Chapter V: Part 5

Francis North, first Baron Guilford, was the third son of Dudley,
fourth Baron North, and was born in 1637. He entered the Middle
Temple in 1655, and at once gave himself up to hard study. He was
called to the Bar in 1661, and seems very early to have acquired
practice. His first great case occurred in 1668, when he was
called upon, in the attorney-general’s absence, to argue in the
House of Lords for the King _v._ Holles and others. He at once
sprang into favour and became king’s counsel. In 1671 he was made
solicitor-general and received the honour of knighthood. In 1673,
he succeeded Finch as attorney-general, and in 1675 was appointed
chief justice of the common pleas. On the death of the Earl of
Nottingham in 1682 he succeeded him as Lord Keeper, and from that
day, his brother Roger says, “he never (as poor folks say), joyed
after it, and he hath often vowed to me that he had not known a
peaceful minute since he touched that cursed seal.”[401] In 1683
he was raised to the peerage as Baron Guilford. From this time his
health began more and more to fail, and though he continued
diligently to perform his duties, he was compelled in the summer
of 1685 to retire to his seat at Wroxton, Oxfordshire, taking the
seal with him and attended by the officers of the court. Here he
died on 5th September, 1685, and the next day his brothers,
accompanied by the officials, took the seal to Windsor, and
delivered it up to the king, who at once entrusted it to Jeffreys.

George Jeffreys, first Baron Jeffreys of Wem, was born in 1648 at
Acton in Denbighshire. He was ambitious to be a great lawyer, and
after overcoming with difficulty his father’s objections, he was
admitted to the Inner Temple in 1663. He was called to the Bar in
1668, and by his wit and convivial habits making friends of the
attorneys practising at the Old Bailey and Hicks’s Hall, he soon
gained a good practice. He was appointed common serjeant of the
City of London in 1671. He now began to plead in Westminster Hall,
and by somewhat doubtful means he obtained an introduction to the
court. In 1677 he was made solicitor-general to the Duke of York,
and was knighted, and in 1678 became Recorder of the City. Both as
counsel and recorder he took a prominent part in the prosecutions
arising from the Popish Plot, and as a reward for his services in
this direction, and for initiating the movement of the “abhorrers”
against the “petitioners,” who were voicing the popular demand for
the summoning of parliament, he was appointed chief justice of
Chester.

The City having complained to the House of Commons of the action
of its recorder in obstructing the citizens in their attempts to
have a parliament summoned, the House passed a resolution
requesting the king to remove him from all public offices. The
king took no such action, but Jeffreys submitted to a reprimand on
his knees at the bar of the House, and resigned the recordership,
eliciting the remark from Charles that he was “not parliament
proof.”

In 1683, Jeffreys was promoted to be Lord Chief Justice, and was
soon a member of the privy council. Shortly afterwards he tried
Algernon Sidney for high treason, conducting the proceedings with
manifest unfairness and convicting the prisoner on quite illegal
grounds. On the accession of James II. in 1685, he was raised to
the peerage, an honour never before conferred upon a chief justice
during his tenure of office.

In July, after the battle of Sedgmoor, he was appointed president
of the commission for the western circuit, and on 25th August he
opened the commission at Winchester. This, the “bloody assizes,”
was conducted with merciless severity, but the king was so
satisfied that, on Jeffreys calling at Windsor on his return to
London, he was given the custody of the great seal with the title
of Lord Chancellor. During the next three years he vigorously
supported the king in his claims to prerogative. He presided over
the ecclesiastical commission, and over the proceedings against
the Universities. Jeffreys thus became identified with the most
tyrannical measures of James II., and therefore, when the king in
December, 1688, fled from the country, he also endeavoured to
escape. He disguised himself as a common sailor, but was
recognised, and was only saved from lynching by a company of the
train-bands. He was confined at his own request in the Tower, and
here, his health having been seriously undermined by long
continued disease and dissipation, he died in April, 1689. His
name has become a by-word of infamy, although there can be little
doubt that he was not entirely as black as he has been painted,
and no impartial account can fail to insist on the traditional
picture of him being modified in many respects. Nevertheless, when
every allowance is made, the character of Jeffreys is one of the
most hateful in English history.

On his accepting the Great Seal he also took over the house in
Great Queen Street,[402] but about 1687 he removed to the new
mansion, which he had had built in Westminster overlooking the
park.[403]

For the next few years the history of Conway House is a blank. In
1696 a private Act[404] was obtained, which, after reciting that
there was a mansion house, with stables and outhouses, in Queen
Street, St. Giles, forming portion of the estate belonging to the
Marchioness of Normanby[405] (life tenant) and of the estate
belonging to Popham Seymour _alias_ Conway, and that the house was
liable to fall down from want of repair, gave authority to arrange
with a builder to effect the repairs and to let the house for 51
years at a proper rent.

The work was evidently carried out without delay, for the Jury
Presentment Roll for 1698 has the entry “Dr. Chamberlain for the
Land Credit Office,” but little luck seems to have attended the
house during most of its remaining half-century of existence.

The sewer ratebooks for 1700 and 1703 make no mention of the
house. Those for 1715, 1720 and 1723, and the parish ratebooks
from their commencement in 1730 until 1734 mention it as “The Land
Bank.” The first entry refers to it as “Empty many years,” and it
was still empty in 1720. Certain deeds of later date[406] allude
to the premises as a “large old house or building commonly called
or known by the name of the Land Bank.”[407]

The Land Bank, as known to history, was an institution founded in
1696, for the purpose of raising a public loan of two millions on
the basis of the estimated value of real property. Its promoter
was Dr. Chamberlain, an accoucheur.[408] It is unnecessary to give
here a full account of the scheme, but it may be regarded as
certain that it would never have been supported in Parliament but
for the satisfaction felt by many influential members in dealing a
blow at the recently formed Bank of England.

The evidence given above is decisive as to some connection between
the house and this scheme, but no reference to the former has been
found amongst the literature on the Land Bank.[409] The fact that
Dr. Chamberlain was in occupation of the premises in 1698, two
years after the ignominious collapse of the scheme, shows that the
Land Bank still pursued some kind of existence, and, indeed, there
is other evidence that it was surviving in some form in January,
1698.[410]

The above evidence shows that for many years after Dr.
Chamberlain’s tenancy the house lay empty, and not until 1735 is
the name of an occupier given. This was Thomas Galloway, who
stayed until 1739. After this, the house again remained empty,
until in 1743 it was pulled down, and its frontage to Great Queen
Street was occupied by four smaller houses. The residents in the
two westernmost of these (the other two occupied the site of
Markmasons’ Hall) were as follows:—

Eastern house. Western house. 1746–47. Chas. Green. 1746–49. Jas. Lacey. 1748–51. —— Dickenson. 1750–61. Mrs. Eliz. Morris. 1751. Jas. Ord. 1761–63. J. Fanshawe. 1753–57. Mrs. Barbra Johnson. 1763–83. Eliz. Pollard. 1758. W. Westbrook Richardson. 1783–91. John Opie. 1759–75. John Johnson. 1791. — Leverton. 1776–83. J. Twiney. 1792– Mallard and Richold. 1783– Thos. Pope.

John Opie, portrait and historic painter, was born in Cornwall in
1761. Instead of following his father’s trade as a carpenter, he
took up painting and attracted the notice of Dr. Wolcot (Peter
Pindar), who brought him after a while to Exeter, and in 1780 to
London. Here Opie became known as the “Cornish wonder,” and,
indeed, the fact that he, a carpenter’s son in a remote Cornish
village, without any regular instruction or opportunity of
studying the work of great painters, should at the age of nineteen
have produced pictures which the most distinguished artists in the
country admired and envied, justified the name. Wolcot’s
introductions were the means of Opie securing many valuable
commissions, and his popularity became enormous. During the spring
of 1782, his lodgings in Orange Court, Castle Street, Leicester
Square, were thronged with rank and fashion, and after he had
moved to Great Queen Street in the following year, the street was
at times blocked with the carriages of his sitters. His
popularity, however, waned as suddenly as it had risen. This he
had expected, and had striven, and continued to strive, to perfect
himself in his art, and to supply the deficiencies in his
education. In 1791, he moved from Great Queen Street to No. 8,
Berners Street. In 1805 he was elected professor of painting to
the Royal Academy, and the lectures which were delivered only a
few weeks before his death form a contribution of permanent value
to the literature of art criticism. He died in April, 1807, and
was buried in St. Paul’s.

THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—

[411]Plan of premises before 1779 (photograph).

[411]Elevation of premises in 1779 (photograph).

[411]Exterior of the tavern in 1811 as designed by William Tyler
in 1785 (photograph).

[411]The façade, designed by F. P. Cockerell (1866) (photograph).

[411]Elevation of the north end of the Temple, as designed by
Thomas Sandby in 1775 (photograph).

[411]The disastrous fire at Freemasons’ Hall. The scene of the
conflagration of 1883, from a woodcut (photograph).

[411]The Temple, looking south (photograph).

The Temple, looking north (photograph).

The chair of the Grand Master (photograph).

[411]View of the New Masonic Hall, looking south, pen sketch
design by Sir J. Soane, (1828) (photograph).

Plan of the ground floor before the alterations of 1899 (measured
drawing).

[411]Plan of the principal floor before the alterations of 1899
(drawing).

[411]Grand staircase (photograph).

First floor corridor (photograph).

[411]Vestibule to Temple, showing mosaic paving (photograph).

Interior of Banqueting Hall—Connaught Rooms looking north
(photograph).

Three swords in museum (photograph).

XXXIX.—MARKMASONS’ HALL.

GROUND LANDLORDS.

The United Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.

The origin of these premises, comprising the two easternmost of the four houses built in 1743 on the site of Conway House, has already been described.[412] In 1889 the houses, which had for many years been used for the purposes of Bacon’s Hotel, were occupied by the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. The exterior and most of the interior has been rebuilt or modernised, with the exception of the two rooms on the first floor facing Great Queen Street, which appear to date from the rebuilding in 1743. The Board Room, to the east, has a fine carved deal mantelpiece and overmantel (Plate 29). The mantelpiece has a carved head, representing Bacchus in the frieze and scrolls at the sides. The overmantel takes the form of a picture with a carved frame and bold broken pediment over; the tympanum is filled with a finely carved basket containing flowers and fruit. The other feature of the room is a decorative ceiling (Plate 30), having a large central medallion representing children.

The Grand Secretary’s room has also a decorative plaster ceiling (Plate 31), with four oval medallions containing trees and flowers. The chimneypiece is a modern replica in wood and plaster of the one already mentioned.

CONDITION OF REPAIR.

The premises are in excellent repair.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

The residents in the two easternmost of the four houses built on
the site of Conway House in 1743 were as follows:—

Eastern house. Western house. 1745–47. John Williams. 1745–51. John Moreton. 1748–51. Lily Aynscombe. 1753–58. Is. Hawkins Browne. 1753–56. Henry Shiffner. 1759–68. Mrs. Mary Clarke. 1758–87. Joseph Pickering. 1768–72. Ch. Raymond. 1787–91. —— Leverton. 1772–93. Joseph Hill. 1791–94. Wm. Hutchins. 1793–99. J. Bower. 1795. —— Savage. 1799– —— Baines. 1795– —— Dickenson.

Henry Shiffner, on leaving the house in Great Queen Street,
removed to No. 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where he has left
permanent traces of his occupation.[413]

The “Leverton” whose name appears in connection with the first and
fourth (see p. 83) of the houses erected on the site of Conway
House for the years 1787–91 and 1791 respectively, was almost
certainly Thomas Leverton, the architect. The _Royal Academy
Catalogues_ give the addresses of T. Leverton as follows: 1773–78,
1780–83 (Great Queen Street), 1784–5, 1787 (Charlotte Street,
Bedford Square), 1794 (Great Queen Street), 1797 (Bedford Square).
The Catalogue for 1792 shows “Leverton” (without initial) at 60,
Great Queen Street. Unfortunately, his name does not appear in the
_Catalogues_ for the period 1787–91, and thus direct confirmation
of his identity with the occupier of the houses in question is not
possible. It may be added that there is no mention in the ratebook
of any “Leverton” at No. 60 in 1792, and Leverton’s residences in
Great Queen Street in the other years mentioned[414] would seem to
have been in lodgings, as no trace of them can be discovered.

Isaac Hawkins Browne, poet, was born in 1705 at Burton-on-Trent,
his father being vicar of the parish. Although called to the Bar
he did not take up his profession in earnest. He was twice M.P.
for the borough of Wenlock. His chief English works were a poem on
_Design and Beauty_, and an ode entitled _A Pipe of Tobacco_, but
his principal achievement was a Latin poem _De Animi
Immortalitate_. He died in 1760. Mrs. Piozzi relates that Dr.
Johnson said that Browne was “of all conversers ... the most
delightful with whom I ever was in company; his talk was at once
so elegant, so apparently artless, so pure, and so pleasing, it
seemed a perpetual stream of sentiment, enlivened by gaiety, and
sparkling with images.”[415] Johnson also used Browne as an
illustration of the proposition that a man’s powers were not to be
judged by his capacity for public speech: “Isaac Hawkins Browne,
one of the first wits of this country, got into Parliament and
never opened his mouth.”[416]

Browne’s son, also named Isaac Hawkins, must also have been a
resident at the house in Great Queen Street, for he was only eight
years old at the time of the removal of the family thither in
1753. He represented Bridgnorth in Parliament for twenty-eight
years, and though no orator, when he spoke “his established
reputation for superior knowledge and judgment secured to him that
attention which might have been wanting to him on other
accounts.”[417] He edited his father’s poems, and also wrote
_Essays, Religious and Moral_, and _Essays on Subjects of
Important Inquiry in Metaphysics, Morals and Religion_. He died in
1818.

IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—

[418]Ornamental plaster ceiling in Board Room on first floor
(photograph).

[418]Carved deal chimneypiece in Board Room (photograph).

[418]Ornamental plaster ceiling in Grand Secretary’s Room, first
floor (photograph).

XL.—GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL (DEMOLISHED).

GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.

Before its destruction in 1910 the Wesleyan Chapel in Great Queen Street occupied the greater portion of the sites of three houses with their gardens. These were Nos. 66 to 68, intervening between Conway House and the stream which divided Aldwych Close from Purse Field.

The land on which these three houses were erected was roughly the shape of a truncated right-angled triangle, the base of which was represented by Great Queen Street, the perpendicular by the line of Middle Yard, and the hypotenuse by the course of the stream. The land in question was leased[419] by Newton to Peter Mills[420], of Christchurch, London, bricklayer, and it would seem that at that date (15th September, 1639) no houses had been erected thereon.[421] The building was therefore carried out probably in 1640; at any rate No. 66 is known to have been occupied in December, 1641. No information can be gleaned from the ratebooks as to when the three houses were rebuilt, but at least one (No. 67) seems to have been still standing at about 1817, when an illustration of it was included in Parton’s _Hospital and Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields_.

The first reference that has been found to the building of a chapel of ease for the parish occurs in the Vestry Minutes under the year 1693:[422] “Ordered, to inquire of the gentry in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which of them will take pews in case a chappell should be erected in the neighbourhood of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and report to be made to the next Vestry.” It was, however, left to private enterprise to provide such a building.

In 1706 a Mr. Baguley took a house (apparently No. 67)[423], built a chapel in the rear, and seems even to have officiated therein, although not in Priest’s orders. Naturally enough, he soon got into trouble with the Rector of St. Giles, who, as Baguley affirmed,[424] induced the vendor of the house and land to break off his agreement with Baguley, and sell to “one Burges, a coachmaker.” According, however, to the ratebooks the house occupied by Burges was No. 68. Between 1720 and 1723 the assessment of No. 68 also dropped. Whether this implies an extension of the chapel over a portion of the ground in the rear of that house is uncertain, but it will be seen that when the chapel comes, as it were, into the light of day, at the beginning of the 19th century, it covers nearly the whole of the rear of _both_ houses.

The whole of its early history, however, is shrouded in obscurity, and no reference to it or to the services held therein has been found between 1728[425] and its acquisition by the Rev. Thomas Francklyn. Even the date at which this occurred cannot be definitely stated. The chapel seems to have been in his hands in February, 1758, for on the 17th of that month he preached a sermon there, which he published in the same year.[426] In 1759 his name appears in the parish ratebook in connection with the chapel.[427] His residence at the _house_ (No. 67) does not seem to have begun until 1761. On Francklyn’s death in 1784, his executors appear to have carried on the work of the chapel. On 19th July, 1798, Mrs. Francklyn’s executors sold to the Society formerly carrying on the West Street Chapel, Seven Dials, their leasehold interest in the two houses and the chapel for £3,507 10s.[428]

The chapel was at that time, says Blott,[429] a very homely structure; it was dark, and, lying below the level of the street, could not easily be kept clean, and the entrance to it was by a passage through a dwelling house. The surrounding houses overlooking it were at times a means of annoyance during service. Negotiations were therefore entered into with the owners of No. 66, and on 14th March, 1815, a purchase was effected of the whole of the back part of the premises, bounded by Middle Yard on the one side and the old chapel on the other, and having a length of 102½ feet and a breadth of 31 feet.[430] The new chapel was opened on 25th September, 1817.[431] Alterations were carried out in 1840, when an improved frontage and new portico were constructed.[432]

The elevation to Great Queen Street (Plate 32) was of brick faced with stucco, the lower part having a portico of four Greek Ionic columns the full width of the building, executed in Talacre stone from North Wales.[432] Above this, in the main wall of the chapel was a three light window with Corinthian columns and pilasters supporting an entablature, over which was a semi-circular pediment and tympanum. Crowning the whole was a bold modillion cornice.

The interior (Plate 33) had a horseshoe gallery supported by Ionic columns; above the back of the side galleries were other smaller galleries. Facing the entrance was an apse ornamented with Corinthian columns, pilasters and entablature carrying an elliptical arch. Covering the whole area was a flat ornamental ceiling.

There is preserved by the West London Mission a measured drawing of the elevation of the Chapel to Great Queen Street with the adjacent buildings by R. Payne, Architect, June 21 (18)56, and an internal view in perspective drawn with ink and coloured, probably executed by the same hand and about the same date. Both these drawings agree with the illustrations taken in 1906, and reproduced in Plates 32 and 33. The premises were demolished in 1910, and new buildings erected. The room over the portico was used at first as a day school room, but in 1860 the school was removed to new premises in the rear.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

_No. 66._

The first occupant of No. 66, of whom any record has been found,
was the Countess of Essex, who was there in December, 1641.[433]
This was Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir William Paulet, who, in
1631, became the second wife of Robert Devereux, third Earl of
Essex. The marriage turned out very unhappily, and eventually a
separation took place. Subsequently she married Thomas Higgons
(knighted after her death), who survived her. She died in
1656.[434]

The Subsidy Roll for 1646 contains the item: “The Lord Kensington
in the Countes of Essex house.” This was presumably Robert Rich,
son of Henry Rich, first Earl of Holland, the latter having been
created Baron Kensington in 1623. The former in 1673 succeeded his
cousin Charles, as fifth Earl of Warwick.

In 1665 and 1666 Magdalen Elliott is shown at the house, and in
1673 Lady Porter. The entries in the Hearth Tax Rolls, Jury
Presentment Rolls and sewer ratebook from this time until 1700
vary between “Lady Porter,” “Lady Diana Portland,” and “Lady Ann
Porter.” There can be no doubt that they all refer to the same
individual, viz., Lady Diana Porter. She was a daughter of George
Goring, Earl of Norwich, and married (1) Thomas Covert, of
Slaugham, Essex, and (2) George Porter,[435] eldest son of
Endymion Porter, royalist and patron of literature. George Porter
served as lieutenant-general in the western royal army, under the
command of his brother-in-law, Lord Goring. The latter described
him as “the best company, but the worst officer that ever served
the king.” Porter died in 1683.

The ratebook for 1703 contains the name “Ralph Lane” crossed out,
and “Wortley” substituted. This seems to point to Lane having
recently moved and “Wortley” taken his place. The “Ralph Lane” in
question is no doubt the person of the same name, who had in the
previous year purchased the house to the west of Conway House (see
p. 74). His residence at No. 66 could not have lasted more than
about two years. The “Wortley” of the 1703 ratebook is expanded in
the records of 1709 and 1715 to “Wortley Montague, Esq.” and
“Sidney Wortley _als_ Montague, Esq.” This was Sidney, second son
of Edward Montagu, first Earl of Sandwich, who married Anne,
daughter and heir of Sir Francis Wortley, Bt., and assumed the
surname of Wortley. His eldest son, Edward Wortley Montagu,
married Lady Mary Pierrepont, the famous Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu. Sidney Montagu died in 1727.

After Montagu’s residence the occupiers of No. 66 seem to have
been as follows:—

Before 1720 until after 1723. Martin Wright.
Before 1730. Elizabeth Perry.
1730–42. William Aspin.
1743–45. Dr. John Taylor.
1746. —— Davis.
1747. Lilley Smith.
1748. “Augusti” Arne.
1749–51. Col. Guy Dickens.
1753–61. Elizabeth Falconer.
1761–62. —— Davis.
1762–63. The Rev. Mr. Francklin.
1763–64. Miss Faulkner.
1764–83. —— Davis.
1783–87. —— Saunders.
1789–94. Ric. Sadler.
1795– J. Savage.

“Augusti” Arne is almost certainly Thomas Augustine Arne, the
celebrated composer. He was the son of Thomas Arne, an
upholsterer, and was born in 1710. On leaving school he was placed
in a lawyer’s office, but his love of music overcame all
obstacles, and eventually his father was induced to allow him to
cultivate his talent in this respect. His first work, a setting of
Addison’s _Rosamond_, was produced at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre
in 1733. This proving successful, it was quickly followed by the
_Opera of Operas_ and _Dido and Æneas_. In 1738 he established his
reputation by his music to _Comus_, and in 1740 he wrote the music
to Thomson and Mallet’s _Masque of Alfred_, containing _Rule
Britannia_. His later works included the songs _Where the bee
sucks_, _Under the greenwood tree_, _Blow, blow, thou winter
wind_, the oratorios _Abel_ and _Judith_, and the opera
_Artaxerxes_. In 1769 he set to music the ode by Garrick,
performed at the Shakespeare jubilee at Stratford on Avon. He died
in 1778.

No allusions have been found to his residence at No. 66, Great
Queen Street. He is stated to have been living “next door to the
Crown in Great Queen Street,” in 1744[436] but that must refer to
a different house. The sewer ratebook for 1734 shows a “Mr. Arne”
resident at No. 34, Great Queen Street, but there is no proof that
this was the musician. His residence at No. 215, King’s Road,
Chelsea, has already been mentioned.[437]

_No. 67._

Early records of the residents at No. 67 are wanting. The first
mention of the house occurs in the Hearth Tax Roll for 1665, which
gives “Lady Thimbleby” as the occupier. This was Elizabeth, one of
the six daughters of Sir Thomas Savage and Elizabeth, Countess
Rivers (see p. 67). She married Sir John Thimbleby of Irnham, in
Lincolnshire.[438] How long she had been at No. 67 in 1665 is
unknown, but it is permissible to suggest that she was there while
her mother was still living three doors away. It seems likely that
during Lady Thimbleby’s stay here, her sister, Henrietta Maria,
who had married Ralph Sheldon, of Beoley,[439] also came to live
close by, for the Jury Presentment Roll for 1683 shows “Ralph
Sheldon,” in occupation of No. 69. Another sister, Anne, who had
married Robert Brudenell, afterwards second Earl of Cardigan, was
also only a short distance away, on the south side of Lincoln’s
Inn Fields.[440]

Lady Thimbleby’s residence lasted until between 1700 and 1703, and
in the latter year the name of John Thimbleby appears in respect
of the house. He had left before 1709, when the house is shown as
empty. The occupiers after that date were as follows:—

1715. Mr. Vaune.
1720. Mr. Froude.[441]
Before 1723 until 1734. Mary Forrester.
1735–51. Adam Hallam.
1751–54. William Pritchard.
1755–61. Stephen Hunt.
1761–84. The Rev. Thomas Francklin.
1784–95. Mrs. Francklin.
1795–98. Francis Const.[442]
1798. —— Rowley.

Thomas Francklin, son of Richard Francklin, a bookseller of Covent
Garden, was born in 1721. He was educated at Westminster School
and Trinity College, Cambridge. For some time he found employment
as usher in his old school, and in 1750 he became Greek professor
at Cambridge, a position which he held until 1759, when he was
presented to the vicarage of Ware. At the same time he was
fulfilling other clerical duties in London. As early as 1749 he
seems to have held a chapel in Bloomsbury, for in June of that
year he performed the marriage ceremony for Garrick there.[443] By
1758 he had obtained the lectureship at St. Paul’s, Covent Garden,
and was installed in the Great Queen Street Chapel. He was
appointed King’s chaplain in 1767, and ten years later he vacated
the living at Ware for the rectory of Brasted, in Kent. Through
the influence of Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was
appointed chaplain to the Royal Academy, and on the death of
Goldsmith in 1774 he obtained the professorship of ancient
history. His literary output was considerable. In 1757 he brought
out a periodical paper called _The Centinel_, which only lasted
two years. He wrote four plays, the most important of which was
_The Earl of Warwick_. His translations were numerous, those of
Sophocles’ tragedies being long considered the best in the English
language. After a laborious life he died in his house in Great
Queen Street[444] in March, 1784. His widow died in 1796.[445]

_No. 68._

In the case of No. 68 also, no records of the names of any
occupiers exist before the Hearth Tax Roll for 1665. In that
document the occupant’s name is given as “Sir Willm. Hartupp.”
This seems to have been Sir William Hartopp, of Rotherby, son of
Sir Thomas Hartopp, of Burton Lazars. Sir William married Agnes,
daughter of Sir Martin Lister.[446]

The Hearth Tax Roll for 1666 shows the house “Empty,” and that for
1672, “Empty—Mr. Bradshaw owner.” It seems probable that between
these dates occurred the joint occupancy of Lord Roos and Lady
Chaworth, if indeed that can be referred to this house at all. An
item in Lord Roos’s expenditure under date of 25th February,
1667–8, runs: “Paid Major Seales for Sir William Hartopp for one
quarter’s rent for the house in Queen Street, beginning the 18th
October, when his Lordship had the keyes, at 80_li_ per annum,
Lady Ch[aworth] is to pay the next quarter, 20_li_.”[447] That Sir
William Hartopp’s house in 1667 was the same as that in 1665 is
probable, but unfortunately cannot be considered certain.
Assuming, however, that such is the case, Lord Roos’s occupation
is seen to have commenced on 18th October, 1667.

John Manners, third son of the eighth Earl of Rutland, was born in
1638. On the death of his two elder brothers, he assumed,
apparently without right,[448] the title of Lord Roos.[449] His
first marriage, in 1658, to Lady Anne Pierrepoint, was unhappy,
and he was divorced from her by Act of Parliament in 1670. In 1677
he was made Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. He succeeded to the
earldom in 1679. At the coronation of James II. in 1685 he bore
the Queen’s sceptre, but he does not seem to have been in favour
and in 1687 was dismissed from his lord lieutenancy. He supported
William at the Revolution, and was soon after restored to his
office. In 1703 he was created Marquess of Granby and Duke of
Rutland. He died in 1711.

His sister Grace married Patricius Chaworth, third Viscount
Chaworth.[450] Apparently the expenses of the house in Great Queen
Street were shared equally between her and her brother, for
numerous items such as the following occur in the Accounts of Lord
Roos’s Expenditure contained in the Duke of Rutland’s MSS.:—[451]

“1670. April 21. For the repaires of the parish church and maimed
soldiers, etc., this Queene Street house is taxed 5s., whereof
Lady Chaworth paying ½, his lordship ½, comes to 2s. 6d.”

“To the beadle for watching the Queene Street house ending the
above said Christmasse [1671] 4s.; Lady Cha[worth] paying ½, his
lordship other ½, comes to 2s.”

“July 3, 1669. The hire of paper windowes last year, 1668, to save
the hangings in the dining roome and drawing roome, the ½ of cost,
Lady Cha[worth] payes the other half, 5s.”

Some indication of the reason that influenced Lady Chaworth in
setting up housekeeping with her brother may be afforded from a
letter dated 25th June, 1670, from Lord Chaworth to his wife, at
Lord Roos’s house in Great Queen Street, requesting her to return
to him, and offering to receive her with respect and
affection.[452]

In the Hearth Tax Roll for 1673, the house is shown as “Empty.”
Two years later “The Lady Morpeth” is shown in occupation. This
was Elizabeth, dowager lady Berkeley, wife of Edward Howard,
Viscount Morpeth, afterwards second Earl of Carlisle. It was in
this same year that her eldest son Charles, afterwards third earl,
was born. Later occupants of the house were:—

1683. Sir Edward Mosen. Before 1698 until after 1709. Mrs. Eleanor Complin. Before 1715 until after 1720. Thomas Burges. Before 1723 until 1732. Ashburnham Froude and Thomas Burges.[453] 1733. Ashburnhame Froud. 1733–1740. Madame Eaton. 1740–44. Madame Pain (Paign). 1746. —— Davis. 1747–51. Elizabeth Falconer. 1753–55. James Ward. 1755–57. G. Stewart. 1758–70. Thos. Brock (Brooke). 1770–74. Thos. Rudd. 1775–78. Ric. Rudd. 1779. —— Thomas. 1780–86. Mrs. Thomas. 1786– John Arthur.

IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—

[454]Exterior (photograph).

Side entrance in Middle Yard, erected 1859–60 (photograph).

Interior from the gallery (photograph).

Interior looking south (photograph).

Interior looking north (photograph).

Fanlight under stairs (photograph).

Staircase (photograph).

Lantern light over staircase (photograph).

Loculi in crypt (photograph).

Two silver chalices dated MDCIIIC, originally presented for use in
West Street Chapel (photograph).

XLI.—SITE OF WELD HOUSE.

The history of that part of Aldwych Close lying within the angle formed by Great Queen Street and Wild Street has already been traced[455] up to the division of the greater portion of it between Sir Edward Stradling and Sir Kenelm Digby in 1629. Eleven years previously, Henry Holford had leased to John Ittery the extreme southern portion, reaching 100 feet northwards from Sardinia Street, and a trench had been dug separating Ittery’s portion from that lying to the north. On the transfer of the latter to Sir W. Calley and Geo. Strode in trust for Stradling and Digby, Ittery’s portion was included, and added to Stradling’s share. Stradling without delay began the erection on his portion of “a faire mansion house with stables and other outhouses.”[456] On 12th December, 1632, the ground, with the mansion, etc., was sold by Calley and Strode to Stradling, and was then described as extending south from the partition wall[457] between Digby’s and Stradling’s portions “together with that parte formerly demised to the said John Ittery, and then enclosed together with the same, at the end next Drewry Lane by a square lyne 300 foote, and at the other end next Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 296 foote.” By 1632 Stradling had also divided his portion into two by a brick wall, “beginninge at the west end towards Drewry Lane and extendinge itselfe eastwards towards Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 144 foote, and then towards the north in length 132 foote, and then again eastwards towards Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 132 foote, and standinge distant at the west end thereof from the fore-mentioned partition wall 157 foote, and at the other end next Lincolne’s Inne Feildes 31 foote.”[458]

On 20th December, 1632, Stradling sold that part lying to the north of this second partition wall, including the house, etc., to George Gage. The house had not yet been completed, but a provision was subsequently made that Strode was to finish, before Easter, 1634, “the dwelling house and buildings now erected or begun to be erected, within and without ... in all respects, fitt and necessary for one or more dwelling house or houses.”[459]

The date of completion of the house may therefore be ascribed with probability to the year 1634.

Gage used the house as his own residence, and while “lyeinge sicke in the said messuage of the sickness whereof he died” made his will on 14th August, 1638, bequeathing the premises,[460] together with other property, to William Darrell and William Bierly to sell for the payment of his debts. On 25th February, 1639–40, it was purchased by Humphrey Weld for £2,600.[461]

The portion of Stradling’s property which lay to the south of the second partition wall, and which extended to the southern limits of Aldwych Close, Stradling seems to have sold to Dr. Gifford for 500 years for £400 without right of redemption.[462] In 1649 Andrew Gifford sold the property for £650 to Weld, who assigned it to his mother, Dame Frances Weld, in trust. Three years later she re-assigned it to him.

Humphrey Weld thus became possessed of the whole of Aldwych Close lying to the east of Wild Street, and to the south of the gardens of the Great Queen Street houses, and he now began to develop the property by building. A reference to Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) shows that by that year the whole of the east side of Wild Street, south of Weld House, and all the north side of Sardinia Street had been covered with houses.[463] Weld himself stated about 1670, that he had by that time laid out £15,600 in building.[461]

The street which had at least since 1629,[464] and probably since 1618,[465] led from Great Queen Street to Kemble Street, then Princes Street, seems for some time to have been without a name. It is referred to in early deeds as “the back side of Drury Lane,” “a way leading from Princes Street to Queen Street on the back side of Drury Lane,” etc. In the Subsidy Rolls up to 1646 inclusive, it is merged in “Cockpit Side.” The earliest instance of the name Weld Street or Wild Street[466] so far discovered is in a deed of 24th April, 1658,[467] which refers to “the street now called Wild Street, but heretofore called a way or passage of 40 foote breadth leading from Queenes Street to Princes Streete.”

How far Weld House was identical with the mansion built by Stradling and Strode is uncertain. Blott, after mentioning the latter, says: “Adjoining it, on the south side, were the grounds and premises of Weld House, Drury Lane, occupied by Lady Frances Weld, widow. In 1657, Weld House and Stradling House underwent a complete transformation, the two houses were united together and became one building, having, besides extensive additions made to it, a chapel[468] built in the garden; the front arranged to face Aldwyche Close instead of Drury Lane, and an approach made to it called Weld Street. This extraordinary enlargement was not to make the building a residence suitable to the dignity of the Welds, but rather for State purposes, such as the accommodation of princes and ambassadors in London.”[469]

Blott gives no authority for his statements, one of which, relating to the formation of Weld Street, is demonstrably wrong. The statement that the “extraordinary enlargement” was carried out with a view to the reception of princes and ambassadors in the building is probably only an inference from the indisputable fact that ambassadors did afterwards reside in a portion of the house.[470] Nevertheless the view of the house given in Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) certainly does suggest the amalgamation of two distinct houses, and the Subsidy Roll for 1646 shows that at that date two large residences existed side by side,[471] although of course these may have been only portions of one very large house.

As early as 1664 the house (or houses) seems to have been split up among a number of occupants. The entries in the Hearth Tax Rolls for 1664–1674 in respect of this portion of the street (amending the wrong order of the first roll) are as follows. The numbers in brackets represent the number of hearths taxed.

1665. 1666.

Sam Nelson (6) Samuel Nelson (6)

Lord Baltimore (15) Cecill, Lord Baltimore (15)

Lady Spencer (16) Lord Marquess of Winchester in 2
houses (30)[472]

A. Gilbt. Crouch, Esq. (7) Widow Tattershall (6)

B. John Wolstenholm (14) John Wolstenholme, Esq. (14)

C. Humph. Wild, Esq. (14) E (20)

The Portugall Embassador’s House. „

D. Humph. Wild, Esq. (16) Humfrey Weild, Esq. (16)

E. Countess of Exeter (9) E (10)

F. Mary Sanders (9) Mrs. Mary Sanders (9)

G. John Worsley (3) John Worsley, Marc^{ht} of
Intercost (6)

1673. 1675.

Samuel Nelson (6) Samuel Nelson (6)

Lord Baltimore (15) The Lady Baltimore (15)

Marquess of Winchester (3) Marquess of Winchester (30)

A. Thomas Hawker[473] (7) Thomas Hawker (7)

B. Mary James (13) E (13)

C. The French Embassadour (20) Spanish Ambassador (20)

D. Humphrey Wild, Esq. (16) Humphrey Wild, Esq. (16)

E. Thomas Weedon, Esq. (5) Madd. James (5)

F. Mary Saunders (9) Mary Saunders (9)

Mary Watson (1) Mrs. Watson (1)

G. John Worseley (6) John Worsley (6)

Of these neither (A)[473] nor (G)[474] formed part of Weld House, and (B) is doubtful. (C) and (F) however, certainly did, the former being the ambassadorial residence (see below) and the latter being mentioned in a deed of 1673, quoted by Parton[475], as “the wing of the said great house, late in Mary Saunders’s possession.” The house was therefore at this time in at least four distinct occupations.[476]

The two chief residences thus formed were evidently the house occupied by Weld himself and the ambassadorial house, immediately adjoining on the south. The former was the scene of a wild riot in 1671, when, Humphrey Weld having attempted to arrest the ringleaders in a tumult close by, the rabble, in a fury, attacked his house.[477]

The Portuguese Ambassador seems to have taken up his residence at Weld House in 1659, for on 9th July in that year he (Francisco de Mello) wrote from “Wild Street” to William Lenthall, announcing the arrival of his credentials, and asking for an audience.[478] The extracts from the Hearth Tax Rolls given above show that he was still there in 1665, gone in 1666, that the French Ambassador was there in 1673,[479] and the Spanish Ambassador in 1675. Numerous references to the residence of the last mentioned occur.[480] On the flight of James II. in December, 1688, the mob sacked the ambassador’s house.

Shortly afterwards Weld House and the ground belonging to it were purchased by Isaac Foxcroft, who let out the property on building lease.[481] The house, or a portion of it, was however, still standing in 1694.[482]

IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION IS:—

North-east side of Great Wild Street, in 1906, looking south-east
(photograph).

XLII.–XLIII.—NOS. 6 AND 7, WILD COURT.

The Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Labouring Classes are the ground landlords of these houses.

The only objects of interest which the premises contain are four 18th-century hob grates, illustrated below.

THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—

[483]Four cast-iron hob grates (measured drawing).

XLIV.—NO. 16, LITTLE WILD STREET (DEMOLISHED).

Little Wild Street was formed about 1690, for a deed,[484] dated 1st September in that year, refers to a “toft, peece or parcell of ground, being parcell of the garden late belonging to Weld House in or near Weld Streete ... abutting towards the south to a new streete or passage of thirty foote in breadth there made or intended to be made, to lead out of Weld Streete towards Duke Streete [Sardinia Street] and the arch in Great Lincolne’s Inn Fields.”

Plate 34 shows the south side of the street in 1906. The tenement houses were probably some of the original houses erected about 1690, and their effect is charming.

The name of the street was altered in 1905 to Keeley Street.

On Plate 15 is a drawing showing the frieze of an 18th-century deal mantelpiece now on loan at the London Museum.

The house has recently been demolished.

IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—

[485] Little Wild Street. View in 1906 looking north-east
(photograph).

[485] No. 16, Little Wild Street. Frieze, etc., of carved deal
mantelpiece (measured drawing).

Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Exterior before demolition of
adjoining stables (photograph).

Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Exterior after demolition of
stables (photograph).

Baptist Chapel, Little Wild Street. Interior (photograph).

XLV.—NO. 1, SARDINIA STREET (DEMOLISHED).

The land lying to the south of Sardinia Street between Wild Street and Drury Lane, was leased by Henry Holford to John Ittery on 20th April, 1618, when it was described[486] as “one hundred foote of ground from the south side of the ... close, called Oldwich Close, as the same then was marked and measured out north and south in bredth, and extending in length downe to the ditch there towardes the east, which plott of ground was then to be forthwith inclosed by the said John Ittery from the residue of the close.” Before 1629, this ground had been “inclosed with a trench or ditch on the north side ... and on the west end ... with a mudd wall.” The southern and eastern boundaries were respectively the lands of the Earl of Clare and the common sewer. At the latter date what soon afterwards became known as Duke Street, and was subsequently called Sardinia Street, was described as “the pathway on the south side thereof, leading from Princes Streete towardes Holbourne, the said pathway conteyning in breadth 10 foote.” It may, therefore be taken for granted that no houses had at that time been built on the north side of Sardinia Street. In 1652 the land came into the hands of Humphrey Weld[487] who apparently developed the Duke Street frontage of his property at the same time as the Wild Street frontage. There is a record of one house in Duke Street built by Weld “to which hee added a yard or backside” and let on 5th October, 1661, on a 21 years’ lease.[488] Moreover, it will be noticed that Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) shows the Duke Street frontage fully built.

No. 1 was demolished in 1906, in connection with the formation of Kingsway and its subsidiary streets, when old Sardinia Street itself was abolished.

The ground floor treatment of the premises (Plate 11) was typical of the 18th-century tenement design. The windows were strongly shuttered to afford protection when required.

A boundary stone of the parish of St. Clement Danes and an iron tablet of that of St. Giles were attached to the premises, and appear in the view.

THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION CONTAINS:—

Sardinia Street—View looking west in 1906 (photograph).

[489]No. 1, Sardinia Street—ground floor (photograph).

Sardinia Place—View looking north from Sardinia Street (1906)
(photograph).

Sardinia Place—View looking north from Little Wild Street (1906)
(photograph).

XLVI.—SITE OF LENNOX HOUSE.

In 1590 William Short, the same who ten years later bought Rose Field, purchased of John Vavasour two messuages, two gardens and four acres of land, with appurtenances, in St. Giles.[490] The precise position of the property is not stated, but from evidence which will be referred to, it is known that it lay to the west of Drury Lane, and comprised _The Greyhound_ inn in Broad Street, with land to the south lying on both sides of what is now Short’s Gardens.

_Esmé Stuart, Seigneur D’Aubigny, Duke of
Lennox._
]

A portion of this property he leased,[491] in 1623–4, to Esmé Stuart, Earl of March (afterwards Duke of Lennox), for a term of 51 years as from Michaelmas, 1617. It is possible to ascertain within a little the boundaries of this part of the Short estate. In a deed[492] dated 10th January, 1614–5, relating to Elm Field, the land lying between Castle Street and Long Acre, the northern boundary is stated to be “certain closes called by the name of Marshlands _alias_ Marshlins, and a garden sometime in the tenure of William Short or his assignes”; and in a later deed,[493] dated 2nd February, 1632–3, relating to a portion of the same field, the northern boundary, said to be 249 feet distant from Long Acre, is referred to as “a way or back lane of 20 feet adjoining the garden wall of the Right Honble. the Duchess of Lenox.”

The distance of the “back lane” from Long Acre corresponds exactly with that of the present Castle Street, and it is therefore clear that this was the southern boundary. The property afterwards came into the possession of the Brownlow family, and an examination of the leases which were granted in the early part of the 18th century, shows that it reached as far as Drury Lane on the east and Short’s gardens on the north. On the west it stretched as far as Marshland.[494]

Whether the house leased to the Earl of March was one of the two (the other being _The Greyhound_) purchased by Short in 1590, or a house quite recently built, there is no evidence to show.

The Earl, in February, 1623–4, succeeded to the dukedom of Lennox, and on 30th July of the same year he died. His widow[495] continued to reside at the house. Letters from her, headed “Drury Lane,” and dating from 1625 to 1629, are extant,[496] and she also, in 1628, joined with other “inhabitants adjoining the house of the Countess of Castlehaven, in Drury Lane,” in a petition to the Privy Council.[497] There is, therefore, ample evidence that she actually resided at the house.

In 1632 she married James Hamilton, second Earl of Abercorn, and died on 17th September, 1637, leaving to her husband, in trust for their son James, “all that my capitall house, scituate in Drury Lane.”[498]

The Earl sold the remainder of the lease[499] to the Duchess’s cousin, Adrian Scroope, who apparently let the house, as the Subsidy Roll for 1646 shows the “Earl of Downe” as occupying the premises.[500] In 1647 Sir Gervase Scroope, Adrian’s son, sold the lease to Sir John Brownlow,[499] who certainly acquired the freehold also, though no record of the transaction has come to light. Finding the house too large[501] Sir John divided it in two, and in 1662 Lady Allington[502] was paying a rent of £50 for the smaller of the two residences.[499] Sir John died in November, 1679. By his will[503] (signed 10th April, 1673) he left to his wife all the plate, jewels, etc. “which shall be in her closett within or neare our bedd chamber at London in my house at Drury Lane ... and the household stuffe in the said house, except all that shall then be in my chamber where the most part of my bookes and boxes of my evidences are usually kept, and except all those in the same house that shall then be in the chamber where I use to dresse myselfe, both which chambers have lights towardes the garden.” He also left to his wife “that part of my house in Drury Lane which is now in my own possession for her life if she continue my widowe,” together with “that house or part of my house wherein the Lady Allington did heretofore live, ... by which houses I meane yards, gardens and all grounds therewith used”; and moreover the furniture “of two roomes in my house in Drury Lane where I use to dresse myself, and where my evidences and bookes are usually kept.”

_Brownlow._
]

The estate afterwards came into the hands of Sir John Brownlow, son of his nephew, Sir Richard Brownlow, who at once took steps to develop the property, letting plots on building lease for a term of years expiring in 1728. Except in one case, information is not to hand as to the date on which these leases were granted, but in that instance it is stated to be 21st May, 1682,[504] a date which may be regarded as approximately that of the beginning of the development of the interior part of the estate by building,[505] though at least a part of the frontages to Drury Lane and Castle Street had been built on before 1658 (see Plate 3).

At the same time (_circ._ 1682) apparently Lennox House was, either wholly or in part, demolished. A deed of 1722[506] relates to the assignment of two leases of a parcel of ground “lately belonging to the capital messuage or tenement of Sir John Brownlow _then in part demolished_, scituate in Drury Lane, in St. Giles, sometime called Lenox House.” The description is obviously borrowed from the original leases, since reference is also made to “a new street there then to be built, intended to be called Belton Street,” which street was certainly in existence in 1683.[507] What is apparently Lennox House is shown in Morden and Lea’s Map of 1682 as occupying a position in the central portion of the estate, with a wide approach from Drury Lane, and this is to a certain extent confirmed by the tradition that the first Lying-In Hospital in Brownlow Street (occupying the site of the present No. 30) was a portion of the original building. It is remarkable, however, that no hint of a house in this position is given either in Hollar’s Plan of 1658 (Plate 3) or in Faithorne’s Map of the same date (Plate 4).

The name of Brownlow Street was in 1877 altered to Betterton Street.

XLVII.–XLVIII.—NOS. 24 AND 32, BETTERTON STREET.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND DATE OF STRUCTURE.

No. 24, Betterton Street, dating from the 18th century, must at one time have been a fine residence, but there is now nothing in it to record. The doorcase is illustrated on Plate 35.

No. 32 also dates from the 18th century. Attached to these premises is a boldly recessed carved wooden doorcase of interesting design, illustrated on Plate 36. The interior of the house contains a wood and compo chimney piece of some interest in the front room of the ground floor, and one of white marble, relieved with a little carving and red stone inlay, in the corresponding room on the floor above.

CONDITION OF REPAIR.

The houses are in fair repair.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

The sewer ratebook for 1718 shows “John Bannister” in occupation
of No. 32. This was probably John Bannister, the younger, “who
came from an old St. Giles’s family, his father having been a
musician, composer and violinist, and his grandfather one of the
parish waits. He himself was in the royal band during the reigns
of Charles II., James II., William and Mary, and Anne, and played
first violin at Drury Lane theatre, when Italian operas were first
introduced into England.”[508]

IN THE COUNCIL’S COLLECTION ARE:—

No. 24, Betterton Street—General exterior (photograph).