CHAPTER 6: V—NOS. 37 AND 38, CHARING CROSS (DEMOLISHED) AND SITE OF WALLINGFORD GARDEN
History of the Site.
The circumstances in which a 70-feet strip of the timber yard
was acquired by the owners of Wallingford House have already been
narrated (see p. 46). This ground was laid out as the garden of
Wallingford House, and West's house, erected in 1687 and afterwards
rented by the Admiralty (see p. 55), occupied the site of the Duke of Buckingham's summer house. (fn. 1) On 23rd March, 1685–6, the duke let the
garden to Francis Jenkes on a building lease for 99 years as a security
for debt owing to the latter. (fn. 2) A copy of the actual lease has not been
found, but from recitals in later documents (fn. 3) it appears that the ground was
described as "all that Toft or peece of Ground … adjoyning to Wallingford House, lying on the North Side of the said House, containing
in Length from East to West One Hundred Twenty Six Foot and from
North to South Seaventy Foot, the East side Fronting the … Street
leading from Charing Cross to Whitehall, the West side Fronting the
Spring Garden, the North abutting upon the Wall of Two houses, the
one lately in the tenure of Sr Richard Franklyn, (fn. 4) the other in ye tenure of— Rowland, the South Side abutting upon the Gallery of Wallingford
House, to be continued from the East to the West by a Streight line."
That part of the building scheme which involved disturbance of the
amenities of the Spring Garden met with opposition, and in July, 1686,
the lord treasurer intimated that building on that side of the plot must
be stopped. (fn. 5) The attorney-general, however, on being consulted,
expressed the opinion that "the wall dividing that garden, which was
formerly part of the Timber Yard, and the Spring Garden, doth pass
by that grant [the original patent to Knollys], and the Duke and his
assigns have liberty to erect buildings thereupon and to make lights
towards Spring Garden by the express words of the patent." (fn. 6) Nevertheless, in May, 1687, Jenkes' widow was still waiting for the removal
of the embargo, (fn. 7) which she obtained in the following month. (fn. 8) The total
building operations comprised the formation of Buckingham Court (fn. 9) and
the erection of fifteen houses, five of which were on the street frontage,
one being over the entrance to the court. The freehold was sold on
18th December, 1713, by the Duke of Buckingham's trustees to Thomas
Cole, (fn. 10) and the list of occupants given in the indenture includes the names
of Sir James Wishart (in the house formerly of Robert West), showing
that West's house was used for the accommodation of one of the lords
of the admiralty, and Joseph "Gentlivre." This was Joseph Centlivre,
principal cook to Anne and George I, husband of Susannah Centlivre,
actress and dramatist, who died in Buckingham Court on 1st December,
1723. (fn. 11) Thomas Cole died in 1715, leaving (fn. 12) to his daughter, Elizabeth
Lambe, his "freehold estate in Buckingam Court and adjoyning thereunto, containing 15 houses." The ratebooks for 1725 to 1729 show
"Duncan Campbell" occupying the centre house of the five on the street
frontage, that is, the one over the entrance to Buckingham Court.
Campbell was a well-known soothsayer and quack. In 1725 Defoe
published The Dumb Projector: or a Trip to Holland made by Mr. Duncan
Campbell, in which he says: "I have not, a great while, seen a more
polite Assembly of Gentlemen and Ladies than I met the other Day at
his [Campbell's] House in Buckingham Court at Whitehall." Campbell
died in 1730, and the ratebook for that year gives "Wid° Campbell"
in respect of the house. She was succeeded in the following year by
"— Miller," afterwards corrected to "John Millan." Millan was
evidently much interested in his predecessor, for in 1732 appeared the
Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbel, "printed for J. Millan, at
the Green Door, at the Corner of Buckingham-Court." (fn. 13)
On the widening of the street in 1758 (see appendix) the Westminster Bridge Commissioners purchased from James Lambe (apparently the
son of Elizabeth) for £1,800 the five front houses, (fn. 14) and added to the
public way a strip of ground increasing in depth from south to north
from 20 to 28 feet. The portion not used (about 400 square feet) was
resold to Lambe for £300, (fn. 15) on the condition that he should purchase the
old materials for £90. (fn. 16) The new houses erected by Lambe were only
four in number, the entrance to Buckingham Court not being built
over.
The whole of the frontage is now included in the bank premises
of Messrs. Glyn, Mills and Co., and Buckingham Court has disappeared.
Description and Date of Structure.
Nos. 37 and 38, Charing Cross, were the two houses north of
Buckingham Court, built by Lambe in 1758–9. They were three-storey
buildings with attics, and the original shopfronts seem to have been but
slightly altered (Plates 81 and 82). They had brick fronts, though No. 38
had been in later years rendered in plaster. The return front of No. 37 to
Buckingham Court was also in brick.
Historical Notes.
According to the ratebooks the occupiers of Nos. 37 and 38 from the time of their erection
until 1840 were as follows:
|
| No. 37 |
|---|
| 1759–79 | John Hartwell |
| 1779–85 | Richard Grasswell |
| 1787–89 | Samuel Holden |
| 1790 | John Thomas |
| 1791–92 | Samuel Francis |
| 1793 | William La Lazerne |
| 1794–95 | Ann Wooding |
| 1796 | Francis Jarvis |
| 1798–1806 | Henry Tatham |
| 1807–13 | Henry Tatham and Jos. Egg |
| 1814– | Henry Tatham |
| No. 38 |
|---|
| 1759 | — Mortimer |
| 1760 | Lucy Morris |
| 1761–62 | Mary Collier |
| 1763–64 | (No ratebooks extant) |
| 1765 | Edward Edwards |
| 1765–87 | Louis Remus |
| 1789–90 | Richard Reece |
| 1792 | — Wilkie |
| 1794 | — Williamson |
| 1794–1830 | Charles Correll |
| 1831– | Robert Wiss |
In the Council's Collection are:
(fn. 17) General elevation to Charing Cross (photograph).
(fn. 17) Elevation to Charing Cross of Nos. 37–41, Charing Cross (copied from a drawing in the
possession of H.M. Office of Works).
Plans of ground, 1st and 2nd floors (copied from drawing in the possession of H.M. Office
of Works).