Chapter IV: Part 4

This site is now occupied by the eastern half of the main block, including the Temple. The premises (as shown on the plan and elevation Plate 22) consisted of a house facing the street and a small house at the back adjoining the garden, which was probably used subsequently as a museum. The former was let on a short lease to a Mr. Brooks, paper stainer, and the latter became the original Freemasons’ Coffee House or Tavern, a portion being fitted up as offices (with Committee Room) for the use of the Grand Lodge. The front house was in design similar to Nos. 55 and 56, except that the elevation showed a parapet, added in 1779, and the front of the ground floor storey had also been considerably altered.

“Notwithstanding the large expenditure in repairs and alterations of the old premises ... it was found that, as the business increased, they were ill adapted for tavern purposes; the Grand Lodge therefore, on the advice of Thomas Sandby, Esq., R.A., Grand Architect, and William Tyler, Esq., P. G. Steward, another eminent architect, decided to demolish the old buildings and erect instead a large tavern connected with the Hall, with suitable accommodation for the Grand Secretary and the meetings of Lodges and other Societies. This was a serious undertaking in view of the fact that the Hall was not yet paid for and the amount received for its use was barely enough for working expenses—still it was, no doubt, the right thing to do, considering the great age of the structure.”[287]

The Hall (or Temple) was built in 1775 by Thomas Sandby, and was opened on 23rd May, 1776. The tavern was built in 1786 by William Tyler, and a view of the front is preserved in the Grand Lodge Library (Plate 23).

THE DISASTROUS FIRE AT FREEMASONS’ HALL, GREAT QUEEN STREET—THE SCENE
OF THE CONFLAGRATION
]

The Temple is the only remaining structure of this period. It is rectangular in shape, 78 feet long, 38 feet wide, and about 58 feet high. It was designed to represent the interior of a Roman Doric Temple. The side walls are enriched with pilasters, and the ends with attached columns. A gallery is placed over the vestibule at the entrance end. It is fitted with an ornamental balustrade stretching between the columns, which here rise clear and support the main entablature. Opposite is a small apse which contains a statue of the Duke of Sussex, executed by E. H. Bailey in 1839. In the original design a small gallery was placed in either angle of this end of the Temple, but these were not replaced after the fire of 1883. Illustrations of the Temple before and after the fire are preserved in the Grand Lodge Library. The ceiling is flat, with an enriched modelled ornament somewhat out of keeping with the rest of the design. It is connected with the cornice of the order by a deep cove pierced with semi-circular windows, but those originally existing on the east side have been lately filled in. The decorations are in excellent taste, and treated with soft colouring, the mouldings and enrichments being picked out in gold, the whole generally harmonising with the portraits and other paintings and panels on the walls.

The vestibule to the Temple (see Plate 28) is paved with mosaic brought by Mr. W. H. Mordsley from Jerusalem, and laid in position in 1873, the inscription on the floor being as follows:—

“THIS PAVEMENT FORMED OF ANTIQUE TESSERÆ COLLECTED AT JERUSALEM BY
THE W. HENRY MORDSLEY, P.G.D., AND PRESENTED BY HIM TO THE GRAND
LODGE WAS LAID IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE GRAND MASTERSHIP OF
H.R.H. ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, A.L., 5877.

F. P. COCKERELL, GD. SUPT. OF WORKS.”

In 1815 the two houses comprising the western half of Conway House were acquired by the aid of Sir John Soane. These were connected by openings, and used by the Grand Lodge. Shortly afterwards, Soane commenced the designing of additional premises at the rear of these two houses. In 1828 building operations were begun, and in the following year the works were completed. The Grand Lodge in 1832 thanked Sir John Soane for his completion of the work and for his donation of £500.[288]

Plate 27 is a reproduction of a pen and ink drawing in the Soane Museum, probably by Soane himself, showing his design for the new Hall of the Tavern. It is evidently the original sketch for the elaborate water colour drawing, in the Hogarth Room, executed by either J. M. Gandy, A.R.A., or C. J. Richardson. This hall did not long exist. In 1863 the two houses on the site of Rivers House were demolished, together with all the Tavern and Grand Lodge premises, excepting Sandby’s Temple, and preparations were made for the erection of a new building after designs by F. P. Cockerell, son of Professor C. R. Cockerell, R.A. The foundation stone was laid on 27th April, 1864, and the building was finished in 1866. The exterior is shown on Plate 24 and the principal features of the interior not already mentioned, are the staircase (Plate 28) and the first floor corridor.[289]

In 1899 a western wing on the site of the eastern half of Bristol House[290] was added, from the designs of Henry L. Florence, to provide more accommodation for the Grand Lodge, including a Library and Museum. The most recent alterations and additions to the Tavern were made in 1910, when these premises were named “The Connaught Rooms.” These works were carried out by Messrs. Brown and Barrow. Very little of Cockerell’s work in the Banqueting Hall has been retained.

FREEMASONS HALL GREAT QUEEN STREET W.C.
PLAN OF FIRST FLOOR
BEFORE THE ALTERATIONS IN 1899.
]

CONDITION OF REPAIR.

The premises are in excellent condition.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

_Bristol House, Eastern Half._

After the division of Bristol House into two about 1684, the first
four occupants of the eastern half (Nos. 57–58) were[291] the Earl
of Wiltshire, the Earl of Stamford, Henry, Viscount Montagu, and
the Portuguese Envoy.

Charles Powlett, afterwards second Duke of Bolton, second and
eldest surviving son of the first Duke, was born in 1661. During
the lifetime of his father he was known as the Earl of Wiltshire.
He accompanied the Prince of Orange on his expedition in 1688,
having a few months previously gone over to Holland, and was one
of the advanced guard who entered Exeter with him. He seems to
have stood high in William’s favour. He succeeded his father in
the dukedom in 1699, and was made Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in
1717. He continued to occupy a fairly prominent place about the
court until his death in 1722. His residence in Great Queen Street
began in 1684, or a little later, and he was still in occupation
of the house on 22nd April, 1689.[291]

_Grey._
]

Thomas Grey, second Earl of Stamford, born in 1654, was the only
son of Thomas Grey, Lord Grey of Groby. He succeeded his
grandfather in the earldom in 1673. In 1681 he was arrested on a
charge of complicity in the Rye House plot, and remained in the
Tower until March, 1686. On the landing of the Prince of Orange he
took up arms in his favour, and afterwards was appointed to
numerous official positions, becoming Lord Lieutenant of
Devonshire, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and President of
the Board of Trade and Foreign Plantations. On the accession of
Anne, he was dismissed from all his offices, but afterwards
regained his position at the head of the Board of Trade. He died
in 1720. His residence in Great Queen Street must have terminated
some time before 1703, at which date “Henry Browne” is shown in
occupation.

_Browne._
]

Henry Browne, fifth Viscount Montagu, was born some time before
1641.[292] He succeeded his brother Francis in the title in June,
1708. His residence at the house in Great Queen Street commenced
some time, probably not long, before 1703,[293] and lasted at
least until 1715,[294] possibly until his death, which occurred in
1717 at Epsom.[295] He was succeeded in the title by his son,
Anthony, who three years later married Barbara Webb, to whose
mother, Lady Barbara Webb, daughter of Lord Belasyse, the eastern
half of Bristol House had come by way of bequest.

After the occupation by Lord Montagu the house was used as the
residence of the Portuguese Envoy.[296] The earliest mention of
him as occupying the house is dated 5th March, 1718–9. How long
the Embassy was situated here is uncertain. The house is referred
to in Sir Godfrey Kneller’s will,[297] dated 27th April, 1723, as
“now in the possession of the Portugal Envoy.” In a codicil, dated
18th July, in the same year, it is described as “now or late in
the occupation of the Portugal Envoy,” and Kneller states that the
premises are much out of repair, and that he proposes to spend a
sum of £200 in works. It would almost seem therefore that the
envoy left the house between April and July, 1723, and some
confirmation of this suggestion is found in the fact that in the
Westminster sewer ratebook, dated 18th July, 1723, the name, not
of the Portuguese Envoy, but of Sir Godfrey Kneller, the owner,
appears for the house.

After the departure of the Portuguese Envoy, the house was used
for the purposes of the Great Wardrobe.[298] The parish ratebooks
from 1730 (the earliest extant) until 1748 show “Thos. Dummer,
Esq.,” the deputy[299] of John, Duke of Montagu, keeper of the
Great Wardrobe, as in occupation.

The occupants of Nos. 57–58 from the time of the Great Wardrobe
were as follows:—

1750–60. John Jackson.
1761–71. Benjamin Wilson.
1771–72. —— Salvadore.
1772–76. John Henderson.
1777–82. Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
1782–90. A. and E. Boak.
1791– Boak and Banson.

For particulars as to Benjamin Wilson, see under Nos. 55–56, Great
Queen Street (p. 57).

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, son of Thomas Sheridan, actor and
“orthoepist,” was born in Dublin in 1751. When he was nineteen
years of age, his father settled at Bath. In the winter of 1773,
soon after his marriage with Miss Linley, the couple came to live
in London,[300] and Sheridan essayed to earn his living by
writing. In January, 1775, _The Rivals_ appeared, and by the end
of the year Sheridan had become a favourite with playgoers. Next
year he became manager and part-proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre.
In 1791–4 the theatre was pulled down and rebuilt, and the
expenditure greatly exceeding the estimate, Sheridan undertook to
pay the liabilities thus incurred. The destruction of the new
theatre by fire, however, in 1809, involved him in financial
troubles which continued until his death. As a dramatic writer he
far excelled all his contemporaries. His chief plays were: _The
Rivals_, _St. Patrick’s Day_, _The Duenna_, _A Trip to
Scarborough_, _The School for Scandal_, _The Critic_, _Pizarro_.
From 1780 he was no less prominent in political than in literary
life. In September of that year he entered the House of Commons as
member for Stafford, and soon became noted as an orator. For two
periods of short duration in 1782–3 he was respectively
under-secretary for foreign affairs and secretary to the Treasury,
and in 1806–7 was treasurer to the Navy. Among his most noteworthy
oratorical achievements must be placed his speeches in connection
with the trial of Warren Hastings. His last speech in Parliament
was made in June, 1812. Soon after his entry into Parliament he
had become personally acquainted with the Prince of Wales, and
ever after acted as his confidential adviser. Sheridan died in
Savile Row in July, 1816, and was awarded a public funeral in
Westminster Abbey.

His occupation of the house in Great Queen Street is shown by the
parish ratebooks to have lasted from 1777 to 1782.[301] The former
date is confirmed by a letter from W. Windham, dated 5th January,
1778, directed to “Ric. Brinsley Sheridan, Esq.,” at “Queen
Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.”[302] It is said that on the day of
Garrick’s funeral (1779), after the ceremony was over, Sheridan
“spent the remainder of the day in silence, with a few select
friends, at his residence in Great Queen Street.”[303]

_Rivers House._

The first occupant of the house immediately to the east of Bristol
House, occupying the site of what were afterwards Nos. 59 and 60,
Great Queen Street, was the Spanish Ambassador, who has been shown
above[304] to have been in residence on 22nd January, 1637–8. A
reference to his occupation of the house occurs in the following:
“May 10, 1638. The Spanish Ambassador, the Conde de Oniate,
accompanied with an Irish gentleman of the order of Calatrava, in
the Holy Week, came to Denmark House to do his devotions in the
Queen’s Chapel there. He went off thence about 10 o’clock, a dozen
torches carried before him by his servants, and some behind him.
He and the Irish gentleman were in the front with their beads in
their hands, which hung at a cross, some English also were among
them; so that with their own company and many who followed after,
they appeared a great troop. They walk from Denmark House down the
Strand in great formality, turn into the Covent Garden, thence to
Seignior Con’s house in Long Acre, so to his own house in Queen’s
Street.”[305] Writing to Sir John Pennington from the Earl of
Northumberland’s residence [_i.e._, probably next door] on 21st
November, 1638, Thomas Smith says: “The Spanish Ambassador was
robbed here last night of all his church plate. The thieves are
not heard of.”[306]

In July, 1641, the Countess Rivers purchased the house, being
already in occupation of the premises.[307] This was Elizabeth,
eldest daughter and co-heir of Thomas Darcy, Baron Darcy of Chich,
afterwards created Viscount Colchester and (on 4th November, 1626)
Earl Rivers. She married, in 1602, Sir Thos. Savage, Bt., of Rock
Savage, Chester, who was created Viscount Savage on the same day
that his father-in-law was raised to the earldom. He died in 1635,
and in April, 1641, about fifteen months after her father’s death,
his widow was created Countess Rivers for life. She died in March,
1651.

_Elizabeth, Countess Rivers._
]

The Subsidy Roll for 1646 contains among the few items relating to
the south side of Great Queen Street, one, “The Lady Savige her
house,” which undoubtedly refers to the Countess Rivers. That she
was resident at the house that year appears from the fact that in
April, 1646, she petitioned[308] the House of Lords, stating that
her houses in Suffolk and Essex, with all her personal estate, had
been utterly wasted and destroyed, so that if she and her family
were forced to leave their present residence they must be exposed
to a misery not to be expressed. She pointed out that both she and
her servants had taken the negative oath, and therefore she prayed
for a licence for herself and family to remain in her house in
Queen Street.

On the Countess’s death the house presumably came into the
possession of her son, the second Earl Rivers. John Savage, born
before 1610, succeeded his father as Viscount Savage in 1635, and
his maternal grandfather as Earl Rivers in 1640. He died in 1654,
and was succeeded by his son Thomas, third Earl Rivers, born
before 1626.[309] The third Earl’s residence at the house in Great
Queen Street was divided into two periods, the house having
apparently been let for some time _circ._ 1670–80. That the Savage
family were in occupation in 1658 is clear from the terms of a
letter[310] dated 24th September in that year from Sir William
Persall:

“Our Queen Street news is ill; my Lady Rivers[311] is in a very
ill condition of health.” The Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665 and
1666[312] give the name of the Earl in connection with the house,
and to this period is apparently to be assigned the further
letter[313] dated 3rd October, in an unknown year, by Sir William
Persall, in the following terms: “Give me leave to render you the
history of our Queen Street family, and the reason of the bill on
the door which found at my coming up. They had intelligence that
the constables were to come and present the names of all church
absentees popishly affected;[314] so they consulted in my absence
and resolved to set the bill on the door, and give it out my Lady
Rivers was in the country, Sir Francis Petre[315] in common
garden[316] out of the parish, Sir Will. Persall gone to live at
his house in the country, none but servants left; when everyday
half-a-dozen coaches come to visit us, and the baskets of meat as
full as ever, and two or three brewers still carrying in ale and
beer; and all for Tom Browne, who, poor man, is already half
damn’d with telling of lies to all that come to inquire of us, as
well friends as others. But they have given us in, as Tom Brown
reported that we were all gone except my Lady Mary,[317] who is
but fifteen, and so incapable to take the oath, and yet I hear
they have taken our names again.”

In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1673 Col. Thos. Howard is shown as
occupying the house. He was succeeded by “Lord Obryant” (_Hearth
Tax Roll_ for 1675). This is undoubtedly Lord O’Brien, afterwards
the second Earl of Inchiquin.

_O’Brien._
]

William O’Brien, son of Murrough O’Brien, sixth Baron and first
Earl of Inchiquin, was born about 1638. He was brought up in
London at the house of Sir Philip Perceval, and afterwards saw
much military service with his father in France and Spain. In 1660
they were both captured by an Algerian corsair, and carried into
Algiers, but were subsequently ransomed by the English Government.
His residence in the house in Great Queen Street seems to have
begun about November, 1673. Writing to Williamson on the 28th of
that month,[318] he says: “I rejoice at nothing more in my remove
to Queen Street than to be able to assure you that besides a
hearty welcome, there is a couple of good rooms at your command.”
Again, on 20th February, 1673–4,[319] he writes to Williamson with
reference to the latter’s German voyage, adding that “your poor
friends in Queen Street wish you really as well as any of those
that contrive this voyage for you.” A few weeks afterwards he was
appointed captain general of the forces in Africa and governor and
vice-admiral of Tangier, a position which he held for six years.
He succeeded his father in the title on 9th September, 1674. On
the Revolution he supported William III. and in 1690 was appointed
captain general and governor of Jamaica, where his troubles with
the French and negroes, increased by his want of tact, undoubtedly
shortened his life. He died in January, 1691–2.

The ratebook for 1683 shows the house again in the occupation of
Earl Rivers. He died in 1694 at the house in Great Queen
Street.[320]

The Jury Presentment Roll for 1698 shows “Lady Rivers” at the
house, but whether this refers to the widow of the third Earl[321]
or the second wife of the fourth Earl[322] is not known.

In the ratebook for 1700 no name appears against the house, but in
those for 1703 and 1709 Earl Rivers is shown in occupation.
Richard, the fourth Earl (“Tyburn Dick”) was handsome, brave, and
a most notorious rake. As Lord Colchester (a title he obtained
after his elder brother’s death), he had been the first nobleman
to welcome the Prince of Orange on his landing. During William’s
reign he saw a great deal of military service in Ireland and on
the Continent. Being strongly recommended by Marlborough, he was
in 1706 appointed to the command of a force originally intended
for a descent on France, but afterwards diverted to Portugal.
Rivers was, however, superseded within a few weeks after his
landing and returned home. He owed much to Marlborough’s
influence, but being unable, in 1709, to induce him to support his
candidature for the position of constable of the Tower, he paid
court to the other side, and the grant to him of the appointment
on the recommendation of Harley was the first sign of the coming
fall of the Whigs. High in favour, he was in 1710 sent on a
delicate political mission to Hanover, and in 1711 was created
master of the ordnance. He died in August, 1712, at his house at
Ealing Grove.

In his will[323] he left to Mrs. Elizabeth Colleton _alias_
Johnson,[324] “all my mansion house called Rivers House, scituate
in Great Queen Street,” and in the ratebook for 1715 the occupant
of the house is given as “Mrs. Eliz. Collington,” with a note “an
ambassador’s house and gone away.”

The next occupant of the house was apparently William, sixth Baron
North.[325] He was son of Charles, fifth Baron North, who had on
his marriage with Catherine, only daughter of William, Lord Grey
of Wark, taken the title of Lord Grey. He succeeded to the titles
in 1691. He served with Marlborough throughout the war of the
Spanish Succession, at the end of which he held the rank of
lieutenant-general. During the latter part of Anne’s reign his
Jacobite sympathies became more and more pronounced. On the
accession of the Hanoverian dynasty he therefore became an object
of suspicion, and on 28th September, 1722, was committed to the
Tower for complicity in Atterbury’s plot.[326] He escaped and was
re-arrested, but subsequently was admitted to heavy bail. Shortly
afterwards he left the country and never returned, dying at Madrid
in October, 1734. His residence at Rivers House must have been
short, commencing some time between 1715 and 1720, and terminating
either at or before his committal to the Tower in 1722.

In the will of Richard, fourth Earl Rivers, there is mention of
“Miss Bessy Savage,” to whom the Earl left £10,000 on condition
that she married with the consent of Mrs. Colleton. “Bessy” was
the Earl’s illegitimate daughter by the latter, and in August,
1714, when she was fifteen years old, she married “with consent of
her mother”[327] the third Earl of Rochford. As Rivers House is
found in her possession, she evidently obtained it, either by gift
or bequest, from her mother, to whom Lord Rivers had left it.

_Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein,
Earl of Rochford._
]

Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein, third Earl of Rochford, was born
in 1683, and succeeded to the title in 1710. His occupation of
Rivers House began some time before 1723, the ratebook for the
latter date giving his name in connection with the house, which
continued to be his town residence[328] until the end of his life.
He died on 14th June, 1738, at his house in Great Queen
Street,[327] and his wife, with but little delay, married
again,[329] her second husband being the Rev. Philip Carter. Early
in the following year Rivers House was sold[330] and demolished,
two houses being erected on the frontage to Great Queen Street.

The names of the occupiers of these two houses (Nos. 59 and 60) up
to 1800 were as follows:—

_No. 59._ _No. 60._ 1743–46. Mrs. Clive. 1743–46. Matthew Hone. 1747. Cath. Clive. 1747–52. Edw. Borrett. 1748–53. Eliz. Hill. 1753. W. G. Freeman. 1754–57. —— Cheeke. 1754–60. Joseph Blisset. 1758. Mrs. Pont. 1760–74. John Twelves. 1758–62. Thos. Webb. 1775. John Cooper. 1763–68. Augustin Noverre. 1776–79. Thos. Cooper. 1768–79. Thos. Vaughan. 1780–81. —— Plowden. 1779–82. Miss Savill. 1781–84. —— Burnett. 1782–84. —— Hughes. 1784–95. Miss Ride. 1784–85. —— Garnault. 1795–99. Wm. Byrn. 1785–99. John Hughes. 1799– John Crace. 1799– —— Jackson.

The Catherine Clive, who is shown by the ratebooks of 1743 to 1747
as the occupier of No. 59, Great Queen Street, is almost certainly
the famous singer and actress usually known as Kitty Clive, but
apart from Heckethorn’s statement,[331] for which no authority is
quoted, that about the year 1733 she was probably living at No.
56, no evidence to confirm the fact of her residence in the street
has been found. She was born in 1711, her father, William Raftor,
being an Irish lawyer, who supported James II. at the battle of
the Boyne, and afterwards settled in London. Kitty’s lack of
refinement and even of the rudiments of education suggests that
her training as a child was neglected, but the story that while
engaged in cleaning the steps of a lodging-house she attracted the
notice of some actors under whose auspices she was introduced to
the stage is open to considerable doubt. Her marriage to George
Clive, a barrister, was a mistake, and the parties agreed to
separate. They were living together in 1734 when Fielding wrote of
her in the preface to the _Intriguing Chambermaid_. “Great
favourite as you ... are with your audience you would be much more
so ... did they see you ... acting in real life the part of the
best wife, the best daughter, the best sister, and the best
friend.” She acted generally at Drury Lane, being almost entirely
in Garrick’s company from 1746 until her retirement in 1769.
Although she excelled in comedy and character parts of middle and
low life, she occasionally essayed work of a higher character, as,
for instance, when she sang the music of “Delilah” at the first
production in 1742, of Handel’s _Samson_. On her retirement she
withdrew to a house at Strawberry Hill, which Horace Walpole had
given her some years before,[332] and here she died in 1785.
Johnson had a high opinion of her acting, and his opinion of her
as a woman is shown by his remarks to Boswell. “Clive, sir, is a
good thing to sit by; she always understands what you say.... In
the sprightliness of humour I have never seen her equalled.”[333]

Thomas Vaughan, nicknamed “Dapper” by Colman, was a mediocre
dramatist of the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning
of the nineteenth centuries. One of his chief plays, _The Hotel;
or the Double Valet_, has the preface dated: “Great Queen Street,
2nd December, 1776.” Vaughan is said to have been the original of
Dangle in Sheridan’s _Critic_.

_House adorned with the Queen’s statue._

It has been seen[334] that the house adjoining Rivers House on the
east was built in 1637. Although not certain, it seems very
probable that the first occupant was the Earl of Northumberland.
It is known that Northumberland’s house adjoined Conway
House,[335] the next in order to the east from that which is here
in question, but there is no definite evidence as to whether it
lay to the east or west of it. It would, however, seem that the
house to the east was not built until 1640,[336] and as
Northumberland was certainly in residence in Great Queen Street in
1638 it follows, if the assumption be correct, that his house
adjoined Conway House on the _west_.

Algernon Percy, tenth Earl of Northumberland, was born in London
in 1602, and succeeded to the title in November, 1632. He was much
favoured by Charles I., who was most anxious to secure his
support, and who, as the king himself afterwards declared,
“courted him as his mistress.”[337] He received the Order of the
Garter in 1635. In 1636, and again in 1637, he was appointed
admiral of the fleet raised by means of ship money. In March,
1638, he was made Lord High Admiral of England; in July of the
same year he was placed on the committee for Scottish affairs; and
in the following March was appointed general of the forces south
of the Trent and a member of the Council of Regency. He had taken
up his residence in Great Queen Street some time before November,
1638, for, beginning in that month,[338] there are many letters
extant, written by him or on his behalf, headed “Queen Street,”
“Earl of Northumberland’s house in Queen Street,”[339] “My house
in Queen Street.”[340] The last that has been discovered is dated
10th June, 1640.[341] In February of the latter year he was
appointed general of the forces raised for the second Scottish
War, but he fell ill in August and his place was taken by
Strafford. Always dissatisfied with the king’s policy,
Northumberland showed himself more and more in sympathy with
Parliament as the conflict drew near, and his position secured to
the parliamentary leaders the control of the navy, his dismissal
by the king in June, 1642, coming too late. From this time until
the king’s death, Northumberland conscientiously acted the role of
peacemaker. He strongly opposed the king’s trial and after its
tragic conclusion, held entirely aloof from public affairs. On the
Restoration he was sworn a member of the privy council, and was
appointed lord-lieutenant of Sussex and of Northumberland, but
took no part in politics. He died in 1668.

Whichever of the houses on either side of Conway House formed the
Earl’s residence, he had left it before the end of 1641, for
according to a deed[342] of 20th December in that year, the house
to the east of Conway House was then in the occupation of the
Countess of Essex, while that on the west, with which we are here
concerned, was occupied by the “Lord Awbyney.”

George Stuart, ninth seigneur D’Aubigny, was the fourth son of
Esmé, third Duke of Lennox. He married Catherine Howard, eldest
daughter of the second Earl of Suffolk.[343] On the outbreak of
the Civil War he embraced the royal cause, and was slain at
Edgehill in October, 1642.

The exact period of his residence in the house in Great Queen
Street is uncertain. Assuming that the Earl of Northumberland was
the previous occupant, D’Aubigny must have entered into occupation
some time between May, 1640, and December, 1641. Some ground for
assuming that he had at the latter date quite recently taken up
his residence here may be found in the fact that in a deed dated
31st July, 1641,[344] relating to Rivers House, the premises
mentioned as the eastern boundary are simply referred to as “a new
messuage where the statue of the Queenes Majestie is placed,”
without any occupant’s name being given. This detail is, on the
contrary, given in the case of the western boundary of the
property, and it seems likely that the omission in the former case
is due to the fact that the house was then unoccupied. Too much
weight, however, cannot be assigned to the argument.

The next mention of the house is in October 1645, when it was in
the occupation of Colonel Popham.[345] From the following, dated
24th February, 1653, it would appear that either before 1645, or
between then and 1653, Lord Montagu had acquired an interest in
the house. “Upon hearing of Colonel Alexander Popham, a member of
Parliament, concerning the house which he holds from ye Lord
Mountague scituate.... It is ordered that ye said Colonel Popham
doe pay ⅔ of the rent due for ye said house to ye use of ye
Commonwealth which is sequestered for the recusancy of the said
Lord Mountague.”[346] Afterwards Lord Montagu himself resided at
the house, the Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665, 1666 and 1673 giving his
name in respect of the premises.[347]

Francis Browne, third Viscount Montagu, the only son of Anthony
Maria Montagu, the second Viscount, was born in 1610, and
succeeded to the title in October, 1629. He died in November,
1682.[348] The Hearth Tax Roll for 1675 shows Lady Montagu[349] at
the house.

The next occupant whose name is known was “Lord Dilleage,”[350] of
whom nothing can be found.

In two much later documents[351] it is stated that before the
division of the house into two it formed the residence of the
Marquess of Normanby, and the Jury Presentment Roll for 1698 shows
the Marquess in occupation of the house in that year. This was
John Sheffield, son of Edmund Sheffield, second Earl of Mulgrave.
He was born in 1648, and succeeded to the earldom ten years later.
He saw both naval and military service during the reign of Charles
II., and in 1680 commanded an expedition for the relief of
Tangier. With James II. he was in high favour. At the Revolution
he quietly submitted, but was for several years in opposition to
the court party. In 1693–4 he showed signs of a desire to support
the government, and in May, 1694, was encouraged in his attitude
by being created Marquess of Normanby. Two years later, however,
he resumed his policy of opposition. On the accession of Anne he
was at once taken into favour and appointed Lord Privy Seal. In
March, 1703, he was made Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, and
later on was appointed one of the commissioners to arrange the
treaty of union with Scotland. In 1710 he became Lord President of
the Council. On the arrival of George I. he was removed from all
his offices. He died in February, 1721, at Buckingham House, St.
James’s Park.

_Sheffield._
]

He was not only a munificent patron of literature, Dryden and Pope
particularly being under obligations to him, but also himself an
author. Chief among his writings were: _Essay on Poetry_, _Essay
on Satire_, _Account of the Revolution_. Mention should also be
made of his extraordinary revision of _Julius Cæsar_, which he
broke up into two plays and rewrote, and into which he introduced
love scenes.

The period of his residence at the house in Great Queen Street
cannot be exactly determined. He was not there in 1683, but a
letter from him (as Lord Mulgrave) to Dykevelt, headed “Queen
Street,” dated, “March 8th,” and assigned to the year 1691,[352]
affords some evidence towards limiting the date of the beginning
of his occupation. His removal from the house seems to lie between
1698 and 1700, the ratebook for the latter year having no entry in
respect of the house.

In 1702 the house was purchased of William Withers by Robert Lane
and Jonathan Blackwell,[353] apparently on behalf of their
brother, Ralph Lane, an eminent Turkey merchant. Lane divided the
house, letting off the portion fronting the street, and reserving
for his own use that in the rear. This he used as his own
house[354] until his death in 1732. By his will,[355] dated 15th
June, 1726, he left his “two messuages or tenements” in Great
Queen Street to his wife Elizabeth for her widowhood, and the
reversion to his brothers in trust for his daughters, the Lady
Parker[356] and Byzantia.[357] A codicil of 6th July, 1728,
however, revoked this and settled the property on his wife
absolutely.

The widow is shown in the ratebooks as occupying the house from
1733 to 1753 inclusive. She died in March, 1754, leaving[358] her
“two freehold messuages scituate in Great Queen Street ... one of
them being in [her] own occupation, and the other adjoyning
thereto, in the occupation of Mr. Hudson,” to her grandson, George
Lane Parker, the younger son of her daughter and the Earl of
Macclesfield.

In 1764 Parker sold[359] both of the houses to Philip Carteret
Webb, who was already in occupation of the house in the rear,
having, in fact, succeeded Mrs. Lane in the year in which she
died.

Philip Carteret Webb was born about 1700. In 1724 he was admitted
attorney-at-law, and soon acquired a great reputation for
knowledge of records and of precedents of constitutional law. He
was employed in connection with the prosecution of the prisoners
taken in the rebellion of 1745, and in that of John Wilkes. For
his share in the latter he incurred great obloquy, culminating in
1764 in a trial for perjury, in which, however, the jury returned
a verdict of “Not guilty.” When in January, 1769, he was charged
in the House of Commons with having used the public money to bribe
witnesses against Wilkes, counsel pleaded on his behalf that he
was now blind and of impaired intellect, and the motion against
him was defeated. He died in the following year, leaving[360] all
his property to his wife Rhoda.

Webb was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal
Society. He had acquired large collections of MSS., coins and
medals, marble busts and bronzes.

His widow married, in 1771, Edward Beavor, whose name is found in
the ratebooks in connection with the house from that date until
1774. On 16th November, in the latter year, the two houses were
sold[361] to Trustees for the Freemasons, who have ever since held
the property.

It is now time to return and trace the history of the other of the
two portions into which Lane had divided the house, viz., that
part which fronted Great Queen Street.

_Burnet._
]

The ratebook for 1709 gives “the Bishop of Salisbury” as the name
of the occupant at that time. This must refer to the famous
Gilbert Burnet, who held the see of Salisbury from 1689 until his
death in 1715. He was born in Edinburgh on 18th September, 1643,
and having, as a precocious boy, entered the Marischal College of
Aberdeen at the age of ten, he became master of arts by the time
he was fourteen. The next few years were devoted to the study of
divinity and history and to travel. In 1665 he was appointed
minister of Saltoun, but resigned in 1669, when he became
professor of divinity at Glasgow University. He made several
visits to London, and in 1674, having incurred the jealousy of
Lauderdale, he resigned his professorship and settled in London.
In 1675 he was made chaplain to the Rolls Chapel, the lectureship
to St. Clement’s being added shortly afterwards. In 1676 he took a
house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, next door to Sir Thomas Littleton,
and stayed there apparently for six years.[362] Littleton at some
time between 1675 and 1683 occupied No. 52, Lincoln’s Inn
Fields,[363] and though, in the absence of more definite
information, it cannot be proved that this was the house he was
occupying in 1676, it is extremely probable that this was the
case. If so, Burnet’s house was No. 51, as it is known that Nos.
53–4, the house on the other side, was at the same time in the
occupation of the Countess of Bath. After the Rye House plot in
1683 and the execution of his friend William, Lord Russell, Burnet
withdrew to France, and on his return in 1684 was deprived of his
positions. Upon the accession of James he again withdrew to the
Continent, finally accepting an invitation from William and Mary
to settle at the Hague, where he was instrumental in reconciling
them.[364] He accompanied William to England, was responsible for
the form in which William’s Declaration appeared in English,[365]
and was rewarded for his services with the Bishopric of Salisbury.
Notwithstanding a subsequent decrease in favour with William, he
was offered in 1698 the position of governor to the young Duke of
Gloucester, and accepted it on conditions which allowed him to
attend to the affairs of his diocese.[366] The most lasting
achievement of his later years was the provision for the
augmentation of poor livings, generally known as Queen Anne’s
Bounty, which became law in 1704. He died on 17th March, 1714–15,
and was buried in St. James’, Clerkenwell, having resided at St.
John’s Court in that parish for some years.[367] His chief
characteristic was tolerance, which he continually urged, whether
towards Scotch Presbyterians in his early days, to Roman Catholics
at the time of the “popish plot” in 1678, or to non-jurors and
Presbyterians in his own diocese. His chief literary works
were:—_History of the Reformation_, published between 1679 and
1714; _Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles_, published in 1699;
and a _History of My Own Time_, which was published posthumously
in 1723 and 1734.

The ratebooks for 1715 and 1720 show “Lady Anne Dashwood” at the
house. Apparently this was Anne, daughter of John Smith, of
Tudworth, Hants, widow of Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor in
1702–3, who was knighted in July, 1684, and died in 1705.[368] She
died on 16th June, 1721.[369]

In 1723 “Lord Bellomonte” was resident at the house. This was
Richard Coote, fourth Earl Bellamont. He was born in 1683, and
succeeded to the earldom in 1708. He was married twice, his second
marriage (to Lady Oxenden) taking place in 1721 at St.
Giles-in-the-Fields. On his death in 1766 the earldom became
extinct.[370] Lord Bellamont seems to have removed to Nos. 55–56,
Great Queen Street and to have left there in 1729 or 1730.[371]

From 1730 onwards, until the date of acquisition by the
Freemasons, the occupants of the house were as follows:—

1730–33. Thos. Iley.
1737. Earl of Macclesfield.
1740–42. —— Vanblew.
1746. Geo. Hudson.
1747–64. Thos. Hudson.
1765–67. Thos. Worlidge.
1768–75. Jas. Ashley.

George Parker, second Earl of Macclesfield, was born in 1697. He
married in 1722 Mary Lane,[372] and succeeded to the earldom in
1732, at which time he was resident in Soho Square.[373] He had a
great taste for mathematics, in which he had been instructed by
Abraham de Moivre and William Jones, and, aided by James Bradley,
who afterwards, by his influence, became astronomer-royal, erected
about 1739 an astronomical observatory at his residence at
Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire. From 1740 until near his death, he
carried out a series of personal astronomical observations.
Macclesfield was the principal author of the measure which brought
about the change of style in 1752, and in consequence incurred
great unpopularity among the ignorant, who imagined that they had
been robbed of eleven days. In 1762 he was elected President of
the Royal Society, a position which he held until his death in
1764.

Thomas Hudson was born in Devonshire in 1701. He became a pupil of
Jonathan Richardson, the elder, portrait painter (with whose
daughter he made a runaway match), and on setting up for himself
in the same profession, soon attained to great eminence, though
his prosperity faded with the rise of one of his pupils, Joshua
Reynolds.[374] His residence in Great Queen Street began about
1746,[375] and continued until about 1764,[376] when he retired to
Twickenham[377] where he died in January, 1779.

He was succeeded in his occupation of the house in Great Queen
Street by Thomas Worlidge,[378] painter and etcher. Worlidge was
born at Peterborough in 1700. He came to London about 1740, and
settled in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden, where he remained
for the rest of his life, residing at various times in The Piazza,
Bedford Street, King Street, and, finally, Great Queen Street. He
first made a name by his miniature portraits, but eventually
concentrated his energies on etching in the style of Rembrandt. He
died at Hammersmith in September, 1766. His name appears in the
ratebook also for 1767, and this is explained by the fact that his
widow “carried on the sale of his etchings at his house in Great
Queen Street.”[379] Shortly afterwards Mrs. Worlidge married a
wine and spirit merchant named Ashley,[379] who had been one of
Worlidge’s intimate friends, and in accordance with this is the
fact that in the ratebook for the following year (1768) “James
Ashley” is shown at the house.

In 1774, the premises were occupied for a short time by Mary
Robinson (_née_ Darby), afterwards known as “Perdita,” who had
just got married. Perdita’s own account of the matter is as
follows: “On our return to London after ten days’ absence, a house
was hired in Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It was a
large, old-fashioned mansion, and stood on the spot where the
Freemasons’ Tavern has since been erected. This house was the
property of a lady, an acquaintance of my mother; the widow of Mr.
Worlidge, an artist of considerable celebrity. It was handsomely
furnished, and contained many valuable pictures by various
masters. I resided with my mother; Mr. Robinson continued at the
house of Mr. Vernon and Elderton in Southampton Buildings.”[380]

Mary, who was born at Bristol in 1758, had spent an unhappy
childhood, and had now, when only sixteen, contracted a loveless
marriage. At her husband’s request the nuptials were kept secret,
but after four months her mother insisted on their being made
public. After a visit to the west of England and stay of “many
days” at Bristol, she removed from Great Queen Street to No. 13,
Hatton Garden, a house which had been recently built.[381] Her
remarkable beauty caused her to receive many attentions, and she
was neglected by her husband. On his imprisonment for debt,
however, after less than two years’ married life, she shared his
confinement, and was for nearly ten months in the King’s Bench
Prison. She then secured an engagement at Drury Lane, where she
made her first appearance in December, 1776, as Juliet. Her stage
career lasted until May, 1780. When taking the part of “Perdita”
in a performance of the _Winter’s Tale_ in December, 1778, she
captivated the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), and after
a correspondence in which the writers signed themselves “Florizel”
and “Perdita” she became his mistress for about two years. He then
deserted her, dishonouring his bond for £20,000, payable on his
coming of age. In 1783 she managed to obtain a pension of £500 a
year. She never returned to the stage, but devoted herself to
literature. In her own day she was called the English Sappho, but
her reputation in this respect has not endured. She died, crippled
and impoverished, at Englefield Cottage, Surrey, in 1800.

_Conway House._

_Conway._
]

The first occupant of the fourth house on the site of the
Freemasons’ buildings seems to have been Lord Conway. A deed,
dated 20th December, 1641,[382] mentions Edward, Lord Viscount
Conway, as then in occupation, and no doubt the house is identical
with that referred to as Lord Conway’s residence in Queen Street
in a letter dated 31st March, 1639.[383]

Edward, second Viscount Conway and Killultagh, was born in 1594,
and succeeded to the title in February, 1631.[384] Shortly
afterwards he was living in Drury Lane.[385]

His residence in Great Queen Street dates from 1638 or the
commencement of 1639, but he did not purchase the house until 17th
July, 1645.[386]

Conway died at Lyons in 1655[387], and was succeeded by his son
Edward, the third Viscount and first Earl of Conway, born about
1623. He held several important military appointments, and was for
two years, 1681–3, secretary of state for the north department. He
was the author of a work entitled _Opuscula Philosophica_. He was
married three times, his first wife being Anne, the daughter of
Sir Henry Finch. Lady Conway was a most accomplished woman, her
chief study being metaphysical science, which she carried on with
the utmost assiduity in spite of tormenting headaches which never
left her. In later life she adopted the tenets of the Society of
Friends. She died on 23rd February, 1679, while her husband was
absent in Ireland, but in order that he might be enabled to see
her features again, Van Helmont, her physician, preserved the body
in spirits of wine and placed it in a coffin with a glass over the
face. The burial finally took place on 17th April, 1679. She was
the author of numerous works, but only one, a philosophical
treatise, was printed, and that in a Latin translation published
at Amsterdam in 1690. Conway was created an Earl in 1679 and died
in August, 1683, leaving his estates to his cousin, Popham
Seymour, who assumed the name of Conway.

Up to 1670 the Earl seems to have resided frequently in Great
Queen Street. The Hearth Tax Rolls for 1665 and 1666 show him as
occupier, though the former contains a note: “Note, Lord Wharton
to pay,”[388] and several references to his residence there occur
in the correspondence of the time. Thus on 18th March, 1664–5, he
writes to Sir Edward Harley, “Direct to me at my house in Queen
Street”;[389] in June [?], 1665, he informs Sir John Finch: “I am
settled in my house in Queen Street”;[390] a letter to him
describes how on the occasion of the Great Fire in 1666, “your
servant in Queen Street put some of your best chairs and fine
goods into your rich coach and sent for my horses to draw them to
Kensington, where they now are”;[391] on 19th October, 1667, his
mother writes to him at “Great Queen Street, London”;[392] in
February, 1667–8, he tells Sir J. Finch that he hopes “you will
ere long be merry in my house in Queen Street, which you are to
look upon as your own”;[393] and on 4th March, 1668–9, Robert
Bransby asks for payment of his bill of £200 “for goods delivered
at your house in Queen Street.”[394] On 25th September, 1669, we
learn that a new (or perhaps rather an additional) resident is
expected, Edward Wayte mentioning in a letter that “the room your
lordship wished to have new floored is going to be occupied by
Lord Orrery’s[395] daughter, who is coming with her mother to
England.”[396] The visit evidently took place, for on 4th
November, 1669, Conway’s importunate creditor, Bransby, writes, in
connection with the non-payment of his account, “I beg the
delivery of divers goods in the house in Queen Street, which are
being used by some of Lord Orrery’s family, and also of some green
serge chairs lent, which are in your study”;[397] and again on
15th March, 1669–70: “there are some goods belonging to me in the
house in Queen Street, which are in Lord Orrery’s wearing.”[398]
Later in the same year the house seems to have been given up, as
Bransby on 27th September in the course of another pitiful
complaint says: “I hear that you have disposed of your house in
Queen Street and sent the furniture to Ragley.”

The Hearth Tax Roll for 1673 shows the house in occupation of
“Slingsby, Esq.,” who was probably the immediate successor of
Conway.

In the absence of more definite information Slingsby cannot be
identified. It is just possible that he was Henry Slingsby, the
Master of the Mint, and friend of Evelyn.

In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1675 the house is shown as empty, and
in the ratebook for 1683 the name of the occupier is given as:
“Sir Fr. North, Knt., Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.”
It is known (see below) that the offices of the Great Seal were
situated in this street in 1677, and there can be no doubt that
this was the house.

It would appear, therefore, that the premises were taken for the
purpose of the offices of the Great Seal some time in the period
1675–77, and consequently during the time that the seal was in the
custody of Finch.

Heneage Finch, first Earl of Nottingham, was born in 1621, the
eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, recorder of London and speaker in
Charles I.’s first parliament. On leaving Christ Church he joined
the Inner Temple, where he acquired a great reputation and an
extensive practice. On the Restoration he became solicitor-general
and was created a baronet. As the official representative of the
court in the House of Commons, he seems to have given every
satisfaction to the king, despite the fact that on at least one
important point (the toleration of dissent) he opposed the royal
desire. He was indeed in such favour that the king, with all the
great officers of state, attended a banquet in his house at the
Inner Temple in 1661. In 1670, he became attorney-general and
counsellor to the queen. On the dismissal of Shaftesbury in 1673,
he was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and was raised to the
peerage as Baron Finch of Daventry, and a year afterwards was
appointed Lord Chancellor. During his term of office the
well-known burglary took place at the house in Great Queen Street.
Under date of 7th February, 1676–7, Anthony Wood writes: “About
one or two in the morning the Lord Chancellor his mace was stolen
out of his house in Queen Street. The seal lay under his pillow,
so the thief missed it. The famous thief that did it was Thomas
Sadler, soon after taken and hanged for it at Tyburn.”[399]

_Finch._
]

As Lord Chancellor, Finch had the unpleasant task of explaining to
the House of Commons how the royal pardon given to Danby in bar of
the impeachment bore the great seal. He was created Earl of
Nottingham in 1681 and died in December, 1682. “The fact that
throughout an unceasing official career of more than twenty years,
in a time of passion and intrigue, Finch was never once the
subject of parliamentary attack, nor ever lost the royal
confidence, is a remarkable testimony both to his probity and
discretion.”[400] He was the Amri of Dryden’s _Absalom and
Achitophel_.

_North._
]