Chapter III (4)

TATTERSALL’S.—Richard Tattersall, founder of this well-known establishment, was born in 1723. He became training-groom to the last Duke of Kingston, after whose death, I presume, he started on his own account at Hyde Park Corner, as I find he sold off the Duke’s stud, and an injunction was applied for, December 14th, 1774, to prevent payment of the money to the Duchess, then under indictment. In 1775 frequent advertisements of Tattersall’s show that his business rapidly progressed, and his establishment soon became the head-quarters of the sporting world. That it early gained an aristocratic fame is proved by the allusion in “The Belle’s Stratagem,” first performed in 1782:—

“_Flutter_: Oh, yes! I stopped at Tattersall’s as I came by, and
there I found Lord James Jessamy, Sir William Wilding, and Mr. —.
But, now I think of it, you sha’nt know a syllable of the matter; for
I have been informed you never believe above one-half of what I say.”

Richard Tattersall died February 20th, 1795, aged 72. Two portraits of him are still in his descendants’ possession; from one of them a portrait in “Knight’s London” is engraved. {198} He was succeeded in his business by his only son, Edmund, who carried it on until his death, January 23rd, 1810. His son, Edmund, who founded the foreign trade, then succeeded; who dying December 11th, 1851, the business came to its present proprietors.

The entrance to Tattersall’s is from Grosvenor Place, down a deep descent under an unpretending archway. At the bottom is a tavern, bearing the appropriate sign of “The Turf,” opposite to which is a gateway, leading into a circular-shaped inclosure, on the skirt of which is a gravel path encircling a grass-plot, from the centre of which rises a solitary tree; here the horses are tried and examined. The subscription room—a well proportioned one—was designed by Mr. George Tattersall, author of “Sporting Architecture.” Over the mantelpiece of the counting-house hang the regulations, dated 1780. In the courtyard is a domed structure surmounted by a bust of George IV. in his eighteenth year, at which period of life he was a frequent visitor. Beneath this dome is a pump, surmounted by the figure of a fox. A writer in the “Sporting Magazine” (June, 1852) stated that “Tattersall’s annual average of horses brought to the hammer, is estimated at £45,000,” and that he believed “there were 97 stalls, and 13 loose boxes, or standing for 110.” The chief business days are Mondays and Thursdays.

TREVOR SQUARE, so named from Sir John Trevor, who had a house on its site, was built about 1818. The freehold is still that of his descendant, Lord Duncannon; hence the names to be met with here are derived, such as Hill Street, Arthur Street, Duncannon Cottage, &c.

At No. 1 in the square lived the notorious Harriette Wilson; and Mrs. Andrée, a descendant of the Umfreville, whom William the Conqueror styled his kinsman, died here in 1836.

Trevor Chapel, one of the largest places of worship in the metropolis, belonging to the Independents, was built about 1817, under the ministry of the Rev. John Morrison, D.D. He is still its nominal minister, but his great age and infirmities preclude any active duty. The officiating pastor is the Rev. John Statham. Dr. Morrison is beloved not only by his congregation, but by the whole community of London Dissenters. He is known also as the author of several theological works, the best of which is a “Commentary on the Psalms.”

In the last century a portion of the land about this part was rented by a French Protestant refugee family, named Moreau, of which General Moreau was a member. They returned to France about eighty years since. {200}

All this land one hundred and fifty years ago was the property of Sir John Trevor, many years Master of the Rolls. He was second son of John Trevor, of Bynkinsalt, Denbighshire, Esq., by an aunt of the infamous Chancellor Jeffreys, and was born about 1638. After a very lowly education, he was taken by a relative, Arthur Trevor, a barrister, as his clerk. Here he assiduously applied himself to the study of the law, and afterwards entered the Inner Temple, and was called to the bar. His advancement was very rapid, for, entering the House of Commons, he upheld the Royal Prerogative to an extreme, denying the right of Parliament to inquire into its exercise. He took a prominent part in the unjust prosecution of the unfortunate Lord Strafford, and strenuously defended Jeffreys when he obstructed the right of petitioning in the great controversy between the _Petitioners_ and _Abhorrers_.

When James II. called his only Parliament in May, 1685, Trevor, who sat for Denbigh, was, through the Government influence, elected Speaker. {201} The new Parliament, however, did not suit James, and at the commencement of a second session was dissolved. Trevor’s obsequiousness was rewarded with the Mastership of the Rolls, an office to which he was appointed October 20th, 1685. It is said he aimed now at the Chancellorship, and, with that object, endeavoured to injure Jeffreys by aiding the outcry against him on the occasion of the shameless case of Alderman Cornish.

In July, 1688, Trevor was sworn of the Privy Council; but William of Orange soon after landing, with characteristic meanness he held aloof, but when James returned after his first flight, imagining a reaction was come, declared in his favour; his hopes proved transitory, and he therefore joined the High Tories, who wished to make William Regent only. He, however, was declared King, and Trevor was removed from the Rolls.

In 1690 a new Parliament was called, and Trevor joined the more moderate of the two sections into which his party was divided; and having offered to support the new King, and also bring over partisans from the opposite camp, if restored to the Speaker’s chair, his proposal was agreed to; and so well did he perform his part, that William in a few weeks appointed him First Commissioner of the Great Seal, he still retaining the Speakership, and in less than two years, his successor at the Rolls dying, he was restored to that position also. But great inconvenience resulted, and on May 2nd, 1693, the Great Seal was given to Somers.

In 1694 a great agitation was manifested in the House of Commons, in the belief that the Court, and even the House itself, was tainted with bribery. A committee was appointed, and on the 12th March, 1695, Mr. Foley, the chairman, read its report, which implicated Trevor; and a debate arising, a resolution was proposed “That Sir John Trevor, Speaker of this House, receiving a gratuity of 1,000 guineas from the City of London, after passing of the Orphans’ Bill, is guilty of a high crime and misdemeanour.” This motion Trevor had the mortification to put from the chair, and the unparalleled humiliation of declaring it unanimously carried. The House immediately adjourned, and two days after he resigned the chair, and on the 16th a motion for his expulsion from the House was carried, and a new writ issued for the borough he represented. {203} He was, strangely enough, permitted to retain his Mastership of the Rolls, and no further proceedings were taken against him. The rest of his life he wisely spent in his judicial office, never again withdrawing from it for politics. He died at his house in Chancery Lane, May 20th, 1717, and was buried in the Rolls Chapel.

Trevor’s character, on the whole, is but a poor one; a selfish ambition appears to have made him consider the end, and not the means, the chief object of his care.

His circumstances, doubtless, compelled him to practise a rigid economy, which, as he advanced in years and position, grew into meanness. But it would be unjust not to mention the redeeming points in his career. Lord Campbell states that “he was not only an upright but an enlightened judge, and he pronounced many decrees which to this day are considered of high authority.” No charge of bribery or favouritism was ever brought against him in the fulfilment of his judicial duties. “He had a villa at Knightsbridge,” says Lord Campbell, “then almost a day’s journey from London, and he has been absurdly censured for occasionally hearing cases at his private residence, a practice all equity judges sometimes must necessarily follow.” And notwithstanding his niggardly disposition he founded six almshouses in St. Martin’s parish, Shropshire, and provided also several other charities. He left issue an only daughter, Anne, who married Michael Hill, of Hillsborough, Esquire, who had two sons—Trevor, who became heir to the Hills, and was ancestor of the Marquis of Downshire, and Arthur, who inherited this property, assumed the name of Trevor, and was, April 27th, 1765, raised to the peerage as Viscount Duncannon; and from him the present freeholder is descended.

William Street was built about 1830. At No. 11 resided for many years Lady Morgan, whose works occupy too distinguished a place in our literature to need mention here. Mrs. Gascoigne, in her poem, “Belgravia,” after sketching the portrait of Mr. Higgins, as before given, describes Lady Morgan as follows:

“Nor his the only pen Belgravia’s bounds
Can boast, whose glory far and wide resounds!
Endowed with manly powers, a woman’s quill
Can treat and master every theme at will;
And in her wisdom’s energetic scope,
Put down a _Wiseman_, and unchair a _Pope_.”

The last line alludes to the controversy so cleverly sustained by her ladyship, as to the genuineness of St. Peter’s Chair—a paper war, forming a capital chapter for a future Disraeli, and the only amusing episode connected with the Papal Aggression of 1851.

WILTON CRESCENT was commenced in 1826 by Mr. Seth Smith. At No. 24 for many years lived Mr. Hallam, the celebrated historian. Here the great _literati_ of our times were wont to meet, for Mr. Hallam’s assemblies were of the most celebrated and intellectual. At No. 16 the late Lord Dudley Stuart once resided; it is now the residence of Mr. Richardson. No. 20 is the town-house of the Earl of Winchelsea, the “Protestant Earl;” 39 was the residence of the Rev. W. Bennett; and 30 of Lord John Russell, before his removal to Chesham Place. Mr. Baron Watson resides at 38; and Mr. Milner Gibson at No. 50. Lord Chewton, who so gallantly fell in leading his men at the Battle of Alma, lived at 37.

WILTON PLACE, occupying the site of a cow-yard, into which there was a narrow entrance from the main road, was built in 1827. At No. 15 Sir James Macdonald, the gallant defender of Hougoumont, lived, and died there in May, 1857; also the Hon. Thomas Stapleton, an antiquary, at 13; Mr. Westmacott at 21. The Chisholm used to occupy 35; and Miss Reynolds, the actress, still resides at No. 4.

With Wilton Place these notices of Knightsbridge (proper) close; mention of those eminent persons whose _locale_ cannot be traced will, I think, appropriately finish this chapter.

RICHARD BENSLEY, the celebrated actor of the last century, resided the latter part of his life at Knightsbridge. Appearing for the first time, in 1765, as _Pierre_ in “Venice Preserved,” he maintained a good reputation as an actor for a lengthened period, not quitting the stage till May 6th, 1796. He had the honour to deliver Johnson’s prologue to Goldsmith’s “Good-Natured Man;” and as _Pierre_, _Iago_, and _Hotspur_, his fame stood high among his contemporaries. He was appointed barrack-master at Knightsbridge (he had in early life been in the army), which appointment he held till his death in 1817.

THOMAS HARRISON, a poet, a friend of Addison and Swift—“my own creature,” the latter calls him—who brought over the celebrated Treaty of Utrecht, died at Knightsbridge, on February 14th, 1713. He was a _protégé_ of Swift, who describes him, in 1710, as “a young fellow we are all fond of; a little pretty fellow, with a great deal of wit, good sense, and good nature.” He was then tutor to a son of the Duke of Queensbury on _forty pounds a year_; Swift introduced him to the Ministry, and he was sent out as Secretary to the Embassy to arrange the Peace of Utrecht, St. John presenting him with fifty guineas to bear his expenses. Less than two years had elapsed on February 11th, 1713, when Swift, returning from a dinner, found a letter on his table from Harrison, telling him he was ill, and desired to see him. He went in the morning, found him suffering from fever and inflammation, harassed and penniless; got thirty guineas for him from Bolingbroke, and a Treasury order for £100 of his arrears of salary. He then removed him to Knightsbridge for change of air. On February 14th, Swift writes,—“I took Parnell (the poet) this morning, and we walked to see poor Harrison. I had the £100 in my pocket. I told Parnell I was afraid to knock at the door. My mind misgave me. I knocked, and his man, in tears, told me his master was dead an hour before.” Swift seems to have loved Harrison, and felt his loss acutely. “Think,” he says, “what grief this is to me! I went to his mother, and have been ordering things for his funeral with as little cost as possible, to-morrow at ten at night. Lord Treasurer was much concerned when I told him; I would not dine with Lord Treasurer, or any one else. No loss ever grieved me so much.” And the next day he records, “At ten at night I was at his funeral, which I ordered to be as private as possible. We had but one coach with four of us; and when it was carrying us home, after the funeral, the braces broke, and we were forced to sit in it, and have it held up, till my man went for chairs, at eleven at night, in terrible rain.” {209}

Tickell, in one of his poems, mentions Harrison as—

“That much loved youth, whom Utrecht’s walls confine;”

and indeed, though little is known of him, he seems to have been a favourite with his contemporaries.

BERNARD LENS, miniature painter to George II., retiring from his profession, settled at Knightsbridge, where he died, December 30th, 1740. According to Vertue, he was buried at Kensington, but his name does not appear on the register. He was tutor to the celebrated Duke of Cumberland, and excelled as a copyist of Rubens and Vandyke, whose colouring he imitated admirably.

ROBERT MILLER, a loyalist in the American War of Independence. He held two official situations in Virginia, which he lost in the revolution. He died at Knightsbridge, February, 17th, 1792.

FRANCIS XAVIER D’OLIVEYRA, a Portuguese chevalier, born in 1702, and filled the office of Secretary to the Embassy at Vienna. He was persecuted by the Inquisition on account of the publication of his travels, and accordingly came to England, where he abjured the Romish creed. Thus sacrificing fortune to the dictates of conscience, he first encountered great difficulties, but found friends, especially Archbishops Potter and Herring. Frederick, Prince of Wales, also assigned him a pension. He resided some years at Knightsbridge, which he quitted in 1775. He died October 11th, 1783. {211}

The COUNTESS OF ORRERY, friend of Swift, died at Knightsbridge, October 27th, 1758. He esteemed her highly “as a person of very good understanding, as any he knew of the sex.” In his will, Swift bequeathed to Lord Orrery “the enamelled silver plates to distinguish bottles of wine by,” given him by his “excellent lady.”

SETH WARD, BISHOP OF SALISBURY, had his town residence at Knightsbridge. He was born April 15th, 1617, at Aspedon, near Buntingford. Brought up at the Free School of his native place, he was removed to Sydney Sussex College; but refusing to subscribe the covenant, lost his fellowship, and in 1643 removed to the neighbourhood of London. Part of his time he spent at Albury, in company with Oughte, and there the two prosecuted their mathematical studies together.

In 1649, the Savilian Professors of Astronomy and Geometry being removed from their offices by the Parliamentary Commissioners, Ward was chosen to fill the former chair. On this he took the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth, and exerted himself to restore the lectures, which had been greatly neglected, and under him they speedily revived.

In 1652, he took his Doctor’s Degree, and in 1659 was made Principal of Jesus College, and afterwards Master of Trinity College; but at the Restoration he was compelled to resign these appointments. While at Oxford he gained the acquaintance of some of the most eminent men of the time, especially of Wilkins, afterwards Bishop of Chester. Their meetings led to the formation of the Royal Society, which Ward strongly supported, and of which he was one of the most efficient members.

Although he had taken office under the Commonwealth, he had friends under the Monarchy, who were able to forward his interests. Among them were Monk and Clarendon; and through their intercessions he was presented to St. Lawrence Jewry, and afterwards to the Precentorship of Exeter. His rise was now rapid, for in 1661 he was appointed Dean, and in the ensuing year Bishop of that Diocese.

In 1667 he was translated to the Bishopric of Salisbury, and in the House of Lords, being an able speaker, took a prominent part in the debates. He has been accused of lending rather too complying an ear to the Court, both in Parliament and the rule of his diocese; probably these charges arose from his supporting the ill-advised and tyrannical Conventicle Act, which his predecessor, Bishop Earl, a man beloved by all parties, had opposed. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind he approved of the opposition to James II., and to two copies of the petition his signature was affixed.

His residence, when his duties called him to the metropolis, was at Knightsbridge, and here he was visited by all the leading literary and scientific men of the day. Evelyn, in his “Diary,” March 25th, 1674, writes, “I dined at Knightsbridge, with the Bishops of Salisbury, Chester, and Lincoln, my old friends.” The celebrated Isaac Barrow was also a frequent guest; and it was at the Bishop’s table he was seized with the illness which in a short time ended his days. The celebrated Sir Charles Scarborough was another friend—he also was Ward’s medical adviser; and Burnet states he was at Knightsbridge with him when the Queen’s coach came for him to attend her at the birth of the future Pretender.

The Bishop’s health towards the close of his life was very indifferent, and at length he was deprived of his faculties altogether, and died at Knightsbridge, January 6, 1689, in his seventy-second year. He was a very learned man, as his writings abundantly show, and a very charitable one. At his native place he founded almshouses, and also left a sum for apprenticing its poor boys. I know nothing more beautiful or pure in a great man’s character than to see him remembering in his old age those villagers among whom, in a comparatively humble sphere, he first drew breath. Such conduct indicates a benevolent mind and a good heart; and such public acts which seem to show a different spirit, I would rather attribute to a temporary fear or extraneous motive, other than the genuine constitution of the mind. A life of Ward was published by Dr. Pope, author of the celebrated ballad, “The Old Man’s Wish.” {214}

William Penn resided at Knightsbridge, at No. 8, St. George’s Place, it is said; in order to be nearer the Court, where he was a great favourite with the Queen; he left it in 1706. Sir John Chardin, the famous Persian Ambassador of the time of Charles II., lived once in this same house. So imbued was he by his travels with Eastern ideas, that on Persian festivals he used to illuminate his windows with candles. He was buried at Chiswick, 29th December, 1713. The clever but unfortunate George Anne Bellamy also lived here in 1747. Dr. Richard Wright, F.R.S., and physician to St. George’s Hospital, died here, October 14th, 1786. J. Marshall, a botanist and gardener, and well known as a writer on such subjects, lived at Knightsbridge many years; and Edward Wakefield, author of “Ireland, Political and Statistical,” died here, May 18th, 1854, aged eighty-six. John Allen, of Knightsbridge, in 1685, left to the parish of Hammersmith 10s. annually to twenty poor people. The Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of George II., also numbered among its inhabitants.