Meanwhile we resume our itinerary of the Portsmouth Road where we broke off, at Esher.
COACH ACCOUNTS
Dr. Cr.
LONDON AND Dorking COACH.
Account for 4 Weeks, ending the 5th Day of August 1837, both inclusive.
| RECEIPTS. | DISBURSEMENTS. | |||||||||||||
| Messrs. Horne | 82 | 17 | 6 | —— | ||||||||||
| Mr. Walker | 75 | 12 | — | Messrs. Horne. | ||||||||||
| Duty | 16 | 17 | — | |||||||||||
| Mileage | ||||||||||||||
| Tolls and Wages | ||||||||||||||
| Booking and Settling Accounts | 3 | 3 | — | |||||||||||
| Washing and Greasing | 1 | 1 | — | 21 | 1 | — | ||||||||
| Dr. Mr. Walker. | ||||||||||||||
| To Receipts of Messrs. Horne | 24 | 11 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Do. of Mr. Walker | 75 | 12 | — | |||||||||||
| £ | 100 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Mr. Walker. | ||||||||||||||
| Wages and Tolls | 13 | 4 | — | |||||||||||
| Booking | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Washing and Greasing | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Mileage | 7 | — | — | |||||||||||
| Touter | 16 | — | 21 | — | — | |||||||||
| Cr. | ||||||||||||||
| By shares | 79 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Disbursements | 21 | — | — | |||||||||||
| £ | 100 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| SHARES. | ||||||||||||||
| Miles. | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Messrs. Horne | 37 | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Mr. Walker | 79 | 3 | 4 | 116 | 8 | 6 | |||||||
| 25 | Miles @£4 13 1½ 18⁄25 a mile. | |||||||||||||
| £158 | 9 | 6 | £158 | 9 | 6 | |||||||||
At Esher the fallen Cardinal Wolsey lived awhile when Providence frowned upon him—and for Providence in this connection read Henry VIII., who filled that position towards the great prelate, with great éclat and an altogether overwhelming success. When the king commanded Wolsey to retire hither, the Cardinal lived in the old building of Esher Place, whose only remains are seen at this day in the Gatehouse standing in the damp and watery meadows beside the Mole. He found the place little to his liking, and displayed his sorrows in a letter to Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, wherein he complains of the “moist and corrupt air.” That he was quite in a position to appreciate the dampness of his residence, we may well believe when we read that he was “without beds, sheets, table-cloths, or dishes”; and that he presently “fell sore sick that he was likely to die” creates, under the circumstances, no surprise.
The place of Wolsey’s compulsory retirement was almost completely destroyed when the modern mansion of Esher Place was built, and the chief historic house of Esher is now Claremont.