Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/719

 KINGSTON HUNDRED

��RICHMOND

��to hunt round Richmond Palace, notwithstanding the king's prohibition." The Duke of Lauderdale obtained the office of rangership of the park for life in 1673,' and Laurence Earl of Rochester in 1683,'' but his son, afterwards Lord Clarendon, sold the remainder of the term to the Crown in 1727, and the rangership was given by George II to Robert Walpole, son of the celebrated prime minister Sir Robert Walpole. The latter was created Earl of Orfordin 1742,'* and spent much of his leisure at Richmond, frequently hunting in the park." 8 The prime minister, although he effected improvements and spent much money on the park, made several encroachments on the rights of the public by shutting up gates and taking away step- ladders on the walls ; and after his death in 1745, and that of his son, the ranger, in 1751, these encroach- ments were continued by the Princess Amelia, who was the next holder of the rangership. Several com- plaints were made by the neighbourhood, 10 * and in 1754 a special jury gave a verdict for the princess, 104 but in 1758 a decision was given in favour of the public, and the step-ladders and gates were restored. The princess resigned her office of rangership in 1 76 1, 106 and in the same year it was granted to the Earl of Bute, who held it until his death in I792. 107 About 1814 the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV, appointed as ranger his sister Princess Elizabeth, 108 who held the office until 1825, when it passed to the Landgravine of Hesse. 109 She was succeeded in the office by Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, who held it from 1835 till his death in 1 8 50," after which the Duchess of Gloucester held it until her death in 1 8 5 7. 111 George, Duke of Cambridge, was then made ranger, 111 and after his death in 1 904 the preservation of game and the private shooting in the park were abolished.

As well as several picturesque keepers' lodges, Rich- mond Park contains some important houses which may be mentioned here, although situated outside the parish boundary.

Pembroke Lodge, formerly known as Hill Lodge and the Molecatcher's, stands a short distance from Richmond Gate, just beyond the Terrace Walk, 1 " and commands a splendid view of the Thames valley. The Countess of Pembroke died here in 1831 at the age of ninety-three, 114 after which it was occupied by the Earl of Errol, subsequently by Earl Russell, and since the death of his widow by Georgina Countess of Dudley. 115 Within the grounds is a board on which is inscribed a poem on James Thomson, ' the poet of Nature,' alluding to the beautiful prospect which he loved. In the grounds also is a barrow, traditionally said to have been the spot where Henry VIII stood to see the rocket which gave him intima- tion of the execution of the sentence on Anne Boleyn.

White Lodge is situated between Sheen and Robin Hood Gates. The central part was built by George II,

��and originally called Stone Lodge, the two wings being added later by the Princess Amelia. In the reign of George III it was occupied by Lord Bute, and later by Lord Sidmouth, who was here visited by William Pitt and Lord Nelson. It was the home of the Duchess of Gloucester when ranger. Queen Victoria spent a short time here after her mother's death, and King Edward, when Prince of Wales, also lived here at one time. It afterwards became the home of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, whose grandson Edward the present Prince of Wales was born here in i894. 116

Sheen Lodge, near Sheen Gate, once a keeper's lodge called the Dog-Kennel, is distinguished as having been the home of the great physiologist Sir Richard Owen, K.C.B., who here entertained Dickens, Millais, Mr. Gladstone, and other noted guests. It is now occupied by Mrs. Owen.

Thatched Cottage, which stands near Ham Gate, was also a keeper's lodge in former days. It was occupied during part of the igth century by Sir Edward Bowater, General Meadows, and Sir Charles Stuart ; llr and has recently been lent to Sir Frederick Treves, bart., G.C.V.O., C.B., LL.D., F.R.C.S.

Four religious bodies have had houses at Richmond. From 1315 to 1318 twenty-four Carmelite friars stayed by command of Edward II at the manor-house of Sheen and celebrated divine service there, but in the latter year they moved to a place which the king granted them outside the walls by the North Gate of Oxford. These friars were endowed with a grant of 120 marks out of the Exchequer. 118 A house of Friars Observant 119 was founded by Henry VII in 1499 and suppressed in 1534. The site was granted in 1572 to Percival Gunstan and his heirs, 1 * and the survey of 1649 m represents the remaining rooms to have been then used as a chandler's shop. The approximate position of the convent is indicated by a lane called Friar's Lane which leads from the Green past Queensberry House to the river ; and is de- scribed in the 1649 survey as having been on this side of the palace. Henry V established two religious houses in Sheen in 1414, one of which, a house of Celestines, 1 " was, however, abolished shortly after- wards."* The Carthusian Priory of Jesus of Bethle- hem founded by him, of which an account has already been given in this history, 1 " was situated in the Old Deer Park where Kew Observatory now stands. This monastery is one of the two chantries referred to in Shakespeare's Henry V, where the king says on the eve of the battle of Agincourt IK

' I have built

Two chantries where the sad and solemn priests Sing still for Richard's soul.'

The house was granted in 154010 Edward Sey- mour, afterwards Duke of Somerset. He conveyed it

��9 Cal. S.P. Dam. \ 666-7, P- 2OZ -

100 Ibid. 1673, P- "3-

101 Pat. 3 5 Chas. II, pt. ii, no. 8.

lra G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 278 ; vi, 128.

> Hill. MSS. Com. Rtf. xv, App. vi, 165 ; xiv, App. ix, 241.

104 H. Walpole, Mtm. of Reign of Gee. II (ed. Lord Holland), i, 401-2 ; G.E.C. Peerage, vi, 130.

lot Hilt. MSS. Com. Rtf. x, App. vi, 257 ; xv, App. vi, 204.

"* Manning and Bray, op. cit. i, 416.

W G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 91.

��1(18 A. H. W. GuiJt to Richmond Nna Park, 16.

109 Mrs. A. G. Bell, Royal Manor oj Richmond, 112.

110 G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 122.

111 Ibid, iv, 47. "'Ibid, ii, 123.

" Made in 1832 (Chancellor, op. cit. 23.).

'" G.E.C Peerage, vi, 224. lls Bell, op. cit. 115. "Ibid. 113-14. W Ibid.

537

��"8 Cat. Pat. 1313-17, p. 377 i I3'7- ai, p. 103.

u For an account of it ee V.C.H. Surr. ii, 1 1 6.

120 Pat. 14 Eliz. pt. i, m. 13.

ln See above.

128 Walsingham, TfoJigma Neuitriat (Rolli Ser.), 450. The third home re- ferred to by Waliingham was the Abbey of Syon in Middlesex.

1M Chancellor, op. cit. 74.

>" V.C.H. Surr. ii, 89.

lu Act. iv, tc. i.

68

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