Osnaburg Row, a court nearly at the lower end of Grosvenor Place, named after the Duke of York, who also was Bishop of Osnaburg. The Guards’ Hospital, before noticed, adjoined it, and the court was removed at the same time that building was cleared away.
Upper Belgrave Street.—Numbers 1 and 2 were the first houses finished by Mr. Cubitt. No. 3 is Lord Charles Wellesley’s, and previously the present Duke of Wellington’s; hither the great Duke might frequently be seen escorting the present Duchess home. Mrs. Gore lived at No. 2, and at 13 the late Earl of Munster. Several sketches of Lord Minister’s life are given in Mr. Jerdan’s “Autobiography,” in which it is inferred the fatal aberration of intellect which led to his self-destruction arose from the discordant feelings arising from the anomalous position he held, and which he was unable to brook. He was author of several works on the history of our eastern empire, and was a patron of literature and learning. [243]
Wilton Street.—Here Mr. Spencer Percival, eldest son of the minister killed by Bellingham in 1812, resided.
CHAPTER V.
THE SUB-DISTRICT OF ST. BARNABAS.
“Nor rough nor barren are the winding ways
Of hoar antiquity, but strown with flowers.”Warton.
The district parish of St. Paul’s, Knightsbridge, stretching southward to the Thames, embraces in its bounds a considerable part of Pimlico. When St. Barnabas’ Church was built, for the local management of the parish, this southern portion was allotted to its minister’s care, and therefore I follow a division most suitable for my plan, and give a brief outline of the history of this part of the parish, in order that my notice may not be incomplete.
Of course, I do not intend to describe the suburb now called Pimlico as a whole, but only that portion of it within the district of St. Paul’s; yet I cannot even do so without touching on one or two items of general history: and first, then, for the name.
The first mention of the name Pimlico appears in the parish books of St. Martin in the year 1626. [245a] The ancient name of the place was Eybury, from the manor of Eia or Eye, signifying water; a most appropriate name for a spot bounded on three sides by running streams. There was a Manor House once existing, which we may infer was of some importance, from its being one of those houses for which a licence to crenellate or fortify was granted. This privilege was granted in 1307 to John de Benstede, by Edward I. [245b] Hence the addition of bury to the original name of Eye or Eia, such addition meaning fortifications.
But to the name. The true explanation of its origin is to be found in a rare, if not unique tract, entitled, “News from Hogsdon,” 1598:—“Have at thee then, my merrie boys, and hie for old Ben Pimlicoe’s nut brown.” [245c] This “old Ben Pimlico,” of Hoxton, kept, in the days of Queen Bess, a right famous hostelrie, a popular place of resort, as numerous allusions in the dramatists [246] of the period testify. Pimlico Walk still exists at Hoxton, and doubtless indicates the pathway along which the pleasure-seekers wended their way to Old Ben’s.
It is evident in the above quotation that a person is alluded to; but the word frequently expresses a drink, most probably derived from this worthy. This is evident from the following verses:—