Westbourne Place is a neat double row of houses (deriving its name from the stream) joining Eaton and Sloane Squares. No. 2 was the house taken in 1808 by Colonel Wardle for the notorious Mary Ann Clarke, as part recompense for the services she was to render in the prosecution of the inquiry into the conduct of the Duke of York. Into the history of this disgraceful connection I do not intend to enter, any more than to say, that afterwards an action was brought against Colonel Wardle for the value of the furniture supplied to this house, as was alleged, on the faith of his personal promise. William Thomas Lewis, for many years a popular comedian, and acting manager of Covent Garden Theatre, died at his residence in Westbourne Place on January 13th, 1811. No. 23 was once the residence of Miss Corbaux, celebrated as a painter, and for her knowledge in those most recondite of studies, the histories and languages of the ancient nations of the East.
Westbourne Street branches off Westbourne Place. Mr. Smith, author of “A History of Marylebone,” once lived here. In this street is a Baptist Chapel. Formerly, on a part of this ground, was York Hospital, a depôt for invalid soldiers, and named after the Duke of York. Here for two years, without pay, Mr. Guthrie, the eminent surgeon, attended on the poor fellows maimed at Waterloo. The establishment, in 1819, was removed to Chatham.
CHAPTER VI.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SUMMARY.
“The more carefully we examine the history of the past, the more reason shall we find to dissent from those who imagine that our age has been fruitful of new social evils. The truth is that the evils are, with scarcely an exception, old. That which is new is the intelligence which discerns, and the humanity which remedies them.”—Macaulay.
Having with the previous chapter brought my account of Knightsbridge to a close, I cannot more appropriately conclude than by a few remarks on subjects coming within the scope of the heading of this chapter. But here again my notes must necessarily be meagre and brief, for Knightsbridge never having been of itself parochial, books, such as generally form the staple of such chapters as this, have never been kept to show, with the accuracy parish books do, the rise and progress of the place.
The population of the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, was, according to the census of 1851, 73,230 persons, of whom 40,034 were within the two wards of Knightsbridge and Pimlico; and of this number, about 14,000 are resident in the district of St. Paul’s. The population of All Saints’ district cannot with accuracy be tested, a large part of it lying beyond our bounds; and building having made very extensive progress even since 1851, its population has increased in proportion.
In 1578, Mr. Walcot states only six persons were rated by the St. Margaret’s overseers in Knightsbridge and Kensington; and in 1687 only five people are rated in St. Martin’s books for the whole of Pimlico.
The progress of building appears to have taken place not so much progressively as in two distinct movements. The first was from 1770 to 1780, and the other from 1825 to our own time; on examination, it will be found that few of our streets were built at other periods. A letter before me of a skilled carpenter, written in 1783, tells his friends in the country he gets 2s. 8d. per day for his labour, and that he is allowed to make seven days per week, “and if the peace continueth” he shall be able to realise 20s. or a guinea per week; for his lodging he paid 2s. per week. If this was a fair sample of the rate of wages then, the mechanic’s financial condition must have improved to an extent little credited perhaps by themselves.
The air of Knightsbridge has always been considered pure and salubrious. Swift brought Harrison to the place for the benefit of pure air; and fifty years since it still maintained the character, for Lady Hester Stanhope sent a faithful footman here for the same relief. Constitution Hill and Montpelier Square derived their names from this fact. The main street of Knightsbridge, from Hyde Park Corner to Kensington, stands on a peculiar but well-defined terrace of the London clay, which separates the gravels of Hyde Park from those more southward, [269] and is rather more than thirty feet deep. The yellow gravel of Hyde Park, says Sir Charles Lyell, is, comparatively speaking, of modern date, consisting of slightly rolled angular fragments, in which portions of the white opaque coating of the original chalk-flint remain uncovered. Southward of the clayey line just mentioned the surface soil is a “made” one. Underneath the native earth are thick layers of sand, beneath which is a blue clayey earth, and then a sediment, consisting chiefly of cockle and oyster shells, which beautifully retain their appearance. Thus the soil of our locality is a porous one, and rapidly absorbs the surface water; an advantage greatly tending to the health of the inhabitants, for parts of Pimlico are but slightly above high-water mark, and the air would consequently be very moist and relaxing.
In a sanitary point of view all is not fair, even in Belgravia; behind its imposing mansions many a foul spot is hypocritically hidden; and although much has been done by the medical officer, there yet remains plenty of work on hand for him: too many spots yet requiring thorough transformation, and a vigilant watch to be kept, that selfishness be not permitted to triumph over public good. [270]