CHELSEA PARK.
This was part of the property of Sir Thomas More, and is called, in old deeds, the “Sand Hills;” was originally open fields, with a footpath across to Little Chelsea. The whole was enclosed with a brick wall, in 1625, by the Lord Treasurer, Cranfield, and converted into a park, which name it has retained ever since, but the walls have gradually given way to the erection of buildings. The park originally consisted of 32 acres, situated north of the King’s Road, between Park and Upper Church Street. [71]
In 1721 a patent was obtained for a manufactory of raw silk, and this park was taken for the purpose, and planted with mulberry trees. It attracted a considerable share of public attention at the time, but proved unsuccessful. The premises of the Raw Silk Company were rated in the parish books at £200.
In Walpole’s Catalogue of Engravers, it is stated that James Christopher le Blon, in 1734, set up a project for copying the cartoons in tapestry, and made some fine drawings for the purpose. Houses were built, and looms erected, on the above mulberry ground, but either the expense was too great, or the contributions did not arrive fast enough. The bubble burst, several suffered, and Le Blon was heard of no more.
Interesting Particulars of Sir Henry and Lady Wilson. On the northern border of the old park, just described, is a capital mansion in which Sir Henry Wright Wilson resided for many years, the entrance to it being in the Fulham Road, and which is still designated as Chelsea Park. The pleasure grounds attached to it were some years since much more extensive than they are at present. Sir Henry married a daughter of the Earl of Aylesbury, who was left a valuable estate in Hampshire, said to be worth about £3000 a year, under the most singular circumstances. Lady Frances Wilson was informed in the year 1824, while at breakfast, that an eccentric person named Wright, who had died a few days previously at an obscure lodging in Pimlico, had appointed her and Mr. C. Abbot his executors, and after some legacies had bequeathed to Lady Frances the residue of his property by a will dated as far back as 1800. As Lady Frances declared herself unacquainted with the name of the testator, she at first concluded that there was some mistake. After further explanation, the person of Mr. Wright was described to her, and Lady Frances recollected that the description answered that of a gentleman she had remembered as a constant frequenter at the Opera many years previously. To satisfy herself of the identity she went to Mr. Wright’s late lodgings, and saw him in his coffin, when she recognised the features as those of the person whose eyes had so often persecuted her when she was Lady Frances Bruce, but who had never spoken to her, and of whom she had no knowledge whatever. [72] Lady Francis was never considered by her friends to be beautiful, and the general opinion at the time was that the legacy was intended for a lady who occupied a box next to that in which Lady Frances sat when at the Opera. Sir Henry was in Parliament when the above estate came into his wife’s possession, but he afterwards had to contest his seat, and lost it.
Sir Henry Wright Wilson and the Poor Carpenter.—The following anecdote will no doubt amuse many readers. Sir Henry’s establishment was large, and he had been accustomed to employ at times a jobbing carpenter, who had at one period been in better circumstances. This person had received specific instructions to do certain work, which required a little trifling assistance, such as to help him to remove something which stood in the way, and which the carpenter could not possibly do without temporary aid. He asked several of the grooms and others to assist, but they all made frivolous excuses, and consequently the work was not done by the appointed time. When Sir Henry returned home he noticed that his orders had been neglected, and, on ascertaining the particulars, without making any remarks, he quietly entered the house. The next morning, however, he gave instructions for his carriage with four horses to be immediately got ready. He then sent for the carpenter, and after a short time the carriage was at the entrance door, when, to the great surprise of the servants, he desired him to take a seat in it. Sir Henry then mounted his horse, and, notwithstanding the dirty state of the roads, took them through Fulham, over Putney Bridge, round by Wandsworth and Battersea, back to Chelsea. On their return he insisted that the horses and carriage should be immediately cleaned, or else to be dismissed from his service. Sir Henry being esteemed a good master they preferred obedience, and it was said that although the carpenter was afterwards subject to an occasional jeer, he never had again to complain of their conduct towards him.
Queen’s Elm.—This is situated at the top of Upper Church Street, but the spot for some time past seems to be merged into the Fulham Road, and is either so called, or else it is described as being near to it. The original name, Queen’s Elm, which it is to be hoped will still be retained, is said traditionally to have derived its origin from the following circumstance. Queen Elizabeth was walking out with the great Lord Burleigh, and being overtaken with a heavy shower of rain, took shelter under an elm tree growing on this spot. After the shower was over, she said, “Let this henceforth be called the Queen’s Tree.” This tradition is remarkably confirmed, as will be seen by the following extract:—“It appears by the Church Book, beginning 1586, and in the 28th Elizabeth, that the tree at the end of the Duke’s Walk is in Chelsea parish called the Queen’s Tree; and that there was an arbour built round it by one Bostocke, at the charge of the parish.”
The Jews’ Burial Ground, &c.
The Jews’ Burial Ground is at Queen’s Elm, and was erected in 1816 by the individuals whose names are inscribed on the wall of the entrance building, and to their descendants. There is also inscribed the 16th Psalm in Hebrew. The lower part of the building is called the hall, the upper part is intended for the keeper. Unlike the arrangement in the Moravians’ Burial Ground, the graves are in rows, without any distinction as to sex. At burials the mourners do not approach the grave, but stand at a distance, so that they may hear sufficiently to join in the prayers.
The Rev. J. B. Owen, M.A., Vicar of St. Jude’s Church, Chelsea, in an admirable lecture delivered by him in 1862, in the Vestry Hall, King’s Road, related the following anecdote:—“An Hebrew friend amused and puzzled me with a sentiment he had once given at a festival of one of the London Guilds. Being pressed for a toast, he gave ‘The Queen of the Jews, and of no other nation.’ Many conjectures were hazarded, as wide of the mark as Jezebel and the Queen of Sheba. The company confessed themselves beaten, and at last my friend gave the answer—‘Queen Victoria.’ But this only darkened the enigma more than ever. After some time, he said, J. (or I.) E. W. S. makes Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland, and J. E. W. S. spells Jews, and makes Victoria ‘Queen of the Jews, and of no other nation.’”
“England,” said Mr. Owen, “owes a great national debt of amends to their Hebrew brethren. For several centuries they were bought and sold as chattels, plundered and exiled, as if they were outlaws. In the sixteenth year of Edward I. all the Jews in England were imprisoned, and though they redeemed themselves for a vast sum, three years after, the fraudulent tyrant banished them all; and they remained in banishment 364 years, till the rough justice of old Oliver Cromwell restored them to their trade and worship. The proverb ‘worth a Jew’s eye’ alludes to the barbarities practiced on the Jews, whose money was commonly extorted from them by drawing their teeth, or putting out their eyes. There are no judgments in Scripture more terrible than those denounced against the oppressors of Judah. We may be thankful that we have lived to witness the last vestige of injustice to our Hebrew fellow-citizens erased from our statutes. Have we also honestly received the social and religious interests of the Jews into the unreserved sympathy of Christian hearts?”
Francis Hargrave, Esq., a barrister, resided in York Place, (the houses of which are now nearly all converted into shops, and which is situated near to the Jews’ Burial Ground), for a considerable period. He particularly distinguished himself in the Habeas Corpus case of James Somerset, a negro, for whom he was counsel, and his argument was the occasion of a precedent being established for the freedom of slaves the moment they set foot on English land. He possessed a very extensive and most valuable library, which Parliament purchased for £8000, in order that it might be placed in the British Museum. He died here in 1821, aged 80.
Sydenham Edwards, Esq., F.L.S., an eminent botanical draughtsman, lived in Charles Street, Queen’s Elm, and afterwards removed to Barrossa Place, where he died in 1819. The Flora Londinensis, Rees’ Encyclopædia, &c., were greatly indebted to his masterly pencil.