As regards Nos. 55–56, we learn that prior to 1689[[255]] this portion of the original mansion had been occupied by the Duke of Norfolk.
Henry Howard, seventh Duke of Norfolk, was born in January, 1655, and succeeded to the title in January, 1684. He was noted for his staunch Protestantism. He joined in the invitation to the Prince of Orange, and on the latter’s landing brought over the eastern counties to his interest. He died at Norfolk House, St. James’s Square, in 1701. His residence at Nos. 55–56, Great Queen Street must have fallen in the period 1684–1689.
Subsequently the house was occupied by Thomas Stonor, who had married the Hon. Isabella Belasyse, to whom her father, Lord Belasyse, had bequeathed this portion of the original house. Stonor is shown in occupation in 1698, 1700 and 1703. In 1718 the house was sold[[256]] to Sir Godfrey Kneller, then already in occupation of the premises.
Sir Godfrey Kneller (originally Gottfried Kniller) was born at Lübeck in 1646, son of a portrait painter. He was at first intended for the military profession, but his love for painting proved so strong that his father sent him to Amsterdam to study under Ferdinand Bol. In 1672 he went to Italy, and soon acquired a considerable reputation. Afterwards he visited Hamburg, and in 1675 came to England, where his work attracted the notice of the Duke of Monmouth, by whose influence he was in 1678 introduced to Charles II. He at once leaped into popularity, and after the death of Sir Peter Lely in 1680 reigned supreme in the domain of portrait painting. He acquired great wealth, and, though he lost heavily in the South Sea Bubble, he left a large fortune. His residence at Nos. 55–56, Great Queen Street seems to have commenced about 1703,[[257]] and here he lived until his death in 1723. By his will[[258]] he left to his wife, amongst other property, “all that my messuage or house, outhouses, stableyards and garden thereunto belonging in Great Queen Street ... in which I now dwell,” as well as the next door house (Nos. 57–58), which he had also purchased. He also mentions the “six pictures of mine and my wife’s relations painted by myself, and now in my great dining room in my said dwelling house in Great Queen Street, and also the three pictures put up for ornament over the doors in the said room.”
The well-known interchange of wit between Kneller and Dr. Radcliffe is by several authors[[259]] said to have taken place in Great Queen Street. Radcliffe, it appears, was Kneller’s next door neighbour, and there being great intimacy between them, Kneller allowed the former to have a door into his garden where he had a fine collection of flowers. On Radcliffe’s servants picking the flowers, Kneller sent word to the doctor that he would shut up the door. The latter replied that he might do anything with it but paint it; whereupon Kneller rejoined that he could take anything from the doctor but his physic. There is, however, no evidence that Radcliffe ever lived in Great Queen Street. He settled in Bow Street, Covent Garden in 1684[[260]]; he was still in Covent Garden in 1706 according to the Catalogue of the College of Physicians; and the issues of the Catalogue for 1707 onwards show him at Southampton Square. He died in 1714. Wheatley and Cunningham[[261]] appear to be right in assigning the incident to the time when Kneller was living in the Piazza, Covent Garden.
No records concerning the occupation of the house are available between 1723 and 1730. It would seem, however, that prior to the latter year, the Earl of Bellamont had been resident there,[[262]] for the entry in that year consists of the name “Lord Bellment,” erased, and followed by the name of Robert Holdmay. In 1732 the house is shown as empty, and on its re-occupation in the following year it was further divided, as at present, into the two houses Nos. 55 and 56. The names of the residents, as given on the ratebooks, from that time until 1800 are as follows:—
| No. 55. | No. 56. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1733–42. | Barth. Dandridge. | 1733–37. | Coston Aston. |
| 1746–48. | [[263]]Lady Dinely Goodyer. | 1740–44. | Madame Bowne. |
| 1751–58. | Chas. Hoare. | 1744. | [[263]]Chas. Leivez. |
| 1758–61. | Lord Halton. | 1745. | —— Pritchard. |
| 1761–65. | Chas. Hoare. | 1746–50. | Chas. Leivez. |
| 1766. | Widow Hoare. | 1750–61. | Ben Wilson. |
| 1767–70. | [[264]]Godfrey Kneller. | 1761–68. | Jno. Palmer. |
| 1770–82. | Coach Office. | 1768–69. | W. Brereton. |
| 1782–90. | Jas. McGee. | 1770–74. | Ed. Taylor. |
| 1790–99. | Jas. Wilson. | 1775–78. | Wm. Mattingnon. |
| 1799– | [[264]]J. Kneller. | 1779. | Miss Lavell. |
| 1780–82. | —— Bowen. | ||
| 1782–86. | John Hoole. | ||
| 1786–88. | Jas. Boswell. | ||
| 1788–89. | Ed. Jones. | ||
| 1791– | W. Chippendale. |
Bartholomew Dandridge obtained a considerable practice in the reign of George II. as a painter of portraits; he also painted small conversation-pieces.[[265]]
Benjamin Wilson was born at Leeds in 1721. His father, Major Wilson, a wealthy clothier, lost his money while Benjamin was still a youth, and the latter came to London to earn a living. If his statements are true, the frugality which he exercised must have been extraordinary. At all events, he managed to save, and obtaining after a time a position with some little leisure, he resumed the artistic studies which he had been compelled to renounce. By degrees his perseverance and ability made him known, and from 1748 to 1750 he was in Ireland executing commissions for portraits. On his return he settled at No. 56, Great Queen Street. While here his reputation steadily increased, and 1761 he moved to Nos. 57–58, a larger house.[[266]] In 1771 he again removed, this time to Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury. In 1767 he was appointed painter to the Board of Ordnance. Wilson was also a student of chemistry, and had a reputation for his knowledge of electricity, receiving in 1760 the gold medal of the Royal Society for his electrical experiments. He died at his house in Great Russell Street[[267]] in 1788.
John Hoole, translator, was born in Moorfields in 1727, the son of a watchmaker and inventive mechanician. He obtained a position in the accomptant’s office of the East India Company, and rose to be successively auditor of Indian accompts and principal auditor. He resigned about the end of 1785. His residence in Great Queen Street seems to have commenced in 1782, and it lasted to April, 1786, when he retired to the parsonage at Abinger, Surrey. He died at Dorking in 1803. His chief works are the translations of Tasso and Ariosto. He also wrote the life of John Scott of Amwell, which, as it was published in 1785, was probably composed in the house in Great Queen Street, and three plays.