: Glimpses of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide In Letters of the Late Miss Clitherow of Boston House Middlesex. With a Brief Account of Boston House and the Clitherow Family by Clitherow Mary White G Cecil George Cecil Editor - William IV King of Great B

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A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF BOSTON HOUSE AND THE CLITHEROW FAMILY

IT seems almost incredible that in the twentieth century a station on the Metropolitan Railway should stand amidst quite rural surroundings. About Brentford, however, there are still several fine properties which have hitherto escaped the grip of the speculative builder--e.g., Osterley Park, the seat of the Earl of Jersey, and Syon Hill, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland--and the immediate neighbourhood of Boston Road is not yet covered with semi-detached villas, or sordid streets of jerry-built cottages. It is nearly a quarter of a mile's walk along the road leading from Hanwell to Brentford before one comes to the first house on the right. Though not a mansion of the first rank, it is of sufficient size and antiquity to arrest attention. This is Boston House. It stands a little back from the high road, and the handsome iron gates allow the passer-by a glimpse of its quaint gables and narrow stone porch. It was built in 1622, and is a brick house of three stories, with three gables in front, and a long range of offices, etc., stretching from it on the north side.

The drawing-room, which is on the first floor, has a very fine moulded ceiling with many beautiful medallions. These contain allegorical representations of Peace and War, the five senses, the four elements, the three Christian graces, etc. The mouldings and borders are picked out in red, and the Latin names of the subjects are in gilt letters. The walls of this room, as well as those of the dining-room and library, are hung with many portraits of the Clitherow family by leading artists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among these should be specially noted a pastile by Zoffany of Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Child, taken in the porch at Osterley. Mrs. Child was the sister of Mrs. Clitherow, and afterwards married the third Lord Ducie. Miss Child married the tenth Earl of Westmoreland, and became the mother of the Countess of Jersey. Here are also to be seen examples of Rubens, Van Dyke, C. Lorraine, Sir P. Lely, Sir G. Kneller, Romney, Zuccharo, Van Somers, Zoffany, and many others. Behind the drawing-room is a State bedroom, the ceiling of which is also moulded and coloured.

The grounds are extensive, and well planted with shrubs, roses, etc. There are several fine trees on the lawn. A yew-tree with long branches trailing near the house covers a circle of ground over seventy yards in circumference, and a cedar, which was sown in 1754, is an exceptionally fine specimen. To the east of the broad terrace lies the orchard, where in June, 1834, the neighbours stared at the Royal party and got Queen Adelaide's 'dress by heart,' while the haymakers cheered her Majesty and quaffed their allowance of beer.

To the west of the lawn shady paths lead through a pretty wilderness to the river Brent, beyond whose winding course there lies undulating and well-timbered, park-like land, adjoining the grounds of Osterley--a homely bit of characteristic English scenery.

This beautiful place, which is at present owned by the Rev. W. J. Stracey Clitherow, formerly Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, has been in possession of the family since it was purchased by James Clitherow in 1670. The family, though never ennobled, is an ancient one, with a very honourable record. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they resided at Goldmerstone, in the parish of Ash, near Sandwich. The remains of several of the family lie in the parish church there, and the brasses of two remain, though one is sadly mutilated. This last is to the memory of Richard Clitherow, who was Sheriff of the county of Kent in 1403, and 'Admiral of the seas from the Thames eastward.' He married the daughter of Sir John Oldcastle, who, in right of his wife, assumed the title of Lord Cobham, and died for the faith of Christ on Christmas Day, 1417, among the Lollard martyrs at the gate of St. Giles' Hospital. The family was represented at Agincourt in 1415; one sat for the county of Kent in Parliament in 1407, and another was Lord Mayor of London in 1635.

Although, however, the Clitherows were frequent guests at Windsor and St. James's, they were not courtiers in the common acceptation of that term. They sought neither place nor preferment, and received no signal mark of Royal favour. Miss Clitherow never even attended a Drawing Room, and the Colonel and his wife only appear to have done so on one occasion, when the Queen remarked: 'I knew Miss Clitherow would not come; it is too public. She had almost left off going out till we made her come to St. James's.' Miss Clitherow was naturally of a quiet and retiring disposition, while her own account of her introduction to the Court, and of the independent spirit which pervaded the family, is interesting not only in itself but as illustrating the kindly sincerity of the King and Queen. Writing to an old friend in November, 1830, she says:

Surely few families have taken their motto more faithfully as a guide to their conduct!

DEFEAT OF THE MINISTRY--DINNER AT ST. JAMES'S

'We were at St. James's the night of the Duke's defeat in the House. The King had a note, which he opened, and left the room, but soon returned. Colonel Fred Fitz-Clarence came in, and told the Queen of it in German. Miss Wilson was sitting by me, and exclaimed, "Good God!" in a low tone. I looked at her; she put up her finger, and afterwards whispered what was said in German, but nothing transpired--not a comment. It's the great secret at Court to smile and be cheerful and attentive to the circle round you when the heart is sad, and it was exemplified that evening.'

The news appears from this to have fallen like a thunderbolt upon the party, and the inference as to the Clitherows' views is that they were supporters of the Duke. The letter proceeds to touch of matters of less public importance, but illustrative of the King and Queen's interest in local affairs and English industries:

'We had dined there, and it seems almost like vain boasting, but it was a party made for us. When the King told Mrs. Henry to write and invite us, he said: "I shall only ask Colonel Clitherow's friends that I have met at Boston House." And it was the Duke of Dorset, Lord and Lady Mayo, the Archbishop and Mrs. Howley, the rest of the company his own family, the Duke of Sussex, and a few of the Household-in-waiting. There could not be a greater compliment. The Queen shows a decided partiality for Mrs. Clitherow. In the evening she sat down to a French table, and called to her to sit by her. The King came in and sat down on the other side of Mrs. Clitherow. She rose to retire, but he said: "Sit down, ma'am--sit down." Two boxes were placed before him, and he said to Miss Fitz-Clarence: "Amelia, I want pen and ink." Away she went, and brought a beautiful gold inkstand, and he signed his name, I am sure, a hundred times, passed the papers to Mrs. Clitherow, and she to the Queen, who put them on the blotting-paper, then folded them neatly and put them in their little case to enable them to pack into the boxes again, conversation going on all the time. When the business was over, the King took my brother to a sofa, and chatted a long time, inquiring into the state of things in our neighbourhood, policemen, etc. The Queen's new band was playing beautifully all the evening, which she said she had ordered to have my brother's opinion. The late King's private band cost the King ?18,000 a year. It was dismissed, and a small band is formed--I believe I may say all English, and many of the juvenile performers whom she patronizes. Her dress was particularly elegant, white, and all English manufacture. She made us observe her blend was as handsome as Lady Mayo's French blend. "I hope all the ladies will patronize the English blend of silk," she said. She is a very pretty figure, and her dress so moderate, sleeves and head-dress much less than the hideous fashion.'

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