CHAPTER XIX.
KILBURN AND ST. JOHN'S WOOD.
Shall you prolong the midnight ball
With costly supper at Vaux Hall,
And yet prohibit earlier suppers
At Kilburn, Sadler's Wells, or Kuper's?
Are these less innocent in fact,
Or only made so by the act?"
Rural Aspect of Kilburn in Former Times—Maida Vale—Derivation of the Name of Kilburn—The Old Road to Kilburn—Godwin, the Hermit of
Kilburn—The Priory—Extracts from the Inventory of the Priory—The Sisterhood of St. Peter's—St. Augustine's Church—Kilburn Wells and
Tea-gardens—The "Bell" Tavern—A Legend of Kilburn—The Roman Catholic Chapel—George Brurmmell's liking for Plum Cake—Oliver
Goldsmith's Suburban Quarters—Lausanne Cottage—St. John's Wood—Babington the Conspirator—Sir Edwin Landseer—Thomas Landseer—George Osbaldiston and other Residents in St. John's Wood—Lord's Cricket Ground—The "Eyre Arms" Tavern—Charitable Institutions—Roman Catholic Chapel of Our Lady—St. Mark's Church—St. John's Wood Chapel and Burial-ground—Richard Brothers and Joanna
Southcott.
Such has been the growth of London in this
north-westerly direction, within the last half-century,
as we have shown in our chapter on Paddington,
and such the progress of bricks and mortar in
swallowing up all that was once green and sylvan
in this quiet suburb of the metropolis, that the
"village of Kilburn," which within the last fifty
years was still famous for its tea-gardens and its
mineral spring, has almost become completely
absorbed into that vast and "still increasing"
City, and in a very short space of time all its old
landmarks will have been swept away. Kilburn,
or Kilbourne, as the name was sometimes written, is
said to be "a hamlet in the parish of Hampstead,
and Holborn division of the hundred of Ossulston."
This, however, is not quite correct, as only one
side of the hamlet is in the parish of Hampstead,
the remaining part (or that to the south-west of the
Edgware Road) lying in the parish of Willesden.
In old books on the suburbs, the place is spoken
of as being "about two miles from London, on
the road to Edgware." Time was, probably in the
reign of "bluff King Hal," when the little rural
village numbered only some twenty or so of houses,
all nestling round a small chapel and priory, the
memory of which is still kept up in "Abbey Road"
and "Priory Road." Now, however, the block of
houses known collectively as Kilburn has invaded
no less than four parishes—Hampstead and Willesden, to which, as we have shown, it legitimately
belongs, and also Marylebone and Paddington.
The district, including the locality now known as
St. John's Wood, lies mainly on the north side of
the Harrow Road, and stretches away from Kensal
Green to Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, and
may be said to be divided into two parts by the
broad thoroughfare of Maida Vale, as that part of
the Edgware Road is called which passes through
it. Maida Vale, we may add, is so called after
the famous battle of Maida, which was fought in
1806.
Like Tybourne and Mary-le-Bourne, so Kilbourne
also took its name from the little "bourne," or
brook, of which we have already spoken as rising
on the southern slope of the Hampstead uplands.
It found its way from the slope of West End,
Hampstead, towards Bayswater, and thence passing
under the Uxbridge Road, fed the Serpentine in
Hyde Park. The brook, however, has long since
disappeared from view, having been arched over,
and made to do duty as a sewer.
The road to Kilburn in the days of the Regency,
writes the Rev. J. Richardson in his "Recollections,"
was "such a road as now is to be seen only twenty
miles out of town." Any one going a mile northward from the end of Oxford Street, found himself among fields, farm-houses, and such-like rural
scenes.
It would seem that the land here, as part of
"Padyngton," appertained to the manor of Knightsbridge, which, as we have seen, in its turn was
subject to the Abbey at Westminster. We read,
therefore, that it was not without the consent of
the "chapter and council" that one Godwin, or
Goodwyne, a hermit at Kilburn, gave his hermitage
to three nuns—"the holy virgins of St. John the
Baptist, at Kilburn, to pray for the repose of King
Edward, the founder of the Abbey, and for the
souls of all their brethren and benefactors." On
this occasion the Abbot of Westminster not only
confirmed the grant, but augmented it with lands at
"Cnightbriga," or "Knyghtsbrigg" (Knightsbridge),
and a rent of thirty shillings. The exact spot on
which the priory stood is now known only by
tradition. Lambert, in his "History and Survey
of London and its Environs," in 1805, remarks:—"There are now no remains of this building; but
the site of it is very distinguishable in the Abbey
Field, near the tea-drinking house called Kilburn
Wells." This, it would appear, must have been
as nearly as possible at the top of what is now
St. George's Terrace, close to the station of
the London and North-Western Railway, on its
northern side; for when the railway was widened,
about the year 1850, the labourers came here upon
its foundations, and discovered, not only coins, but
tessellated tiles, several curious keys of a Gothic
pattern, and the clapper of a bell, together with
human bones, denoting the presence of a small
cemetery.
This priory was the successor of the hermitage
founded here by Godwin. The spot which he
chose for his hermitage or cell was on the banks of
the little "bourne" already mentioned, and it came
to be called indifferently Keeleburne, or Coldburne,
or Caleburn, in an age when few could spell or
read, and fewer still could write. To this little
cell might perhaps have been applied the lines of
Spenser's "Faery Queen:"—
"A little lowly hermitage it was,
Down in a dale, hard by a forest side;
Far from resort of people, that did pass
In traveill to and froe; a little wyde
There was an holy chappell edifyde;
Wherein the hermit dewly wont to say
His holy things, each morne and eventyde;
Thereby a christall streame did gently play,
Which from a sacred fountaine welled forth alway."
Godwin, in course of time, it appears, gave over
and granted his hermitage and the adjoining fields
to the abbot and monks of Westminster, "as an
alms for the redemption of the entire convent of
the brethren," under the same terms and conditions
as those under which one of the Saxon kings had
long before granted the manor of "Hamstede" to
the same church. The little cell at Kilburn, however, was destined to undergo another transfer in
the lifetime of Godwin, and, indeed, at his request;
for we next read that, with the consent of Gilbert,
the then Bishop of London, the brethren of St.
Peter's, at Westminster, made it over to a sisterhood of three nuns, named Christina, Gunilde, and
Emma, all of them, as the story goes, ex-maids of
honour to Queen Matilda, or Maud, consort of
Henry I. The hermitage, therefore, was changed
into a convent of the order of St. Benedict, Godwin
himself undertaking the performance of the duties
of chaplain and warden.
Soon after the death of Godwin a dispute arose
between the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop
of London as to the spiritual jurisdiction over the
convent; the difference, however, was at length
adjusted in favour of the former, on consideration
that from its foundation the "Cell of Keleburn"
belonged to their church. Notwithstanding that
the dispute was so adjusted, the litigation was
subsequently revived by Bishop Roger Nigel, and
continued by his successor, who at last agreed to a
compromise, under which the abbot "presented"
the warden, and the bishop "admitted" him to his
office.
But little is known of the history of the convent
from this time to the dissolution of religious houses
under Henry VIII., except that, during the reign
of Edward III., the good nuns were specially
exempted from the payment of taxes to the Crown,
on account of the dilapidated state of their little
house, and of the necessity under which they lay
of relieving the wants of many poor wayfarers, and
especially of pilgrims bound for St. Alban's shrine.
As soon as the fiat of "bluff King Hal" had gone
forth for the dissolution of all the lesser religious
houses in 1536, we find that the "Nonnerie of
Kilnborne" was surrendered to the commissioners,
when, doubtless, its gentle sisters were thrown out
upon the world to beg their bread, instead of
doling it out to the poor and suffering. At that
time the priory was returned as of the value of
£74 7s. 11d., and it passed into the hands of the
rapacious king, who exchanged its lands with the
Prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, at
Clerkenwell, for his manor of Paris Garden, which
lay across the Thames, in Southwark.
But ten years later, the greater monasteries
shared the fate of the lesser houses, and along with
the Priory of St. John, that of Kilburn was transferred to the hands of a favoured courtier, the Earl
of Warwick. From his family the estate passed,
through an intermediate owner, to the Earl of
Devonshire, and in the early part of the present
century to one of the Howards; from them it
came to the Uptons, its present owners, by one of
whom the Church of St. Mary, at Kilburn, has
been erected on a site adjoining the ancient chapel.
It is said that the Abbey Farm comprised about
forty-five acres, including the land covered by the
priory out-buildings.
In Park's "History of Hampstead" there is a
view of the old priory, which never could have
been one of very imposing appearance. The
edifice, it may be added, was dedicated jointly
to "The Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the
Baptist," the latter of whom is depicted on the
conventual seal as clothed in his garment of
camels' hair.
From an "inventory" taken on the 11th day
of May, in the year of the surrender of the house
to the king, it appears that the buildings of the
priory consisted of "the hall, the chamber next
the church, the middle chamber between that and
the prioress's chamber, the prioress's chamber, the
buttery, pantry, and cellar, inner chamber to the
prioress's chamber, the chamber between the latter
and the hall, the kitchen, the larder-house, the
brewhouse and bakehouse, the three chambers for
the chaplain and the hinds or husbandmen, the
confessor's chamber, and the church." A few
extracts from the above-mentioned inventory will
serve to show that, in spite of all the changes
worked in our domestic arrangements, in those faroff days, on the whole, the chamber furniture did
not differ very materially from that of our own.
Thus we read in the middle chamber:—
"It'm: 2 bedsteddes of bordes, viijd. It'm: 1
fetherbedd, vs., 2 matteres, xvd., 2 old cov'lettes,
xxd., 3 wollen blankettes, viijd. It'm: a syller of
old steyned worke, iiijd. It'm: 2 peces of old
hangings, paynted, xd."
The following is the list of books—not very
numerous, it must be owned—of which his Majesty
was not ashamed to rob his defenceless female
subjects:—
"It'm: 2 bookes of Legenda Aurea, the one in
prynt, and other written, both Englishe, viijd.
It'm: 2 mas bookes, one old writen, and the oder
prynt, xxd. It'm: 4 p'cessions, in p'chement, iijs.,
and paper, xd. It'm: 2 chestes wt div'se bookes
p'teinynge to the chirche, bokes of no value.
It'm: 2 legendes, viijd; the one in p'chment, and
thoder on paper."
With regard to church furniture and vestments
the nuns would seem to have been better off;
for besides altar-cloths, curtains, hangings, copes,
chalices, &c., we find the following articles mentioned in the inventory:—
"It'm: a relique of the holy crosse, closed in
silver, and guilt, sett wt counterfeyte stones and
perls, worth iijs. iiijd. It'm: a cross wt certain
other reliques plated wt silver gilded, ijs. iiijd.
It'm: a case to kepe in reliques, plated and gilt,
vd. It'm: a clocke, vs."
It may be added that the orchard and cemetery
were valued at "xxs. by the yere," and "one horse
of the coller of black," at 5s. Anne Browne,
the last prioress, was probably a member of the
noble house of Lord Montagu.
Mr. Wood, in his "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of
London," mentions a tradition, which may or may
not be true, that the nuns of Kilburn enjoyed the
privilege of having seats in the triforium in Westminster Abbey.
Not far from the site of the old priory, a "Home"
has been established, called the "Sisterhood of
St. Peter's." It was founded by a Mr. and Mrs.
Lancaster, to carry out by united effort the work
of missionaries and nurses amongst the poor. The
establishment, which was formerly at Brompton,
consists of a lady superior, four sisters, and a
limited number of serving-sisters. Besides the
more spiritual object of the sisterhood, it undertakes the special care of a large number of sick
people, who are received from the hospitals, and
nursed until restored to health.
In Kilburn Park Road, near Edgware Road
Station, is the Church of St. Augustine, one of the
finest ecclesiastical structures in London, and, with
the exception of St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey,
by far the largest. The church, which at present
has sittings for about 1,000 worshippers, is in the
"First Pointed" style of Gothic architecture, and
was commenced in 1872 from the designs of Mr.
Pearson. The sisterhood of St. Peter above mentioned assist in the district in nursing the sick and
in mission work; then there are "Sisters of the
Church" for the education of the poor, and also
a "Guild," with several branches. In May, 1876,
the foundation-stone of the nave of this church
was laid.
After the Reformation the reminiscences of
Kilburn are secular rather than religious, leading
us in the direction of suburban pleasure-grounds
and "the gardens," and mineral waters. In fact,
before the end of the sixteenth century, and even
perhaps earlier, near a mineral spring which
bubbled up not far from the spot where the nuns
had knelt in prayer, and had relieved the beggars
and the poor out of their slender store, there arose
a rural house, known to the holiday folks of London
as the "Kilburn Wells." The well is still to be
seen adjoining a cottage at the corner of the Station
Road, on some premises belonging to the London
and North-Western Railway. The water rises
about twelve feet below the surface, and is enclosed
in a brick reservoir of about five feet in diameter,
surmounted by a cupola. The key-stone of the
arch over the doorway bears the date 1714. The
water collected in this reservoir is usually about
five or six feet in depth, though in a dry summer
it is shallower; and it is said that its purgative
qualities are increased as its bulk diminishes.
These wells, in fact, were once famous for their
saline and purgative waters. A writer in the Kilburn Almanack observes:—"Upon a recent visit
we found about five feet six inches of water in the
well, and the water very clear and bright, with little
or no sediment at the bottom; probably the water
has been as high as it now is ever since the roadway parted it from the 'Bell' Tea Gardens, not
having been so much used lately as of old." "Is
it not strange," asks Mr. W. Harrison Ainsworth,
"that, in these water-drinking times, the wells of
Hampstead and Kilburn should not come again
into vogue?"
The house with grounds contiguous to the well
was formerly a place of amusement, and would
appear to have borne a tolerably good character
for respectability, if we may judge from the
"Dialogue between a Master and his Servant,"
by Richard Owen Cambridge, in imitation of
Horace, and published in 1752, which we quote
as a motto to this chapter.
The following prospectus of the "Wells," now
superseded by the "Bell" Tavern, taken from the
Public Advertiser of July 17th, 1773, we here give
in extenso:—
THE "BELL INN," KILBURN, 1750.
"Kilburn Wells, near Paddington.—The
waters are now in the utmost perfection; the
gardens enlarged and greatly improved; the house
and offices re-painted and beautified in the most
elegant manner. The whole is now open for the
reception of the public, the great room being particularly adapted to the use and amusement of the
politest companies. Fit either for music, dancing,
or entertainments. This happy spot is equally
celebrated for its rural situation, extensive prospects, and the acknowledged efficacy of its waters;
is most delightfully situated on the site of the once
famous Abbey of Kilburn, on the Edgware Road,
at an easy distance, being but a morning's walk,
from the metropolis, two miles from Oxford Street;
the footway from the Mary-bone across the fields
still nearer. A plentiful larder is always provided,
together with the best of wines and other liquors.
Breakfasting and hot loaves. A printed account of
the waters, as drawn up by an eminent physician,
is given gratis at the Wells."
The "Bell" Tavern, we may add, dates from
about the year 1600. The following "Legend
of Kilburn" we condense from Mr. John Timbs'
"Romance of London:"—"There is a curious
traditionary relation connected with Kilburn Priory,
which, however, is not traceable to any authentic
source. The legend states that, at a place called
St. John's Wood, near Kilburn, there was a stone
of a dark red colour, showing the stain of the
blood of Sir Gervaise de Morton, or de Mortoune,
which flowed upon it some centuries ago. The
story runs that Stephen de Morton, being
enamoured of his brother's wife, frequently insulted her by the open avowal of his passion,
which at length she threatened to make known
to her husband; and that, to prevent this being
done, Stephen resolved to waylay his brother and
kill him. This he effected by seizing him in a
narrow lane and stabbing him in the back; whereupon he fell upon a projecting rock and dyed it
with his blood. In his expiring moments Sir
Gervaise, recognising his brother in the assassin,
upbraided him with his cruelty, adding, 'This
stone shall be thy death-bed.' Stephen returned
to Kilburn, and his brother's wife still refusing to
listen to his criminal proposals, he confined her in
a dungeon, and strove to forget his many crimes
by a dissolute enjoyment of his wealth and power.
Oppressed, however, by a troubled conscience, he
determined upon submitting to a religious penance;
and so, ordering his brother's remains to be removed to Kilburn, he gave directions for their reinterment in a handsome mausoleum, erected with
stone brought from the quarry hard by where the
murderous deed was committed. The identical
stone on which his murdered brother had breathed
his last thus came too for his tomb, and the legend
adds that as soon as the eye of the murderer rested
upon it blood began to issue from it. Struck with
horror at the sight, the murderer hastened to the
Bishop of London, and making a full confession of
his guilt, he demised his property to the Priory at
Kilburn, in the hope thereby of making atonement. But all in vain; for in spite of having thus
endeavoured to compensate his guilt by a deed of
charity and mortification, he was seized upon by
such feelings of remorse and grier as quickly hurried
him to his grave."
THE PRIORY, KILBURN, 1750.
Whether there is any truth or not in this story we
are not prepared to say; but, at all events, it wears
about it the air of probability, and it is told here, as
they say, "just for what it is worth." We may add,
however, that just three hundred and thirty years
after the surrender of the old chapel and priory to
Henry VIII., a new Roman Catholic chapel and
monastery was founded on a spot hard by, in Quex
Road, by the Fathers known as the "Oblates of
Mary." The first stone was laid in 1866, and the
chapel opened two years later.
A writer in the Mirror, in 1824, expresses his
regret that, on re-visiting Kilburn after a long
absence, he has found it grown from the little rural
hamlet, which he remembered it, into a town, with
its own chapel and its own coaches!
The Rev. J. Richardson, in his amusing "Recollections," states that one of its residents at the
beginning of the present century was a lady of
some means, the owner of a villa here, who used to
entertain George Brummell too hospitably when he
was a boy at school; and that one day the future
"Beau," having stuffed himself almost to bursting,
broke out into a flood of tears, regretting that his
stomach would not stretch any further so as to hold
more plum-cake. In 1826, "Brandesbury House,
near Kilburn," figures in the Blue Book as the
country seat of Sir Coutts Trotter, whose townhouse was in Grosvenor Square.
As to the rest of Kilburn, there is little to be said,
beyond the fact that Oliver Goldsmith is said to
have written his comedy, She Stoops to Conquer,
part of the "Vicar of Wakefield," and some portions
of his "Animated Nature," besides sundry ephemeral
Essays, whilst in a country lodging at a farm-house
on the road to Edgware. The farm-house, writes
his anonymous biographer in 1871, is still standing,
"on a gentle eminence in what is called Hyde Lane,
near the village of Hyde, looking towards Hendon."
In Boswell's "Life of Johnson" we get the following glimpse of poor Oliver's suburban quarters:—"Goldsmith told us that he was now busy in
writing a Natural History; and, that he might
have full leisure for it, he had taken lodgings at a
farmer's house, near to the six-mile stone, on the
Edgware Road, and had carried down his books
in two returned post-chaises. He said he believed
the farmer's family thought him an odd character,
similar to that in which the Spectator appeared to
his landlady and her children: he was The Gentleman. Mr. Mickle, the translator of 'The Lusiad,'
and I, went to visit him at this place a few days
afterwards. He was not at home; but, having a
curiosity to see his apartment, we went in, and
found curious scraps of descriptions of animals
scrawled upon the wall with a black-lead pencil."
Opposite to the entrance of Willesden Lane
is a quaint-looking old building, mainly of wood,
with high pointed roofs, now known as Lausanne
Cottage, but which is said to have been used
formerly as a hunting-box, or as a kennel for his
favourite spaniels, by King Charles II. In one
of the rooms there is still to be seen a fine old
carved mantelpiece, probably as old as the reign of
James I.
St. John's Wood, to which we now pass, was so
called after its former possessors, the Priors of St.
John of Jerusalem. It is now a thickly-peopled
suburban district, which has gradually grown up
around the western boundaries of the Regent's
Park, enclosing the then rural and retired cricket-ground which had been formed there by Mr.
Thomas Lord in 1780, of which we shall have more
to say presently.
According to Mr. Wood's "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of London," it was originally called "Great
St. John's Wood," near Marylebone Park, to distinguish it from Little St. John's Wood, at Highbury.
Here, as tradition says, Babington and his comrades in his conspiracy to murder Lord Burghley,
in the reign of Elizabeth, sought refuge. Many
of the houses in the neighbourhood are detached
or semi-detached, and in most of the principal
thoroughfares they are shut in from the roadway by
brick walls and gardens; and altogether the place
has an air of quietude and seclusion, and, as might
almost be expected, has long been a favourite
abode of the members of the literary and artistic
professions.
In St. John's Wood Road—which connects Maida
Hill with the Regent's Park—was the residence
of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, and here the
renowned painter spent much of his life. He
arranged the construction of the house so as to
suit his own tastes, and to afford him the most
favourable facilities for pursuing the art to which
he was so devoted. In his studio here many of
his most celebrated works were executed. The
house is situated on the south side of the main
road, between Grove Road and Cunningham Place,
and, with the grounds belonging to it, occupies an
area of about two acres. Sir Edwin Landseer was
the youngest son of John Landseer, A.R.A., some
time Associate Engraver to the Royal Academy, and
was born in 1802. He excelled in the painting of
animals while still a boy, and became a student of
the Academy in 1816. Among the best known of
his numerous pictures are the following:—"A
Highland Breakfast," "The Twa Dogs," "There's
no Place like Home," "Comical Dogs," "War"
and "Peace," "Bolton Abbey in the Olden Time,"
"The Duke of Wellington, accompanied by his
Daughter-in-law, visiting the Field of Waterloo,"
"Deer-stalking," "Windsor Park," and "Man
Proposes, but God Disposes." One of his latest
designs was that for the lions at the base of the
Nelson Monument, Trafalgar Square. In 1866 he
was elected President of the Royal Academy, but
he declined to serve. He died here in 1873, and
his remains were interred in St. Paul's Cathedral.
At No. 30, South Bank, lived Thomas Landseer,
the elder brother of Sir Edwin. He occupied for
many years a distinguished place as an engraver,
and constantly exhibited his engravings at the
Royal Academy. In 1860–61 he added to his
previous reputation by his finely-executed plate of
Rosa Bonheur's "Horse Fair."
Cyrus Redding lived in Hill Road; Mr. J. A.
St. John, too, was a resident in St. John's Wood;
as also was Douglas Jerrold, who lived close to
Kilburn Priory. Charles Knight (for a short time)
resided in Maida Vale; and a certain Lord de
Ros, who closed his inglorious career in 1839,
lived at No. 4, Grove Road. In the Grove Road,
too, in 1866, died Mr. George Osbaldiston, the
sporting squire. He was born at Hutton Bushell,
in Yorkshire, but losing his father when only six
years of age, he went to reside with his mother,
at Bath, where he received his first lessons in
riding, from Dash, the celebrated teacher of the
last century. He subsequently entered at Brasenose College, Oxford, and. while still an under-graduate here, commenced his career as master
of hounds, with a pack which he purchased from
the Earl of Jersey. The entire career of Mr.
Osbaldiston, as a master of hounds, lasted during
a period of thirty-five years. He further became
famous as a most bold and daring rider of steeplechases, in which he had no superior, and is said to
have never been beaten. His celebrated 200-mile
match took place at Newmarket, in November,
1831. "Squire Osbaldiston," as he was familiarly
called, was creditably known upon the turf, and, in
fact, in every branch of field sports.
Another noted resident in St. John's Wood was
M. Soyer, with whose name, in connection with
the culinary art, we have already made our readers
acquainted, in our accounts of the Reform Club and
Kensington Gore. (fn. 1) He died in August, 1858,
after a short illness, at 15, Marlborough Road. M.
Soyer, who was of French extraction, had been for
many years known as a culinary benefactor to the
public, and more particularly during the war with
Russia, a few years before his death; his success in
ameliorating the condition, in a culinary view, of
the army in the Crimea, was well known to all.
Subsequent to his return to England he prepared a
new dietary for military hospitals, as well as for
Government emigrants, both of which were adopted
by the authorities. He was also the author of
"The Gastronomic Regenerator," a cookery-book
for the upper classes; "Pantropheon, or History of
Food;" "Shilling Cookery," and "A Culinary
Campaign," which gives a vivid description of the
Crimean war.
On the north side of St. John's Wood Road is
Lord's Cricket Ground, a spot that has become
famous in the annals of the manly and invigorating
game of cricket. The ground is some six or seven
acres in extent, and on it are erected permanent
"stands"—after the fashion of those on racecourses—where visitors can sit and witness the
matches that are here played. The present ground
superseded the space now covered by Dorset
Square, which had served for some years as the
"old Marylebone" ground.
At the end of the last century men played
cricket in summer at the old Artillery Ground, in
Finsbury, in the days when they skated on Moorfields in the winter, and shot snipes in Belgravia.
At the old Artillery Ground, so large was the attendance, and so heavy were the stakes, that a
writer in an old newspaper complains of the idleness of the City apprentices in consequence, and
of the unblushing way in which the laws against
gaming were broken, matches being advertised for
£500, or even £1,000 a side. Indeed, in 1750,
an action was tried in the King's Bench for the
sum of £50, being a bet laid and won on a game
of cricket—Kent v. England.
But at this time cricket was deemed a vulgar
game. Robert Southey states the fact, and quotes
No. 132 of the Connoisseur, dated 1756, where we
are introduced to one Mr. Tony Bumper "drinking purl in the morning, eating black-puddings at
Bartholomew Fair, boxing with Buckhorse (the
most celebrated of the old pugilists), and also as
frequently engaged at the Artillery Ground with
Faukner and Dingate at cricket, and considered as
good a bat as either of the Bennets."
One who reads with all the curiosity and interest
of a cricketer will pick up little notices, which, when
put together, throw light on the early history of the
game, and show its spread, and how early it had
taken root in the land; for instance, in Smith's
'Life of Nollekens," we are told that Alderman
Boydell, the etcher and printseller, had many shops,
but that the best was the sign of "The Cricket
Bat," in Duke's Court, St. Martin's Lane. This
was in 1750. Again, in one of the caricatures of
1770, in Mr. Wright's collection, Lord Sandwich is
represented with a bat in his hand, in allusion to
his fondness for cricket; but it is a curved piece of
wood, more like a modern golf club. A bat also
is placed satirically in the hand of a cricket-loving
lady, in a print of 1778—"Miss Wicket," with her
friend, "Miss Trigger"—fast ladies both, no doubt,
in their day. In 1706, William Goldwin, an "old
king's man," published in Musœ Juveniles a poem
called "Certamen Pilæ," or "The Cricket Match."
"A ram and bat, 9d.," figures as one of the ten
extras in an Eton boy's school-bill, as far back as
1688.
When the game grew "genteel," men of position
aspired to better company than the City apprentices,
and founded a club in White Conduit Fields. But
hard indeed it were in these days to pitch good
wickets within view of the Foundling Hospital.
So Thomas Lord then came upon the stage—a
canny lad from the north country—who, after waiting on Lords Darnley and Winchilsea, Sir Horace
Mann, the Duke of Dorset, and others of their
contemporaries in the White Conduit Fields Club,
speculated in a ground of his own, where now,
as we have stated above, is Dorset Square, the
original "Lord's." This was in 1780. It was on
this ground that the club, taking the name of the
Marylebone Cricket Club, brought the game to
perfection.
In a map of London published in 1802, the site
of Dorset Square is marked as "The Cricket
Ground," probably implying that it was the only
public ground then devoted to that sport in the
neighbourhood of London.
On the present ground is annually fought the
"great batting match," as it is called, between
Harrow and Eton. The two Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, likewise, here enter into friendly
rivalry, some months after their perhaps more
exciting contest on the River Thames. Here, too,
nearly all the great cricket matches of the metropolitan clubs and southern counties of England are
played.
Apropos of Lord's Cricket Ground, we may add
that there is nothing in which a more visible improvement has taken place than in our sports. The
prize-ring and bear-garden, dog-fighting and ratkilling, are things of the past; but our glorious boatraces, in which we are the first in the world;
cricket, in which we have no rivals; and athletic
sports—running, jumping the hurdles—in which we
have reached to the highest perfection. The Duke
of Wellington attributed a great deal of his success
in war to the athletic exercises which Englishmen
had practised in peace. The steady nerve, quick
eye, and command of every muscle, exercised considerable power in the battle-field. On the Continent these games are almost unknown, and the
biggest Frenchman or Prussian is the veriest baby
in the hands of an Englishman in any physical
display. We attribute a good deal of the temperance which characterises this age of ours to the
growth of those sports; for the intemperate man,
shattered in nerves and dim of eye, has no chance
in such noble pastimes.
Much of the land in and about St. John's Wood
belongs to the family of Eyre, whose estate adjoins
those of Lord Portman and the Duke of Portland; their name is kept fresh in remembrance by
the sign given to a tavern of some note in the
Finchley Road, called the "Eyre Arms." The
grounds belonging to this house were occasionally
the scene of balloon ascents in the early days of
aëronautics. One of the latest was the ascent of
Mr. Hampton here on the 7th of June, 1839.
In the rear of the inn is a large concert-room,
which is often used for balls, bazaars, public
lectures, &c.; and on the opposite side of the
way is the St. John's Wood Athenæum, which
serves as a club for the residents of the neighbourhood.
Close by, in Circus Road, the Emperor Napoleon
lived for some time during his sojourn in England;
and in Ordnance Road, between St. John's Wood
and the west side of Primrose Hill, are some
barracks, generally occupied by a regiment of the
Line or of the Guards.
Among the various charitable and provident
institutions here is the Ladies' Home, which was
founded in 1859, in Abbey Road. It affords
board, lodging, and medical attendance to ladies
of limited income, each paying from 16s. to 14s.
per week. In the St. John's Wood Road are the
girls' schools belonging to the Clergy Orphan and
Widow Corporation. The objects of this institution, which was established in 1749, are to clothe,
educate, and maintain the poor orphans of clergymen. This charity is one of the most extensive in
the kingdom, and has greatly assisted the orphans
of a large number of clergymen in beginning life.
The boys' school in connection with the institution
is at Canterbury.
Another old and useful institution is the School
of Industry for Female Orphans, which was established in 1786, in Grove Road. The school will
accommodate about eighty girls, but it has rarely, if
ever, mustered above fifty at one time, the number
being restricted by the funds. Board, clothing, and
education is here given to girls who have lost both
parents.
At the top of the Avenue Road, close to the
Swiss Cottage, is the School for the Blind, founded
in 1838, and erected from the designs of a Mr.
Kendal. It will accommodate about 100 inmates,
male and female. The school was established for
the purpose of imparting secular knowledge and
the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and
teaching the blind to read by means of embossed
or raised print. A portion of the pupils are received free; others pay a small sum half-yearly.
The course of instruction given in the school, it
may be added, is as complete as it well could be,
and is fitted, in so far as that is possible, to enable
the pupils, despite their sorrowful deprivation, to
earn their own livelihood, and to take their place
of usefulness and honour in the work of life, side
by side with those who possess all the inestimable
advantages of sight. In the industrial department,
the work among the boys consists chiefly of basketmaking and chair-caning; amongst the girls, of
chair-caning, knitting, and bead-work. Of the
progress made by the pupils generally, Mr. Charles
Richards, the literary examiner, made the following
encouraging remarks in his annual report to the
committee of the institution, in May, 1876:—Speaking of the boys, he says, "The difficulty in
learning to write to one who is unable to see a
copy is evident; but by means of embossed letters,
&c., the difficulty has been so far overcome that
many of the boys are able to write very creditably.
I was somewhat surprised to find that those who
had been at the school a few months only were
able to read very fairly. The reading of the others
would compare favourably with that of boys of
their age who have the advantage of sight. . . .
Arithmetic is worked on boards with movable type,
and necessarily takes more time than if worded
with slate and pencil. Some have advanced as far
as the extraction of square and cube roots. All
the examples were correctly worked, and I consider this part of the examination to have been
very satisfactory. . . . In history, geography,
grammar, and religious knowledge, I was altogether
satisfied. The answers were given readily, and
showed an intelligent knowledge of the subjects."
Of the instruction of the girls in this department
Mr. Richards' report is equally satisfactory, and he
concludes by saying that he "cannot speak too
highly of the excellent discipline in both schools,
the principle of government being love rather than
severity."
The Roman Catholic Chapel in Grove Road
is a large Gothic structure, built about the year
1836, through the munificence of two maiden
ladies of the name of Gallini, whose father,
an Italian refugee, had settled in London, and
having taught dancing to sundry members of the
royal family, became Sir John Gallini. (fn. 2) So noble
and generous was their gift esteemed that they were
rewarded with a magnificent testimonial from the
Roman Catholic ladies of England, presented by
the hands of the Princess Donna Isabella Maria
of Portugal. The chapel was one of the early
works of Mr. J. J. Scoles, and is a rather poor reproduction of some of the features of the Lady Chapel
in St. Saviour's Church, Southwark. It is a cruciform structure, in the "Early English" style, and
it consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles; the
wings on each side have been converted into
dwelling-houses, one of them serving as a residence
for the clergy. The windows of the chapel are
"lancets," after the fashion of the twelfth or early
part of the thirteenth century, and are filled with
stained glass, principally as memorial windows.
Hamilton Terrace and the surrounding streets
commemorate, by their names, the governors and
other authorities of Harrow School in the last
generation. Aberdeen Place, Abercorn Place,
Cunningham Place, Northwick Terrace, &c., at all
events, serve to show that the foundation of the
honest yeoman of Preston, John Lyon, is not in
danger of being forgotten or useless.
In Hamilton Terrace is the large Church of St.
Mark's. It was built in 1847, in the Gothic style of
architecture, from the designs of Messrs. Cundy.
At the junction of the Finchley and St. John's
Wood Roads, close by the station on the Underground Railway, is the St. John's Wood Chapel,
with its burial-ground, in which a few individuals
of note have been buried; and among them the
impostors, Richard Brothers and Joanna Southcott.
Of the former of these two characters we have
spoken in our account of Paddington. (fn. 3) Joanna
Southcott was a native of Devonshire, and was
born about the middle of the last century. In her
youth she lived as a domestic servant, chiefly in
Exeter, and having joined the Methodists, became
acquainted with a man named Sanderson, who
laid claim to the spirit of prophecy, a pretension in which she herself ultimately indulged. In
1792, she declared herself to be the woman driven
into the wilderness, the subject of the prophecy
in the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation.
She gave forth predictions in prose and doggerel
rhyme, in which she related the denunciation of
judgments on the surrounding nations, and promised a speedy approach of the Millennium. In
the course of her "mission," as she called it, she
employed a boy, who pretended to see visions,
and attempted, instead of writing, to adjust them
on the walls of her chapel, "the House of God."
A schism took place among her followers, one of
whom, named Carpenter, took possession of the
place, and wrote against her: not denying her
mission, but asserting that she had exceeded it.
Although very illiterate, she wrote numerous letters
and pamphlets, which were published, and found
many purchasers. One of her productions was
called "The Book of Wonders." She also issued
to her followers sealed papers, which she termed
her "seals," and which, she assured them, would
protect them from the judgments of God, both in
this and the other world, assuring them final
salvation. Strange as it may seem, thousands of
persons received these with implicit confidence,
and among them were a few men and women of
good education and a respectable position in
society. In course of time Joanna is said to have
imagined herself to have the usual symptoms of
pregnancy, and announced that she was to give
birth, at midnight, on the 19th of October, 1814,
to a second "Shiloh," or Prince of Peace, miraculously conceived, she being then more than sixty
years of age. The infatuation of her followers was
such that they received this announcement with
devout reverence, prepared an expensive cradle,
and spent considerable sums, in order that all might
be suitable for so great and interesting an occasion.
The expected birth did not take place; but on
the 27th of December, 1814, the woman died, at
her house in Manchester Street. (fn. 4) On a postmortem examination, it was found that the appearance of pregnancy which had deceived others, and
perhaps herself, was due to dropsy. Her followers,
however, were not to be undeceived, and for some
time continued to believe that she would rise again
from her "trance," and appear as the mother of the
promised Shiloh.
LORD'S GROUND IN 1837.
Mr. James Grant writes thus, in his "Travels in
Town," published in 1839:—"Many persons will
be surprised when they are informed that Joanna
Southcott has still her followers in London. I
cannot state with certainty what their number is,
but I have reason to believe it is 200 or 300 at
least. They meet together on Sundays, but I have
not been able to discover the exact place; but I
know they are most numerous in the parishes of
St. Luke and Shoreditch. I lately met one of
their preachers, or 'prophets,' and had some conversation with him. He was evidently a man of
education, and strenuously maintained the Divine
mission of Joanna. When I asked him how he
got over the non-fulfilment of the promise, or
rather the assurance, which she made to her
50,000 followers that she would rise from the
dead on the third day, his answer was that the
expression 'three days' was not to be taken in a
literal sense, but as denoting three certain periods
of time. Two of these periods, he said, had
already passed, and the third would expire in
1842, in which year he held it to be as certain
that the prophetess would arise from her grave,
and give birth to 'Shiloh,' as that he was then
a living man!" More than thirty years have
passed away since these words were written, and
the grave of Joanna Southcott has never yet given
up the dead bones which rest in it.
Some passages in Joanna's "prophecies" are of
rather a practical character, if the following may be
taken as a specimen:—"I am the Lord thy God
and Master. Tell I——to pay thee five pounds
for expenses of thy coming up to London; and
he must give thee twenty pounds to relieve the
perplexity of thy handmaid and thee, that your
thoughts may be free to serve me, the Lord, in
the care of my Shiloh." The Lord is made to inform his people somewhere, anxious to go to meet
the Shiloh at Manchester, that travelling by the
new cut is not expensive. On her death-bed,
poor Joanna is reported to have said:—"If I have
been misled, it has been by some spirit, good or
evil." In her last hours, Joanna was attended by
Ann Underwood, her secretary; Mr. Tozer, who
was called her high-priest; Colonel Harwood, and
some other persons of property; and so determined
were many of her followers to be deceived, that
neither death nor dissection could convince them
of their error. Her remains were first removed
to an undertaker's in Oxford Street, whence they
were taken secretly for interment in this cemetery.
A tablet to her memory contains these lines:—
"While through all thy wondrous days,
Heaven and earth enraptured gazed;
While vain sages think they know
Secrets thou alone canst show;
Time alone will tell what hour
Thou 'It appear to 'greater' power."
Sabineus.
About three years after the death of Joanna Southcott, a party of her disciples, conceiving themselves directed by God to proclaim the coming
of the Shiloh on earth, marched in procession
through Temple Bar, and the leader sounded
a brazen trumpet, and proclaimed the coming
of Shiloh, the Prince of Peace; while his wife
shouted, "Wo! wo! to the inhabitants of the
earth, because of the coming of Shiloh!" The
crowds pelted the fanatics with mud, some disturbance ensued, and some of the disciples had
to answer for their conduct before a magistrate.
THE "EYRE ARMS" IN 1820.