We will presume that the visitor has taken his railway ticket, which, for his convenience, includes admission within the Palace, and that his twenty minutes’ journey has commenced. Before he alights, and whilst his mind is still unoccupied by the wonders that are to meet his eye, we take the opportunity to relate, as briefly as we can, the History of the Crystal Palace, from the day upon which the Royal Commissioners assembled within its transparent walls to declare their great and successful mission ended, until the 10th of June, 1854, when reconstructed, and renewed and beautified in all its proportions, it again opened its wide doors to continue and confirm the good it had already effected in the nation and beyond it.
It will be remembered that the destination of the Great Exhibition building occupied much public attention towards the close of 1851, and that a universal regret prevailed at the threatened loss of a structure which had accomplished so much for the improvement of the national taste, and which was evidently capable, under intelligent direction, of effecting so very much more. A special commission even had been appointed for the purpose of reporting on the different useful purposes to which the building could be applied, and upon the cost necessary to carry them out. Further discussion on the subject, however, was rendered unnecessary by the declaration of the Home Secretary, on the 25th of March, 1852, that Government had determined not to interfere in any way with the building, which accordingly remained, according to previous agreement, in the hands of Messrs. Fox and Henderson, the builders and contractors. Notwithstanding the announcement of the Home Secretary, a last public effort towards rescuing the Crystal Palace for its original site in Hyde Park, was made by Mr. Heywood in the House of Commons, on the 29th of April. But Government again declined the responsibility of purchasing the structure, and Mr. Heywood’s motion was, by a large majority, lost.
It was at this juncture that Mr. Leech,[1] a private gentleman, conceived the idea of rescuing the edifice from destruction, and of rebuilding it on some appropriate spot, by the organisation of a private company. On communicating this view to his partner, Mr. Farquhar, he received from him a ready and cordial approval. They then submitted their project to Mr. Francis Fuller, who entering into their views, undertook and arranged, on their joint behalf, a conditional purchase from Messrs. Fox and Henderson, of the Palace as it stood. In the belief that a building, so destined, would, if erected on a metropolitan line of railway, greatly conduce to the interests of the line, and that communication by railway was essential for the conveyance thither of great masses from London, Mr. Farquhar next suggested to Mr. Leo Schuster, a Director of the Brighton Railway, that a site for the new Palace should be selected on the Brighton line. Mr. Schuster, highly approving of the conception, obtained the hearty concurrence of Mr. Laing, the Chairman of the Brighton Board, and of his brother Directors, for aiding as far as possible in the prosecution of the work. And, accordingly, these five gentlemen, and their immediate friends determined forthwith to complete the purchase of the building. On the 24th of May, 1852, the purchase-money was paid, and a few English gentlemen became the owners of the Crystal Palace of 1851. Their names follow:—
Original Purchasers of the Building.
| Mr. T. N. Farquhar, | Mr. Joseph Leech, |
| Mr. Francis Fuller, | Mr. J. C. Morice, |
| Mr. Robert Gill, | Mr. Scott Russell, |
| Mr. Harman Grisewood, | Mr. Leo Schuster, |
| Mr. Samuel Laing. | |
[1] Of the firm of Johnston, Farquhar, and Leech, Solicitors.
It will hardly be supposed that these gentlemen had proceeded thus far without having distinctly considered the final destination of their purchase. They decided that the building—the first wonderful example of a new style of architecture—should rise again greatly enhanced in grandeur and beauty; that it should form a Palace for the multitude, where, at all times, protected from the inclement varieties of our climate, healthful exercise and wholesome recreation should be easily attainable. To raise the enjoyments and amusements of the English people, and especially to afford to the inhabitants of London, in wholesome country air, amidst the beauties of nature, the elevating treasures of art, and the instructive marvels of science, an accessible and inexpensive substitute for the injurious and debasing amusements of a crowded metropolis;—to blend for them instruction with pleasure, to educate them by the eye, to quicken and purify their taste by the habit of recognising the beautiful;—to place them amidst the trees, flowers, and plants of all countries and of all climates, and to attract them to the study of the natural sciences, by displaying their most interesting examples;—and making known all the achievements of modern industry, and the marvels of mechanical manufactures;—such were some of the original intentions of the first promoters of this national undertaking.
Having decided upon their general design, and upon the scale on which it should be executed, the Directors next proceeded to select the officers to whom the carrying out of the work should be entrusted. Sir Joseph Paxton, the inventive architect of the great building in Hyde Park,was requested to accept the office of Director of the Winter Garden, Park, and Conservatory, an office of which the duties became subsequently much more onerous and extensive than the title implies. Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Digby Wyatt, who had distinguished themselves by their labours in the old Crystal Palace, accepted the duties of Directors of the Fine Art Department, and of the decorations of the new structure. Mr. Charles Wild, the engineer of the old building, filled the same office in the new one. Mr. Grove, the secretary of the Society of Arts, the parent institution of the Exhibition of 1851, was appointed Secretary. Mr. Samuel Phillips was made Director of the Literary Department. Mr. Francis Fuller, a member of the Hyde Park Executive Committee, accepted the duties of Managing Director, Mr. Samuel Laing, M.P., the chairman of the Brighton Railway Company, became Chairman also of the New Crystal Palace, and Messrs. Fox and Henderson undertook the re-erection of the building.
With these arrangements, a Company was formed, under the name of the Crystal Palace Company, and a prospectus issued, announcing the proposed capital of £500,000, in one hundred thousand shares of £5 each. The following gentlemen constituted the Board of Directors:—
| Samuel Laing, Esq., M.P., Chairman. | |
| Arthur Anderson, Esq. | Charles Geach, Esq., M.P. |
| E. S. P. Calvert, Esq. | Charles Lushington, Esq. |
| T. N. Farquhar, Esq. | J. Scott Russell, Esq., F.R.S. |
| Francis Fuller, Esq., Managing Director. | |