I. This lane leads to
Hammersmith, but a more agreeable way has been made opposite Edith
Villas, called Edith Road. The land is to be let on building lease; and
here once stood the house of Cipriani, the painter. [Picture: Cipriani's
House] Cipriani was born at Florence, in 1727, and died in London in
1785. He came to England in 1755; and he was one of the members of the
Royal Academy at its foundation in 1769, when he was employed to make the
design for the diploma given to Academicians and Associates on their
admission, which was engraved by Bartolozzi. The character and works of
this artist are thus described by Fuseli: "The fertility of his
invention, the graces of his composition, and the seductive elegance of
his forms, were only surpassed by the probity of his character, the
simplicity of his manners, and the benevolence of his heart." A few
plates were engraved by himself after his own designs.
Another curve of the road brings us to the site of Dr. Crotch's house,
where a row of houses, called Grove Cottages, have been built. [Picture:
Dr. Crotch's House] Dr. Crotch was, in 1797, at the early age of
twenty-two, appointed Professor of Music in the University of Oxford,
where he received the degree of Doctor of Music. In 1822 he was
appointed Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He performed for the
last time in public in 1834 in Westminster Abbey, during the royal
festival, and died 20th December, 1847, while sitting at dinner. Dr.
Crotch has composed numerous pieces for the organ and pianoforte, and
published, in 1812, 'Elements of Musical Composition and Thorough Bass,'
and subsequently specimens of various styles of music of all ages. W.
Wynne Ryland, the engraver, lived in this house before Dr. Crotch
inhabited it.
Opposite where Dr. Crotch's house formerly stood, facing a turning which
is called on one side Lawn Terrace, on the other Ashton Terrace, is a
large brick mansion inhabited by Richardson the novelist before his
removal to Parson's Green. It is of the period of William III., the
appearance of which may be recognized from the annexed sketch. In the
garden was a summer-house, in which the novelist wrote before the family
were up, and he afterwards, at the breakfast table, communicated the
progress of his story. [Picture: House of Richardson] How little the
exterior has been altered in the last fifty years, a comparison of this
sketch, made in 1844, with the print prefixed to the 4th volume of
Richardson's 'Correspondence,' will show at a glance. Sir Richard
Phillips's print was published by him May 26, 1804. Then, as now, this
mansion was divided into two houses, and the half nearest to the eye was
that occupied by the novelist, the other half was the residence of a Mr.
Vanderplank, a name which frequently occurs in 'Richardson's
Correspondence.' Richardson's house has been subsequently inhabited by
the late Sir William and Lady Boothby, the latter, better known to the
public as that charming actress Mrs. Nisbett. A few extracts from
'Richardson's Correspondence' may here prove interesting.
One of the most romantic incidents in the business-like and hospitable
life of Richardson, was his correspondence with, and introduction to Lady
Bradshaigh, the wife of a Lancashire Baronet, whom he tried to prevail
upon to visit him at North End. After the appearance of the fourth
volume of Clarissa Harlowe, a lady, who signed herself Belfour, wrote to
Richardson, stating a report that prevailed, that the history of Clarissa
was to terminate in a most tragical manner, and requesting that her
entreaties may avert so dreadful a catastrophe.
This correspondence with Mrs. Belfour commenced in October, 1748; and she
thus concludes her letter to the novelist, her ladyship taking care to
mystify her identity by giving her address, Post-office, Exeter, although
resident at Haigh in Lancashire. "If you disappoint me," she writes,
"attend to my curse."
"May the hatred of all the young, beautiful, and virtuous for ever be
your portion, and may your eyes never behold anything but age and
deformity! May you meet with applause only from envious old maids,
surly bachelors, and tyrannical parents; may you be doomed to the
company of such! and after death may their ugly souls haunt you!
"Now make Lovelace and Clarissa unhappy if you dare!
"Perhaps you may think all this proceeds from a giddy girl of
sixteen; but know I am past my romantic time of life, though young
enough to wish two lovers happy in a married state. As I myself am
in that class, it makes me still more anxious for the lovely pair. I
have a common understanding, and middling judgment, for one of my
sex, which I tell you for fear you should not find it out."
The correspondence thus commenced goes on, until the vanity of Richardson
induces him to describe to his unknown correspondent his private
circumstances: and to a hint given in the January following by Lady
Bradshaigh, of her intention to visit London before she is a year older,
when she "shall long to see" Mr. Richardson, and "perhaps may contrive
_that_, though unknown to him," he replies,--
"But do not, my dear correspondent (still let me call you so) say,
that you will see me, _unknown to myself_, when you come to town.
Permit me to hope, that you will not be personally a stranger to me
then."
This is followed by an acknowledgment from Madame Belfour, that she is
not his "Devonshire lady," having but very little knowledge of the place,
though she has a friend there; observing archly, "_Lancashire_, if you
please;" adding an invitation, if he is inclined to take a journey of two
hundred miles, with the promise of "a most friendly reception from two
persons, who have great reason to esteem" him "a very valuable
acquaintance."
Richardson responded to this invitation by another--
"But I will readily come into any proposal you shall make, to answer
the purpose of your question; and if you will be so cruel as to keep
yourself still incognito, will acquiesce. I wish you would accept of
our invitation on your coming to town. _But three little miles from
Hyde Park Corner_. I keep no vehicle."
(This was before the age of omnibuses.)
--"but one should be at yours, and at your dear man's command, as
long as you should both honour us with your presence. You shall be
only the sister, the cousin, the niece--the what you please of my
incognito, and I will never address you as other than what you choose
to pass for. If you knew, Madam, you would not question that I am in
earnest on this occasion; the less question it, as that at my little
habitation near Hammersmith, I have common conveniences, though not
splendid ones, to make my offer good."
Richardson, in the letter from which this passage has been extracted, is
again led away by his vanity into a description of his person, and very
plainly hints at a meeting in the Park, through which he goes "once or
twice a week to" his "little retirement." He describes himself as
"Short, rather plump than emaciated, about five foot five inches;
fair wig; lightish cloth coat, all black besides; one hand generally
in his bosom, the other a cane in it, which he leans upon under the
skirts of his coat usually, that it may imperceptibly serve him as a
support, when attacked by sudden tremors or startings and dizziness."
. . . "Of a light-brown complexion; teeth not yet failing him;
smoothish faced and ruddy cheeked; at some times looking to be about
sixty-five, at other times much younger; a regular even pace,
stealing away ground, rather than seeming to get rid of it; a grey
eye, too often overclouded by mistiness from the head; by chance
lively--very lively it will be if he have hope of seeing a lady whom
he loves and honours; his eye always on the ladies"--and so on.
In return to this description, Lady Bradshaigh on the 16th December,
1749, half promises a meeting in an appointed place, for she tells the
elderly gentleman with "a grey eye, too often overclouded by mistiness
from the head," but "by chance lively," "that she will attend the Park
every fine warm day, between the hours of one and two. I do not," adds
this perfect specimen of a literary coquette,
"Say this to put you in the least out of your way, or make you stay a
moment longer than your business requires; for a walk in the Park is
an excuse she uses for her health; and as she designs staying some
months in town, if she misses you one day she may have luck another."
And Lady Bradshaigh proceeds to present, as if in ridicule of
Richardson's portrait as drawn by himself, her own.
"In surprise or eagerness she is apt to think aloud; and since you
have a mind to see _her_, who has seen the King, I give you the
advantage of knowing she is middle aged, middle sized, a degree above
plump, brown as an oak wainscot, a good deal of country red in her
cheeks: altogether a plain woman, but nothing remarkably forbidding."
Any one might think that a meeting would immediately have followed these
communications, and that the novel-writer and the novel-reader would have
presented themselves to each other's gaze for admiration, at the time and
place appointed, and thus the affair which their letters have left upon
record might have been satisfactorily wound up in one volume. But this
did not accord with the sentimental typographical taste of the times,
which required the dilution of an idea into seven or eight volumes to
make it palatable. For we are told that a young Cantab, who, when asked
if he had read Clarissa, replied, "D---n it, I would not read it through
to save my life," was set down as an incurable dunce. And that a lady
reading to her maid, whilst she curled her hair, the seventh volume of
Clarissa, the poor girl let fall such a shower of tears that they wetted
her mistress's head so much, she had to send her out of the room to
compose herself. Upon the maid being asked the cause of her grief, she
said, "Oh, madam, to see such goodness and innocence in such distress,"
and her lady rewarded her with a crown for the answer.
January the 9th (1749-50) has arrived--the tantalizing Lady Bradshaigh,
the unknown Mrs. Belfour has been in London six weeks, and the novelist
begins "not to know what to think" of his fair correspondent's wish to
see him. "May be so," he writes,
"But with such a desire to be in town three weeks; on the 16th
December to be in sight of my dwelling, and three weeks more to
elapse, yet I neither to see or hear of the lady; it cannot be that
she has so strong a desire."
Let any one imagine the ridiculousness of the situation of "dear, good,
excellent Mr. Richardson" at this time. He had, he confesses,
"Such a desire to see one who had seen the King, that" (he speaking
of himself, says) "though prevented by indisposition from going to my
little retirement on the Saturday, that I had the pleasure of your
letter, I went into the Park on Sunday (it being a very fine day) in
hopes of seeing such a lady as you describe, contenting myself with
dining as I walked, on a sea biscuit which I had put in my pocket, my
family at home, all the time, knowing not what was become of me.--A
Quixotte!
"Last Saturday, being a fine warm day, in my way to North End, I
walked backwards and forwards in the Mall, till past your friend's
time of being there (she preparing, possibly, for the Court, being
Twelfth Night!) and I again was disappointed."
On the 28th January, nineteen days after this was written, Lady
Bradshaigh, in a letter full of satirical banter, which, however, it may
be questionable if Richardson did not receive as replete with the highest
compliments to his genius, says,
"Indeed, Sir, I resolved, if ever I came to town, to find out your
haunts, if possible, and I have not 'said anything that is not,' nor
am at all naughty in this respect, for I give you my word, endeavours
have not been wanting. You never go to public places. I knew not
where to look for you (without making myself known) except in the
Park, which place I have frequented most warm days. Once I fancied I
met you; I gave a sort of a fluttering start, and surprised my
company; but presently recollected you would not deceive me by
appearing in a grey, instead of a whitish coat; besides the cane was
wanting, otherwise I might have supposed you in mourning."
Could anything exceed this touch about "a grey, instead of a whitish
coat," except the finishing one of the "mole upon your left cheek?"
"To be sure on the Saturday you mention, I was dressing for court, as
you supposed, and have never been in the Park upon a Sunday; but you
cannot be sure that I have not seen you. How came I to know that you
have a mole upon your left cheek? But not to make myself appear more
knowing than I am, I'll tell you, Sir, that I have only seen you in
effigy, in company with your Clarissa at Mr. Highmore's, where I
design making you another visit shortly."
All this and much more is followed by a most tantalizing and puzzling
P.S. to poor Richardson. His fair, or rather "brown as an oak-wainscot,
with a good deal-of-country-red in her cheeks" correspondent, requests
him "to direct only to C. L., and enclose it to Miss J., to be left at
Mrs. G.'s" etc. etc., previously observing that, "whenever there happens
to be a fine Saturday I shall look for you in the Park, that being the
day on which I suppose you are called that way."
Roused into desperation, Richardson on the 2nd February writes to Mrs.
Belfour as follows:--
"What pains does my unkind correspondent take to conceal herself!
Loveless thought himself at liberty to change names without Act of
Parliament. I wish, madam, that Lovelace--'A sad dog,' said a
certain lady once, 'why was he made so wicked, yet so agreeable?'
"Disappointed and chagrined as I was on Friday night with the return
of my letter, directed to Miss J---, rejected and refused to be taken
in at Mrs. G---'s, and with my servant's bringing me word that the
little book I sent on Thursday night, with a note in it, was also
rejected; and the porter (whom I have never since seen or heard of,
nor of the book) dismissed with an assurance that he must be wrong;
my servant being sent from one Mrs. G--- to another Mrs. G--- at
Millbank; yet I resolved to try my fortune on Saturday in the Park in
my way to North End. The day indeed, thought I, is not promising;
but where so great an earnestness is professed, and the lady possibly
by this time made acquainted with the disappointment she has given
me, who knows but she will be carried in a chair to the Park, to make
me amends, and there reveal herself? Three different chairs at
different views saw I. My hope, therefore, not so very much out of
the way; but in none of them the lady I wished to see. Up the Mall
walked I, down the Mall, and up again, in my way to North End. O
this dear Will-o'-wisp, thought I! when nearest, furthest off! Why
should I, at this time of life? No bad story, the consecrated rose,
say what she will: and all the spiteful things I could think of I
muttered to myself. And how, Madam, can I banish them from my
memory, when I see you so very careful to conceal yourself; when I
see you so very apprehensive of my curiosity, and so very little
confiding in my generosity? O Madam! you know me not! you will not
know me!
"Yesterday, at North End, your billet, apologizing for the
disappointment was given me. Lud! lud! what a giddy appearance!
thought I. O that I had half the life, the spirit! of anything worth
remembering I could make memorandums.
"Shall I say all I thought? I will not. But if these at last reach
your hands, take them as written, as they were, by Friday night, and
believe me to be,
"Madam,
"Your admirer and humble Servant,
"S. RICHARDSON."
Sir Walter Scott says, that "the power of Richardson's painting of his
deeper scenes of tragedy has never been, and probably never will be,
excelled;" and in Mrs. Inchbald's 'Life of Richardson,' we read, that "as
a writer he possessed original genius, and an unlimited command over the
tender passions." He carried on a foreign literary correspondence, and
was on terms of intimacy with many eminent and literary persons of his
time, particularly Dr. Young, Dr. Johnson, Aaron Hill, and Arthur Onslow,
Esq., Speaker of the House of Commons.
A short distance further on, we enter the Hammersmith Road, opposite a
tavern called "The Bell and Anchor," which stands beside the turnpike,
and passing about twenty shops on the left towards Hammersmith, we notice
in the fore-court of a house called "The Cedars," two noble cedar trees
of immense girth, one of which is represented in the accompanying cut.
This was formerly the residence of Sir James Branscomb, who, according to
Faulkner, "in his early days had been a servant to the Earl of
Gainsborough, and afterwards, for upwards of forty years, carried on a
lottery office in Holborn. He was a common-councilman of the Ward of
Farringdon Without, and received the honour of knighthood during his
shrievalty." The house has been a ladies' boarding-school for many
years. From the Kensington Road we can return direct to London, having
in this chapter departed from our even course on the Fulham Road for the
purpose of visiting the North End district.
[Picture: Tree in the fore-court of "The Cedars"]