Read Ebook: Hyde Park from Domesday-book to Date by Ashton John

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Ebook has 533 lines and 83050 words, and 11 pages

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Hyde Park in the early Commonwealth--Its sale--Toll on horses and carriages--A hurling match--Cromwell's accident--Attempts to shoot him in the Park--Notices against trespassers--The Park at the Restoration 14

The camp in Hyde Park during the Plague of 1665--Boscobel Oaks in the Park--When first opened to the public--What it was then like--The Cheesecake House--Its homely refections--Orange girls 24

Foot and horse racing in the Park--Prize fighting--Duelling--The duel between Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton 32

Duelling in Hyde Park 39

Skating on the ponds and Serpentine--The Ring--Many notices thereof--Fireworks in the Park--Bad roads therein, and accidents caused thereby--Regulations in the time of Queen Anne--Making the drive--Riding in the Park 49

Rotten Row, the King's Old Road--The New King's Road made and lighted--The Allied Sovereigns in the Park--The Park after the Peninsular War--The Duke of Wellington in the Park--The Queen and Royal Family in the Park 61

The springs in Hyde Park--Used as water supply for Westminster--Horses in the Park--The Westbourne--Making the Serpentine--The "Naumachia" thereon--Satires about it--The Jubilee Fair 65

The Great Exhibition of 1851 94

Royal Humane Society's Receiving House--Boats and bathing--The Dell--Chelsea Water Works reservoir--Walnut-trees--Flower-walk--Military executions--The Magazine, Whip, Four-in-hand and Coaching Clubs--Their dress--Satire on Coaching--The Park as a military centre--The first review--Fort at Hyde Park Corner--Guard-house--Camp in Hyde Park--Insubordinate troops 120

Grand Reviews in 1660-1661-1668, 1682-1695-1699--Camps in 1715-1716-1722--Poem on the latter--Reviews in 1755-1759-1760 132

Reviews in 1763-1764--Shooting-butts in 1778--Camp in 1780--Severe sentence of a Court-martial--Volunteer Reviews, 1799-1800--The rain at the latter 142

Volunteer Reviews of 1803--Review in honour of the Allied Sovereigns, 1814--Popularity of Bl?cher--Review by the Queen in 1838--Volunteer Review, 1860 152

Volunteer Reviews, 1864, 1876--Mobs in the Park--Funeral of Queen Caroline 163

Commencement of the reign of King Mob--Sunday Trading Bill, 1855--Riots--Withdrawal of the Bill--Meetings about high price of food, 1855--Rough play and window smashing 177

Sympathy with Italy, 1859--Garibaldi riots, 1862--Reform League Meeting, 23rd July, 1866--Police proclamation against it--Attempt to hold it--Hyde Park railings destroyed 187

Reform League Meeting of 25th July, 1866--Burning a tree--Stone-throwing--Temporizing policy of the Government--Special constables sworn in--Meeting abandoned--Return of police injured--Meeting of "Working Men's Rights Association," 1867--Reform League Meeting of 6th May, 1867--Police warning--Legal opinions--Meeting held--Meeting on 5th August, 1867 200

Demonstrations against the Irish Church, 1868--In favour of Fenians, 1869--Regulations made by Commissioners of Works--Fenian Demonstration, 1872--A speaker sentenced--Meeting about the Eastern Question, 1878--Fight--Preaching in the Park--Modern instances--May-Day and May 6, 1894--Against the House of Lords, Aug. 26, 1894 212

The Children's F?te in Hyde Park, 1887 224

List of Rangers--A horse jumping the wall--Highwaymen--Horace Walpole robbed--Other robberies--Assaults, offences, etc., in the present reign--A very recent case 235

The Gates--That into Kensington Gardens--Improvements in the Park--Encroachments--The case of Ann Hicks and the other fruit-sellers--Seats in the Park--New house in ditto 253

Works of art in the Park--Drinking fountain--Marble Arch--Hyde Park Corner--Achilles statue--Walk round the park--Cemetery of St. George's, Hanover Square--Sterne's tomb and burial--Tyburn tree--The Tybourne--People executed--Henrietta Maria's penance--Locality of the gallows--Princess Charlotte--Gloucester House--Dorchester House--Londonderry House--Apsley House--Allen's apple stall--The Wellington Arch--Statues of the Duke--St. George's Hospital, Knightsbridge--A fight on the bridge--Albert Gate and George Hudson--Knightsbridge Barracks 265

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Boscobel Oaks, 1804 27

Cheesecake House, 1826 30

Duel between Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton 37

Duel between George Garrick and Mr. Baddeley, 1770 42

Winter Amusement, 1787 50

The Row, 1793 62

" " 1814. The Allied Sovereigns 62

" " 1834 62

The Duke of Wellington 64

A Spring in the Park, 1794 65

Houses in the Park, 1794 66

A Man of War, 1814 73

"Albert, spare those trees!" 103

Tailpiece: Col. Sibthorpe and Exhibition of 1851 119

Map of Hyde Park from "Roque's Survey," 1741-1745 120

The Soldiers' Toilet, 1780 145

Returning from the Review, 1800 150

Popularity of Bl?cher, 1814 157

The Broken Windows at Apsley House, 1831 280

HYDE PARK.

If, however, Hyde Park was, primaevally, a forest, it must have been cleared and brought into cultivation in the Saxon times, for there is no mention of a forest, or even woodland, in the Domesday Book account of the Manor of Eia--in which Hyde Park was situate: on the contrary, it seems as if it was highly cultivated, as is evidenced by the following translation of that portion of the book relating to this manor:--

Islip's successor was William Boston, and, in 1536, an Act of Parliament was passed and confirmed by a conveyance dated July 1, 1537, granting the King the lands belonging to the Abbey of "Nete, within the towne and paryshes of Westmynster and Seynt Martyn's in the Felde," as also the manors of Neyte, Ebery, and Todington, of the advowson of Chelsea rectory, of some lands at Greenwich, and of several meadows and closes near the Horseferry: in return for which the Abbey was to receive the site of the newly dissolved Priory of Hurley, in Berkshire; which, somewhat singularly, formerly belonged to the same Geoffrey de Manneville who gave the Abbey the Manor of Eia.

The Manor of Ebury lay between the other two manors, and comprised the district now known as Belgravia and Pimlico. It never was historically famous, but it helped to swell the coffers of the Grosvenors, especially that of the present Duke of Westminster and his father, for the manor then called Eabury or Ebury Farm came into the possession, in 1656, of Sir Thomas Grosvenor, who married the daughter and sole heiress of Alexander Davies, Esq., of Ebury Farm, who never could have contemplated the princely fortune he was leaving to her descendants.

There are no traces of these "Neat Houses" now; they disappeared entirely before the destructive builder, but they were in existence during this century, and stood where now is St. George's Row, Warwick Street, Pimlico. Yet it is evident that before it sunk wholly into market gardens, the "Neat Houses" was a place of amusement where people of good standing in society might attend without prejudice. In those days people's tastes were much simpler than in our time, and drinking syllabubs, and playing at an imaginary Arcadian life with imaginary Chloes and Strephons was fashionable.

Another engraving shows the Queen about to take assay of the deer, the kneeling huntsman handing her a knife for the purpose. And this is "the English manner, in breaking up of the Deare.

"First, where hee appointeth the Deares foote to be cut off, and to be presented to the Queen or chiefe, our order is that the Queen or chiefe do alight and take assaye of the Deare with a sharpe knife, the which is done in this maner. The deare being layd upon his backe, y^ Queen, chiefe, or such as they shall appoint, comes to it. And y^ chiefe huntsman doth hold the Deare by the fore foote, whiles the Queen or chiefe, cut a slit drawne alongst the brysket of the deare, somewhat lower than the brysket towards the belly. This is done to see the goodnesse of the fleshe, and howe thicke it is."

The deer still remained, until early in this century, in this enclosure, which was in the north-west corner of the Park, bounded on the north by the Park wall, on the west by Kensington Gardens, on the south by the Serpentine, and on the east by a fence. Dogs were allowed in the other parts of the Parks, as our poet says,--

"But lo! a faithful spaniel, there stretch'd out, Not food for powder meet, relentless gun!"

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