A HISTORY OF SURREY 



KEW 



Kayhor (xiv cent.) ; Kayo (xv cent.) ; Keyowe, 

 Kaiho, Kayhoo, Cewe (xvi cent.) ; Ceu (xvii cent.) 



The parish of Kew lies on the Surrey bank of the 

 Thames and is about 346^ acres in extent, the greater 

 part being occupied by Kew Gardens. Kew formerly 

 lay ia the parish of Kingston, from which it was not 

 separated until 1/69,' so that there are very few early 

 references to it. At the begining of the 1 6th century 

 it began to have a separate history, when the presence 

 of the Court at Richmond caused courtiers to settle 

 in the neighbourhood. Mary Tudor, in her father's 

 reign, had an establishment there. In 1522 

 amongst her household expenses is entered the drive 

 from Kew to Richmond.? Some years later Sir W. 

 Paulet wrote to Cromwell that Mary's household was 

 to be removed to Kew after the king had left Rich- 

 mond, 1 and in 1537 a yeoman cook serving the Lady 

 Mary was accused of robbery, and was said to be at 

 Kew, ' where the Lady Mary lies.' * Sir John Dudley 

 the on of Elizabeth, Baroness Lisle, lady of the 

 manor of Kingston Lisle i in Berkshire, had an estate 

 at Kew. 6 Henry Morris, Esquire to the Body, who 

 was involved in the accusations against Anne Boleyn,' 

 also had a house there, 8 and after his execution in 1536 

 an inventory was taken of ' his wardrobe stuff/ in- 

 cluding hangings, feather beds, &c., some of which 

 came from Kew.' In Cromwell's remembrances, 

 after a note to remind him ' that all Mr. Morris's 

 patents be searched out," there is another entry to the 

 effect that he should call upon Sir Edward Seymour 

 concerning ' the evidence of the house at Kew for my 

 Lady Seymour.' " This was probably Morris's house, 

 and the same that was then confirmed to Sir Edward 

 Seymour," who was in that year created Viscount 

 Beauchamp of Hatch," and who afterwards became 

 Duke of Somerset. 13 In 1537, however, Cromwell 

 informed Rowland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and 

 Lichncld, that he was to give up his house in the 

 Strand to Lord Beauchamp in exchange for the latter's 

 house at Kew," and in spite of Lee's protests the ex- 

 change was effected. 15 Another house there belonged 

 to Charles Somerset, first Earl of Worcester, who was 

 granted lands at Kew in 1 5 1 7." At his death in 1526 

 he left his estates at Kew and the tapestry in several 

 rooms there to his third wife, Eleanor, with remainder 

 to his son George." Sir George Somerset sold the 

 house to Thomas Cromwell in 1538 for 200," and 

 Cromwell conveyed it for the same sum to Charles 

 Brandon, Duke of Suffolk," who had probably already 

 inhabited Kew during the life of his wife Mary, the 

 daughter of Henry VII and widow of Louis XII. 



According to Leland's ' Cygnea Cantio," Kew was 

 her dwelling-house for a time after her return to 

 England." 



In Elizabeth's reign Sir John Pickering, Lord 

 Keeper of the Great Seal, obtained certain lands in 

 fee farm and had a house at Kew, 21 and on one 

 occasion the queen dined with him there. The 

 entertainment was described as ' great and exceeding 

 costly.' The queen was met at different points 

 ' after her first lighting ' and offered rare gifts, 

 amongst them a fan set with diamonds ; while after 

 dinner besides a pair of virginals, ' a gown and juppin ' 

 were presented to her in her bedchamber." A paper 

 entitled ' Remembrances for furniture at Kew and 

 elsewhere for entertainment,' is identified by Lysons 

 as written by Sir John Pickering. It consists of 

 notes of ' things to be remembered ' should the queen 

 visit him, and deals chiefly with the accommodation 

 for the queen and her ladies, their 'dyett,' and the 

 rewards to be offered to her attendants." Elizabeth, 

 daughter of James I, was given an establishment at 

 Kew in 1608," and John, Lord Harrington, 

 in whose charge she had been till then, was given 

 the chief post in her household." In the following 

 year, he wrote from there to the Lord Treasurer that 

 he could not personally bring the book of accounts, 

 as ' the Prince ' ** often called for Elizabeth to ride 

 with him, and Harrington was consequently in 

 constant attendance." A number of other people 

 of note have dwelt at Kew at various times, amongst 

 them Sir John Hele, who was made serjeant-at-law 

 to succeed Sir John Pickering, 18 Sir Roger Manley, 

 cavalier, who died 1688," Sir Peter Lely,* James 

 Thomson, author of 'The Seasons,' 31 Thomas Gains- 

 borough, who was buried in the church," and Stephen 

 Duck, the farm labourer who became a poet and 

 rector of Byfleet. During the French Revolution, 

 the English Court being then frequently at Kew, 

 many refugees established themselves there." 



Three different buildings have at various times 

 gone by the name of Kew Palace : the one 

 that is now standing ; the house that was opposite 

 to it until the beginning of the igth century ; and 

 a huge embattled castle which was planned by 

 George III, and of which a large part was 

 built after plans by Wyatt, but never completed." 

 The history of the other two palaces is difficult to 

 trace with accuracy. The palace that was pulled 

 down in 1802, and which was then a large house 

 of plain exterior, was the more important of the two, 

 and probably was on the site of the capital messuage 



1 Private Act, 9 Gco. Ill, cap. 65. 

 L. and P. Hen. nil, iii, 3375, p. 

 14.07. 



* Ibid, xi, 1291. 



* Ibid, xii (i), 661. 



* G.E.C. Peerage, under Lisle. 



Add. MS. 4.075, t'ol. 114 j L. and P. 

 Hen. Vlll, xiii (i), 696 ; xvii, 120 (50). 



7 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



L. and P. Hen. fill, x, 878. 



Ibid. 794. l Ibid. 871. 

 Ibid. 1087 (9). 



" G.E.C. Peerage. 

 Ibid. 



" L. and P. Hen. Vlll. xii (i), 806, 

 821. 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. s.v. Roland Lee or 

 Legh. 



" L. and P. Hen. VUl, ii, 3769. 



" P.C.C. 13 Porch. 



18 L. and P. Hen. PHI, xiv (i), 336 5 

 Harl. Chart. 49, A 46. 



" Ibid. ; L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiv (2), 

 782. 



20 Leland, Itin. ix, 12. 



81 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



w Sidney State Pafen (ed. Collins), i, 

 376. 



482 



88 Harl. MS. 6850, fol. 91, 92. 



84 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



* Ibid. 



26 Her brother, Prince Henry. 



W Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 552. 



88 Ibid. 1601-3, P- *7 i Diet. Nat. Biog. 



89 Diet. Nat. Biog. 



80 Ibid. 



81 Ibid. 



88 Ibid. See Phillips, A Morning Walk 

 from London to K.eiu. 



83 Frederick Scheer, Keta and its Gar- 

 dens, 1 8. 



84 Journ. of Ke-w Guild (1906), 297. 



