KINGSTON HUNDRED 



RICHMOND 



to hunt round Richmond Palace, notwithstanding the 

 king's prohibition." The Duke of Lauderdale obtained 

 the office of rangership of the park for life in 1673,' 

 and Laurence Earl of Rochester in 1683,'' but his 

 son, afterwards Lord Clarendon, sold the remainder of 

 the term to the Crown in 1727, and the rangership 

 was given by George II to Robert Walpole, son of the 

 celebrated prime minister Sir Robert Walpole. The 

 latter was created Earl of Orfordin 1742,'* and spent 

 much of his leisure at Richmond, frequently hunting 

 in the park." 8 The prime minister, although he 

 effected improvements and spent much money on the 

 park, made several encroachments on the rights of the 

 public by shutting up gates and taking away step- 

 ladders on the walls ; and after his death in 1745, and 

 that of his son, the ranger, in 1751, these encroach- 

 ments were continued by the Princess Amelia, who 

 was the next holder of the rangership. Several com- 

 plaints were made by the neighbourhood, 10 * and in 

 1754 a special jury gave a verdict for the princess, 104 

 but in 1758 a decision was given in favour of the 

 public, and the step-ladders and gates were restored. 

 The princess resigned her office of rangership in 

 1 76 1, 106 and in the same year it was granted to the 

 Earl of Bute, who held it until his death in I792. 107 

 About 1814 the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV, 

 appointed as ranger his sister Princess Elizabeth, 108 

 who held the office until 1825, when it passed to the 

 Landgravine of Hesse. 109 She was succeeded in the 

 office by Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, who held it 

 from 1835 till his death in 1 8 50," after which the 

 Duchess of Gloucester held it until her death in 

 1 8 5 7. 111 George, Duke of Cambridge, was then made 

 ranger, 111 and after his death in 1 904 the preservation of 

 game and the private shooting in the park were 

 abolished. 



As well as several picturesque keepers' lodges, Rich- 

 mond Park contains some important houses which may 

 be mentioned here, although situated outside the 

 parish boundary. 



Pembroke Lodge, formerly known as Hill Lodge 

 and the Molecatcher's, stands a short distance from 

 Richmond Gate, just beyond the Terrace Walk, 1 " and 

 commands a splendid view of the Thames valley. 

 The Countess of Pembroke died here in 1831 at the 

 age of ninety-three, 114 after which it was occupied by 

 the Earl of Errol, subsequently by Earl Russell, and 

 since the death of his widow by Georgina Countess 

 of Dudley. 115 Within the grounds is a board on 

 which is inscribed a poem on James Thomson, ' the 

 poet of Nature,' alluding to the beautiful prospect 

 which he loved. In the grounds also is a barrow, 

 traditionally said to have been the spot where Henry 

 VIII stood to see the rocket which gave him intima- 

 tion of the execution of the sentence on Anne Boleyn. 



White Lodge is situated between Sheen and Robin 

 Hood Gates. The central part was built by George II, 



and originally called Stone Lodge, the two wings 

 being added later by the Princess Amelia. In the 

 reign of George III it was occupied by Lord Bute, 

 and later by Lord Sidmouth, who was here visited 

 by William Pitt and Lord Nelson. It was the home 

 of the Duchess of Gloucester when ranger. Queen 

 Victoria spent a short time here after her mother's 

 death, and King Edward, when Prince of Wales, also 

 lived here at one time. It afterwards became the 

 home of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, whose 

 grandson Edward the present Prince of Wales was 

 born here in i894. 116 



Sheen Lodge, near Sheen Gate, once a keeper's 

 lodge called the Dog-Kennel, is distinguished as 

 having been the home of the great physiologist Sir 

 Richard Owen, K.C.B., who here entertained Dickens, 

 Millais, Mr. Gladstone, and other noted guests. It 

 is now occupied by Mrs. Owen. 



Thatched Cottage, which stands near Ham Gate, 

 was also a keeper's lodge in former days. It was 

 occupied during part of the igth century by Sir 

 Edward Bowater, General Meadows, and Sir Charles 

 Stuart ; llr and has recently been lent to Sir Frederick 

 Treves, bart., G.C.V.O., C.B., LL.D., F.R.C.S. 



Four religious bodies have had houses at Richmond. 

 From 1315 to 1318 twenty-four Carmelite friars 

 stayed by command of Edward II at the manor-house 

 of Sheen and celebrated divine service there, but in the 

 latter year they moved to a place which the king granted 

 them outside the walls by the North Gate of Oxford. 

 These friars were endowed with a grant of 120 

 marks out of the Exchequer. 118 A house of Friars 

 Observant 119 was founded by Henry VII in 1499 

 and suppressed in 1534. The site was granted in 

 1572 to Percival Gunstan and his heirs, 1 * and the 

 survey of 1649 m represents the remaining rooms to 

 have been then used as a chandler's shop. The 

 approximate position of the convent is indicated by 

 a lane called Friar's Lane which leads from the Green 

 past Queensberry House to the river ; and is de- 

 scribed in the 1649 survey as having been on this side 

 of the palace. Henry V established two religious 

 houses in Sheen in 1414, one of which, a house of 

 Celestines, 1 " was, however, abolished shortly after- 

 wards."* The Carthusian Priory of Jesus of Bethle- 

 hem founded by him, of which an account has already 

 been given in this history, 1 " was situated in the Old 

 Deer Park where Kew Observatory now stands. 

 This monastery is one of the two chantries referred 

 to in Shakespeare's Henry V, where the king says on 

 the eve of the battle of Agincourt IK 



' I have built 



Two chantries where the sad and solemn priests 

 Sing still for Richard's soul.' 



The house was granted in 154010 Edward Sey- 

 mour, afterwards Duke of Somerset. He conveyed it 



9 Cal. S.P. Dam. \ 666-7, P- 2OZ - 



100 Ibid. 1673, P- "3- 



101 Pat. 3 5 Chas. II, pt. ii, no. 8. 



lra G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 278 ; vi, 128. 



> Hill. MSS. Com. Rtf. xv, App. vi, 

 165 ; xiv, App. ix, 241. 



104 H. Walpole, Mtm. of Reign of 

 Gee. II (ed. Lord Holland), i, 401-2 ; 

 G.E.C. Peerage, vi, 130. 



lot Hilt. MSS. Com. Rtf. x, App. vi, 

 257 ; xv, App. vi, 204. 



"* Manning and Bray, op. cit. i, 416. 



W G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 91. 



1(18 A. H. W. GuiJt to Richmond Nna 

 Park, 16. 



109 Mrs. A. G. Bell, Royal Manor oj 

 Richmond, 112. 



110 G.E.C. Peerage, ii, 122. 



111 Ibid, iv, 47. 

 "'Ibid, ii, 123. 



" Made in 1832 (Chancellor, op. cit. 

 23.). 



'" G.E.C Peerage, vi, 224. 

 lls Bell, op. cit. 115. 

 "Ibid. 113-14. 

 W Ibid. 



537 



"8 Cat. Pat. 1313-17, p. 377 i I3'7- 

 ai, p. 103. 



u For an account of it ee V.C.H. 

 Surr. ii, 1 1 6. 



120 Pat. 14 Eliz. pt. i, m. 13. 



ln See above. 



128 Walsingham, TfoJigma Neuitriat 

 (Rolli Ser.), 450. The third home re- 

 ferred to by Waliingham was the Abbey 

 of Syon in Middlesex. 



1M Chancellor, op. cit. 74. 



>" V.C.H. Surr. ii, 89. 



lu Act. iv, tc. i. 



68 



