Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/396

 326 NOTES AND QUERIES, do" s. iv. OCT. a, IMEL •was presented to the town in 1256 by Isabella, Countess of Devon, and it is in order that this much • prized inheritance may be preserved un- impaired that periodical perambulations take place. At various places en route Mr. W. E. Williams read •a proclamation as bailiff of the hundred, and there was much horse-play, during which the Mayor and the Head-Constable were thrown into the stream. When at last the source of the stream was reached lavish hospitality was dispensed by the Mayor (Mr. H. Mudford), and old English sports were indulged in." EVERARD HOME COLEMAN. 71, Brecknock Road. CROWN STREET, SOHO.—With the demoli- tion of Nos. 135 to 143, Charing Cross Road, we have lost the last group of buildings pre- serving the appearance of Crown Street, that ceased to exist when the present thoroughfare was completed in 1887. Origi- nally Hog Lane, once known as Elde (old) Lane, it was a narrow winding lane, and " no doubt it derived its first name from the pigs that fed along its sides when it had green hedges and deep ditches on either side" ('Old and New London,' vol.iii. p. 196). In 1762 it received a more dignified appella- tion from the " Hose and Crown" Tavern that stood at the corner of one of its side turnings, Rose Street. Its most interesting building was the Greek Church, commenced in 1676, which, becoming a French Protestant chapel, was immortalized by Hogarth introducing it into his well-known picture ' Noon.' The actual doorway there depicted mu,y still be seen on the south wall of St. Mary's Church, which occupies the site: and an inscription in Greek recording the original erection of the build- ing is in its place over the west door. A great deal of interesting matter relating to this building and its immediate sur- roundings was contributed to T/te Gentleman's Magazine, June, 1833 (vol. ciii. pp. 62-3), by Thos.Leverton Donaldson, Professor of Archi- tecture at London University. I have his original MSS., but they differ so slightly from the printed text as not to be worth quoting. That excellent little volume ' Soho and its Associations,' edited by Mr. Clinch from Dr. Rimbault's MSS., deals exhaustively with the history of the church and its site, and this practically is all that constitutes the story of Crown Street. ALECK ABRAHAMS. GREAT QUEEN STREET, No. 56.— James Boswell is not the only celebrity connected with the house No. 56, Great Queen Street, to the front of which the London County Council have recently affixed a commemora- tive label. Hudson, the portrait-painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds's master, lived at Nos. 65 and 56 (then one house), and with him Hoole, the translator of Tasso. Reynolds resided here for two years after his arrival in London. Worlidge, an artist of some celebrity, who was famous for his etchings in the manner of Rembrandt, died in this house in 1766. Richard Brinsley Sheridan lived in it for some years ; many of the letters in Moore's 'Life of Sheridan' are addressed to him here. Mrs. Robinson, George IV. 's Perdita, appears to have lived in this house shortly after her marriage in 1773. She describes the house in her memoirs as "a large old-fashioned mansion ...... the property of the widow of Mr. Worlidge"; but it is improbable that her husband, who was an attorney's clerk, could have occupied the whole of the house. He was probably a lodger. JOHN HEBB. WK must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct. NELSON'S UNIFORM.—Do your readers know of any (accredited) portrait of Lord Nelson attired in a dark green, but otherwise appa- rently naval uniform, with cocked hat and wearing all his orders, and with both eyes uninjured ] I have lately seen two such portraits, similar in every respect, except that one was painted on an old snuff-bos (wooden), and the other was a painting on copper. Of course, one associates " dark blue" with naval dress; but the portraits I have seen are certainly intended for Nelson, and are cleverly executed. But the green uniform is decidedly puzzling. H. H. H. Folkestone. DEN AND BRICE FAMILIES.—I am anxious to discover something about the family of James Den or Denne. He was born in 1720, and married in 1754, in London, as his second wife,Margaret Brice,daughterof Hugh Brice, of, by his wife Margaret Hippesley, daughter of John Hippesley, of Stone Easton, co. Somerset. James Den had by his second marriage a daughter Catherine ; she was born in 1760, and married in 1780 William Lygon, after- wards first Earl Beauchamp. James Den died before 1780. He had a son who died (? drowned at sea) early in the nineteenth century—whether son of first or second marriage I do not know. Lady Beau- champ was sole executrix, Mrs. Den having died in 1808. Lady Beauchamp died in 1844.