The ratebook for 1709 gives “the Bishop of Salisbury” as the name of the occupant at that time. This must refer to the famous Gilbert Burnet, who held the see of Salisbury from 1689 until his death in 1715. He was born in Edinburgh on 18th September, 1643, and having, as a precocious boy, entered the Marischal College of Aberdeen at the age of ten, he became master of arts by the time he was fourteen. The next few years were devoted to the study of divinity and history and to travel. In 1665 he was appointed minister of Saltoun, but resigned in 1669, when he became professor of divinity at Glasgow University. He made several visits to London, and in 1674, having incurred the jealousy of Lauderdale, he resigned his professorship and settled in London. In 1675 he was made chaplain to the Rolls Chapel, the lectureship to St. Clement’s being added shortly afterwards. In 1676 he took a house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, next door to Sir Thomas Littleton, and stayed there apparently for six years.[[362]] Littleton at some time between 1675 and 1683 occupied No. 52, Lincoln’s Inn Fields,[[363]] and though, in the absence of more definite information, it cannot be proved that this was the house he was occupying in 1676, it is extremely probable that this was the case. If so, Burnet’s house was No. 51, as it is known that Nos. 53–4, the house on the other side, was at the same time in the occupation of the Countess of Bath. After the Rye House plot in 1683 and the execution of his friend William, Lord Russell, Burnet withdrew to France, and on his return in 1684 was deprived of his positions. Upon the accession of James he again withdrew to the Continent, finally accepting an invitation from William and Mary to settle at the Hague, where he was instrumental in reconciling them.[[364]] He accompanied William to England, was responsible for the form in which William’s Declaration appeared in English,[[365]] and was rewarded for his services with the Bishopric of Salisbury. Notwithstanding a subsequent decrease in favour with William, he was offered in 1698 the position of governor to the young Duke of Gloucester, and accepted it on conditions which allowed him to attend to the affairs of his diocese.[[366]] The most lasting achievement of his later years was the provision for the augmentation of poor livings, generally known as Queen Anne’s Bounty, which became law in 1704. He died on 17th March, 1714–15, and was buried in St. James’, Clerkenwell, having resided at St. John’s Court in that parish for some years.[[367]] His chief characteristic was tolerance, which he continually urged, whether towards Scotch Presbyterians in his early days, to Roman Catholics at the time of the “popish plot” in 1678, or to non-jurors and Presbyterians in his own diocese. His chief literary works were:—History of the Reformation, published between 1679 and 1714; Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, published in 1699; and a History of My Own Time, which was published posthumously in 1723 and 1734.
The ratebooks for 1715 and 1720 show “Lady Anne Dashwood” at the house. Apparently this was Anne, daughter of John Smith, of Tudworth, Hants, widow of Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor in 1702–3, who was knighted in July, 1684, and died in 1705.[[368]] She died on 16th June, 1721.[[369]]
In 1723 “Lord Bellomonte” was resident at the house. This was Richard Coote, fourth Earl Bellamont. He was born in 1683, and succeeded to the earldom in 1708. He was married twice, his second marriage (to Lady Oxenden) taking place in 1721 at St. Giles-in-the-Fields. On his death in 1766 the earldom became extinct.[[370]] Lord Bellamont seems to have removed to Nos. 55–56, Great Queen Street and to have left there in 1729 or 1730.[[371]]
From 1730 onwards, until the date of acquisition by the Freemasons, the occupants of the house were as follows:—
| 1730–33. | Thos. Iley. |
| 1737. | Earl of Macclesfield. |
| 1740–42. | —— Vanblew. |
| 1746. | Geo. Hudson. |
| 1747–64. | Thos. Hudson. |
| 1765–67. | Thos. Worlidge. |
| 1768–75. | Jas. Ashley. |
George Parker, second Earl of Macclesfield, was born in 1697. He married in 1722 Mary Lane,[[372]] and succeeded to the earldom in 1732, at which time he was resident in Soho Square.[[373]] He had a great taste for mathematics, in which he had been instructed by Abraham de Moivre and William Jones, and, aided by James Bradley, who afterwards, by his influence, became astronomer-royal, erected about 1739 an astronomical observatory at his residence at Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire. From 1740 until near his death, he carried out a series of personal astronomical observations. Macclesfield was the principal author of the measure which brought about the change of style in 1752, and in consequence incurred great unpopularity among the ignorant, who imagined that they had been robbed of eleven days. In 1762 he was elected President of the Royal Society, a position which he held until his death in 1764.
Thomas Hudson was born in Devonshire in 1701. He became a pupil of Jonathan Richardson, the elder, portrait painter (with whose daughter he made a runaway match), and on setting up for himself in the same profession, soon attained to great eminence, though his prosperity faded with the rise of one of his pupils, Joshua Reynolds.[[374]] His residence in Great Queen Street began about 1746,[[375]] and continued until about 1764,[[376]] when he retired to Twickenham[[377]] where he died in January, 1779.
He was succeeded in his occupation of the house in Great Queen Street by Thomas Worlidge,[[378]] painter and etcher. Worlidge was born at Peterborough in 1700. He came to London about 1740, and settled in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden, where he remained for the rest of his life, residing at various times in The Piazza, Bedford Street, King Street, and, finally, Great Queen Street. He first made a name by his miniature portraits, but eventually concentrated his energies on etching in the style of Rembrandt. He died at Hammersmith in September, 1766. His name appears in the ratebook also for 1767, and this is explained by the fact that his widow “carried on the sale of his etchings at his house in Great Queen Street.”[[379]] Shortly afterwards Mrs. Worlidge married a wine and spirit merchant named Ashley,[[379]] who had been one of Worlidge’s intimate friends, and in accordance with this is the fact that in the ratebook for the following year (1768) “James Ashley” is shown at the house.
In 1774, the premises were occupied for a short time by Mary Robinson (née Darby), afterwards known as “Perdita,” who had just got married. Perdita’s own account of the matter is as follows: “On our return to London after ten days’ absence, a house was hired in Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It was a large, old-fashioned mansion, and stood on the spot where the Freemasons’ Tavern has since been erected. This house was the property of a lady, an acquaintance of my mother; the widow of Mr. Worlidge, an artist of considerable celebrity. It was handsomely furnished, and contained many valuable pictures by various masters. I resided with my mother; Mr. Robinson continued at the house of Mr. Vernon and Elderton in Southampton Buildings.”[[380]]
Mary, who was born at Bristol in 1758, had spent an unhappy childhood, and had now, when only sixteen, contracted a loveless marriage. At her husband’s request the nuptials were kept secret, but after four months her mother insisted on their being made public. After a visit to the west of England and stay of “many days” at Bristol, she removed from Great Queen Street to No. 13, Hatton Garden, a house which had been recently built.[[381]] Her remarkable beauty caused her to receive many attentions, and she was neglected by her husband. On his imprisonment for debt, however, after less than two years’ married life, she shared his confinement, and was for nearly ten months in the King’s Bench Prison. She then secured an engagement at Drury Lane, where she made her first appearance in December, 1776, as Juliet. Her stage career lasted until May, 1780. When taking the part of “Perdita” in a performance of the Winter’s Tale in December, 1778, she captivated the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), and after a correspondence in which the writers signed themselves “Florizel” and “Perdita” she became his mistress for about two years. He then deserted her, dishonouring his bond for £20,000, payable on his coming of age. In 1783 she managed to obtain a pension of £500 a year. She never returned to the stage, but devoted herself to literature. In her own day she was called the English Sappho, but her reputation in this respect has not endured. She died, crippled and impoverished, at Englefield Cottage, Surrey, in 1800.