Under Robert Bartholomew (who was probably proprietor until his death in 1766) White Conduit had become a popular tea-garden, and till about the end of the eighteenth century, its visitors, though never in the least people of fashion, were on the whole of a respectable class. The favourite day was Sunday in the spring and summer-time, when large numbers of holiday-folk crowded the house and gardens. The ‘City prig,’ in white satin waistcoat and scratch wig; the graver man of business, clad in brown, his wife and family, were persons of consequence here; while their dependants also spent their holiday at the same place:—
Wish’d Sunday’s come, mirth brightens ev’ry face,
And paints the rose upon the housemaid’s cheek,
Harriot, or Mol, more ruddy. Now the heart
Of ’prentice, resident in ample street,
Or alley, kennel-wash’d, Cheapside, Cornhill,
Or Cranbourne, thee for calcuments renown’d,
With joy distends. His meal meridian o’er
With switch in hand, he to White Conduit House
Hies merry-hearted. Human beings here