Appendices
Appendix I — Knightsbridge a Family Name
In the Issue Roll of the Exchequer, edited by Frederick Devon, are several payments in the 43rd Henry III. to Henry de Knythebrig, Nicholas de Eye, and others, carpenters employed at the King’s Palace. A Richard Knightsbridge was rector of Sheatham in 1640; and the name, though rarely, may still occasionally be met with.
Appendix II. — The Cromwell Tradition
Until the year 1853 there stood a curious and lonely mansion in the Brompton Lanes known as Cromwell House. The original name was Hale House, but it was never called by it within the memory of any now living. There are one or two versions of the story attached to this old house printed; but they do not entirely agree with that which I have always heard—to the effect, that on some occasion Cromwell’s troop was quartered at Knightsbridge; and he one day venturing to stray among the lanes of Brompton, was met by some cavaliers who knew him, and pursued him to this house, where he was sheltered till assistance arrived from Knightsbridge and liberated him. And a confirmation was presumed to exist in the inscription on the inn’s front at Knightsbridge that Oliver’s bodyguard was once quartered there, and that it was once his “posting-house.”
I am perfectly aware that almost every village has its Cromwellian legend, and also that every endeavour to connect the Protector and this mansion has hitherto failed. But I own I am by no means inclined to throw over the pleasing belief entirely. There is a charity at Kensington still, called Cromwell’s Gift, which always has been ascribed by parish officers and inhabitants to the generosity of the great ruler; and although this is unaccountably not entered in the parish books, I do not consider such an omission a reason for disbelieving the history handed down by successive generations of parish officers, and still to be read in the church porch. In true earnest, I think the omission favourable to my view. No other origin has ever been assigned to the charity; and the church authorities at the Restoration would scarcely have permitted a laudatory inscription to the Protector to remain. There are no other claimants, and never were: the tradition is, and always has been, that to Oliver Cromwell Kensington is indebted for this charity, and to him alone.
What reason, then, for this remembrance? The old legend of Cromwell House, is the answer. We know the Parliament forces were frequently quartered here. Through Knightsbridge ran the high-road from Oxford; and Cavaliers proceeding thence would most probably take the bye-road as they neared the metropolis. And the idea is surely not an improbable one that Cromwell may have been met with in the manner related.
So far for the legend; but apart from this is another consideration. In 1668, the Lawrences of Shurdington, in Gloucestershire, rented Cromwell House of the Methwolds. Henry Lawrence was President of Cromwell’s Privy Council, and in other ways a staunch adherent of his policy. If it could be proved he resided here at any time during his official career, a new light would be thrown on the subject, and probably clear it up. On the whole, therefore, I consider there are grounds, though they may be but slight, for not entirely discarding the tradition, which may yet be some day entirely unravelled.
Appendix III. — Act for Building Albert Gate
As the Act of Parliament which authorised the improvement at Albert Gate may prove hereafter to be one greatly affecting the inhabitants of the hamlet and the frequenters of the Park, the clause relating to Knightsbridge is here appended.
The Bill passed May 10th, 1841, and received the Royal Assent a short time following:—
“Anno Quarto Victoriæ Reginæ, Chapter XII. An Act to enable Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Woods to make a new Street from Coventry Street, Piccadilly, to Long Acre, and for other Improvements in the Metropolis.”
Clause LXXVII.—And whereas it is in contemplation by the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works, and Buildings, to recommend to Her Majesty, with a view to public Improvement and the Accommodation of the Inhabitants of the new Squares, Streets, and Places, that have lately been erected and formed in the neighbourhood of Knightsbridge, in the County of Middlesex, to make a new Thoroughfare and Opening into Hyde Park, subject to such Regulations as Her Majesty may approve of: And whereas the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter Westminster are the Owners of certain Ground and Houses on the North Side of the Knightsbridge Road, and immediately adjoining that part of Hyde Park where the intended Opening is proposed to be made, and it is essential to the Accomplishment of the projected Improvements that the said Dean and Chapter should have Power to sell, or to lease for any Term not exceeding ninety-nine Years, to the said Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works, and Buildings, certain small Portions of such Ground and Houses, for the Purpose of enabling the said Commissioners to make the said intended Opening, and to erect Houses of a suitable Class and Elevation on each Side thereof, be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter Westminster, and they are hereby authorised and empowered to contract for, Sell, and convey to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, at such Price or Prices as shall be agreed upon, or ascertained in manner prescribed by the Act hereinafter referred to, to be the fair value thereof, all or any Part of the Ground and Hereditaments hereinafter described, that is to say, all that Piece or Parcel of Ground, with the Cannon Brewery, the Fox and Bull Public House, and other Buildings, thereon erected and built, situate on the North Side of the Knightsbridge Road aforesaid, bounded on the East by the Watercourse leading from and out of the Serpentine River to the River Thames, and extending Westward from such Watercourse Two hundred and thirty Feet or thereabouts on the North and South Sides thereof, and containing in Breadth one hundred and thirty Feet or thereabouts on the West Side thereof, and One hundred Feet or thereabouts on the East Side thereof; and also all that other Piece or Parcel of Ground, with the several Messuages and Buildings thereon erected and built, known and distinguished by the Nos. 23, 24, and 25, Knightsbridge, bounded on the West by the said Watercourse, and extending Eastwards therefrom Seventy-four Feet or thereabouts on the North and South Sides thereof, and containing in Breadth Eighty-four Feet or thereabouts on the West Side thereof, and Seventy Feet or thereabouts on the East Side thereof, with the Appurtenances; and that it shall be lawful for the said Dean and Chapter, and they are hereby authorised and empowered, by Indenture under their Common Seal, on the Surrender of any existing Lease or Leases of the same Premises, or any Part or Parts thereof, to the said Commissioners, or to such Person or Persons as the said Commissioners shall appoint on behalf of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, for any Term or Number of Years not exceeding Ninety-nine Years, at such Rent, and subject to such Covenants, Conditions, and Provisoes, and on such Terms as shall be agreed upon between the said Dean and Chapter and the said Commissioners, and to enter into such Contracts and Agreements for the Purposes aforesaid as to them shall seem proper; and all Contracts, Agreements, Sales, Leases, Conveyances, and Assurances, shall be valid and effectual in the Law to all Intents and Purposes whatsover.
Appendix IV. — Trinity Chapel, Memorial Windows of St. Paul’s Church, and St. Paul’s Schools
The following brief notices are considered worthy of addition to the work. In the first place, the days of the Old Chapel, with its present undignified appearance and circumscribed circle of usefulness, are numbered. It is purposed, so soon as Dr. Wilson can procure the necessary funds, some £3,000, to pull down the present ruinous edifice, and erect a structure in its stead more worthy of the present position of Knightsbridge. Seventy years ago it was a poor rural hamlet: it is now a wealthy populous district. Shall its oldest institution not keep pace with the locality? May it not yet remain “the Nursing Mother” of its natural and legitimate district? It is trusted that the authorities in such matters may apportion it an ecclesiastical district, and thus at last repair the blunder perpetrated at the various parochial divisions to which our neighbourhood has been subjected. It may be argued that this new arrangement is unnecessary; but to an observer it will have appeared that when in our metropolitan districts new churches have been built, they have been filled, and work has been found for their clergy without at all lessening the congregation or otherwise disturbing to injury the constitution of the parent parish. We anticipate a similar result: the present chapel is not nearly large enough for its congregation; and one has only to visit St. Paul’s to see that more space is wanted there. “Division of work makes light labour;” with what greater force will that apply in spiritual matters. We hope that the history of this old and useful foundation recorded in this work may so interest the public that they will at once so add to the £2,000 collected by Dr. Wilson as to enable him to carry his praiseworthy design into effect immediately.
The next point is, to the memorial windows of the Church, mentioned at page 96, have been added the following, in memory of the persons here named, one to each:—George Canning Backhouse, Esq.; Sir Joseph Bailey, Bart.; Arthur Stert, Esq.; Major-General J. Bucknall Estcourt, Adjutant-General to the Crimean Army; Captain the Hon. Robert Hay Drummond, Coldstream Guards, wounded in the trenches before Sebastopol; Lieutenant Hubert Greville, Coldstream Guards, killed 5th November, 1854; Brigadier-General Arthur Wellesley Torrens, K.C.B.; and Captain Viscount Chewton, Scots Fusiliers. On the whole, the list of those for whom these are memorials is one of which those connected with the Church may well be proud—monuments alike to the illustrious dead and the pious regard of their survivors.
The third and last addition is relating to the Schools. They will now, in the course of this year (1859), be at length housed in buildings fit and proper for the purpose. Since the original foundation in 1783, this has never been the case. The new buildings are of a very tasteful design, in the Early English style. They are built of white Suffolk bricks, in the form of a cross, with ornamental red brickwork and Bath-stone windows and dressings. They will have accommodation for 400 children, although the average attendance does not exceed, of boys 120, girls 70, infants 90; but occasionally the numbers are many more, as from their position (that part of town being half empty greater part of the year) the attendance is necessarily fluctuating: they are entirely supported by voluntary contributions and the school-pence. The education given is on the national system; and if we may judge from the number of young persons who, having risen to respectable positions in life, come occasionally to visit their late instructors, it is not unfruitful of good results. The estimated cost of the present edifice is £3,000. The requisite residences of the teachers will be attached thereto so soon as the subscriptions will allow. The remainder of their history is told on the parchment enclosed in the foundation-stone, thus:—“To the glory of God and the welfare of Christ’s poor in the communion of his Church in England, these parochial Schools of St. Paul’s, Wilton-place, Knightsbridge, are devoted. The first stone was laid on St. Matthias’ day, in the year of our Lord 1859, by Henry Barnett, Esq., Treasurer of the Schools; Robert Liddell, Parish Priest; Thomas Cundy, Architect; George Trollope, Builder.”
Footnotes
3 “Memorials of Westminster,” by Rev. Mackenzie Walcott.
10 See “Paddington: Past and Present,” p. 22.
11 So the name is written in the body of the charter still preserved in the British Museum in the title the name is spelt “Knyghtsbrigg.”
14 See “Statutes of the Realm,” published by the Record Commissioners.
19 After the death of her first husband she married John Tregonwell, Esq., but lies in the same grave with the former, in St. Margaret’s Churchyard, where a tomb may be still seen to their memory.
24 Faulkner’s Brentford.
25 Dated November 27, 1736. See Lord Hervey’s Memoirs, edited by Mr. Croker.
26 “Lives of the Chancellors,” vol. iv., p. 420. See also Evelyn’s Diary, November 15, 1699, where he complains of robberies here, even while coaches and travellers are passing.
27a This year seems to have been prolific in such cases; the following is taken from the London Chronicle, December 27, 1774:—Mr. Jackson, of the Court of Requests, Westminster, was attacked at Kensington Gore, by four footpads: he shot one dead, and the others decamped.
27b See Morning Chronicle, May 23, 1799.
30 The last oil-lamp was removed from Park-side about 1850.
31 See analysis, &c., of these waters in Dr. Aldis’ Report on Sanitary Condition of this district, and Builder, October 10, 1856.
35 See “Notes of the Evidence given against Lord Howard of Escrick, at the Grand Inquest,” &c., a single sheet, 1681.
39 The flags are preserved in the United Service Museum, to which institution they were, with various papers, given by the Major’s son, S. A. Eyre, Esq. There was a song written in honour of the corps by one Bradshaw, of which I have only been able to recover the chorus:—
“Then with Major Eyre we’ll go, my boys,
Then with Major Eyre we’ll go.”
52 Additional MSS., No. 5,755, British Museum.
55 Lysons’ “Environs of London.”
56 Nichols’ “Illustrations of the Manners and Expenses of Ancient Times,” 4to, 1797; in which these accounts are published.
58a See Bell’s edition of Butler. Mr. Bell’s doubt as to the existence of the Lazar-house in the time of the Civil War is, as our extracts show, unfounded.
58b “Notes and Queries,” vol. i., p. 260.
60 “Parliamentary Surveys and Minutes of the Committees,” quoted by Lysons.
62 Emphatic, notwithstanding its bad Latin.
63a There having been but two Bishops of London with the Christian name of William, about the time of any eminence that the Chapel enjoyed, this must have been one of those two, William Laud or William Juxon; seeing that Laud licensed its rebuilding, and that his chancellor was so far interested in it as to give the Paten, I think it may be safely assumed that the small chalice was presented by the former. Laud was bishop from 1628 to 1633, when he was translated to Canterbury, and afterwards beheaded. Juxon succeeded him in the See of London, 1633 until 1660; he was the prelate present with Charles I. in his last moments.
63b It was frequently dignified with the title of church. I have papers by me of 1837, so describing it.
65 “To forward Mr. Hervé’s plan for the support of such of the middle classes of society who have fallen upon evil days, the Rev. Mr. Harris has lent his chapel at Knightsbridge, where Mr. Hervé will deliver a lecture on Tuesday morning.... Mr. Harris, perhaps, thinks with us, that the most acceptable part of religion is that practice which comforts the afflicted, and benefits the unfortunate; and, if report be true, Mr. Harris does not confine himself merely to the recommendation of benevolent actions.”—Examiner, August 30, 1812.
67 Doubtless, when they were in private hands, they were kept by the clerk’s daughter, in 1819 (see Wilkinson’s Londina Illustrata); the account of the chapel in this work is very erroneous, but most of the papers therein published are missing. Dr. Wilson has the remainder in his custody, and they having lately been repaired by the author of this work, are likely to last many years.
78 See Correspondence at the end of Pepys’ “Diary,” vol. iv., pp. 235, 241, and 242.
86 The entries to which is affixed an asterisk are not at the Chapel Books now; they have been made away with since 1819, when they were copied for Wilkinson’s “Londina.”
87 Thomas Halley was clerk from 1664 to 1669, when William Hipsley was appointed: in Kensington register his burial is entered December 2nd, 1689, when Thomas Hipsley succeeded him. He appears to have been the builder and carpenter of the place, took great interest in the Revolution, and in the Wars against Louis XIV., as appears by some of his memoranda. He was clerk for many years.
88 The last beadle died in 1835, since when the office has been vacant.
90 Many names still in the locality, or that have died out within the last half century, are to be found in these Registers; it may be serviceable to note a few:—Aley, Arnold, Baber, Beadle, Briscoe, Britten, Burton, Coppin, Cowell, Cromwell, Danvers, Dexter, Faulkner, Gunter, Gwin, Hipsley, Lilly, London, Merriman, Morland, Perrin, Pope, Rouse, Thorowgood, Timberlake, Whitehead, Wise, Woolley. From their imperfect condition it is useless to attempt a statistical analysis of the baptisms, but of the marriages I have made a few notes, as follow:—In 1659 there were 36 marriages; in 1661, 81; in the half-year ending December 31st, 1665, they had increased to the large number of 335. For about twelve years they continue very numerous, but in 1696 there were 394 marriages, two years after the number fell to 155; in 1704 they decreased to 45, and such decrease continued till, in 1747, only five entries are made, in 1751 only one, and in 1752 but two.
92 When the foundation stone was laid they amounted to about £12,000; among the contributors were Earl Fitzwilliam, £500; the Earls of Bradford, Brownlow, Burlington and Winchelsea, Geo. A. Haldimand, J. A. Smith, and E. J. Shirley, Esqs., each £200; Duke of Montrose, Marquis Camden, Earl Sefton, Earl Carlisle, Sir J. Mordaunt, Sir J. Heathcote, T. Cubitt, T. Cundy, Esqs., each £100; and Geo. Drummond, Esq., £200.
104 This inscription, through various means, I have traced back nearly a century: another century makes us contemporary. Would all recollection of such momentous times die away in that time? The writer of this spoke to an old man in 1845, who remembered the bells ringing for the capture of Quebec by Wolfe in 1759.
106 See the Appendix.
109 See for further notices of Sterling, Carlyle’s “Life of John Sterling;” and “The Fourth Estate,” by F. K. Hunt.
112a A number of these are in my possession.
112b There was a very old wooden gate, opening from the yard at the back into the park; the bodies of those drowned in the Serpentine were brought in through it.
114 Afterwards bought by the well-known Andrew Mann, and placed by him on the top of a public house at the corner of Warwick Street, Pimlico.
117 See “Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1810; “Life of Romney,” by his brother; “Johnsoniana,” &c. Of Part XIV. of this work Humphry was author.
118 Afterwards called the “Life Guardsman.”
120a “Letters to Julia,” by Henry Luttrell.
120b “Year Book,” 1826.
129 “King’s Anecdotes of His Own Times.”
147 See “Faulkner’s Kensington,” and “Notes and Queries,” vol. xii., p. 186.
148 See “Symmons’ Life of Milton,” 2d edit., 1810, pp. 122–124.
149a Cooke’s Preface to “Conversation: a Didactic Poem.” 1807.
149b Quoted by Faulkner, “Hist. Chelsea.”
149c “Journey to London,” quoted by Mr. Peter Cunningham.
149d “Notes and Queries,” v. 487.
154 “Belgravia: a Poem.”
157a See “Oxford Magazine,” for 1770; London and Country magazines, between 1770 and 1774.
157b In the Bankrupt List, London Gazette, November, 1772, appears the following:—“Teresa Cornellys, Carlisle House, St. Ann, Soho, dealer.”
159 I need hardly point out the allusion. Montpelier is said to be the Cheltenham of France.
160 See “Monthly Magazine,” April, 1821; and “Notes and Queries,” vol. x., p. 228.
161a See “The Virtues of a Jail.”
161b His experiments were made by an electrometer of his own construction, which extended several yards above his house. See Examiner, October 2nd, 1814.
163 “Gate” is a modern stupidity for a square or terrace. What can be more unmeaning?
170a For report of her trial, &c., see “Gentleman’s Magazine,” and “London Chronicle,” 1776; Ditto, ditto, 1788. “Walpole’s Letters to Mason” (“Bentley’s Miscellany,” vol. 33).
170b See Creasy’s “Eminent Etonians.”
170c Kingston House is now sometimes called Ennismore House, from the second title of Lord Listowel. It is generally considered the termination of Knightsbridge in this direction. In old directories it is described as No. 3, Knightsbridge.
172 See “London Chronicle,” June 22nd, 1784.
175 Life of Arthur Murphy, by Jesse Foote; Madame D’Arblay’s Diary, &c.
177 The following are from newspapers:—“Births, Sep. 28. The lady of the Marquis of Granby, of a daughter, at Rutland House, Knightsbridge.” 1772.
“On Friday night the Marquis of Granby arrived at the seat of his grandfather, the Duke of Rutland, at Knightsbridge, from making the tour of France and Holland.”—London Chronicle, July 5, 1774.
“Died yesterday at Rutland House, Knightsbridge, Lord William Robert Manners, youngest brother of the Duke of Rutland.” 1793.
180 Timbs’ “Curiosities of London.”
198 The writer in “Knight’s London” fixes the opening of Tattersall’s about 1779, but it was earlier.—See Morning Post, August 23rd, 1775.
200 Walcott’s “Memorials of Westminster,” Appendix. 2nd edition.
201 See “Macaulay’s History of England,” i., 512.
203 See “Macaulay’s History;” “A Collection of the Debates Concerning the late Briberies and Corrupt Practices,” 1695; “Manning’s Lives of the Speakers,” &c.
209 See “Journal to Stella,” Jan. 2nd and Feb. 4th, 1711; also Feb. 12th and 15th, 1713.
211 Lyson’s “Environs of London.”
214 In Kensington register are the following entries:—
1665. “Robert Southwell, of Whitehall, Esq., and Mrs. Elizabeth Dering, daughter of Sir Edward Dering, of Surrenden, Kent, married by Seth Ward, Lord Bishop of Exeter, 26th January.”
1686. (Buried.) “John Humfreys, servant to the Right Rev. Seth, Bishop of Salisbury, at Knightsbridge, 2nd December.”
220 See “Faulkner’s Chelsea,” vol. i., p. 44.
221 “Read’s Journal,” May 24, 1753; see also “Faulkner’s Chelsea.”
227 Lady Chatterton, “Home Sketches,” vol. ii. p. 280.
232 See “Haydon’s Diary,” November 14, 1837. Also vol. iii, p. 77.
243 See “Autobiography of William Jerdan,” vol. ii., pp. 282–284.
245a “Cunningham’s Handbook of London.”
245b “Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1856.
245c See “Notes and Queries,” vol. i., p. 474.
246 See Ben Jonson’s “Bartholomew Fair;” Greene’s “Tu Quoque;” “The City Madam;” “The Devil is an Ass;” “The City Match,” &c. &c.
248 There was one at Bankside; also places so named are to be found in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cudham in Kent.
257 In 1755, a 4to satirical tract was published, entitled “Jenny’s Whim; or, a Sure Guide to the Nobility, Gentry, and other Eminent Persons in this Metropolis.”
269 Letter of Mr. R. W. Mylne in the Times, June 7, 1857.
270 See Dr. Aldis’s “Report on Sanitary Works in Belgravia;” “Letter to the Vestry of St. George,” &c.
273 See the Appendix.