of 1774 by a simple gardener of the Bois de Boulogne as a private speculation, the name, of course, being borrowed from Chelsea. The gardener was patronised by the Prince de Soubise, and the concerts and balls were at first a great success. But the novelty died out, and about nine years afterwards the proprietor was fain to escape ruin by becoming manager to a private club, with a more select clientèle. Thenceforth, till the Revolution, the place was a success. Marie Antoinette had been seen there, and the club invitations were much sought after. The Republic, pure and simple, would have been fatal to the gardens had not the Directory come to the rescue. Under its less rigid régime came Trénitz, with his troop of Muscadins and Merveilleuses. Morisart died just before the fall of the Empire, and in time to escape the sight of the Cossacks trampling his pet flower-beds and lawns. From 1816 to 1830 another aristocratic club held its réunions at Ranelagh, and under the Orleans dynasty it became again a public place of entertainment. At last came M. Thiers' scheme of fortifying Paris, and his ramparts cut the gardens in half. This was in 1840; and twenty years later a decree suppressed for ever the last lingering vestige of gaiety, and consigned the ground to building purposes." Queen's Road West (formerly called Paradise Row) has been the residence of many of the "nobility and gentry" of Chelsea in former times. In a large mansion adjoining Robinson's Lane, lived the Earl of Radnor in the time of Charles II., and here his lordship entertained the king "most sumptuously" in September, 1660. The parish register contains several entries of baptisms and deaths in the Radnor family. Sir Francis Windham had a house in this road at the commencement of the last century. After the battle of Worcester he entertained Charles II. at Trent, where the king remained concealed for several days. Dr. Richard Mead, the eminent physician, of whom we have already spoken in our account of Great Ormond Street,* resided in this neighbourhood for some time, as appears by the parish books. Another physician of note who lived here about the same time was Dr. Alexander Blackwell, who resided in a house near the Botanic Garden. Dr. Blackwell became involved in difficulties; and after leaving Chelsea he went to Sweden, where he was appointed physician to the king. Subsequently, however, he was found guilty of high treason, "in plotting to overturn the con * See Vol. IV., p. 560. 83 stitution of the kingdom, and sentenced to be broken alive on the wheel." In the Queen's Road, adjoining the Royal Hospital, with its gardens stretching down towards the river, and close by the spot where formerly stood the residence of Sir Robert Walpole, is the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children. The building, which was converted to its present use in 1866, was formerly known as Gough House. It was built by John, Earl of Carberry-one of the "noble authors' mentioned by Horace Walpole-at the commencement of the last century. The estate afterwards came into the possession of the Gough family, and the house subsequently was made use of for many years as a school for young ladies. The house has lately been raised a storey, and additional wards have been provided. These improvements were effected at an expense of about £3,000, and the hospital was formally re-opened by the Princess Louise. At the eastern end of Queen's Road, forming one side of a broad and open thoroughfare, connecting Sloane Street with new Chelsea Bridge, stand some fine barracks for the Foot Guards, erected about the year 1870. They are constructed in a substantial manner with light-coloured brick, relieved with rustic quoins of red brick, and they consist of several commodious blocks of buildings, the largest of which contains quarters for the officers, &c. They afford accommodation for about 1,000 men. It has been said, perhaps with some truth till lately, that this is the only handsome structure in the way of barracks to be seen in the entire metropolis. If so, the assertion is not very creditable to our character as a nation, considering the duties that we owe to those who defend our homes and our commerce in the field. In 1809, the Serpentine - which joined the Thames by Ranelagh-rose so high as to overflow its banks, and boats were employed in carrying passengers between the old Bun-house and Chelsea Hospital. Mr. Larwood, in his "History of Sign-boards," says that there is, or, at all events, was in 1866, in Bridge Row, a public-house bearing the sign of the "Chelsea Water-works." These water-works, after which it was named, were constructed about the year 1724. A canal was dug from the Thames, near Ranelagh to Pimlico, where an engine was placed for the purpose of raising the water into pipes, which conveyed it to Chelsea, Westminster, and other parts of western London. The reservoirs in Hyde Park and the Green Park were supplied by pipes from the Chelsea Waterworks, which, in 1767, yielded daily 1,750 tons of water. Chelsea Farm, the Residence of Lord Cremorne-Cremorne Gardens-Attempts at Aerial Navigation-Ashburnham House-The Ashburnham Tournament-The "Captive" Balloon-Turner's Last Home-Noted Residents in Lindsey Row-The King's Road-The Old Burial-ground -St. Mark's College-The "World's End" Tavern-Chelsea Common-Famous Nurseries-Chelsea Park-The "Goat in Boots "-The Queen's Elm-The Jews' Burial-ground-Shaftesbury House-The Workhouse-Sir John Cope-Robert Boyle, the Philosopher and Chemist-The Earl of Orrery-Mr. Adrian Haworth-Dr. Atterbury-Shadwell, the Poet-The "White Horse" Inn-Mr. H. S. Woodfall-The Original of "Strap the Barber" in "Roderick Random "-Danvers Street-Justice Walk-The Old Wesleyan ChapelChelsea China-Lawrence Street-Tobias Smollett-Old Chelsea Stage-coaches-Sir Richard Steele and other Noted Residents-The Old Clock-house-The Glaciarium-Hospital for Diseases of Women-Chelsea Vestry Hall, and Literary and Scientific Institution-Congregational Church-Royal Avenue Skating-rink-Sloane Square-Bloody Bridge-Chelsea, Brompton, and Belgrave Dispensary-Royal Court Theatre-Hans Town-Sloane Street-Trinity Church-Sloane Terrace Wesleyan Chapel-Sir C. W. Dilke, Bart.-Ladies' Work SocietyHans Town School of Industry for Girls-"Count Cagliostro "-An Anecdote of Professor Porson-Chelsea House-St. Mary's Roman Catholic Chapel-The "Marlborough Tavern "-Hans Place-Miss Letitia E. Landon-The Pavilion-St. Saviour's Church-Prince's Cricket ground and Skating-rink-The "South Australian." A FEW hundred yards to the west of old Battersea Bridge, on the north side of the river, were the celebrated Cremorne Gardens, so named after Thomas Dawson, Lord Cremorne, the site of whose former suburban residence and estate they covered. They proved, to a very great extent, the successors of "Kuper's," Vauxhall, and Ranelagh. In the early part of the present century, Lord Cremorne's mansion, known as Chelsea Farm, was often visited by George III., Queen Charlotte, and the Prince of Wales. In 1825 the house and grounds devolved on Mr. Granville Penn, a cousin of Lady Cremorne, who much improved the estate, but subsequently disposed of it. The natural beauty of the situation soon afterwards led to the grounds being opened to the public as the "Stadium," and a few years later the gardens were laid out with great taste; the tavern adjoining them was enlarged, and the place at Vauxhall Gardens in its palmy days: such as | Stanhope, afterwards Earl of Harrington. A strip vocal and instrumental concerts, balloon ascents, of waste ground between Ashburnham House an 1 dancing, fireworks, &c. Several remarkable balloon ascents were made from these grounds, notably among them being that of Mr. Hampton, who, in 1839, ascended with a balloon and parachute, by which he descended from a height of about two miles. More recently an attempt at aerial naviga tion was made from Cremorne by a foreigner, M. de Groof. The apparatus was suspended beneath the car of a balloon, and when the aeronaut had reached a considerable height, the machine was liberated; but owing to some defect in its construction, it immediately collapsed and fell to the ground with a fearful crash, killing its unfortunate occupant on the spot. the river, called the "Lots," was for many years "a bone of contention" between the residents in the neighbourhood and the Chelsea Vestry, in consequence of the disgraceful scenes carried on by a large number of "roughs" who were in the habit of meeting there. Here, in 1863, in a large pavilion prettily draped with the flags of all nations and a variety of heraldic trophies and allegorical devices, a sensational entertainment on a scale of great splendour was given, in the shape of a revival of the Eglinton "tournament." A large number of persons took part in it as heralds, seneschals, yeomen, pages, men-at-arms, squires, and bannerbearers, clad in an almost endless variety of shining armour and medieval costume. In 1869, a monster bourhood. Soon after the Restoration, however, balloon, nearly 100 feet in diameter, made daily it was found that it might be made to serve as a ascents for some time from these grounds. The more direct road for the king between St. James's balloon, appropriately called "The Captive," was or Whitehall and Hampton Court Palace; and, secured by a rope about 2,000 feet long, which accordingly, after some discussion between the was let out and wound in by steam power. The Government and the parishioners of Chelsea, it Captive balloon, however, one day escaped from was converted into an ordinary coach-road. It its moorings, and the exhibition was discontinued. continued to be the private road of royalty down. In a small house close to Cremorne Pier, Mr. to the reign of George III. Pass tickets, adJ. M. W. Turner, R.A., resided for some time, mitting passengers along it by sufferance, are still under an assumed name, and here, as we have in existence; they bear on the one side a crown already stated,* he died in 1851. Whilst living and "G. R," and on the other, as a legend, "The here, Turner would not see any person, excepting King's Private Road." a very few intimate friends, and, in fact, was too reserved to allow himself to be recognised. This inclination at the close of his life, perhaps, was only natural. Doubtless, Chelsea is proud to add his name to its list of distinguished residents. Close by, in Lindsey Row, lived Sir Mark Isambard Brunel, the originator and designer of the Thames Tunnel; and Mr. Timothy Bramah, the distinguished locksmith. Here, too, resided Mr. John Martin, R.A. The Rev. A. C. Coxe, in his "Impressions of England," published in 1851, speaking of Chelsea, says :-"We landed not far from this church, and called upon John Martin, whose illustrations of Milton and Belshazzar's Feast' have rendered him celebrated as a painter of a certain class of subjects, and in a very peculiar style. He was engaged on a picture of The Judgment,' full of his mannerism, and sadly blemished by offences against doctrinal truth, but not devoid of merit or of interest. He asked about Allston and his Belshazzar,' and also made inquiries about Morse, of whose claim as the inventor of the electric telegraph he was entirely ignorant." Mr. Henry Constantine Jennings, an antiquary and virtuoso, settled in Lindsey Row at the close of the last century. His "museum," which comprised a large collection of shells, minerals, preserved birds, quadrupeds, &c., was disposed of by auction in 1820. Leading from the site of Cremorne Gardens eastward through Chelsea, is a broad thoroughfare, called the King's Road; and by this road we shall now proceed on our way backward towards Sloane Street, picking up such scraps of information respecting the neighbourhood on either side as the records of the district have left for our use. Respecting the King's Road itself, we may state that, prior to the reign of Charles II., it was only a narrow lane through the fields, for the convenience of the farmers and gardeners who had lands in the neigh See Vol. IV., p. 448. Along this road is the burial-ground belonging to the parish of Chelsea, in which lies Andrew Millar, the original publisher of Hume's "History of England," Thomson's "Seasons," and some of Fielding's novels. The Duke of York was thrown from his horse whilst riding along this road towards Fulham; he had two ribs broken. John Timbs records that, "near the spot where is now the Vestry Hall, the Earl of Peterborough was stopped by highwaymen in what was then a narrow lane; and the robbers, being watched by some soldiers, who formed a part of the guard at Chelsea College, were fired at from behind the hedge. One of these highwaymen turned out to be a student in the Temple, whose father having lost his estate, his son lived by 'play, sharping, and a little on the highway '-the desperate resources of the day." Nearly opposite Ashburnham House, on the north side of the King's Road, is St. Mark's College, which was established in 1841 by the National Society, as a training institution for schoolmasters. The residence of the principal was formerly known as Stanley House, and was originally built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Sir Arthur Gorges, whose family at that time possessed considerable property in Chelsea. About the middle of the last century it became the property of the Countess of Strathmore, who afterwards married Captain A. R. Bowes, whose barbarity to her drew on him the execration of the country. About the year 1815, Stanley House was sold to Mr. William Hamilton, from whom it subsequently passed to the National Society. The college accommodates about 110 students, and the period of training is for two years, according to the provisions of the Committee of Council on Education. The chapel, which abuts on the Fulham Road, is an unpretending building; but a certain amount of effect is produced in the interior by the stained-glass windows. The buildings of the college form a quadrangle, erected in the Italian style; and there is also in the grounds an octagonal building, used as a practising school. The first Principal of the college, and indeed its joint-founder, the Rev. Derwent Coleridge, a son of the poet, died in 1883. In the King's Road, near Milman Street, is an inn styled "The World's End." The old tavern, like the "World's End” at Knightsbridge, already described, was a noted house of entertainment in the reign of Charles II. The tea-gardens and grounds were extensive, and elegantly fitted up. The house was probably called "The World's End" on account of its then considerable distance from London, and the bad state of the roads and pathways leading to it. It figures in a dialogue in Congreve's "Love for Love" in a manner which implies that it bore no very high character. At the commencement of the present century, the King's Road was a very different place from what it is now. The line of road was almost ex. clusively occupied by nurserymen and florists, and it became, in consequence, to a certain extent, a fashionable resort for the nobility and gentry. The road, in most parts, was very narrow, and the different grounds were mostly enclosed in wooden palings. At night there were only a few gloomy oil-lamps, and the lives and property of the inhabitants were principally entrusted to a small number of private watchmen. Northward of the King's Road, at no very distant date, a considerable extent of land, stretching away to the Fulham Road, was a vast open heath, known as Chelsea Common. Standing in the central space, which has, singularly enough, been left as a memorial of the old common, and looking at the streets now branching off in various directions, it is not easy to call up visions of the past—say two hundred years ago-when this locality was probably as agreeable a spot as Clapham or Wimbledon Commons in our own time. Faulkner conjectures that the Fulham Road formed the north boundary of the common, and on the south it reached to some nursery grounds abutting on the King's Road, which said nursery grounds, one may conjecture, had been cut off the common by some party or parties in the days when land boundaries were not always kept with care. Westward, the common must have extended about to the line of Robert and Sydney Streets, and eastward to "Blackland's Lane," as it was first called, afterwards Marlborough Road; or perhaps originally the common was bounded by the road or lane which is now Sloane Street. It is first spoken of as "Chelsea Heath," and it appears to have been + See page 21, ante. 87 covered, at least in part, with heath and furze, therein resembling some of the Surrey commons. One of the earliest records concerning Chelsea Common tells us the fact that the City train-bands used to repair to it for exercise, and that, in the disturbed times of Charles I., reviews of troops were more than once held there. This common was used in former times as a means of raising money for the benefit of the parish. We have particulars relating to such a usage as far back as the reign of Charles II., when the re-building of the church having been resolved upon, Lord Lindsey, Charles Cheyne, and those interested in the common, agreed to enclose it for twenty-one years, the term commencing in March, 1674. On the expiration in 1695, the ground was again thrown open. Somewhat more than a century later-namely, in 1713-articles were drawn up, Sir Hans Sloane being then lord of the manor, in which, amid sundry other recitals, it is stated that the ground at Chelsea Common having been put to various unlawful uses, the holders decide to let it for three years to one John Hugget. It was stipulated that he was to fence the common "with a good bank and a ditch all around," which it is probable that he did, to the satisfaction of all parties, as he had his term renewed from time to time. An Act passed in the reign of George I., which empowered the surveyor of the London roads to dig up gravel on any common or waste land convenient to him, gave rise to some disputes in Chelsea. The parties interested in the common were informed that much gravel had been removed from Chelsea, and they objected to this, but the Government paid little heed to the complaint. The agents of the surveyor were warned off, though not expelled by physical force; and they went away for awhile, to come back at the next good opportunity. This matter was not finally settled till 1736; for some years previous to that, however, a regular account was kept of all the gravel removed, and payment demanded (and obtained) from those who kept the roads. It was also in the early part of the eighteenth century that an enterprising individual, probably short of money, set up an experimental turnpike on part of the waste ground on the common near Blackland's Lane. The Chelsea authorities fined him heavily, and his scheme was forthwith abandoned. It was not until some years after an Act had been obtained for the purpose, that the first streets were formed on what had been Chelsea Common. The earliest building lease appears to bear date in 1790, being to the Hon. George Cadogan. The streets, square, grove (for there is at least one of |