Lincoln's Inn Fields: Nos. 39 to 43 (Royal College of Surgeons)

Survey of London: Volume 3, St Giles-in-The-Fields, Pt I: Lincoln's Inn Fields. Originally published by London County Council, London, 1912.

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'Lincoln's Inn Fields: Nos. 39 to 43 (Royal College of Surgeons)', in Survey of London: Volume 3, St Giles-in-The-Fields, Pt I: Lincoln's Inn Fields, ed. W Edward Riley, Laurence Gomme( London, 1912), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol3/pt1/pp48-58 [accessed 5 November 2024].

'Lincoln's Inn Fields: Nos. 39 to 43 (Royal College of Surgeons)', in Survey of London: Volume 3, St Giles-in-The-Fields, Pt I: Lincoln's Inn Fields. Edited by W Edward Riley, Laurence Gomme( London, 1912), British History Online, accessed November 5, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol3/pt1/pp48-58.

"Lincoln's Inn Fields: Nos. 39 to 43 (Royal College of Surgeons)". Survey of London: Volume 3, St Giles-in-The-Fields, Pt I: Lincoln's Inn Fields. Ed. W Edward Riley, Laurence Gomme(London, 1912), , British History Online. Web. 5 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol3/pt1/pp48-58.

In this section

VII.—Nos. 39 to 43 LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS (ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS).

Ground landlord.

The Royal College of Surgeons.

General description and date of structure.

The premises of the Royal College of Surgeons occupy the site of five houses, Nos. 39 to 43. Of these, Nos. 39 and 40 are on the site of Cup Field, the remainder on that of Purse Field, the original boundary between the two fields coinciding with the former boundary between Nos. 40 and 41.

By indenture of 26th February, 1658, (fn. 1) Sir William Cowper, Robert Henley, and James Cowper, in exchange for a portion of Fickett's Field, transferred to Horatio Moore a part of Cup Field "beginning or extending on the west part from the outermost easterne post of the Rayles before the brick house now or late belonging unto, or now or late in the tenure … of the Lord Brudnell … and from thence in front extending 72 feet in assize straight on eastward from the said post of the said rayles towards Lincolnes Inne." Lord Brudenell's house was No. 41 (see below), and from the measurements, therefore, it is clear that the ground of which Moore thus became possessed comprised the sites of Nos. 38 to 40. Moore bound himself not to erect or build any messuage, wall or fence other than should be "pursuant and agreeable unto" the agreement with the Society of Lincoln's Inn. (fn. 2) On 12th November, 1658, Moore sold to "John Emline" the site of No. 39, described as "abutting east on the parcell of ground of one Adams, west on Horatio Moore's new brick messuage … south upon the Blew pale within 4 feet of the house on the North side of the Tennis Court." (fn. 3) The transaction included a reservation "to Moore, his heirs, and the tenants and occupiers and others comeing and going from the Tennis Court, the use and liberty of a passage to be left at the east or west end of the said piece of ground to conteine 3 ft. 3 ins. at the least cleere within the walls, and of the height of the first storey of the building intended upon the premises and to go through the same buildings as farr as ye said blew pale." (fn. 4) In December, 1659, "John Emlyne" sold the ground with a "messuage of brick newly erected" thereon to William Withering, and from the terms of the deed it appears that the passage above referred to had been formed on the west side of the house. (fn. 5) The original house on the site of No. 39 was therefore evidently erected in the course of 1659.

From the former of the two deeds referred to it is clear that the house on the site of No. 40 (to the west of No. 39) was already built in December, 1658.

From the appearance of the two houses in such illustrations as are extant it would seem that they were materially altered or rebuilt in the course of the 18th century.

The first notice that has been found of a house on the site of No. 41 is in an indenture of 1642 between Sir Basil Brooke of Madeley and John Warren of Royston, whereby the latter purchases "all that piece and plott of ground, messuage and tenement … newly erected and built" by Sir Basil, next to a house, also lately built by him, upon Purse Field and Fickett's Field, and having a breadth of 43 feet. Early in its history this house was purchased by Robert Brudenell, who in 1663 succeeded his father as Earl of Cardigan. Owing to the fact that it served as the town residence of two Earls of Cardigan, it became known as Cardigan House. (fn. 6) From the notice accorded to the house in Hatton's New View of London (fn. 7) it would seem that the premises had then (1708) just been rebuilt, and this is in complete accordance with the fact that the house disappears from the ratebooks for the years 1702 to 1705 inclusive. The new mansion lasted only about twenty years, it being burnt down on 24th February, 1724. (fn. 8) A new house was built on the site by Henry Hoare. (fn. 9)

In March, 1640, William Newton sold to Sir Basil Brooke "all that new erected messuage and tenement … lately built by the said Sir Basill Brooke upon a part of the feild called Pursefeild … and upon part of the feild called Fickettesfeild." (fn. 10) This is the earliest notice of No. 42. The width is given as 41 feet. The ground was vacant in May, 1639 (see below), and the house was therefore built in either 1639 or the early part of 1640. (fn. 11) It had perhaps been rebuilt before the Royal College of Surgeons purchased it, and the most probable date for the rebuilding seems to be 1703. In the preceding year Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) Child purchased the house from Henry Pollexfen, and, as it does not appear in the ratebooks for the years 1702 and 1703, the assumption is that Child rebuilt it. There is, however, no proof of this.

The original house on the site of No. 43 seems to have been erected at the same time as No. 42. In May, 1639, Newton sold to Richard Ellis, carpenter, and others, a parcel of ground designed "for a scyte whereon a capital messuage is intended shortly to be erected." The width is 34 feet, and the plot is described as being between "another parcell of ground designed likewise for building and letten to Sir Basil Brooke, Knt., on the east" and "another building plot letten to Thos. Good, plumber, and Thos. Dalwyn, builder, on the west." (fn. 12) The original house was still standing on 8th December, 1697, (fn. 13) when it was purchased by Sir John Franklin. Its non-appearance in the ratebook for the following year certainly suggests that Sir John Franklin rebuilt the house, and the date 1698 well fits in with the architecture of the remaining portion of the facade. Plate 42 shows plans of this house as surveyed by Sir John Soane in 1814.

Towards the end of the 18th century the College of Surgeons removed from their premises in the Old Bailey to No. 41, Lincoln's Inn Fields. (fn. 14)

In 1799 the Government purchased, for £15,000, the valuable collection formed by John Hunter, and offered it to the Royal College of Physicians. On their refusal it was offered to and accepted by the Royal College of Surgeons. The accommodation of the collection necessitated an extension of the existing premises of the College, and in 1803 (fn. 15) the adjoining house, No. 42, was acquired. George Dance, the younger, in association with James Lewis, (fn. 16) was commissioned to design a new building on the sites of Nos. 41 and 42, and grants amounting to £27,500 were made by Parliament towards the cost. The building was opened for the inspection of visitors in 1813.

These premises had a portico with six large unfluted Ionic columns in the Grecian Order after the design of "The Ionic Temple on the Illysus," (fn. 17) surmounted by the coat of arms of the College and supported by two sons of Æsculapius. (fn. 18) In the Soane museum is preserved a sketch in oils made in 1808, which shows the elevation as proposed by Dance, and is further interesting as giving a representation of the adjoining houses, Nos. 40 and 43. at that date. Several views of this building were published. Among these may be mentioned (i.) a view of the exterior by Whittle and Laurie, dated 1813; (ii.) a view of the exterior by T. H. Shepherd, dated 1828, published in Shepherd and Elmes's Metropolitan Improvements; and (iii.) an interior view by Wm. Clift (see Plate 43), now in the possession of the College.

The accommodation soon became too small for the growth of the College, and in 1834 No. 40, Lincoln's Inn Fields was acquired. The site of Nos. 41 and 42 was again cleared, leaving only a portion of the portico, and a large building was erected from the designs of Sir Charles Barry. The College possesses a sketch by G. Scharf (Plate 44), dated 6th October, 1854, which shows the old building in process of demolition and the beginnings of a new one, housebreakers, excavators and bricklayers being at work. The sketch is of interest in that it shows five of Dance's columns with a portion of the superstructure standing. Three of the drums of the demolished western column are seen deposited on the ground, and its base is placed between the second and third of the standing columns. Owing to the extension of the site eastwards it was necessary to place the portico upon a new axial line. This was effected by removing two of the columns from the west end of the portico and re-erecting them on the east. (fn. 19) Barry fluted the columns and carved the mouldings of the entablature. (fn. 20)

The portico (Plate 45) is of stone. The portion of the facade within the portico and most of the architectural features are composed of artificial stones, i.e., cast blocks of concrete and stucco. (fn. 21) The remainder of the front is faced with stucco.

A further enlargement of the premises by Barry took place on the site of Copeland's Warehouse (fn. 22) in Portugal Street, and the additional premises were opened in 1855.

The last additions to the facade took place in 1888–9 from the designs of Mr. Stephen Salter, F.R.I.B.A. Two new floors were added to Barry's front, Nos. 39 and 43 were purchased, and a wing added on either side rising to the height of Barry's facade. As the site of No. 39 is not so wide as that of No. 43, the breadth of the new wings was governed by the breadth of No. 39. The extra width of No. 43 is utilised in the interior, but on the exterior a portion of about 9 feet of the earlier brick premises still remains; the windows, however, seem to have been enlarged and made to harmonise with No. 44.

Grecian Doric columns are freely used in the hall. Some of these columns are shown on Plate 46, which also gives the principal staircase.

On the first floor is situated the Council Chamber (Plate 47) with a portrait of John Hunter (b. 1728, d. 1793), by Sir J. Reynolds (Plate 48). The Library is a very fine room, extending nearly the full length of the frontage.

The western wing and the Portugal Street portion of the site are occupied by the six galleries of the Museum.

Condition of repair.

The premises are in good repair.

Historical notes.

The residents at Nos. 39 to 43, and at the houses formerly occupying their sites, appear from the ratebooks to have been as follows:—

No. 39.—From 1661 to about 1673, (fn. 23) Mrs. Anne Hearne (or Heron); in 1675, Rich. Duhamell; before 1683 to after 1700, Thos. Dove; 1708, Henry Desborough (fn. 24) before 1715 to 1749, Mary Grigson (fn. 25); 1750, Sir Thos. Garret; 1751–3, Sir Thos. Fitzgerald; 1754–6, Lady Powell; 1758, Robert Chester; 1759–73, Charles Scrase; 1774–95, Anthony Dickins; 1796–7, Mrs. Dickins; 1798–1804, Thos. Dickins; 1805–, Jon. Dennett.

No. 40.—In 1661, Lady Walgrave; 1662, Lord Auchrum; 1663, Thos. Lisle (fn. 26); 1664–7, Philip Warwick; 1668–9, — Neale; 1671–4, Sir Ric. Abbott; 1675–76, Sir Edw. Abney; 1677, Sir Robt. Abney; 1680–91, Sir Edw. Abney; 1693–8, Dr. Thos. Hobbs; 1699–1700, "Widow Hobbs"; 1701–2,— Chandler; 1704–25, Robt. Galloway (fn. 27); 1726–47, Thos. Bigg; 1748, John Ruding; 1749–63, John Craster; 1764–1804, John Way; 1806, Jas. Macdonald (120); 1808–, Alfd. Perkins.

No. 41.–1653–1701, Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan; 1706–24, 3rd Earl of Cardigan; 1728–54, Henry Hoare; 1755–6, Lord Dungarven; 1757, Henry Hoare; 1758–68, Earl of Northington; 1769–71, Thos. Bradshaw; 1772–85, Hon. Thos. Walpole; 1786–96, Wm. Baldwin; 1797–, Surgeons' Company.

No. 42.–1653–55, Carey Raleigh (fn. 28); 1656, Lord Devoncourt (fn. 28); 1657–60, Earl of Scarsdale (fn. 28); 1661–5, Countess of Sunderland; 1667–89, Sir John Maynard; 1690, Sir Henry Pollexfen; 1691–5, Lady Pollexfen; 1696–1701, Sir Thos. Trevor; 1704–22, Sir Robt. Child; 1723–40, Sir Francis Child; 1741–54, Samuel Child; 1755–61, Mrs. Agatha Child; 1762, Francis Child; 1763–7, Robt. Child; 1768, Sir William Baker; 1769–75, Sir Jas. Eyre; 1776–7, Edward (afterwards Lord) Thurlow; 1778–82, Arthur Annesley; 1783–90, Mrs. Webb; 1791–1804, Robt. Jenner; 1806–, Surgeons' Company.

No. 43.–1653–67, Thos. Lister (fn. 29); 1668–78, Lady Diana Curson; 1679–86,— Tufton (fn. 30); 1688–9, "Judge Inglesbery"; 1690–93, Lady Wyndham; 1693–97, Sir Nath. Napper; 1699–1700, Sir Richd. Franklin; 1700–8, Sir John Franklin; 1708–29, Lady Franklin; 1730–8, Thos. Wylde (Wild); 1739–40, Madame Beacher; 1741–63, Madame J. Lewis; 1764, Leonard Morse (fn. 31); 1765–69, J. Zoffany; 1770–1, Leonard Morse (fn. 31); 1773–, John Ord.

It is not improbable that the Philip Warwick who resided at No. 40 from about 1664 to 1667 was the son of Sir Philip Warwick, politician and historian. (fn. 32) Too little is known of him, however, to enable this suggestion to be verified. He was sent in 1680 as envoy to Sweden, and died in 1683.

The earliest occupier of No. 41 of whom we have any record was Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan, who was born in 1607, and succeeded to the title in 1663. His residence in Lincoln's Inn Fields began some time before 1653 (the date of the earliest extant ratebook). He died in 1703, and was succeeded in the title and in the occupation of Cardigan House by his grandson, George, who was master of the buckhounds to Anne and George I. He died in 1732, but his residence in Lincoln's Inn Fields had terminated some time between 1724 and 1728. His son, afterwards the 4th earl, was born at Cardigan House, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in July, 1712. (fn. 33)

ROBERT BRUDENELL EARL OF CARDIGAN

It would seem (fn. 34) that at least on one occasion during the period in which the house was in the ownership of the Earls of Cardigan, it formed the residence of the celebrated Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, the statesman to whom were chiefly due (a) the bringing over of William of Orange, and (b) the establishment of the Hanoverian dynasty on the death of Queen Anne.

Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington, was the second son of Anthony Henley, wit and politician, and grandson of Sir Robert Henley, (fn. 35) original part owner of the houses built on Cup Field (see p. 11). In 1732 he was called to the Bar, where he acquired a lucrative practice. On the death of his elder brother, Anthony, in 1745, he inherited the paternal estates, including the ground rents of several houses in Lincoln's Inn Fields. He was member of Parliament for Bath from 1747 to 1757, and was appointed attorney-general in 1756, and lord keeper (the last to be so designated) of the Great Seal in 1757. After being, although a commoner, speaker of the House of Lords for three years, he was created a peer in 1760 and lord chancellor in 1761, holding the office under Bute, Grenvile and Rockingham until 1766. He received his earldom in 1764. He resided at different times in three houses in Lincoln's Inn Fields, being at No. 33 from 1749 to 1755, at No. 34 in 1756 and 1757, and at No. 41 from 1758 to 1768. (fn. 36) It was at the last-mentioned house, (fn. 37) on 4th July, 1766, that the Cabinet Council was held at which he expressed his strong disapproval of the report which had been drawn up for the civil government of Canada, and his subsequent action led to the dismissal of Rockingham, whose administration was succeeded by that of Grafton and Chatham. In this new administration he was lord president of the Council, but he resigned, owing to ill-health, in 1767, and died in 1768, at his country seat.

ROBERT HENLEY. EARL OF NORTHINGTON

Dorothy Spencer, Countess of Sunderland, was the eldest child of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. When about eighteen, Edmund Waller began to pay court to her, and his verses, addressed to her under the name of "Sacharissa," have contributed in no slight measure to her renown. She was married in 1639, when she was nearly two and twenty, to Henry, Lord Spencer, created in 1643 Earl of Sunderland. In the latter year he was mortally wounded at the battle of Newbury. For the following seven years his widow lived in seclusion at Penshurst, removing in 1650 to Althorp, where for ten years or more she dispensed protection and comfort to distressed royalists. In 1652 she married Robert Smythe, an old connection of the family. Her residence at No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields, which apparently lasted from 1660 or 1661 to 1665, is not known to her biographer, (fn. 38) who states that little information is available as to her movements after her second marriage.

The choice of Lincoln's Inn Fields as the site of her town house was probably dictated by the desire to be near her daughter, the wife of Sir George Savile (afterwards Earl of Halifax), who had for some years occupied Carlisle House, (fn. 39) and at whose seat at Rufford she also spent much of her time. (fn. 40) She died soon after the execution of her brother, Algernon Sidney, in 1683. Her beauty drew from Steele many years afterwards the remark: " The fine women they show me nowadays are at best but pretty girls to me, who have seen Sacharissa, when all the world repeated the poems she inspired." (fn. 41)
"No, none of those, yet one that shall
Compare, perhaps, exceed them all
For beauty, wit and birth;
As good as great, as chaste as fair,
A brighter nymph none breathes the air,
Or treads upon the earth.
'Tis Dorothee, a maid high born,
And lovely as the blushing morn,
Of noble Sidney's race.
Oh, could you see into [her] mind,
The beauties there locked up outshine
The beauties of her face."
(Waller, On Her Coming to London.)

In 1667 No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields, was purchased by Sir John Maynard, (fn. 42) and formed his London residence for more than twenty years. Maynard was the son of a barrister of Tavistock, and was born in 1602. He was called to the Bar in 1626, and rapidly acquired a large practice. He was appointed recorder of Plymouth in 1640, and in the same year entered Parliament for the first time. He took at once an active part in the business of the House, and, though at first he sided with the Parliamentarians, he "protested against the first steps taken towards the deposition of the king, and on the adoption of that policy withdrew from the House as no longer a lawful assembly." (fn. 43) He was a strong Presbyterian, and in 1643 was nominated a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. On the death of Oliver Cromwell he did all in his power to sustain the government of Richard Cromwell, in whose administration he held the office of solicitor-general. At the Restoration he was one of the first serjeants called, and before the end of the year was promoted king's serjeant and knighted. During the reigns of Charles II. and James II. he held as far as possible a middle course in the burning questions of the day regarding the royal prerogatives. At the Revolution he was, as doyen of the Bar, presented to William of Orange on his arrival in London, and, on being congratulated by the Prince that he had outlived so many rivals, returned the famous answer: "And I had like to have outlived the law itself had not your Highness come over." In March, 1690, he was sworn as one of the lords commissioners of the Great Seal, an office which he held for only two months. Whether he was dismissed or voluntarily resigned is not known. (fn. 44) He died in October of the same year at his house at Gunnersbury. (fn. 45) His residence in Lincoln's Inn Fields had terminated shortly before. The last issue of the ratebook containing his name is that for 1689, and this agrees with the fact that in that year he sold the house. (fn. 46)

SIR JOHN MAYNARD

The next occupant of No. 42 was Sir Henry Pollexfen. The eldest son of a Devonshire gentleman, he was called to the Bar in 1658, and soon acquired an extensive practice. During the reign of Charles II. he had obtained the reputation of being an antagonist of the Court and the Crown, and his appearance, therefore, as prosecutor for the Crown at the "Bloody Assizes" caused much surprise. In 1688, however, he sustained his previous reputation by his defence of the seven bishops. After the Revolution he was (February, 1689) knighted and made attorney-general, and shortly afterwards (May) was promoted to be chief justice of the common pleas. His death, which occurred in June, 1691, at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, (fn. 47) was occasioned by the bursting of a blood vessel.

Thomas Trevor, Baron Trevor, was the second son of Sir John Trevor, secretary of state under Charles II., and grandson of John Hampden. He was born in 1658, and was called to the Bar in 1680. In 1692 he was appointed solicitor-general and knighted, and in the same year entered Parliament as member for Plympton. He became attorney-general in 1695, and in 1701 was made chief justice of the common pleas. He was one of the commissioners appointed in 1706 to arrange the terms of the treaty of union with Scotland, and for a time, in 1710, was first commissioner of the Great Seal. On 1st January, 1712, he was advanced to the peerage under the title of Baron Trevor of Bromham, Bedfordshire, being the first holder of the chief justiceship of the common pleas to be made a peer during his tenure of office. This honour seems to have been due rather to political exigencies than to his own merits. He was removed from office on the accession of George I., probably because of his reputed Jacobitism. In 1726 he became lord privy seal, an office which he held until 1730, when he was made president of the council. He died a few weeks later at his villa at Peckham. His residence at No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields, lasted from 1696 to 1701.

By indenture of 20th September, 1702, (fn. 48) Henry Pollexfen, son and heir of Sir Henry Pollexfen, sold No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields, to Robert Child for £1,250. Robert Child was the eldest son of Sir Francis Child, banker, and lord mayor of London in 1699. On his father's death in October, 1713, he succeeded him as head of the firm and as alderman of Farringdon Ward Without. Hilton Price states (fn. 49) that he seems to have been knighted in 1714, and this is confirmed by the fact that in the ratebook for 1715 he appears for the first time as Sir Robert. He died in 1721, and was succeeded in the positions of head of the firm and alderman by his younger brother, Francis. In the following year Francis became sheriff, in 1732 was lord mayor and received the honour of knighthood, and from 1727 until his death in 1740 was president of Christ's Hospital. The position of head of the bank was taken by his brother Samuel. It would seem, however, that the entries in the ratebook do not give correct information as to the occupation of the house in Lincoln's Inn Fields by the several brothers. Thus Robert is shown as residing there until his death in 1721, and Francis from that time until his death in 1740, when he was succeeded by Samuel. That Francis was there in 1706 is, however, certain from the fact that a list of 67 works of art belonging to him, contained in the Earl of Jersey's MSS. (fn. 50) is headed: "A catalogue of my pictures in my house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, taken March 9, 1706"; and a private account book of his for 1705–6 contains an estimate for "a chimney piece for the house in Lincoln's Inn Fields for Francis Child, Esq." Moreover, Hilton Price asserts (fn. 51) that Samuel had his town house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, "where he resided until his brother Francis died, when he removed to Osterley." Mrs. Agatha Child was Samuel's widow, and Francis and Robert Child, shown in the ratebooks as occupying the house in 1762 and from 1763 to 1767 respectively, were his sons. (fn. 52)

Sir James Eyre was son of the Rev. Thomas Eyre, of Wells, prebendary of Salisbury, and was born in 1734. He was called to the Bar in 1755, was appointed deputy recorder of the City of London in 1761, and recorder in 1763. He was counsel for Wilkes in the latter's successful action against Wood for entering and searching his house in pursuance of a general warrant signed by Lord Halifax. He refused, however, to present to the king the City's remonstrance on the subject of the exclusion of Wilkes from Parliament, and though his conduct provoked a vote of censure from the Corporation, it brought about his promotion to the exchequer Bench in 1772. In the same year he was knighted. In 1787 he was made president of the court of exchequer, and for a time in 1792 was chief commissioner of the Great Seal. In 1793 he was appointed chief justice of the common pleas. He died in 1799. His residence at No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields apparently lasted from 1769 to 1775.

Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Thuriow, was born at Bracon Ash, Norfolk, in 1731. He was called to the Bar in 1754, and first distinguished himself by his refusal to be browbeaten by Fletcher Norton in a case before Lord Mansfield in 1758. His great opportunity came in 1769, when he induced the House of Lords to reverse the Court of Session's decision in the case of Douglas v. Hamilton. He had entered Parliament in 1765 as member for Tamworth, and this constituency he continued to represent until his elevation to a peerage. In 1770 he was appointed solicitor-general, and in the following year attorney-general. In the dispute with the American colonies, he strongly maintained the rights of the mother-country. Having secured the favour of the king, the latter, on the lord chancellorship becoming vacant in 1778, insisted upon Thurlow's advancement to the position, and raised him to the peerage as Baron Thurlow of Ashfield. In his new position he retorted with effect upon those peers who taunted him with his plebeian origin, and had no difficulty in establishing his ascendancy in the House. During his tenure of office he was emphatically the king's chancellor, and was frequently out of harmony with the leaders of the various ministries with whom he worked. His first period of power came to an end in 1783 on the coalition of Fox and North, but later on in the same year Pitt took charge of the administration and Thurlow again became chancellor. Three months later (March, 1784) the Great Seal was stolen from his house in Great Ormond Street. At the trial of Warren Hastings, which began in 1788, Thurlow presided so long as he continued to be chancellor. As time went on his relations with Pitt grew less and less cordial, and in 1792 Pitt and Grenville brought about the chancellor's retirement, the only token of favour he received being a patent creating him Baron Thurlow of Thurlow. For ten years longer he continued to take part in the debates of the House of Lords, and the remainder of his life he passed between a cottage at Dulwich and seaside resorts. He died in September, 1806, at Brighton. His residence at No. 42, Lincoln's Inn Fields was only for the years 1776 and 1777.

EDWARD THURLOW BARON THURLOW

"Judge Inglesbery," shown as residing at No. 43 in 1688–9, was apparently Sir Charles Ingleby, a Roman Catholic judge of the reign of James II. In 1688 he was knighted and made a baron of the exchequer. On the Revolution his patent was superseded, and he returned to the Bar. The date of his death is not known.

Johann Zoffany, or Zauffely, was born at Ratisbon in 1733. At the age of thirteen he ran away to Rome to study painting, and remained in Italy for several years. He then returned to Germany whence, to escape an unhappy married life, he came to England in 1758. By 1762 he had become a member of the Society of Artists of Great Britain, and in 1769 was admitted to the Royal Academy. (fn. 53) Not much is known of Zoffany's mode of life in London at this time. At one time he lived at No. 9, Denmark Street, St. Giles, (fn. 54) and from the ratebooks we know that from 1765 to 1769 he was resident at No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields. He was engaged to accompany Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks on Cook's second voyage, but threw up the engagement because he was displeased with his cabin. In 1772 he left England for Italy. His affairs seem to have been in an embarrassed condition, and in 1774 Mr. Morse, the owner of No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields, asked the Lincoln's Inn Fields Trustees to excuse him the payment of £18 14s. 1½d., his rate due on 5th January, 1772, on the ground that his house had been empty since Mr. Zoffany quitted it "greatly indebted to him and is now abroad." (fn. 55) In 1778 Maria Theresa made Zoffany a Baron of the Empire, and in the following year he returned to England. From 1783 to 1790 he was in India, where he made a fortune by his pictures. He died at Strand-on-the-Green in 1810.

Old prints, views, etc.

Engraving in Elmes's Metropolitan Improvements (1828).
Engraving by J. Whittle and R. H. Laurie (1813) (Copies in Crace Collection at British Museum and in County Hall Library).
Engraving in Wilkes's Encyclopædia Londinensis (1814).
Engraving in Brayley's London and Middlesex (1814), III., pt. II., p. 706.
Water colour drawing by T. H. Shepherd, 1850 (in Crace collection).

In the Council's collection are—

Oil sketch of Dance's elevation, dated 1808, from the original preserved in the Soane Museum (photograph).
* Plans of No. 43 in 1814 made from a figured sketch preserved in the Soane Museum (drawing).
* Interior of the original museum, from drawing by Wm. Clift (photograph).
* State of the premises on 6th October, 1854, from drawing by G. Scharf (photograph).
General view of the exterior (photograph).
*Portico (photograph).
Inner Hall (photograph).
Marble chimneypiece formerly in Inner Hall (photograph).
* Hall and staircase (photograph).
Staircase (photograph).
Top of staircase, first floor (photograph).
Library, looking east (photograph).
* Council Chamber (photograph).
* Portrait of John Hunter, by Sir Joshua Reynolds (photograph).
Portrait of Sir Cæsar Hawkins, by Hogarth, in Council Chamber (photograph).
Portrait of Percival Pott, by Romney, in Council Chamber (photograph).
Museum Gallery, No. 3 (photograph).
Museum Gallery, No. 5 (photograph).
Museum Gallery, No. 1 (photograph).
Museum Gallery, No. 2 (photograph).
Mace presented by Geo. IV. in 1822 (photograph).
Embossed silver head of the Staff of Office (photograph).
Arms of the College (formerly decorating the portico erected by George Dance) (photograph).
Bust of Hunter by Flaxman (photograph).
Evelyn's Anatomical Tablets (photograph).

Footnotes

  • 1. Close Roll, 14 Charles II. (25).
  • 2. See pp. 11–12.
  • 3. This was one of two tennis courts near Lincoln's Inn Fields, the other being situated in Bear Yard. It was afterwards converted into a theatre by Sir W. Davenant, being opened in 1662 with a representation of The Siege of Rhodes. (Julian Marshall's Annals of Tennis, p. 85.)
  • 4. Close Roll, 1658 (14).
  • 5. Close Roll, 1659 (24).
  • 6. See e.g., references to Cardigan House in Historical MSS. Commission, Buccleugh MSS., Vol. II., Part II., pp. 435, 539; Ibid, Harley Papers, Vol. II. in Report XV., Appendix IV., p. 263.
  • 7. "Cardigan (the Lord), his House is a beautiful new one, about the middle of Portugal Row in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields" (p. 624).
  • 8. Indenture of 9th June, 1726, between Charles, Lord Bruce, and others and Henry and Benjamin Hoare. (Memorials, Middlesex Registry, Book VI., No. 240 of 1726.)
  • 9. Close Roll, 40 George III. (4). Indenture between James Earle and the Royal College of Surgeons.
  • 10. Close Roll, 16 Charles I. (4).
  • 11. See footnote on p. 13 for the probability that one of Basil Brooke's two houses (Nos. 41 and 42) was occupied by the Portuguese Embassy, from which circumstance the whole of that side of the Fields obtained the name "Portugal Row."
  • 12. Close Roll, 15 Charles I. (6).
  • 13. Close Roll, 9 William III. (3). Indenture between Sir Charles Tufton and Sir John Franklin.
  • 14. The actual date of removal was 1800 (Wheatley and Cunningham, London Past and Present, III., p. 334). No. 41 was, however, purchased on behalf of the College in October, 1796 (see indenture of 13th April, 1800, between James Earle and the Royal College of Surgeons, Close Roll, 40 George III. (4)).
  • 15. Close Roll, 43 George III. (3). Indenture between Arthur Annesley and others and the Royal College of Surgeons.
  • 16. Architectural Society's Dictionary of Architecture.
  • 17. The Antiquities of Athens, by J. Stuart and N. Revett, 1762, II., p. 7.
  • 18. Heckethorn's Lincoln's Inn Fields, p. 83.
  • 19. "Mr. Barry would gladly have dispensed with the portico altogether; it was (what he strongly disliked) a mere porch attached to the building, not (as in the Old Greek Temples) an essential and dominant portion of it. But he could not venture upon this"—he was instructed to retain the portico—" so he changed its position to the centre of the new front by shifting one or two columns from one end to the other, and left it otherwise unchanged. The leading feature in his design was the severe and massive cornice predominating over the portico and front generally, and uniting the attic with the main storeys." (Life and Works of Sir Charles Barry, by the Rev. Alfred Barry.)
  • 20. Heckethorn's Lincoln's Inn Fields, p. 83.
  • 21. Ibid.
  • 22. Particulars of the rear of the building are deferred for the volume dealing with the parish of St. Clement Danes.
  • 23. Fo some unknown reason Nos. 39, 38 and 37, and one of the three houses occupying the site of Nos. 36 and 35, are not shown in the parish ratebooks from 1668. Information as to the residents at these houses after this time and before 1757, when the ratebooks of the Lincoln's Inn Fields Trustees begin, has therefore to be obtained from the Hearth Tax Rolls, the Jury Presentment Lists, and the Sewer Ratebooks, which were only made up at intervals.
  • 24. The deeds show that this is a mistake. The person's name was "Tasburgh" or. "Tesburgh." Henry Tasburgh had married Mary Frances Monson, who inherited No. 39, her sister, Clare Monson (who married Sir Robert Guldeford) inheriting No. 38 and, to make things equal, a charge of £8 10s. on No. 39. (Close Roll, 1758 (3). Indenture between Sir Thos. Gerard and Robt. Chester.)
  • 25. The deed above cited, however, states that in 1747 Mary Clare Tasburgh (daughter of Mary Frances) was "then dwelling in the said house," and it seems possible that "Grigson" is a mistake of the ratebook. This suggestion receives confirmation from the fact that the occupation of the house ceases in 1749, in which year Miss Tasburgh married.
  • 26. Owner, not occupier.
  • 27. This, the last, seems the most probable of the many forms under which this name appears in the ratebooks: Callo, Cally, Caller, Keilway, Calloe, Callowe, Callow. The sewer ratebook for 1715 gives Robert Galloway as owner, Robert Kellaway as tenant.
  • 28. The identification of the house occupied by these individuals with No. 42 seems very probable, but is not certain.
  • 29. In 1647 (Close Roll, 23 Charles I. (21)) Ellis sold the house to Thos. Lister, of Coleby, Lincolnshire.
  • 30. In 1683 "Lady Tufton" ("Lady Tuffart" in sewer ratebook).
  • 31. Owner, not occupier.
  • 32. It is also possible that it was Sir Philip himself, but it is not likely, as he had received his knighthood in 1660, and the occupant of the house is described as "Esq.".
  • 33. G. E. C [ockayne's] Peerage.
  • 34. "Cardigan House in Lincoln's Inn Fields is taken up for the Duke of Shrewsbury, who is suddenly expected over with his new duchess." (News letter, dated 18th October, 1705, in Historical MSS. Commission, Harley Papers (Vol. II.) in Report XV., Appendix IV., p. 263.)
  • 35. Knighted in 1663 (Shaw's Knights of England).
  • 36. The Dictionary of National Biography states that Henley's inheritance included "the town house on the south side of Lincoln's Inn Fields, in which he resided when Lord Chancellor." Both No. 34 and No. 33 were probably part of the paternal estate, but this cannot be the case with No. 41, his residence when lord chancellor, for it is quite certain that this house was in the possession of the Earls of Cardigan and Henry Hoare up to at least 1757.
  • 37. Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors, V., p. 208.
  • 38. J. Cartwright's Sacharissa, p. 137.
  • 39. See p. 113. Her daughter married Sir G. Savile in 1656.
  • 40. J. Cartwright's Sacharissa, p. 177.
  • 41. The Tatler, No. 61.
  • 42. Feet of Fines, Middlesex, 19 Charles II., Trin. (Maynard and Augustine Belson and John Wolfe).
  • 43. Dictionary of National Biography.
  • 44. Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors, IV., pp. 35–6.
  • 45. Ibid., p. 36. The statement by Anthony Wood, under date of 20th August, 1683, that "Sir John Maynard, serjeant at law, died at his house in Lyncoln's Inn Fields" (Life and Times of Anthony Wood, described by himself (1632–95, III., p. 66) cannot be explained on any assumption other than that of a false report of Maynard's death.
  • 46. Feet of Fines, Middlesex, I William and Mary, Michaelmas (Nathaniel Ryder and Maynard).
  • 47. Foss's Judges of England, VII., p. 336.
  • 48. Close Roll, I Anne (4).
  • 49. Temple Bar, or some account of "yc Marygold," No. 1, Fleet Street, p. 22.
  • 50. Historical MSS. Commission. Appendix to 8th Report, p. 100a.
  • 51. Temple Bar, or some account of "ye Marygold," No. 1, Fleet Street, p. 26.
  • 52. Ibid.
  • 53. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters.
  • 54. Dictionary of National Biography,
  • 55. British Museum MS., 35078, f. 63b.