[ 602 ] ■ ' [Jan. ! 
INCIDENTS, MADTIIAGES, and DEATHS, in and near LONDON: 
T[7ZA BiogT'uphiQal 21emoirs of distinguished Characters rec-ently deceased. 
KE lease from the Crown of Mary-°ie-bonne 
park expired during the present year, has 
afforded to the crown land commissioners au 
opportunity of increasing the rental of the 
crown lands, by laying out the ground in an 
ornamental manner, and erecting buildings 
thereon. The estate extends from Portland- 
piace to Primrose-bill, and is nearly as broad 
as long. It consists of 543 acres of land, 
upon which it is proposed to create a very 
spacious circus, including a' park vrithin iis 
circumference, having noblemen’s houses 
built around, each detached, with gardens 
and plantations, answering at once the pur¬ 
pose of a town residence and a country villa. 
.Around the circus is to be a spacious drive 
for carriages, v.dth horse-rides and foct walks 
like Kyde Park. Around the circus, on 
the outside of the houses, will be squares 
and streets, but nearly ail upon the same plan 
with respect to gardens and plantations. In 
the circus a palace is to be built for one of 
toe royal family. Barracks will be built at 
Primrose-hill, with an exercising ground in 
front of forty acres. It is also proposed to 
cut a street from the Haymarket of equal 
breadth up to Oxford-street, affording a noble 
avenue to the Parliament Houses, Courts of 
Law, the Theatres, the Palace, the Bridges, 
&;c. The market for hay is to be removed 
tc the top of Tottenham-court-road, cr the 
reighborheod of t'le Padoington Canal. 
I.Iarv-ie-hone Park is to be planted with 
17,000 trees, and its formation is proceeding 
in with considerable expedition. The mili¬ 
tary park at Welling’s farm, is nearly laid 
Out. Two gr.ind barracks are to be erected, 
one on each wing, spacious enough for the 
reception of 3000 men ; the whole is to be 
closed with a belt of forest trees, a consider¬ 
able part of which is already planted, and on 
the outside of which will be a circular drive, 
open to the public, to an extent of four miles, 
in the days of ^ueen Elizabeth, every great 
nobleman’s town residence was a distinct 
building, a palace standing in a garden. 
They were chiefly situated between London 
and Westminster, then an open country. 
' in the vicinity of the Strand we may trace 
the scites of many of them, as Exeter ’Change, 
Sonierset-hcuse, Norfolk, Essex, Salisbury, 
and Buckingham, streets, are the spots on 
which dwelt the nobleme.u of those names. 
Of the old stile of residence very few exam¬ 
ples .amain, besides Northumberland, Bur¬ 
lington, Devonshire, and Lansdowne Houses j 
and even that few is daily diminishing. 
The desire of building houses in Hyde Park, 
and the extravagant ground rents offered, 
pointed out to the crown lands commission 
the advantage ot finding the means of grati¬ 
fying the prevailing passioHi that the taste 
of the days of ^usen Elizabeth might be a!» 
lowed to revive. The commission have 
therefore directed their attention to the Ma- 
ry-Ie-bone Park estate. 
This month has been distinguished by the 
most barbarous murders upon record, or that 
ever disgraced civil society ! Between a quar¬ 
ter and half past twelve, of the night of 
Saturday the 7th, some unknown murderers 
beat out the brains of Mr. and Mrs. Marr, 
silk-mercers, of Ratcliffe Highway, as they 
stood in their shop, and afterwards those of 
the servant-boy and of an infant m the 
cradle. Happily the assassins were disturbed 
by the knocking at the door of the servant 
maid, when they were heard to escape through 
one of the empty houses in Pennin^on-street. 
It is otherwise supposed, that, having mur¬ 
dered the family, they intended to strip the 
premises, and then, to conceal their crimes, 
set them on fire. At first, the supineness of 
the Secretary of State, and of the magistracy* 
excited much animadversion, but they 
W'ere at length aroused, large rewards offVi^d, 
and every exertion has since been used for 
the discovery of the diabolical perpetrators * 
Since the before described tragedy, the 
same demons of hell entered another house, 
the King’s Ai.ms. i.n New Gravel-lane, and 
murdered, in the same manner, Mr. and Mrs. 
Williamson, and their servant maid, TItc 
ntighbrurhood were alarmed by a lodger, but 
the assassins, notwithstanding, made their 
escape at the back of the house. As such 
deeds are unknown in our annals, the sen¬ 
sation excited by them has been great, and 
very large rewards have been offered for the 
apprehension of the murderers. It is, how¬ 
ever, to be regretted that more activity was 
not displayed in the first instance by the local 
police, and that the police of the w’hole me¬ 
tropolis was not more promptly devoted to 
this single object. 
A djeadful explosion took place on Wed¬ 
nesday morning the 3d instant, about eleven 
o’clock, at the Government Powder Mills, 
at Waltham Abbey. The concussion waa 
distinctly felt in and round the metropolis, 
more particularly in Stepney, Hackney, and 
Black wall. Two mills, with a corning 
house, and other buHdings, were blow’n to 
atoms, and eight lives lost. The terrified 
inhabitants of Waltham Abbey fled from their 
homes, dreading the explosion of the maga¬ 
zine. 
The annual shew of cattle, sheep, and 
pigs, took place in Sadler’s spacious premises, 
in Gosweli-street ^ a label being affixed at the 
head of each animal, stating the full parti¬ 
culars of its breed, age, feeding, iicc. with 
the names of the parties, and the adjudication 
of the three gentlemen, who were appointed 
