A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



and a very full and ample inventory was made 

 of all the furniture, plate, jewels, pictures, 

 tapestries, &c., in Hampton Court Palace. The 

 inventory is still preserved in the British Museum,"' 

 under the tide ' Goods viewed and appraised at 

 Hampton Court, in the custody of William 

 Smithsbie, Esq., Wardrobe Keeper, 5 Oct. 1649.' 

 The sum at which each entry was valued, and the 

 price for which it was sold, are entered, together 

 with the name of the purchaser. A certain num- 

 ber of the tapestries, 640 pictures, &c., were fortu- 

 nately eventually kept ' for the use of the Lord 

 Protector.' The sale lasted for nearly three 

 years. 641 



A rough survey of the manor was also made in 

 view of its being sold for ' the benefit of the 

 Commonwealth.' "' The palace was valued at 

 Llilll l $ s - 5<^" s The total value of the manor, 

 including the parks and other inclosures, was com- 

 puted to be .10,765 \<)s. gj. 



The Council of State, however, concluded that 

 Hampton Court, Whitehall, Westminster, and a 

 few other places were ' to be kept for the public 

 use of the Commonwealth.' 544 



In October 1651 Cromwell installed himself in 

 the palace, but in November 1652 a Bill for the 

 sale of the late king's houses and lands hitherto 

 exempted was brought before Parliament, and it 

 was resolved that Hampton Court, 'together with 

 the Parks, the Harewarren and Meadows with 

 appurtenances be sold for ready money.' MS Fur- 

 ther debates took place on the subject, 548 and it 

 was even offered to Cromwell in exchange for 

 ' New Hall ' in Essex, 5 " but at that time he refused 

 the proposal, and the parks were put up for auction 

 on 15 November 1653, the fee of the honour and 

 manor having been previously sold. 548 Cromwell 

 was proclaimed Lord Protector in December 1653, 

 and immediately proceeded on behalf of the State 

 to buy back the palace and surrounding pro- 

 perty. 549 On 30 August 1654 Mr. Phelps, 550 to 

 whom the manor had been sold, re-conveyed it to 

 Cromwell ; in 1657 the Lord Protector's name is 

 entered in the Court Rolls as lord of the manor. 651 



Cromwell was constantly at Hampton Court 



s" Had. MSS. no. 4898, fol. 238. 

 If not the original list it is a contem- 

 porary copy, and consists of a very 

 large volume of nearly 1,000 pages. 

 The Hampton Court list fills about 

 seventy-six pages. 



540 Law, op. cit. 278-90. 



"1 Ibid, ii, 165-6. 



54a P.R.O. Midd. no. 32 dated 1649. 

 Printed in Law, op. cit. App. 258 et 

 seq. It was afterwards elaborated into 

 a more detailed account, and completed 

 in April 1653. 



648 For the acreage and valuation of 

 the parks, see account of Parks and 

 Gardens, pp. 380-8. 



644 Ludlow, Memoin, 329 ; S.P. 

 Dom. Common w. i, 29 j ii, 91, May and 

 August 1649. 



545 'Journ, of House of Commons, 1652. 



546 S.P. Dom. Chas. I, cxiv, 18 ; 

 Scobell, Acts and Ordinances of Parl. ii, 

 227 j Lysons, Midd. Parishes, 65 j 

 Journ. of House of Commons, 307. 



5< 7 New Hall, an estaie belonging to 

 the Duke of Buckingham, had been 

 sequestrated by the P irliament and 

 bought by Cromvr_li in April 1651 ; 

 Clarendon. P-.ii. Hist, xx, 223; Morant, 

 Hist. F^*cx, ii, 1 5 j Bruton, Diary, i, p. 

 zi ; fourn. of House of Commons. 



64i ",See descent of the manor, p. 326. 



f'Cal. S.P. Dom. Common. 1652-3, 

 p. 405 51653-4, pp. 299-300, 363, 385, 

 396,408-9. 



550 Ibid. ' Warrants of the Protector 

 .rid Council/ 



'j 5 " ct. R. P.R.O. ; S.P. Dom. Com- 

 monw. Ixvii, 88. 



*** Cromivelliana, 144; Thurloe, State 

 Paftrs, ii, 248. Cromwell generally 

 worij a coat of mail under his other 

 clothes, so much did he consider him- 

 self ,lways in danger of such attempts ; 

 ibid.';, 708. 



K "iPerfect Proceedings, no. 300, cit. 

 Law, top. cit. ii, 175. 



H Voble, Memoirs of tht Cromv/clls, 



354 



after this, and one of the early records of his time 

 is concerning a Royalist plot to assassinate him on 

 his way to or from London to the palace, frustrated 

 by his receiving a timely warning and returning 

 by another road. 561 He transacted affairs of state 

 at Hampton Court, and the members of the 

 council came down to him on such occasions as 

 they had done during the late king's reign. 5 " 

 Mrs. Cromwell, the ' Lady Protectress ' as she was 

 sometimes called, seems to have attempted, somewhat 

 awkwardly, to hold a sort of court in the palace. 

 In a scurrilous pamphlet entitled The Court anil 

 Kitchen ofjoan Cromwell her household and habits 

 are commented on in no kindly spirit. It is said, 

 among other accusations, that she had little 

 labyrinths and trap-doors made for her, ' by which 

 she might at all times, unseen, come unawares upon 

 her servants, and keep them vigilant in their 

 places.' 554 Occasionally, however, public enter- 

 tainments had to take place, and some of the old 

 state was revived, such as the Protector's body- 

 guard of halberdiers attending in the banqueting 

 room, and the old court ceremonials being observed 

 in bringing up the dishes to the table. On 2 5 July 

 1656 the Swedish ambassador dined and hunted 

 with Cromwell at Hampton Court " 5 quite in the 

 old manner, but this return to ceremony was by 

 no means relished even by his friends and sup- 

 porters. 55 * A curious picture of his familiar ways 

 with his officers and ordinary associates is given by 

 both Whitelocke and Heath. Heath says, ' His 

 custom was now to divert himself frequently at 

 Hampton Court . . . here he used to hunt . . . 

 his own diet was very spare, and not so curious, 

 except in publique Treatments, which w]~te con- 

 stantly given every Monday in the week to all the 

 officers of the Army not below a Captain, where 

 he dined with them and shewed them a hundred 

 Antick Tricks, as throwing of cushions s.nd putting 

 live coals in their pockets and boots ... he had 

 twenty other tricks in his head.' 5 " He was fond 

 of music, and instruments of one kind or another 

 were always played during his banquets at the 

 palace. He also had two good organs put up in the 

 Great Hall,on which no doubt his secretary, Milton, 



cu 



i, 127-30 et seq. F.V..U her moral 

 character was assailed by those pitiless 

 writers. 



5 Whitelocke, Mem. 649. 



Ibid. 656; Heath, Flagellum, 

 164. I 



657 Heath, loc. cit. Cromwell seems 

 to have had sonu? appreciation of art, 

 and kept Mantegna's great cartoons in 

 the 'Long Gallery,' near his own 

 rooms ; it is to /him that the preserva- 

 tion of any pictures and tapestries at 

 this time is bwing. There ii no 

 proof that he actually bought the great 

 quantity of furr/iture and fittings which 

 had originally belonged to the palace, 

 and which was/ claimed by his family as 

 private property at his death. He 

 probably mttrely took possession of 

 what he fourfid there. The inventory of 

 the goods thtis claimed by the Crom- 

 wells is amo/ag S.P. Dom. Commonw. 

 vol. ciii, 4i.f Printed in full in Law, 

 Hist. Hamffon Court Palace ii, App. C. 



