In the year 1864, a letter appeared in the _Journal of the Society of
Arts_ from a correspondent, who suggested that the Society of Arts
should offer a prize or prizes for designs of memorial tablets to be
affixed to houses associated with distinguished persons, and in the
same year a series of suggested inscriptions was reprinted from the
_Builder_. The subject having been brought under the notice of the
council, a committee was appointed in 1866 to consider and report how
the society might promote the erection of statues or other memorials
of persons eminent in arts, manufactures, and commerce, and, at the
first meeting of the committee, on May 7, Mr. George C.T. Bartley
submitted some memoranda on the proposal to place labels on houses in
the metropolis known to have been inhabited by celebrated persons In
1837, the first tablet was erected by the society in Holles Street,
Cavendish Square, on the house where Byron was born. Other tablets
were soon afterward put up, and the erection of these memorials has
been continued to the present time.
The house in Leicester Square, upon which a tablet in memory of
Hogarth has been erected, is occupied by Archbishop Tenison's school,
for which the house was rebuilt. The original building, in which
Hogarth lived for several years, was long known as the "Sablonière
Hotel." John Hunter lived next door after Hogarth's death. Of the four
worthies who were intimately connected with Leicester Square, viz,
Hunter, Hogarth, Newton and Reynolds, and whose busts are now set up
at the four corners of the inclosure, the last three have tablets
erected.
The house in St. Martin's Street, which is now occupied by the schools
attached to the Orange Street Chapel, is in much the same condition as
when Sir Isaac Newton lived in it, from 1710 to 1727, except that the
old red bricks have been covered with stucco, and an observatory on
the roof has been taken away within the last few years.
[Illustration: NEWTON'S HOUSE, ST. MARTIN'S STREET.]
Flaxman had several London residences, but the house in Buckingham
Street, Fitzroy Square, is the one with which he is most intimately
associated, as he lived in it during the prime of his artistic career.
He went there in 1796, when he returned from Rome, and there he died
in 1826, being buried in the ground adjoining old St. Pancras Church
and belonging to the parish of St. Giles-in-the fields. The house is
on the south side of the street, close by Great Titchfield Street.
[Illustration: FLAXMAN'S HOUSE, BUCKINGHAM STREET.]
Canning's house, on the south side of Conduit Street is greatly
changed since the great statesman lived in it. It originally formed a
wing of Trinity Chapel, which has been swept away within the last few
years. This chapel was the successor of the chapel-on-wheels which was
used at the Hounslow camp in the reign of James II., and was
subsequently brought up to London. It is shown in Kip's view of old
Burlington House as standing in the fields at the back of that house.
When Conduit Street was built, a chapel was erected on the south side
to supersede the chapel-on-wheels. The house on the west side of the
chapel, where Canning lived for a time, was subsequently inhabited for
many years by the famous physician, Dr. Elliotson, F.R.S. After his
death, the front was altered, and a large shop window made, as seen
in the accompanying figure. It is now in the possession of Mr.
Streeter, the jeweler.
[Illustration: CANNING'S HOUSE.]
Dr. Johnson had so many residences in London that there is some
difficulty in choosing the one that is most interesting to us. The
house in Gough Square has special claims to attention, as it was there
that the great lexicographer chiefly compiled his dictionary. The
garret, with its slanting roof, in which his amanuenses worked, and
his own study are still to be been. Johnson himself, in his "Life of
Milton," observes, "I cannot but remark a kind of respect, perhaps
unconsciously, paid to this great man by his biographers; every house
in which he resided is historically mentioned, as if it were an injury
to neglect naming any place that he honored by his presence."
Emboldened by this expression of opinion, Boswell one evening, in the
year 1779, ventured to ask Johnson the names of some of his
residences, and he obtained the following list, which he printed in
his "Life of Johnson:" (1) Exeter Street, off Catherine Street,
Strand, (2) Greenwich; (3) Woodstock Street, near Hanover Square; (4)
Castle Street, Cavendish Square, No. 6, (5) Strand; (6) Boswell Court;
(7) Strand again; (8) Bow Street; (9) Holborn; (10) Fetter Lane; (11)
Holborn again, (12) Gough Square; (18) Staple's Inn; (14) Gray's Inn;
(15) Inner Temple Lane, No. 1; (16) Johnson's Court, No. 7; (17) Bolt
Court, No. 8. In this last place he died in 1784.
[Illustration: JOHNSON'S HOUSE.]
In April, 1879, the corporation of the city of London were asked to
co-operate in this work, and to undertake the erection of suitable
memorial tablets within the city boundaries. The matter was referred
to the city lands committee, with which body the secretary has had
several communications with respect to the localities suggested for
memorials, the result being that the committee agreed to erect such
tablets within the city boundaries.--_Journal of the Society of Arts._
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