The Charterhouse, originally a monastery of the Carthusians, is a corruption of La Chartreuse, the name of the district in France where this religious Order first came into existence. Christ’s Hospital, also known as the Blue Coat School, from the colour of the coats worn by the boys, retains the ancient designation of a church and school belonging to the Grey Friars. It is only in modern times, by the way, that the term Hospital has come to be exclusively applied in this country to a refuge for the sick. Properly understood, a hospital denotes a house intended for the reception and accommodation of travellers; the source of the word being the Latin hospitalis, pertaining to a guest, based upon hospes, a stranger, a guest, and from which we derive the word Hospitality. The great Bernardine monastery on the summit of the Alps, devoted to the good work of rescuing snow-bound travellers, is appropriately denominated a Hospice, which answers to our Hospital. St. Bartholomew’s Hospital was founded by Rahare, a monk attached to the neighbouring Priory of St. Bartholomew in 1123; whereas Guy’s Hospital arose out of the bequest of £238,292, by the will of Thomas Guy, a benevolent bookseller of Lombard Street, who died in 1722. Bedlam is a contraction of Bethlehem Hospital, a lazar-house named after the Hospital of St. Mary at Bethlehem, and converted into a lunatic asylum in 1815. This was the common designation in ancient times for a refuge for the poor, the word Bethlehem expressing the Hebrew for “a house of bread”; but in more modern times the synonym Lazar-house was substituted in allusion to Lazarus, who picked up the crumbs under the table of Dives. A refuge for fallen women has always borne the name of a Magdalen Hospital in honour of Mary Magdalen.
St. James’s Palace marks the site of an ancient leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem. The present edifice was built by Henry VIII. in 1530. Buckingham Palace displaced old Buckingham House, the town mansion of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, in the year 1825. The total cost to the nation of this “desirable residence” was £1,000,000. Marlborough House was originally the town residence of John, Duke of Marlborough, erected by Sir Christopher Wren in 1709. Somerset House reverted to the Crown by the attainder of its owner, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI., executed January 22, 1552. Whitehall received its name from the fresh appearance of its exterior as contrasted with the ancient buildings on the opposite side of the way. The present fabric, viz., The Banquetting Hall, is merely a vestige of the palace originally set apart by Cardinal Wolsey for the London See of York: whence he gave it the name of “York House.” The Horse Guards is so called because a troop of Horse Guards are regularly quartered here. Dover House was named after its owner, the Hon. George Agar Ellis, afterwards created Lord Dover; and York House, after the Duke of York and Albany who bought it in 1789. Devonshire House, Piccadilly, is the town residence of the Duke of Devonshire. Apsley House, Hyde Park Corner, well known as the residence of the Duke of Wellington, received its name from Henry Apsley, Lord Chancellor, afterwards created Lord Bathurst, who built it in 1784. Chandos House, Cavendish Square, was the residence of James Brydges, “the Princely Duke of Chandos.” The Albany, Piccadilly, perpetuates the memory of the Duke of York and Albany, who acquired it from Lord Melbourne in exchange for his older residence, York House, in Whitehall. Burlington House, the home of the Royal Academy of Arts and quite a number of learned societies, was built by Sir John Denham, the poet and judge, in 1718, and refronted by the celebrated amateur architect, Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, in 1731. This palatial edifice was purchased by the State in 1854. The Soane Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was the private collection of Sir John Soane, the architect and antiquary, who died in 1837. The Rolls Chapel, Chancery Lane, bears this name because it was annexed by patent to the office of the Master of the Rolls of Chancery after the banishment of the Jews from England in the year 1290. The history of the chapel dates from 1283, when Henry III. founded it for the reception of the Jewish rabbis converted to Christianity.
The Painted Hall, Greenwich Hospital, owes its name to its magnificently decorated ceiling. Vanburgh Castle, Blackheath, was built in the castellated style by Sir John Vanburgh, in 1717. Rye House, famous for being the scene of the conspiracy to assassinate Charles II., which was discovered June 12, 1683, is so called from the rye on which it stands; Rye being an Old English term for a common, derived from ree, a watercourse: hence Peckham Rye.
Bruce Castle, Tottenham, has a history all its own. The present structure dates back to the latter part of the seventeenth century; but the original building was erected by Earl Waltheof, whose marriage with Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror, brought him portions of the earldoms of Northumberland and Huntingdon. Their only daughter, Maud, on becoming the wife of David I., King of Scotland, placed him in possession of the Huntingdon estates, and, as appended to that property, the manor of Tottenham, in Middlesex. Ultimately these possessions descended to Robert Bruce, the brother of William III., King of Scotland. The contention between Robert Bruce and John Baliol for the Scottish throne being decided in favour of the latter, the former retired to England, and settling on his grandfather’s estate at Tottenham, repaired the castle to which he gave the name of “The Castle Bruce.” Lincoln House, Enfield, was the residence of the second and third Earls of Lincoln in the seventeenth century. Sandford House, Stoke Newington, is interesting as having been the residence of Thomas Day, the author of “Sandford and Merton” (born 1748, died 1789). Cromwell House, Highgate, now a Convalescent Hospital for sick children, was occupied for some time by Oliver Cromwell, who built Ireton House, close by, for Henry Ireton, his son-in-law, in 1630; while Lauderdale House, lately a Convalescent Home in connection with St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, was the residence of the Earls of Lauderdale during the seventeenth century. Waterlow Park, in this neighbourhood—in fact, comprising among other valuable property the grounds appertaining to Lauderdale House—was generously presented to the London public by Sir Sydney Waterlow, in November, 1890. The Clock House, Hampstead, originally displayed a clock in place of the present sun-dial. Rosslyn House, Hampstead, which gives the name to Rosslyn Hill Park, was erected by Alexander Wedderburn, first Earl of Rosslyn and Lord Chancellor of England, in 1795. Erskine House, Hampstead, adjoining “The Spaniards,” was the residence of Lord Erskine, Lord Chancellor of England, who died here in 1823.
Strawberry Hill, the celebrated palace of curiosities built by Horace Walpole in 1750, received its name from the rising ground upon which it stood. The building was sold by public auction, and purchased by Baron H. de Stein, in July, 1883. Orleans House, Twickenham, now a club, was named after Louis Philippe of France, who resided in it when he was simply Duc d’Orleans. Essex House, Putney, was one of the many residences of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Bristol House, Putney, was, until recently, the property of the Bristol family. Craven Cottage, Fulham, was built by the Countess of Craven, afterwards created Margravine of Anspach. Munster House, Fulham, derived its title from its one-time resident, Melesina Schulenberg, created Duchess of Munster in 1716. Peterborough House, Parson’s Green, was formerly the mansion of the Mordaunts, Earls of Peterborough. Sussex House, Hammersmith, was the favourite residence of the late Duke of Sussex. Holland House, Kensington, owes its name to Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, by whose father-in-law, Sir William Cope, it was built in 1607. Here Charles James Fox, the eminent orator and statesman (born 1749, died 1806), passed many of his earlier years; here also Joseph Addison, the poet and essayist, died in the year 1719.
The Albert Hall, Albert Memorial, Albert Bridge, and Albert Palace, each preserve the memory of the Prince Consort, whose death took place in 1861. The Crystal Palace, opened by the Queen, June 10, 1854, derived its title from its glass structure, which, when the sun shines upon it, glistens like crystal. The Alexandra Palace was named after the Princess of Wales, who was to have opened the original building, May 24, 1873; but, for some unexplained reason, she did not perform that ceremony. Olympia, opened December, 1886, is an appropriate designation for a huge edifice eminently adapted for every variety of popular amusement. The allusion is to Olympia, in Greece, where the celebrated “Olympian Games” were anciently held every fourth year. The Polytechnic Institution, Regent Street (now the Y. M. C. A.), was designated in strict conformity with its set purpose as an educational establishment, viz., from the two Greek words polus, many, and techne, an art. St. George’s Hall was originally, when opened in 1867, St. George’s Opera House, so styled because situated in the fashionable parish of St. George’s, Hanover Square. The Egyptian Hall, built in 1812, is a particularly well-chosen title; at least, it appears so at the present day, since the regular performances of those modern magicians, Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke, have long ago become one of the institutions, if not actually one of the sights, of the Metropolis. St. James’s Hall was named after the parish church just opposite. Willis’s Rooms, so called after their late proprietor, were originally opened by a Scotsman named Almack, under the style of Almack’s Assembly Rooms, February 12, 1765. Exeter Hall was built in the year 1830 in the grounds of Exeter House, which also gave the name to Exeter ’Change, erected in 1680 and pulled down in 1829 [see [Exeter Street]]. The world-famous waxworks exhibition known as Madame Tussaud’s retains the name of its foundress (born 1760, died 1850) who first set up her figures at the old Lyceum Theatre in 1802, and after undergoing a variety of misfortunes settled down permanently in Baker Street in the year 1833.
Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, received its name from an ancient palace erected on this spot for the accommodation of the Scottish kings in the days when they were annually required to pay homage to the Crown of England at Westminster. The first monarch so accommodated was Kenneth II. (died 854); the last was Margaret, Queen of Scots, the sister of Henry VIII. Lord’s Cricket Ground, familiarly styled Lord’s, owes its existence to Thomas Lord, who established, upon land of his own, first on the site of Dorset Square in 1780, and subsequently on its present site, the only cricketing ground where genteel players could meet to enjoy this game without fear of rubbing shoulders with the City apprentices. Previous to his enterprise the formation of a private Cricket Club had never been thought of. Tattersall’s, the well-known rendezvous for the sale of horses, was opened by Richard Tattersall near Hyde Park Corner in 1766, and removed to Knightsbridge April 10, 1865.
Lloyd’s Rooms, better known as Lloyd’s, derived this title from Edward Lloyd, a coffee-house keeper in Abchurch Lane, whose premises became the regular resort of merchants and others interested in shipping. The original location of a special office for the transaction of mercantile business over the Royal Exchange took place in 1775; but the name of the genial coffee-house keeper was by common consent transferred with it. On the destruction by fire of the first Royal Exchange, in 1838, “Lloyd’s” was temporarily removed until the completion of the present building in 1844.
The entrance to the privileged precincts of the Stock Exchange is called Capel Court, because it marks the residence of Sir William Capel, Lord Mayor of London in the year 1504. The term Exchange owes its origin to the French echanger, to trade, to barter. The object of the original Royal Exchange, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1506 and opened by Queen Elizabeth amid sundry public rejoicings over the event (which accounts for the prenomen “Royal”), January 31, 1571, was to provide a convenient place where the merchants, bankers, and brokers of the City could meet throughout the day for the transaction of business. The Stock Exchange is the great money mart of the world [see [Stock] in the article “[Money]”].
The Bankers’ Clearing House, in Lombard Street, is the establishment where all cheques, drafts, and bills drawn upon the various bankers are sorted, distributed, and balanced up. The Railway Clearing House, adjoining Euston Railway Station, is a similar establishment devoted to the adjustment of the value represented by the tickets issued by the different Railway Companies. In conclusion, the title of Mansion House, though somewhat suggestive of tautology, may be accepted as denoting the house of all other houses, since it is the official residence of the Lord Mayor.