358 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 
appointed tutor to Prince Henry, and was in attendance 
on him as secretary when the Prince grew up. In 1607 
he commenced to build Charlton for him, Inigo Jones 
being the architect, and after the Prince’s death in 1612, 
the King granted Sir Adam the manor, in lieu of pay¬ 
ment for the expenses he had incurred in building the 
house. The owner of Charlton continued to enjoy royal 
favour, became Treasurer of the Household to Prince 
Charles, was created a baronet in 1620, and married a 
daughter of Sir John Puckering, who had been Keeper of 
the Great Seal to Queen Elizabeth. His second son, Sir 
Henry Newton, who succeeded him at Charlton, and took 
the name of Puckering from estates inherited from his 
uncle, was an ardent supporter of Charles I. He sold 
the property to Sir William Ducie, Viscount Downe, at 
whose death it was again sold. The purchaser, Sir 
William Langhorne, was a wealthy East India merchant, 
who was, from 1670 to 1677, Governor of Madras. On 
his death it passed by entail to his cousin Mrs. Maryon, 
and eventually to her great-granddaughter, the wife of 
Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, in whose family Charlton 
still remains. 
The gardens show traces of all the many owners, and 
in spite of the growth of London and its attendant draw¬ 
backs, they are still charming. The house stands in 
about 150 acres of undulating deer park, with some fine 
old trees, an avenue of English elms on the east, and one 
of horse-chestnuts, forming the approach on the west. 
Perhaps the planting of the tulip tree near the present 
lodge was due to John Evelyn, the friend of Sir Henry 
Puckering. Evelyn’s liking for tulip trees is well known, 
and this specimen looks old enough to claim his acquaint¬ 
ance. The two shattered but grand old mulberry trees 
