A Walk from London to Fulham Part 4

was certain of being wafted to the Grange, which was got rid of in consequence.

From Michael's Grove, BROMPTON CRESCENT is nearly a straight row of twenty-five houses, and forms an angle to the line of the main Fulham Road, uniting with Michael's Place at "Crescent House," where the carriage communication was formerly interrupted by a bar, in place of which a post supporting two lamps is now subst.i.tuted.

No. 9 was for some time in the occupation of Dr. Oswald Wood, the translator (1835) of Von Hammer's 'History of the a.s.sa.s.sins,' and who died at the early age of thirty-eight, on the 5th of November, 1842, in the West Indies, where he held the appointment of Provost-Marshal of Antigua.

At No. 13 Brompton Crescent resided Charles Incledon, the rival of his neighbour Braham, whose singing he was wont to designate as "Italianised humbug;" declaring that no one but himself, Charles Incledon, knew how to sing a British ballad: and it must be admitted, that "The Storm" and "Black-eyed Susan," as sung by Incledon, produced a deep impression on the public mind. He was a native of Cornwall, and the son of a medical gentleman. As a chorister, under the tuition of Jackson, in Exeter Cathedral, Incledon acquired his knowledge of music; for when he was fifteen he entered the Royal Navy, in which he served in the West Indies from 1779 to 1783, when he abandoned the naval profession, and joined a theatrical company at Southampton. After a popular professional career of upwards of forty years as a public singer, Incledon died at Worcester, on the 11th of February, 1826.

Of Incledon many amusing anecdotes are told, chiefly caused by his inordinate vanity, and his mental singleness of purpose. He thought of no one but himself; he saw nothing beyond the one and immediate object at which he grasped; and yet these faults were caused rather by natural weakness of intellect than by an unkind or selfish disposition. In fact, Incledon lived and died a petted servant of the public; which administered intoxicating draughts of applause to his self-esteem.

Mr. G. Rodwell, already mentioned as having been an inhabitant of No. 14 Brompton Row, resided at No. 15 Brompton Crescent, in 1830.

No. 20 Brompton Crescent was, between the years 1822 and 1844, occupied by Mr. Planche, well known as, perhaps, the most prolific and skilful dramatic writer of the day, and as a gentleman of high literary and antiquarian attainments. His connexion with the last musical efforts of the German composer Weber, in his opera of 'Oberon,' which was produced at Covent Garden on the 12th of May, 1826, {65} cannot be forgotten; and to Planche's knowledge of costume and taste for pictorial effects the English stage is deeply indebted. In the drawing-room of this house have some of our most agreeable acting dramas been composed, and nothing could have been, in its style and appointments, more typical of Planche's dialogue than was the apartment-smart and neat, fit for all occasions, and suited in a moment to the present purpose, whatever that might be.

It was polished and elegant; but there was nothing superfluous, beyond a bit of exquisite china on the mantel-piece, or a picture, excellent in its way, on the wall; something which pleased the eye, and which the mind received and relished like a nicely-pointed joke. A well-painted portrait of Planche himself, by Briggs, the Royal Academician, which has been engraved, hung opposite to the fireplace; and, as if to carry out the similitude between Planche's writings and the place where they were written, folding-doors revealed a back drawing-room, which, like his memory, was richly stored with the works of heralds and antiquaries, and of our elder dramatists and poets, so judiciously arranged, that in a moment he was certain of producing the precise pa.s.sage or the effect which he desired. At the same time so completely was this little battery of knowledge masked under quaint bindings and tasteful covers, that no one suspected what a mine of learning lay beneath; nor, like his own mental resources, was a volume displayed without cause, or unclasped without its effect.

Speaking earnestly to Planche respecting the pains and pleasures of authors.h.i.+p, L. E. L. once said, "I would give this moment all the fame of what I have written, or ever shall write, for one roar of applause from a crowded house, such as you must have heard a thousand times."

Mr. Planche afterwards removed to a new and detached house, built on the site of Brompton Grange. He has now quitted the neighbourhood.

Mr. C. J. Richardson, an architect, whose publications ill.u.s.trative of Tudor architecture and domestic English antiquities have materially tended to diffuse a feeling of respect for the works of our ancestors, and to forward the growing desire to preserve and restore edifices which time and circ.u.mstances have spared to the country, has resided at No. 22 Brompton Crescent. At No. 28 in this crescent, Mrs. Liston died in 1854.

The continuation of MICHAEL'S PLACE, which we left on our right to visit Michael's Grove and Brompton Crescent, is the corner house, now Dr.

Cahill's and Mr. Hewett's. At No. 12, Lewis Schiavonetti, a distinguished engraver, died on the 7th of June, 1810, at the age of fifty-five. He was a native of Ba.s.sano, in the Venetian territory, and the eldest son of a stationer, whose large family and moderate circ.u.mstances made him gladly accept the offer of Julius Golini, a painter of some repute, to receive his son, at the age of thirteen, for instruction in the arts. [Picture: No. 12 Michael's Place] In three years after, Golini expired in the arms of his youthful pupil. Upon the death of his master he determined to seek the patronage of Count Remaudini, who had given employment to Bartolozzi and Volpato, and began to study the mechanical process of engraving, under a poor man named Lorio, who, unable to support himself by his profession, officiated as sacristan to a church, and could offer him no better accommodation for study than the sacristy. The circ.u.mstances of Schiavonetti not permitting him to seek for higher instruction, he remained with this master about twelve months, when, finding that he had learned all that poor Lorio was able to teach, and feeling an aversion to work occasionally among dead bodies, he determined to alter his situation. A copy of a 'Holy Family,' from Bartolozzi, after Carlo Maratta, gained Schiavonetti immediate employment from Count Remaudini, and attracted the notice of Suntach, an engraver and printseller in opposition to Remaudini.

About this time there came to Ba.s.sano a Mr. Testolini, of Vicenza, a wretched engraver of architecture, but a man of consummate craft and address. He became acquainted with Schiavonetti at Suntach's, and, finding in his genius and tractable disposition, a tool which he could use to great advantage, he engaged him to work at his house.

Bartolozzi's engravings in the chalk manner were then in great repute at Ba.s.sano, and Testolini made several abortive attempts to discover the process. His young friend succeeded better, and imitated several of Bartolozzi's prints to perfection; and Testolini took some of Schiavonetti's productions to the son of Bartolozzi at Venice, and pa.s.sed them off as his own. They gained him an introduction to that artist, and an invitation to London, where he was then in full occupation, and his works highly appreciated. The change of climate seems to have deteriorated the talents of Testolini; but such was his adroitness that he gained a complete ascendancy over the easy temper of Bartolozzi, and lived in his house at North End, Fulham, about three years. During that time, finding that yet more important advantages might be derived from the aid of his former friend, he made several propositions to Schiavonetti to come to London. These were for a time declined: the rising fame of the young artist caused his talents to be better appreciated, and some Venetian n.o.blemen offered him a pension and constant employment if he would abandon his proposed emigration.

Testolini, to frustrate this, induced Bartolozzi to write a letter of persuasion, partly dictated by himself; and, confident of its effect, he set out for Italy to bring Schiavonetti over. During his absence Bartolozzi gained an insight into his real character and interested views, and, on his return with his _protege_, told him that his house was no longer open to him, but that Schiavonetti was welcome to consider it his home. Testolini, however, having found a house in Sloane Square, soon persuaded Schiavonetti that it would be better for him to follow his fortune than to remain with Bartolozzi, to which Schiavonetti consented.

This circ.u.mstance terminated the connexion between Bartolozzi and Schiavonetti; and shortly after the reputation of the latter as an engraver became established in London, where he conducted every transaction he was engaged in with an uprightness and integrity that cause his memory to be equally respected as a gentleman and as an artist.

The 'Madre Dolorosa,' after Vand.y.k.e; the portrait of that master in the character of Paris; Michael Angelo's cartoon of the 'Surprise of the Soldiers on the banks of the Arno;' a series of etchings from designs by Blake, ill.u.s.trative of Blair's 'Grave,' with a portrait of Blake after Phillips; the 'Landing of the British troops in Egypt,' from De Loutherbourg; and the etching of the 'Canterbury Pilgrims,' from Stothard's admired picture, are some of the most esteemed works of Lewis Schiavonetti. His funeral, which took place on the 14th June 1810, from Michael's Place, was attended by West, the president, Phillips, Tresham, and other members of the Royal Academy, by his countryman Vendramini, and almost all the distinguished engravers of the day, with other artists and friends to art.

The greater portion of No. 13, Michael's Place, is shown in the sketch of No. 12, and the former may be mentioned as the residence of the widow of the builder, Madame Novosielski, who died here on the 30th November, 1820. This was the address of Miss Helen Faucit, immediately previous to her successful appearance in the English drama before a French audience, and is at present in the occupation of Mr. Weigall, an artist whose works are highly prized.

Mrs. Billington, the well-known singer and actress, has resided at No.

15.

Miss Pope, an actress of considerable reputation, died at No. 17, Michael's Place, on the 30th July, 1818, aged seventy-five. Her talents had been cultivated by the celebrated Mrs. Clive, and she was distinguished by the notice of Garrick. As a representative of old women, Miss Pope is said to have been unrivalled; and, for more than half a century, she remained constant to the boards of Drury Lane Theatre, never having performed at any other with the exception of a season at Dublin and another at Liverpool.

Mr. John Heneage Jesse, in 1842, while engaged in the publication of 'Memoirs of the Court of England, from the Revolution of 1688 to the Death of George II.,' 3 vols. 8vo, a continuation of his 'History of the Court of England during the Reign of the Stuarts,' lodged at No. 18.

Mr. Yates, the manager of the Adelphi Theatre, and an actor of considerable and varied powers, resided at No. 21, Michael's Place, immediately previous to his accepting a short engagement in Ireland, where he ruptured a blood-vessel, and returned to England in so weak a state that he died on the 21st June, 1842, a few days after his arrival at the Euston Hotel, Euston Square, from whence it was considered, when he reached London, imprudent to remove him to Brompton. He was in the forty-fifth year of his age, and made his first appearance in London at Covent Garden on the 7th November, 1818. On the 30th November, 1823, Mr.

Yates married Miss Brunton, an exemplary woman and an accomplished actress, who had retired from the profession for some years previous to her death, aged 61, on 30th August, 1860. Before Mr. Yates' tenancy, No.

21 was the residence of Mr. Liston, whose comic humour will long be remembered on the stage.

Mrs. Davenport, a clever actress and an admirable representative of old women, died at No. 22, on 8th May, 1843, aged eighty-four. On the 25th of May, 1830, she retired from the stage, after an uninterrupted service of thirty-six years at Covent Garden Theatre, where she took her "first, last, and only benefit," performing the Nurse in 'Romeo and Juliet.'

No. 25, Michael's Place, may be pointed out as the house in which Miss Pope, "the other delicious old woman," dwelt previous to her removal to No. 17; and No. 26, as the lodgings of Mrs. Mathews, when occupied in the composition of the 'Memoirs' of her husband, {72} the eminent comedian,-

"A man so various, that he seemed to be, Not one, but all mankind's epitome."

At No. 33 died Madame Delille, in 1857, at an advanced age. This lady was the mother of the late Mr. C. J. Delille, professor of the French language in Christ's Hospital and in the City of London School, and French examiner in the University of London. Mr. Delille's French Grammar is universally adopted by schools, in addition to his 'Repertoire Litteraire,' and his 'Lecons et Modeles de Poesie Francaise.'

The ground upon which Michael's Place and Brompton Crescent are built was known by the name of "Flounder Field," from its usual moist and muddy state. This field contained fourteen acres, and is said to have been part of the estate of Alderman Henry Smith, which in this neighbourhood was upwards of eighty-four acres. He was a native of Wandsworth, where he is buried. It has been a.s.serted that, from very humble circ.u.mstances, he rose to be an alderman of London-from circ.u.mstances so humble, indeed, that Salmon, in his 'Antiquities of Surrey,' mentions that he had been in early life whipped out of Mitcham parish for begging there. Being a widower, and without children, he made over all his estates in 1620 to trustees for charitable purposes, reserving out of the produce 500 a-year for himself. He died in 16278, and the intent of his will appears to have been to divide his estate equally between the poorest of his kindred, and in case of any surplus it was to be applied to the relief and ransom of poor captives. Mr. Smith is said, but we know little of the history of this benevolent and extraordinary man, to have himself suffered a long captivity in Algiers. No application having been made for many years to redeem captives, in 1772 an act of parliament was pa.s.sed "to enable the trustees of Henry Smith, Esq., deceased, to apply certain sums of money to the relief of his poor kindred, and to enable the said trustees to grant building leases of an estate in the parishes of Kensington, Chelsea, and St. Margaret's, Westminster."

No. 1, North Terrace, leading into Alexander Square, was for some time the residence of the celebrated "O." Smith, who, though a great ruffian upon the stage, was in private life remarkable for his quiet manners and his varied attainments. At the end of this terrace is the Western Grammar School.

ALEXANDER SQUARE, on the north or right-hand side of the main Fulham Road, between the Bell and Horns public-house and Pelham Crescent, consists of twenty-four houses built in the years 1827 and 1830, and divided by Alfred Place: before each portion there is a respectable enclosure, and behind numerous new streets, squares, and houses have been built, extending to the Old Brompton Road.

No. 19, Alexander Square, was the residence of Captain Glasc.o.c.k, who commanded H.M.S. Tyne, and whose pen has enriched the nautical novel literature of England {73} with the same racy humour which has distinguished his professional career. When commanding in the Douro, some communications which Glasc.o.c.k had occasion to make to the Governor of Oporto not having received that attention which the English captain considered was due to them, and the governor having apologised for his deafness, Glasc.o.c.k replied that in future he would write to his excellency. He did so, but the proceeding did not produce the required reply. Glasc.o.c.k was then told that the governor's memory was defective; so he wrote again, and two letters remained unanswered. In this state of things it was intimated to Captain Glasc.o.c.k by a distinguished diplomatist, that, as his letters might not have been delivered, he ought to write another. "Certainly," replied that officer; "my letters to his excellency, as you say, might not have been delivered, for I have had no report absolutely made to me that they had ever reached his hands: but I will take care this time there shall be no mistake in the delivery, for you shall see me attach my communication to a cannonball, the report of which I can testify to my government; and, as my gunner is a sure shot, his excellency _will_ (Glasc.o.c.k was an Irishman) have my epistle delivered into his hand." This intimation produced at once the desired effect of a satisfactory reply and apology.

Captain Glasc.o.c.k was one of the inspectors under the Poor Relief Act in Ireland. He died in 1847.

No. 24 Alexander Square is the residence of Mr. George G.o.dwin, the editor of the 'Builder,' and one of the honorary secretaries of the Art Union,-an a.s.sociation which has exercised an important influence upon the progress of the fine arts in England. Mr. G.o.dwin is likewise favourably known to the public as the author of several essays which evince considerable professional knowledge, antiquarian research, and a fertile fancy.

The bend of the Fulham Road terminates at

THE ADMIRAL KEPPEL

[Picture: The old Admiral Keppel] public-house, from whence the road proceeds in a straight line to Little Chelsea; Marlborough Road and Keppel Street, leading to Chelsea, branching off at each side of the tavern. Since this sketch was taken, the old building has been pulled down (1856), and a large hotel erected on the same spot, by B. Watts, where, in addition to the usual comforts of an inn, hot and cold baths may be had.

In 1818 the Admiral Keppel courted the custom of pa.s.sing travellers by a poetical appeal to the feelings of both man and beast:-

"Stop, brave boys, and quench your thirst; If you won't drink, your horses murst."

There was something rural in this: the distich was painted in very rude white letters on a small black board; and when Keppel's portrait, which swung in air, like England's flag, braving

"The battle and the breeze,"

was unhinged and placed against the front of the house, this board was appended as its motto. Both, however, were displaced by the march of public-house improvement; the weather-beaten sign of the gallant admiral's head was transferred to a wall of the back premises, where its "faded form" might, until recently, have been recognised; but, though the legible record has perished, _opus vatum durat_.

AMELIA PLACE is a row of nine houses immediately beyond the Admiral Keppel. Within the walls of the last low house in the row, and the second with a verandah, the Right Hon. John Philpot Curran died on the 14th of October, 1817. It had then a pleasant look-out upon green fields and a nursery-garden, now occupied by Pelham Crescent. Here it was, with the exception of a short excursion to Ireland, that Curran had resided during the twelve months previous to his death. [Picture: No. 7 Amelia Place] Curran's public life may be said to have terminated in 1806, when he accepted the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland, an appointment of 5000 a year. This situation he retained until 1815, when his health required a cessation from its laborious attendance. Upon his retirement from office, he "pa.s.sed through the watering-places with the season," and then fixed himself at No. 7, Amelia Place, Brompton, which house has now Kettle's boot and shoe warehouse built out in front. To no other contemporary pen than that of the Rev. George Croly can be ascribed the following glowing sketch of Curran:-

"From the period in which Curran emerged from the first struggles of an unfriended man, labouring up a jealous profession, his history makes a part of the annals of his country: once upon the surface, his light was always before the eye, it never sank and was never outshone. With great powers to lift himself beyond the reach of that tumultuous and stormy agitation that must involve the movers of the public mind in a country such as Ireland then was, he loved to cling to the heavings of the wave; he, at least, never rose to that tranquil elevation to which his early contemporaries had one by one climbed; and never left the struggle till the storm had gone down, it is to be hoped for ever. This was his destiny, but it might have been his choice, and he was not without the reward, which, to an ambitious mind conscious of its eminent powers, might be more than equivalent to the reluctant patronage of the throne. To his habits legal distinction would have been only a bounty upon his silence; his limbs would have been fettered by the ermine; but he had the compensation of boundless popular honour, much respect from the higher ranks of party, much admiration and much fear from the lower partizans. In Parliament he was the a.s.sailant most dreaded; in the law-courts he was the advocate deemed the most essential; in both he was an object of all the more powerful pa.s.sions of man but rivalry,-

'He stood alone and shone alone.'"

During Curran's residence in Amelia Place he suffered two slight apoplectic attacks; but he, nevertheless, "occasionally indulged in society, and was to his last sparkle the most interesting, singular, and delightful of all table companions." The forenoon he generally pa.s.sed in a solitary ramble through the neighbouring fields and gardens (which have now disappeared), and in the evening he enjoyed the conversation of a few friends; but, though the brilliancy of his wit shone to the last, he seemed like one who had outlived everything in life that was worth enjoying. This is exemplified in Curran's melancholy repartee to his medical attendant a few days before his decease. The doctor remarked that his patient's cough was not improved. "That is odd," remarked Curran, "for I have been practising all night!"

On Thursday, the 9th of October, Curran dined abroad for the last time with Mr. Richard ("Gentleman") Jones, {78} of No. 14 Chapel Street, Grosvenor Place, for the purpose of being introduced to George Colman "the Younger." The party, besides the host and hostess, consisted of Mr.

Harris and Sir William Chatterton. Colman that evening was unusually brilliant, antic.i.p.ating, by apt quotation and pointed remark, almost everything that Curran would have said. One comment of Curran's, however, made a deep impression on all present. Speaking of Lord Byron's 'Fare thee well, and if for ever,' he observed that "his lords.h.i.+p first weeps over his wife, and then wipes his eyes with the newspapers." He left the dinner-table early, and, on going upstairs to coffee, either affected not to know or did not remember George Colman's celebrity as a wit, and inquired of Mrs. Jones who that Mr. Colman was? Mr. Harris joined them at this moment, and apologised for his friend Colman engrossing so much of the conversation to himself, adding, that he was the spoiled child of society, and that even the Prince Regent listened with attention when George Colman talked. "Ay," said Curran, with a melancholy smile, "I now know who Colman is; we must both sleep in the same bed."

The next morning Curran was seized with apoplexy, and continued speechless, though in possession of his senses, till the early part of Tuesday the 14th, when he sunk into lethargy, and towards evening died without a struggle; so tranquil, indeed, were the last moments of Curran, that those in the room were unable to mark the precise time when his bright spirit pa.s.sed away from this earth. His age has been variously stated at sixty-seven, sixty-eight, and seventy.

The first lodging which John Banim, the Irish novelist, temporarily occupied in England (April, 1822) was in the house where his ill.u.s.trious countryman had breathed his last, and from whence Banim removed to 13, Brompton Grove, as already noticed. Banim's first wish, when he found himself in England, was to visit the scene of Curran's death; led to the spot by a strong feeling of patriotic admiration, and finding, by a bill in the window, that lodgings were to be let there, he immediately took them, "that he might dream of his country," as he energetically told the writer, "with the halo of Curran's memory around him."

[Picture: Dropped Capitals for In] PELHAM CRESCENT, which consists of twenty-seven houses, and is divided in the centre, between Nos. 14 and 15, by Pelham Place, both Crescent and Place built upon part of the nursery-grounds over which Curran had wandered, dwell at No. 10 Mr. and Mrs. Keeley. At No. 20 resides Mr. John Cooper the well-known veteran actor. M. Guizot, the celebrated French statesman, after the overthrow of the government of Louis Philippe, resided for some time at No. 21, where Madame Guizot, his mother, died in March, 1848, at the advanced age of eighty-three; and the same house was, by a singular coincidence, afterwards occupied by Ledru Rollin. Pelham Place, at the back of the Crescent, is notable for having, at No. 2, Mr. Lazarus, the celebrated clarionet player, and at No. 8 resides Mr. A. Harris, the present lessee of the Princess's Theatre.

Nearly opposite to Pelham Crescent is POND PLACE, where Mr. Curtis, the eminent botanist, of whom more hereafter, died on the 7th July, 1799; and a little further on, on the same side of the way, appears Chelsea New Church, dedicated to St. Luke.