In the reign of James I. the most important event that took place at Hampton Court was the meeting of the conference between the representatives of the Established Church and the Presbyterians, at which the king was said by the former to have greatly distinguished himself by his eloquence, whilst the latter dwelt angrily on his plausible duplicity, that really had a good deal to do with the inauguration of the troubles that finally brought his son to the scaffold. As is well known, Charles I. greatly loved Hampton Court; he was there for a short time after his accession with his newly wedded queen, then a mere child, and it was there, too, many years afterwards, that he had his last real intercourse with his children, who, as already related, were often allowed to visit him when they were living at Sion House under the care of the guardian appointed by the Parliament. Thence, alarmed by rumours of a plot against his life, the unfortunate king escaped on November 11, 1647, first to Oatlands and then to the Isle of Wight.
Whilst he was Lord Protector of England, Cromwell often resided at Hampton Court; in its chapel his beloved daughter Mary was married in 1657 to Viscount Falconbridge, and in one of its rooms her sister, Mrs. Claypole, died in 1658, after a short illness, to the bitter grief of her father, who had her body taken by river to Westminster, to be buried with almost regal pomp in Westminster Abbey. Her loss was indeed the death-blow of the harassed ruler, for though he lived three months longer he was never the same again. He was removed in a dying state from Hampton Court to Whitehall, and after he had passed away it was decided that the palace should be sold and its contents dispersed. Fortunately, however, the historic building escaped that fate, but though it was several times occupied by Charles II. and James II., it was not until the accession of William III. that it again played any important part in the history of England. From the first the newly elected monarch and his wife showed a very special predilection for their estate at Hampton, and Sir Christopher Wren was soon commissioned to add to the palace an extensive group of buildings that now, with the great hall of Henry VIII., form its most important features. Unfortunately Wren's alterations necessitated the pulling down of two of Wolsey's courts, that had been spared by the cardinal's royal supplanter, but in spite of this it must be conceded that the famous architect triumphantly achieved a most difficult task, for the magnificent state apartments designed by him, though in a totally different style from that of the earlier buildings, are yet not out of harmony with them.
Later, the grounds were as completely transformed as the Tudor palace itself had been. The fine terrace known as the Broad Walk was made, many new fountains were added to those already in the gardens, the still popular Maze or Labyrinth was planted, the beautiful gate called the Flower-Pot—from the baskets of flowers upheld by boys on the stone piers flanking it—was erected, and the yet more effective wrought-iron screens designed by Jean Tijou, a Frenchman in the employ of Sir Christopher Wren, recently, after various wanderings, restored to their original position, were set up at the riverside end of what is known as the Priory Garden, separating it from the towing-path.
Soon after their first arrival at Hampton Court William and Mary received as their guest the Princess Anne, daughter of the exiled James II., who had been married in 1683 to Prince George of Denmark. As heir-presumptive of the English throne, the princess was very cordially disliked by the king and queen, whose jealousy was greater than ever when, on July 4, 1689, she gave birth to a son, the Duke of Gloucester. The boy was baptized in the chapel of Hampton Court, William III. standing godfather, but the child died in 1700, two years before his mother became queen. As was not unnatural, considering all that she had suffered there, Anne cared little for Hampton Court, preferring her palaces at Kensington and Windsor, but she commissioned the painter Verrio and the sculptor Grinling Gibbons to supplement the already lavish decorations with ceiling paintings and mural carvings. Her successors, George I. and George II., on the other hand, were very fond of the palace, but they left it much as they found it, except that the former had the ceiling of the state bedchamber painted by Sir James Thornhill.
It was in the reign of George III., who never resided at Hampton Court, that the famous Black Hamburgh vine, the largest in England, was planted, and it was the same monarch who first turned the palace to account by assigning apartments in it to people of rank and distinction, to whom for one reason or another he wished to show favour. Since then, though it has never again been the abode of royalty, it has been the scene of many gatherings of celebrities. At one time, for instance, it was the home of the Countess of Mornington, mother of the great Duke of Wellington and the astute statesman Lord Wellesley, and in it lived for several years Mrs. Tom Sheridan, daughter-in-law of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, one of whose daughters was the Queen of Beauty at the Eglinton Tournament of 1839, and another the wife of the Marquis of Dufferin, whose son, the late Lord Dufferin and Ava, became Viceroy of India.
It was in 1838 that Queen Victoria decided to admit all her subjects free of fee to the state apartments and grounds of her palace at Hampton, a generous policy, the wisdom of which has been conclusively proved by the ever-increasing numbers of those who show their appreciation of the fine works of art preserved in the galleries and their delight in the beauty of the grounds. The grand old demesne is indeed a notable witness to the continuity of the present with the past, and to the close union between the people and their rulers, that in spite of the growth of democracy is still distinctive of England, and is her best hope for the future.
In addition to the many standard works on London as a whole, including those by Sir Walter Besant, Edward Walford, James Thorne, G. E. Mitton, and others, the author of the present volume has consulted William Howitt's Northern Heights of London; The Records of Hampstead, edited by F. E. Baines; The Hampstead Annals; The Transactions of the Antiquarian and Historical Society of Hampstead; Wyldes and its Story, by Mrs. Arthur Wilson; Harrow, by J. Fischer Williams; Epping Forest, by Edward North Buxton; Chislehurst Caves and Dene Holes, by W. G. Nicholls; The History and Antiquities of Richmond, Kew, Petersham, and Ham, by G. Beresford Chancellor; Ham House, by Dr. Williamson; Bygone Putney, by Ernest Hammond; The History of Hampton Court, by Ernest Law; supplementing them by the collection of recent information on the spot in the various districts treated.