HISTORICAL GARDENS 315 



extraordinary number of centenarians this small burying- 

 ground contains is astounding. William Hisland surely 

 beats the record, as he was married when he was over 

 a hundred ! He was born in August 1620, and died 

 in February 1732. Another veteran of 112 died five 

 years later, while another, Robert Comming, who was 

 buried in 1767, was 115, and before the end of the 

 eighteenth century three others, aged respectively 102, 

 III, and 107, were interred. The eldest of these 

 three, who died in 1772, had fought in the Battle of 

 the Boyne! It certainly speaks well for the care and 

 attention bestowed on them in the Hospital. 



The garden to the east of the buildings was part 

 of the original ground, but has had a career and history 

 of its own. It was the famous Ranelagh Gardens, which 

 enchanted the beaux and fair ladies of the eighteenth 

 century. From 1742 to 1803 its glories lasted. Rane- 

 lagh House was built by the Earl of that name, who 

 was Paymaster to the Forces in the reign of James II., 

 a clever, unscrupulous person, who amassed considerable 

 wealth in the course of his office-work. He obtained 

 a grant of the land from Chelsea Hospital, built a house 

 and laid out a garden, where the " plots, borders, and 

 walks " were " curiously kept, and elegantly designed." 

 After passing through the hands of his daughter, Lady 

 Catherine Jones, the property was sold to Swift and 

 Timbrell, who leased it to Lacey, the patentee of Drury 

 Lane Theatre. The idea was to turn it into a winter 

 Vauxhall. Eventually it was open from Easter till 

 the end of the summer, and effectually outshone Vaux- 

 hall. Walpole, in a letter two days after it was first 

 opened, did not think much of it. " I was there, last 

 night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a 



