Part 5
Much property in this neighbourhood was owned by the Earls of Clare of the Holles Family, and John Holles, second Earl, whose mansion was at the end of Clare Court, Drury Lane, founded the market soon after the middle of the seventeenth century. A stone bas-relief of the Holles Arms, surmounted by an earl's coronet with the date 1659, was formerly at the corner of Gilbert passage, and afterwards on the house numbered 8, Clare Street. The butchers of Clare Market were for years flourishing, and here "Orator" Henley erected his "gilt tub" commemorated by Pope, and used to preach on such Scripture texts or subjects as admitted of a burlesque treatment. By degrees the place degenerated, and in 1891 most of the buildings here were cleared away; among others, the old "bulk-shop," in the foreground. It stood at the north-east corner of Holles Street, and adjoining it on the north were other shops of a similar kind. For some time before their destruction they had been unoccupied. According to Oldys, Nat Lee, the dramatic poet, when one night returning overladen with wine from the Bear and Harrow in Butcher Row, Strand, through Clare Market, to his lodging in Duke (now Sardinia) Street, "fell down on the ground, as some say, according to others on a _bulk_, and was killed or stifled in the snow." He was buried in the parish church of St. Clement Danes, 6th May, 1692.
(6-3/8 × 8-1/2) D. 88-1896.
65. The Cheshire Cheese Tavern, Fleet Street, from Wine Office Court, 1890 (Black and white).
Now that the Cock in Fleet Street has flown over the way to comparatively modern quarters, and Dick's is no more, the Cheshire Cheese, at No. 145, is the most old-fashioned tavern not only in this neighbourhood, but in all London, and the old style is carefully kept up. Contrary to general belief, and to many printed statements, there is no record that the great Samuel Johnson, who so much appreciated the charms of tavern life, ever frequented it, though this is by no means improbable, as he lived hereabout for many years. Indeed, Gough Square, where he compiled his dictionary, is within a minute's walk, and his friend Oliver Goldsmith wrote the Vicar of Wakefield at No. 6, Wine Office Court, close to the spot from which the drawing is taken, at a time when the evening has begun, and "Tavern lights flit on from room to room." At the old Cheshire Cheese the Modern Johnson Club has often met, traditions of Johnson's visits are repeated, and his portrait hangs in a corner of the principal dining room on the ground floor. This room has been depicted by various artists of distinction, among others by Seymour Lucas, R.A., and Dendy Sadler. The panelled walls, the seventeenth century fireplace, the sawdusted floor, and other quaint survivals, combine to make a pretty picture. An illustrated "Book of the Cheese," which has gone through several editions, is, or was, sold at the bar.
(8-3/4 × 6-1/4) D. 55-1896.
66. Hare Court, Temple, 1891 (Black and white).
Passing out of Fleet Street through the Inner Temple Gateway, under the old room acquired some years ago by the London County Council, the first opening on the right leads us into Hare Court, which "Elia" has described with less than his usual sympathy as "a gloomy churchyard-like place, with trees and a pump in it." At this pump he had often drunk when a child, and the contents later in life he recommends as "excellent cold with brandy." The back of Dick's coffee-house is here to be seen, nestling against a fine old block of chambers, and overshadowed on the right by a high modern structure which seems to have got in there by mistake. Dick's, sometimes called Richard's, stood on the site of the printing office of Richard Tottel, law stationer in the reign of Henry VIII.; it got its name, however, from Richard Torner or Turner, who was landlord in 1680. From the days of Steele and Addison many eminent men frequented it. As is well known, coffee-houses for half a century or more had a great influence on the sale of books; every new poem or pamphlet of any importance was to be seen in them. Peter Cunningham records that he had several in his possession bearing in large letters on their title-page "Dick's Coffee-house." This picturesque old place of entertainment, like the Rainbow and other houses of a similar description, was approached from Fleet Street by a long passage. In front it was a wooden structure; the back was really half-timbered, the timbering concealed by plaster; inside the original staircase remained. It disappeared in 1899; the rest of the seventeenth century buildings in Hare Court had been swept away some years previously.
(11-3/16 × 7-7/8) D. 56-1896.
67. Sion College and the City of London School, Victoria Embankment, 1893 (Black and white).
Sion College, near the north end of Blackfriars Bridge, and next on the west to the City of London School, was founded in 1623, as a College and Almshouse, according to the will of Dr. Thomas White, who was Vicar of St. Dunstan's in the West, and held other clerical appointments. A library was added by the munificence of Dr. John Simson, rector of St. Olave's, Hart Street, and an executor of the will. Until of late years, the home of the College was in London Wall, between Aldermanbury on the east and Philip Lane on the west, the former site of Elsing Spittal. The old library was built along the east side of Philip Lane, the hall stood back in the College garden. Mr. W. Niven, in his volume on London City churches, gives a good etching of the picturesque gateway. New Sion College, here shown, was formally opened by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, December 15, 1886.
The City of London School was established in Milk Street about the year 1835 for the sons of persons engaged in professional or commercial pursuits, deriving part of its income from property bequeathed for educational purposes by John Carpenter, town-clerk of London in the reign of Henry V. The school had been transferred to its present site on the Victoria Embankment a short time before this drawing was made.
(6-5/8 × 9-1/4) D. 76-1896.
68. The Rising Sun, Wych Street, 1890 (Black and white).
In 1900-01 all the picturesque but dilapidated old houses in Wych Street and the neighbouring Holywell Street were cleared away. Among them was the structure here represented on spectator's right which is at the south-east corner of Wych Street, with a front towards the church of St. Clement Danes. This public-house, then known as the Rising Sun, previously the Crooked Billet, stood nearly opposite to the entrance of Dane's Inn, which was built on the site of a more famous hostelry—the Angel—destroyed in 1854.
(9-9/16 × 6-7/16) D. 57-1896.
69. The Cock and Pie, Drury Lane, 1880 (Black and white).
The plastered house which appears to the right of this drawing was for many years known as the Cock and Pie, or Cock and Magpie, public-house, but was turned to other uses long ago. Apart from its quaintness, it is worthy of record as having been possibly, I might say probably, for a time the residence of Nell Gwynn. Under the date May 1, 1667, Pepys, after saying how on his way to Westminster, he met "many milk-maids with their garlands upon their pails, dancing with a fiddler before them," refers to her in these words:—"Saw pretty Nelly standing at her lodging-door in Drury Lane in her smock sleeves and bodice looking upon me; she seemed a mighty pretty creature." Peter Cunningham, in his "Life of Nell Gwynn," places these lodgings at the top of Maypole Alley, over against the gate of Craven House, a position which exactly corresponds with that of the old Cock and Pie, and a view of this house is used to illustrate his volume. After 1838 the well-known bookseller, George Stockley, for some years occupied the building. He convinced himself of Nell Gwynn's connection with it, and his belief was shared by the late Edward Solly, F.R.S., who wrote an interesting letter on the subject to "Notes and Queries." The building, most likely, dated from the time of Charles I., and appears to be marked on Faithorne's map of 1658. The panelled house next door, which seemed coeval, was of a kind almost extinct. They stood on the south side of Drury Lane, and were both destroyed in the autumn of 1890. Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son's establishment in the Kingsway stands as nearly as may be on the site.
(10-5/16 × 7-3/8) D. 58-1896.
70. House in Nevill's Court, Fetter Lane, 1891 (Water-colour).
On the east side of Fetter Lane, at No. 32, is the chief establishment of the Moravians in London; behind is their chapel, and a little further north is a narrow passage leading to Nevill's Court. Here, on the south side, stands an interesting old house, which belongs to the Moravian Society. As long ago as 1744 it passed into their hands, when it was described as "the great house of Nevill's Alley." It was the home of the Rev. C. J. la Trobe and of Count Reuss; and Charles Joseph la Trobe, first Governor of Victoria, was born here. The earliest account of the Moravian missions was issued from this house—then as now No. 10—more than a hundred years ago. There is a quiet dignity about the old place, which bears the stamp of having seen better days. This site was for some years to let on building lease, but at the time of writing the house was no longer threatened. Further east, on the opposite side of the way, were one or two buildings of still earlier date. These houses just escaped the Great Fire; they were destroyed in the winter of 1911-12.
(13-1/8 × 10-3/8) D. 73-1896.
71. New Exchange Court, Strand, 1891 (Black and white).
On the north side of the Strand, between Nos. 418 and 419, is New Exchange Court, now occupied by that excellent body, the Corps of Commissioners, who have their headquarters here. Of late years all the old buildings represented in this drawing have been swept away. In 1891 they formed an admirable background for the figures of the veterans who made it their home. The picturesque house behind the projecting lamp on the left of this drawing was known until about 1886 as the Thatched House Tavern. Earlier in the century it was called Nell Gwynn's Dairy, and her name had also been connected with a panelled room (now also destroyed) in a house near Maiden Lane, with which the court communicates. It is, however, almost certain that Nell Gwynn never resided here; like Cromwell, if we believe the popular legends she must have been ubiquitous.
(9-3/8 × 6-1/2) D. 59-1896.
72. The Nag's Head Inn, Whitcombe Street, 1889 (Black and white).
This drawing represents an old galleried inn on the east side of Whitcomb Street, once Hedge Lane, which, as its former name implies, was not always hemmed in by bricks and mortar. It appears from a manuscript note-book, formerly in the possession of the late Mr. F. Locker-Lampson, that Hogarth in his later years, when he set up a coach and horses, kept them at the Nag's Head. He was then living on the east side of Leicester Square. On an old drawing of the Nag's Head, which belongs to the writer, it is stated that "this inn did the posting exclusively for the Royal family from George I. to William IV." It was latterly used as a livery stable, and, the lease having come to an end, was closed in 1890. The space remained vacant for many years, and is now covered by the fine publishing offices of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.
(9-13/16 × 6-3/4) D. 60-1896.
73. Emanuel Hospital, Westminster, 1890 (Water-colour).
(7-5/8 × 12-3/4) D. 80-1896.
74. Old Men's Garden, Emanuel Hospital, Westminster, 1891 (Sepia).
Emanuel Hospital (sometimes called Dacre's almshouses), on the west side of James Street, Westminster, was founded pursuant to the will, dated December 20th, 1594, of Anne, Lady Dacre, widow of Gregory, last Lord Dacre of the South, and sister of Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, the poet, "towards the relief of aged people and bringing up of children in virtue and good and laudable acts in the same hospital." On the death in 1623 of the last surviving executor of Lady Dacre, the guardianship of the hospital descended, by the Charter of Incorporation, to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London. The hospital was rebuilt, as it appears in the drawings, during the reign of Queen Anne, and afforded protection to a varying number of old men and women (formerly twenty-four) belonging to Westminster, Chelsea, or Hayes in Middlesex; the schools had been disconnected with it, and formed a portion of the Westminster United School, since 1873. In spite of much opposition from those who loved the picturesque old group of buildings, Emanuel Hospital was closed in 1892. The site was afterwards sold for £37,500, a new scheme being drawn up for the regulation of the charity. The drawing numbered 73 gives a general view of the buildings. In the centre, surmounted by a little clock turret and showing a pediment with the Dacre arms, is the chapel from which people are issuing, the front figure with staff and gown being that of an almsman who officiated as beadle. The master lived close to the chapel, and the old men in the tenements on the left side, their garden, shown in No. 74, being at the back. The entrance, facing James Street, had handsome wrought-iron gates. In the old church at Chelsea there is a stately monument with recumbent figures to Lord and Lady Dacre.
(6 × 8-1/2) D. 61-1896.
75. No. 10, Downing Street, from the garden, 1888 (Water-colour).
(7-1/2 × 9-5/8) D. 81-1896.
76. Chief Reception Room, No. 10, Downing Street, 1888 (Sepia).
One of the most historic mansions in London is No. 10, Downing Street, facing the Foreign Office, which has been the official home of the first Lord of the Treasury ever since Sir Robert Walpole moved into it from St. James's Square in 1735. It had belonged to the Crown, and had been granted by George I. to Baron Bothmar, the Hanoverian minister, for life. The residence really consists of two houses, with a covered way between them. That which faces the street is a plain Georgian structure, resembling No. 11, which forms part of the same block. The building at the back seems little to accord with its surrounding. It stands in a garden, much frequented by woodpigeons, which once, no doubt, formed part of St. James's Park. On a misty morning in spring one might imagine it to be on the outskirts of some peaceful country town. The view shows the south side, the part towards Downing Street being discernible behind a tree on the right: the building to the left is the Treasury. The artist has ventured to clothe his little figures in costumes which harmonise more with the old place than the frock coats and trousers of the present day. The windows opening on to the terrace belong to the famous old cabinet room, where Pitt and Sir Robert Peel, Disraeli and Palmerston, have often sat. In the large reception room on the first floor which forms the subject of drawing No. 76, are a series of interesting portraits, the best, perhaps, being that of Richard Weston, Earl of Portland, Lord High Treasurer in 1633. The portly form of Sir Robert Walpole is in the place of honour, empanelled above a fine marble mantelpiece. It was in the ante-room, on the first floor of No. 10, Downing Street, that on January 12th, 1887, the Earl of Iddesleigh, better known as Sir Stafford Northcote, breathed his last. This house, although it has undergone various changes, was originally designed by Sir Christopher Wren, as is proved in the London Topographical Society's Record, vol. 2, pp. 23-26 (1903).
(14-7/16 × 18-3/4) D. 62-1896.
77. Schomberg House, Pall Mall, 1894 (Black and white).
Schomberg House, Nos. 81 and 82, on the south side of Pall Mall, is an interesting specimen of a nobleman's mansion in the late seventeenth century, though its symmetry has been spoiled by the destruction of the east wing, about the year 1850. Timbs thought that it dated from the time of the Commonwealth; it is, however, generally supposed to have been begun for the famous Duke of Schomberg, the favourite of William III., who was killed at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and not to have been finished until some years after his death. His second son, Meinardt, the third Duke, died in 1719, when the title became extinct. The house then came into the hands of Meinardt's daughter, Frederica, who married first the Earl of Holdernesse, and afterwards Benjamin Mildmay, created Earl of Fitzwalter in 1730. Thirty years later, on the accession of George III., the Duke of Cumberland, victor at Culloden, came here as tenant, from St. James's Palace, but he did not remain long; the Earl of Holdernesse soon afterwards selling the mansion for £5,000 to "Beau" Astley, the portrait painter, who had married Lady Daniell, a wealthy widow. Astley spent a large sum in converting it into three dwellings, and fitting up the central part fantastically for his own use. It was probably he who set up the bas-relief of "Painting" over the doorway, which still remains. He was succeeded by Nathaniel Hone, R.A., now chiefly remembered by his picture called "The Conjuror." In 1781 this central portion was let to Dr. Graham, the notorious quack, who exhibited here his "Temple of Hymen" and "Celestial Bed," and here "the blooming Priestess of the Temple endeavoured to" "entertain ladies and gentlemen of candour and good nature" by reading a lecture on the means of preserving "health, beauty, and serene mental brilliancy even to the extremest old age." Soon, however, the farce was played out, and in 1786 Graham was succeeded by Richard Cosway, the miniature painter, and his handsome wife. They lived here for some years, and society flocked to their parties, which were not unfrequently attended by the Prince of Wales, who had access to them through a private door from the garden of Carlton House. The western wing of Schomberg House was from 1774 occupied by that great artist, Thomas Gainsborough, and here he died in 1788. Reynolds had visited him, at his request, a few days before, when he used the often-quoted words: "We are all going to Heaven and Vandyck is of the party." And here in the following spring his widow held an exhibition of his works still remaining on her hands. In the course of last century Messrs. Dyde and Scribe converted the east wing into a place of business. They were succeeded by Mr. Harding, in whose time George III. and the Princesses used to visit the shop and make their own purchases. Other well-known people have been connected with Schomberg House. Robert Bowyer, miniature-painter to Queen Charlotte, here collected a large number of engravings and paintings to illustrate the history of England, which he called the Historic Gallery. It proved unsuccessful, and he applied for help to Parliament, which passed an Act empowering him to dispose of it by lottery; this he did in 1807. The bookseller, "Honest Tom Payne," moved in 1806 to Schomberg House from his old shop at the Mews Gate, where the National Gallery now stands. Messrs. Payne and Foss succeeded him, who brought together a matchless collection of old books, and stayed here until their retirement from business. It had been said (Smith's Nollekens, Vol. II., p. 398) that Jervais, the portrait painter, eulogised by Pope, was also for a time a tenant. Schomberg House, or what remains of it, has for many years been incorporated in the War Office.
(14 × 8-5/8) D. 63-1896.
78. Back of Devonshire House, Piccadilly, from the Garden, 1893 (Black and white).
Devonshire House stands on the site of Berkeley House, built in 1665 for Sir John Berkeley (created Lord Berkeley of Stratton), which in its turn was on the site of Hay Hill Farm. The property at first included the site of Lansdowne House and Garden and Berkeley Square. Lord Berkeley died in 1678, and in 1684 two new streets (Berkeley Street and Stratton Street) were built on a portion of the grounds by his widow. In 1695 the Princess Anne, who was then on bad terms with her brother-in-law, William III., lived here with her husband till the death of her sister, Queen Mary, in the same year. William, first Duke of Devonshire, bought the house in 1697, and the first and second Dukes both died here. The original mansion was destroyed by fire in 1733, and the present one—rather a dull piece of architecture—was built from William Kent's design in 1735, at a cost of £20,000. It has since been considerably altered. In 1874, as we are told by Sir N. W. Wraxall, the great rallying points of the coalition against Pitt were Carlton House, Burlington House, and Devonshire House, where Georgiana, the charming Duchess of Devonshire, reigned over her brilliant court. In the ball-room here was acted before the Queen and Prince Albert, on May 16th, 1851, for the benefit of the Guild of Literature and Art, Lord Lytton's play, "Not so bad as we seem." Among the actors were Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Augustus Egg, Frank Stone, R. Horne (the author of "Orion"), Mark Lemon, and John Tenniel. The fine wrought-iron gate in front of the house, facing Piccadilly, which was placed there in Queen Victoria's Jubilee year (1897) had stood since 1837 at the entrance to the grounds of Chiswick House, having been brought originally from Heathfield House, Turnham Green, once the residence of Lord Heathfield, who, as General Elliot, so bravely defended Gibraltar. Devonshire House is one of the few London mansions still possessing a large garden, which is adorned by copies of antique statues.
(10-7/8 × 15-1/16) D. 64-1896.
79. Lansdowne House, from Berkeley Square, 1893 (Black and white).
Dividing the gardens of Devonshire House and Lansdowne House is Lansdowne Passage, a short cut for walkers from Curzon Street to Hay Hill. Thomas Grenville records that the iron bars at the two ends were put up late in the 18th century, because a mounted highwayman who had committed a robbery in Piccadilly escaped through this passage by riding down and up the steps. Lansdowne House, like that last described, is interesting from its connection with historic personages, as a specimen of the dwelling of a great nobleman in the 18th century, and from its having a considerable garden. It was designed by Robert Adam (the most famous of the brothers who built the Adelphi) about the year 1765, for Lord Bute, then Prime Minister, whose treaty of peace with France raised such a fury of opposition that his enemies did not hesitate to say that he had been bribed. On his fall from power it passed, as yet unfinished, into the hands of Lord Shelburne, afterwards the first Marquis of Lansdowne, to whose descendant it still belongs. Embowered in foliage it certainly has a picturesque effect from the adjoining Berkeley Square.
(7-5/8 × 10-3/8) D. 65-1896.
80. Library of Chesterfield House, South Audley Street, 1893 (Black and white).