SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



names of some who have 'made history.' Even 

 before the accession of George III the absence of 

 the court had left the place much at the mercy of 

 the housekeeper 8 " and deputy-housekeeper, who 

 made a show of it and exacted fees from the 

 visitors who came to look at it. Horace Walpole, 

 whose house at Strawberry Hill was only 3 miles 

 off, constantly visited Hampton Court and made 

 notes on its history, its pictures and curiosities. 81 ' 

 On 3 August 1751, in a letter to Sir Horace 

 Mann, he told one of the numerous stories about 

 the famous and beautiful Misses Gunning, who, he 

 said, ' make more noise than any of their pre- 

 decessors since Helen. They went the other day 

 to see Hampton Court ; as they were going into 

 the Beauty Room, another company arrived, the 

 housekeeper said " This way, ladies ; here are the 

 Beauties." The Gunnings flew into a passion and 

 asked her what she meant ; that they came to see 

 the palace, not to be shown as a sight themselves.' ili 



From 25 October 1760, the date of the acces- 

 sion of George III, the history of Hampton Court 

 Palace assumes an entirely new aspect. Up to 

 that time it had been the background of important 

 public events, or connected with the private lives 

 of the sovereigns of England; but thenceforward it 

 became interesting only as the private individuals to 

 whom apartments were allotted by grace and favour 

 of the king or queen happened to be interesting. 



The state apartments were gradually dismantled 

 during the long reign of George III, furniture and 

 pictures were sent to other palaces, and perhaps this 

 gradual despoiling of the place, continued through 

 so many years, is one of the chief reasons that it has 

 remained in its present condition. 8133 It was not 

 till the reign of Queen Victoria that by her special 

 kindness and thought for her people the picture 

 galleries and gardens were thrown open to the 

 public. 81sb At first the private apartments were 

 often held by irregular and more or less surrepti- 

 tious devices. 8 '* by begging a grant from the Lord 

 Chamberlain, or by bribing the housekeeper, until 

 George III made the proviso that no one should 

 occupy ' lodgings ' unless the rooms were exactly 

 specified in a written grant from the Lord Cham- 

 berlain. 815 



HAMPTON 



It may be said here that whatever reasons may 

 have counted originally in conferring apartments 

 on those favoured by the king, for a great many 

 years they have been granted, in almost every in- 

 stance, ' in recognition of distinguished services ren- 

 dered to the Crown and country by the husbands 

 or near relatives of the recipients. Recently the 

 privilege has been almost entirely confined to 

 widows or unmarried ladies.' "* Some misappre- 

 hension of the terms on which these apartments 

 are granted has often arisen, i.e. that there is some 

 unwritten ' rule ' limiting the ' grace and favour ' 

 of the sovereign to making grants of rooms only to 

 ladies which is erroneous, 8 " as the king may give 

 them to anyone he pleases. Another misappre- 

 hension, arising perhaps from William the Fourth's 

 playful method of terming the palace ' the Quality 

 Poorhouse,' is that the inhabitants are entirely 

 without means. 818 



A guard of honour, supplied by the cavalry 

 regiment stationed at Hounslow, is always on duty 

 at the palace, and occupies the long low line of 

 buildings on the north of the west entrance. 

 Divine service is regularly performed in the chapel 

 by one of the king's chaplains, 8183 who occupies a 

 suite of apartments, and who is appointed and 

 partly paid by the Crown. 819 A clerk of the works, 

 who is also assistant surveyor, is appointed by the 

 Crown ; slto the fabric of the building and the 

 gardens are under the jurisdiction of the Office of 

 Works, though the interior is ruled by the Lord 

 Chamberlain, who still signs all the warrants issued 

 to holders of apartments. 



Society in Hampton Court Palace has never 

 been without its own peculiar charm and interest, 

 as perhaps the following short list of a few of the 

 more celebrated inhabitants may testify. 



Commodore Hon. Robert Boyle Walsingham, 

 youngest son of Henry, first Earl of Shannon, was 

 granted rooms on the ground floor on the south side 

 of the Clock Court. He took the name of Walsing- 

 ham on succeeding to the property. He com- 

 manded a squadron sent to the West Indies to re- 

 inforce Rodney in 1780, and was lost in H.M.S. 

 Thunderer in October that year. He married in 

 1759 Charlotte daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury 



811 The ' Lady Housekeeper!,' who 

 received a salary of ^250, with fees 

 which made the office worth nearly 

 800 a year, date from about 1758, 

 and were Mrs. Elizabeth Mostyn, Mrs. 

 Mary Kecte, Lady Anne Cecil, Lady 

 Elizabeth Seymour, and Lady Emily 

 Montague, who died in 1838; Law, 

 op. cit. iii, 444. An amusing account 

 is given in Fraxer's Mag. Aug. 1 846, 

 of the way in which someone who 

 efused to pay the necessary fees for 

 seeing the palace was kept locked up in 

 one of the rooms for some time by the 

 ' lady housemaid.' 



81a See Anecdotes of Painting, &c. 



818 Horace Walpole, Letters (ed. 

 Toynbee), iii, 68. The ' Beauty Room ' 

 is the one on the ground floor, facing 

 the south, under the King's Guard 

 Chamber. The Kneller picture* ori- 

 ginally hung there. It is now called 

 the 'Oak Room' and is used for en- 



tertainments by inhabitants of the 

 palace. 



8183 Letttrt of Horace Walpah (ed. 

 Toynbee), v, 208-9 > *''i IO 9- 



slab j-j er Majesty seems to have been 

 impressed by the Report of a Committee 

 ' On the Arts and their connexion with 

 manufactures,' in 1836, and to have 

 then decided that it was advisable to 

 allow the cartoons of Raphael and 

 other pictures at Hampton Court to be 

 shown to the public. 'Letter from 

 W. Ewart." Eraser's Mag. iv, 479. 



814 See p. 367 i Law, op. cit. iii, 

 302. 



818 See p. 367, n. 781-2. An ex- 

 haustive list of the successive inhabi- 

 tants, as far as they can be traced, is 

 given by Mr. Law, op. cit. iii, App. G. 

 A copy of Miss Antonia St. John's 

 MS. list, compiled from old letters and 

 warrants, has also been seen by the 

 writer (lent by Mrs. Marcus Slade). 



369 



816 Law, Hist. Hampton Court Palace, 

 iii, 413-14- 



817 A warrant to Admiral Sir Samuel 

 Brooke-Pechell, bart., 19 Nov. 1844, is 

 said to have been marked ' as being a 

 special exception to the rule that no 

 apartments are now granted to married 

 men or widowers.' Law, op. cit. iii, 45 2. 

 In 1892 the late Queen Victoria granted 

 apartments to Major-General Dennehv, 

 extra groom in waiting to the queen. 



818 Conditions of the tenure of apart- 

 ments may be found in Law, op. cit. 

 iii, 353 et seq. 



818a The present chaplain is the 

 Rev. A. Ingram, M.A. He occupies 

 ' The Treasurer's Lodgings ' in the 

 north wing of the west front. 



819 Law, op. cit. iii. 



819a The present clerk of the works 

 and assistant surveyor is Mr. Edwin 

 Chart. He has a separate house in 

 Tennis Court Lane. 



47 



