Part 6

Dover Street, built in 1686, was called after Henry Jermyn, Earl of Dover, who died here 1708.

At the top of Hay Hill was Ashburnham House (Earl of Ashburnham), a plain square building in a courtyard. It was occupied by the Russian Embassy in 1851. Now Nos. 28 and 29 are the premises of the Sesame Club for ladies.

No. 37, a stone-fronted house, is the town house of the Bishops of Ely, built in 1772, and granted by Government in exchange for Ely Place.

No. 34, the Bath Club, opened 1895, contains swimming and other baths for both sexes, gymnasium, etc. It has also an entrance in Berkeley Street.

No. 35, the Empress Club for ladies, is on a scale of great magnificence.

No. 36 was the Hogarth Club for gentlemen associated with the arts, founded as the Artists' Club at the Turk's Head, Gerrard Street; removed here from Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in 1888.

The Literary Club met in 1785 at Le Telier's in this street.

Other inhabitants: John Evelyn, 1699-1706; Marquis of Wharton; Harley, Earl of Oxford; Dr. Arbuthnot, 1714-21; Pope, 1729; Bolingbroke, 1730; Sir William Wyndham, 1731; Archdeacon Coxe, b. 1741; No. 23, Lady Byron, 1841; 29, John Nash, Architect; 35, Samuel Whitbread, M.P., d. 1815; 33, Earl of Mexborough, 1895.

The steep descent of Hay Hill was so called from a farm in the neighbourhood, which, perhaps, took its name from Tyburn (the "Ayburn," the "Eia Burn"), which flowed at the foot. Here in 1554 Sir Thomas Wyatt's head was exposed, and three of his companions hung in chains. In 1617 Hay Hill was granted to Hector Johnstone for services to the Elector Palatine. By Queen Anne it was granted to the Speaker of the House of Commons, who sold it for L200 and gave the proceeds to the poor. It afterwards came into the hands of the Pomfret family, and was sold prior to 1759 for L20,300.

Berkeley Square was built about 1698 on the site of the gardens of Berkeley House, the residence of Sir John Berkeley, afterwards Lord Berkeley, of Stratton, to whose descendant, Earl Fitzhardinge, the property still belongs. It slopes somewhat steeply to the south, and has a well-wooded garden in the centre, planted about the end of the eighteenth century. The equestrian statue of George III., by Beaupre and Wilton, erected by Princess Amelia in 1766, was removed in 1827, and the pedestal is vacant, but a drinking-fountain, the gift of the Marquis of Lansdowne, stands at the south end. In 1805 the north side was occupied by small tradesmen's shops, which have been replaced; but some of the other houses are old, and still have the iron link extinguishers before the door, which may be seen at many houses in this district. No. 25 is Thomas's Hotel, which dates from 1809. Charles James Fox lived here in 1803. No. 40 is noteworthy for the style of its architecture, but the finest house in the Square is Lansdowne House (Marquis of Lansdowne), standing in its own garden on the south side. It was built by Robert Adam for the Earl of Bute in 1765, and sold while still unfinished to the Earl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, for L22,500. It contains a sculpture gallery commenced in 1778, with a collection of statuary by Gavin Hamilton. The pictures were collected by the third Marquis (1807-50), and comprise specimens by Raphael, Murillo, Velasquez, Hogarth, Reynolds, Landseer, and others. The library was added in 1790. Priestley was librarian when, in 1774, he discovered oxygen.

No. 44, designed by Kent for Lady Isabella Finch, has a fine staircase and drawing-room.

Other inhabitants: Corner of Bruton Street, No. 20, Colley Cibber, 1753; 45, the residence of the Earl of Powis, has a name-plate on the door (here, in 1774, Lord Clive committed suicide); 10, Lord Clyde, 1863; 11, Horace Walpole, 1774-97, Lady Waldegrave, 1800; 6, second Earl of Chatham; 13, Marquis of Hertford, Earl of Carnarvon; 17, Lord Rowton; 18, Sir S. B. Bancroft, actor; 21, Lady Anne Barnard, authoress of "Auld Robin Gray," d. 1825; Lord Brougham and Vaux, 1842; 28, Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, 1830-34, Sidney Smirke, R.A., architect, 1842; 38, here, in 1804, the Earl of Jersey married Lady Sophia Fane, daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland, d. 1867, Lord Londesborough, 1891. It has now been rebuilt in red brick by Lord Rosebery; 48, Lord Brougham, 1849; 52, Field-marshal Lord Strathnairn, d. 1894.

Berkeley Street was built on the grounds of Berkeley House in 1684 by Lady Berkeley, under the direction of John Evelyn. It skirts the garden wall of Devonshire House, and is now chiefly occupied by stabling.

Here lived: Richard Cosway, R.A., 1770-80; No. 4, Shackleton, painter; 9, Pope's Martha Blount, 1731-63; General Bulkeley, d. 1815; Mrs. Howard, mistress of Louis Napoleon.

Bruton Street, built circa 1727, was named after Lord Berkeley's Dorsetshire estate. It contains large private houses, the most noticeable being No. 17, now Lord Stratheden and Campbell. At No. 22 (now Earl Bathurst) was the Pioneer Club for ladies.

Other inhabitants: The Duke of Argyle, d. 1743; Horace Walpole, 1749; William Pitt, 1760; General Lawrence, d. 1775; R. Brinsley Sheridan, 1786; Mrs. Jamieson, 1851-54; General Sir G. Macdonald, d. 1850; 15, Right Hon. Lord Hobhouse, P.C.; 16, Lord Granville, d. 1846; Lord Chancellor Cottenham, 1847; 23, Sir W. H. Humphery, Bart.; 23A, Marquis of Granby, M.P., 1895; 24, George Canning, 1809; Countess of Longford; 26, Sir Matthew Tierney, physician, 1841; 33, William Owen, R.A., d. 1825; 36, Earl of Orford.

The district west of Berkeley Square, bounded by Piccadilly and Park Lane, has already been mentioned; though the streets are narrow and cramped, and many of the houses small, it has always been a fashionable locality.

In Hill Street (1743) lived: Lord Lyttelton, 1755-73; Admiral Byng, 1756; Smollett's Lady Vane, d. 1788; Mrs. Montagu, 1795; Lord Chief Justice Camden, d. 1794; Earl of Carlisle, b. 1802; Sir J. F. Leicester, 1829; No. 5, Mr. Henry Brougham (Lord Brougham), 1824, Lord Londesborough, 1835; 6 (a new house), Marquis of Tweeddale, 1895; 9, Admiral Sir Philip Durham, 1841; 8, The Mackintosh of Mackintosh; 20, Lord Barrymore; 21, William Grant, Earl of Malmesbury, d. 1820, Countess Darnley; 26, Lord Revelstoke; 27, Countess of Roden, 1895; 30, Lord Westbury; 33, Lord Hindlip; 34, Sir Charles G. Earle-Welby, Bart.; 41, Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise, Bart.

In Farm Street (circa 1750), named from a neighbouring farm, and now a mews, is the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, a handsome and lofty Gothic structure in Decorated style, designed by Scoles, and built in 1849. The front is a miniature reproduction of the cathedral at Beauvais. The high altar, designed by Pugin, was a gift by Miss Tempest, and cost L1,000. The church is lit by a clerestory.

In South Street (circa 1737), up to 1845, stood a Roman Catholic chapel, attached to the Portuguese Embassy. Here is a school endowed by General Stewart in 1726, and carried on in conjunction with the Hanover Branch Schools.

Inhabitants: No. 10, Miss Florence Nightingale, 1895; 22, Beau Brummell; 33, Lord Holland; 36, Mlle. d'Este, daughter of the Duke of Sussex, 1835; 39, Lord Melbourne, 1837.

Aldford Street (circa 1734) was named Chapel Street (from Grosvenor Chapel) until 1886. Part of the north side has been lately pulled down, and with it No. 13, where Beau Brummell lived in 1816 and Sir Thomas Rivers Wilson in 1841.

Other inhabitants: No. 23, Shelley, 1813; 5, Earl of Kilmorey.

Deanery Street was built circa 1737, and was first called Dean and Chapel Street, from the Chapter of Westminster, the ground landlords. In Tilney Street (circa 1750) lived Soame Jenyns, d. 1787; No. 2, Viscount Esher; 5, Lord Brampton; 6, Mrs. Fitzherbert, wife of George IV.

Great Stanhope Street, built circa 1750 by Lord Chesterfield, is broad, and contained fifteen spacious houses, of which No. 7 was demolished to build a mansion in Park Lane for a millionaire.

Inhabitants: No. 1, Lord Southampton, 1796, Duke of Bedford, 1810, Earl Bathurst, 1822, Duke of Manchester, 1890; No. 1, Viscount Clifden; 4, Earl of Mansfield, 1823, Marquis of Exeter, 1829, Lord Brougham, 1834; 5, Lord Raglan, 1853; 6, Lord Reay; 9, Lord Palmerston, 1814-1843; 10, Bamber Gascoyne, grandfather of the present Marquis of Salisbury; 12, Colonel Barre, d. 1802; Sir Robert Peel, 1820-25; 15, Viscount Hardinge, d. 1856.

Waverton Street was renamed in 1886, instead of Union Street, built circa 1750. Charles Street is so called after Charles, Earl of Falmouth, brother of Lord Berkeley. At the corner of Hayes Street a public-house bears the sign of a running footman in the dress of the last century, with the inscription, "I am the only running footman."

Inhabitants of Charles Street: No. 22, H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence (William IV.); Admiral Sir G. Osborn, d. 1792; Sir G. Bulwer Lytton; the Earl of Ellenborough, Viceroy of India; J. H. Scott, of Abbotsford; Thomas Baring, M.P.; Lady Grenville, widow of the Premier, 1806-07; 33, Admiral Sherard Osborn, 1795; Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, d. 1815; Sydney Smith, 1835; 37, Earl of Dartmouth; 39, Earl of Camperdown; 40, Earl of Cork and Orrery; 48, Lord Burghclere; 49, Lord Romilly.