Page:The Victoria History of the County of Surrey Volume 3.djvu/724

 A HISTORY OF SURREY

��Of the few old shops that remain in the town the most noted is the Original Maid of Honour Shop which existed in the i8th century, where the cheese-cakes supposed to have been introduced by one of the maids of honour are still sold. In 1823 it was acquired by a Mr. Bilton, who sold the good- will, lease, and famous recipe to Mr. J. T. Billett (grandfather of the present owner) for 1,000. Richmond was formerly celebrated for its inns, but the greater number of the original houses have dis- appeared. In 1634, out of twenty-five ale-houses licensed within the hundreds of Kingston and Emley Bridge, ten were allowed in Richmond alone ' by reason of the Prince's Court often residing there and being a place of much resort and recreation for divers gentlemen and citizens.' 146 Shops in George Street now occupy the sites of the ' Queen's Arms ' and the ' Black Boy,' and also of the old Castle Inn, the licence of which was removed in 1761 to the later Castle Hotel in Hill Street, and of the original ' Red Lion,' whose licence is supposed to have been trans- ferred to the present hotel about 1755. Of the once- famous Feathers Inn at the junction of King Street " 7 and Walter Lane, only the staircase and assembly room now remain ; and there is no vestige of the ' Rose and Crown.' The 'King's Head' stands at the corner of Bridge Street on the site of the old Ferry Inn ; opposite to it was another in Hill Street, which was superseded by the Talbot Hotel, now Talbot House. Tickets for the Old Theatre were sold at the ' Three Compasses.' The 'Grey hound,' still existing in George Street, although much altered, was the meeting-place appointed for the trustees for putting the first Act relating to the government of the parish (see below) into execution." 8 The present ' Lass of Richmond Hill ' has been rebuilt more than once ; it deserves notice on account of its name, which is sometimes thought to commemorate the heroine of a ballad and a tale about whom much controversy has arisen. It seems, however, that the true home of this young lady was Richmond in Yorkshire, although the tradition that she belonged to Richmond in Surrey still persists. 149

The increase of the population at the end of the J 8th century occasioned an application for the build- ing of Richmond Bridge. Previous to this time communication with the opposite bank had been by a ferry, which was held on lease from the Crown. 160 An Act was passed in 1773 by which the commis- sioners were enabled to purchase the ferry from the then lessee, and after building the bridge to exact tolls until the money borrowed and the interest on it was repaid and 5,000 vested in the funds for the support of the bridge, after which the tolls were to cease. 151 The bridge, consisting of five stone arches, was begun in 1774 and finished in 1777, and in 1841 was said to be almost free, the only toll taken being a halfpenny on Sundays for foot passengers passing from the Surrey side, and a much reduced toll

��for carriages. 16 * The money for building the bridge had been raised on the tontine system, and after the death of the last shareholder in 1859 the bridge became free. 1 " The embankment was continued from Kew to Cholmondeley Walk also in ijj^.. lu

In the middle of the igth century Richmond was still called a village, although it was then said to resemble a town in all respects. The railway to London was opened in lS^6, lu and since that time the development of the town, possessing as it does the attractions of a beautiful situation combined with proximity to London and facility of conveyance by land and water, has been exceedingly rapid. The population has increased from 9,255 in l85l lss to 22,684 ln '89' and 25,577 > n 1901- '"

The government of the town was in the hands of a vestry, constituted under George III in 1785,"* until 1 890, when Richmond was incorporated by royal char- ter. 1 " In 1892 the municipal borough was extended to include the civil parishes of Kew, Petersham, and that part of Mortlake which was created the civil parish of North Sheen in 1 894. 160 It is divided into six wards, and is governed by a mayor, ten aldermen, and thirty councillors. It has a separate commission of the peace, but no separate court of quarter sessions. 1 "

Richmond, from its entrance on the north, extends for about a mile to the crest of the hill. The road from Kew, leaving the Old Deer Park on the right, passes between shops and above the combined stations of the London and South-Western Railway (over which the North London Railway has running powers) and the Metropolitan and District Railways, to the beginning of George Street, 168 where it is joined by the road from Sheen, 1 * 4 which, running parallel with the railway, leads from the lower end of Queen's Road. The fire-engine station is situated at the angle formed by the junction of Kew and Sheen roads. George Street has its continuation in Hill Street, which bears round to the left and divides a short distance above the turning of the bridge, the lower road running parallel with the river towards Petersham, and Hill Street itself becoming Hill Rise and ascending towards Richmond Park, from the gates of which Queen's Road slopes downwards in a north-easterly direction to meet the road from Sheen. These roads outline the thickly populated part of the parish, a network of smaller roads covering the ground between.

To one approaching Richmond Park from the town, the Terrace Gardens are on the right, and on reaching them there first breaks upon the view, through a few openings in the intervening trees, the lovely scene that has been immortalized by painters and poets ; lw while from the Terrace itself, just beyond the gardens, there is an uninterrupted view of the landscape. Far below is the winding river with its willow-covered islets, forming with the surrounding woods and meadows a beautiful foreground which fades away into a blue or hazy distance. In clear weather, however,

��148 Cat. S.P. Dam. 1634-5, p. 19. "7 Formerly Furbelow Street (Hurt, op. cit. n).

148 Burt, op. cit. 8.

149 Much of the above information is derived from Lysons, Brayley, Chancellor, and Bell, op. cit.

180 Cal. of Pat. 1476-85, p. 171 ; L. and P. am. Fill, x, 226 (18) ; Cal. S.P. Dam. 1591-4, p. 459, &c.

��141 Local Act, 13 Geo. Ill, cap. 83.

1M Brayley, op. cit. iii, 98.

163 Chancellor, op. cit. 153.

144 Bell, op. cit. 52.

155 Lewis, Tofog. Diet. iii.

166 Burt, op. cit. 13.

"' Pof. Ret. 1901, pp. 6, 1 6.

158 The Act 25 Geo. Ill, cap. 41, is sometimes referred to as the Richmond Local Act, 1784; Burt, op. cit. 12.

540

��169 London Gazette, 1890, iii, 2681. For a copy of the charter ee Burt, op. cit.

160 Pof. Ret. 1901, p. 12 and note, i" Ibid.

163 Called High Street until 1769 5 Burt, op. cit. n.

161 Formerly called Marshgate Road. 166 Reynolds, Turner, Pope, Collini,

and Thomson are among many who hare painted or described this prospect.

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