George II. died here very suddenly on October 25, 1760, but the Sovereigns of the House of Hanover chiefly made use of the place by assigning apartments therein to their younger children and near relatives. Here it was that Edward Duke of Kent lived with his wife Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, and here their only daughter, the renowned Queen Victoria, was born, May 24, 1819, and here she resided till her accession to the throne in 1837.
Kensington Palace, then, is chiefly celebrated for its associations with William III. and Queen Victoria. In the brief account of the royal palaces here given, it will be seen that none of the sites, with the exception of St. James's, remained for any long period of time the actual residence of the Sovereign, while three—Westminster, Bridewell, and the Savoy—had passed out of royal hands for residential purposes before the Reformation of religion was completed. Another curious fact relates to the origin of the title to these sites, inasmuch as three of these estates were obtained from some ecclesiastical corporation, as the Archbishop of York, or the Hospital of St. James, though Buckingham Palace was bought from Sir Charles Sheffield, and Kensington from the Earl of Nottingham.
No account of the palaces of London can be regarded as complete which omits to mention Lambeth. For more than 700 years the Archbishops of Canterbury have resided at this beautiful abode, intensely interesting from its close association with all the most stirring events in the long history of England. The estate was obtained by Archbishop Baldwin in the year 1197 by exchange for some lands in Kent with Glanville, Bishop of Rochester. In Saxon times Goda, the sister of King Edward the Confessor, had bestowed this property upon the Bishopric of Rochester; so that it has been continuously in the hands of the Church for near 900 years. The fine red-brick gateway with white stone dressings, standing close to the tower of Lambeth Church, is very imposing as seen from the road, and was built by Archbishop Cardinal Moreton in 1490. In the Middle Ages it was the custom to give a farthing loaf twice a week to the poor of London at this gateway, and as many as 4,000 were accustomed to partake of the archiepiscopal gift. Within the gateway is the outer courtyard of the palace, and at the further end, towards the river Thames, rises the picturesque Lollard's tower, built between 1434 and 1445 by that famous ecclesiastical statesman Archbishop Chicheley, founder of All Souls' College, Oxford. The quaint winding staircase, made of rough slabs of unplaned oak, is exactly as it was in Chicheley's time. In this tower is the famous chamber, entirely of oaken boards, called the Lollards' prison. It is 13 feet long, 12 feet broad, and 8 feet high, and eight iron rings remain to which prisoners were fastened. The door has a lock of wood, fastened with pegs of wood, and may be a relic of the older palace of Archbishop Sudbury. On the south side of the outer court stands the hall built by Archbishop Juxon during the opening years of Charles II.'s reign, with a fine timber roof, and Juxon's arms over the door leading into the palace. This Jacobean hall is now used as the library, and contains many precious manuscripts of priceless value, including the Dictyes and Sayings of the Philosophers, translated by Lord Rivers, in which is found a miniature illumination of the Earl presenting Caxton on his knees to Edward IV., who is supported by Elizabeth Woodville and her son Edward V. This manuscript contains the only known portrait of the latter monarch.
St. James's Palace, from Pall Mall and from the Park.
An earlier hall had been built on the same site by Archbishop Boniface in 1244.
From the library we pass by a flight of stairs to the guard room, now used as the dining hall. The chief feature is the excellent series of oil portraits of the occupants of the primatial See of Canterbury, beginning in the year 1504. The mere mention of the principal names recalls prominent events in our national history.
There is Warham painted by Holbein. He was also Lord Chancellor, and the last of the mediæval episcopate. There is Cranmer, burnt at Oxford, March 21, 1555. There is Cardinal Pole, the cousin and favourite of Queen Mary. There is Matthew Parker, the friend of Queen Elizabeth, well skilled in learning and a great collector of manuscripts, now for the most part in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. There is William Laud, painted by Van Dyck, the favourite Counsellor and Adviser of Charles I. At the age of 71 he was beheaded by order of the House of Commons—an act of vengeance, not of justice. There is William Juxon, who stood by Charles I. on the scaffold, and heard the ill-fated King utter his last word on earth, "Remember." But we cannot even briefly recount all the famous portraits to be found at Lambeth. The above selection must suffice.
The chapel, also, is a building of singular interest. Beneath is an ancient crypt said to have been erected by Archbishop Herbert Fitzwalter, while the chapel itself was built by Archbishop Boniface of Savoy between 1249 and 1270. The lancet windows are elegant, and were filled with stained glass by Archbishop Laud, all of which was duly broken to pieces during the Commonwealth. The supposed Popish character of this glass was made an article of impeachment against Laud at the trial at which he was sentenced to death. Here the majority of the archbishops have been consecrated since the reign of King Henry III. Archbishop Parker was both consecrated and also buried in the chapel, but his tomb was desecrated and his bones scattered by Scot and Hardyng, who possessed the palace under Oliver Cromwell. On the restoration they were re-interred by Sir William Dugdale. At the west end is a beautiful Gothic confessional, high up on the wall, erected by Archbishop Chicheley. Archbishop Laud presented the screen, and Archbishop Tait restored the whole of this sacred edifice, which measures 12 feet by 25 feet. Formerly the archbishops lived in great state. Thus, Cranmer's household comprised a treasurer, comptroller, steward, garnator, clerk of the kitchen, caterer, clerk of the spicery, yeoman of the ewery, bakers, pantlers, yeoman of the horse, yeoman ushers, besides numerous other less important officials.
Cardinal Pole possessed a patent from Queen Mary, authorising a household of 100 servants. The modern part of the palace was built by Archbishop Howley in the Tudor style. He held the See from 1828 to 1848, and was the last prelate to maintain the archiepiscopal state of the olden time.