Part 13
DULWICH, a very pleasant village in Surry, five miles from London, where there is a spring of the same medicinal waters as those of Sydenham wells, with which the master of the Green Man, a house of good entertainment, serves this city, and in particular St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. The fine walk opposite to this house, through the woods, affords from its top a very noble prospect; but this is much exceeded by that from a hill behind the house, where from under a tree distinguished by the name of _The Oak of Honour_, you have a view as in a fine piece of painting, of the houses as well as churches, and other public edifices, from Putney down to Chelsea, with all the adjacent villages, together with Westminster, London, Deptford, and Greenwich, and over the great metropolis, as far as Highgate, and Hamstead. But Dulwich is most famous for its college.
DULWICH COLLEGE, was founded and endowed in 1619, by Mr. William Alleyn, who named it, _The college of God’s gift_. This gentleman being a comedian and principal actor in many of Shakespear’s plays; once personating the devil, was said to be so terrified at the opinion of his seeing a real devil upon the stage, that he from that moment quitted the theatre, devoted the remainder of his life to religious exercises, and founded this college for a Master and Warden, who were always to be of the name of Alleyn, or Allen; with four Fellows, three of whom were to be divines, and the fourth an organist; and for six poor men, as many poor women, and twelve poor boys, to be educated in the college by one of the fellows as schoolmaster, and by another as usher. In his original endowments, he excluded all future benefactions to it, and constituted for visitors, the churchwardens of St. Botolph’s Bishopsgate, St. Giles’s Cripplegate, and St. Saviour’s Southwark; who, upon occasion, were to appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, before whom all the members were to be sworn at their admission. To this college belongs a chapel, in which the founder himself, who was several years Master, lies buried. The Master of this college is Lord of the manor, for a considerable extent of ground, and enjoys all the luxurious affluence and ease of the Prior of a monastery. Both he and the Warden, must be unmarried, and are for ever debarred the privilege of entering that state, on pain of being excluded the college; but as the Warden always succeeds upon the death of the Master, great interest is constantly made, by the unmarried men of the name of Allen, to obtain the post of Warden.
The original edifice is in the old taste; but part of it has been lately pulled down and rebuilt with greater elegance, out of what has been saved from the produce of the estate. The Master’s rooms are richly adorned with very noble old furniture, which he is obliged to purchase on his entering into that station; and for his use there is a library, to which every Master generally adds a number of books. The college is also accommodated with a very pleasant garden, adorned with walks, and a great profusion of fruit trees and flowers.
DUMB _alley_, High Holborn.║
DUN COW _court_, Little Cock lane.
DUN HORSE _yard_, 1. Coleman street.* 2. St. Margaret’s hill.*
DUNG _wharf_, 1. Millbank. 2. Wapping Wall.
DUNGHILL _lane_, High Timber street.║
DUNGHILL _mews_, near Hedge lane.║
DUNKIRK _court_, Cock lane, Shoreditch.
DUNNING’S _alley_, Bishopsgate street without.†
DUN’S _Almshouse_, was erected by Cornelius Van Dun, a Fleming, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, with twenty rooms for so many poor widows; but it not being endowed, is inhabited by the parish pensioners of St. Margaret’s Westminster.
_St._ DUNSTAN’S _in the East_, a church situated on the west side of St. Dunstan’s hill, Thames street, is dedicated to St. Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury, an implacable enemy and cruel persecutor of the secular clergy, in favour of the regulars; and the additional epithet _the East_, is given it, to distinguish it from St. Dunstan’s in Fleet street. This church was repaired at a great expence in 1633, and in 1666 suffered greatly by the fire of London; but not being totally destroyed, the church was thoroughly repaired in eighteen months; but the steeple was delayed ten years longer. The style of the building is the modern Gothic. It is 87 feet in length, 63 in breadth, and the roof is 33 feet high; it is well enlightened, and agreeably disposed within. The steeple is 125 feet high, and is well constructed in the Gothic manner: the tower is light, supported by outworks at the angles; it is divided into three stages, and terminated at the corners by four handsome pinacles, in the midst of which rises the spire, not from a solid base, but on the narrow crowns of four Gothic arches, a base so seemingly insecure, that it fills the mind with apprehensions of its falling with the first tempest, and yet is perhaps able to stand for ages. This tower, which is extremely light and elegant, was built by Sir Christopher Wren. The placing the spire on the top of four arches, as the print shews, is esteemed a bold attempt in architecture, and is one proof, among many, of the great geometrical skill of the architect.
This church is a rectory, and one of the thirteen peculiars in this city belonging to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. The Rector receives 200_l._ a year in lieu of tithes.
_St._ DUNSTAN’S _in the West_, on the north side of the west end of Fleet street, is dedicated to the same Saint as the former, from which it is distinguished by the epithet _the West_. It appears to have been built four or five hundred years, since there are accounts of funerals and donations to it from the year 1421, with earlier anecdotes of little consequence; and it is easy to see that it has been repaired and altered at different periods, till the original style, whatever it was, is lost. It narrowly escaped the fire in 1666, the flames stopping within three houses of it. This edifice, in a very disagreeable manner, stands out into the street, and as it has been observed, is but an incumbrance to the way, and without having any thing but deformity itself, spoils the beauty of the whole street, and hides the prospect of Temple Bar, which would terminate the view very advantageously, and be seen almost as far again as it is at present. The church consists of a large body, and a small tower, every way unproportioned. The shops, which are in a kind of sheds below it, make, as it were, a part of the building. The clock projects to the south near the west end, and for the amusement of the gaping vulgar, two human figures are placed in a kind of Ionic loggia, and by means of clock work, strike two bells hung over them, and declare the hour and quarters. _English Architecture._
This church was originally a rectory in the patronage of the convent of Westminster; though it afterwards became a vicarage, and being granted by King Edward VI. to the Lord Dudley, has ever since continued in lay hands. The Vicar receives 240_l._ a year in lieu of tithes. _Maitland._
_St._ DUNSTAN’S _Stepney_. See STEPNEY.
DUNSTAN’S _court_, 1. Fleet street.☐ 2. Little Old Bailey.
DUSTAN’S _square_, Whitechapel.
DUNSTER’S _court_, Mincing lane.†
DURHAM _court_, Trinity lane.
DURHAM _yard_, 1. Chick lane. 2. In the Strand; from Durham House, built by Dr. Beck Bishop of Durham. _Camden’s Britannia._
DURHAMS, in Middlesex, two miles north of Barnet, a seat which the Earl of Albemarle bought of Sir John Austin, and has since greatly beautified, by laying most of the neighbouring fields belonging to it into a park, and by turning and repairing the roads. The house is situated on an eminence that rises in a small valley, surrounded with pretty high hills at a little distance, so that in the summer months it affords an agreeable retreat; but the soil around it being a stiff clay, the rain which falls in winter is detained on its surface, and renders the situation very moist and cold.
DUTCH _Almshouse_, in White’s alley, Moorfields, was erected by Samuel Shepherd, Esq; an eminent Dutch merchant, for twenty-eight poor ancient women of his nation, each of whom has an allowance of 3_s._ a week, and 12_s._ to buy a gown every other year. _Maitland._
DUTCH _Almshouse_, in Moorfields. About the year 1704, the Dutch congregation in Austin Friars purchased a piece of ground in Middle Moorfields, and erected upon it a handsome almshouse, containing twenty-six rooms for maintaining their poor, whether men or women, besides a room where the Elders and Deacons meet weekly to pay the pensions of those in the house, and to transact other business relating to the poor. The pensions are either more or less, according as their necessities may require; and the rooms are not so appropriated to the Dutch nation, but that any English woman, the widow of a Dutchman who had been a member of that church, is capable of being admitted; and it often happens, that there are more English than Dutch supported here.
DUTCH FURLONG _row_, Clerkenwell.
DUTCHY _lane_, in the Strand.
DUTCHY OF LANCASTER _court_. See LANCASTER.
DUXFORD _lane_, Thames street.
DYERS, anciently one of the twelve principal companies, was incorporated by letters patent granted by Edward IV. in the year 1742, when this society among other privileges, obtained that of keeping swans upon the river Thames.
This corporation consists of two Wardens, thirty Assistants, and 147 Liverymen, who upon their admission, pay a fine of 15_l._
Their hall, which was formerly situated near Old Swan lane, Thames street, being destroyed by the dreadful conflagration in 1666, and a number of warehouses erected in its place, the company have converted one of their houses in Little Elbow lane, Dowgate hill, into a hall to transact their affairs in. _Maitland._
DYERS _alley_, Brick lane, Spitalfields.
DYERS _Almshouse_, in Dyer’s buildings, Holborn, was erected by the Dyers company, and contains eight rooms for so many poor women, who are only allowed two pence per week, an evident proof of the antiquity of the foundation.
The Dyers have another almshouse in St. John’s street, near Spitalfields, erected by the master Dyers for the benefit of six poor widows, each of whom is allowed 1_l._ 10_s._ a year.
DYER’S _buildings_, Holborn.
DYER’S _court_, 1. Aldermanbury. 2. Holborn hill. 3. Noble street, Foster lane.
DYER’S _Court rents_, Dowgate hill.
DYER’S _yard_, 1. Church lane, Whitechapel. 2. Old Bethlem. 3. Whitechapel.
DYOT _street_, St. Giles’s Broad street.
E
EAGLE AND CHILD _alley_, Shoe lane.*
EAGLE AND CHILD _yard_, Broad street, St. Giles’s.*
EAGLE _court_, 1. In the Strand.* 2. St. John’s street, West Smithfield.*
EAGLE _street_, 1. Piccadilly.* 2. Plumtree street.* 3. Red Lion street, Holborn.
EARL’S _court_, 1. Drury lane. 2. Great Earl’s street. 3. Little Newport street.
EARL’S _passage_, Earl street.
EARL _street_, Seven Dials.
EAST _court_, Spitalfields market.§
EAST HARDING _street_, New street, Shoe lane.§
EAST INDIA COMPANY, was first incorporated by a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1601, when the first subscription for carrying on this trade amounted to 739,782_l._ 10_s._ and a year or two after by an additional subscription of 834,826_l._ the stock was raised to 1,574,608_l._ 10_s._ and with this capital they established a commerce by the Red sea to Arabia, and to Persia, India, China, and several of the East India islands. But about the beginning of the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, it being imagined that the laying open the trade to the East Indies would be of advantage to the whole nation, that commerce was made general, and thus continued till the year 1657, when it being found that the separate trade was of disadvantage to the undertakers, they were for the good of the whole united to the company by the legislature. _Stow’s Survey, last edit._
However in the year 1698, a new East India company was established, by virtue of which the old company was to be dissolved after the expiration of a certain term allowed them for the disposing of their effects. This new company immediately advanced two millions sterling to the government, at eight _per cent._ However, by the kind offices of friends, the two companies were united in the year 1702, when a new charter was granted them under the title of _The united Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies_, and the old company had their share of the two millions. In the 6th of Queen Anne, the united company lent the government 1,200,000_l._ which made their whole loan to amount to 3,200,000_l._ the interest of part of which was a few years ago reduced to 3_l._ 10_s._ _per cent._ and part to 3_l._ _per cent._ the first of these is now called the 3 1-half _per cent._ annuities, and the last the 3 _per cent._ annuities.
As to India stock, it is the trading stock of the company, and the proprietors, instead of receiving regular annuities for money at interest, have dividends of the profits arising from the company’s trade, which being more valuable, these shares generally sell much above the original value. _Pocket Library._
The transfer days of India stock, are now Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday; and of India annuities on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, except on Holidays, which are the same as at the Bank. See BANK _of England_.
The hour of payment of dividends is from nine o’clock to eleven, and from twelve o’clock to three; and the hour of transfer from twelve to one.
As to the management of this company, 500_l._ in the company’s stock gives the owner a vote in the general courts, and 2000_l._ qualifies a person to be chosen a Director. The Directors are twenty-four in number, including the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, who may be reelected four years successively. The Chairman has a salary of 200_l._ a year, and each of the Directors 150_l._ A court of the Directors is held at least once a week, at the East India House; but they are commonly held oftener, they being summoned as occasions require.
Out of the body of Directors are chosen several committees, who have the peculiar inspection of separate branches of the company’s business; as the committee of buying, committee of correspondence, committee of accounts, committee of the treasury, a house committee, a warehouse committee, a committee of shipping, a committee to prevent the growth of private trade, and a committee of law suits.
The East India company export bullion to a very great value, with woollen cloth, lead, and some other English commodities; and import China ware, tea, cabinets, raw and wrought silks, calicoes, chints, pepper, &c. but all the wrought silks, and calicoes, are to be exported again.
All the goods imported by the company are to be sold openly by inch of candle, on pain of forfeiting one half to the King, and the other to the prosecutor.
East India stock is esteemed in law, personal estate, and the shares exempt from taxes.
EAST INDIA HOUSE, on the south side of Leadenhall street, and a little to the west of Lime street. This edifice was built on the place where anciently stood the city house of the Lord Craven, and his ancestors. The present structure was erected by the company in the year 1726. It is a plain Doric on a rustic basement, and has not much to be found fault with or commended. It might have been justly considered as a very fine edifice, had it been the house of a single Director; but it is not at all equal to the grandeur of this company, and the great figure they make in the trading world; nor bears any proportion to the idea we conceive of this body, when we consider, that the Directors who meet here, appoint or remove Governors who are their servants, and yet have all the dignity and state of Kings, some of whom seldom stir abroad without their guards and a numerous retinue, or eat, but upon gilt plate, or the finest China.
The house, however, though too small in front, extends far backwards, and is very spacious, having large rooms for the use of the Directors, and offices for the clerks. It has a spacious hall and court yard for the reception of those who have business, and who attend on the company on court days, which are every Wednesday. There also belongs to it a garden, with warehouses in the back part toward Lime street, to which there is a back gate for the entrance of carts to bring in goods. These warehouses were rebuilt in a very handsome manner in the year 1725, and are now greatly enlarged. The company have likewise warehouses in Seething lane, the Steel yard, and at the Royal Exchange, particularly under the last they have spacious cellars entirely for pepper. _Stow_, _Maitland_, &c.
EASTLAND COMPANY. These merchants were first incorporated by a charter granted them by Queen Elizabeth in the year 1579, and their factory being first settled at Elbing in Prussia, they obtained the name of the merchants of Elbing. By their charter they were impowered to trade to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Prussia, and all the other parts of the Baltic, exclusive of the city of Narva, which had been previously granted to the Russia company; but the smallness of the river Elbing rendering it very incommodious for navigation, the factory removed, and settled at Dantzick, Koningsberg, Riga, and other cities of the Baltic.
This company was confirmed by a charter granted by King Charles II. but by a late act of parliament any persons are allowed to trade to Norway and Sweden, though not of this company: and the Eastland commerce in general is in a manner laid open.
Our commodities exported to these countries, are woollen cloths, serges, kersies, Norwich stuffs, perpetuanoes, cottons, stockings, hats, tin, pewter, lead, &c. and in return they import to England timber, deals, masts, oars, clap boards, balks, bomspars, cantspars, pipe-staves, flax, pitch, tar, tallow, pot-ashes, wheat, rye, rich furrs, bees wax, and several other commodities. This trade is however generally allowed to be of great disadvantage to England, as the balance against us annually amounts to several hundred thousand pounds: which is the more extraordinary, as all these articles might be had from our own American plantations.
For the management of the affairs of this company, they have a Governor, Deputy Governor, and court of Assistants, consisting of twenty-four of the members, annually chosen on the first Wednesday after Michaelmas day, and they have their meetings monthly; or as occasion requires, at Founders Hall in Lothbury. _Stow’s Survey._
EAST _lane_, Rotherhith Wall.§
EAST _lane stairs_, Rotherhith.§
EAST _rents_, Barnaby street, Southwark.§
EAST SHENE, a village about a mile and a half in the coach road from Richmond, where the Lord Viscount Palmerston, a descendant of Sir William Temple, has a fine seat and gardens. These gardens were laid out and finished by the great genius of Sir William, and were his principal delight at the close of his life.
EAST SMITHFIELD, a small square near Little Tower Hill, surrounded with but indifferent buildings.
EAST SMITHFIELD COURTS. In this liberty two courts are held, viz. a court leet and court baron; in the first officers are chosen, and nuisances presented; and in the second pleas are held to the amount of forty shillings.
EAST SMITHFIELD _double passage_, Tower hill.
EAST SMITHFIELD _School_, was founded in the year 1673, by Sir Samuel Sterling, Knight and Alderman of this city, who endowed it with certain lands and tenements in East Smithfield, of the yearly value of 20_l._ for educating sixteen poor boys of the parish of St. Botolph Aldgate, viz. eight in the city liberty, and eight in that of East Smithfield.
EAST _street_, 1. Red Lion street, Holborn. 2. Spitalfields market.
EBBGATE _lane_, Thames street.†
ECCLE’S _yard_, In the Minories.†
EDEN _court_, New street, Shoe lane.
EDGEWARE, a town twelve miles from London, in the road to St. Alban’s, Watford, and Harrow on the Hill, is situated on the very edge of the county of Middlesex. The old Roman way called Watling Street passes by here from London.
The late Duke of Chandos built near this town one of the most noble seats in England, which he adorned and furnished at such vast expence, that it had scarce its equal in the kingdom. The great saloon or hall was painted by Paolucci, and the plaistering and gilding of the house was done by the famous Italian Pergotti. The columns supporting the building were all of marble: the grand stair-case was extremely fine; the steps were marble, and every step was one whole piece twenty-two feet in length.
The avenue was spacious and majestic, and as it afforded the view of two fronts, joined as it were in one, the distance not permitting you to see the angle that was in the center, so you were agreeably deceived into the opinion, that the front of the house was twice as large as it really was. And yet on approaching nearer, you were again surprized, by perceiving a winding passage opening, as it were, a new front to the eye of near an hundred and twenty feet wide, which you imagined not to have seen before.
The gardens were well designed, and the canals large and noble. The chapel was a singularity both in its building and the beauty of the workmanship, and the late Duke maintained there at one time a full choir, and had divine worship performed with the best music, after the manner of the chapel royal. But all this grandeur was soon at an end. The furniture and curiosities were brought to public auction; and this superb edifice quite demolished. _Tour through Great Britain._
The land whereon this structure was erected was lately purchased by Mr. Hallet, an eminent cabinet-maker, who acquired a large fortune in that business, and he has built an elegant small house upon the ruins of the Duke of Chandos’s large and magnificent seat.
EDLIN’S _gate_, Tooley’s street.
EDMONTON, a village in Middlesex, in the road to Ware, seven miles and a half from London.
EDMUND’S _court_, Prince’s street, Soho.
_St._ EDMUND THE KING, a church situated on the north side of Lombard street, in Langborne ward, and thus denominated from its dedication to St. Edmund King of the East Angles, who was barbarously murdered by the Pagan Danes in the year 870, for his steadfast adherence to the Christian religion. The name Grasschurch was once added to this; but it is now disused: this last name took its rise from an herb market near the church.