HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



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neiglibourliood, but up to the last the nursery maintained its 

 reputation for the cultivation of fruit-trees, of which alone there 

 was an extent covering forty-five acres of ground, when the 

 nursery was relinquished to Her Majesty's Commissioners of the 

 Great Exhibition of 1851. 



Near the centre of the Gardens, running from north to south, 

 was situated the Old Gore Lane which led from Brompton to 

 Kensington. 



Alongside the Kensington highway, stretching backwards to 

 the nurseries, stood various villas, which had been the residence 

 of persons of greater or less celebrity. Amongst these was Grove 

 House, the residence of the Hon. Mr. Wliitbread, celebrated for 

 the part he took in the jJohtics of his day. Nearly in the centre 

 of the space behind the Conservatory stood Gore House, formerly 

 the abode of Wilberforce (famous in the annals of Evangelism 

 and the Slave-trade), subsequently the residence of the Countess 

 of Blessington ; next to which was the house of a scarcely less 

 distinguished person — Count d'Orsay. 



Lady Blessington's grounds extended back as far as the great 

 basin, and the large chestnut-tree behind the cascade stood in 

 the paddock at the bottom of her garden. It was a favourite 

 resort of the Countess, and many a noble and renowned visitor 

 has reclined beneath its shade. The place afterwards acquired 

 another kind of celebrity, or rather notoriety. It was in it 

 that M. Soyer erected his eating-house for all nations during 

 the Great Exhibition of 1851, and those who visited it in that 

 year may remember his Baronial HaU and Symposium, with a 

 variety of other devices contrived by that ingenious gentleman. 

 The accompanying Map will enable the reader to understand 



