Part 3 (1/2)

The district west of Berkeley Square, bounded by Piccadilly and Park Lane, has already been mentioned; though the streets are narrow and cramped, and many of the houses small, it has always been a fas.h.i.+onable locality.

In Hill Street (1743) lived: Lord Lyttelton, 1755-73; Admiral Byng, 1756; Smollett's Lady Vane, d. 1788; Mrs. Montagu, 1795; Lord Chief Justice Camden, d. 1794; Earl of Carlisle, b. 1802; Sir J. F. Leicester, 1829; No. 5, Mr. Henry Brougham (Lord Brougham), 1824, Lord Londesborough, 1835; 6 (a new house), Marquis of Tweeddale, 1895; 9, Admiral Sir Philip Durham, 1841; 8, The Mackintosh of Mackintosh; 20, Lord Barrymore; 21, William Grant, Earl of Malmesbury, d. 1820, Countess Darnley; 26, Lord Revelstoke; 27, Countess of Roden, 1895; 30, Lord Westbury; 33, Lord Hindlip; 34, Sir Charles G. Earle-Welby, Bart.; 41, Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, Bart.

In Farm Street (_circa_ 1750), named from a neighbouring farm, and now a mews, is the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, a handsome and lofty Gothic structure in Decorated style, designed by Scoles, and built in 1849. The front is a miniature reproduction of the cathedral at Beauvais. The high altar, designed by Pugin, was a gift by Miss Tempest, and cost 1,000. The church is lit by a clerestory.

In South Street (_circa_ 1737), up to 1845, stood a Roman Catholic chapel, attached to the Portuguese Emba.s.sy. Here is a school endowed by General Stewart in 1726, and carried on in conjunction with the Hanover Branch Schools.

Inhabitants: No. 10, Miss Florence Nightingale, 1895; 22, Beau Brummell; 33, Lord Holland; 36, Mlle. d'Este, daughter of the Duke of Suss.e.x, 1835; 39, Lord Melbourne, 1837.

Aldford Street (_circa_ 1734) was named Chapel Street (from Grosvenor Chapel) until 1886. Part of the north side has been lately pulled down, and with it No. 13, where Beau Brummell lived in 1816 and Sir Thomas Rivers Wilson in 1841.

Other inhabitants: No. 23, Sh.e.l.ley, 1813; 5, Earl of Kilmorey.

Deanery Street was built _circa_ 1737, and was first called Dean and Chapel Street, from the Chapter of Westminster, the ground landlords. In Tilney Street (_circa_ 1750) lived Soame Jenyns, d. 1787; No. 2, Viscount Esher; 5, Lord Brampton; 6, Mrs. Fitzherbert, wife of George IV.

Great Stanhope Street, built _circa_ 1750 by Lord Chesterfield, is broad, and contained fifteen s.p.a.cious houses, of which No. 7 was demolished to build a mansion in Park Lane for a millionaire.

Inhabitants: No. 1, Lord Southampton, 1796, Duke of Bedford, 1810, Earl Bathurst, 1822, Duke of Manchester, 1890; No. 1, Viscount Clifden; 4, Earl of Mansfield, 1823, Marquis of Exeter, 1829, Lord Brougham, 1834; 5, Lord Raglan, 1853; 6, Lord Reay; 9, Lord Palmerston, 1814-1843; 10, Bamber Gascoyne, grandfather of the present Marquis of Salisbury; 12, Colonel Barre, d. 1802; Sir Robert Peel, 1820-25; 15, Viscount Hardinge, d. 1856.

Waverton Street was renamed in 1886, instead of Union Street, built _circa_ 1750. Charles Street is so called after Charles, Earl of Falmouth, brother of Lord Berkeley. At the corner of Hayes Street a public-house bears the sign of a running footman in the dress of the last century, with the inscription, ”I am the only running footman.”

Inhabitants of Charles Street: No. 22, H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence (William IV.); Admiral Sir G. Osborn, d. 1792; Sir G. Bulwer Lytton; the Earl of Ellenborough, Viceroy of India; J. H. Scott, of Abbotsford; Thomas Baring, M.P.; Lady Grenville, widow of the Premier, 1806-07; 33, Admiral Sherard Osborn, 1795; Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, d. 1815; Sydney Smith, 1835; 37, Earl of Dartmouth; 39, Earl of Camperdown; 40, Earl of Cork and Orrery; 48, Lord Burghclere; 49, Lord Romilly.

In John Street (_circa_ 1730) is Berkeley Chapel, the property of Lord Fitzhardinge, which dates from about 1750. It is a plain building both within and without. The interior was redecorated in 1874, and the east end and chancel in 1895, when a window was put up to the memory of the late Duke of Clarence. Sydney Smith and Rev. H. F. Cary (1812) are the best known among the inc.u.mbents.

In Queen Street (_circa_ 1753) lived: No. 13, Dr. Merriman, 1796-1810; 20, Thomas Duncombe, M.P., 1824; 22, Sir Robert Adair, d. 1855; 21, Duke of Hamilton, d. 1895; 25, R. Brinsley Sheridan, 1810.

In Chesterfield Street lived George Selwyn, 1776; No. 3, Sir Ian Hamilton; 4, Beau Brummell till 1810; 1, Sir W. H. Bennett.

Chesterfield Gardens contain fine red-brick houses built by Mr. Magniac on the site of the gardens of Chesterfield House.

Inhabitants: No. 2, Lord Hothfield; 6, Duke of Grafton; 9, Lord Leconfield.

Some fine houses with an outlet by steps to Pitt's Head Mews form Seamore Place (_circa_ 1761).

Inhabitants: No. 8, Lady Blessington, 1832-36; 1, Alfred de Rothschild; 2, Lord Blythswood; 7, Sir James Lyle Mackay; 9, Hon. A. de Tatton Egerton.

Curzon Street was named after Curzon, Earl Howe, d. 1758, to whose family the property still belongs. It was known before that time as Mayfair Row.

On the south side is Curzon or Mayfair Chapel, an ugly building, first erected in 1730, but since rebuilt. The Rev. Alex Keith was the first inc.u.mbent. Here he performed marriages without banns or license until his excommunication in 1742. He then established a chapel close by, where clandestine marriages were continued until the Marriage Act put an end to them in 1754. The most celebrated of these were: the Duke of Chandos and Mrs. Anne Jeffrey, 1744; Lord Strange and Mrs. Lucy Smith, 1746; Lord Kensington and Rachel Hill, 1749; Sewellis s.h.i.+rley and Margaret Rolle, widow of the second Earl of Oxford, 1751; Duke of Hamilton and Miss Gunning, 1752; Lord George Bentinck and Mary Davies, 1753.

Opposite the chapel is Wharncliffe House, a plain building with courtyard and garden. Here lived in 1708 Edward Shepherd, the builder of Shepherd's Market. It was sold for 500 in 1750 to Lord Carhampton, who rebuilt it. From 1776-92 it was occupied by Lady Fane, and by Lady Reade from 1793 to 1813. In 1818 it was bought by Mr. J. Stuart Wortley, M.P., for 12,000, and is now in possession of the Earl of Wharncliffe.

Other inhabitants: No. 1 (pulled down in 1849), Madame Vestris; 8, the Misses Berry, d. 1852; Baron Bunsen, 1841; 14, Richard Stonehewer, 1782, Earl of Crewe; 16, Sir Henry Halford, d. 1844; 19, Earl of Beaconsfield, d. 1882; 20, Viscount Curzon; 21, Earl Howe; 24, Sir Francis Chantrey when a young man; 30, Lord Macartney, d. 1806; 37, Sir C. M. Palmer, Bart.; 41, Prince Soltykoff; 64, Earl Percy.

At the end of Curzon Street is Bolton Row (1728), until 1786 called Blicks Row.

Inhabitants: Martha Blount, 1731-37; Horace Walpole, 1748; Angelo, the fencing master, 1800.

A pa.s.sage leads between the gardens of Lansdowne and Downs.h.i.+re Houses to Berkeley Street. The bars at each entrance were set up after the escape of a highwayman, who galloped through.

Bolton Street was built in 1699, and was then the western limit of London. Here lived: Earl of Peterborough, 1710-24; George Grenville, d.

1770; Madame d'Arblay, 1818; Lord Melbourne; Hon. Mrs. Norton, 1841.