Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 3
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter XXIV: Soho.
Chapter XXIV: Soho.
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It has been often remarked--but at the same time, we think, not altogether truthfully--that the past history and character of London cannot be read-like that of Paris, Rome, or Athens--from the appearance of its public buildings and principal thoroughfares. Thus, for instance, Mr. T. Raikes says, in his in --
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But, at all events, there is portion of our metropolis to which this remark will not apply; for we fancy that no city in Europe can more thoroughly tell the story of its own past history, than can Soho testify to the glories of other days, | |
p.174 [extra_illustrations.3.174.1] | which still surround its decaying and decayed houses as with a halo. |
The name Soho, as it is uncertain in its derivation, so also is it loosely applicable to a neighbourhood which it would be impossible to define accurately. It is enough to describe it roughly as lying between and St. Giles'-in-the- Fields, and ; but its limits on the western side are very vague. It lies mostly in the district of St. Anne's, which was formed out of the parish of St. Martin's-in-the- Fields, towards the end of the century. Pegge mentions the tradition that the name of --the watchword at the battle of Sedgemoor, in -was given to a that at that time existed here, called King's Square, in memory of the Duke of Monmouth, whose mansionwas upon the south side. Mr. Peter Cunningham, however, negatives this assertion, for he tells us that he has found the name of in the rate-books of parish as early as the year . At any rate, people were described as living at the as far back as -nearly half a century before the famous battle of Sedgemoor. | |
says a writer in the ,
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continues the same writer,
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In Soho is described as
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Although, as compared with Belgravia and Tyburnia, the district known as Soho may be called old, yet it has about it none of the poetry of a venerable antiquity. It is a dull, dingy, and dreary part of London, in spite of its proximity to .and , and it contains little that is picturesque to relieve the monotony of its appearance. | |
It was laid out for building in the reign of Charles II., and consists almost wholly of straight and narrow streets running at right angles to each other. In many of these streets, however, there | |
p.177 | are noble and substantial mansions, which were largely occupied by wealthy merchants and members of Parliament, and even by a few peers of the realm, down to the commencement of the present century. |
Soho rejoices in a square; but that is of small dimensions and uninviting aspect; and it seems difficult to realise the fact that a century ago, when Mrs. Cornelys' masqued balls were in vogue, it was crowded night after night with the carriages of and even of the highest ranks of the nobility; and that, so lately as the years of her present Majesty's reign, the Duke of Marlborough occupied a residence in it during the Parliamentary session. It is now chiefly occupied by musical and medical publishers, and by other trades which do not depend much on the publicity of a thoroughfare. | |
We give on page a rare and curious print of the square as it must have been about the year . The view is that of the southern side, in the centre of which, within large iron gates and with a large square courtyard in front, stands Monmouth House. The gardens in the rear are square, and extend as far south as ; the entrance is flanked by large houses, the only ones on that side. St. Anne's tower and spire not being built, there is nothing to break the monotony of the square and rectangular streets which cover the ground apparently nearly to . The statue is in the centre as now, and the enclosure is laid out after the regular Dutch type. In the original inscription to this print. Street is called Street, and Street figures as Street, while what is now , tinning into the square from the west, rejoices in the name of Street. The details of the square we shall give in the next chapter. | |
That the growth of a population and the building of houses if this neighbourhood was looked upon with no favour at Court, and that St. James's already was beginning to growl out its dislike in the direction of , is clear from a royal proclamation, dated in , forbidding the erection of small cottages and other tenements in on the ground that such buildings It is to be feared that this latter ground of alarm was not without foundation, for certainly it would be no longer possible to supply any of the royal residences with water from this neighbourhood; though Allen tells us that when the square was laid out,
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Commencing on the south side of this district, we find immediately behind a very remarkable neighbourhood forming part of Soho, and comprising Newport Market, where the famous orator Henley held his mock preaching. The father of Home Tooke was a poulterer in this market, or, as he is reported to have told his schoolfellows, In this queer locality a number of genuine French shops are to be found much as they were during the emigration after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Many of them are cheap cafes and restaurants, like those near in Paris. Most of the French refugees who came to England settled here; and in a work published in , entitled the it is noticed that they had already filled of the new-built and empty houses in London. Maitland, who wrote in , observes that,
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Newport Market was so named from the townhouse of the Earl of Newport, which stood close by at its north-west angle. It boasts of no attractiveness in the way of buildings, being neither more nor less than a narrow avenue of shops, occupied chiefly by butchers, the market being established for the sale of butcher's meat. | |
It has been more than once suggested that it would, perhaps, do much for the improvement of the western portion of the metropolis if the site of Newport Market could be used for some such purposes as a railway-station, a market for fish, poultry, &c., or for the erection of a block of Peabody buildings. The property comprised within the area of Newport Market cannot be of much value, and is somethingworse than an architectural blotch on the map of London. | |
At the back of Leicester House, as we have already seen were extensive lawns and gardens, where now stands , and In these gardens, in , Sir Ashton Lever, who has already been mentioned in connection with Saville House, in conjunction with Mr. Waring and other friends, started the Toxophilite Society, of which the then Prince of Wales shortly afterwards cons descended to become patron. The butts, however, not having sufficient range, the members used to hold their fete-days at Canonbury Tower, | |
p.178 | at the , Finsbury, or at Highbury Barn; holding, however, convivial gatherings in the evening in their own quarters here. For about years this society continued to flourish, and its meetings were well supported; but its members dwindled sadly down during the long war against Napoleon, at the end of which they numbered but . They afterwards hired a ground at Bayswater, and in obtained their present grounds in the , where we shall doubtless find the society again, in full plume and feather, when we reach that place. |
took its name from Gerard, Earl of Macclesfield, the owner of the site, and the building of the street was commenced about the year . | |
In , on the south side, as he tells his friend Steward in a letter, lived John Dryden. We have Pope's authority, in for the assertion that he used commonly to write in the ground-room next the street. Mr. Peter Cunningham identifies this house with that which is now No. , and he quotes Dryden's own dedication of to the Earl of Leicester, in which the poet styles himself Here Dryden died in the year , and here, as John Timbs tells us, took place the disgraceful interference with the poet's funeral procession by a party of drunken Mohocks, headed by Lord Jeffries. Edmund Burke, too, in , was a resident in , but the number of his house is not known for certain, although Mr. J. T. Smith, who was living here at the same time, says of him,
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But Burke and Dryden are not the only literary names on which Soho can pride itself. It was at the at the corner of and , and afterwards in , that the Literary Club-sometimes also called --was founded in by Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds. The had already a reputation of its own, having been a kind of head-quarters for the Loyal Association during the Scottish rising of . says Mr. Peter Cunningham, Sir John Hawkins, Burke, and Goldsmith were among its original members, the latter being admitted in spite of Sir John Hawkins' objection to as a mere literary drudge. At its origin it was composed, or at all events intended to be composed, of representatives of intellectual power in various lines of excellence, Goldsmith gaining admission as on account of his whilst Reynolds was, of course, the painter, and Gibbon the historian. In the supper was changed to a dinner, and the number of members increased from to . In their landlord died; the original tavern was converted into a private house, and the club removed to . All elections took place by ballot. Johnson himself proposed Boswell, and the last member elected in Johnson's life was Dr. Burney. It was at called but at Garrick's death it was styled the In the number of members was raised to . After several migrations in the neighbourhood of and , in the club took up its quarters at the tavern in . | |
After alluding to a speech of that gruff and sarcastic judge, Lord Chancellor Thurlow, in which his lordship called the tavern an Mr. Timbs says that He also states, in the volume of his that
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In some of these statements, however, as it would seem from information to which we have had access, and which has been placed at our disposal, Mr. Timbs is not strictly accurate. Another | |
p.179 [extra_illustrations.3.179.1] |
association, known as the has for many.years run a parallel course to the or, as it was formerly styled, founded by Johnson and Reynolds. Though running parallel to each other, there is no rivalry or hostility between the ; for, indeed, many distinguished persons belong to both of them. The is of comparatively recent origin, and tradition says it is due to the disappointment of or of its originators at their nonadmission into where a single black ball has always excluded a candidate. Perhaps, however, the truer account of its origin may be found in the increase of men of literary, scientific, artistic, and administrative attainments of the grade of those who originally founded The latter name was not retained for long after Dr. Johnson's death, because it was too limited to express the real constiution of the association, though possibly it may be urged that the innovators maybe held open to blame in choosing the present name of as laying claim to a singular and special excellence. There can be no doubt that generation after generation its members have teen elected-not merely from among authors, but among painters, lawyers, statesmen, the only test being that of eminence in a man's own profession. In this way has secured a series of whose namee, if given at length, would go far to justify the apparent conceit of the title. For instance, whenSir Charles Eastlake and Mr. George Richmond were chosen, it was held, no doubt, that they succeeded to the place once held in that circle by Sir Joshua Reynolds; that Grote, Hallam, and Milman were no unworthy successors of Edmund Gibbon; and possibly Professor Owen was at least as great a naturalist as Oliver Goldsmith. |
dined for many years, as stated by Mr. Timbs, at the tavern, and afterwards at Grillon's, and at the It may also be recorded as a matter interest that at the centenary dinner of Lord Brougham was the and that he came all the way from the south of France in order to be present on the occasion. Mr. John Timbs gives a list of absentees from that dinner, including Lords Russell and Carlisle; but of the members who dined on that day at the tells us expressly that Lord Macaulay was very desirous to hold the dinner--not at the but at the old house where the club had been commenced; but this was found to be impossible. | |
In the secretary was Dean Milman, who took a great pride in showing to friends the books and archives of the club, including a valuable collection of autographs. Among the other memorials in the. possession of the club is the portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds with his spectacles on, which he painted with his own hand and presented to the society, and which is well known by an engraving. | |
The the other association, dates, as we have said, from afar more recent period. Among its members we find the names of the Right Hon. Spencer H. Walpole (president), Lords Coleridge, Chelmsford, Dufferin, Houghton, Lawrence, Cairns, de Redliffe, and Selborne; the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Peterborough; the Dean of and Professor Partridge; Generals Sir Edward Sabine, Sir William Boxall, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Sir William Erie, Sir James W. Colvile, Sir John W. Lubbock, and Sir Travers Twiss; Mr. George Richmond, Mr. Henry Reeve, Mr. Gathorne Hardy, Colonel Hamley, Captain Douglas Galton, the Right Hon. William Massey, Mr. Charles T. Newton, Mr. J. A. Froude, Rear-Admiral Sherard Osborn, Mr. Kirkman . Hodgson, and Mr. Matthew Arnold. It may be added that the meets for dinner once a month on Mondays, at half-past , during the season, at Willis's Rooms, from November to July inclusive. | |
says Mrs. Piozzi, in her
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It was at the too, that a Society of Artists met in ; and another society, numbering among its members West, Chambers, Wilton, Sandby, and others, who, from the petitioned George III. to bestow his patronage on a Royal Academy of Art. | |
In , just opposite to , looking northwards directly up it, stands Macclesfield or Gerard House, the residence formerly of Charles, Lord Gerard, and afterwards Earl of Macclesfield. It is a poor, dulllooking structure, and still stands much as it did when built, about . It was afterwards tenanted by Lord Mohun, the duellist, and also by Lord Lyttelton. The house is now a lamp manufacturer's warehouse. It still retains many traces | |
p.180 | of its former magnificence, in the fine ceilings with carved cornices, mantelpieces, and of the noblest staircases to be seen in London, down which gay ladies swept with their long trains in the days of my Lords Macclesfield and of the gay and profligate Lord Mohun. |
Before quitting , we may say that in this street the Linnaean Society held its meetings previous to its establishment in . | |
The neighbourhood of Gerrard and Macclesfield Streets, as appears from a MS. in the , was originally an enclosure of ground made by Henry Prince of Wales, elder brother of Charles I., for the purpose of Here, it appears, he built a house, which | |
| was standing at the Restoration; and the site afterwards passed, probably by purchase, into the hands of Lord Gerard, who let out the ground around him on building leases. | |
, we may add, was in the last century popularly known by the abridged name of Street, but it has since recovered its orthography. | |
, which crosses at right angles, is built on part of the ground used as the prince's artillery yard. Here, in , lived Halley, the astronomer. | |
The house in in which the Museum of John Hunter was formed and located before it was transferred to , is | |
p.181 | now a foreign restaurant and dining hall, rejoicing in the name of L'H$#xF4;tel de l'Étoile. |
We learn that as the parish of grew more and more populous, fresh streets being built to the north and west, the inhabitants of the newlybuilt district applied to the bishop and the legislature, by whose joint action a site of land in as it then was called, was granted, though not without difficulty. In , soon after the erection of the new church, it was made into a separate parish, a district cut off from being assigned to it. It was then As, however, there was but a slender endowment, | |
and no provision had been made for the completion of the tower and steeple, or for building a rectory house, commissioners were appointed to carry out this work; and in , the church was consecrated by Dr. Compton, Bishop of London, says Allen, The parish commences at the eastern end of , including and all the south side of as far as . Its eastern boundary is formed by and , and it extends southwards to about the centre of . | |
Contrary to the usual custom, the chief front of this church is not to the west, but to the east, abutting on . It is a fair | |
p.182 | specimen internally of the classical style of the period, and calls for little remark or detail; but its spire may safely be said to rival that of ; Bloomsbury, in ugliness. The name of the architect was Hakewill. |
says Allen, But what the Danish style of art may have been in the early part of the eighteenth century, we are not informed. | |
In the vaults beneath this church is buried the eccentric and unhappy [extra_illustrations.3.182.1] , who fell in a duel which he fought at Kensington, in the year . He was the only son of Thomas, Lord Camelford, and was born in . says his biographer in the ,
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It was Lord Camelford's eccentric wish, and, indeed, it was commanded by him in his will, that he should be buried in a lonely spot on an island in a lake in Switzerland; but dying at the time when he fell, while the European war was raging, it was impossible for his executors to carry out his instructions at the time; and when the peace came, in , he had been too long in his grave for his wishes to be remembered. So his body still lies in a gorgeous coffin, surmounted with his coronet, in the vaults under St. Anne's Church, which have for many years been sealed down and closed. | |
Among those who lie buried here is the Lady Grace Pierrepont, daughter of the Marquis of Dorchester. A letter published by Sir Henry Ellis in speaks of the Countess of Dorchester, Sedley's daughter, as furnishing a fine house in , and having just taken a seat (sitting) in the
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The church also contains the remains of royalty of a certain kind-namely, of a [extra_illustrations.3.182.2] , whose unhappy career and end has been told by Sir Bernard Burke, in his and before him by Horace Walpole and by Boswell. A tablet in the churchyard to his memory bears the following inscription-- | |
Near this place is interred Theodore, King of Corsica, who died in this parish, , immediately after leaving the by the benefit of the Act of Insolvency; in consequence of which he registered his kingdom of Corsica for the benefit of his creditors.
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It may interest our readers to know that this fallen monarch was buried at the cost of a small tradesman who had known him in the days of his prosperity, and that the tablet above-mentioned was erected by Horace Walpole, who also wrote the epitaph quoted above. | |
The King of Corsica was Stephen Theodore, Baron Neuhof of Prussia, and was born at Metz, in . Mr. Cunningham styles him and certainly in assuming royalty here he went a step further than most other pretenders. He was educated in France, under the care of the Duchess of Orleans. He entered the service of Charles XII. of Sweden, when his name and the distressed state of Corsica induced the inhabitants of the latter island to ask his protection, and in return to offer him their crown. In , we are told, he arrived at Aleria in a ship, with others very richly laden with provisions and ammunition. He was conducted to Corsica, and was elected king amid the acclamations of the people, and was crowned as Theodore I. At this time the Corsicans'were in a state of comparative barbarism. Theodore coined money, and maintained an army of men at his own cost. The Genoese, in envy and jealousy, published a manifesto filled with falsehoods, and set a price on his head. Finding his life attempted by his own people, he called an assembly, and made them a short speech, which so affected them that they called him their saviour and king. In he issued a calling back to that island all Corsicans in foreign service, under the penalty of confiscation of their estates. His money being now exhausted, he was obliged to seek foreign succour, conferring the regency in his absence on of the nobles. Theodore now went from place to place begging assistance, and in constant fear of assassination. The English sent him to their fleet in the Mediterranean, instructing their admiral to re-establish him on his throne. The admiral, however, told Theodore that the Corsicans meant to oppose his landing. It appears that he was now, in his helpless condition, made the victim of foul play, for on returning soon after to London, money was lent to him by a scheme of the Genoese | |
p.183 | minister; for this debt he was arrested and sent to prison. |
He was arrested by a . He lived in a privileged place-probably the Sanctuary at Westminster-and his creditors seized him by making him believe that Lord Grenville wanted to see him on business of importance; he bit at the bait, thinking that he was to be reinstated at once. We may mention that while in England King Theodore distinguished himself, like his humble successor, the Duc de Roussillon, by his fondness for the fair sex. He fell in love with Lady Lucy Stanhope, sister of the earl, and even made her an offer of marriage; and another lady, a widow, he all but persuaded to share his shadowy crown. | |
Horace Walpole describes him as a A life of him, Walpole tells us, was published,
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There is a fine portrait of Theodore, taken from life by order of the King of Naples, when under confinement in the castle at Gaeta. | |
Horace Walpole wrote a paper in the , as he tells us, in order to promote a subscription for King Theodore during his imprisonment. His Majesty's character, however, as Walpole tells us, was so bad, that the sum raised was only ; but Well may Horace Walpole add,
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It was at Soho that Theodore went as Walpole says,
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The story of his actual death is thus related by the gossiping pen of Horace Walpole, who met him at several parties in London in :--
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said the individual who generously erected his monument. | |
It may be added that Boswell wrote an account of Theodore, strung together from anecdotes which he picked up from Walpole in Paris. | |
In the church or churchyard also lie Mr. William Hamilton, a Royal Academician of the last century; Sir John Macpherson Mr. David Williams, who deserves to be remembered as the founder of the Literary Club; and William Hazlitt, the critic and essayist, over whom the grave closed in . | |
Adjoining the south-east angle of St. Anne's Church is the parish mortuary. This building was formerly the in the days of the old and here George Prince of Wales, in his youthful days, was more than once confronted with the ministers of parochial authority, on account of his share in some midnight brawl, but allowed to depart on unbuttoning his coat and showing the on his breast beneath, whilst less well-born marauders were detained, to be brought before the the next day. Mr. J. T. Smith tells the following amusing anecdote concerning a scene witnessed by him at St. Anne's watch-house during of those nocturnal rambles he occasionally indulged in whilst lodging in :-- | |
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remarks Mr. J. T. Smith, He exercised the itinerant trade of a muffin-man, in the afternoon; he had a little bell, which he held to his ear, smiling ironically at its tingling. His cry was- Flaxman, the sculptor, and Mrs. Mathews, of bluestocking memory, equipped him as a hardwareman, and as such Mr. J. T. Smith made etchings of him. | |
This parish has point in which it differed centuries ago, and to a great extent still differs, from the surrounding districts. To use the words of the in , The same satirist draws an amusing picture, evidently from life, of of the households of Soho in his day, where a shopkeeper maintained himself, his wife, and a grown--up daughter, on a limited income. He says, What a picture Charles Dickens could have called up out of this description! | |
Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.3.174.1] St, Barnabas Church- King's Square [extra_illustrations.3.179.1] Statue of Lord Brougham [extra_illustrations.3.182.1] Lord Camelford [extra_illustrations.3.182.2] king of Corsica |
