  NINE ELMS LANE it is said derived its name from nine Elm Trees which stood in a row facing a small mansion known as "Manor House"—on the site there has recently been erected, partly out of some of the old materials, the offices and premises belonging to Haward Bros. Forty years ago, Londoners wending their way to Battersea fields regarded themselves in the country away from the smoke of town where they could rusticate at pleasure as soon as they entered Nine Elms Lane on their pedestrian excursions. Here were hedgerows, and green lanes, and market gardens, and orchards, meadows, and fields of waving corn, where reapers might have been seen in harvest-time reaping and binding sheaves of golden grain. Dikes and ditches had to be crossed. On the north side of Nine Elms Lane, nearly opposite the place where the "Southampton Arms" Tavern is situated was a windmill. On the site now occupied by Thorne's Brewery there used to be a Tan Yard and Fellmonger's Establishment. When the ground was opened for the purpose of drainage some old tanks were discovered in which the hides were soaked containing remains of lime and hair. In the rear of the Brewery there was a Hop Garden where that bitter plant much used for brewing was cultivated. The only regular vehicle that passed through Nine Elms Lane was the carrier's cart—the few inhabitants of the place used to "turn out" to see it pass—a marked contrast to the present hurried and incessant traffic! Facing the Railway Terminus were two Steamboat Piers for landing and taking up passengers. At race times the excitement between the rival steamboat companies was intense—"touters," men hired expressly by each of these companies to induce passengers to go down their respective piers, became at times so exasperated with each other that they fell to blows, a sight which the baser sort of the crowds assembled on such occasions enjoyed to their hearts' content. Many things have been said by way of disparagement of Battersea and not at all reflecting credit on certain localities within the parish. Battersea has been called "the Sink Hole of Surrey." Europa Place, Bridge Road, has been designated "Little Hell," and the spot where Trinity Hall has been erected at the end of Stewart's Lane, received the epithet of "Hell Corner." Persons in the habit of receiving stolen property were said to reside in the neighbourhood; moreover, there was a gang called "Battersea Forty Theives!" "Sharpers" are said to have abounded in every direction, so that strangers going to Battersea would be "cut for the simples." But we who know something of London life know that other Metropolitan parishes have their "dens of infamy" and localities of "Blue Skin," "Jack Sheppard," and "Jonathan Wild" notoriety, that beneath the shadow of St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, our Houses of Parliament and Mansions of the Nobility and Aristocracy, squalor and crime, vice and grandeur walk side by side, and oftentimes hand in hand. Adjoining Thorne's premises and Swonnell's Malt houses, is the London and South Western Railway Company's Goods Station, which, before the extension of that Company's line in 1848 to Waterloo Road, was originally the Metropolitan Terminus. Though this part of the line crosses the most grimy portion of Lambeth, a distance of two miles and fifty yards, yet it cost the Railway Company £800,000. The London and Southampton Railway (as it was first called) was opened on the 11th of May, 1840, which, in connexion with the opposite wharf and warehouses on the banks of the river, at that time occupied an extent of between seven and eight acres. The entrance front of the (then) Metropolitan Terminus at Nine Soon after the opening of the London and Southampton Railway a collision between two passenger trains occurred at the Nine Elms Terminus resulting in the death of a young woman, a domestic servant, who, with a fellow servant, had been spending the day at Hampton Court. The Coroner's Jury returned a verdict of accidental death a deodand of £300 was levied on the "Eclipse" locomotive engine, the moving cause of death. The Railway Company paid the £300 to Earl Spencer as Lord of the Manor, who most generously divided it amongst the deceased's relatives. Omnia qua movent ad mortem sunt deodanda: On the South Western Railway Stone Wharf are the agents' offices of the several depÔts for the sale of Portland stone, Bath freestone, etc. Huge blocks of stone direct from the quarries are here deposited and piled block upon block. A single block in some When the workmen were engaged in "digging out" the ground for the foundation of the goods sheds a human skeleton was discovered, on which Mr. Carter (coroner) held an inquest. Dr. Statham, who made the post mortem examination, stated that the skeleton was that of a male person, that there were three severe cuts upon the head either of which was sufficient to cause death. As no further evidence was procurable a verdict was given in accordance. About forty years ago, when Mr. Gooch was Locomotive Superintendent, a fire broke out at the London and South Western Railway Works, Nine Elms Lane, which caused great destruction of property, including a very handsome clock tower. Various metals were fused and mingled into shapes fantastic, portions of which were substituted for chimney-piece ornaments in the homes of the workman and kept as mementos of this conflagration! A man of the name of Dover who it is said accidentally set the stores on fire was so frightened that it turned the hair of his head grey in one night! At Nine Elms Locomotive, Carriage and Stores Departments are fire precautions which the Railway Company insist upon being strictly observed. A fire engine with hose and all necessary appliances is kept in a building set apart for it adjoining Heman's Street Entrance gate. A properly qualified fireman is appointed to look after the whole of the buildings by night, as a precaution against fire. The fireman's name is Thomas Lewin, and his residence is 51, Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road. His hours of duty are from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. It is the fireman's duty to perambulate the whole of the works during the night, and to make a daily report of the circumstances in the book provided for that purpose. He is responsible that the fire engine, hose, hydrants, etc., are kept in working order and tried once a week. A statement of the trial is to be made in the fireman's report book with any suggestions or remarks. Positions of Hydrants at Nine Elms Works—There are 120 hydrants (always charged) distributed as follows:—15 in the offices, paint loft and shops beneath; 4 in the general stores; 4 in wheelwrights' and signal shops; 2 in bonnet shop; 5 in waggon shop; 4 in new waggon shop and saw mill; 5 in smiths' and carriage fitting shops; 9 in erecting shops; 2 in turning shop; 3 in tender shop; 4 in new erecting shop; 1 in permanent way shop; 4 in arches under the Viaduct; 52 in running shed; 4 at outlets of water tanks, and 2 on the coal stage. Positions of Tell-tale Clocks:—1 in the office; 1 in general stores; 1 in wheelwrights' shop; 1 in paint shop; 1 in saw mill. It is the fireman's duty to commence to "peg" each of these blocks four times every night at the following hours, viz., 8 p.m., 10.30 p.m., 1 a.m. and 3.30 a.m. Facing the Goods Station are the Company's Wharves with an extensive river frontage. Here also formerly stood Francis' Cement Works, adjoining is Nine Elms Steamboat Pier. The South Western Railway Locomotive Works and Goods Department occupy a vast area. It is computed that about 2,000 persons are employed in the various departments. Here were formerly orchard-grounds—many Our forefathers never dreamed of erecting such drinking fountains Many a dainty dish of stewed eels have the miller's men had at Mill-pond Bridge, who not unfrequently caught alive this precious kind of anguilla as it lay concealed between the stones and mud, without the aid of eel-pot or basket. Mill-Pond Bridge derives its name from the old tidal water flour mill, the only vestige of the mill remaining is the outward carcase, which is in a ruinous condition; beneath its cover are the lock gates, the entrance of the creek where thousands of tons of coal are conveyed in barges to the London Gas Works. NEW ROAD, as it is designated, leading from Battersea fields to the Wandsworth Road was a lane with a mud bank on both sides. In a line with the centre of the South Western Railway "Running Shed" was formerly Mill-Pond which answered the purpose of a large reservoir of water raised for driving the mill wheel. Water mills used for grinding corn are said to have been invented by Belisarius, the General of Justinian while besieged in Rome by the Goths, 555. The ancients parched their corn and ground it in mortars. Afterwards mills were invented which were turned by men and beasts with great labour, yet Pliny mentioned wheels turned by water. See Telo-dynamic Transmitter. The simplest mill for bruising grain was nothing more than two stones between which it was broken. Such was often seen in the country of the Niger by Richard and John Lander on their expedition to Africa. The manna which God gave to the children of Israel in the desert "the people went about and gathered it, and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar," Numbers xi. 8. From mills and mortars thus rudely constructed there must have been obtained at first only a kind of peeled grain which Dr. Eadie says may be compared to the German graupe, the English groats, and the American grits or hominy. Fine flour was laboriously obtained from household mills like our coffee mills. The oldest mention of flour is in Gen. xviii. 6; but bread which is made of flour or meal is named in Gen. iii. 19. In order to reduce the flour to a proper degree of fineness it was necessary sometimes to have it ground over again and cleared by a sieve. Samson when a prisoner to the Philistines was condemned to the mill-stone to grind with his hand in the prison-house, Judges xvi. 21. In England prisoners are sent to the treadmill as a punishment. The Talmudists have a story that the Chaldeans made the young men of the captivity carry mill-stones with them to Babylon where there seems to have been a scarcity at that time. They have also a proverbial expression of a man with a mill-stone about his neck which they use to express a man under the severest weight of affliction. Windmills are of great antiquity and stated to be of Roman or Saracen invention, they are said to have been originally introduced into Europe by the Knights of St. John, who took the hint from what they had seen in the crusades (Baker). Windmills were first known in Spain, France and Germany in 1299 (Anderson). Wind saw-mills were invented by a Dutchman in 1633, when one was erected near the Strand in London. Acorns was the coarse fare of the old inhabitants of Britain, In 1289 Edward I. issued his Royal Mandate to Peter Corbet for the extermination of wolves in the several counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford; and in the adjacent county of Derby. Camden at page 900 informs us certain persons at Wormhill held their lands by the duty of hunting and taking the wolves that infested the country, whence they were styled Wolf Hunt. In Saxon times and during Athelstan's reign wolves abounded so in Yorkshire that a retreat was built at Flixton in that county "to defend passengers from the wolves that they should not be devoured by them." On account of the desperate ravages these animals made during winter the Saxons distinguished January by the name of the Wolf month. An outlaw was called a wolf's head as being out of the protection of law and liable to be killed as that destructive beast. The Accipenser, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes belonging to the Amphibia Nantes of LinnÆus. The Accipenser has a single linear nostril; the cirri are below the snout, and before the mouth. There are three species of this genus. The ruthenus has four cirri, and fifteen squamous protuberances; it is a native of Russia. The huso has four cirri; the body is naked, has no prickles or protuberances. The ichthyocollo, or isinglass of the shops, famous as an agglutinant, and used also for the fining of wines, is made from its sound or scales. The Sturio, or Sturgeon with four cirri and eleven squamous protuberances on the back. This fish annually ascends our rivers (it has occasionally been seen in years gone by as high up the river Thames as Wandsworth) but in no great numbers, and is taken by accident in the salmon nets. It seems a spiritless fish making no manner of resistance when entangled, but is drawn out of the water like a lifeless lump. This cartilaginous fish is highly prized for food, not unlike in taste to veal. About thirty-six years ago a Royal Sturgeon was caught in the wheel of the mill at Mill-Pond Bridge then in the occupation of Mr. Hutton the Miller (who was noted as a breeder of game fowls), now the property of the London Gas-Light Company. It appears that a local tradesman named Henry Appleton was going to town and saw a great crowd, some with guns shooting at a great fish, but the Sturgeon's natural armour resisted the force of their small shot such as they were then using. Mr. Appleton upon seeing the state of affairs hastened to procure a bullet or two as a more effectual means of capturing the prize and the first shot or bullet fired was fatal to the poor sturgeon which was then landed and conveyed into the garden of Mr. Hutton's private house upon the exact spot of which at the The Sturgeon is more abundant in the Northern Coasts of Europe. It is also found in the more Southern parts. It was esteemed by the ancients as a very great luxury and it was held in high repute for the table by the Greeks and Romans and at their banquets it was introduced with particular ceremonies. In England when caught in the Thames within the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor of London it is a Royal Fish reserved for the Sovereign. The flesh is white, delicate, firm and nutritious. It is used both fresh, generally stewed. The largest species of Sturgeon is the Bielaga, or Huso. Huso (A. Huso) of the Black and Caspian seas and their rivers. It attains the length of 20 or 25 feet and has been known to weigh nearly 3000 lbs. Near the site where now stands the Park Tavern at the corner of the New Road, opposite Mr. Featherstonhaugh's Brewery and not far from "The Plough & Harrow," were the flower gardens and beautiful residence of John Patient, Esq., afterwards occupied by Mr. Carne the Barge Builder. The house where Mr. Bennett, Lath-render, resides, and the house adjoining were used as a Private Asylum for the insane and was called "Sleaford House." The picturesque and retired Country Parsonage, the residence of the Rev. J. G. Weddell, stood a considerable distance from the main road—"The Prince Alfred" tavern situate in Haine Street occupies the site. In this locality was a tenter-ground the entrance to which from the road was through a white gate. A gateway at the commencement of "Hugman's Lane" which had "no thoroughfare" led to the works belonging to Peter Pariss and Son, Oil of Vitriol Manufacturers and Manufacturing Chemists. Mr. Wallace, who subsequently held these premises had them considerably enlarged to facilitate his project in working up gas liquor for making Sulphate of Ammonia, which is extensively used for agricultural purposes. The sewers in the neighbourhood became impregnated with a deleterious gas and the stench from the drains was intolerable. After considerable litigation with the Board of Works Mr. Wallace became a bankrupt. By order of the Mortgagees on Wednesday and Thursday, March 3rd and 4th, 1880, Mr. Douglas Young sold by auction the plant and machinery of the above extensive works, including 5 large Cornish steam boilers, tubular boiler, 3 egg boilers, a bottle boiler, a 4000 gallon wrought iron tank, 12 smaller ditto, 4 large circular tanks, 5 steam barrel of various sizes, flange pipes, 3 large iron coils, about 70 tons old metal, several copper and iron boilers of various sizes, furnace fittings, weighing bridge by Hodgson and SLEAFORD STREET appears to have obtained an amount of respectability that it had not of yore. Once upon a time one side was nicknamed "Ginbottle Row," and the opposite side was called "Soapsuds Bay!" Mill-Pond Bridge was very narrow, about half its present width, with a low parapet on both sides. If the following statement could be relied on, it would perhaps allay the fears created by certain alarmists respecting the physical limits to deep coal mining and duration of the coal supply. "There are coal deposits in various parts of Great Britain at all depths down to 10,000 or 12,000 feet. Mining is possible to a depth of 4,000 feet, but beyond this the high temperature is likely to prove a barrier. The temperature of a coal mine at a depth of 4,000 feet will probably be found as high as 120º Fahr.; but there is reason to believe that by the agency of an efficient system of ventilation the temperature may be reduced, at least during the cooler months of the year, as to allow mining operations without unusual danger to health. Adopting a depth of 4,000 feet as the limit to deep mining there is still a quantity of coal in store in Great Britain sufficient to afford the annual supply of twenty-two millions of tons for a thousand years."—Hull. "There were 2936 collieries in Britain in 1860; from these were raised 83,923,273 tons of coal. The greatly increasing consumption of coal has originated fears as to the possibility of the exhaustion of our mineral fuel. It appears that, while in 1820, only 15,000,000 tons were raised, in 1840, the amount had reached 30,000,000, and in 1860, it was nearly 84,000,000. At the same rate of increase the known coal, within a workable distance from the surface, would last at least 100 years. But the consumption, during the last twenty years of the century, would at the present increasing ratio amount to 1464 million tons a year, a quantity vastly greater than can be used. We need not, therefore, now begin to fear lest our coal-fields should be speedily used up."—Chambers's Encyclopedia. "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," was a motto adopted by our forefathers when the inducements to promenade London streets by night were not so inviting as now. "Ranelagh and Vauxhall were places of frivolous amusement resorted to even by the higher classes. From those and other haunts of folly, lumbering coaches or sedan chairs conveyed home the ladies through the dimly lighted or pitch dark streets, and the gentlemen picked their way over the ruggedly-paved thoroughfares, glad of the proffered aid of the link boys who crowded round the gates of such places of public entertainment or resort as were open at night, and who, arrived at the door to which they had escorted some fashionable foot-passenger, quenched the blazing torch in the trumpet-looking ornament which one now and then still sees lingering Street lighting was not known to the Greeks and Romans, it was therefore necessary for them whenever they went abroad after dark to carry flambeaux. Street lighting was first introduced at Paris about the beginning of the 16th century. An Edict was issued ordering the inhabitants to keep lights burning in their windows after nine at night. In 1558, lamps were exchanged for lanterns, and in 1671 these lanterns were ordered to be lighted from the 20th of October to the beginning of April. This however did not prove a satisfactory arrangement. At length a premium was offered by the Government for a dissertation on the best mode of lighting the streets. The successful competitors were a journeyman glazier, M. M. Bailly, Le Roy and Bourgeois Le Cheteaublanc. To the glazier was awarded a prize of 200 livres, and to the other three jointly 2,000 livres. The result of their suggestions was a general lighting of the streets by oil lamps set upon posts. In London, lanterns were first used in 1688, and those inhabitants whose houses fronted the streets were ordered to hang out their lanterns and keep them burning from 6 to 11 o'clock at night; the number of lanterns thus used within the boundaries of the City of London was 5,000. Without the City, inclusive of the suburbs, the probability is that the number was 15,000. In 1874, another act was passed for regulating the lighting of the City still further. Since the lighting of the streets, alleys, courts, etc., of our Metropolis with gas have come many other sanitary and social improvements, and it is not unlikely that under a wise Providence we owe to this invention as much security from the nightly depredations of burglars as much so as from the vigilance of the police. The existence and inflammability of coal-gas has been known in England for two centuries. In the year 1659, Thomas Shirley correctly attributed the exhalations from the "burning well" at Wigan, in Lancashire, to the coal-beds which lie under that part of the country; and soon after, Dr. Clayton, influenced by Shirley, actually made coal-gas, and detailed the results of his labours in a letter to the Hon. Robert Boyle, who died in 1691. About a century later, 1753, Sir James Lowther communicated to the Royal Society a notice of a spontaneous evolution of gas at a colliery belonging to him at Whitehaven. Bishop Watson made many experiments on coal-gas, which he details in his Chemical Essays. Mr. R. Taylor, on the Coal-fields of China, says, "The Chinese artificially produce illuminating gas from bitumen coal we are certain. But it is a fact that spontaneous jets of gas derived from boring into coal-beds have for centuries been burning, and turned to that and other economical purposes. If the Chinese are not gas manufacturers, they are nevertheless gas consumers and employers on a large scale, and have evidently been so ages before the knowledge of its application was acquired by Europeans." In 1792, Mr. Murdoch, an engineer at Redruth in Cornwall, erected a little gasometer with apparatus which produced gas sufficient to supply his own house and offices, and in 1797, he erected a similar apparatus in Ayrshire. In the following year, he was engaged to put up a gas works at the Only within the present century has gas superseded in London the dim oil lamps. About forty years ago, oil lamps and lighted candles were used in our churches and chapels; in some places of worship evening services were dispensed with altogether. A humorous anecdote is related of Dr. Johnson: it is said, one evening, from the window of his house in Bolt Court, he observed the parish lamplighter ascend a ladder to light one of the small oil lamps. He had scarcely descended the ladder half-way when the flame expired. Quickly returning he lifted the cover of the lamp partially and thrusting the end of his torch beneath it, the flame instantly communicated to the wick by the thick vapour which issued from it. "Ah!" exclaimed the Doctor, "one of these days the streets of London will be lighted by smoke."—Notes and Queries, No. 127. Certain scientific men were incredulous as to the practicability of lighting up the whole of London with gas, and Sir Humphrey Davey asked if it were intended to take the dome of St. Paul's for a gasometer! In 1820 gas meters were patented by John Malan, in 1830 by Samuel Clegg, in 1838 by Nathan Defries and others. Mr. Daniel Pollock, father of the late Chief Baron, was governor of the first "chartered" gas company in 1812. In 1822 St. James' Park was first lighted with gas. In 1825, its safety had not then been established on the part of the Government, a committee of the most eminent scientific men immediately inspected the Gas Works, and reported that the occasional superintendence of all the Works was necessary. However, since then so rapidly has the invention of gas-lighting progressed, that now in the present year of grace, there is neither City nor town in Great Britain of any note but what is illuminated with gas and has works for its manufacture in close proximity to the houses of its inhabitants. Gas supply of London, receipts for the year 1872, £2,133,600, for 1873, £2,544,000. What is coke? Coke is the residual carbon of pit coal after the volatile matters have been expelled by heat, it has a porous texture and a lustre sometimes approaching the metallic. It is a valuable fuel, producing an intense and steady heat and leaving but little residue after combustion. The residual coke in retorts has a quantity of ash, which, besides its earthy base of silicate, usually contains sulphur and other deleterious matter. The breeze can be used in furnaces and in burning bricks. There is a considerable quantity of pure hydrogen produced by the decomposition of water in cooling coke. Attempts have been made to manufacture gas from other substances besides coal—oil, resin, peat, and even water having in their turn commanded capital for a fair trial of their merits of all these; however, coal has alone stood the test of commercial success, those companies formed for other schemes having either been dissolved or become converts to its superior advantages. Street gas lit by electricity, by Mr. St. George Lane, Fox's method: trial partially successful, Pall Mall, etc., 13th April, 1878. British Museum Reading Room illuminated by electric light, October, 1879. Common bituminous coal obtained from the mines of Northumberland, Durham, York, South Wales, and a few other coal districts is the kind from which most of the gas of this country is manufactured. The Cannel or Scotch Parrot coals produce a gas of a much richer quality, which, though expensive, has the advantage of superior illuminating power. Gas companies use to a very great extent coals from the following mines:—Pelaw, Leverson's Wallsend, Pelton, New Pelton, Dean's Primrose, Garesfield, South Peareth, (The London Gas-Light Company use principally Peareth) Urpeth, Washington, Yorkshire, Silkstone, Haswell, West Wear, Wearmouth, Brancepeth, South Brancepeth, and Ravenshaw Pelaw. The resulting products of carbonization of these coals when an exhauster is employed will be found to give about the following average per ton:— Gas, 9,500 cubic feet; Coke, 13 cwt., or one chaldron; Tar, 10 gallons; Ammoniacal Liquor, 13 gallons. Ammonia, a compound of Nitrogen and Hydrogen, is converted into Sulphate of Ammonia, Sal Ammonia, Carbonate of Ammonia, etc., etc. Tar, which is a Hydro-carbon, after producing Naptha and light oils, becomes useful as Asphalt, or for exterior paint work. Benzole, the base of our newly-discovered dyes, is extracted from the Naptha; which, besides, is either used as a solvent for india-rubber and guttapercha, or yields a brilliant light when burned in a common lamp. Gas, as it issues from the retorts, is chiefly composed of light carburetted and bicarburetted hydrogen or olefiant gas, accompanied by condensable vapours and other gaseous impurities. The condensable vapours are principally hydro-carbon compounds which become deposited in the form of oil, and amongst a variety of deleterious substances may be mentioned as the chief: ammonia, carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, and sulphuretted hydrogen, but the value of coal-gas principally depends on the presence of bicarburetted hydrogen, and the greater proportion of this the higher will be its light-giving properties. The connection of the London Gas-Light Company's Works with Vauxhall takes us out of the parish of Battersea for a moment into the parish of Lambeth. Vauxhall, the early Spring Garden, was named from its site in the Manor of La Sale Fawkes, Fawkeshall, from its possessor, an obscure Norman adventurer, in the reign of King John. The London Gas-light Company was Incorporated in the year 1833. December 2, 1872, there was a great strike of the London Gas Stokers, 2,400 out. The inconvenience was met by great exertion, 2-6 Dec. Several were tried and imprisoned. The London Gas Works are environed with a brick wall, varying in height from ten to twenty feet, bounded on the North by Nine Elms Lane; on the South by the South-Western Railway; on the East by Everett Street; and on the West by Moat Street and Haine Street. The works within this enclosure cover an area of seventeen acres, and at the field Prince of Wales Road, about three acres more. There are five gates to the Works, but the principal entrance is in Haward Street, by the porter's lodge. At the right-hand-corner is a spacious building, on the basement is the Engineer's office, the Light office, and Messenger's lobby, which has in it a small telegraphic apparatus for communicating intelligence between this and the Chief office. The Grand Entrance is from Nine Elms Lane, opened by two pairs of massive folding doors leading into the hall, facing which is a flight of stone steps with ornamental cast-iron balusters mounted by rails on either side of polished mahogany, communicating with a similar staircase right and left which conducts to the Board room and Draughtsmen's offices. The Board room is a beautiful and commodious apartment, 33 feet by 19. It has never On the 31st of October, 1865, Passing through the inner gate, over which is mounted the factory bell of 2 cwt.,—its size and tone would not disgrace the belfry of many a church steeple,—on the right is situated the timekeeper's office, the carbonizing foreman's lobby, the meter stores, and the stores. On the left-hand-side of the gate is the coke clerk's office, counting house, and a range of workshops, sheds, etc. for smiths, painters, fitters, and carpenters. Adjoining the coke office is the shop where all the Company's meters are tested before being sent out to the consumers. In different parts of the yard lines of iron rails are laid down, with turning tables to allow for shunting, communicating with the South-Western Railway, so as to admit trucks, which, when loaded with coke from the factory, are then conveyed to their destination. The retort houses are oblong buildings with gable wrought-iron roofs, are strongly built of brick, the walls being of immense thickness; this is necessary, not only on account of the great heat within, but on account of the large There are seven retort houses, five of these occupy a central position in these works; they have been erected at different periods as the demand for the manufacture of gas increased. Of these retort houses No. 7 is the largest; it is 260 feet long by 80 feet wide (inside measurement), and it is 45 feet to crown of roof. Each retort house has independent shafts, but the tallest shaft faces the east end of retort house No. 2. It is a splendid piece of brick-work, the height of which is 135 feet. When the top stone was laid Mr. B. Gray, the builder, treated the men who were under him with a dinner. On this occasion sixteen persons sat on the summit and partook of this sumptuous repast. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are ground retort houses, the other four houses are stage retort houses. With respect to the interior of these retort houses, there is plenty of room in front of the retorts for a storage of coal and good space for drawing the retorts. On the whole there is good ventilation in the roofs for allowing the smoke, etc. to escape. The floor of the stage retort houses are paved with grooved cast-iron plates. In these retort houses an open space is allowed between the furnace and the flooring in order that the coke when raked out of the retorts might fall into the coke hole below. The benches of retorts are placed in the middle of the houses. The retorts are built in settings, they are cylindrical tubes made of Stourbridge clay open through and through with mouthpieces at both ends. At the front of each bed of retorts is a furnace for heating up the retorts with the residual coke after the coals have been carbonized. The flame and hot draft of the furnaces are made to circulate thoroughly throughout the setting, traversing as great a space as possible round, under and above the retorts before egress is allowed to the main flue communicating with the chimney. The retorts are charged every six hours. Formerly, for cooling the retort lids, a pulpy mass of lime and mud of the consistence of mortar was used under the cognomen of "blue billy." This has been superseded by Morton's Patent Air-tight Lid, and Holman's Patent Lever. The two mechanical contrivances combined for this purpose are most efficient, and when financially considered must be a great saving to the Company. In the new house there are seven retorts in a bed; these, when heated sufficiently, are simultaneously charged at each end with two scoopfuls of bituminous coal; the upper retorts, on account of their retaining more heat, are charged with three scoops—each scoop contains 1 cwt. 2 qrs. of coal As soon as the lids are closed with the patent lever and cross-bar the process of gas distillation commences. In house No. 7 there are 392 mouths—total number of mouths in all the retort houses 1,793. As clay retorts when heated at first have a tendency to crack, it is necessary that the process of heating should be slow, also to get them up to their proper heat a similar caution is requisite when cooling. Apart from the manufacture of gas, in order to attend to the furnaces with the view of keeping up the heat of retorts, a certain amount of Sunday labour is involved, but it is gratifying to state that at these works labour on the Lord's day is reduced to its lowest minimum. Among several annoyances in the manufacture of gas is the choking or stoppage There are four lobbies for the accommodation of the stokers and seats at either end of the retort houses. The men in the carbonizing department are supplied with lockers in which to keep their provisions and clothes. Each man has a half-pint of the best Scotch oatmeal per diem allowed him to make "skilly" with. A quantity of oatmeal is put into a bucket, water is poured on and then stirred, after the meal has "settled" they dip it out with a mug to drink as often as they feel themselves thirsty. The engineer has no objection to the men having lemonade, etc., but all intoxicating drinks on the works are strictly prohibited. On Sundays, between 9 and 10 a.m., a religious service is conducted in the lobby at No. 6 retort house by the Missionary. Scene in a retort house on week-day.—The stokers, after having been at work in the retort houses for half an hour, are "off" for nearly an hour, during which they employ their time in various ways; some play at cards, some at draughts, some at dominoes, others read the newspapers,—eight men in a group will club together and subscribe a penny each, this enables them to purchase six dailies and two weeklies, thus a group is furnished with newspaper intelligence for a week. Others of the stokers will seek to bring grist to their mill by employing the time they are off to their own pecuniary advantage either in mending their own boots and shoes or the boots and shoes of their fellow-workmen. At times some of the men may be seen mending their clothes, or washing a pair of trowsers in a bucket of water and using the wooden handle of a shovel as a substitute for a "dolly." Now and then a man will lie on his back at full length on a heap of coals, locked in the arms of Morpheus, presently he awakes out of his dreams, rubs his eyes astonished at what has transpired during the past hour. The foreman's whistle, similar to that used by a railway guard when a train is ready to start, is the signal for the men to resume their work, and to their credit be it said, they go at it manly and rush to their shovels and scoops like British sailors fly to their guns when commanded to salute a Prince or fire at an enemy! A stranger for the first time is startled when the lids or "lips" as they are called are removed from the mouths of the retorts by the bomb! bombing! a kind of percussion or shock occasioned by the gaseous vapours confined in the retorts being liberated by coming into direct contact From the hydraulic main the gas passes on to a set of condensers or coolers at the south side of the works, through which it is made to circulate until it is reduced to a temperature bearing some approximation to the surrounding atmosphere, also to separate condensable vapours before allowing the gas to pass to the purifiers. The tar well or tank is a receptacle for the overflow of the hydraulic, etc. A branch pipe from the main is inserted and sealed in a stationary lute at the bottom. The tar thus deposited as well as the ammoniacal liquor is valuable. There are five scrubbers, the tops of which are reached by flights of wooden steps with hand-rails and a stage or gallery above communicating from one scrubber to another. Each scrubber is a cylinder 19 feet in diameter and 70 feet high, they are made of cast-iron plates and contain a series of iron trays or gratings on which are spread layers of coke, furze, etc. Water is injected from the top by means of a revolving apparatus connected with vertical and horizontal shafting and driven by a small engine below, thereby keeping up a constant humid spray, the object being to separate the ammonia and acids from the gas. In front of houses Nos. 4 and 5 (which by the way are the oldest retort houses inside these works) is situated the boiler and engine house. There are three boilers 28 feet by 6 in diameter. In the On the south side of the works, in addition to the coolers, there are thirteen purifiers and fifteen plots or courts including the foreman's lobby. Each purifier is of cast-iron, it is oblong in form, the cover is wrought iron riveted together in sheets, and the seal is made by means of a water-lute round the edge of the purifier. The purifying material, which is sometimes lime but principally oxide of iron, is carefully spread out on trays and these are disposed in tiers or sets in such a manner as to leave a clear open space between each succeeding layer to allow the gas to diffuse itself thoroughly throughout the mass. Lime when once fouled cannot profitably be renewed for gas purifying purposes, but the oxide of iron can be further utilized by spreading out the oxide in an open court when the oxygen of the atmosphere precipitates the sulphur and the oxide is again fit for use. The gas passes from the purifiers to the station meter house fronting the stores on the north side of the yard, where the quantity of gas made is registered; adjoining which is Mr. Methven's the Sub-Manager's office, and a test room or laboratory where various experiments connected with the manufacture of gas are conducted. Against the north boundary is a small gas house with gas-holder, etc., all complete, occasionally used for experimenting purposes. From the station meters the gas passes to the gas-holders; each of these enormous circular vessels possesses great storage capacity. It is made on the principle that the circle of all geometrical figures is the one that a fixed circumference or outline is capable of enclosing the greatest amount of space. A gas-holder is made by riveting Upon the mains at their exit from the works valves are placed, each valve having a revolving pressure indicator attached, the paper of which is graduated into inches, and tenths, and marked with spaces corresponding to the twenty-four hours of the day. In the meter-house self-regulating governors are used for this purpose. From the gasholders the gas is driven through cast-iron mains or pipes, and from them by wrought iron service pipes to the lamps and burners which help to illuminate our Metropolis. The Company's mains extend about 170 miles, and at any point they supply gas with the same abundance and precision as at Nine Elms. At one time, the Works of the London Gas-Light Company at Vauxhall were considered the most powerful and complete in the world, and even now, in this age of rivalry and sharp competition, under the judicious management of their Board of Directors and their skilled Engineer, Robert Morton, Esq., the London Gas-Light Company maintain an honourable position among other gas-light companies, and are worthy the name they bear. The number of men employed at these works in the Winter season is about 500. There is a Sick Provident Club belonging to the works. By order of the Board, A.J. Dove, Sec. 13th March, 1876. On a recently-exposed Section at Battersea.Extracts from a Paper read before the Geologists' Association, March 1st, 1872, by John A. Coombs, Esq.
In Nine Elms Lane resided Mr. Sellar, a respectable tradesman who kept a tea and cheesemonger's establishment, and who for five years discharged his parochial duties as an overseer. Greatly deploring the irreligious condition of the spiritually-benighted poor of the neighbourhood, he had erected at his own expense, a hall at the back of his premises in Everet Street, to be used for religious and secular educational purposes. Subsequently the hall was rented by the Wesleyan Methodists, and was used by them as a preaching station, Mr. Farmer acting as steward and superintendent of the Sunday school which he commenced there. When the Sunday school was opened in 1871, not more than 20 per cent. of the children who presented themselves for admission could read, and their knowledge of the sacred contents of the Holy Scriptures was nil. However, though the task was difficult, for seven years Mr. John Farmer, assisted by his small staff of Christian teachers:— Plodded hard, and labour'd well The hall is now engaged by the Metropolitan Tabernacle Evangelization Society. A Sunday school is still held in the place and evangelistic services conducted there every Lord's day evening. In this neighbourhood stood Phillips's Fire Annihilating Machine Factory. The public were frequently invited to come and see the working of the machines. At the time appointed an improvised cottage was set on fire; when fairly alight, the machines were brought to bear upon the flames and with marked success. A man and his wife had charge of the factory. One Sunday morning the man went out into the fields with his gun, leaving his wife to prepare dinner. Soon after the composition in the factory exploded, and immediately the building was enveloped in flames—the man hastened back to save his wife, but failed in his attempt to rescue her—the poor woman perished. BRAYNE'S POTTERY for Stone-ware manufacture has been pulled down, on the site adjoining is Laver's Portland Cement Works. The Lime Kilns which had stood nearly two centuries have long since disappeared. The Whiting Works which mark the site remain among the oldest structures in this vicinity were established in the year 1666. At the entrance to the Works stood the rib bones of a Whale which the proprietor fancifully had placed there. One of the Whiting sheds formerly stood higher up the river. Mr. Laver is the owner of these works. Where Lloyd and Co's Manufacturing Joinery Works are situated were the house, timber yard and premises, owned by Mr. Robbins, father of Mrs. THE SOUTHWARK AND VAUXHALL WATER WORKS.—The Borough Works at St. Mary Overies, in 1820, became the property of one J. Edwards, who in 1822, also purchased from the New River Company the Works on the South side of London Bridge, and combined both concerns under the designation of the "Southwark Water Works." The whole being thus possessed by one opulent individual. In 1805, several persons united to give effect to a scheme for organising the South London Water Works (subsequently called the Vauxhall) and by an Act of Parliament passed in July, 1805, they were incorporated as a Company, with authority to raise capital for attaining their object amounting to £80,000 in 800 shares of £100 each. In June, 1813, another Act was obtained for empowering the Company to raise a further sum of £80,000. The operations of this Company commenced inauspiciously for their interests by reason of their having originally adopted wooden pipes, and having then been compelled to substitute iron in their place. The principal works were on the south side of Kennington Lane, formerly Kennington Common, near to Vauxhall. These companies experienced various vicissitudes in their progress, until in 1845, when an amalgamation took place under an Act of Parliament, to which we owe the creation of the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company as it now exists. The area of the district supplied extends for about 13 miles E. and W., and 3 miles N. and S., the home district stretching from Rotherhithe to Clapham and the suburban and rural districts from Wandsworth to Richmond. Thus an area of 39 miles south of the Thames receives a supply of water distributed to about 80,000 houses, having a population of 550,000. The Company's property at Battersea consists of one Pumping Station, standing on freehold land of some 50 acres, and six Cornish Engines, erected by Messrs. Harvey and Co., with a total of 1,200 horse power; two Reservoirs of about 10 acres, containing about 46,000,000 gallons of water, and six filter beds, having an area 10¾ acres, with a filtering capacity for 1,300,750 gallons of water per hour. The Filters are to a certain depth filled with sand, through which the water percolates, leaving the impurities on the surface to be removed at pleasure. There are 18 fires or furnaces in the boiler house, the daily consumption of coal is about 22 tons. The water at this station is pumped partly over a stand pipe 186 feet high, Fitz Stephen (William) a learned Monk of Canterbury, being attached to the Service of Archbishop Becket was present at the time of his murder. In the year 1174 he wrote in Latin the life of St. Thomas, Archbishop and Martyr, in which as Becket was a native of the Metropolis, he introduces a description of the City of London with a miscellaneous detail of the manners and usages of the Citizens; this is deservedly considered a great curiosity, being the earliest professed account of London extant. He describes the springs and water courses which abound in the vicinity of Old London as "sweet, salubrious, and clear," so that all that the inhabitants and water-carriers had to do was to draw water from the wells and springs, or dip their vessels in the pellucid stream of the river which was fit for culinary and all ordinary and domestic purposes. London then though considered a "Great City" was as a small town when compared with its teeming population of nearly 5,000,000 which people its City and environs now. The first conduit erected in the City of London (Westcheap now Cheapside) was commenced in the year 1235 but was not completed till 50 years afterwards (1285). The Citizens, who had to fetch their water from the Thames often met with opposition from those who resided in the lanes leading down to the river who monopolized the right of procuring a water supply by stopping and imposing a duty upon others who sought to obtain it. This state of things as might be expected became unbearable and in 1342 an inquisition was made and persons were sworn to inquire into the stoppages and annoyances complained of in the several Wards. In the fifteenth century the authorities of the City had erected New "In 1606 nearly £20,000 was expended in scouring the River Fleet, which was kept open for the purpose of navigation as high as Holborn Bridge." An Act was passed in 1609 for bringing water by means of engines from Hackney Marsh, to supply the City of London; the profits arising from the enterprise were to go to the College of Polemical Divines, founded by Dr. Sutcliffe, at Chelsea. At the close of Queen Elizabeth's Reign an Act was passed empowering the Corporation to cut a river for the purpose of conveying water from Middlesex and Hertfordshire to the City, but nothing was done in this direction till after the accession of James I to the throne. In 1605 and 1606 Acts of Parliament were passed empowering the Corporation to bring water from the Springs of Chadwell and Amwell to the northern parts of the City. The Corporation transferred their power in 1609 to Hugh, afterwards (Sir Hugh) Middleton, Citizen, and Goldsmith, who with characteristic energy entered into the vast scheme which was effectually carried out at an immense expense. On Sept. 29th, 1613 the New River was opened, and London from this source received an abundant supply of water. The New River Company was incorporated in 1620. The City was supplied with its water by the conveyance of wooden pipes in the streets, and small leaden ones to the houses. Among the Records known as the Remembrancia preserved So late as Queen Anne's time there were water-carriers at Aldgate Pump. The Water Works at Chelsea were completed and the Company incorporated in 1722. London Bridge ancient water works were destroyed by fire, 29th Oct., 1779. Commissioners for Metropolitan Water Supply appointed 27th April, 1867; Report Signed 9th June, 1869; London supplied by Nine Companies. The New River (the best) East London, Chelsea, Grand Junction, Southwark, and Vauxhall, Kent, West Middlesex, Lambeth, and South Essex; who deliver about 108,000,000 gallons daily, 1867; about 116,250,000 gallons daily, 1877. In 1880, the Nominal Capital of Eight Water Companies was £12,011,320. THE VILLAGE OF BATTERSEA lies on the south side of the Thames opposite Chelsea, to which it has some historical relationship on account of its having been the seat of our Porcelain manufacture and of Saxon origin. It is situated about four miles South West of St. Paul's Cathedral. Battersea is a polling place for the Mid-divisions of the County in the Wandsworth Division of the West Brixton Hundred. Wandsworth Union and County Court District, Surrey Arch-Deaconry, and late Winchester, but now Rochester Diocese; In 1840 the rateable value was about £28,000. Anno Domini 1658, the Hamlet of Penge, seven miles from the Parish Church, contained twelve families. The Commissioners who were vested with power to unite or separate parishes did nothing in this case, they could not find a convenient place in the Hundred or County to unite it to. The nearest place of public worship was Beckingham in Kent, about a mile distant. Twelve years ago, the County of Surrey was divided for Electoral purposes into three Divisions named respectively East, West, and Mid-Surrey. At the time the Division was made in 1868 the Constituency of Mid-Surrey numbered only 10,500. Now (March 1880) we have on the Register 20,400 electors distributed in the following manner:—
Penge, for ecclesiastical purposes, is a separate parish, and has its own Overseers and supports its own poor. The Church of St. John the Evangelist is a modern gothic stone structure with tower and spire. The population of St. John's E. Parish in 1871 was 8,345, and the area is 500 acres. The Church of Holy Trinity, South Penge, to which a district was assigned in 1873, is built of brick with stone dressings consisting of chancel, nave and side aisles. The foundation stone was laid by the Right Hon. the Earl of Shaftesbury, R.G., April 17, 1872. The Church cost £7,500, and is capable of seating 1,000. The Register dates from 1874. The living is a vicarage. There are Chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans, and National Schools. With respect to the true etymology of the name Battersea, The earliest record we have of Battersea appears in Doomsday Book, where it is written Pattricesy. Some authors have supposed that because Petersham, which belonged to St. Peter's Abbey, Chertsey, is there spelt Patricesham, that the earliest form of Battersea originated its connexion with St. Peter's Abbey, the c they say in both these words was sibilant and therefore did not differ very much in pronunciation from that it is now, though they admit that it is a "curious anomaly that while P in Patricesy has been changed into B the P in Patricesham remains unchanged." What the final syllable represents is less clear as there are now no traces of Battersea having been an island although there may have been once. Chelsea, it is remarked, "was originally Ceale-hythe or Chelc-hythe, and a haven on the Thames, not an island, just as Lambeth was 'Lambe-hithe' or haven, but there is no recorded form of Battersea that would allow us to say that ey or ea represented hithe. There was, however, until about thirty years ago, a Creek, up which tradition reports that Queen Elizabeth rowed. A bright little stream rising in Tooting, and passing by Wandsworth Common, flowed into the Thames at this Creek, which is now a mere sewer, and its better character is only kept in remembrance by the name of Creek Street." The Rev. Daniel Lysons, in a book entitled "The Environs of London," published in 1792, which, through the kindness of Mr. R. J. S. Kentish, Librarian of the Beaufoy Library, we have had the privilege of consulting, says, "the name has undergone several changes. In the Conqueror's Survey, it is called Patricesy, and has since been written Battrichsey, Battersey and Battersea, each variation carrying it still further from its original signification. Of the original signification of the word, I think there can be little doubt. Patricesy in the Saxon is Peter's water or river; and as the same record which calls it Patricesy mentions that it was given to St. Peter, it might then first assume that appellation, but this I own is conjecture. Petersham, which is precisely the same in Doomsday—Patriceham, belonged to St. Peter's Abbey, Chertsey, and retains its original name a little modernised. Aubrey, Vol. I. p. 135, derives the name from St. Patrick; but Aubrey was mistaken by seeing it written Patricesy, instead of Petricesy, in Doomsday; but the Normans were not very accurate spellers. Petersham was written in the same manner with an a." Last century Clapham Common was little better than a morass; it covers 202 acres. The number and variety of trees both English and exotic with which it is ornamented give it very much the appearance of a park. The Metropolitan Board of Works have purchased the manorial rights over the Common which is now under their supervision. "In the year 1874 (says Mr Walford) the Enclosure Commissioners for England and Wales under the Metropolitan Common Act, 1866, and Metropolitan Commons' Amendment Act, 1869, certified a scheme for placing the Common under the control of the Local Board, the Common was purchased for the sum of £17,000 and it was proposed that it should be dedicated to the use and recreation of the public for ever. By the above mentioned scheme the Board were to drain, plant, and ornament the Common as necessary, no houses were to be built thereon, but eight lodges necessary for its maintenance." The writer of a work entitled "Clapham with its Common and Environs," says, "The Mount-Pond was originally a gravel pit, excavated principally to form the turnpike road from Tooting to London. The Mount was raised, and a Pagoda Summer House planted on the top, by Henton Brown, Esq., of the firm of Brown and Tritton, Bankers, Lombard Street, member of the Society of Friends. Mr. Brown lived in the house, late in the occupation of J. Thornton, Esq., and was at great expense in forming the Mount and Pond. The Mount was larger than it now is, and planted with choice shrubs as well as trees. A bridge was thrown over the east side to connect it with the Common, and a pleasure boat was kept under it, but which after the failure of Mr. Brown, went rapidly to decay. He fenced it round with posts and rails, and in 1748 the A Good Example of liberality was given by one Mr. Thornton, of Clapham, a noble-hearted Christian merchant. One morning, when he had received news of a failure that involved him in the loss of no less than a hundred thousand pounds, a minister from the country called at his counting-house to ask a subscription for an important object. Hearing that Mr. Thornton had suffered that loss, he apologized for having called. But Mr. Thornton took him kindly by the hand and said: "My dear sir, the wealth I have is not mine, but the Lord's. It may be that He is going to take it out of my hands, and give it to another; and if so, this is a good reason why I should make a good use of what is left." He then doubled the subscription he intended to give. The recently deceased and much lamented Philip Cazenove was for thirty years a parishioner, residing on Battersea Rise, whose name was a Synonym for kindness and Christian charity concerning whom we feel that we cannot pass a better eulogium than that recorded in St. Mary's, Battersea, Parish Magazine for February, 1880. "He has been a benefactor such as a parish rarely numbers amongst its church folk. The magnificent Girls' School in Green Lane was added to Miss Champion's benefaction, almost at Mr. Cazenove's sole cost. To every church building scheme, to Battersea College, to new schools, to the proposed Hospital, to every good work he was a munificent contributor. And what he did in Battersea, he did in all parts of East and South London, indeed in all parts of the metropolis and in the country. And he sought no thanks for his donations, but with a rare self-forgetfulness he seemed to avoid the acknowledgments of gratitude. His liberality, great as it was, by no means represented all that he did for good works. In our parish he took a personal interest in our Schools of all grades. He always had words of kind encouragement for the teachers. He was always ready to preside at any meeting, or to act on any committee. And as his alms deeds went far beyond his own parish so did his personal service. There was no more familiar face than his in the Board-rooms of the great Church Societies, for some of the chief of which, as the Gospel Propagation Society, he acted as Treasurer. He was an active member of the governing bodies of Guy's Hospital, and other like institutions, and everywhere he freely gave his sunny sympathy and the ripe counsels of his long experience. He was indeed a notable instance of an open-handed, simple-hearted Churchman, some would add 'of the old school,' and we would say, may God of His mercy put it into the hearts of others to perpetuate such a 'school' for truly they are a blessing and a stay to all around them. Our venerated friend was stricken with illness in the beginning of last year, and it seemed as if he would then have succumbed to the physical weakness of the action of that great loving heart. But he rallied somewhat, and during the summer and autumn he was able to sit in his garden or to drive out in his carriage. He was able to be at S. Mark's on S. Michael's Day, 1879, and to receive the Holy Communion there for the last time in the Sanctuary. With the return of winter, his weakness increased, and after a year of Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims At a semi-detached villa situated in this part of the Common, resided the late Charles Curling, Esq., whose memory many of the poor inhabitants of Old Battersea cherish with feelings of grateful respect. He relieved the temporal wants of the needy; opened day and night schools in order that the poorest might be educated; under his excellent wife's superintendence maternal meetings were conducted; at his own expense he supported an Evangelist and a Bible Woman to work in the district. The Villa adjoining that of Mr. Curling's was occupied by the late Misses Sarah Hibbert and Mary Ann Hibbert, who erected Alms Houses in Wandsworth Road, Clapham, for eight aged women, in grateful remembrance of their father, William Hibbert, who was for many years an inhabitant of Clapham. Not least among the benefactresses of the poor might be mentioned the names of Lady George Pollock, Lady Lawrence, Mrs. Sillem, and Mrs. Robert Jones, of this part, (all deceased). The memory of the just is blessed! When Lysons wrote, Battersea Rise being a salubrious locality was ornamented with several villas, also it was much admired for its pleasant situation and fine prospect. Referring to the Market Gardens, etc., he says, "About 300 acres of land in the Parish of Battersea are occupied by the market gardeners, of whom there are about twenty who rent from five or six to nearly sixty acres each." Fuller, who wrote in the year 1660, speaking of the gardens in Surrey, states, "Gardening was first brought into England for profit, about 70 years ago; before which we fetched most of our cherries from Holland, apples from France, and hardly a mess of rath ripe peas but from Holland; which were dainties for ladies, they come so far and cost so dear. Since gardening hath crept out of Holland to Sandwich, Kent, and thence to Surrey; where, though they have given £6 an acre and upwards, they have made their rent, lived comfortably, and set many people at work. Oh the incredible profit by digging of ground! for though it be confessed, that the plough beats the spade out of distance for speed, (almost as much as the press beats the pen), yet, what the spade wants in the quantity of the ground it manureth, it recompenseth "Some of the Flemish refugees settled at Wandsworth and began several branches of industry, as the manufacture of felts, the making of brass plates for culinary utensils." "In addition to the Flemish Churches in the City, at the West-end, and in Spitalfields, there were several thriving congregations in the suburban districts of London; one of the oldest of these was at Wandsworth, where a colony of protestant Wallons settled about the year 1570. Having formed themselves as a congregation, they erected a chapel for worship, which is that standing nearly opposite the Parish Church, the building bearing this inscription on its front: Erected, 1573; Enlarged, 1685; Repaired, 1809, 1831."—Samuel Smile's Huguenots in England and Ireland, p.p. 85, 86, 88, 267, 4th Edition. In 1816, Stages set out for Battersea from the following places:—A coach from Pewter Platter, Gracechurch Street, and Black Dog and Camel, Leadenhall Street, daily at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m., Sunday morning at 11. Red Lion, Strand, daily 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. A cart, Kings and Key, Fleet Street; Bell, Bell Yard, and George and Gate, and Pewter Platter, Gracechurch Street; King's Arms, Bishopgate Within; Ship and Hope, Charing Cross, and Angel and Sun, White Hart, and Spotted Dog, Strand, daily at 2 p.m. Boats, Queenhithe, and Globe, Hungerford Stairs daily. Waterman's rates from London Bridge to Chelsea (Battersea) Bridge—oars, whole fare 2/6, sculls 1/3, with company each person oars or sculls 4d. Not more than eight persons in any passage-boat between Windsor and Greenwich. Over the water directly every person 1d. and sculler's fare 2d. No waterman could be compelled to go below the Pageants, and Ratcliff Cross Stairs, or above Vauxhall and Feathers Stairs after five, from Michaelmas to Lady Day, nor after nine in the evening from Lady Day to Michaelmas. The annual fair held here in Battersea Square, at Easter, was afterwards suppressed. The houses in Old Battersea were irregularly built; the inhabitants were supplied with water from springs. The County Magistrates held a meeting at Wandsworth, an adjoining village, where also a Court of Request for the recovery of debts under £5 was held, under an Act obtained in the 31st of George II., the power of which was extended by an Act in the 46th of George III. The Court of Requests, which is called a court of conscience, was first instituted in the reign of Henry 7th, 1493, and was remodelled by a statute of Henry 8th, in 1517.—Stowe. Established for the summary recovery of small debts under forty shillings, but in the City of London the jurisdiction extends to debts of £5.—Ashe. There were Courts of Request in the principal corporate towns throughout the kingdom, until 1847, when they were superseded (those of the City of London excepted) by the County Debts Court, whose jurisdiction, extending at first to £20, was enlarged in 1850 to £50. The Lord of the Manor held a Court Leet at Wandsworth, at which the Headborough and constables for Battersea were appointed. "The Manor of Battersea, which, before the conquest, belonged to Earl Harold, was given by the Conqueror to Westminster Abbey in exchange for Windsor. The Manor was valued in the Confessor's time at £80, it afterwards sunk in value to £30, and at the time of the Survey was estimated at £75. In the taxation of 1291, the possessions of the Abbey of Westminster in Battersea were rated at £15. Thomas Astle, Esq., (says Lysons) has an original deed of Archbishop Theobald, confirming a charter of King Stephen by which he exempts the greater part of the Manor from all taxes and secular payments. Dart mentions several charters relating to Battersea, viz., William the Conqueror's original grant; a charter of privilege; a grant to the Abbot of Westminster of liberty to "After the dissolution of monasteries, the Manor was reserved in the hands of the Crown; a lease of it was granted to Henry Roydon, Esq., by Queen Elizabeth, for twenty-one years, in the eighth year of her reign; it was afterwards granted for the same term to his daughter, then Joan Holcroft; and was assigned amongst others for the maintenance of Prince Henry, A.D. 1610. In the year 1627, it was granted in reversion to Oliver St. John Viscount Grandison. Sir Oliver St. John was the first of the family who settled at Battersea, he married Joan, daughter and heir of Henry Roydon, Esq., of this place, widow of Sir William Holcroft. Lord Grandison died in 1630, and was succeeded in that title and in the Battersea Estate by William Villiers, his great-nephew, who died of a wound received at the siege of Bristol, A.D. 1644. Sir John St. John, Bart., nephew of the first Lord Grandison, inherited Battersea; from him it passed in a regular descent to Sir Walter St. John, Bart., his nephew, to Sir Walter's son, Henry Viscount St. John, and to his grandson, Henry Viscount Bolingbroke, who, by an Act of Parliament passed before his father's death, was enabled to inherit his estate, notwithstanding his attainder. The estate and manor continued in the St. John family till 1763, when it was bought in trust for John Viscount Spencer, and is now property of the present Earl Spencer." Battersea has many memorials; its historic interest culminates in its association with the St. Johns. One is stated to have been "eminent for his piety and moral virtues." Henry in 1684 pleaded guilty of the murder of Sir William Estcourt, Bart., in a sudden quarrel arising at a supper party. His case, if Bishop Burnet be correct, could be regarded only as manslaughter, but he was induced to plead guilty by a promise of pardon if he followed that advice or of his being subjected to the utmost rigour of the law on his refusal. No pardon is enrolled but it is stated that the King granted him a reprieve for a long term of years; and in the Rolls Chapel is a restitution of the Estate (Pat 36 Charles II.) for which it would seem and the reprieve conjoined he had to pay £16,000, one half of which Burnet says the King converted to his own use and bestowed the remainder on two ladies then in high favour.—Burnet's History of his own times; fol; 1724. Vol. I. p. 600. Bolingbroke or Bullingbroke, a town of great antiquity in Lincolnshire, gave the title of Viscount to the St. Johns of Battersea. In 1700, Sir Walter St. John founded and endowed a free school for twenty boys, and both he and his lady afterwards left further sums for apprenticing some of the number. It was re-built in 1859. Over the gateway in the High Street, are carved the Arms of St. John, and underneath them is inscribed the motto, "Rather Deathe than false of Faythe." As we gazed upon the above motto we were reminded of other lines which we have seen and read elsewhere. Sir Walter St. John died 3rd July, 1808, aged 87; his "Dare to be right, dare to be true; Bolingbroke (Henry St. John) Lord Viscount, descended from an ancient and noble family as we have already seen. His Mother was Mary, daughter of Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick. He received a liberal education at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, and when he left the University was considered to possess uncommon qualifications, but with great parts he had strong passions, which as usually happens, hurried him into many follies and indiscretions. Contrary to the inclinations of his family he cultivated Tory connections, and gained such influence in the House of Commons, that in 1704 he was appointed Secretary of War and of the Marines. He was closely united in all political measures with Mr. Harley; when therefore that gentleman was removed from the seals in 1707, Mr. St. John resigned his office; and in 1710, when Mr. Harley was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, the post of Secretary of State was given to Mr. St. John. In 1712, he was created Baron St. John of Lediard Tregose in Wiltshire, and Viscount Bolingbroke. But being overlooked in the bestowal of vacant ribands of the Order of the Garter, it is said he resented the affront and renounced the friendship of Harley, then Earl of Oxford, and made his court to the Whigs; nevertheless, on the accession of George 1st, the seals were taken from him. Having been informed that a resolution was taken to pursue him to the scaffold for his conduct regarding the treaty of Utrecht, Signed 11th of April, 1713, he withdrew into France and joined the Pretender's Lord Bolingbroke was born about the year 1672, or as some think, in 1678; he was baptized October 10, 1678; died December 12, 1751, and left the care and benefit of his M.S.S. to Mr. Mallet, who published them together with his former printed works in five vols. 4to.; they are also printed in 8vo. Lord Bolingbroke sank under a dreadful malady beneath which he had long lingered—a cancer in the face—which he bore with exemplary fortitude. "A fortitude," says Lord Brougham "drawn from the natural resources of his mind, and unhappily not aided by the consolation of any religion; for having cast off the belief in revelation, he had substituted in its stead a dark and gloomy naturalism, which even rejected those glimmerings of hope as to futurity not untasted by the wiser of the heathen." He used to ride out in his chariot every day, and had a black patch on his cheek, with a large wart over one of his eyebrows. He was thought to be essentially selfish; he spent little in the place and gave little away, so that he was not regarded much by the people of Battersea. A popular writer states that "Bolingbroke's talents were brilliant and versatile; his style of writing was polished and eloquent; but the fatal lack of sincerity and honest purpose which characterised him, and the low and unscrupulous ambition which made him His opposition to revealed religion drew from Johnson this severe remark: "Having loaded a blunderbuss and pointed it against Christianity he had not the courage to discharge it himself, but left a half-crown to a hungry Scotchman to pull the trigger after his death." Oliver Goldsmith in his life of Lord Bolingbroke says: "In whatever light we view his character, we shall find him an object rather more proper for our wonder than our imitation; more to be feared than esteemed, and gaining our admiration without our love. His ambition ever aimed at the summit of power, and nothing seemed capable of satisfying his immoderate desires but the liberty of governing all things without a rival." On the site of the demolished part of Bolingbroke House, engraving St. Mary's Church. ST. MARY'S CHURCH forms an interesting object from the water. It was re-built by Act of Parliament passed 14 Geo. 3. The former church, which was built of brick, was found to be in such a dilapidated state that the Vestry deemed it more than desirable to erect a new church than to enlarge and repair the old one. Their unanimous resolution in this respect met with the sanction of Earl Spencer; his lordship in compliance with a petition generously granted the petitioners in the year 1772 a piece of ground, etc. for the enlargement of the church yard. During the re-building of the church, divine service was conducted in the tabernacle at the Workhouse. The cost of its erection was about £5,000, which sum was raised by a brief by the sale of certain pews for 99 years, by the sale of some estates or docks belonging to the Parish, and by granting annuities on lives; the leases expired Michaelmas, 1876. It was opened for divine service November 17, 1777. The ground given by the Earl Spencer for the enlargement of the church yard was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of Oxford, on Wednesday, the 15th of April, 1778. The Church is built of brick and has a tower with a conical copper spire at the west end, besides a clock and porch. "Ring out the old year's evil, Six of the old bells were in the Old Church but re-cast, and two were added to them. Length of church, 88 feet; breadth, 49 feet 3 inches.—Rev. Owen Manning, S.T.B. In digging for the foundation of the present structure was found an ancient coffin lid of stone, on the top of which was a cross fleury. The Rev. Erskine Clarke in an article headed "S. Mary's Church in the Last Century" has furnished his parishioners with some interesting details gathered from the Parish books respecting the re-building of the Parish Church. He says: "It does not appear that our ancestors were more expeditious in carrying on business of this nature than we of the present day, as the first resolution to inquire into the state of the old Church
And that any five of them be a Committee to transact the business. And that the said Committee may adjourn themselves from time to time, to such place as they shall think proper and at their own expense: and that the Vestry Clerk be ordered to attend the said Committee at all times of their meeting. In the following year we find that the petition to Lord Spencer to present an additional piece of ground was granted, for the following resolution is recorded in the Parish Books on April 21st, 1772. 'That the Rev. Mr. Fraigneau, Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Dixon do wait upon the Right Hon. Earl Spencer on behalf of the Parish of Battersea, to return his Lordship their hearty thanks for his noble and generous grant of the houses and ground north and south of the present entrance to the church yard.' In March, 1773, a plan prepared by Mr. Dixon was laid before the Vestry, and it was unanimously resolved that the said plan be carried into execution with all possible expedition, and the expenses not to exceed £3,000. On March 1, 1774, it was reported to the Vestry by the Church Committee that it would be necessary to apply to Parliament for power to sell some estates belonging to the Parish, and also forty pews in the new church in order to procure necessary funds. From this time to the reopening of the Church there is no further reference to the restoration except an order for the payment of £18 for 'alterations to the Tabernacle at the Workhouse which was used for Divine Service during the re-building of the Church.' The entire cost of the Church was £4950 13s. 9½d. The following entry is made in April, The following copy of one of these leases on which the pews in St. Mary's Church were held, will be read with interest.
The window over the Communion table at the east end of the church is decorated with portraits of Henry 7th, his grandmother Margaret Beauchamp and Queen Elizabeth in stained glass which was carefully preserved from the former church, and executed at the expense of the St. Johns. The east window consists of painted glass, over the portraits of Queen Elizabeth and Henry VII. are the Royal Arms in the central compartment, and on each side, the arms and quarterings of the St. Johns. The portraits are likewise surrounded with borders containing the arms of the families allied to them by marriage. At the top is a white rose inclosed in a red, under the Crown. St. John bears Arg. or a chief Gu. 2 Mullets or; and Quarters: 1 Arg. A bend Arg. Cotised between 6 Martlets or, for Delaberes. 2 Arg. a fesse between 6 Cinquefoils Gu. for Unfreville. 3 Erm. on a fesse Az 3 Crosses Moline or. 4 Gu. a fesse between 6 Martlets or for Beauchamp. 5 Arg. a fesse Sa between 3 Crescents Gu. for Patishall. 6 Paly of 6 Arg. and Az on a bend Gu. 3 Eagles displayed or for Grandison. 7 Az 2 bars Gemelles, and in Chief a lion passant for Tregoze. 8 Arg. a fesse Gu between 2 Mullets of 6 points Sali for Ewyas. 9 A Saltire Engrailed Sa. On a Chief of the Second 2 Mullets of the first, for Iwarby or Ewarby. 10 or, 3 lions passant in Pale Sa. for Carew. 11 Az 3 Battleaxes Arg. 12 Sa. 2 bars Arg. in Chief, 3 plates for Hungerford. 13 per Pale indented Gu. and Vert over all a Chevron or. 14 Arg. 3 Toads Sa for Botreux. 15 Paly wavy or and Gu. All these are quarters on one shield with a Viscount Coronet; the 11 first are quartered by St. John, Baronet. The epitaph written by Lord Bolingbroke on his wife reads as follows: "In the same vault are interred the remains of Mary Clara des Champs de Marcelly, Marchioness of Villette and Viscountess Bolingbroke, born of noble family, bred in the Court of Lewes 14th. She reflected a lustre on the former by the superior accomplishment of her mind. She was an ornament to the latter by the amiable dignity and grace of her behaviour. She lived the honour of her own sex, the delight and admiration of ours. She died an object of imitation to both with all the firmness that reason, with all the resignation that religion can inspire, aged 74 the 18th of March, 1750." The interior contains some interesting sepulchral monuments, among which is one of Roubiliac in the reliefs to the memory of Viscount Bolingbroke and his second wife, niece of Madame de Maintenon, both lie in the family vault in St. Mary's Church. The epitaphs on himself and his wife were both written by Bolingbroke. That upon himself is still extant in his own handwriting in the British Museum, and is as follows:—"Here lies Henry St. John, in the reign of Queen Anne, Secretary of War, Secretary of State and Viscount Bolingbroke; in the days of King George I. and King George II. something more and better. His attachment to Queen Anne exposed him to a long and severe persecution; he bore it with firmness of mind, he passed the latter part of his life at home, the enemy of no national party, the friend of no faction, distinguished under the cloud of proscription, which had not been entirely taken off by zeal to maintain the liberty and to restore the ancient prosperity of Great Britain." Another monument commemorates the descent and preferments of Oliver St. John, Viscount Grandison, who was the first of the family that settled at Battersea. When studying the law at one of the Inn Courts, he killed in a duel the Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth and Champion of England. "In 1648, Sir John St. John was buried at Battersea with such unusual pomp that the heralds were fluttered and commenced a prosecution against the Executor for acting contrary to the usage of arms and the laws of heraldry. William Riley, one of the heralds deposed 'that the funeral of the deceased was conducted in a manner so much above his degree that the escutcheons were more than were used at the funeral of a Duke; and that he never saw so many persons but at the funeral of one of the blood royal.' This burial is omitted in the register." In the south gallery is a monument to Sir Edward Wynter, an officer in the service of the East India Company in the reign of Charles 2nd, on which is recorded an account of his having singly and unarmed killed a tiger, and on foot defeated forty Moors on horseback. He "Born to be great in fortune as in mind, He died March 2nd, 1685-6, aged 64. Near at hand is a monument—a small statue of a mourning female leaning upon an urn—erected by the benevolent James Neild, in memory of his wife Elizabeth, who died 30th of June, 1791, in her 36th year. The epitaph states:— Here low in beauteous form decay'd And of her father, John Camden, Esq., whose son, John Camden Neild, lived in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, and bequeathed to Queen Victoria the whole of his property, £500,000. At the east end of the north gallery is a beautiful marble monument most elaborately sculptured sacred to the memory of Sir John Fleet, Knt., Alderman of the City of London. He was unanimously elected Lord Mayor of the City in 1693. He received Royal favours, and all ranks of the greatest honour and esteem from his fellow citizens, having been one of their representatives in Parliament thirteen years, and constantly interested in their Another tablet is erected to the memory of Margaret Susanna Pounsett, wife of Henry Pounsett, Esq., of Stockwell, in this County, and eldest daughter of Richard Rothwell, Esq., of this Parish; Alderman of the City of London and High Sheriff of the County of Middlesex: she died on the 22nd day of March, 1820, in the 32nd year of her age, leaving two sons and three daughters. Her numerous amiable and exemplary qualities, endeared her to her family in her life—Her Christian piety and cheerful resignation alone consoled them in her death. Also of Ellen Anne Pounsett, her second daughter, who died the 7th of December, 1834, aged 22. In the west gallery is a marble tablet sacred to the memory of Richard Rothwell, Esq., Alderman and formerly High Sheriff of the City of London, and County of Middlesex; who departed this life most deeply regretted, July 26th, A.D. 1821, in the 60th year of his age. In the public station which he filled of Magistrate and Sheriff, his strict integrity, his splendid liberality, and his genuine philanthropy, justly merited and procured the highest esteem, and warmest approbation of his fellow citizens. In his private character he was respected for the vigor of his mind, the solidity of his judgment, and the uprightness of his principles, and beloved for the urbanity of his manners, and the benevolence of his heart. In him the perplexed found an able counsellor, and the distressed an active friend. His feelings were tenderly alive to the important truths of religion, and while punctual in the performance of the duties of this life he placed his sole reliance on the merits of his Redeemer for happiness in the life to come. On the right-hand-side of the pathway leading towards the porch of the Church is a grave stone at the bottom of which is the following inscription:—"Mrs. Sarah Eleanor McFarlane, who fell by the hand of an assassin the 29th of April, 1844, aged 46 years." This poor widow resided in Bridge Road, and obtained a subsistence by keeping a Day and Sunday School. The name of the murderer who deprived the life of his victim by cutting her throat on Old Battersea Bridge, was Augustus Dalmas, a Frenchman. This horrid crime was committed late at night. The woman who had charge of the toll seeing the helpless condition of Mrs. McFarlane conveyed her to the "Swan and Magpie" Tavern at the foot of the Bridge, where she expired exclaiming "Dalmas did it!" In the north gallery is an upright marble tablet for Sir [George] Wombwell, Bart., of Sherwood Lodge, who died October 28th, 1846, in his 77th year. At the east end of the south aisle is a tablet to Thomas Astle, Esq., F.S.A., keeper of the records in the Tower, and who wrote on "The Origin and Progress of Writing." He left a valuable collection of manuscripts which were deposited at Stow, the seat of his noble patron the Marquis of Buckingham, to whom he gave by his will the option of purchasing them at a fixed sum. In the churchyard lies Arthur Collins, author of "The Peerage "While living herbs shall spring profusely wild, The Countess de Morella, who lived in one of the five mansions which gave its old name of Five House Lane to Bolingbroke Grove, has placed a coped stone with a cross on it over the old grave of her aunt Miss Elizabeth Hofer, in the church yard near the mortuary, and has had the tablets of her family at the west end of the north gallery cleaned. Mr. Poole, the Curator of the monuments in Westminster Abbey, is now engaged in cleaning some of the mural monuments in the Church which had become grimed with the dust of years. In the centre of the plot in front of the portico is the family vault of Sir Rupert George, Bart. Mr. Chadwin, one of the oldest parishioners now living in Battersea, relates how Sir Rupert George came to select St. Mary's Church yard as his burying place. "He was on a visit to Lord Cremorne, at Cremorne House, on the opposite side of the Thames, and he came over to Battersea and was so impressed with the beauty of the view across the river that he purchased the vault as a resting place for himself and his family. Several of his sons and daughters are interred there, and Dr. Inglis, Bishop of Nova Scotia, the first Colonial Bishop, was also buried in the vault of Sir Rupert George, to whom he was fondly attached by the strongest ties of friendship and also closely allied by marriage." The Bishop's tablet is on the wall under the north gallery. Charles Williams of London was an actor of some eminence at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He died in the prime of life. His mortal remains were interred in the church yard. As a tribute of respect his funeral was attended by the whole body of Comedians; the pall was supported by Wilks, Griffin, the two Cibbers, and the two Mills. "There is" says Daniel Lysons, "no memorial of his grave." It is thought that as the former Church was built of brick that probably it was not very ancient. A church is mentioned in Doomsday, a most ancient record, made in the time of William 1st, surnamed the Conqueror, and containing a survey of all the lands in England. Lysons, from whom we take the liberty of making some liberal quotations, when writing about 85 years ago, says, "The Church of Battersea is dedicated to St. Mary; it is in the Diocese of Winchester, and in the Deanery of Southwark, the benefice is a Vicarage. Lawrence, Abbot of Westminster, first procured the appropriation of the great tithes for that Abbey about the year 1156. The monks of Westminster were to receive out of it two marks, reserving sufficient to the Vicar to support the Episcopal burdens and himself. The Rectory was held by John Bishop of Winchester in the time of Philip and Mary. The "There are two terriers of Battersea in the register of Winchester fastened together of the dates of 1619 and 1636."—Ducarel's Endowments of Vicarages, (Lambeth Library). "Owen Ridley, who was instituted to the Vicarage of Battersea, A.D. 1570, appears to have been involved in a tedious litigation with his parishioners and to have encountered no small degree of persecution from them. The circumstance would not have been worth recording but for two curious petitions which it produced, the originals of which (date of both 1593) were in the possession of the Rev. John Gardenor, Vicar, by whom, (says Lysons) they have been obligingly communicated. One of these is from certain inhabitants to Dr. Swale, one of Her Majesty's High Commissioners for crimes Ecclesiastical; in which they state many grievances which they suffered from their Vicar during the space of eighteen years. Amongst other crimes alleged against him is that of conversing with a Witch. The object of their petition was, that he might be deprived. It is signed with thirteen names and about thirty marks. The other petition, which is to Lord Burleigh, being the more curious of the two is here given at large. To the Right Honourable the Lord Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer of England. Most humbly sheweth unto your honor, your daiely orators, the inhabitants of Battersey, besechinge you to extend your favor in all just causes to our mynister Mr. Ridley: (so it is right honorable) that some have sought his deprivation, by many trobles many years together, and in divers courts sometymes in the Archdeacon's, sometymes by complayninge to the busshop, sometymes before the highe Commissioners, sometymes before the Archbusshop of Canterbury, his grace: Yea and once he hath ben edicted at the assizes. But God the defender of the innocent, hath so protected him that his cawse beinge tryed and knowene he hath hadd a good issue of all theis trobles; yet the adversarie will not cease, but seeketh to deprive him of his life, for seekinge after Witches, and procuringe the death of a man by Witchcraft. He hath byn our Vicar theis twenty years: he is zealous in the gospell, honest in life, painefull to teache us and to catechise our youth; charitable and liberall to the poore and needy accordinge to his ability, he never sued any of all his parisheoners "Dr. Thomas Temple, brother of Sir John Temple, the Irish Master of the Rolls, was instituted to the Vicarage of Battersea in 1634, and continued there during the civil wars; he was one of the ministers appointed by Cromwell to assist the Committee for displacing ignorant and insufficient School Masters and Ministers. He was likewise one of the Assembly of Divines and a frequent preacher before the long Parliament. Several of his sermons are in print. Mr. Temple was succeeded in the Vicarage of Battersea by the learned Bishop Patrick, who was educated at Queen's College, Cambridge, and was domestic Chaplain to Sir Walter St. John, by whom he was presented to this benefice. Several of his tracts were published while he was Vicar of Battersea and are dedicated to his patron. He resigned the Vicarage in 1675. He was a zealous champion of the protestant religion, both by his writings and in conversation, particularly at a conference which he, in conjunction with Dr. Jane, held in the presence of James the Second with two Roman Catholic Priests, in which he had so much the superiority over his opponents in argument, that the King retired in disgust, saying that he never heard a good cause so ill defended or a bad one so well. At the Revolution he was rewarded with the Bishopric of Chichester, and was afterwards translated to Ely. He died 1707, and left behind him a numerous collection of printed works; consisting of sermons, devotional and controversial tracts and paraphrases on the Scriptures, which are held in great estimation and which were continued by William South." "Dr. Thomas Church, of Brazen Nose College, Oxford, who was instituted to the Vicarage of Battersea in the year 1740, distinguished himself much in the field of controversy in which he engaged against Westley and Whitfield, and Middleton: for his successful attacks on the latter and his defence of the miraculous power during the early years of Christianity. The University of Oxford gave him the degree of D.D. by diploma. He was too zealously attached to his religion to let the opinions of Lord Bolingbroke pass unnoticed notwithstanding he had been his patron. His publication on this subject however was anonymous, it was called "The registers of this parish begin in the year 1559, and excepting the former part of the 18th century appear to be accurate. Dr. Church soon after he was instituted to the Vicarage began to transcribe a considerable part of the registers, which for many years preceding had been kept by a very ignorant parish clerk. He proceeded so far as to copy the whole of the baptisms, and with great industry rectified a vast number of mistakes and supplied many deficiencies; the difficulty of transcribing the burials of which indeed for some years there were no notices, discouraged him from proceeding any further in this laudable undertaking."—Lysons. Cases of longevity in the Parish Register: Goody Harleton, aged 108 years, buried 1703; William Abbot, 101, 1733; Wiat, 100, 1790; and William Douse, 100, 1803. The case of Rebecca, wife of Richard Harding, a waterman, is mentioned. She gave birth to four children, she died in labour of the fourth child, which was still-born. The mother was buried February 8, 1730; her three infant children, Mary, Sarah, and Rebecca were buried the 2nd of March following. Respecting the rate of mortality in London during the plague years, in the year 1603, 30,578 persons died of the plague. At the accession of Charles I. in 1625, another dreadful pestilence raged in London, which carried off 35,417 persons. In the year 1665, about the beginning of May, there broke out in London the most dreadful plague that ever infested this kingdom, which swept away 68,596 persons, which added to the number of those who died of other distempers, raised the bill of mortality in this year to 97,306. And the mortality raged so violently in July, that all houses were shut up, the streets, deserted, and scarce anything to be seen therein but grass growing, innumerable fires for purifying the air, coffins, pest-carts, red crosses upon doors, with the inscription, 'Lord have mercy upon us,' and continual cries of 'pray for us;' or the melancholy call of 'bring out your dead.' The cause of this terrible calamity was ascribed to the importation of infected goods from Holland where the plague had committed great ravages the preceding year. During the whole time of its continuance there was a great calm, for weeks together there was scarcely any wind so that it was with difficulty that the fires in the streets could be kept burning for want of a supply of air, and even the birds panted for breath. The plague as is generally agreed is never bred or propagated in Britain, but always imported from abroad, especially from the Levant, Lesser Asia, Egypt, etc. Sydenham, an old writer, has remarked that it rarely infects this country oftener than once in forty years—thank God we have happily been free from it for a much longer period. There have been various conjectures as to the nature of this dreadful distemper. Some think that insects are the cause of it, in the same way that they are the cause of blights. Mr. Boyle thought that it originated from the effluvia or exhalations breathed into the atmosphere from noxious minerals to which might be added stagnant waters and putrid bodies of every kind. Gibbon, in his Roman History, 4th Edition, Vol. IV, p. 327-332, gives a very particular account of the plague which depopulated the earth in the time of Emperor The three Plague years.
Average of Births with Burials:—
In 1876 the number of births in Battersea Parish was 3459, and the number of deaths 1751, not including the Hamlet of Penge. The subjoined is copied from "St. Mary's Battersea Parish Magazine" for November, 1875. "Vicars of Battersea from Olden Times. The following extract from 'A History and Antiquities of Surrey,' begun by the Rev. Owen Manning, enlarged and continued to the year 1814 by William Bray, Esq., printed for White, Cochrane & Co., at Horace's Head, Fleet Street, will be of interest.
The Registers of 1345, 1366, 1415, 1446, 1492, and 1500 are lost." In the reign of Henry VI. Thomas Lord Stanley held possession of a valuable estate in Battersea, which, in order to prevent its confiscation at that troublesome period, he had conveyed to trustees for the benefit of himself and that of Thomas his son and heir. In December, 1460, the property was transferred by the Trustees to Lawrence Booth, Bishop of Durham, and his heirs, and in the year following the grant was confirmed by the two Stanleys. The futility of this transfer was obvious for before Edward IV. had reigned eleven years the estate had escheated to the Crown "in consequence of the action of John Stanley, who assigned the lands and tenements in trust to the Abbot of Westminster, in contravention of the statute of Mortmain. The Bishop therefore had to apply to the King and on payment of £700 he obtained a grant under Letters Patent dated July 10th, 1472, of the property forfeited by John Stanley." Lawrence Booth was made Bishop of Durham in 1457, he built There was also another large building in 1818 standing parallel with York House but nearer the river divided into two houses, then in the possession of F. Alver and H. Tritton, Esqrs., and noted for having a very fine terrace in front next the Thames. The art of transfer-printing produced from copper-plate impressions is said to have been made at Liverpool; but Mr. Binns, F.S.A., in his very interesting History of Worcester ware traces the claim of transfer-printing to the Battersea Enamel Works at York House, (the Archbishop's old palace) where Ravenet and other artists wrought in engraving plates from which impressions were taken on enamel plaques, etc., for snuff-boxes and other articles. The Liverpool claim to the invention dates from 1756. Whereas Horace Walpole writes from Strawberry Hill, six or seven miles from Battersea, to R. Bently, September 18th, 1755; "I shall send you a trifling snuff-box only as a sample of the new manufacture at Battersea which is done with Copper plates." The The public may see some beautiful as well as curious specimens of Battersea enamel exhibited at Kensington Museum, lent by the Hon. W. F. B. Massey-Mainwaring. Also some bought at Mrs. Haliburton's sale. Battersea enamel 1750-60. Blue and gold, pink and gold candle-sticks, snuff-boxes, scent-bottles, needle-cases, handle for a cane, tray (circular) from Dulparry with floral medallions, tazza, Bulton's hunting subjects in brown transfer, thimble cases, etui with implements. Battersea enamel portrait on copper, a gentleman in armour wearing the garter, etc., etc. Jens Wolfe, Esq., who was Danish Consul to this country, had a seat at Battersea called Sherwood Lodge. He built a gallery 76 feet long by 25, and 30 in height in the most correct style of Doric architecture for the reception of plaster casts purposely taken for this collection from the most celebrated antique statues. The most remarkable of these were those from the Fighting Gladiator and the Niobe, the Barberini Faun, the Dying Gladiator and the Farnese Hercules. The mansion was pleasantly situated and beautifully shaded with poplar, lime, and sycamore trees. It was the residence of Mrs. Fitz Herbert. Sir George Wombwell chose it as his seat and resided in it about fourteen years. Subsequently Sir Edward Hyde East dwelt here. The stable belonging to Sherwood Lodge still remains, also the old wooden-cased pump with leaden spout. advertisement Price's Patent Candle Company, Belmont Works, Battersea, S.W. (above) Price's Patent Candle Company, Bromborough Pool, near Liverpool. (below) On the site where stood York House, Tudor Lodge, and Sherwood House, stands a great hive of industry known as Belmont Works or Price's Patent Candle Factory. Price's Patent Candle Company (as a private firm) was among the earliest to apply in commercial enterprise the discoveries of Chevreul, and has continued to hold the first place among candle manufacturers in Great Britain; and notwithstanding the manufacture of gas, the importation of American oils and the many competitors for supplying light-giving material this Company makes its way by dexterity between them. At the present time the store room of the Belmont Factory actually contains candles of about 240 different kinds. Until Chevreul had begun his scientific investigations in 1811, oils and fats had been regarded as simple organic substances. On the complete publication of his discoveries in 1823, the complex character of these bodies became extensively known. In 1829 the plan of separating cocoa-nut oil into its solid and liquid components by pressure, was in that year patented by Mr. James Soames of London; this patent was purchased by Mr. William Wilson and his partner, who, trading upon it under the title of E. Price & Co., perfected it as to manufacturing
The year's produce of candles named above would suffice to give the continuous light of one candle during about 84,000 years. The Night-lights would in like manner give the continuous light of one Night-light during about 25,000 years. In 1853 the Company took a step of much importance. Liverpool being then as now, the place of arrival of the largest importation of palm-oil, it was felt to be desirable that the Company should have in or near it a second factory, prepared to manufacture this material where it could be purchased without cost of land carriage. The capital of the Company was therefore increased and an estate of about 60 acres was purchased at Bromborough Pool, near Liverpool, on which was erected the second factory with cottages. The factory village numbers 97 houses with a population of 530. It has its own place of worship, schools, co-operative stores, rifle corps, and all the organization of a model village. At present this factory employs about 320 operatives. The London Works (Battersea) occupy an area of about 13½ acres, those at Bromborough occupy 7 acres. The buildings are all roofed with corrugated iron so as to reduce inflammable material to a minimum. The area covered by the roofs is a large one, as the buildings again, with a view to safety from fire have generally no upper floor. This area amounts to nine acres for the two factories. The operatives number about 1,300, nearly 1,000 of whom are employed at Battersea. Connected with each factory is a mess-room in which the work-people can either purchase their food from the Co-operative Society established among themselves, or can have their own provisions cooked for them. At each factory a brief devotional service is conducted every morning. Each factory has its reading room and library; each maintains a corps of rifle volunteers (the two establishments together providing about 300 efficient riflemen), and each during the winter has its evening school for boys employed in the Works. Bromborough enjoys an excellent recreation ground and set of allotment gardens, but the growth of buildings about London has precluded the London operatives from having these privileges. During the winter months, lectures and science and art classes offer amusement and instruction to those who desire one or the other. In each factory a medical officer pays a daily visit, and attends to all who may be ailing; a weekly payment of one penny from each man and a half-penny from each boy being required in return for this privilege. On the whole this is one of the best regulated firms in the Metropolis. Mr. James Pillans Wilson, Consulting Adviser. Though hour-glasses were invented at Alexandria B.C. 149, and water-clocks about the same period, yet it does not appear that hour-glasses and clepsydras or water-clocks were known in England during the reign of Alfred the Great. Sun dials might be, but were of no use from eve to morn and when the days were sunless. In order to allot certain portions of time to particular objects, eight hours to sleep, meals and exercise, eight to the affairs of government, and eight to study and devotion, Alfred contrived the expedient of having wax candles made of equal weight and twelve inches in length, with marks upon them at regular distances. The combustion of one candle lasted four hours, and each intermediate part, an inch in distance, denoted a period of twenty minutes. Six of these candles lasted twenty-four hours. The duty of tending these candles was entrusted to one of Alfred's domestic Chaplains who had to give the Monarch notice of their working. As currents of air rushed through the unglazed windows and chinks in the walls of the Royal residence as to render the combustion irregular and the register inaccurate, the ingenious King surrounded the candles with horn and wooden frames to make them burn steadily in all weathers. It was a custom in olden time to conduct a sale or auction by inch of candle. A small piece of candle being lighted the bystanders were allowed to bid for the merchandize that was offered for sale—the moment the candle went out the commodity was adjudged to the last bidder. There was also excommunication by inch of candle, when the sinner was allowed to come to repentance while a candle continued to burn; but after it was consumed he remained excommunicated to all intents and purposes. CANDLEMAS, a feast of the Romish Church, celebrated on the 2nd of February, in honour of the purification of the Virgin Mary. It is borrowed from the practice of the ancient Christians, who on that day used abundance of lights both in their churches and processions, in memory as is supposed of our Saviour's being on that day declared by Simeon "to be a light to lighten the Gentiles." In imitation of this custom, the Roman Catholics on this day consecrate all the tapers and candles which they use in their churches during the whole year. At Rome, the Pope performs that ceremony himself; and distributes wax candles to the Cardinals and others, who carry them in procession through the Great Halls of the Vatican or Pope's Palace. This ceremony was prohibited in England by an Order of Council in the year 1548. Some writers affirm that Candlemas was first instituted by Pope Gelasius I. in 492. "The Romans were in the habit of burning candles on this day to the goddess Februa, the mother of Mars; and Pope Sergius seeing it would be useless to prohibit a practice of so long standing turned it to Christian account by enjoining a similar offering of candles to the Virgin. The candles were supposed to have the effect of frightening the devil and all evil spirits away from the persons who carried them, or from the houses in which they were placed." It is evident that the numerous superstitious notions and observances connected with candles and other lights in all countries had a remote origin, and may be considered A bright spark at the candle denotes that the party directly opposite is to receive a letter. Windy weather is prophesied from the waving of the flames without (apparent) cause, and wet weather if the wick does not light readily. There is a tradition in most parts of Europe to the effect that a fine Candlemas portends a severe winter. In Scotland the prognostication is expressed in the following distich:— "If Candlemas is fair and clear It is said that condemned criminals making the amende honorable at the church doors were constrained to bear in their hands a wax taper of six pounds weight. That it is only thirty-two years since a woman convicted of the offence of brawling in church, stood, by sentence of the Ecclesiastical Court, in a white sheet and with a candle in her hand, coram publico, in a church in Devonshire. By the superstitious in olden times in England the rescued parts of Candlemas tapers were supposed to possess supernatural virtues. "Candlemas Bleeze" was until recently, a bonfire festival still observed in sequestered parts of Scotland. A "winding sheet," a "thief" in the candle, etc., were regarded as evil omens, and anxious fears excited if suddenly a hollow cinder were ejected from the fire to know whether it resembled a cradle or a coffin! About a century ago London was so infested with gangs of highwaymen that it was dangerous to go out after dusk. In 1705 an Act of Common Council was passed for regulating the nightly watch of the City. A number of strong able-bodied men had to be provided by each Ward. Every person occupying any shop, house or warehouse had either to watch in person or pay an able-bodied man to be appointed thereto. Watchmen were provided with lanterns and candles and armed with halberts; to watch from nine in the evening till seven in the morning from Michaelmas to the first of April, and from ten till five from the first of April till Michaelmas. Thus they went their nightly rounds calling "Lantern and a candle! Hang out your Lights!" for during dark nights a certain number of householders in each street had to hang out lanterns with a whole candle, and the Watchman thundered at the door of those delinquents who neglected to do so. The total number of Watchmen appointed by this Act was 583. Facing Price's Candle Factory was a field which was rented by the Company and used as a cricket ground for their employÉs. Queen's Terrace and streets adjacent now cover this portion of land. Among the State Papers is a letter dated August 22, 1580, from Archbishop Sandys to John Wickliffe, keeper of his house at Battersey, in which he directs him to deliver up the house to the Lords of the Council so that it might be turned into a prison for obstinate papists. During the Commonwealth, York House was sold to Sir Allen Apsley and Colonel Hutchinson for the sum of £1,806 3s. 6d., but it was reclaimed by the See after the Restoration. Brayley in his History of Surrey says, "Besides this Mansion A very useful thing is that dentated instrument called the Saw. Pliny says that the saw was invented by DÆdalus. According to Apollodolus Talus invented the saw. Talus it is said having found the jaw-bone of a snake employed it to cut through a piece of wood and then formed an instrument of iron like it. Saw-mills were erected in Madeira in 1420. At Bresdan in 1427. Norway had the first saw-mills in 1530. The Bishop of Ely Ambassador from Mary of England in the escort of Rome describes a saw-mill there 1555. The attempts to introduce saw-mills into England were violently opposed, and one invented by a Dutchman in 1663 was forced to be abandoned. Saw-mills were erected near London about 1770. The excellent saw machinery at Woolwich Dockyard is based upon the invention of the Elder Brunel, 1806-13. Sir Mark Isambard Brunel was the son of a Normandy farmer, and born at Hacqueville, near Rouen, on the 25th of April, 1769. He early shewed an inclination for mechanics, and at school preferred the study of the exact sciences to the classics. In 1786, he became a sailor in the French Navy. In the revolutionary period of 1793, having involved himself by his political opinions he escaped from Paris to the United States. Brunel's career as an engineer began 1794 when he was appointed to survey for the Canal which now connects Lake Champlain with the river Hudson, at Albany. He afterwards acted as an architect in New York. On his return to Europe in 1799, he married the daughter of William Kingdom, Esq., Plymouth, and settled in England. Here he soon established his reputation as a mechanician by the invention of a machine for making block pulleys for the rigging of ships. The erection of steam saw-mills in Chatham Dockyard, a machine for making seamless shoes for the army, machines for making nails and wooden boxes, for rolling paper and twisting cotton hanks, and lastly a machine for producing locomotion by means of Carbonic acid gas, which however though partially successful was afterwards abandoned. "But the great work by which his name will be transmitted to posterity is the Thames Tunnel which, though almost a complete failure as a commercial transaction is nevertheless a wondrous monument of engineering skill and enterprise. It was commenced in March, 1825, and opened to the public in 1843, after a multitude of obstacles and disasters." He held extensive Sir Richard Phillips, who had an opportunity of inspecting Brunel's machinery at Battersea, eulogizes his fame and speaks of his merits and scientific genius thus:—"A few yards from the toll-gate of the Bridge on the western side of the road stand the workshops of that eminent, modest, and persevering mechanic Mr. Brunel, a gentleman of the rarest genius who has effected as much for the mechanic arts as any man of his time. The wonderful apparatus in the Dockyard at Portsmouth with which he sets blocks for the navy, with a precision and expedition that astonish every beholder, secures him a monument of fame and eclipses all rivalry." At Battersea Works Sir Richard witnessed four circular saws, two of them 18-ft. in diameter and two of them 9-ft. in diameter, besides other circular saws much smaller used for the purpose of separating veneers. He saw planks of mahogany and rosewood sawn into veneers the 16th of an inch thick. By the power that turned those tremendous saws he beheld a large sheet of veneer 10-ft. long by 2-ft. broad separated in ten minutes "so even and so uniform that it appeared more like a perfect work of nature than one of human art." In another building Sir Richard was shown Mr. Brunel's manufactory for shoes, where the labour was sub-divided so that each shoe passed by aid of machinery through twenty-five hands complete from the hide as supplied by the currier. By this means a hundred pairs of strong and well-finished shoes were made per day. He remarks, "each man performs but one step in the process, which implies no knowledge of what is done by those who go before or follow him. The persons employed are not shoemakers, but wounded soldiers, who are able to learn their respective duties in a few hours. The contract at which these shoes are delivered to Government is 6s. 6d. per pair, being at least 2s. less than were paid previously for an unequalled and cobbled article." The shoes thus made for the Army were tried for two years but afterwards abandoned from economical views. Sir Richard Phillips in his "Morning Walk from London to Kew" (page 42) says, "at the distance of a hundred yards from Battersea Bridge an extensive pile of massy brick work for the manufacture of soap has recently been erected, at a cost it is said of sixty thousand pounds. I was told it was inaccessible to strangers and therefore was obliged to content myself with viewing it at a distance." This soap factory stood by the water side, a little to the east of the Bridge, erected by Mr. Cleaver. There were some large turpentine works in this parish, which belonged to Mr. Flocton. Battersea has three bridges across the Thames communicating with Chelsea. The history of the Ferry prior to the erection of the OLD WOODEN BRIDGE at Battersea can be traced back some two or three centuries. It was much used as a means of transporting Battersea Bridge Tolls by Act of Parliament 6° George III. 1766.
On a Notice Board dated 6th October, 1824, are the following words: "Notice is hereby given that no trucks, wheelbarrows or other carriages will be permitted to be drawn upon the foot-paths of this bridge. By order of the Proprietors." The Bridge though convenient has an unsightly appearance and unworthy its position across a river spanned by some of the finest bridges in the world. At the foot of the Old Bridge is a toll-house with walls twenty inches in thickness, facing which is a painted board with charges for tolls headed "Old Battersea Bridge Tolls by Act of Parliament 6° George III., 1766." ALBERT SUSPENSION BRIDGE, conceived originally many years ago by the Prince Consort, it was not until 1864 that an Act for its construction was obtained. Although the works were commenced soon after the necessary powers were conferred upon the Company, they were retarded by the action of the Metropolitan Off Park Road, Battersea, is an antique cottage, the birthplace and residence of Mr. Juer, who for several years discharged the duties of Overseer and other Parochial offices in a manner creditable to himself and highly satisfactory to the parishioners. From family records he has been able to trace that his ancestors have occupied this dwelling for the last three centuries. Mr. Juer died Nov. 30, and was interred Dec. 6, 1878, in the family vault in St. Mary's Church-yard, where there had been no burial for 25 years. Canon Clarke read the burial service, and many of the old parishioners were present who respected the memory of the deceased. CHELSEA SUSPENSION BRIDGE is an elegant structure on the suspension principle, (from the site of Ranelagh to Battersea Tolls paid for passing over this Bridge were:—
Hackney coaches and licensed cabs without passengers, waggons, carts and drays unladen with two or more horses, to pass over the bridge upon payment of half the above toll. And all post chaise returning without passengers and return post horses, to pass over the bridge free. By virtue of an Act of Parliament 9th and 10th Victoria, cap. 39. By order of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings, 1858. Office of Works, 12, Whitehall Place, Westminster. Londoners may congratulate themselves that they are at last allowed to cross the bridges which connect the opposite banks of the Thames at the western end of this great city without paying toll. The Metropolitan Board of Works have expended £538,847 19s. in freeing these five bridges—viz.: Lambeth Bridge, £36,059; Vauxhall Bridge, £255,230 16s. 8d.; Albert and Battersea Bridges, (including Parliamentary costs), £170,305; Albert Bridge Company (taxed costs of arbitration), £2,253 3s. 1d.; Chelsea Bridge, £75,000. On Saturday, the 24th of May, 1879, Her Majesty Queen Victoria's birthday was appropriately chosen for the occasion and great preparations had been made for giving Éclat to the ceremony. The route taken by the Royal Party (which included the Prince and Princess of Wales—two of their children, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales, attired in naval costume as naval cadets; the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Crown Prince of Denmark) which was gay with Venetian masts, bannerets, streamers and flags. The Circular Engine Shed in Victoria Bridge Road and that portion of the railway bridge which spans the Thames belonging
The Prince of Wales spoke in reply as follows:
Twenty carriages were devoted to the Members of Parliament, Members of the Metropolitan Board and the Officials the twentieth containing Sir James M'Garel Hogg and some ladies and following this came the three Royal carriages. The route being kept clear of traffic and the spectators massed in lines along side by the police—some 1600 were on duty—the arrangements south side of the bridges being in charge of Captain Braynes, while on the north side Colonel Pearson had the directions. His Royal Highness proceeded by way of the Albert Embankment to Vauxhall Bridge, the approach to which was exceedingly picturesque the banks of the Thames fluttering with flags, and the river crowded with boats that followed the cortÈge. The procession crossed and re-crossed Chelsea Suspension Bridge. In the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway West-end Goods Traffic Yard a Royal salute was given on the arrival of the Prince by the crushing weight of a locomotive named Rennes, No. 130, passing over twenty-one fog signals, an arrangement previously made by Mr. J. Richardson, the effect of which gave general satisfaction. The west side of the Victoria Railway Bridge which spans the Thames was elegantly decorated from one end to the other by the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway Company. Festoons and tri-coloured flags representing the colours used for signals on railways were voluntarily displayed in such profusion by Messrs. J. Richardson and Everest as to render the scene quite imposing. In front of Chelsea Hospital were drawn up two hundred warriors of olden times, pensioners in their beaver cocked hats who knowing more about "Brown Bess than the Martini rifle managed to do a salute with tolerable precision." The people assembled in Battersea Park made a rush for Albert Bridge as the procession approached that graceful structure. The Albert Bridge Company was represented by Mr. Ewing Matheson, the Chairman; Mr. Youngman, Manager; Mr. A. C. Harper, Secretary, and Mr. Frederick Stanley, Solicitor. (The Countess of Cadogan presented the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh with handsome bouquets on behalf of the ladies of Chelsea. Button holes of a very choice nature were also The Royal party returned to Marlborough House—-the other carriages then went to Chelsea Vestry Hall where a banquet was served, and at night there was a display of fireworks at Battersea Park supplied by the Crystal Palace Pyrotechnists, T. Brock & Co., the expense being borne by Earl Cadogan to wind up the eventful day's proceedings. At the foot of Chelsea Suspension Bridge a board is erected on which is written the following: Notice, Metropolitan Board of Works. No Traction Engine, Steam Roller, or any load exceeding 5 tons on each pair of wheels, must be taken over this bridge. By order of J. E. Wakefield, Clerk to the Board, May, 1879. Shortly after the freeing of the bridges the "bars" were removed, and the old toll house at the foot of Battersea Bridge entirely demolished. The stupendous Railway Bridge across the Thames at Battersea from Battersea Park Railway Pier to Grosvenor Road Station is said to be the Widest Railway Bridge in the World. It consists of four arches each one hundred and seventy-five feet span in the clear, with a rise of seventeen feet six inches. The immense ribs which support the superstructure are formed throughout of wrought iron, and are firmly attached to massive cast-iron standards which are placed over the piers; the whole of the frame-work is thus made continuous throughout. On each side of the river is a land arch of seventy feet span, making the entire length of the bridge eight hundred and forty feet. The abutments were put in by means of coffer-dams, and the foundations are carried down thirty feet below Some antiquarians have stated that about fifty yards westward of Chelsea Suspension Bridge, CÆsar and his legions crossed the river Thames by a ford when in pursuit of the Britons who were retreating from the Romans. The ford is described at low water as a shoal of gravel not more than three feet deep, sufficient for ten men to walk abreast, except on the Surrey side where it has been deepened by raising ballast, and the causeway from the South bank may yet be traced at low water. Others think that the place of crossing was higher up the river, either at Chertsey or Kingston; the latter was anciently called Moreford, or the Great Ford. However, landing at Deal, it is natural the Romans would cross the river at some ford nearest that point. We would suggest that the next Monolith brought to this country from the land of the Ptolemys or CÆsars be erected on this spot, similar to that of Cleopatra's Needle on the Victoria Embankment. Watermen and others who navigate the river have observed how very shallow the water is at this spot. Sir Richard Phillips says "the event was pregnant with such consequences to the fortune of these Islands, that the spot deserves the record of a monument; which ought to be preserved from age to age, as long as the veneration due to antiquity is cherished among us. Who could then have contemplated that the folly of Roman ambition would be the means of introducing arts among the semi-barbarous Britons, which in eighteen hundred and forty years or after the lapse of nearly sixty generations, would qualify Britain to become mistress of Imperial Rome; while one country would become as exalted, and the other be so debased, that the event would excite little attention, and be deemed but of secondary importance? Possibly after another sixty generations, the posterity of the savage tribes near Sierra-Leone, or New Holland may arbitrate the fate of London, or of Britain, as an affair of equal indifference." We shall not attempt to speculate as to what is within the range Many years ago a person wrote a note to the Rev. John Brand, Secretary to the Antiquarian Society, to say that as he was passing through Battersea Fields he saw some labourers dig up a leaden coffin, in which was a skeleton and near it there were three more human skeletons. There is no date but it is addressed to Mr. Brand, at Northumberland House, which he left about 1795. About sixty-five years ago there was a house situated in the middle of Battersea Fields which remained for a long time uninhabited on account of the strange and weird stories related and circulated about it. Ignorant and uneducated people said it was "haunted." Nobody would live in it. At midnight "lights" it was said were to be seen "flitting about the rooms," and "dismal groans of one in extremes, at the point to die" were to be heard, and so many believed in "old bogies" and tales of "hobgoblins" so their minds pictured the most frightful and hideous spectres imaginable. At length the house like other old buildings in the neighbourhood was demolished. The Rev. John Kirk, who wrote a Biography of the Mother of the Wesleys, says: "The legendary literature of the world teems with wonderful stories of haunted houses where invisible spirits were believed to utter mysterious sounds, to perform extraordinary pranks, and sometimes communicate revelations of the future, or disclose the dread secrets of the hidden world. These beliefs though strongest and most prevalent where the Gospel is unknown or least influential, are not peculiar to generations 'of old time' or to any particular nation under heaven." Certainly the present generation do not appear to have improved much more than their forefathers in this respect when there is so much nonsensical talk about communicating with the invisible world by means of "spirit rappings," "table turnings," etc. Surely the age when men shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons has come! Battersea Fields, within the Manor along the Thames, were long notable as a marshy tract producing a great variety of indigenous plants; and were the scene on March 21st, 1829, of the duel between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchelsea. Mr. Wright, who at one time was proprietor of the "Red House," had a Raven that he called "Gyp" that used to talk. Sometimes as if hailing a waterman from the river the bird would cry out "boat ahoy!" "What's o'clock? what's o'clock?" it would hurriedly repeat as if anxious to know the hour. At another time "Gyp" would call "Rock! over!" "Over!" as if to intimate that somebody requested to be ferried over to the other side. Many a scull has been deceived by the mimic cries of this black-feathered rascal. One day Rock the ferryman was so irritated, having been twice deceived that day by the call of "Gyp," that he took up a quart pewter pot and threw it at his head. "Gyp" narrowly escaped uninjured. Mr. Wright remonstrated and said he would not have the bird hurt at any price. The raven was deliciously fond of picking bones. On one occasion a gentleman accidentally dropped his spectacles; presently, on looking up, he discovered his lost property in the beak of the raven perched on a bough with all the gravity of a sexton. "Gyp" had an incurable antipathy to dogs. If perchance a dog passed by, in an instant he would pounce upon its back, hold on by his claws and peck at it most unmercifully, while the dog thus attacked ran away yelping and howling. When dislodged, "Gyp's" pinions bore him swiftly away from the reach of the teeth of his canine adversary. "Gyp" was of a jealous disposition and did not like to see other birds petted. He has been known to kill a magpie and a raven. It was dangerous to put money down in the presence of "Gyp" for "Gyp" had the propensity of picking it up and of flying away with it. On one occasion he seized a sovereign which a customer put down. As "Gyp" had several hiding places where he deposited "stolen articles," as spoons, knives, forks, etc., diligent search was made but the valuable coin was never discovered. The last account we heard of "Gyp" was that he was taken down to Shropshire and that the poor bird died. Mr. W. Puttick, to whom we are indebted for some curious pieces of information, says, "One of the notabilities at the Red House beside the Raven whose bites I have often experienced was a half-witted man who went by the name of 'Billy' the nutman. He used to carry a bag of nuts and a dial, people paid a penny and turned a hand and had nuts for their money. I have often seen this man stand in the water and let the pigeon shooters shoot at him for a few pence, his gesticulations and grotesque movements at the same time exciting from the spectators shouts and roars of laughter." Mr. Wright took the house of Mr. Swaine, but after Mr. Wright left, the house was taken by a man of the name of Ireland. James Rock, a respectable ferryman and lighterman, whose house was hard by, was accidentally drowned in the river Thames, August, 1874. His son, George Rock, is now Pier-master at Battersea Park Railway Pier. The "Red House" was famed for aquatic sports. Adjoining the premises were grounds for pigeon and sparrow-shooting, and the performance of athletic feats. Pigeons were there sold to be shot at, at 15s. per dozen; starlings at 4s., and sparrows at 2s. The place attained a notoriety not surpassed by the number of excursionists who in summer visit Rye House. Subsequently the Red House with its shooting ground and "The Old House at Home" was a small thatched hut, kept by Farmer Hall, where beer was sold direct from the cask, to be drunken on the premises. It answered the six-fold purpose of shop, dormitory, fowl-house, pig-sty, stable and cow-shed. Within this hovel were gathered pigs, fowls, cats, dogs, singing-birds, ducks, cows, horses and donkeys, which, together with the landlord and his customers who regaled themselves here, constituted a "happy family!" This was a famous place for "egg flip," which consisted of new-laid eggs taken from the hens' nests, beat up in hot ale or porter, sweetened with sugar, and sold to persons who preferred roaming about at mid-night or in the small hours of the morning. On the Lammas land, in the summer months, gipsies pitched their encampments. On Sundays the place presented the aspect of a pleasure fair, lawlessness, Sabbath desecration, immorality, and vice were rampant. At length the place became a scandal and a public disgrace, and even now, notwithstanding the vast improvements in the neighbourhood, Battersea, as a Parish, to a certain extent is ignored, and persons would no more have smiled at Battersea Park being called Lambeth Park than they do now at Clapham Junction being called by that misnomer, and so with other parts of the parish. A great boon was conferred upon the inhabitants of the South-west of London when this infamous locality was converted into a public park. The intolerable nuisance complained of did not take place previously to the year 1835, after Lord Spencer's first sale when the land fell into the hands of small proprietors. Irrespective of social propriety, public decency and order, horse-racing, donkey-riding, fortune-telling, gambling, cock-shying, swings, roundabouts, boxing, and all the paraphernalia of a pleasure fair with its concomitant evils were the constant scenes witnessed here on Sundays. Mr. Thomas Kirk (now Curate of St. George's) who was for many years a Missionary in Battersea, in his report published in the "London City Mission Magazine," September 1, 1870, states, "that which made this part of Battersea Fields so notorious was the gaming, sporting, and pleasure-grounds at the 'Red House' and 'Balloon' public-houses, and Sunday fairs, held throughout the Summer months. These have been the places of resort of hundreds and thousands, from royalty and nobility down to the poorest pauper and the meanest beggar. And surely if ever there was a place out of hell which surpassed Sodom and Gomorrah in ungodliness and abomination this was it. Here the worst men and the vilest of the human race seemed to try to outvie each other in wicked deeds. I have gone to this sad spot on the afternoon and evening of the Lord's day, when there have been from 60 to 120 horses and donkeys racing, foot-racing, walking matches, flying boats, flying horses, roundabouts, theatres, comic actors, shameless dancers, conjurers, fortune-tellers, gamblers of every description, drinking booths, stalls, hawkers, and vendors of all kinds of articles. It would take a more graphic pen than mine to describe the mingled shouts and noises and the unmentionable doings of this pandemonium on earth. I once asked the pierman 'how many people were landed on Sunday from that pier?' He told me that according to the On the northern side of the river Thames is conspicuously situated that grand national asylum for decayed and maimed soldiers known as Chelsea Hospital. This Hospital was begun by Charles II., carried on by James II., and completed by William III. in 1690. The first projector of Chelsea Hospital was Stephen Fox, grandfather to the Hon. Charles Fox. "He could not abear," he said "to see these soldiers, who had ventured their lives, and spent their strength in the service of their country, reduced to beg." And with the munificence of a philanthropist, he subscribed £13,000 towards the establishment of the Hospital. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren, at a cost of £150,000, on the site of an old theological college escheated to the Crown. In 1850 there were 70,000 out and 539 in pensioners. The body of the Duke of Wellington lay here in state 10-17 Nov., 1852. Ranelagh Gardens lay at the northern foot of Vauxhall Bridge, a portion now forming the pleasure-grounds of Chelsea Hospital, and were formerly the gardens of Lord Ranelagh's Mansion. They were opened 1733. The amusement were masquerades, illuminated and day-light fÊtes, dancing, music, and promenading, which was continued until the end of the century. The grand rotundo, which somewhat resembled the Pantheon of Rome, had an external diameter 185 feet, the internal 150. It was taken down in 1805. In Cheyne Walk was a famous Coffee-House, first opened in 1695, by one Salter a barber, who drew the attention of the public by the eccentricity of his conduct, and furnished his house with a large collection of natural and other curiosities. Admiral Munden and other officers who had been much on the Coast of Spain enriched it with many curiosities and gave the owner the name of Don Saltero, by which he is mentioned more than once in the "Tatler," particularly in No. 34. This coffee-house was frequented by Richard Cromwell and many of the wits and authors of that day. "The Folly," a gilded barge where music and dancing and other amusements delighted the beaux and belles of the day of the Restoration, was moored in the Thames not far from the Modern Cremorne. Adjoining Chelsea Hospital is the Physic Garden belonging to the Company of Apothecaries, which was enriched with a great variety of plants, both indigenous and exotic, and given in 1721 by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., on condition of their paying a quit-rent of £5, and delivering annually to the Royal Society fifty specimens of different sorts of plants of the growth of this garden till the number amounted to 2,000. In 1733 the Company erected a marble statue of the donor, by Rysbrack, in the centre of the garden, the front of which was conspicuously marked toward the river by two noble cedars of Lebanon, the first ever planted in England, of which only one remains. Sir Hans Sloane was born at Killileagh in the north of Ireland, in 1660, of Scottish extraction. He retired at the age of eighty to Chelsea, to enjoy a peaceful tranquillity, the remains of a well-spent life. He died Jan. 11, 1752. He published the "History of Jamaica" in 2 vols. folio. In the churchyard is the monument of Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., founder of the British Museum; and on the south-west corner of the church is affixed a mural monument to the memory of Dr. Edward Chamberlayne, with a punning Latin epitaph, which for its quaintness, may detain the reader's attention. In the church is a still more curious Latin epitaph on his daughter; from which we learn, that, on the 30th of June, 1690, she fought, in men's clothing, six hours against the French, on board a fire-ship under the command of her brother. The Chelsea Embankment extends along the north bank of the river from Chelsea Hospital to Albert Suspension Bridge; it was opened 9th May, 1874, by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Lieut. Col. Sir James Magnaghten Hogg, M.P., Chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works; Sir Joseph Bazalgette, C.B., Engineer. A beautiful view of Chelsea Embankment with its adjacent buildings may be had from the broad Boulevard running along the river-side in Battersea Park; including the lofty spire of St. Luke's Church, Old Chelsea Church, the Gardens of the Apothecaries' Company, the fine old trees and picturesque Dutch-like houses of Cheyne Walk, the Gardens and Buildings of Chelsea Hospital, the New Barracks beyond, and the lofty Pumping Station and Tower near Grosvenor Road Station. The following are the names of some of the indigenous plants:— Circea intetiana—Enchanter's Night Shade (in the lane from the fields to the Prince's Head, Battersea, uncommon in shady lanes). Valeriana dioica—Small Marsh Valerian. Fedia olitoria—Corn Salad (dry banks Battersea Fields and Lavender Sweep). Panicum Vertiullatum—Rough Panic Grass (rare). P. Viride—Green Panic Grass (near the Red House and Nine Elms). P. Crusgalli—Loose Panic Grass (near the footpath). Bromus diandrus—Upright Annual Broom Grass (rare, on an old wall near Battersea Church). Avena flavescens—Yellow Oat-Grass (not common, in the footpath from Battersea Bridge to Lavender Hill). Myosotis palustris—Great Water Scorpion Grass or, Forget me not, (ditches and marshy grounds; plentiful in Battersea Fields). An elegant plant, the emblem of affection among the Germans. Lithospermum arvense—Corn Gromwell, (Battersea Cornfields; not common). Primula vulgaris—Primrose. P. Veris—Cowslip (Fields on Lavender Hill). Hottonia palustris—Water Violet, (plentiful in Latchmere). Scirpus Triqueter—Triangular Club Rush, rare, (Banks of the Thames between Vauxhall and Battersea). Lysimachia vulgaris—Great Yellow Loose Strife. Samolus valerandi—(Brook weed, Water Pimpernel). Chenopodium bonus Henricus—English Mercury. C. olidum—Fetid Goosefoot, (rare). Cicuta Virosa—Water Hemlock, (deadly poison to men and cattle). Conium Maculatum—Common Hemlock, (a very dangerous plant). Œnanthe fistulosa—Water Dropwort. Œ. crocata—Hemlock Water Dropwort, (deadly poison to men and cattle). Œ. Phellandrium—Fine-leaved Water Dropwort, (a very poisonous plant). Smymium Olusatrum—Alexanders, (waste grounds near old houses). Ornithogalum umbellatum—Star of Bethlehem. Rumex Sanguineus—Blood-veined Dock, (rare, bank of a ditch on Lavender Hill, between the Nursery and the footpath). R. pulcher—Fiddle Dock. R. palustris—Yellow Marsh Dock. R. Hydrolapathum—Great Water Dock. Triglochin palustre— Marsh Arrow Grass. Alisma plantago—Water Plantain, (ponds and marshes). Polygonum Bistorta—Bistort, or Snake Weed. Butomus umbellatus—Flowering Rush. Saxifraga granulata—White Saxifrage. S. Tridactylites—Rue-leaved Saxifrage. Sedum reflexum—Reflex Yellow Stonecrop. Lychnis flos Cuculi—Meadow Lychnis. Chelidonium majus—Celandine. Papaver dubium—Long Smooth-headed Poppy. Stratiotes aloides—Water Aloe. Thalictrum flavum—Common Meadow Rue. Nepeta Cataria—Cat Mint. Lamium incisum—Cut-leaved dead Nettle. Scutellaria galericulata—Common Scull Cap. Prunella vulgaris—Self Heal. Pedicularis palustris—Tall Red Rattle. Antirrhinum Cymbalaria—Joy-leaved Snapdragon. A. spurium—Round-leaved Fluellin or Snapdragon. A. orontium—Lesser Snapdragon, (Cornfields, etc., Battersea Fields). Cochlearia armoracia—Horse Raddish. Nasturtum amphibium—Amphibious Yellow Cress. Sisyonbrium irio—Broad Hedge Mustard. S. sophia—Fine-leaved Hedge Mustard. Erysimum Cheiranthoides—Worm-seed Treacle Mustard. Geranium pratense—Blue Meadow Crane's Bill. G. Robertianum—Herb Robert. G. Lucidum—Shining Crane's Bill. G. pyrenaicum—Perennial Dove's-foot Crane's Bill. G. rotundifolium—Soft Round-leaved Crane's Bill, (by the road side near the Prince's Head, Battersea). Malva rotundifolia—Dwarf Mallow. Lathyrus aphaca—Yellow Vetching. Ervum hirsutum—Hairy Tare, (Osier ground near Battersea). Trifolium fragiferum—Strawberry-headed Trefoil. Hypericum humifusum—Trailing St. John's Wort. H. pulchrum—Small upright St. John's Wort. Tragnopogon pratensis—Yellow Goat's Beard. Cichorium Intybus—Wild Endive; or, Succory. Onopordum Acanthium—Common Cotton Thistle. Bidens cernua—Nodding Bur-Marygold. Tusslago Petasites—Butter Bur. Orchis morio and maculata are said to have been found in Battersea Meadows. Listera ovata—Common Twayblade. Typha augustifolia—Lesser Cat's Tail; or, Reedmace. Sparganium ramosum—Branched Bur-Reed. Carex dioica—Common Separate-headed Carex. C. remota—Remote Carex. C. riparia—Common Bank Carex. Sagittaria sagittifolia—Arrow Head. Mercurialis annua—Annual Mercury. Equisetum limosum—Smooth naked Horsetail. See a catalogue of the rarer species of indigenous plants which have been observed growing in the vicinity of Clapham; systematically arranged according to their class and order, with a reference to the figures in English Botany, printed in a deeply interesting work entitled "Clapham and its Environs," by David Batten. The Sub-tropical Garden opened in August, 1864, is nearly four acres in extent. It is situated at the head of the ornamental water The ornamental water covers 23 acres of ground, with an average depth of 2½ feet. Ornithological specimens of the web-footed class afford sport for the aged as well as for the young who feed the aquatic birds with cake, biscuit and crumbs of bread. Besides a large colony of Moorhens that have settled down in these friendly waters may be seen Chinese, Egyptian and Barnacle geese, and Carolina and Muscovy ducks; also "The Swan, with arch'd neck The lark, the linnet, the thrush, the black-bird join in chorus to fill the air with their bird-song. At night passers-by are charmed with the sweet, rich mellow notes of "The merry nightingale, It may not be uninteresting for the naturalist to know that larva of the goat moth (cossus ligniperda) inhabits poplars and willows in Battersea Park. This park too is considered famous for the congregation of vast flocks of starlings just before their migration. Boating here is a safe and enjoyable amusement. Skiffs are one shilling per hour, party boats eighteenpence. In Winter, when the water is frozen over, it is quite an area for skaters. The lake is an artificial one, and is fed partly from the Thames and partly by a steam engine fixed for the purpose of supplying the park with water for the lodges, drinking-fountains, roads, flower-beds, etc. The Gymnasium is in the South-western portion of the park. On the adjacent sward Sunday and other schools may hold their Nearly at the centre of the Peninsula there is a reservoir which is excavated below the level of the neighbouring springs. The water from this self-supplied source is as clear as crystal; it is pumped into an elevated tank above the engine house which holds 20,000 gallons, from which are laid service pipes for the supply of the park. The avenue occupies a central position of the park; the trees are the English elm. This affords an enjoyable and shady promenade. The horse ride or equestrian road, about forty feet wide, nearly encircles the park and is almost two miles in length. Here is also an excellent carriage drive separate from the latter by a row of young plane trees. There are numerous seats in the park for the accommodation of the public. Situated in the centre of the park is a band-stand. The band plays in the Summer and Autumnal months for the entertainment of those who are fond of instrumental music. There are two refreshment rooms where light refreshments can be obtained at moderate prices. The lodges too are appropriated to the public and offer refreshments and cloak-rooms. The advantage of a river frontage possessed by Battersea Park is shown by the fact that upwards of 12,000 persons have landed at the Park Pier on fine Summer days. On Sundays, when Chelsea Bridge is free, in fine weather, 40,000 or 50,000 people have been in the park. The public owe a tribute of grateful respect to the late Mr. John Gibson, of Surrey Lane, whose acquaintance with horticulture and the science of botany was something considerable, who for about fifteen years was Park Superintendent. That gentleman went on a Botanical Mission to India for and at the expense of the Duke of Devonshire. The manner in which portions of the park are disposed was from designs originally his own. The new rock work is by Mr. Pulham, of Broxbourne. Mr. Alexander Rogers is at present Park Superintendent; Mr. E. W. Partridge, Inspector. There are twelve Park Constables, viz., Mr. J. Cook, South-east Lodge; J. Hawkins, South Lodge; Edwin Ashby, West Lodge; George Weedon, Charles Page, William Jones, James Powell, J. Pointer, George Dicks, W. Sheppard, Isaac Chamberlain, William Withers, Mr. Dowly, Foreman of the Gardeners. On an average about forty gardeners are employed in the park. The park is under the Commissioners of Works, No. 12, Whitehall. The park was opened March 28th, 1858. In 1862 the Royal Agricultural Society of England held their Annual Show in Battersea Park. Recently some beautiful villas in Queen Anne's style have been built in Albert road. Opposite the Western gate a site has been chosen for the erection of a Chapel-of-Ease to St. Mary's. At the angle facing the South-western gate two stately mansions have recently been erected contiguous to each other, called Lancaster Tower and Strathedon House. The two Circular Engine sheds, about 90 yards in diameter, belonging to the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway Company, adjacent to the East-end of the Park, Victoria Road, built about seven years since, show a marked difference to the small wooden shed they erected some eighteen years ago when they had convenience for only four engines. The present sheds are very soundly built, and can accommodate 56 engines which work from the end of the line, there being 63 engines at work when there is no extra traffic, which is not very often the case. The locomotive staff numbers upwards of 300 hands, the major part being drivers, firemen, and cleaners, who muster 200. They have every facility for doing work required in a prompt manner. There is an engine-hoist which will lift an engine of forty or more tons in a very short time. The break-down van stands in one of the sheds ready at a moment's notice for any casualty that might happen. This is fitted up with hydraulic apparatus and every appliance for getting engines and other vehicles on the line quickly. The method of coaling engines is very good. Half-ton trolleys are loaded out of the trucks of coal, which can be moved with ease by one man on the iron-plated coal stage, from which it is shot on the tender of the engine; so that one man can in a few minutes put one or two tons of coal on a tender. Three hundred tons of coal are kept in stock, and the weekly consumption is about five hundred tons. The sheds are remarkably clean, being constantly whitewashed, and the engines, which are kept clean and fresh painted, to use a figurative expression, are perfect pictures. The passenger engines are a light brown color and the goods engines are a dark green. The offices attached to the sheds are at the entrance in one of the railway arches, and suit in every way the requirements of the place, and when inside one would hardly think it was only a railway arch. Other arches have been fitted up as work-shops for the mechanics, and another arch is entirely appropriated for the stores. Also an arch has been utilized so as to form a comfortable mess-room for enginemen and firemen, with cooking apparatus, lockers, and lavatory; adjoining which is a room similarly fitted up for the engine cleaners. Although these works are fraught with many dangers, it is rarely that any serious casualty occurs. District Loco. Superintendent, Albany Richardson, Esq.; Assistant Superintendent, Mr. John Richardson. There are two gauges known as the Stephenson or narrow gauge, 4-ft. 8½-in., and the broad gauge 7 feet between the rails introduced by the younger Brunel on the Great Western Railway. The locomotives on the Brighton and South-Coast Railway are constructed for the narrow gauge. The "Kensington," No. 205, belonging to the London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway Company, is a four-wheel coupled engine, designed by W. Stroudley, Esq., Locomotive Engineer. Diameter of cylinders, 17 inches; stroke, 24 inches; diameter of driving and trailing wheels, 6 feet 6 inches; leading wheel, 4 feet 3 inches; wheel base, 16 feet 3 inches; number of tubes, 260; diameter of ditto outside, 1½ inch; This class of engine was constructed for running the express traffic, which in the season is very heavy on this line. Cost of engine about £2500. "A pint of water is converted into two hundred and sixteen gallons of steam by two ounces of coal, and has sufficient power to lift thirty-seven tons; the steam thus produced has a pressure equal to that of common atmospheric air. By allowing it to expand, by virtue of its elasticity a further mechanical force may be obtained, at least equal in amount to the former. A pint of water therefore, and two ounces of coal are thus rendered capable of raising seventy-four tons a foot high. Two hundred feet of steam can be condensed in one second by four ounces of water, and their expansive power reduced to one-fifth." The first person who sought to apply the expansive force of steam as a motive power to machinery was an Egyptian, Hero of Alexandria, who lived about 15 years before Christ. In the year 1543, Basco de Garay, a Spanish captain, astonished the world by asserting that he would propel a vessel without sails or oars. The Emperor Charles V. ordered the experiment to be made, and on the 17th of June a vessel called the "Trinity," of 200 tons burden was moved by wheels turned by steam at the rate of two leagues in three hours. To Spain belongs the honour of having invented the first steam vessel. In the annals of the steam-engine are enumerated the names of Solomon de Caus, Giovanni Branci (1629). Edward Somerset, (1698). Newcomen, Cawley, Humphrey Potter (an engine boy), and Smeaton. But it is to the master spirit and inventive genius of James Watt the mathematical instrument maker who was born at Greenock in Scotland January 19, 1736, that we are indebted for the high state of efficiency to which our modern steam-engine has been brought. Matthew Bolton of Birmingham undertook the enterprise of introducing Watt's condensing engine into general use as a great working power. Samuel Smiles says, "Many skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to the steam-engine; and by numerous modifications rendered it capable of being applied to nearly all the purposes of manufacture—driving machinery, impelling ships, grinding corn, printing books, stamping money, hammering, planing, and turning iron; in short of performing every description of mechanical labour where power is required. One of the most useful modifications in the engine was that devised by Trevithick, and eventually perfected by George Stephenson and his Son, in the form of the railway locomotive, by which social changes of immense importance have been brought about of even greater consequence, considered in their results on human progress and civilization than the condensing engine of Watt." The Stockton and Darlington Railway was one of the first examples Battersea Wharf, belonging to the Brighton, and South-Coast Railway Company, close to Chelsea Bridge, combines a water frontage affording facility for discharging cargoes of goods for and from all parts of the Brighton, South-Eastern, London, Chatham and Dover Railways. The traffic during the last ten years has very sensibly increased, and the point itself has become an important place and of great convenience to the public.—Manager, Mr. William Everest. The London and Brighton Railway was opened 21st September, 1841. In 1873, Number of miles open 345; gross receipts for the same year including 31st December, £1,618,461. Comparative statement of traffic returns for week ending October 6th, 1877, to corresponding week in 1876. Total miles open 379¾.
That part of Battersea known as Long-Hedge Farm which was kept by a Mr. Matson and afterwards by Mr. Graham, is now partially inclosed by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Locomotive Works. The land originally purchased by the Railway Company was about 75 acres, and nearly one-half this space is appropriated to the Locomotive Department and Goods traffic yard. The Works were built by Messrs. Peto and Betts, from designs furnished by Joseph Cubitt, Esq., engineer, and finished in the year 1863, (two years ago the erecting shop was enlarged). The name, however, is still retained and the Works are called Long-Hedge Works. These Works are surrounded with a wall ten feet high. There are six gates, but the principal entrance to the Works is at the gate by the time-keeper's office; the other five gates are used for shunting purposes. Within this enclosure no person is allowed to go except on business, and this rule is strictly carried out. There are the boiler-shop, the tender-shop, erecting shop, copper-smiths' shop, fitting-shop, brass-finishers' shop, pattern-makers' shop, smiths' shop, boiler-house with three large boilers, which drive the large stationary engine. The whole of these buildings, which consists of a series of ranges, are substantially built of brick, with walls of immense thickness. On the south side is the stores department. At the east-end of the turnery is the Superintendent's office, clerks' offices, etc. The area between each shop has an intersection of rails communicating with the line. The lower turnery is 250 feet long and 44 wide. It has twenty-five windows on either side; the dimensions of each window is 12 feet by 3, and a third portion of each window can be opened or closed at pleasure for ventilation; also three pairs of double doors of the same height as the windows, and wide enough to admit a truck or carriage. There are lines of rails laid parallel with the building, both on the outside and through the centre. Opposite each of the large doors, both inside and out, are turn tables to connect the shops with any part of the yard. The floor is laid with blocks of wood about five inches square. Around large steam-pipes In the lower turnery there is a double-headed slot-wheel, three large wheel lathes, and two small wheel lathes; the small are for carriage wheels. There are also three fifteen-inch lathes, two crank lathes for turning crank axles, two twelve-inch lathes, two large boring machines—one of these is a radial machine for boring tube plates; one boring machine for cylinders, also one large planing machine for the same purpose, and one hydraulic press for taking off axles. On the same basement with the turnery is the Loco. Manager's office. Leaving the turnery we ascend a broad and substantial staircase of wood overlaid with sheet-lead, leading to the fitting-shop which is over the turning shop. On the same story is the brass-finishers' and pattern loft. The fitting-shop is light, clean, well ventilated, and comfortable. Here, as in the shop below, the shafting runs through the centre with a continuous branch of counter shafts on one side, extending the entire length of the building. The whole machinery is propelled by the same engine as that below. In this shop there is one large planing machine, nine shaping machines, six drilling machines, three slotting machines, one double-headed slot drill for cutting key-ways in axles, one twelve-inch lathe, four ten-inch lathes, four eight-inch lathes, two six-inch lathes, one ten-inch break lathe, six small planing machines of different sizes, four screwing machines, one nut-cutting machine, two grindstones, one hoist, twenty pairs of vices, etc., etc. In the brass-fitters' shop are four six-inch lathes in use for cocks, plugs, injectors, etc. Length of fitting, brass and pattern shops (inclusive) 406 feet. The boiler shop is 200 feet in length and 48 feet in width. It has a stationary engine with machines for punching, drilling and bending the boiler-plates; also a powerful travelling crane, arranged for conveying boilers from one end of the shop to the other. The second building on the left-hand-side and facing the turnery is the erecting shop, 380 feet in length and 100 feet wide. This shop has a travelling table which runs from one end to the other, and is worked by a small engine. The use that is made of the table is to convey those engines which need repairing to the different pits. There are 42 pits in this shop with room for 42 engines. There are two travelling cranes above which run on girders; these are worked by the hand and are employed for engines. There is also a small stationary engine for driving drilling machine and grindstone, and each side has a row of vice-benches extending from one end of the shop to the other. Not an uninteresting department is the smithery. Its length is 306 feet and it is 48 feet wide. On entering one seems to have got A Second Shop for Carriages, Waggons, etc., is being erected at an estimated cost of nearly £14,000. The carriage shop is 370 feet long, 150 feet wide, 30 feet high in the centre, and is capable of containing 80 railway carriages. It is divided longitudinally into three parts by the two rows of iron pillars which support the roof. The central division is forty feet wide and is occupied by the traversing table which is used for shifting the carriages. The two side divisions are the parts for vehicles under repairs, and are also occupied by the workmens' benches, etc. The roof is composed of a light but strong iron framing covered first with deal boards, and with slates over all except the central part, which is composed almost entirely of glass. The floor consists of wood bricks, laid on a solid foundation of concrete, and is intersected by the iron rails for the carriages and traverser. At the south end are the offices, with the trimming shops above them. The shop is well and efficiently ventilated, and is furnished with a system of heating apparatus consisting of a double row of large steam-pipes passing all round under the windows. Water is laid on in ample quantities, and one of the regulations carried out with unvarying rule, is to fix hose pipes in two separate parts of the shops every night with stand pipes ready for instant use in case of fire. There are 130 windows in the shop exclusive of the roof. Most of the carriages are made of teak instead of mahogany, as being more durable as well as economical and not so likely to split when exposed to the heat of the sun. The saw-mills are used for cutting the timber, with rack and vertical saws. It is then prepared by eleven other different machines, such as general joiner, rabbeting, grooving, tenoning, mortising, boring and moulding machines, of every description. The timber is first cut out with the hand-saw, and then shaped by a large shaping machine 5 feet 4 by 2 feet 10, with two perpendicular spindles performing upwards of 1200 revolutions a minute. The saw-mills are well arranged, the driving wheel and shafting being all underneath. Next to the saw-mills is an engine-house in which is a horizontal engine of forty horse power with two large boilers, At the west end, and near "Long-Hedge House," is a small building containing the gas-meter; this, like the water-meter in the traffic yard, has its index taken every morning to show the amount of gas that has been consumed in the works. The stores department consists of a large building, with various offices for the store keeper, clerks, and warehousemen. One half is upstairs which is fitted up with shelves, tables and pigeon-holes for the various articles kept in stock. The lower part is arranged for heavier goods, such as brass, copper, steel, and iron. There is a large yard for goods of different descriptions, and for the purpose of receiving goods brought by carriers, etc. The design of this department is to keep for immediate use almost every article used on a railway, to supply all the departments with materials for the making and keeping of the line in good condition, and to forward the goods as required to their destination on the line, and the quality of the goods is there determined before received for use. In the running sheds engines are cleaned and running engines kept repaired, etc.
The number of operatives employed inclusive of drivers and firemen is about 600. The men are intelligent and orderly; they, with myriads of their fellow-countrymen, are assisting in carrying out the great practical issues of civilization. Of such a class of noble-minded, generous-hearted, skilled mechanics and artisans, England may well be proud. "What says each true workman, where'er he may toil The London Chatham and Dover Railway was opened 29th of September, 1860. Number of miles open 141. Gross Receipts including 31st December, 1873, £904,509. The first railway train (London, Chatham and Dover) entered the City of London over the new Railway Bridge, Blackfriars, 6th October, 1864. Adjacent to the Railway Viaduct and facing the south-eastern gate of Battersea Park is Sargent's Carpet Ground. Here during the Summer and Autumnal months a Gospel tent is pitched wherein Special Religious Services for the people are conducted by Messrs. Simmonds, Swindells, Waller, Rigley, Harris, Smith, Hewett, Crosby, Turpin, Twaites, Kirby, Reeve, Thompson, Eveleigh, Lane, and other well-known Christian workers. Extracted from the Kensington News.—Amidst the various styles of ecclesiastical architecture which our modern amalgamation of various civilizations has produced, none strikes one as so peculiar as that which is called the preaching tent. Associated as this moveable structure is with the wandering life of the Eastern Arab, its consecration to purposes of modern Christian evangelization is a proof of the intense catholicity and energy of our modern religious life. While thousands of our home heathen never enter the sacred precincts of our churches or chapels, it is a blessing to find that they enter by hundreds inside the temporary canvas walls of our consecrated gospel tents. Very often the surroundings of the locality But in these days of change, and strange things, we are not easily surprised, and consequently we passed by gospel tents at Kilburn and Kentish Town without expressing much wonder. Having a desire to see how the un-church and un-chapel going population of this mighty metropolis spent their Sunday out doors, we strolled to the classic ground of Chelsea and found ourselves on the north side of the bridge. This spot has been for several years the scene of rather unclassical and disorderly debates, and open air preaching. This arena of intellectual life was rather dull on this occasion; there was only the ordinary open air service and a few groups of the usual unintelligent and sceptical wranglers. Seeing nothing worthy in what we witnessed to detain us at this place, we strolled over the bridge, towards the canvas cathedral, which has lately been erected there. Having reached the middle of the bridge, the floating banners in the distance clearly indicate the locality where this place of public worship rears its canvas walls, and as we approach nearer we find the well known words "God is Love" neatly inscribed on one of them. At this portion of the road our attention is arrested by a few of the church-going population outside the entrance to Battersea Park, gathered round some open air preachers. At last we reach the south-eastern gate of Battersea Park, opposite which is the front of the canvas cathedral a substantial tent, capable of holding about 300 people. (The tent will seat 200). We were very much surprised to find at one of the entrances a well-executed and coloured diagram of the famous Babylonish temple of the Seven Spheres. We saw from the crowded nature of the audience that the service on this occasion was a very special one, for not only was the tent full but large groups of people surrounded the entrances. A small bill informed us that Mr. G. M. Turpin, a gentleman in connexion with the Christian Evidence Society, was to preach this evening on Modern Discoveries and the Bible, illustrated with diagrams. As we entered the interior of the cathedral, we noticed hung behind the preacher a number of nicely drawn and strikingly coloured diagrams representing views of Nineveh, Babylon, Nimroud, slabs discovered in their ruined palaces, a page of the annals of an Assyrian monarch, representations of a besieged city, and a copy of the Moabite stone. The service was very simple in its character. It consisted of a few devout extempore prayers, reading a portion of Scripture, and the singing (accompanied with an harmonium) of some of Sankey's hymns. As may be imagined, our curiosity was excited as to how the preacher could make a sermon containing anything spiritual profitable to his hearers out of the pictures behind him. The portion of Scripture selected for his text only stimulated our curiosity When the preacher treated the second portion of his theme, the intensely practical nature of his mind was clearly shewn in the way in which while asserting God's truth to be the instrument of the sanctification, he appealed to all present in a most solemn manner to put the important question—"Were they sanctified?" "If you are not you will never tread the golden streets of the New Jerusalem, but while your friends are passing in you will be shut out." Mr. Turpin evidently had the whole of his audience in his mind, for at the end of his discourse he pressed home on the juvenile portion of his audience the beauty of early piety by a contrast between the dying chimney-sweep and Lord Byron in which the character of the sweep shone to the disadvantage of the celebrated poet. Another hymn and prayer closed the interesting canvas cathedral service. Those present, both old and young, evidently enjoyed the service, for they listened with breathless attention for the 100 minutes which the preacher had occupied in delivering his glowing discourse. A brief prayer meeting closed this instructive Sunday evening, which if we may judge from the expressions of some of the audience, will not soon be forgotten. As we retired we felt that many such canvas cathedrals, with able preachers and hearty singing, would lay hold of large numbers of those who are at present outside ordinary religious influences. The tent was purchased expressly for this object by Basil Wood Smith, Esq., a warm and devoted friend of the working classes and who is a member at present of the Parent Committee of the London City Mission. The tent was originally erected on the triangular piece of ground outside the south-eastern gate of Battersea Park before the roads were completed, with the sanction of Lord John Manners when his Lordship was in office as Chief Commissioner. Among other respectable firms in the building trade within the Parish may be mentioned the firm of Messrs. Lathey Brothers, Builders, 1, St. George's Road, New Road. Messrs. Lathey Brothers were the builders of St. George's Vicarage House, Christ Church Schools and Residences, Infant School in Orkney Street, St. Saviour's Church, the enlargement of St. George's Church, and the enlargement of St. George's National Schools. Also a Mortuary built in 1876 in the Churchyard of St. Mary's from designs by Mr. W. White, Architect, and the re-interment of all coffins, 1875, in the vaults or crypt under the church 424 in all. Some of these coffins were brought here from St. Bartholomew's Church, Royal Exchange, in the city of London, in 1840. A Record was made of the Inscriptions on all the coffins which were re-interred. This document, which is in the possession of Messrs. Lathey Bros., would form an interesting Obituary if published. The H.P. Horse Nail Company's (Limited) Factory, New Road, has at present machinery capable of turning out one million nails per day. With the exception of a few mechanics most of the employÉs are young women. Of late years horse nails have become an important branch of industry and a leading article in trade, the consumption, indeed, being very large; and when it is considered that each horse has in its four hoofs 28 or 30 nails, and that these nails are wearing out all day and all night, and require renewing about every month, and that in Great Britain and Ireland there are at the present time not less than 3,000,000 horses, representing a demand exceeding a thousand million nails per annum the trade is entitled to rank with others in importance and influence. Mr. J. A. Huggett, the inventor of the Patent Machinery employed at this factory for the manufacture of horse nails, has hit the right nail on the head, the quality of the nails having met with the general approval of veterinary surgeons, farriers, and ironmongers. The quality of the iron of which the nails are manufactured has its perfection attributed to three causes:—First, it is the best Swedish charcoal iron; secondly, it is heated in the Siemens furnace; and lastly, which certainly is not the least important, it passes through a rolling-mill worked by steam power, each roller weighs about ten cwt.—Manager, Charles Moser, Esq. Hugh Wallace's Vitriol Works were situated in the New Road; Schofield and Co.'s Steam Saw-Mills and Stone Works, Stewart's Lane. The saw frames are worked by fly wheels and connecting shafts so constructed that the frame is always level be it ever so high a block sawing; this is done by lengthening or shortening the shaft. By some persons the frames are considered the easiest working ones in London. The moulding machines are by Hunter, Queen's Road, Battersea, specially adapted for string courses and steps. About eighty men and boys are employed at these works. engraving St. George's Church. ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, Battersea—The following particulars respecting this Church may not be uninteresting. The living is a vicarage of the yearly value of £240 with residence in the gift of Trustees. The Chapel-of-Ease, as St. George's was called, in Battersea Fields, was built partly by a rate and partly by grant from the The Rev. John Callis was appointed January, 1873. During his time the Church underwent alterations. These were begun August 24, 1874, when the side galleries were removed and the church enlarged by the addition of two aisles at the cost of £1,700. The church will accommodate 800. The church was re-opened by the Right Reverend Harold Browne, Lord Bishop of Winchester, November 21st, 1874, at 4 o'clock p.m. The Rev. John Callis left for South Heigham, Norwich, July, 1875. The Rev. Thomas Lander, M.A., now holds the living, he was appointed August, 1875. The Rev. T. Kirk ordained and appointed Curate to St. George's, September 24th, 1876. Previously to his ordination he had laboured for twenty-six years in connection with the London City Mission, and was much beloved and respected in the district among the people to whom he has been and still is so much blessed. The population of the Ecclesiastical parish in 1871 was 16,172. According to the census of 1881, the inhabited houses and population of Battersea were as follows:—
"I love her gates, I love the road; At the east end of the interior and south of the pulpit a white marble tablet mounted on a dark marble slab has recently been erected. Within a wreath of virgin marble most artistically executed is the following epitaph engraved. "In memory of Elizabeth Maria Graham, of Clapham Common, died December 14, 1874, aged 79, through whose devoted and indefatigable labours this Church, the Vicarage, and Mission-room were built and the St. George's Schools were founded. 'The love of Christ constraineth us.'—2nd Cor. v. 14. 'The harvest truly is great but the labourers are few, pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest.'"—Luke x. 2. "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."—Malachi iii. 16-17. In St. George's Churchyard the ground has been levelled and the hillocks have disappeared to make it resemble more a garden or field with flat grassy surface studded here and there with shrubberies than a receptacle of the dead, there are however some "sacred memorial," a few grave stones etc., which indicate to the passer-by that this was formerly used as a place of interment. We will just pause to read some of the inscriptions. At the east-end of the churchyard is the vault of the Rev. John Grenside Weddell, twenty-five years pastor of this flock, who died the 23d of July, 1852, aged 75 years. "I have sinned but Christ hath died." Also in the same vault are the remains of Caroline the beloved wife of the Rev. J. G. Weddell, who died the 22nd of December 1839, aged 64 years. "Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."—Hebrews xiii. 7. A few yards from this spot a head-stone is erected "Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Ann Puttick of Nine Elms, who departed this life Oct. 5th, 1855, aged 64 years. Also of Henry her beloved husband, interred at the Cemetery, Battersea. 'Even so Father for so it seemed good in thy sight.'" Here is a vault sacred to the memory of Leonora the wife of John Charles McMullens, Esq., of Lavender Hill, in this parish, who died 24th June, 1813, aged 35 years. The epitaph states, "Faithful and meek she bore the will Also that of her husband, J. C. McMullens, Esq., who died 30th September, 1855. On the west-side of the gravel walk leading to the entrance of the church a stone slab covers the grave of all that was of Louisa, Far, far remote from objects dear, Also of Sarah Gywnn, wife of James Gywnn, who died May 28, 1850, aged 67. And also of James Gywnn, who died January 28, 1851, aged 77. Hard by is another grave-stone sacred to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart, widow of the late Lieut. James Stewart, R.N., who departed this life on the 10th of —— aged 60 years. The letters on this slab are so eaten away by the tooth of time that we could not decipher the date. A head-stone marks the grave of Margaret Young, who died August 13th, 1855, aged 58 years. Added to this inscription are the words: "For now shall I sleep in the dust; The epitaph on another slab is as follows: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord"—so died on the 24th of May, 1829, aged 56 years—Mary, the beloved wife of B. Jonathan Broad, late Chief Secretary at the Rolls. Also beneath this stone are deposited Barber Jonathan Broad, Esq., many years an inhabitant of this parish, who died the 10th of July, 1831, aged 61 years. On another grave-stone is an inscription sacred to the memory of Alice Buckney, daughter of Thomas and Charlotte Buckney, of this parish, who died 9th August, 1830, aged 16 days. Against the west wall in the rear of the houses in Ceylon Street is a head-stone erected sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Dicker, the beloved wife of Job Dicker, who departed this life May 6th, 1858, in the 55th year of her age. At the bottom of this epitaph are inscribed the lines so familiar to us and which all have seen in many a churchyard: Afflictions sore long time I bore; Here is a stone in memory of Richard, third son of Henry Roston and Amelia Bowker, who died Sept. 18th, 1849, aged 6 years. His dying words were: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." Also Elizabeth, who died Sept. 23rd, 1849, aged 1 year 3 months. Also Alfred, who died Oct. 18, 1849, aged 4 years. Also Mr. Henry Roston Bowker, father of the above children, who died July 23rd, 1852, aged 40 years. Also at the foot of this grave lie the remains of Mr. William Robbins, grandfather to the above children, who departed this life July 1st, 1858, aged 71 years. "Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Near the wall at the south-side of the burial ground stands a solitary head-stone sacred to the memory of Sarah Fisher, relict of Jonathan Roundell Fisher, late of Cumberland and Otley, Yorkshire, who departed this life 17th September, 1854, aged 67. The memory of the just is blessed. Near the entrance to the church at the south-side stands a plain head-stone with no adornment, sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Clunie, during 40 years the beloved friend of Mrs. Graham's family, of Clapham Common. Born at Hull, August 29th, 1793. Died at Clapham Common June 22nd, 1853. Carefully trained by pious parents and by faith engrafted in youth into Christ the living vine. She brought forth throughout her whole life the precious fruits which spring from that all important union, and abiding in Him her end was peace. Scripture Readers, Mr. F. Vellenoweth, 62, St. George's Road; Mr. C. Brooks, 9, St. George's Road; City Missionary, Mr. H. Langston; London Mission Bible Woman, Miss Hulbert, 1, Ceylon Street. CHRIST CHURCH is a composition of the early Lancet style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and north and south transepts, with tower and spire built of Kentish rag and Bath stone, raised by subscriptions at a cost of £5,556, with sittings for 900. Interiorly it has two small galleries. It was designed by Mr. Charles Lee, and repaired, decorated and re-heated under the superintendence of Mr. E. C. Robins. The first stone of this elegant church was laid by the Bishop of Sodor and Man, on May the 27th, 1847. The living is a vicarage in the gift of the Vicar of St. Mary's. The income is derived from the pew rents. The area is 408 acres and the population of the Ecclesiastical parish in 1871 was 18,720. The Rev. Samuel Bardsley was the first Vicar of Christ Church but not the first minister. For some years it was a Chapel-of-Ease and was supplied by the Vicar of the Mother Church. The Rev. Samuel Bardsley was there from 1861 to 1867. The schools, the Vicarage, and the school in Orkney Street were built during his time. He resigned the living to become Rector of Spitalfields, and was succeeded by the Rev. Edward Cumming Ince, M.A., of Jesus College, Cambridge. In May, 1877, Mr. Ince resigned having suffered from enfeebled health, amid the painful The Rev. Stopford Ram, M.A., Secretary of the Church of England Temperance Society, Instituted (Hospital Sunday) June 17th, 1877, left on account of ill health, July, 1880, and died at Bournemouth, May 22nd, 1881, and buried on Ascension day. "There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God." He has gone to his rest, like the bright summer sun The Rev. H. Guildford Sprigg, M.A., the present Vicar, commenced his duties, September, 1880. "Holy, holy, holy: Lord God of Sabaoth. "Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing."—Psalm c. 2. Mr. Lowres, of Plough Lane, an energetic City Missionary, has laboured in Christ Church district for nearly twelve years, and his local Superintendents were the Rev. S. Bardsley and the Rev. E. C. Ince. Mr. Warren, in an adjoining district, is another devoted Missionary. engraving St. John's Church. ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, Usk Road, was completed from the designs of Mr. E. C. Robins, selected in competition. It is a remarkably inexpensive church. It provides accommodation for about 750 persons at a cost of £4 10s. per head. The church received a grant from the Incorporative Society for Building Churches upon one-third of the sittings being made free. It is designed in the early English style, with nave, north and south aisles and apsidal chancel, a small western gallery and two bell turrets. Messrs. Sharpington and Cole were the builders, who executed the work for the sum of £3,300. (St. John's Parsonage was built by the same architect). The foundation stone of St. John's was laid August 6, 1862. The consecration and opening took place May 5th, 1863. The living is a Vicarage in the gift of the Vicar of St. Mary's. The area is 157 acres, and the population of the Ecclesiastical parish in 1871 was 7,839. The district assigned to the church was formed out of the parishes of St. Mary's Battersea, and St. Anne, Wandsworth, by an Order of Council bearing date July 27, 1863—(the register dates from this period). The new parish was legally constituted and named the Consolidated Chapelry of St. John, Battersea. The first Vicar of the new parish was the Rev. Edwin Thompson, D.D., who from beginning his work with services in a room in Price's Candle Factory, afterwards, lived to be instrumental in building the two Churches of St. John and St. Paul, together with the Schools in Usk Road, erected 1866, and Parsonage House, Wandsworth Common; a noble monument of his untiring energy and zeal. He died suddenly February 2nd, 1876, aged 51 years. The present Vicar of St. John's is the Rev. William John Mills Ellison, M.A., Wadham College, Oxford. The windows in the chancel representing John the Baptist, St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. John; the last supper and the ascension to the glory of God, and in memory of Daniel Watney, departed March 16, 1874, aged 74, are erected by his son John Watney. On the south side of the church the Memorial Windows representing David and Samuel to the glory of God, and in memory of W. H. Hatcher, at rest August 2nd, 1879, aged 58. Erected by Friends and Sunday Scholars. "Their works do follow them."—Rev. xiv. 13. On the north side the Memorial Windows representing St. Paul and St. Barnabas, in loving memory of a dear mother, Martha Colden, who died August 25, 1880. Erected by her only child M. A. B. S. Estimated cost of each window £15 15s. Guard and fixing to each £2 2s. "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."—Psalm c. 3. ST. PAUL'S situated on St. John's Hill, is a Chapel-of-Ease to St. Mary's Battersea, designed by Mr. Coe for the late Rev. Dr. Thompson. It is a stone structure consisting of chancel, apsidal, nave, aisles and tower with spire. It was built at a cost of about £6,300. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God."—Psalm xvii. 13. ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH, Queen's Road, is a Gothic stone building consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and transept with tower, built from the designs of Mr. James Knowles, Junr., at a cost of £13,000. A considerable portion of this sum was given by P. W. Flower, Esq., the remainder was raised by public subscriptions. The church will accommodate nearly 1,000 persons. The living is a Vicarage, yearly value £200, in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester, and held by the Rev. John Hall. A Mission in connection with the Bishop of Winchester's Fund was commenced in the month of June, 1869, in a house lent by the proprietor for the purpose, in Queen's Road, Battersea Fields. Services and Parochial Institutions were then established, which have become the foundation of those now in active operation. On July 13th, 1870, the New Church of St. Philip was finished, and consecrated by Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of the diocese, and who also held his Trinity Ordination at the Church of St. Philip the year before he died. A New Organ has been built by Messrs. Hill and Son and placed in the north chancel aisle; the cost with the platform is £516 1s. 11d. If, when the Church of St. Philip was erected, the original design of having a lofty spire with flying buttresses had been carried out, St. Philip's Church would have been the most magnificent Ecclesiastical structure in Battersea.—Churchwardens, W. G. Baker, A. W. Wilkinson. "They continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayer."—Acts ii. 42. "Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors."—Proverbs viii. 34. We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful songs, The construction of Queen's Road, etc., on Park-town, Battersea Estate, cost Mr. Flower about £3,000.—C. Merrett, Clerk of the Works for the Estate. A New Railway Station has been erected in the Queen's Road, on the South-Western Line. engraving ST. MARK'S, Battersea Rise, is a Gothic building, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, transept with porch, and western vestibule and handsome crypt. The corner-stone was laid by the Right Rev. Dr. Harold Browne, Bishop of Winchester, November 11th, 1873, and it was dedicated by his Lordship September 30th, 1874. The Architect is Mr. William White, F.S.A., and the total cost has been £6,500. It is seated for 600, with backs and kneelers throughout. Mr. T. Gregory, of Battersea, builder. The living is a Vicarage, in the gift of the Vicar of St. Mary's. "The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all."—-Proverbs xxii. 2. The dedication festival of this church, in which the late Philip Cazenove took so warm an interest, was agreeably marked by the placing of a stained window of two lights, representing St. Philip and St. James, in the north transept. The name of Mr. Cazenove is inscribed on the tablet of a glass mosaic, set in alabaster, and sunk in the brick-work of the wall beneath the window. The engraving ST. LUKE'S CHAPEL-OF-EASE, Nightingale Lane, is a pretty Iron Church, originally erected on Battersea Rise in 1868, was moved in September, 1873, to the adjacent plot, and used by the congregation while St. Mark's was being built. On November 14, 1874, having been once more removed to its present site it was dedicated anew in the name of St. Luke by the Bishop of Guildford. "O come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."—Psalm xcv. 6. ST. MATTHEW'S, Rush-hill Road, Lavender Hill, is a Chapel of Ease to St. Mary's, it is built in the Early English Style of "Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they shall be still praising thee."—Psalm lxxxiv. 4. engraving ST. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH, Lower Wandsworth Road, now called Battersea Park Road, erected by Messrs. Lathey Brothers at a cost of £4,000 from the designs of Mr. E. C. Robins. It accommodates 700 persons and is designed in the early French Gothic style faced with Kentish rag and Bath stone dressings. It consists of a nave with clerestory, north and south aisles and rectangular chancel with small western gallery over the entrance lobby. There is a bell turret at the east end. The chancel has been decorated in color by Messrs. Heaton and Butler. The glazing is of cathedral glass. The living is a vicarage in the gift of the trustees. The population of the district is about 11,500. The foundation stone was laid by H. S. Thornton, Esq., January 4th, 1870. The consecration of the church on the 19th October, 1871, by the late Samuel Wilberforce, D.D., Lord Bishop of Winchester. The offertory amounted to the sum of £40, which was added to the Church Building Fund. The Petition to consecrate was read by the Rev. C. E. Ince, Vicar of Christ Church, Battersea, and the deed of conveyance was presented to the Bishop by W. Evill, Esq., one of the most generous and zealous friends of the undertaking. The litany was read by the The institution of the present Vicar, the Rev. Samuel Gilbert Scott, M.A., Magdalen College, Oxford, took place on Sunday, April the 29th, 1877. The Bishop of Guildford instituted the Vicar after the Nicene Creed. At the close of the sermon the Bishop celebrated Holy Communion; there were 55 communicants. The offertory on the day amounted to nearly eight pounds. Curate, the Rev. W. J. Harkness, B.A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Churchwardens, John Elmslie, John Merry. Lay Readers, with Episcopal sanction, Mr. Hussey, 32, Chatham Street; Mr. Hann, 2, Millgrove Street. Mission Women, Mrs. Wootton, 23, Warsill Street; Mrs. Collins, 5, Chatham Street. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name for the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."—Psalms c. 4-5. Mr. Crosby, a Missionary in this district, held Evangelistic Services at a Mission Hall in Arthur Street, Battersea Park Road. ST. PETER'S CHURCH, Plough Lane, is a beautiful Gothic structure built of red brick, with chancel, nave, aisles, and lofty tower with spire pointing like a finger to the sky as if to remind man that when the Saturday night of this world shall arrive and earth's trials are o'er "there remaineth a rest for the people of God."—Hebrews iv. 9. In the tower are four illuminated dials, by Messrs. Gillett & Bland of Croydon. The Church has sittings for about 820. The top-stone of the spire of St. Peter's Church was laid about 5 p.m., on the 24th of April, 1876, by Mr. Toone, in the presence of Mr. White the Architect, Mr. Carter the Builder, Mr. Williams the Clerk of the Works, and a few others, with the formula "In the faith of Jesus Christ and to the glory of His Holy Name we lay the top-stone of this spire of St. Peter's Church, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen." A crowd of well-wishers below watched the ceremony with interest. The corner-stone of this church was laid by the Bishop of Winchester, on St. Peter's Day of 1875, and on the same festival, June 29th, 1876, it was Consecrated by the same prelate. At the Consecration Service the Bishop of Guildford read the Gospel, the Rev. S. Cooper Scott the Epistle, and the Bishop of the Diocese preached the Sermon from the words of the Gospel "Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my Church." There were 120 communicants. The Bishop of Guildford preached in the evening to an overflowing congregation. The interior of St. Peter's Church is spacious. The rich carving of the capitals has been executed by Mr. Harry Hems, of Exeter, as also the pulpit and font. The pulpit is of stone with alabaster figures introduced in the panels representing St. Peter, St. Paul, St. John, Isaiah, King Solomon, Moses and Noah. The bowl of the font is also of alabaster supported by angels carved in the same "I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces."—Psalm cxxix. 1-7. St. Peter's Temporary Church and School-room was completed in 1874, at a cost of £1,200. St. Peter's Vicarage was formerly the residence of Mr. Burney. TEMPORARY CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION, Lavender Hill.—A permanent church adjacent is now in course of erection, and being raised by voluntary contributions. The Rev. J. B. Wilkinson is the Officiating Minister. The foundation stone of this church was laid by the Earl of Glasgow, 1st of June, 1876. This structure is being built of Bath stone and red bricks, and is groined throughout with stone ribs and brick panels. The foundation stone is situated under the "altar." James Brooks, Architect, 35, Wellington Street, Strand; Mr. Chessam, Builder, Shoreditch. "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand; I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."—Psalm lxxxiv. 10. ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, Chatham Road, Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common—the Memorial to the Rev. H. B. Verdon and Mr. Philip Cazenove, the eminent and successful merchant. The Temporary Iron Mission Church which for the last nine years had been used as a Chapel-of-Ease to the Mother Church of St. Mary, Battersea, and the site on which the present edifice is erected were the gifts of the latter gentleman. Henry Boutflower Verdon was born December 8, 1846. Himself the son of an excellent clergyman was educated at the Clergy Orphan School, Canterbury, from which he went to Jesus College, Cambridge, as Rustat Scholar and took his degree in 1868. After a period of study at Cuddensdon Theological College he began clerical work as a curate under the Rev. Aubrey Price, M.A., Vicar of St. James', Clapham, where the poor speak in affectionate terms of his memory. In the Spring of 1872 he became curate of Battersea, a few weeks after the appointment of the present Vicar. From the first Mr. Verdon took special interest in the district known as Chatham Road, Bolingbroke Grove, and the residents there were very much attached to him. The Sunday evening services and Sunday Schools held in St. Michael's Chapel were objects of his unremitting care. He acted as the Secretary of the Committee during the time St. Mark's Church was being built. He was an active member of the Charitable Organization Committee—he promoted the work of the Royal Society for the Prevention of The two Memorial Stones were laid in the Chancel of the Church (which is now completed) by the Archbishop of Canterbury. "The Archbishop after tapping them with the mallet saying at each 'In the faith of Jesus Christ we place this stone for a memorial of thy faithful servant whose name is written thereon and in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,' and the choir chanting Amen. The stone on the south side of the chancel bore the inscription carved in antique on a gilt ground, 'Henry Boutflower Verdon, M.A., Æt. 33 obt. X. Oct. A.D. 1879,' and that on the north side, the words, 'In mema. grata Philip Cazenove, Æt. 81 obt. XX. Jan. A.D. 1880.' After laying the stones the Archbishop delivered a short address in the course of which he said that the two servants of God whose names were on the memorial stones worked hand in hand together for good though separated from each other by fifty years of life; one dying almost in his prime and the other living on to a long old age but each dedicated to the service of God, one ministering in the sanctuary and daily officiating in the house of God, the other taking part during a long life in the trade and exchange of this great city, busy with the arrangements by which human industry is promoted. Both different yet wonderfully alike, and both judicious servants bearing the stamp of their heavenly Master and serving Him bravely, faithfully and laboriously. Let them be thankful that this space of fifty made no difference in the two men. As we got old we began to think that wisdom and goodness were with the old only, but he thanked God that in His Church there never had failed and never would fail a succession of faithful servants century after century to carry on the work which the Lord loves and which will make the world at last ready for His second coming. The name on the one stone might be little known beyond his own neighbourhood or the name of the other beyond the city of London, but they were known to their heavenly Master whom they served faithfully, and in His book are the names of both written. The memory of the young man whose name was on the one stone would linger long among those whom he loved and the poor and the sick to whom he had endeared himself and for whom he faithfully laboured, but for the speaker his thoughts and friendship were with the old man whose name was on the other stone. Five and twenty years ago when the speaker entered on the laborious work of the See of London, the first to welcome and assist him was Mr. Cazenove. He belonged to the noble band who helped Bishop Bloomfield from the very first. Those five and twenty years had been as laboriously spent in doing good as the years that had gone before. When those men first entered on the work how different was this suburb of London to what it is now. Great wars had absorbed the attention of men, and a large population had grown up before people knew it, and before men had thought of the duty of meeting the spiritual wants of the "The new church is a plain Gothic structure built of red and stock bricks, and is 90 feet long by 70 feet wide. It consists of a nave, chancel, and two aisles, surmounted with a timber roof of three spans covered with red tiles. There are two entrances, one in Chatham Road and the other in Darley Road; the former surmounted by a figure of St. Michael in conflict with the serpent. There is also a small tower containing a bell weighing 2 cwt. There is a commodious crypt beneath the chancel. The latter contains three rows of stalls for the clergy and choir, and is lighted by six small windows of stained glass, in each of which there is an angel exquisitely executed from the Studio of Messrs. Lavers, Barraud and Westlake. It is also intended to place a reredos of white marble here. The altar is approached from the nave by nine steps. The nave communicates with the aisles by large Gothic arches supported on octagonal pillars of 'granolith'—a material composed of granite chips and Portland cement. The floor is of blocks of wood and the building is 'pewed' with open benches to accommodate about 750 worshippers. The pulpit (a memorial gift by Mr. Verdon's widow) is of carved oak with a base of Caen stone, and is reached by a short flight of stone steps. Behind the pulpit in the south aisle is the organ, which has been brought from St. Luke's church, Derby, and was built by Mr. Abbott of Leeds. At the west end of the church is a font (which is in memory of a loved grandchild of Mr. Cazenove) of veined marble supported by nine columns of polished granite and Caen stone. It is surmounted by a polished oak cover and is a gift 'to the glory of God and the memory of Philip Henry Hessey.' The church is warmed with hot air. It has been erected by Mr. J. D. Hobson, from the designs of Mr. White, F.S.A. The total cost is £4500, which (with the exception of £800 unpaid at the commencement of the dedication services) had all been contributed by the relatives and friends of the late H. B. Verdon and Philip Cazenove. The church is provided with prayer books, hymn books, and kneelers throughout." The Dedication of St. Michael's Church was on September, 10, 1881, by the Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of Rochester—the service commenced at 11.30 a.m. Lord of hosts, to thee we raise ALL SAINTS' TEMPORARY IRON CHURCH, is situated in Victoria Bridge Road, near the south-eastern gate of Battersea Park. It will accommodate 200 persons. All seats free and unappropriated. It was opened for Divine Service Saturday, Sept. 6th, 1879, at 3.30 p.m. The Rev. Canon Clarke, Vicar of Battersea, and Rural Dean, preached the first sermon. His text was:—"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his."—II. Timothy ii. 19. An income of £200 a year from the Rochester Diocesan Fund has been granted to the clergyman of the district, the Rev. A. E. Bourne, formerly Curate of St. Peter's, Battersea. The new provisional district of "All Saints," Battersea, has been formed out of three parishes, viz., St. Mary's, St. Saviour's and St. George's, to meet the requirements of the rapidly increasing population of the neighbourhood. Roughly speaking the boundaries of the new district are the London, Chatham and Dover Railway from the river to the London and South Western Railway, along the London and South Western Railway to Park Grove; down Park Grove, across the open land to the Park round the north corner. The only exceptions are the streets between Queen's Road and Russell Street which remain part of St. Philip's parish. "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of His saints and to be had in reverence by all them that are about Him." Let us then with gladsome mind ROCHESTER DIOCESAN MISSION, St. James', Nine Elms. Clergyman in charge, Rev. William George Trousdale, B.A.—The Mission Buildings situated in Woodgate Street and Ponton Road, Nine Elms Lane, have lately been enlarged by the Misses Baily of Esher, at a cost of over £1200. The church contains sittings for 250. There are in connection with the Mission, Sunday Schools, ST. ALDWIN'S MISSION CHAPEL, (Rochester Diocesan Society) Poyntz Road, Latchmere Road, was opened on Sunday, 12th September, 1880, at 7 p.m. It will comfortably seat 300 persons. St. Aldwin's district is formed partly out of St. Saviour's and partly out of Christ Church parish—the latter ceded the Colestown Estate, the former handed over Latchmere Street and Road, and the cluster of streets which is surrounded by the triangle of railways. Mission Curate—Rev. T. B. Brooks, M.A., 2, Nevil Villas, Albert Road. Mission-woman—Mrs. Monk, Mission House, 25, Poyntz Road. "Both young men and maidens, old men and children; let them praise the name of the Lord."—Psalm cxlviii. 12-13. "Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound: they shall walk O Lord, in the light of thy countenance."—Psalm lxxxix. 15. "Thy power to save!" thrice happy they There are two Roman Catholic places of worship in Battersea, viz.:— THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL AND ST. JOSEPH, situated in Battersea Park Road, was built by a lady of the name of Mrs. Boschetta Shea (of Spanish extraction, and whose husband was an Irish Protestant) in 1868, and put under the management of the late Very Rev. Canon Drinkwater, who Within the grounds adjoining the Convent are kitchen and flower gardens with a gravel walk and a very compact grotto. In the month of May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, there are processions in the grounds every Sunday afternoon in which boys and girls take part, singing hymns in honour of "our Lady." The Boys' School is of an oblong shape, and is governed by the Xaverian Brothers, including several pupil teachers. Subjects taught: reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, English, Roman and Grecian history, geography, mathematics and the Roman Catholic religion. CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART, Trott Street, is an Iron building with turret and cross, opened 10th of October, 1875. It was built by the Countess of Stockpool at a cost of £700. The freehold site of land including one acre cost £1,000. Priest, Rev. McKenna. New Schools have lately been erected. THE OLD BAPTIST MEETING HOUSE, York Road, Battersea, was erected in 1736, but a church was not formed for sixty-one years afterwards. About the year 1755 the Rev. Mr. Browne became Officiating Minister, and for forty years preached to a small congregation, but as his age and infirmities increased the number of attendants on his ministration diminished till he had not more than four or five persons to hear him; enfeebled and disheartened he resigned, and in 1796 a young man, then a Student at Bristol Academy, afterwards well known as the Rev. Joseph Hughes, M.A., supplied the pulpit with so much acceptance that in 1797 a church was constituted, and he, in the 29th year of his age, was elected to be the pastor. The constitution and order of the church thus formed may not be uninteresting, it reads as follows:— "We, the undersigned, desirous of the privilege connected with religious fellowship and a stated ministry, having already sought the Lord, and we trust, chosen Him as our Sovereign and Friend, do hereby give ourselves afresh to each other, according to the Divine Will, that being united in a Christian Church, we may render mutual aid, as fellow-travellers from earth to heaven; and, though we firmly embrace the sentiments peculiar to the Baptists, yet, espousing with equal determination the cause of evangelical liberty, we welcome to our communion all who give evidence of a change from sin to holiness; who appear to love our Lord Jesus Christ, who are willing to be accounted learners in His school, and who wish to be enrolled in connection with us. And we hope it will be our united endeavour, and the endeavour of such as may hereafter be added to us, by all means to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; to mingle faithfulness, spirituality and affection in our intercourse; strictly to regard the Divine Ordinances—so far as we know them; and to walk before the Church, our families, and our God, worthy of our heavenly calling." Under the Rev. Joseph Hughes's ministry the work of God took deep root here and greatly flourished. By his energy, learning "John Foster derived much spiritual benefit from his friendship with Mr. Hughes of Battersea Chapel with whom after he left Chichester he resided for a time, and it increases not a little the debt of gratitude due from the Christian community to that excellent man, that though his own authorship was limited to a few pulpit productions, and his sphere of duty was one of action rather than of meditation, he performed the noble office of stimulating the exertions and cherishing the piety of one of the most original and influential religious writers of his age." Mr. Foster says "the company who made sometime since an establishment at Sierra Leone in Africa, have brought to England twenty black boys to receive European improvements, in order to be sent when they are come to be men to attempt enlightening the heathen nations of Africa. They have been placed in a house at Battersea for the present till some kind of regular and permanent establishment shall be formed, and I have been requested, and have agreed to take the care of them for the present."—Foster's Life and Correspondence, Vol. I. p. 58-60, edited by J. C. Ryland, A.M. The Rev. Edmund Clark held the Pastorate from Spring of 1834 to Mid-Summer, 1834—three months. He was succeeded by the Rev. Enoch Crook, who was two years and a half Pastor of the Church, viz., from Mid-summer, 1834, to 1837. A tablet to his memory is placed on the wall in the vestry of the chapel. Subsequently from January, 1838, it was the scene of the labours of the Sainted Israel May Soule, who for thirty-six years was Pastor of the Church of Christ assembling here; he faithfully discharged his ministerial duties; his doctrine was truly evangelical; his services unremitting and his deportment exemplary—beloved by his flock and highly esteemed by Christians of other denominations for his large liberal-heartedness, sound judgment and unsectarian spirit. It was he who first conceived the idea of enlarging the Old Chapel and had a model in his study to represent the style of alteration which his own mind suggested with a view to meet in some humble measure the growing and increased spiritual wants of the neighbourhood. However, instead of enlarging the Old Chapel a second time, he used strenuous efforts and succeeded in having the Old Chapel demolished and a commodious place of worship erected on its site. The Chapel was enlarged and repaired in 1842 and the freehold purchased and put in trust at a total cost of £1,000. In 1868 the requisite land for further enlargement of the Chapel was purchased. The present handsome Chapel involved an outlay of £5,000, erected in the Romanesque style from the designs of Mr. E. C. Robins. His mortal remains lie interred at St. Mary's Cemetery with those of Amelia his wife, where in token of fond affection to his memory a beautiful obelisk of grey polished granite has been erected. The epitaph states "that he consecrated himself in early life to the service of God; that he received during a long and faithful ministry signal tokens of Divine favour in the number who through his instrumentality were brought to a knowledge of the Saviour. His earnest constant labours to the last for the education and welfare of the young are of untold benefit, while rich and poor alike have lost in him a kind and sympathizing friend, whose loving and Christian spirit will long be remembered in Battersea." A monumental tablet to his memory is about to be erected in the Chapel. "Servant of Christ well done, In a small room under the south gallery is erected a beautiful marble tablet in memoriam of the Rev. Joseph Hughes, M. A. Also under the north gallery are erected tablets in affectionate remembrance of Henry Tritton, Esq., for many years a resident in the Parish of Battersea, and whose mortal remains lie buried under the Chapel. He died 20th of April, 1836, aged 48 years. Also Amelia, his wife, third daughter of Joseph Benwell, Esq., died March 28, 1855, aged 64 years. April, 1874, Mr. Soule was succeeded by the Rev. Charles Kirtland, who still continues to fill the pastoral office. Let strangers walk around "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."—John iv. 24. Deacons—G. Lawrence, Cubbington Cottage, Battersea Rise; H. M. Soule, St. John's Hill, Battersea Rise; W. H. Coe, York Road, Battersea; G. Mansell, 1, Cologne Road, St. John's Hill; Philip Cadby, 24, St. Peter's Square, Hammersmith; Thomas Sadler, 88 Spencer Road. Chapel-keeper—D. Rayner, 31, Verona Street, York Road. engraving BAPTIST TEMPORARY CHAPEL, Surrey Lane. This building having stood beyond the time allowed by Government was condemned by the Board of Works. The Church which formerly worshipped there have removed to the Lammas Hall until a permanent building can be raised. A fund is established which progresses slowly. A. Peto, Esq., The Boltons, South Kensington, is the Treasurer to the Building Fund. Rev. C. E. Stone is the Pastor. Deacons, J. Weller and F. T. Ashfield. It is worthy of note that this was the second Baptist Church formed in Battersea. "I have set my affections to the house of my God."—I. Chron. xxix. 3. "Christ is the Foundation of the house we raise; engraving BATTERSEA PARK TEMPORARY BAPTIST CHAPEL was erected in 1869, at a cost, including the purchase of freehold land, of £2,000. In 1872 a front gallery was added which cost £175. In 1876 a piece of ground was bought at the back of the Chapel for £105, and new class-rooms and vestries erected at an additional cost of £420. The grand object of the London Baptist Association next to the promotion of spiritual work, is the extension of their bounds by the erection of at least one new Chapel in each year. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, the third President (1869), had the pleasure of seeing a chapel erected in this region where the poor would be gathered. He was able to purchase and give to the enterprise this fine freehold site in Battersea, and leaving the front portion thereof for a future chapel, he expended the grant of the Association in erecting a school-chapel, seating 630 persons, which was put in trust without incumbrance. The neighbourhood being too poor to bear the burden of debt, and no wealthy friends being forthcoming this was thought to be the wiser course. The Rev. W. J. Mayers commenced his pastorate in the beginning of the year 1870. Upon his resignation he was succeeded by the Rev. Alfred Bax, who for two years or more preached with much acceptance. On the 2nd of April, 1877, the Rev. T. Lardner became the officiating minister. Deacons of the Church—J. S. Oldham, William Weller, W. Chaplin. In 1866, Mr. E. Carter shoemaker by trade, residing at 16, Henley Street, commenced holding a Sunday School in his own hired house. One Sunday Afternoon, two young students from the Metropolitan Tabernacle, called at his residence to see if they could hold religious "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."—Hebrews x. 25. "Great the joy when Christians meet, "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."—I. John i. 3. BAPTIST (PROVIDENCE) CHAPEL, Meyrick Road, is a brick building—seats 350. It is intended to have galleries when it will then accommodate 500. The memorial stone was laid by Mr. H. Clark, October 5th, 1875, on which are engraved the words "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."—Psalm cxi. 10. Cost of Chapel including the purchase of freehold land on which the Chapel is erected £2,400. G. G. Stanham, Esq., Architect; Messrs. Turtle and Appleton, Builders, Battersea. Officiating Minister, Mr. Philips. Deacons, H. Clark, S. Stiles, Joseph Palmer. "Philip said (to the Eunuch), If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest (be baptised); and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."—Acts viii. 37. "For we are all partakers of that one bread."—I. Cor. x. 17. "Come in, ye chosen of the Lord, engraving THE NEW BAPTIST CHAPEL, Chatham Road Bolingbroke Grove.—A suitable plot of ground was obtained at a cost of £150; cost of Chapel, about £850. Services were conducted by Charles and Thomas Spurgeon. The building will seat 258 persons. The cause was commenced about fourteen years ago in a very humble way by Mr. G. Rides, a working man, who, previously to the erection of the above place of worship, held meetings in his own hired house, Swaby Street. William Higgs, Jun., Architect; Higgs and Hill, Builders. WESLEYAN METHODIST MISSION ROOM AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS, Everett Street, Nine Elms, opened 1871. Mr. John Farmer, Steward and Superintendent. Now closed. UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH, Church Road, Battersea.—The Memorial Stone was laid by James Wild, Esq., May 25th, 1858. Another stone was laid by Mrs. Bowron, Sept. 22, 1864, when the Chapel was enlarged. S. J. Stedman, Architect. THE UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH, Battersea Park Road.—The School-room at the back of the Chapel in Landseer Street was built in 1865, at a cost of £500, and it was used as a preaching Station. In 1871-2 the present Chapel was built, at a cost of £2,200. Seats about 600. Has a Lecture-room and Schools "The brotherly covenant."—Amos i. 9. "One in heart, and one in hand, In the District known as New Wandsworth, near the Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common, is a large and increasing population which presents an opening for Christian enterprise. The Free Methodists of the 7th London Circuit have undertaken this work. Preaching has been commenced in a room No. 89, Bennerly Road, and a society of twelve members have been formed. A suitable freehold site has been secured in the Mallinson Road at a cost of £400, and it is proposed to erect a Chapel and Schools thereon. The whole scheme will involve an outlay of £4,000, but at present it is only intended to build the School, which is estimated will, with the ground, cost nearly £1,200. PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL, New Road, was built in 1874. The Chapel including the purchase of freehold, cost about £1,030. Seats 200. Mr. Murphy, Architect; Mr. Stocking, Builder. Now a new and much more commodious Chapel is erected. Respecting its origin the following account may not be uninteresting. About twelve years ago the friends of Hammersmith Station decided to Mission this neighbourhood. First of all they opened two small parlours at 32, Russell Street, Battersea Park Road, as a Preaching Station and afterwards secured premises in Stewart's Lane, which they converted into a small Chapel, and here, for several years, were numbers of conversions; but, like all small and out-of-the-way places, it became a feeder to other churches. It was at last decided to secure a suitable site and build. First a lease of a piece of land in the New-Road, and eventually the freehold was secured, and a small school-room was erected on part of the site, which has since been used for school and preaching services. The building being altogether inconvenient, it was decided, after prayerful and mature deliberation, to build a Chapel which should be more in harmony with the requirements of the neighbourhood. Mr. A. J. Rouse, the Architect, was consulted, plans were prepared, and tenders invited. The contract was let to Mr. J. Holloway, builder, Wandsworth, for £2000, which, with the debt of £690 on the school-room and Architect's fees, will bring it up to £2800. The building is plain, neat, and substantial, with stone facings. It will accommodate about 600 persons; there are two aisles, a gallery on the sides and at one end, with a back gallery for the organ. Adjoining the chapel is a large class-room capable of holding sixty children. Externally, the building is one of the most imposing and attractive in the neighbourhood, and one of the cheapest in London. On Whit-Monday, 1878, the memorial-stones were laid. The At the end of the Chapel is a Tablet in memory of Alfred James Rouse, Architect, who met with his death in the collision between the Princess Alice and the Bywell Castle on the Thames, September 3rd, 1878. Life is short but Art is long. "Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Matt. 24. 44." The first Primitive Methodist preachers were, William Cowes and Hugh Borne, in 1807. When the first Primitive Methodist Church was formed it consisted of ten members; now it numbers over 180,000 and employs more than a 1,000 ministers. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."—Matthew xviii. 20. PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL, Grayshott Road, was erected in 1875. The stone was laid by J. T. Hawkins, Esq., M. A., for the Right Hon. Earl Shaftesbury, K. G., November 21, 1874. Rev. J. Toulson, Superintendent, 7th London Circuit. Another Stone was laid by a Shareholder of the Artizans, Labourers and General Dwelling Company Limited. Rev. W. E. Crombie, Minister. Mr. A. J. Rouse, Acting Architect; J. Lose, Builder. The Chapel seats 400, and cost about £2,600. The entrance to the Chapel is up a flight of steps; the Schools are underneath the Chapel. "Jehovah, Shammah." Ezek. xlviii. 35. "Allelujah!" Rev. xix. 1. In the Wandsworth Road, near Grayshott Road, is an old milestone which marks the space between that and the Royal Exchange five miles, and Whitehall four and a half miles. PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL, Plough Lane,—In the year 1855, a few Primitive Methodists, residing in the neighbourhood of York Road, with the view of having their hearts knitted more closely together in holy love by Christian fellowship and prayer, met from house to house for this purpose to worship God—In this way they continued to meet till the year 1858, when the Firm of Orlando Jones & Co. gave them the use of their Reading Room. Here as elsewhere they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their numbers steadily increased. In 1870, a piece of land was secured in Knox Road, and the firm above mentioned, helped them to erect an Iron Chapel with a School-room underneath. This building having stood beyond the time allowed by Government was condemned by the Board of Works. It was opened in June 1871, and was finally closed in September 1880. About this time the Estate of the Late Rev. I. M. Soule was sold, and an effort was made to secure a plot of land thereon, situated in Plough Lane. The freehold site selected, was purchased, and a substantial brick Chapel with School-room underneath erected at a cost of £2,300. The Chapel will accommodate 400 worshippers. It was opened October 24th, 1880, on which occasion Sermons were preached by the Rev. J. Baxter. I will command My blessing upon you—Lev. 25. 21. Command Thy blessing from above, ST. GEORGE'S MISSION HALL, Stewart's Lane, formerly belonged to the Primitive Methodists, and was used by them as a chapel. "Glory, honour, praise and power "Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generations following. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death."-Psalms xlviii. 12-14. engraving BATTERSEA CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (Independent), Junction of Bridge Road and Surrey Lane South, fifteen minutes' walk from Clapham Junction and York Road Stations, ten minutes' from Battersea Station; is an edifice constructed of Kentish rag with Bath stone dressings, and has a tower with spire at the north end of the building. The interior is spacious and lofty; the pews are made of pitch-pine, varnished, and will accommodate, including the seats in the south gallery, 600 persons. Cost of erection £4,500. H. Fuller, Architect; F. W. Sawyer, Builder. With The Sunday School and Lecture Hall, with class-room adjoining, was opened in April, 1874. The entire cost of the building, furnishing, heating, lighting, and fencing the ground was £510, the whole of which was discharged July, 1875. Of this amount a generous friend gave £300 through the Rev. Joseph Shaw; and thirty-two pounds were contributed by the Sunday School Children. The room will seat 300 persons. The "Church Manual" for 1870 states "This is Congregational, we regarding the New Testament as the only infallible guide in matters of Church order, and learning from it that each Church is authorized to elect its officers, receive and dismiss its members, and act authoritatively and conclusively upon all questions affecting its purity and administration. We recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as our King and Sole Ruler in spiritual things, and His Word as our Statute-Book and only Standard. The membership. We believe this should be composed only of regenerated persons who are received into the Church on profession of their faith in Christ, or by letters from sister Church. Members of other churches, acting on this principle, are also received on their producing proper certificates. Candidates for membership should make their application direct to the Pastor. Deacons, Mr. John Allen, Mr. Thomas C. Tabor; Treasurer, Mr. Samuel James Roberts; Secretary, Mr. Edwin John Eason." The seats are free, not sold or rented, but are allotted for family convenience and to preserve order. The revenues of the Church are chiefly derived from the weekly free-will offerings of the church and congregation. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts."-Psalm lxxxiv. 1. "The Hill of Zion yields STORMONT ROAD CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Lavender Hill. The Schools are in connexion with the above place, where the worship is at present conducted. They are built from designs by The site, which is freehold, as is also the adjoining one for the future Church was the gift of the London Congregational Union. The cost of the school buildings was £2820. The foundation stone was laid on July 27th, 1878, by J. Kemp Welch Esq., and the buildings were opened on February 18th 1879, when Sermons were preached by the Revs. R. W. Dale of Birmingham, and Dr. Raleigh. A Church is now being formed under the Pastorate of the Rev. R. Bulmer, late of Whitby, who commenced his ministry on Sunday the 2nd of October, last. It is proposed to commence the building of the Church as soon as possible. The building according to plans will seat 850. The whole of the Christian work in connection with the above place is in a very active state, and include Band of Hope, and Improvement Societies. WESLEYAN METHODISM IN BATTERSEA.—It is not easy to determine the time of the first appearance of Methodism in Battersea. From Mr Wesley's Journal it appears that in his later years he was accustomed to pay an annual visit to this neighbourhood, including Chelsea, Wandsworth and Balham. In the absence of any definite record of the matter we may assume that some persons in Battersea came under his influence. A half century elapsed before the Methodist Society found a local habitation in Battersea, even then, not destined to be a permanent one. A small Chapel, chiefly at the cost of the late Rev. J. Partes Haswell, was erected on the site of the present one in the Bridge Road West in 1846; the foundation stone being laid by the late Mr. Scott of Chelsea, and the works being executed by Mr John Sugden, Builder, of Bermondsey New Road. The building was let to the late Mr. J. Boughton and others, for the use of the Wesleyan Society by Mr. Haswell, and it continued in their occupation until 1855. The agitations which disturbed the Wesleyan Connexion in 1851 and following years were felt with great severity in Battersea. The congregation and Society were so weakened by the separation that took place, that the Lessees, after allowing the Chapel to be occupied for a time by the seceding party, finally surrendered their lease into Mr. Haswell's possession again. In the meantime, however the Wesleyan Society, began to recover from the great depression into which it had fallen; and in 1858, on their behalf, Messrs. Bell and Molineux, with the late Mr. Holloway of Battersea, took the former Chapel on a short lease from the persons into whose hands it had passed; and ultimately it was purchased by a duly appointed body of Trustees in 1862. In 1864, aided by a munificent donation of £425 from Mr. J. Steadman of South Lambeth, and by other liberal contributions, the Trustees were enabled greatly to enlarge the building, nearly doubling its former area; and finally in 1871, it was brought to a state of completion, by the erection of a Gallery and an Organ, with other minor improvements. It now furnishes accommodation for 700 people. The usual congregation amounts to about 500, of whom more than 300 are members of the "Society." The Rev G. Bowden, and the Rev. E. Hawken, are the present circuit ministers, the latter being resident in Battersea, and taking special charge of the Wesleyan Church there. The usual times of service on Sundays are, 11 o'clock in the morning, and 6.30 in the evening. There are also Weekly Prayer Meetings on Sunday mornings at 7 a.m.; and on Monday evenings at 7 p.m.; and a Week-night service on Tuesday evenings at the same hour. In 1870, in view of the growing Educational necessities of the Wesleyan Body, the General Wesleyan Education Committee decided on the establishment of another Training College, in addition to that which they had in Westminster. Circumstances led to the placing of this on the Southlands estate, near the Battersea High Street Railway Station. It furnishes accommodation for 110 female Students, who are under training for the Office of Teachers; and who in due time are employed in all parts of the kingdom in Schools under Inspection. They constitute, it need hardly be said a very interesting portion of the congregation. The Rev. G. W. Olver, B.A., is the Principal, and Mr. James Bailey the Headmaster of the College. A Sunday School with 280 Scholars in average attendance meets twice on each Sunday, and is conducted with more than the usual efficiency. There are also the customary benevolent and religious agencies maintained by the Wesleyan Church here; and Day Schools for Girls and Infants are connected with Southlands Training College. O happy souls that pray We know for certain Battersea on one occasion was honoured with the preaching of the Rev. John Wesley as recorded in one of his Journals, dated November 4, 1766, wherein this indefatigable servant of Christ states, "I preached at Brentford, Battersea, Deptford and Welling, and examined the several societies." His Tuesday, January 17, 1758, "I preached at Wandsworth, a gentleman come from America, has again opened a door in this desolate place. In the morning I preached in Mr Gilbert's house. Two Negro servants of his, and a Mulatto, appear to be much awakened. Shall not his (God's) saving health be made known to all nations?" Thursday, 8th February, 1770, the Rev. John Wesley writes, "I went to Wandsworth. What a proof we have here that 'God's thoughts are not our thoughts!' Every one thought that no good could be done here; we had tried for above twenty years, very few would even give us the hearing, and the few that did seemed little the better for it. But all of a sudden crowds flocked to hear; many are cut to the heart; many filled with peace and joy in believing; many long for the whole image of God. In the evening, though it was a sharp frost, the room was as hot as a stove, and they drank in the word with all greediness, and also at five in the morning, while I applied 'Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying I will: be thou clean!'" Previously to the erection of the present commodious Wesleyan Chapel in Bridge Road West, the friends of the Wesleyan Communion met for worship in a large upper room over a carpenter's shop in King Street. Subsequently they removed to premises now belonging to Mr. G. King, Ironmonger, in the vicinity of Surrey Lane. John Cullum, an artist by profession, who resided in Battersea, was connected with the Wesleyan-Methodists. He was a zealous Open-air Preacher and Temperance Advocate. It is said that he was the first person who introduced Teetotalism in Battersea and held meetings for that object. He died in 1852, aged 51 years. This good man kept a record of important events which had transpired in Battersea. From a manuscript of his, entitled "The Antiquities of Battersea," the following extract is taken—it will be read with interest. "There is also a Wesleyan Chapel and Society here, which originated at a small house in Bridge Road, near the Bridge, after which it was removed to Mr Steadman's yard, in which a large room was fitted up for Divine Worship, and a School formed under "There is connected with this Chapel a Stranger's Friend Society, whose object is to search out the most forlorn and distressing cases of poverty and sickness. Its plan is carried out by Visitors who read to the sick a portion of the Holy Scriptures and engage in prayer with them, and by conversation and tracts endeavour to instruct so as to lead the heart to the Saviour, and relieve their temporal wants by affording them food, &c. rather than money. Many instances of good have been the result, and the conversion of some to the truth. Its founders were Messrs. Cooper and Stanley, Wandsworth; its present officers, Messrs. Stedman and Evans, Secretary and Treasurer, Cullum, Bridge, Winter, &c., Battersea. There is a small Branch of the Wesleyan Missionary Society carried on here—a Tract Society, &c. May the Lord prosper the work that many may be enlightened by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and made partakers of his great Salvation."
The first Œcumenical Methodist Conference held in London September, 1881. WESLEYAN CHAPEL, QUEEN'S ROAD.—The following is a brief account of the rise and progress of Wesleyan Methodism in this neighbourhood. In the year 1871, in the order of God's providence, a good man and his wife removed from the Great Queen's Street Circuit to Frederick Street, now known as Newby Street, Wandsworth Road. On October 17, 1871, they very kindly opened their houses for a class meeting, to be held in connexion with the Society of which they were members. Here on Sunday, December 3rd of the same year, the first preaching Service was conducted. As the room became inconveniently crowded at the Sunday Services it was felt that a more suitable place was needed, so after a short time a Billiard Room capable of holding 150 persons, situated at No. 588, Wandsworth Road, was secured, and on April 21, 1872, was opened for Public Worship. On June 2nd, about 30 children were garnered in and a Sunday School commenced. Notwithstanding the unsuitableness of the place and other difficulties which had to be surmounted, the work of the Lord was carried on in this place until February, 1879; in the meanwhile however, strenuous efforts were made in order to obtain an eligible piece of ground on which to erect a more commodious building. In 1878, the freehold site situated in Queen's Road, was purchased for £1,140, and a temporary Iron Chapel erected, with seats for 500, at a cost of about £600, this temporary Sanctuary was opened February 14th, 1879. This Structure while making ample provision at first was soon found to be inadequate to meet the requirements of a neighbourhood where the population was large and rapidly increasing, hence the Trustees and Friends endeavoured to raise £4,000, by means of grants and loans from the late Sir Francis Lycett's Fund, the Metropolitan Chapel Fund, etc., towards the entire outlay of about £7,000, (the estimated cost of the permanent building etc.) leaving about £3,000, to be raised by funds in the Lambeth Circuit. On August 28th, 1881, the New School-Room which holds about 320 persons, was opened for Public Worship and Sunday School purposes. The Iron Chapel having been sold to make way for the New Chapel now in course of erection which is expected to be opened for Divine Service about May 1882. On Friday July 15th, 1881, the Memorial Stone was laid at 3 o'clock, by Lady Lycett, when the Rev. G. W. Olver, B. A., gave an address. By express desire of the Local Committee the Italian Style has been adopted, and the building will be erected in Bath Stone and Picked Stocks—Sitting accommodation for 1,000 will be provided, on the ground floor 650, and in the galleries 350. Adjoining the Chapel large School-Rooms have been erected with Vestry, Class-Rooms, and the usual offices. The Architect is Mr. James Weir, of the Strand. James Holloway, Builder, Marmion Road, Lavender Hill. "That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night." 2. Chron. vi. 20. Christ is our corner stone, FREE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Queen's Crescent, Queen's Road. Some 6 years or more ago, Mr. Crosby began the above work in Arthur Street Mission Hall, a small Hall situated in the lowest part of Battersea, and the work under his superintendence has been so manifestly owned and blessed of God, that it was some time since deemed imperative on his part as the Lord's steward, to seek further to extend this effort in His cause. As far as the means of himself and friends allowed, and in the exercise of much consecrated faith and self-denial, a plot of land was secured, and an iron building erected adjacent to the most needy part of the neighbourhood, where the extended work is now carried on. The building, however, is of a temporary character, the Board of Works granting a license only of two years on iron buildings, and according to an agreement entered into in faith of the Lord's continued favour, a brick building must be erected in the course of 4 years. The present building, owing to the speedy growth of the work is even now too small. An effort is being made to purchase the freehold, and erect a building capable of holding about 700 persons, at an estimated cost of £2,750. W. Crosby, Pastor, E. V. Kelly, Treasurer. In addition to other lay helpers (including Scripture Readers and Bible Women) there are six agents at work in Battersea connected with the London City Mission. This is an excellent Institution, having for its object the Evangelization of the poor of London. Mr. David Nasmith founded the London City Mission May 16, 1835. The general business of the London City Mission is conducted at the Mission House, Bridewell Street, Blackfriars, by The Corner Stone of Trinity Mission Hall, Stewart's Lane, promulgated and subscribed to by the members and adherents of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Clapham Road, was laid Wednesday, June 20, 1877, by the Rev. David Macewan, D.D. in the presence of a very large concourse of people. It is estimated that the Hall will accommodate about 400 persons; and in addition to the Hall there is a School-room which will probably accommodate 150 to 200 scholars The building cost about £2,500. The land, which is freehold, has been purchased for £400. The Hall is built of brick with box stone dressings. W. H. Robbins, Esq., Architect; B. E. Nightingale, Builder. Mr. Cameron is the Minister. The handsome edifice belonging to the Presbyterian Church of England, Clapham Road, cost about £12,000, built through the unremitting energy and pious zeal of the late Dr. John MacFarlane and was for many years the scene of his earnest, faithful and successful pastoral labours. PLYMOUTH BRETHREN.—A body of Christians calling themselves "The Brethren" came into existence about 1830-1835 in Plymouth, Dublin, and other places in the British Islands, extended throughout the British Dominions, and in some other parts of the continent of Europe, particularly among the Protestants of France, Switzerland, and Italy, and also in the United States of America. Many of the first religious communities found in Plymouth and elsewhere, were retired Anglo-Indian officers, men of unquestionable zeal and piety and those communities began to appear almost simultaneously in a number of places. Mr. Darby, regarded as an influential member, afterwards separated from them with many adherents. Mr. Darby was previously a Barrister, moving in the highest circles of Society, and under deeply religious impressions became a Clergyman of the Church of England, lived for some time in a mud-hovel in the County of Wicklow devoting himself to his work. The Plymouth Brethren object to National Churches as too Latitudinarian, and to other Dissenters as too Sectarian; their doctrines however agree with those of most Evangelical Protestant Churches, but they recognize no ordination of minister; their tenets may be stated thus:—Original Sin, Predestination, the efficiency of Christ's Sacrifice, the merits of his obedience, the power of his intercession, the gracious operations of the Holy Ghost in Regeneration and Sanctification; they also generally maintain millenary views, usually practise the Baptism of believers without regard to previous A Railway Arch in Latchmere Road, has been utilized for a Gospel Hall where the (Open) Brethren meet for worship. Situated in the rear of Lawn House Laundry, Orkney Street, is a small place of worship called the "Little Tabernacle" erected at the sole expense of Mr. John Strutt, where meetings for Bible Readings, Breaking of Bread, Exhortation, and Prayer are held every Lord's day. THOMAS BLOOD, generally known by the appellation of Colonel Blood, was a discarded officer of Oliver Cromwell's Household; he was notorious for his daring crimes and his good fortune. He was first distinguished by an attempt to surprise the Castle of Dublin, which was defeated by the vigilance of the Duke of Ormond, and some of his accomplices were executed. Escaping to England he with his confederates meditated revenge, and actually seized the Duke of Ormond one night in his coach in St. James' Street, intending to hang him, and had got him to Tyburn, where, after struggling with his would-be assassins in the mire, the Duke was rescued by his servants, 6 Dec, 1670. Blood afterwards in the disguise of a clergyman, attempted to steal the crown and regalia from the Jewel Office in the Tower, 9th May, 1671. He was very near succeeding, for he had bound and wounded Edwards the keeper, and was making off with his booty, but was overtaken and seized with his associates. Blood, who was accused as being the ringleader in this conspiracy, when questioned he frankly owned that he had taken part in the enterprise, but refused to discover his accomplices, "the fear of death (he said) should never induce him to deny a guilt or betray a friend." All these extraordinary circumstances made him the subject of general conversation. Charles II. moved by the influence of popular excitement, or from idle curiosity, granted him a personal interview. Blood confessed to the king that "he had been engaged with others in a design to kill him with a Carbine (said to be in the vicinity of Battersea Priory) where His Majesty often used to bathe (beneath the garden belonging to the Priory was a Subterranean passage leading to the river-bank); that the cause of this resolution was the severity exercised over the consciences of the godly, in destroying their religious assemblies; that when he had taken his stand among the reeds on the other side of the river full of these bloody resolutions he found his heart checked with an awe of Majesty; that he not only relented himself, but diverted his associates from their purpose; that he had long ago brought himself to an entire indifference about life, which he now gave for lost; yet he could not forebear warning the king of the danger which might attend his execution; that his associates had bound themselves by the strictest oaths to revenge the death of any of their confederacy and that no precaution nor power could rescue any one from the effects of their desperate resolution." Yet notwithstanding these and other offences, the King not only pardoned Battersea Priory is a castellated building reported to have been a Convent for Ursuline Nuns. PRIOR was the Ecclesiastical title formerly given to the head of a small Monastery, to which the designation of Priory was applied. The Prior ranked next in position to the Abbot. Similarly the term Prioress was applied to the head of a female convent. The title of Grand Prior was given to the Commandants of the Grand Military Priories of the Orders of John of Jerusalem, of Malta and of the Templars. Alien Priories were cells of the religious houses in England which belonged to foreign Monasteries. The whole number is not exactly ascertained; the Monasticon has given a list of 100. Weever, p. 338, says 110. The houses belonging to the several religious orders which obtained in England and Wales, were, Cathedrals, Colleges, Abbeys, Priories, Preceptories, Commandries, Hospitals, Friaries, Hermitages, Chantries, and free Chapels. These were under the direction and management of various officers; the dissolution of houses of this kind began as early as 1312, when the Templars were suppressed; and in 1323 their lands, churches, advowsons, and liberties, here in England were given by Ed. II., st. 3, to the prior and brethren of the hospital of St. John at Jerusalem. In the years 1390, 1437, 1441, 1459, 1497, 1505, 1508, and 1515, several other houses were dissolved, and their revenues settled on different Colleges in Oxford and Cambridge. From the year 1312 in the reign of Edward the 2nd to the close of the reign of Henry VIII, 1547, the number of houses and places suppressed from first to last as far as any calculations appear to have been made were 23, 4; besides the friars' houses and those suppressed by Wolsey, and many small houses of which we have no particular account. Henry VIII founded six new bishoprics of which Westminster was one, which was changed by Queen Elizabeth into a Deanery with twelve prebends and a school. Persons desirous of obtaining information respecting Monasteries should consult Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, (Lond. 1655, 1661, 1673). Also a new and greatly Enlarged Edition by Bandinel, Caley and Ellis, published in 1817, 1830, and reissued in 1846. URSULINES, or Nuns of St. Ursula: a sisterhood founded about the year 1537, by Angela Merici at Brescia, the community numbering at that time, as many as six hundred. St. Angela was born in 1511, at Desenzano, on the Lago de Garda, and died at Brescia, 21st March, 1540. The institution was formally approved of and confirmed by Paul III., in 1544, and it was on this occasion that the name of Ursulines was given to the order after the famous St. Ursula; a Virgin Martyr of the Roman Catholic Calendar especially honoured in Germany, and especially at Cologne, which is the reputed place of her Martyrdom. The Legend substantially, in its present form, can be traced as far back as the end of the 11th Young as Angela was she had been elected the first Superior of her Order and had ruled it well for the two or three years she lived. At first the Ursulines practised charity and devoted themselves to the education of Children without being bound to the rules of Monastic Life. In 1571-2 Pope Gregory XIII. made the Society a religious order, subject to the rule of St. Augustine, at the solicitation of Charles Borromeo the additional privileges thus conferred were afterwards confirmed by Sextus V. and Paul V. "They add to three religious vows a fourth to occupy themselves gratuitously in the education of their own sex. The order is under the Superintendence of the Bishops. In the 18th Century, it had 350 Convents. Many governments which abolished Convents in general, protected the Ursulines on account of their useful labours, particularly in the practice of Christian Charity towards the sick. The Dictionnaire de Theologie published in 1817, says that 300 Convents of these sisters existed at that time in France, their dress is black with a leather belt, and a rope for the purpose of self-scourging. Their congregations however did not universally accept the Monastic rule; and in France and Italy, there were Societies, the members of which only took the vow of Charity, and gave instruction like their sisters. Their dress was that commonly worn about 200 years ago by widows." In some countries however, their dress appears to have been white, and to have varied in other respects as well as colour. The Ursuline Sisters have several Educational Establishments in Ireland, in England and the United States. BATTERSEA GRAMMAR SCHOOL, St. John's Hill. Founded under the Trust of Sir Walter St. John A.D. 1700. Scheme revised A.D. 1873. Governors:—William Evill, Jun., Esq., Robert Hudson, Esq., Rev. Evan Daniel, M.A., W. G. Baker, Esq., John Costeker, Esq., Treasurer, Rev. Canon Clarke, M.A., James H. T. Connor, Esq., Richard Hadfield, Esq., Thomas D. Tully, Esq., Charles Few, Esq., James Stiff, Esq. Head Master:—Rev. E. A. Richardson, M.A., late Scholar of Queen's College, Oxford. Assistant Masters:—W. H. Bindley, B.A., late Scholar of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, M. Michael, Bachelier-es-Lettres, University of Paris, C. P. Martinnant, University of London, Mr. Badel, Writing Master, Serjeant Major Doberty, Drill Master. Scheme of Instruction. Religious Instruction, (according to the principles of the Church of England) forms a regular part of the teaching of each class. Those boys are excepted from the teaching of the Church Catechism and Prayer Book, whose parents, (being Dissenters), express a desire to that effect, in writing to the Head Master. The Course of Study comprises the English, Latin, Greek, French and German Languages; Writing, Arithmetic, Book-keeping School Term and Holidays. The period of instruction is divided into three terms, as nearly equal as possible. The holidays are four weeks at Christmas, three weeks at Easter, and six weeks at Mid-summer, commencing about the 1st of August. Tuition Fees. The annual payment for boys above 12 years of age, £12; for boys under 12, £10. The fees are to be paid terminally and in advance. Regulations for Admission. Application for admission must be made either in person or by writing to the Head Master. No boy will be admitted, who shall be found on examination unable to read English, to write correctly and legibly from dictation and to work sums in the first four rules of arithmetic. The boys must attend at the school for examination on the first day of each term, at two o'clock p.m. The Governors require a term's notice to be given on the removal of a boy, or the payment of the terminal fee. THE SOUTHLANDS PRACTISING MODEL SCHOOLS.—Girls' School, seven years and upwards, 6d. per week. Infants' Boys and Girls to seven years, 3d. per week. ST. PETER'S SCHOOLS. Fee, 9d. per week. ST. JOHN'S, Usk Road. Boys 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes, 4d. per week, the rest 3d. Girls 1st class 3d., the rest 2d. Infants 2d. per week. ST. SAVIOUR'S INFANT. Infants 2d. Girls 3d. over 10 years of age 4d. per week. CHRIST CHURCH NATIONAL SCHOOLS, Grove Road, Falcon Lane, were erected from designs of Mr. C. E. Robins, selected in competition, and were built by Messrs. Lathey Brothers at a cost of £3,000. Accommodation is given for 200 boys, 200 girls and about the same number of infants. There are two residences, one for the Master and the other for the Mistress. The buildings form a picturesque group facing the roads on three sides with intermediate play-grounds for each sex. Mr. Robins was also the Architect for the British Schools at Wandsworth and other Educational Buildings in the Parish, as the Walter St. John's Upper Schools and the extension of the Training College, the Chapel of which was decorated by him some seven years since. The office of E. C. Robins, F.R.I.B.A., etc., is No. 14, John Street, Adelphi. ST. GEORGE'S NATIONAL SCHOOLS, built in 1857 from designs furnished by Joseph Peacock, Architect, Bloomsbury Square. Cost about £4,500 including a Parliamentary Grant of £1,500. "From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."—II. Timothy iii. 15. Boys and Girls 4d. per week for one in a family, 6d. for two brothers or sisters, and 7d. for three in a family, Infants 2d. Erected outside St. Mary's Schools, Green Lane, is a tablet bearing the following inscription:—"National Schools for Girls and Infants. These buildings were erected by Miss Champion on land granted by Earl Spencer, and opened April 10th, 1850, for the education of the children of the poor on Scriptural principles." This tablet is placed by order of the Parishioners in Vestry assembled in Grateful Remembrance of her Munificent Charities to the Parish of Battersea.—Rev. J. S. Jenkinson, M.A., Vicar. W. H. Wilson, John Hunt, Churchwardens, 1855. Within the Parish of Battersea there were in the year 1879, Fourteen Voluntary Schools, viz.:—
In 1879 there were Nine Board Schools in Battersea:—
N.B.—There are Sunday Schools connected with the different places of Worship some of which are held in Board Schools. LAMBETH DIVISION LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.—
The first building erected for the London School Board, situated in one of the most densely crowded localities of the East-end, was The Board School in Winstanley Road accommodates about 1130 children, the site is the shape of a rhomboid, and the School has been skilfully planned to make the most of it. Gideon Road Board Schools, the boys and girls' departments are built upon arches to form covered play-grounds underneath. As the site contains sufficient area, the infants' department has been erected as a separate building. The Board Schools are elaborately fitted up. Books, slates, pencils, etc., for the scholars are provided. The terms for tuition at the Board Schools in Battersea are:—Bolingbroke Road, boys, girls, and infants 2d. each. Battersea Park, Mantua Street, Winstanley Road, Tennyson Road, and Sleaford Street, boys and girls 3d. each, infants 2d. Gideon Road and Holden Street on the Shaftesbury Park Estate, boys and girls 4d. each, infants 3d. each. School Board Visitors in Battersea:—Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Myland, Mr. Fane, Mr. Chamings and Miss Sydney. London Ratepayers' School Board Association Established 8th October, 1870. London or Metropolitan School Board elected 29th Nov., 1870. Regulations for School Boards issued 21st December, 1870. First election of Metropolitan School Board (Lord Lawrence, Chairman). Arrangements for erecting or adapting buildings for New School Board, December, 1871. London School Board Education Scheme proposed 23rd June, 1871. The London School Board occupied their new buildings on Victoria Embankment, 30th September, 1874. Second Metropolitan School Board elected; religious party strongest. Sir Charles Reed, M.P., Chairman, November, 1878. Sir Charles Reed, Chairman of the School Board for London, died March 25, 1881. Was interred at Abney Park Cemetery, Wednesday, March 30, 1881. Fourth Metropolitan School Board elected, 1879. E. N. Buxton, Esq., Chairman of the London School Board.
The Elementary Education Act of 1870 aims at the compulsory supply of school accommodation in those districts in which there is a deficiency. The general survey under the Education Act of the School provision of every Parish in England did not commence till the 1st of May, 1871. By virtue of the Elementary Education Act, 1876, and of the Bye-Laws of the School Board for London, the following will be, on and after the 1st January next, the state of the law as regards children, their parents and employers within the Metropolis. I.—Regulations affecting Parent and Child. The term "parent" includes guardian, and every person who is liable to maintain, or has the actual custody of the child. The parent of every child between the ages of 5 and 14 must cause such child to receive efficient elementary instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The penalty incurred by an employer who acts in contravention of the above provisions is a sum not exceeding 40s. But no penalty will be incurred by the employer (a) if the child was lawfully employed on the 15th August, 1876. (b) If the child obtains efficient instruction by attendance at School for full time or in some other equally efficient manner. (c) If the employment be during a specified time allowed by the School Board for purposes of husbandry, &c. and if the child be over eight years of age and be so employed. (d) If the child be employed and be attending School in accordance with the provisions of the Factory Acts, or of the Bye-Laws of the School Board. (e) If the employer be bona fide deceived as to the age of the child or as to his having obtained a certificate; or if some agent, without the knowledge of the employer, shall have employed BY ORDER OF THE BOARD. 15th November, 1876. In 1879 there were 63 Board Schools in the whole of the Lambeth Division and 45,000 children on the rolls. In Battersea there are 68 taverns for the sale of spirits, etc., and 84 beer-houses, making a total of 152 public-houses. There are also 29 coffee-shops. A COFFEE PALACE IN OLD BATTERSEA.—On Saturday afternoon, Dec. 13, 1879, a coffee palace, belonging to the Coffee Taverns Company, Limited, was opened at Lombard Market, York-road, Battersea. This is the 22nd tavern of the kind opened by the Company, and carried on, in regard to the business, on the same principle as others. A well furnished room is provided for public meetings and other gatherings. LATCHMERE GROVE, which is almost encircled with Railway embankments, was noted for its piggeries. The lane once known as "Pig Hill," leading from Battersea Fields to Lavender Hill, is now a wide open road and forms the west boundary of the Shaftesbury Park Estate. Somewhere near the foot of "Pig Hill" were two places called in olden time "Plague Spots" where many bodies of persons who had died of the Plague were buried. THE SHAFTESBURY PARK ESTATE Directors.—The Hon. Evelyn Ashley, M.P., Chairman, H. R. Droop, Esq., R. E. Farrant, Esq., John Kempster, Esq., Rev. H. V. Le Bas, F. D. Mocatta, Esq., Samuel Morley, Esq. M.P., Ernest Noel, Esq. M.P., John Peace, Esq., W. H. Stone, Esq. Bankers.—The London and Westminster Bank, Lothbury, E.C. Solicitors.—Messrs. Ashurst, Morris, Crisp and Co., 6, Old Jewry, E.C., Manager J. V. Sigvald Muller, Esq. Secretary.—Samuel E. Platt. The Company was established for the erection of improved dwellings near to the great centres of industry to carry out the objects of the Company in London, large estates have been secured near Clapham Junction and the Harrow Road, that near Clapham Junction called Shaftesbury Park. "To afford to its members the means of social intercourse, mutual helpfulness, mental and moral improvement, industrial welfare, and rational recreation. The Club shall not identify itself with any political, social, or theological party. As funds permit, there shall be provided:—Library and Reading Rooms, supplied with Books, Periodicals, and Newspapers; Educational Classes; Conversation, Refreshment, and Smoking Rooms, in which various games may be played; Billiard and Bagatelle Rooms; Popular Lectures and Entertainments; Rooms for the Meetings of Benefit and Friendly Societies." Subscription 1s. a month 2s. 6d. a quarter, 10s. a year. Arthur George Thorne, Hon. Secretary. Mr. W. Swindlehurst was the Secretary to the Estate Company. The purchase of the Freehold Land (it is said) cost the Estate Company £28,000. Recently the house rents on the Estate have been raised. The entrance to Shaftesbury Hall is in Ashbury Road. No Beer-shop, Inn or Tavern is erected on the Estate but it must not be inferred from this, that all the inhabitants are Total Abstainers. However the ostensible and important objects of the Estate Company are to help the Working Classes to become owners of the House they occupy; to raise their position in the social scale; and to spread a moral influence over their class, tending to foster habits of Industry, Sobriety and Frugality. Obedience to moral and physical laws, the right and proper use of material appliances for sanitary purposes, have a tendency to prolong human life and to make life more enjoyable, and the Supreme Governor of the Universe hath so ordained that it should be so. According to the metropolitan average, the deaths should have been 194, but they only numbered 100. In 1877 the births on the Shaftesbury Park Estate were 284. Connected with the Estate is a Volunteer Rifle Corps known as the "26th Surrey." Mr. Samuel E. Platt, Secretary to the Estate Company; Mr. J. V. Muller, Manager. Office, 221, Eversleigh Road. The Missionary who visits in this district is Mr. Vost, who holds meetings in the Temperance Hall, Elsley Road. Eastward of the Shaftesbury Park Estate is situated Beaufoy's Chemical Works. Entrance, Lavender Hill. Mr. Matthew Cannon, Manager. This site was formerly a brickfield. When Mr. Henry Beaufoy purchased the land comprising some 17 acres he named it "Pays Bas," signifying in French a low country. Recently 7 acres have been let on Lease of 99 years for building purposes, it is proposed to erect thereon 230 houses. In this locality and that of Latchmere it is said the bricks were made for the construction of Chelsea Hospital. THE METROPOLITAN ARTIZANS AND LABOURERS DWELLINGS ASSOCIATION have just erected three blocks of houses in the Battersea Park Road, designed by Charles Barry, Esq., The buildings are intended as models of the dwellings for Artizans and Labourers, to replace the habitations condemned in various parts of the Metropolis under the Act of 1875. They are built in flats as nearly fire-proof as may be. Each tenement in the Artizans dwellings and each block of four rooms for those of the labourers are entirely separated from others by an open space, each tenement has a constant supply of fresh water, the use of a wash-house and a coal bunker, a dust shoot, and generally great care has been taken to insure to the tenants all the advantages of the best known sanitary appliances. Within the outer door which opens on to a general staircase, are all the conveniences except the wash-houses which are detached from the building. These tenements contain in most cases, three rooms, viz.: kitchen, bed-room, and sitting-room. The labourers blocks are so divided that they can be let singly, or in twos, threes, or fours. The dwellings were formally opened on Saturday Afternoon, June 23rd, 1877, by the Earl of Beaconsfield. The ceremony was graced by a select company, among whom were in addition to the Prime Minister, the Earl and Countess of Rosslyn, the Countess of Scarborough, the Earl and Countess Stanhope, the Lord Chancellor and Lady Cairns, Lady E. Drummond, the Marquis of Bristol, the Earl of Ilchester, the Earl of Verulam, the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Hon. R. A. Cross, M.P., Mrs. and Miss Walter, Mr. W. H. Smith, M.P., Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Mr. Montague Corrie, Mr. Algernon Turner, Major-General H. Y. D. Scott, Manager of the Association, and numerous Members of Parliament. Her Majesty who takes a deep interest in this movement for the improvement of the dwellings of her people, commanded Earl Beaconsfield to express Her wish that Her name may be associated with this institution and that in future these buildings will be called the Victoria Dwellings for Artizans. On the North side of Battersea Park Road is the site for Messrs. Spiers and Pond's New Steam Laundry, contiguous to which (Propert's) Blacking Manufactory is now built. Mr George Ashby Lean, Architect; Mr. Waters, Builder, The Common, Ealing. Up the centre of the meadow a new road is to be made 50 feet wide. About forty years ago this ground yielded as fine a crop of wheat as any in England. At that time certain Notice Boards were BATTERSEA (LATCHMERE, formerly called Lechmore) ALLOTMENTS cover an area of 16¼ acres, and are let to the industrial poor of the parish to encourage habits of industry, the land was applied to the present purpose in the year 1835. Originally there were 74 allotments now there are 156. The Allotments let at 3/- a plot, each allotment being divided into 10 plots. Application must be made to the Churchwardens, William Evill and Joseph William Hiscox, Esqrs. Pleasantly situated between the Albert and Bridge Roads, Battersea Park Road, is Dove Dale Place, founded by the late Mrs. Lightfoot of Balham, (Widow of the late Dr. Lightfoot) for persons in reduced circumstances professing godliness, whether in connection with the Church of England or members of other Christian Churches having small yearly private incomes of their own. There are twelve accommodations of two small rooms each, there are two four-room cottages one at each end with gardens. In the middle of the centre block is a Chapel and over the window is the representation of a Dove bearing an Olive Branch. There are some pecuniary advantages connected with the foundation. It is in the hands of Trustees. On a plot of ground by the main road opposite Dove Dale Place stands an old boiler that belonged to one Andrew Mann—it has stood (we are told) where it is for the last twenty five years. Before its removal to Battersea, it stood on a piece of land in Vauxhall Bridge Road. LAMMAS HALL situated in Bridge Road West, is Licensed Pursuant to Act of Parliament of the 25th of King George 2nd, was erected in 1858. The Hall will seat about 400 persons and may be hired for lectures, concerts, and other public purposes. The front part of the building is used as a Vestry Hall and for the transaction of other parochial business. A more commodious Hall is urgently needed in a central part of the parish, so also are required Baths, Lavatory, and a Public Library. Lammas Hall owes its origin from a fund which was paid by the Battersea Park Commissioners for the extinguishment of the Lammas Rights to the Churchwardens, by resolution of the Vestry after several schemes had been brought forward they proposed to build a Hall and Vice Chancellor Stuart appointed the Trustees hence its name "Lammas Hall." Mr Thomas Harrap, Vestry Clerk. THE UNION WORKHOUSE, erected in 1836 is situated within the boundary of Battersea parish at the junction of East Hill and St. John's Hill, it is an extensive brick building with accommodation for 833 inmates. The Infirmary adjoining was added in 1870 at a cost of £40,000. The Casual Ward in addition is constructed for 117 casual paupers. The Union comprises Battersea, Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting, and Wandsworth with a population in 1871 of 125,000 and an area of 11,488 acres. Old Battersea Workhouse, which has long since been pulled down, was situated in the neighbourhood of Battersea Square. In the same neighbourhood is the "Priory," now the residence of Mr. Oakman. Not far from the Raven Tavern was the "Cage," in Surrey Lane, for the confinement of petty criminals. Near the Prince's Head Tavern was the Pound in which cattle were enclosed for trespass until replevied or redeemed. Also a wooden machine called the "Stocks" to put the legs of offenders in, for securing disorderly persons, and by way of punishment in divers cases, ordained by statute, &c., was erected without the gates of Battersea Churchyard, near the waterside. In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, writes Robert Chambers in his "Book of Days," there flourished at the corner of the lane leading from the Wandsworth Road to Battersea Bridge a tavern yclept "The Falcon," kept by one Robert Death—a man whose figure is said to have ill comported with his name, seeing that it displayed the highest appearance of jollity and good condition. "Dukes, Lords, have I buried, and squires of fame, A portion of the Falcon Tavern erected about 275 years ago at the end of Falcon Lane still remains with the old witch elm tree in front, its hollow trunk, to which a door is attached, answers the purpose of a bin or cupboard where hay is put with which to feed horses, and the old wooden-cased pump, fastened with rusty holdfasts to the tree, may still be seen. On the 15th of January, 1811, a printed engraving was published representing "Undertakers regaling" by this road-side inn, a copy of which may now be seen within. At that time R. Death was the landlord, he had written outside the tavern in large characters, Robert Death, Dealer in Genuine Rum, Gin, Wine; an Ordinary on Sundays; Tea, Coffee and Hot Rolls; Syllabubs and Cheese-cakes in the highest perfection. The subjoined doggerel lines as a skit or burlesque on the publican's name is published with the engraving:— "O stop not here ye sottish wights, The Falcon Tavern is now kept by Mr. J. G. Brown. Mr. Edward Walford in his work entitled "Old and New London," published by Cassell, Petter and Galpin, London; in Part 66 at Page 479, writes, "Battersea has other claims to immortality: in spite of the claims of Burton and Edinburgh, there can be little doubt, if Fuller is a trustworthy historian, that one of the ozier beds of the river side here was the cradle of bottled ale. The story is thus circumstantially told in 'The Book of Anecdote':—Alexander Nowell, Dean of St Paul's and Master of Westminster School in the reign of Queen Mary, was a supporter of 'the new opinions' and also an excellent angler. But, writes Fuller, while Nowell was catching of fishes Bishop Bonner was after catching of Nowell, and would certainly have sent him to the Tower if he could have caught him, as doubtless he would have done had not a good merchant of London conveyed him away safely upon the seas. It so happened that Nowell had been fishing upon the banks of the Thames when he received the first intimation of his danger, which was so pressing that he dared not even go back to his house to make any preparation for his flight. Like an honest angler, he had taken with him on this expedition provisions for the day, in the shape of some bread and cheese and some beer in a bottle; and on his return from London and to his own haunts he remembered that he had left these stores in a safe place upon the bank, and there he resolved to look for them. The bread and cheese of course were gone; but the bottle was still there—'yet no bottle, but rather a gun: such was the sound at the opening thereof.' And this trifling circumstance, quaintly observes Fuller, 'is believed to have been the origin of bottled ale in England, for casualty (i.e. accident) is mother of more inventions than is industry.'" On the road to Wandsworth and facing Plough Lane was "Ye Plough Inn," erected A.D. 1701. In front of this Inn grew an oak to which an iron ring was fastened, and it is supposed that here Dick Turpin the notorious highwayman occasionally reined up his bonny black mare. When the Inn was re-built in 1875-6 the trunk was removed to the front of the "Old House" in Plough Lane, which formerly belonged to Mr. Carter, who owned extensive market gardens about here. The following lines were written in commemoration of the famous Old Plough Tree, and the present landlord has had the lines enframed for his customers to read:— "This stump the remains of the Old Oak Tree, Situated in Plough Lane, and nearly opposite the residence of the late Rev. I. M. Soule, were Alms Houses for eight poor widows, founded by Mrs. Henry Tritton. The whole of this estate is now built upon and is called May Soule Road. At Lawn House, now occupied by Mr. Miller the Barge Builder in Lombard Road, of the Firm of Nash and Miller, lived Mr. Hammett, of the firm of Eisdale and Hammett, Bankers. He was a great patron of the rowing fraternity and kept an open house two days in the year. He awarded the prizes for the Kean's Sovereigns and the Funny Boat Club races on the lawn in front of his house. The Old Swan Tavern (now kept by Mr. R. Turner) nearly opposite the Star and Garter, was a kind of half-way house between Lambeth and Putney for the Eton and Westminster scholars who used to put in here when training for the great rowing match so strongly contested between them, but who in the zenith of their fame never obtained such popularity as the annual boat race has done of late between the Cantabs and Oxonians. An old-fashioned print represents the former Parish Church of Battersea with square tower crowned with lantern and pinnacles, not far off is the Swan Tavern with stairs leading down to the river where persons arriving by boat might land. An excellent wood-cut engraving in "Lysons's Environs" represents not only the New Parish Church but the sign of the Old Swan with two necks. Charles Dibdin in a ballad opera entitled "The Waterman; or the first of August," first performed at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, August 8th, 1774, Scene III.—Battersea—represents a room at the Swan, with a large open window looking on the Thames in which Master Bundle the honest gardener and hen-pecked husband, and Mrs. Bundle the termagant wife, the Star of Battersea, figure conspicuously. Reference is also made in Scene I. to the "Black Raven," now kept by W. Ambrose. It is said that in olden time this was a Posting Establishment for Royalty. Situated on Wandsworth Common and overlooking the London Brighton and South-Coast and South-Western Railways are the Royal Victoria Patriotic Schools for Boys and Girls, children of deceased soldiers, sailors and marines. Founded by Her Most Gracious Majesty, 1854-56. The Patriotic Asylum was endowed by the Commissioners of the Royal Patriotic Fund which was instituted in 1854 for the purpose of giving "assistance to the widows and orphans of those who fell during the Crimean and Near the southern boundary of the parish and not far from Wandsworth Common Railway Station, are situated St. James' Industrial Schools. The Royal Masonic Institution for Girls supported entirely by Voluntary Contributions, was instituted on the 25th March, 1788, at the suggestion of the late Chevalier Bartholomew Ruspini, Surgeon-Dentist to his late Majesty, George the Fourth, for the purpose of educating, clothing, and maintaining a limited number of girls, whether orphans or otherwise, the children of Brethren whose reduced means prevented them from affording their female offspring a suitable education. His late Majesty, the Prince of Wales, with other members of the Royal Family, the nobility, clergy and gentry, and many of the most influential members of the craft, gave the project their warmest support, and by their united efforts established this Institution, which has preserved numbers of children from the dangers and misfortunes to which females are peculiarly exposed, trained them up in the knowledge and love of virtue and habits of industry, and cultivated the practice of such social, moral and religious duties as might best conduce to their welfare and eternal happiness. A school-house was erected in 1793, near the Obelisk, St. George's Fields, on leasehold ground belonging to the Corporation of the City of London. At the expiration of the lease in 1851, it was determined by the Committee to remove to a more healthy locality. Accordingly about three acres of freehold land were purchased on the high ground of Battersea Rise. Upon this land the present building, which is an ornament to the neighbourhood, was erected in 1852. It is constructed of red brick of Gothic architecture from the designs of Mr. Phillip Hardwicke, and is noticeable for its great central clock tower. Since the first CLAPHAM JUNCTION is in the direction of St. John's Hill, at the north-eastern extremity of Wandsworth Common. "The station itself which was at first one of the most inconvenient, was re-built a few years ago, and now with its various sidings and goods-sheds cover several acres of ground." It is one of the most important railway junctions south of the Thames, offering facilities to persons desirous of travelling not only to any part of the Metropolis but to all parts of England. Easy access can be had to the eight different platforms for "upline" and "downline," etc., on entering the tunnel. Booking office for Kensington, Metropolitan line, etc., on the ground floor at the north end of the tunnel and facing No. 2 platform; Booking office South-Western line No. 5 platform; Booking office Brighton and South-Coast No. 8 platform; also Telegraph office ditto ditto. At the Junction there are thirteen waiting rooms, two refreshment bars, two cab ranks, two carriage roads to the Junction from St. John's Hill. Nearly 1,000 trains pass through the Junction daily. The staff of railway employÉs are respectful and obliging to passengers; there is none of that bull-dog growl in reply to questions which characterize some men with surly dispositions who fill public positions. "Evil is wrought from want of thought London, Brighton and South-Coast Railway: Station Master, Mr. John B. Carne; South-Western Railway: Station Master, Mr. Thomas Green. West London Extension Railway: Battersea Station, High Street. BATTERSEA PROVIDENT DISPENSARY, 175, High Street, founded 1844, re-organized 1876; President, The Rev. Canon Erskine Clarke, Vicar of Battersea; Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. B. W. Bayley; Committee for 1881, Dr. J. Brown, Mr. J. H. T. Connor, Mr. Heale, Mr. Merry, Mr. Pilditch, Rev. S. G. Scott, Rev. H. G. Sprigg, Rev. J. Toone, Mr. Trehearne, Mr. Tyrer, Mr. H. Urwicke; Elected Representatives of Benefit Members, Mr. King, Mr. Whensley; Medical Officers, Mr. Oakman, The Priory, Battersea Square; Mr. G. F. Burroughs, Queen's Road, and Grayshott Road; Dr. R. Frazer, Sisters Terrace, Lavender Hill; Mr. Biggs, 93, Northcote Road; Mr. Sewell (Kempster & Sewell), 247, The Funds of the Institution are derived from two sources. (1) From the weekly payments of Subscribers who are termed members. (2) From annual contributions of the more affluent, who on subscribing to the Institution become honorary members. Medical attendance and medicine are supplied to persons earning not more than 30/- a week on payment of one penny per week for those over 14, and one half-penny per week for those under 14; but no greater sum than fourpence shall be required from any family residing together as such. To persons earning more than 30/- and not more than 50/- per week, double the terms named above. Members select their own medical attendant from the medical officers of the Institution. The medical officers attend at the Dispensary at appointed hours, but give advice at their own residences, and visit the sick at their own houses when necessary. The Dispensary is open for the supply of medicines daily, except Sunday, at 10, 3 and 7; but medicines are supplied at all hours in urgent cases. WANDSWORTH COMMON PROVIDENT DISPENSARY, Bolingbroke House.—President, The Rev. Canon J. Erskine Clarke; Honorary Secretaries and Treasurers, Rev. J. H. Hodgson, Church House, Bolingbroke Grove; J. S. Wood, Esq., Woodville, Upper Tooting; Honorary Dentist, A. J. East, Esq., St. John's Hill, New Wandsworth; Resident Medical Officer, Dr. John H. Gray. CHARITY ORGANIZATION SOCIETY, 1, Clifton Terrace.—Office hours, 9 till 10 a.m. and 5 to 6 p.m. Joint Secretaries: J. H. Ward, Esq., and Frank Knight, Esq., Agent, Mr. J. T. Thornton. Sub-office: St. George's Mission Room, New Road. THE PENNY BANK, 1, Clifton Terrace, Battersea Park Road, is open on Mondays and Saturdays, from 7 to 8 p.m. Conspicuously situated at the corner of Simpson Street, Battersea Park Road, is No. 54 Metropolitan Fire Brigade Station, erected 1873-4, is substantially built of red brick, with turret. In case of fire two engines and one fire-escape are kept on the premises. Staff: one officer and four men. "We are indebted to Germany for the invention of the first fire engine." Respecting the origin of fire brigades: "In 1774 an Act was passed requiring every Parish to provide itself with one large and one small engine, &c., and everything necessary in case of fire. The first London fire brigade was an Institution entirely independent of the parishes, as indeed also of the Government and of the Corporation of London. It was created and exclusively supported by the Insurance Companies of the Metropolis. At first every Insurance Company had its own fire engine and men to work it, but in 1825 some of them joined, and when the advantage of union was seen most of the others desired to take part in the combination already formed, the result of which was that in 1833 a more extensive organization was made, to which the name of the London Fire Brigade was given. Such was the state of matters until by Act 28 and 29 Vict. cap. xc., July 5th, 1865, the duty of extinguishing fires and protecting life and property in case of fire was declared to By 1833 all the important Companies combined and the London Fire Brigade was formed, organised and raised to an efficient standard under the management of the late and much lamented Mr. James Braidwood, who met with his death in the act of discharging his duties at the great conflagration which broke out in the afternoon of Saturday, June 22nd 1861, in one of the warehouses on the banks of the river, close to the Surrey side of London Bridge, which in spite of increasing efforts to extinguish it, continued to burn until it destroyed property worth nearly £2,000,000. The destruction of property thus caused by the fiery element is without a parallel in the Metropolis since the great fire of 1666. "Three acres of ground were gradually covered with a mass of fire, glowing and crackling at a white heat like a lake of molten iron. The saltpetre, the tallow, the tar and other combustibles stored in the warehouses ran blazing into the Thames until the very river appeared to be covered with the flames. Ships were burned as well as houses, and the danger to life was almost as great on the river as in the street. The glare of the conflagration was not only visible but strikingly conspicuous 30 miles off." THE METROPOLITAN POLICE.—The organization of the present effective Police force is due to Sir Robert Peel's bill of 1829. The force is divided into the City Police, confined to the City proper, whose office is in the Old Jury, and the Metropolitan Police, which consists of about 8,200 men, and whose Chief Station is in Scotland Yard. Metropolitan Police Station, Battersea, V. Sub-Division, Bridge Road. Superintendent, Mr. Digby; Inspectors, Mr. McCrory, Mr. Steggles. Number of men about 70. W. Division New Police Station, Battersea Park Road. The full force of the Metropolitan Police in 1876 was 10,238. Board of Works for the Wandsworth District, Battersea Rise, S.W. Arthur Alex. Corsellis, Clerk of the Board. ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE of the National Society is situated The College owes its origin to Dr. J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. E. C. Tufnell, Assistant Poor-Law Commissioner, who with the view of establishing a Normal School in this country for imparting to young men that due amount of knowledge and training them to those habits of simplicity and earnestness which might render them useful instructors to the poor, travelled to Holland, Prussia, Switzerland, Paris and other places that they might witness the operations of such educational schemes as had been projected by Pestalozzi, De Fellenberg and others interested in promoting the education of the poor. The plan suggested by Dr. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. Tufnell met with the hearty and most cordial approval of the Vicar, the Hon. and Rev. R. Eden, who offered them the use of his village schools to carry out their benevolent intentions. In 1840 they selected a commodious manor house near the river Thames, at Battersea. Boys as students were first obtained from the School of Industry at Norwood, who were to be kept in training for three years. Subsequently some young men joined the Institution whose period of training was necessarily limited to one year. In 1843, the Directors, Dr. Kay-Shuttleworth and Mr. Tufnell, who had supported the Institution by their own private means, had it transferred into the hands of the National Society. The Continental modes of instruction which had been adopted, such as Mulhauser's method of writing, Wilhelm's method of singing, Dupuis' method of drawing, etc., were so satisfactory that a grant of £2,200 for the enlargement and improvement of the premises was made to them by the Committee of Council on Education which was transferred to the National Society and without delay disbursed in completing the alterations required. In the early part of 1846 a new class-room was erected. "The Institution is supported by the National Society's special fund for providing schoolmasters for the manufacturing and mining districts. Only young men are received as students, whose term of training is generally two years." THE VICARAGE HOUSE SCHOOL is also situated here. Principal: Miss Crofts. Fees from half a guinea to a guinea per quarter, according to age and attainments. The only extra subjects are Music and French. On the border of the river between Albert Bridge and Watney's Distillery are several wharfs and factories. Ribbon Factory of Cornell, Lyell and Webster; the Glove Factory of Fownes & Co.; Garton, Hill & Co.'s Sugar Refinery now in course of erection; Orlando Jones & Co.'s Rice Starch Manufactory; Denny's (Creek) Flour Mills; On the site where now stands Fownes & Co.'s Glove Factory, formerly used as a silk factory, was Bonwell and Waymouth's Distillery. This firm furnished a Corps of (Battersea) Volunteers, of which the late Mr. George Chadwin was an ensign. Mr. Jonathan Browne, who used to preach at the Old Baptist Meeting House, York Road, was the grandfather of Mr. George Jonathan Chadwin, of Lombard Road, who was Vestry Clerk for 29 years in conjunction with his father. T. Gaines, a celebrated Horticulturist and Florist, resided in an ancient mansion that stood in Surrey Lane, thought by some to have been a private residence of Queen Elizabeth. The house has been pulled down. J. Tow kept a Private Mad House in High Street, It is now occupied by Austin & Co., Dyers. It is supposed by some that there was in olden time a Foundry in Battersea for casting shot, etc., for the Tower of London. THE PATENT PLUMBAGO CRUCIBLE COMPANY'S WORKS, which are the largest crucible works in the world, cover a large space of ground and have a river frontage. The principal elevation in Church Road is a conspicuous feature in the neighbourhood. It is Italian in character freely treated and somewhat Continental in design. The clock tower rises about 100 feet high, in which is an illuminated clock that may be seen at a considerable distance. A portion of the basement of this elegant structure is appropriated to the private office of the manager and clerks' offices where every quality of plumbago is represented by specimens from all the most celebrated mines, particularly those of Ceylon, Germany, Spain, Siberia, Canada, Finland and Borrowdale. The other departments are the stores, grinding room, mixing room, potters' room, drying room, the clay department, store room, etc. Crucibles for melting and refining metals have been used ever since man threw aside his hatchet and bone-chisel for bronze. For scientific research the crucible has occupied an important place. It was constantly used by the first alchemists and has truly been styled the cradle of experimental chemistry. The word crucible from the Latin crux-crucis recalls the alchemical practice of marking the vessel with the protective sign of the cross. Crucibles of different shapes and sizes are extensively employed by the refiner of gold and silver, the brass founder, melters of copper, zinc and malleable iron, the manufacture of cast steel, the assayer and the practical chemist. For ordinary metallurgical operations clay crucibles are extensively employed. At the International Exhibition of 1862 the only prize medal for crucibles was awarded to the Company and another prize medal for blackleads. The Company's crucibles are now used exclusively by the English, Australian and Indian Mints; the Royal Arsenals of Woolwich, Brest, and Toulon, etc., etc., and have been adopted by most of the large engineers, brass founders and refiners in this country and abroad. Their great superiority consists in their capability of melting on an average This Company are at present carrying out very extensive improvements on the river side along the front of their premises in the construction of a river wall built of Portland Cement Concrete, the foundations of which are carried down four feet below Trinity Low Water Mark, which have been done without the aid of a coffer-dam. These works when completed will reclaim a very valuable frontage of the river. The total length of wall and camp-shedding together with the adjoining property of Messrs. May and Baker's Chemical Works will be about 500 feet. These improvements if extended westward towards the Parish Church will be the means of doing away with the unsightly mud banks which now exist, there is no doubt then a clean foreshore will be accomplished similar to the south side lower down the river where more extensive embankment works have been constructed. Behind a portion of the wall which the Plumbago Company are constructing will be some extensive cellars, which will be covered over with a concrete floor carried on wrought iron girders and supported by cast iron columns, and on the top of this floor will be a tram seven feet wide for the use of a heavy steam crane, and when completed will be able to unload goods out of barges alongside and deliver the same into the second floor of the present warehouse. These works have been constructed from the designs and under the superintendence of Mr. W. H. Thomas, C.E., of 15 Parliament Street, Westminster, Engineer to the Patent Plumbago Crucible Company, and now being carried out by Messrs. B. Cook & Co., of Phoenix Wharf, Church Road Battersea, Mr. Maples acting as Clerk of the Works. The same firm are also constructing large river-side works at Nine Elms for the London Gas-Light Company for a Ship's Berth, from the design and under the superintendence of Robert Morton, Esq., the Company's Engineer. A very striking feature is connected with the latter works, as it is proposed to bring vessels up the river capable of carrying 1,000 tons of coals which will be discharged by the use of hydraulic cranes and delivered by tram direct into the Gas Works. Adjacent are the Silicated Carbon Filter Company's Works. Whenever man has arrived at any considerable degree of civilization the subject of water supply had a share in his solicitude, and it is questionable if our modern works for supplying water surpass those of ancient Judea, Greece, Rome, Mexico and other places. The effect of impure water on the health and life of the community The Silicated Carbon Filters are so constructed that the solid matter deposited on the filtering medium can be easily cleansed away. They entirely remove from water all organic matter and every trace of lead, and for all domestic purposes they may be said to render water absolutely pure. Testimonials from eminent authorities describe the extraordinary power possessed by these filters of entirely freeing water from every noxious quality. Contiguous are the premises belonging to Mr. H. Bollman Condy, the Inventor, Patentee, and Manufacturer of Antiseptic Aromatic Vinegar, "Condy's Fluid," and "Condy's Ozonised Sea Salt." Adjoining are the Citizen Steamboat Company's Works and Dock, whose steamboats leave Battersea to London Bridge and intervening piers every ten minutes from 8 a.m. till dark. Entrance: Bridge Road. Manager: Mr. M. Williams. Situated in Wellington Road is A. Ransome & Co.'s Battersea Foundry. S. Williams' Barge Works, Albert Road. engraving ORLANDO JONES & CO.'S STARCH WORKS.—Oryza is the name by which rice was known to the Greeks and Romans and which has been adopted by botanists as the generic name of the plant yielding that valuable grain. The name Paddy is applied to the rice in the natural state, or before being separated from the husk. The genua Oryza has two glumes to a single flower; paleae Rice Starch is principally used for laundry purposes it will be found distinguished from all others by its singular purity and brightness of color. It will not stick to the iron in the slightest degree. It may be used with hot or cold water, and articles starched with it do not lose their stiffness in damp weather. A few of the principal sources of the various known starches are sago, arrowroot, yams, the manioc-root and horse chesnuts in addition to those resorted to by manufacturers, viz.: wheat, potato, maize and rice, the latter being a great novelty and illustrating more than any other the progress of chemical science. Wheat starch is the oldest known. It is alluded to by Pliny in the 'Natural History,' and the discovery of the method of its extraction is attributed by him to the inhabitants of the Island of Chios. The starches used three centuries ago, when such enormous ruffles and frills were in fashion were made from wheat; in fact down to modern times it was the only known source of starch. Owing to a scarcity of wheat at the commencement of the present century the use of wheat for the manufacture of starch was prohibited by a legislative enactment. The restrictions thus imposed were considered most oppressive, no one could manufacture starch without a licence and a tenement rent was exacted. The details of manufacture were subject to Government regulations and a duty of 3¼d. per pound was levied, amounting to more than 75 per cent. of the present market value of the article. These hindrances to the extension of the manufacture were wisely removed by our Legislature in the year 1833. Starch is one of the principal constituents of vegetable substance. It is stored up in the seeds, roots and piths of plants and by its decomposition furnishes the materials for keeping up respiration and supplying the animal heat. It has an organised structure and when examined by the microscope presents the form of rounded grains or granules composed of concentric layers which differ in size and shape in the starch of different plants the granules varying in diameter from 1000th to 300th of an inch. However the composition It is worthy of note that Messrs. Orlando Jones & Co. are the manufacturers of Chapman's Patent Prepared Entire Wheat flour especially distinguished by its richness in earthly phosphates which are essential to the development of bones and teeth. This farinaceous food for infants, children and invalids is much recommended by the medical faculty. Battersea is becoming quite noted for Laundries. There is Strutt's (Lawn) Laundry, Orkney Street; Royal Albert Laundry, Battersea Park Road; Laundry, Sheepcote House; Latchmere Laundry; Alder's South Western Laundry, Surrey Lane; Lombard Road Laundry; Palmer's Laundry, Chatham Road, Wandsworth Common; and many others. But one of the largest and most gigantic of Laundries is the Colossal Steam Laundry, belonging to Messrs. Spiers & Pond, erected 1879. The Laundry is situated on the North side of The Building and Grounds extend over an area of one acre, the principal frontage which is 170 ft. in length, faces the East in a road leading to the South gate of Battersea Park, now called Alexandra Avenue. The central portion has an elevation of 45 ft. in height consisting of three floors containing, Manager's Residence, Clerk's Offices, etc., also a mess-room for the EmployÉs, with bath-room and domestic lavatories. A spacious archway leads into the court-yard. This entrance is 10 ft. in width and 15 ft. in height. The wings of each side of the central portion have an elevation of two floors. Other blocks each containing one lofty floor are built on the North, South and West sides, to nearly one half the extent of the site. The remaining open space which is set apart as a drying ground is furnished with necessary appliances. Securely fixed in the ground by means of struts are 96 poles, to which is firmly attached a galvanic wire-rope for bleaching purposes. A separate block at the South West corner is for stables, adjoining which is the engine and boiler house with a chimney-shaft 70 ft. high, 7 ft. wide at the base and 4 ft. at top. This part of the Building is fitted up with a horizontal Engine and 2 Boilers by Manlove, Alliott and Co. of Nottingham of sufficient power to drive the Machinery requisite for the various processes of the Laundry; the Patent Machines used are made by Mr. Bradford of London and Manchester. The boundary wall enclosing the building and grounds is 7 ft. high. On the South side of the laundry is a sorting-room 63 ft. in length by 18 feet in width for the reception of articles as they arrive in the vans. The washing-room is 50 ft. square with large open louvres in the ceiling for the purpose of ventilation and to allow the steam to escape. The drying-room is 70 ft. by 30 ft. A flue-pipe 70 ft. in length is placed horizontally immediately along the floor in this department and about 1,200 ft. of corded piping are utilized for the heating chamber. In the West block are the folding and the mangling rooms, their dimensions being respectively 40 ft. by 30 ft., and 52 ft. by 30 ft. In the North block is the ironing room which is 55 ft. by 25 ft., next to which is the packing room 40 ft. by 25. Estimated cost of building and machinery about £12,000. Matron, Mrs. Tobin. Number of employÉs 60. Propert's (Blacking Factory) built 1878-9. Hunting Mark a fox's head. Hunting preparations, established 1835, South Audley St. B. Beddow and Son, Sole Proprietors. A site past Propert's factory has been selected by the London and Provincial Steam Laundry Co. Limited. Ernest Turner, Architect, 246, Regent St. W. Mr. Austin, Secretary. The London and Provincial Steam Laundry (Company Limited) is elaborately fitted up with Machinery of the very best description—the building is said to be the largest in the world and it occupies The washing machines which are of various sizes are known as Bradford's "Vowel A." Then there is a range of boiling troughs, and again the hydros in which the articles when washed and rinsed are put and whirled round at the rate of 400 revolutions per minute "till every drop of extractable moisture is driven off through the side holes." The Ironing-room is in the central hall and occupies an area of 80 by 70 ft. being 20 ft. high. For curtains, lace, etc., there is a separate room. The boiler-house is provided with two 15-horse power horizontal engines, driven by two 20-horse Cornish boilers. There is a disinfecting chamber, and the severest penalties are demanded, not only against any person sending infected articles, but against any of the employÉs neglecting to give immediate notice of any case of infectious disease, with which he or she shall be brought into contact. Mr. J. T. Helby, Manager. It is interesting to know how enormously property has increased in value in Battersea, within the last one hundred years. The Battersea Bridge Estate which contains about 4 acres, was sold by auction at the Mart by Norton, Trist, Watney and Co., 62, Old Broad Street, on Thursday, May 20, 1880, realizing £35,000. At Mid-summer 1791, this property was let on three leases for 90 years, at ground rents amounting together to £90 per annum. The Workman's Institute erected two years ago has full complement of 150 members. It has a kitchen, library, newspapers, games, etc. One of the workmen has been thirty-eight years and a few others thirty years in the service of the firm. The man how wise, who, sick of gaudy scenes, Situated on Battersea Rise at the commencement of Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common, is St. Mary's Cemetery used as a place of interment for the parishioners. It covers an area of 8 acres, and cost £8,000, including the erection of mortuary, chapels, etc. The ground thus purchased formed part of an estate that belonged to Mr. Henry Willis. It was opened Nov. 1860. It is fringed on the north and west sides with stately elms, and partially on the east boundary with poplar trees. Grassy hillocks, planted with flowers and evergreens, monumental inscriptions and tombstones, together with the number of each grave denote the spot where many a tributary tear of fond affection has been died by the surviving relatives and friends of loved ones who have departed this life, but whose mouldering dust lies sleeping here. The congregation of the silent dead seems to make the place sacred, and gives it a solemn air. Here lie the mortal remains of the late Venerable John S. Jenkinson, M.A., for 24 years Vicar of Battersea, he died 17th October, 1871, aged 74, much beloved and greatly lamented. An appropriate text of Holy Scripture, I Thess. 4, 14, is engraved round the beautiful block of granite that covers his grave. On the occasion of his decease the following lines were composed by a parishioner, dated October 17th, 1871:— Our Vicar has been called away, A mourning or memento card headed "Falling Leaves" bears the following lines written on the Funeral of the Rev. J. S. Jenkinson:— 'Twas Autumn—and a mournful train Here is a superb monument of red polished granite in memory of John Humphrey Esq., Alderman of London and late M.P. for the borough of Southwark who died 28th September, 1863. Ætat. 69. Here is a tombstone with epitaph in memory of Mary Davies, who departed this life January 24th, 1872, aged 88 years. "For more than sixty-two years she was connected with Battersea Chapel Sunday School, where by her consistent Christian character and entire devotedness to her work, she won the esteem of all. Being dead she yet lives in the hearts of many teachers, scholars and friends, who erect this stone in remembrance of a course of quiet usefulness which they deem worthy of all honour. "Not myself, but the truth that in life I have spoken, Here is a marble obelisk.—In memory of the Rev. James Milling, A.B., Curate of St. Mary's Battersea, who entered into rest the 11th of January 1865 aged 27 years. His last words were "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Titus iii 5 and 6. This monument was erected by the parishioners and children of the Parochial Schools. On another tombstone is an inscription to the memory of Mr. John Nichols, a devoted husband and estimable father, Baptist minister and Editor of Zion's Trumpet, a magazine devoted to the interest of the Aged Pilgrims' Friend Society and its Asylum; who fell asleep in Jesus Feb. 1st, 1867, aged 67 years. "His presence guide my journey through and crown my journey's end." In the faith of Christ here also rests the Rev. Philip Pennington M.A. of Christ's College, Cambridge, sometime civil chaplain of the Island of Mauritius. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away. Many are the pledges of conjugal endearment which help to tenant these graves. "Ah! those little ice-cold fingers, We perceive here that ruthless death with his scythe pays no regard to infantile age, and that others in the vigour of their youthful prime as well as the matured adult and hoary-headed have been suddenly cut down by an awful surprise. Here is a grave planted with flowers, the stone at the head of the grave states that William Gobell was accidentally killed on the London and Brighton Railway, March 4th, 1873, aged 65 years. Here is another stone in affectionate remembrance of William James, late Engine driver on the L.B. and S.C.R., who was killed while in the execution of his duty on the 29th of July 1876, aged Another stone is erected in memory of Henry Blunden, who was killed on the L. and S. W. Ry., on the 17th October, 1871, aged 22 years. "All you that come my grave to see, Sacred to the memory of Thomas Hutchinson Higerty, who departed this life October 13th, 1869, aged 5 years and 2 months. How very soon is age upon us, The head-stone states that the above lines were written by his brother, aged twelve years. I like that ancient Saxon phrase which calls Abraham buried Sarah, his wife in the cave of the field of Ephron, at Machpelah, which he purchased in the presence of the children of Heth, for 400 Shekels of silver, 1860 B.C. Genesis 23. The word Cemetery Koimeterion comes from the Greek Koimao (Koimaein) to sleep. It is the sleeping place, and "Christianity has turned the Sepulchre into a Cemetery assuring us, as it does, that those who die in Jesus, Sleep in Him, awaiting a future awakening, in augmented vigour, and with renovated powers. To the Christian, the grave should be associated with the idea of calm and undisturbed repose, after a life of honourable toil, with the hope of a glorious and blessed resurrection." The Greeks had their burial places at a distance from the towns. Lycurgus allowed his Lacedemonians to bury their dead within the city and around their temples that the youth being inured to such spectacles might be the less terrified with the apprehension of death. Two reasons are alleged why the ancients did not allow burials within their cities. 1st. they considered that the sight, touch or neighbourhood of a corpse defiled a man, especially a priest. 2nd. to prevent the air from being corrupted by putrifying bodies, and the buildings from being endangered by the frequency of (Cremation) funeral fires. The custom of burning bodies prevailed amongst most Eastern nations, and was continued by their descendants, after they had peopled the different parts of Europe. Hence we find it prevailing in Greece, Italy, Gaul, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, till Christianity abolished it. The Romans had their places of interment in the suburbs and fields especially the highways; hence the necessity of inscriptions. We have a few exceptional instances of persons buried in the city a favour allowed to only a few of singular merit in the Commonwealth. Burying within the walls was expressly prohibited by a law of the xii Tables. Plutarch says those who had triumphed were indulged in it. Val. Publicola and C. Fabricius, are said to have had tombs in the Forum, and Cicero adds Tuberius to the number. Places of burial were consecrated under Pope Calixtus I. in A.D. 210. (Eusebius.) Among the primitive Christians, cemeteries were held in great veneration. It appears from Eusebius and Tertullian that in the early ages they assembled for divine worship in the cemeteries. Burying in churches for many ages was severely prohibited by Christian Emperors. The first step towards it was the erection of churches over the graves of martyrs in the cemeteries, and translating the relics of others into churches in the city. Subsequently Kings and Emperors were buried in the Atrium or church porch. The first Christian burial place it is said, was instituted in 596; buried in cities, 742; in consecrated places, 750; in church yards, 758. It is said however in the 6th century the people began to be admitted into the churchyards; and some Princes, Founders and Bishops into the churches. The practice adopted at the consecration of cemeteries, was something after this fashion—the Bishop walked round it in procession with the crosier or pastoral staff in his hand, the holy water pot being carried before, out of which the aspersions were made. Many of the early Christians are buried in the catacombs at Rome. Vaults erected in churches first at Canterbury, 1075. Woollen shrouds only permitted to be used in England 1666. Linen scarfs introduced at funerals in Ireland 1729, and Woollen shrouds used 1733. Burials taxed 1695. A tax conducted on burials in England—for the burial of a Duke £50, and that of a common person 4s., under William III 1695, and George III 1783. Acts relating to Metropolitan burials, passed 1850-67. In 1850 the Board of Health was made a Burial Board for the Metropolis, and power was given to the Privy Council to close the City grave-yards. Parochial Registers instituted in England by Cromwell, Lord Essex, about 1538.—Stow. Earth to earth system of burial advocated by Mr. Seymour Haden. Wicker Coffins exhibited at Stafford House, 17th June 1875. With the view of rendering the death of persons of quality more remarkable, it was customary among the Greeks and Romans to institute funeral games, which included horse-racing, dramatic representations, processions and mortal combats of gladiators; these games were abolished by the Emperor Claudius, A.D. 47. The custom of delivering a funeral oration in praise of a person at his funeral is very ancient, it was practised by the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans. The old heathens honoured those alone with this part of the funeral solemnity who were men of probity and justice, renowned for their wisdom and knowledge, or famous for warlike exploits. This custom was very early obtained by the Christians. Some of their funeral sermons are now extant as that of Eusebius on Constantine, and those of Nazianzen on Basil and CÆsarius; and of Ambrose on Valentinian, Theodosius, and others. One of the oldest established and most celebrated of the European cemeteries is that of Pere la Chaise near Paris. In the Scottish cemeteries no such distinctions exist as in England where the cemeteries are divided into two portions—one consecrated for the burials of members of the Established Church over whose remains the funeral service is read and one unconsecrated for the burials of dissenters. The Burials Law Amendment Act 1880, has given to Parishioners in England the right of burials in Church-yards without the rites of the Church of England. Though the Incumbent of a parish has no longer the exclusive right of officiating at interments in consecrated ground yet none of his rights are actually abrogated. He is still custos of the grave yard and must be consulted about the hour and place of interment as well as the inscriptions on grave stones. While in the case of lay funerals contemplated under the Act, it is not necessary to have any service at all, the service if performed must be Christian and orderly. Another stone bears the following inscription:— In loving remembrance of William Hayward; born April 4th, 1850, died December 8th, 1874. "Time, how short—Eternity, how long." This stone is erected by his mother as a small token of love for him. Also of Thomas Hayward, brother to the above; born October 26th, 1855, died June 8, 1876. Had He asked us, well we know A grave stone records the death of Henry Stening, who met with Here is a white marble head stone with gilded monogram (I.H.S.) and stone border to grave prettily decorated with flowers, sacred to the memory of Alfred Thomas Martin, who died September 29th, 1876, aged 31. Also of Nelly, died July 19, 1875, aged 7; Alfred William, died March 17, 1876, aged 6; Charles Percy, died February 23, 1877, aged 18 months, children of the above. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." Within the precincts of this cemetery is entombed the body of Henrietta, Lady Pollock, widow of Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, Baronet, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., died February 14, 1873, aged 65 years. "Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life." John xi. 25-26. Here is a vault in memory of William Henry Wilson, of Chapel House, Battersea Park, and 6, Victoria Street, Westminster, born 4th of September, 1803, died 8th March, 1871; also of Margaret Isabel (Daisy,) third child of John Wilson; and Margaret Isabel Theobald, died 3rd March, 1876, aged 3 years and 1 month. Not far from the gravel walk is a grave-stone at the head of which is a dove with a scroll on which is engraved "Thy will be done." Sacred to the memory of Mary Jane Webb, the beloved and only child of Charles and Mary Webb, who departed this life Nov. 30th, 1869, aged 8 years and 8 months, deeply lamented by her sorrowing parents and regretted by all who knew her. She is not dead, the child of our affection, Here is a grave-stone; an opening in the stone which is glazed, represents a female in a recumbent position reading a book. In affectionate remembrance of George Barrett, who departed this life January 9th, 1871, aged 2 years and 3 months; also Louisa Barrett, who departed this life September 24th, 1872, aged 16 years and 6 months. Dear to their parents! to their God more dear, Also Daniel Barrett, father of the above, who departed this life August 23rd, 1873, aged 46 years. Even as he died a smile was on his face, Here is a grave planted with Laurels, having a Rhododendron in the centre, the stone at the head bears the inscription—In affectionate remembrance of Philadelphia Emma, the beloved wife of Ephraim Wilson, of Bridge Road, Battersea, who departed this life, June 24th, 1875, aged 27 years. The losing thee, our comfort is, to know Here is a grave covered with a white marble slab and cross, bearing this simple inscription; Phillis, wife of Wyndham Payne, taken to her rest, 26 July, 1870. Here is a grave-stone; in affectionate remembrance of Clara Cahill, who died 20th of December, 1871, aged 2 years and 3 months. Dear lovely child, to all our hearts most dear, Also Albert, Brother of the above, who died August 7th, 1874, aged 14 months, interred in St. Patrick's cemetery, West Ham. Oh! why so soon! just as the bloom appears, Also Caroline, sister of the above, who died March 1st, 1876, aged 1 year and 7 months. Yes, dearest Carrie, thou art gone, A head-stone marks the grave of Mary Childs, who died Nov. 24th, 1865, aged 68; for 33 years a faithful servant in the family of George Scrivens, of Clapham Common. A beautiful granite Grecian cross is erected in memory of the dear loved wife of Arthur Steains, Jun., born 8th January, 1844, taken to her eternal rest 22nd June, 1875. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Here is a stone—sacred to the memory of Wm. Chas. Brewer, who died June 11th, 1875, aged 21 years. Remember the days of thy youth. This stone was erected by some of his fellow employÉs, as a token of affection. Our time will not allow us to comment upon the different inscriptions, but it is gratifying to observe how many grave-stones have been erected as a tribute of generous affection by working men themselves, in memory of their deceased fellow workmen. A noble feature this in the British Mechanic, a quality possessed and not unfrequently displayed by English hearts and hands. At the head of a grave is a marble stone, erected to the memory of Anne Grover, late of Wendover, Bucks, who died April 30th, 1877, aged 54 years. "The Lord is a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trusteth in Him."—Nah. i. 7. A small stone is erected in loving memory of Catherine Weedon, who departed this life, December 24th, 1876, aged 38; underneath are the following well known lines. We cannot tell who next may fall, At the head of a grave is a stone erected by the friends and companions, in memory of Alfred Fell, and Arthur Ronald, who were accidentally drowned while bathing in the River Thames, July 6th, 1873, both aged 19 years. The subjoined lines read— Mark the brief story of a summer's day, A few yards from the spot is a stone in memory of Alfred Halsted who died May 1st, 1873, aged 2 years and 5 months. Also of Emma Halstead who died January 3, 1875, aged 12 years. Also of Emma Halstead sister of the above who died June 28th 1879 aged 18 months. "Speak gently to the little child, Here is a private grave with a stone in affectionate remembrance of Agnes Eliza Waller, who fell asleep in Jesus, April the 6th, 1871, in her 15th year; also Elizabeth Waller, mother of the above who died in the Lord, February 27th, 1873, in the 37th year of her age. Looking unto Jesus the Beginner and Finisher of our faith.—Hebrews xii. 2. Here also lie buried the mortal remains of James Waller, who died July 7th, 1880, he was an earnest and successful city-missionary. Here is a monumental stone, in form of an Iona cross, encircled with a ring emblematical of the Unity and Catholicity of the Christian Church. The epitaph states, that Laura Susan Cazenove, "fell asleep," August 24th, 1861, in her 22nd year. "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd." Here is a sepulchre stone, in memory of Frances Elizabeth Scrivens, widow of George Scrivens, Esq., of Clapham Common, who died March 11th, 1867, aged 81 years. In this cemetery are interred the mortal remains of Arthur Miller Rose, who died 12th July, 1864, aged 67; also Susannah, his wife, who died 30th December, 1870, aged 75. "The memory of the just is blessed."—Proverbs x. 7. Near this spot we observed an iron label, with the number of somebody's grave; there was no hillock, the surface was completely flattened; over the label was placed by fond hands a faded wreath. Covering a brick vault is erected a superb monument, bearing the following inscriptions—in affectionate remembrance of Marianne, the beloved wife of Robert Jones, of Clapham Common, born May 9th, 1808, died November 17th, 1868; also in memory of Anne, second daughter of Robert and Marianne Jones, born July 12, 1841, died October 22, 1872. "He hath prepared for them a city."—Hebrews xi. 16. "O Paradise! O Paradise! Also Falkland Robert, the third son of Robert and Marianne Jones, who died 29th November, 1875, aged 23 years. Adjacent to that of his parents, is erected a monument of Scotch granite, mounted with a white marble urn, partially covered with a cloth or veil. Sacred to the memory of Joseph May Soule, second son of the late Rev. I. M. Soule, who departed this life, 15th March, 1875, aged 33. "I am the Resurrection and the life."—John xi. 25. On the south side of the beautiful obelisk erected over his Parents' grave is an epitaph to the memory of Hannah Turnbull, for 13 years a devoted nurse in the family of the Rev. I. M. Soule, who died June 9th, 1866, aged 44 years. Fallen asleep in Jesus. By the side of one of the gravel walks a modest head-stone is erected in memory of Elizabeth Ursula, wife of James Pillans Wilson, Esq., born October, 1836, fell asleep in Jesus, 11th May, 1869, in her 33rd year. She was a regular attendant at the public worship of God, from her childhood, and sought sincerely to please Him, but did not become a worshipper of Him, 'in spirit and in truth,' by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and being saved until her twentieth year, from which time she knew Him indeed as her Father, and walked with Him in this world as His child. Subjoined is the following address to the reader— Dear reader, how is it with you? Are you still only an outward worshipper, or perhaps not even that? O! believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as having died on the cross for your sins, and ask Him to make Himself known to you in your heart as your own Saviour, and then you also will walk this earth as a happy child of God, loving and serving Him by the power of His Spirit in you, till He shall take you home to Himself to the fulness of joy in His presence, and the pleasures at His right hand for evermore. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him, shall He appear the second time without sin, unto Salvation.—Hebrew ix. 27-28. Isaiah liii. 6. Acts xvi. 30-31. Here is a grave with stone border and marble head-stone—in memory of the Rev. Edwin Thompson, D.D., Vicar of St. John's Parish, and honorary Chaplain of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls, Battersea Rise, who died February 2nd, 1876, aged 51 years. "Knowing that he, which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also, by Jesus, and shall present us with you."—II. Cor. iv. 14. Also of Hannah Thompson, mother of the above, who died July 1st, 1876, aged 80 years. "This is the victory that overcometh the world—even our faith."—I. John v. 4. We must tread softly among these grassy mounds, for yonder at the end of the gravel walk is situated our Darling Teddie's grave, (No. 7217). Edward George Curme Simmonds, who was drowned off Battersea Park embankment, October 16, 1875, aged 10 years. In another part of the cemetery is interred all that is mortal of our beloved daughter Hannah, who died June 12, 1873, aged 18. "My faith looks up to Thee, Thou lamb of calvary, Saviour divine!" But we have tarried almost too long, and as time is precious we must leave for the present our meditations among the tombs, only observing that as we examined the records of mortality, and thought of the promiscuous multitude rested together without any regard to rank or seniority within those thousands of graves, we were reminded of the words of the Rev. James Hervey, when gazing upon a similar scene in a church yard. "None were ambitious of the uppermost rooms, or chief seats in this house of mourning; none entertained fond and eager expectations of being honourably greeted, in their darksome cells. The man of years and experience reputed as an oracle in his generation, was contented to lie down at the feet of a babe. In this house appointed for all living, the servant was equally accommodated and lodged in the same story with his master. The poor indigent lay as softly, and slept as soundly as the most opulent possessor. All the distinction that subsisted was a grassy hillock, hound with osiers, or a sepulchral stone, ornamented with imagery." In Thy fair book of life divine; My God inscribe my name. My flesh shall slumber in the ground, On the south side of the centre gravel walk east of the mortuary Chapels is a neat marble head-stone. Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Farmer, born January 13th, 1810, died February 1st, 1873. Also of William Farmer, born May 14th, 1802, died May 26th, 1877, he was for 36 years a faithful servant in the employ of Messrs. Thorne, Brewers, Nine Elms. "The memory of the Just is blessed. They rest from their labours."—Rev. xiv. 14. This stone as a tribute of filial affection is erected in loving remembrance by their sons. On the west-side of the cemetery is erected a small red granite cross in loving remembrance of John Hext Ward, Churchwarden of Battersea, 1874. Died 9th December, 1877, aged 40. A few of his friends thus record their admiration for his sterling worth, for his manly godliness, and for his self-denying efforts to help the poor to help themselves. "Thy Kingdom come." Here is a grave adorned with pretty flowers and rose trees a glass shade covers a wreath, in the centre of which is an image representing the Redeemer. At the head of the grave a memento card is framed and glazed, In loving remembrance of Kate Ellen Wilson, who departed this life July 2nd, 1878, in her 21st year. The stem broke and the flower faded. Conspicuously by the side of the carriage road may be seen a stone obelisk tapering like a spire, with hand and forefinger pointing to the sky. On front of the obelisk is a dove with marble scroll with the words "for of such is the kingdom of heaven." In memory of Jessie Felicia, the beloved wife of Frederick Reed, of Wandsworth, late of Battersea; who died 22nd October, 1874, aged 31 years. Also Emily Kate, the beloved daughter of the late C. Q. Baker, of Margate, Kent; who died 6th January 1877, Aged 2½ years. A grave stone with dove and scroll with the words "Jesus wept" is erected in affectionate remembrance of Rozinia Sarah eldest daughter of Henry and Rozinia Osborn, and grand-daughter of Mrs. M. E. McBain; who departed this life October 14th 1868, aged 8 years and 7 months. "The sting of death is sharp—But the love of Christ surpasseth all." Another stone sacred to the memory of Mrs. Mary E. McBain who died July 8, 1866, aged 68 years. Also of James Fairbain McBain, husband of the above who fell asleep in Jesus, May 18th, 1879. For many years he had been a temperance advocate and successful evangelist. Here is a stone in affectionate remembrance of Little Marke, the dearly beloved child of Philipp and Rose Konig, who fell asleep February the 3rd, 1876, aged 22 months. Our loss is his great gain, Another stone in memory of Elizabeth the beloved wife of John Tyler Larking, who after a painful mental and bodily disease fell asleep in the dear Lord Jesus, August 27th, 1878, in her 76 year. "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." On the right hand side of the principal road from the main entrance to the cemetery is a grave-stone erected in loving undying remembrance of Kate Ellen Wilson, whom it pleased God to take from this world of care on the 2nd of July, 1878, aged 21 years. "Gone for ever in the blossom of life and love, On the border stone are the words "the property of Walter Scott." No. of grave 8747. We observe another stone in memory of Mahalah the beloved and affectionate wife of Henry Noble Williams, who died November 12th, 1873, aged 38 years. In her prostrated affliction she "endured as seeing Him who is invisible" and longed to behold "the King in His beauty." How calm and easy was her parting breath, "She looked well to the ways of her household, and ate not the bread of idleness." Prov. xxxi. 27. Also the above named, Henry Noble Williams, who died October 28th, 1879, aged 44 years. "This mortal shall put on immortality." I. Cor. xv. 53. Here is a grave the head-stone is erected in affectionate remembrance of John Allison Peel, who died March 23, 1871, aged 40 years. Then let our sorrows cease to flow, Also of John William Peel son of the above, who was accidentally killed by the falling of a boat swing June 18,1872. Aged 11 years. Here is another stone erected by loving hands. In memory of Sarah Appleton who died June 5, 1860, aged one month. Also of Minnie Appleton who died March 10, 1864, aged 13 months. And of Rose Appleton who died Dec. 17, 1865, aged 4½ years, children of George Appleton of Battersea Park. Also of Mary Appleton, who died March 16, 1866, aged 79 years; grandmother of the above children. Added to this epitaph are the lines with which most persons are familiar:— Forgive blest shade the tributary tear A plain head-stone marks the resting place of all that was mortal of that good man William Henry Hatcher, born at Salisbury 21st January, 1821. Died at Sherwood House, Battersea, 2nd August, 1879. This stone was erected by his colleagues and Fellow Workers. THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE. The Burial Ground of St. Mary, Battersea, was purchased 1860, and secured for the use of the Parishioners, by Act of Parliament, xv. and xvi. Victoria Cap. 85. This was the Scale of Fees of the Burial Board of St Mary, Battersea.
OTHER FEES.
THE BATTERSEA CHARITIES. Most of which are by will of the founders administered by the Vicar and Churchwardens. 1. Ann Cooper, in 1720, gave £300 to purchase an estate, the profits thereof to be disposed of to poor people not receiving alms or to bind out poor children with the approbation of Henry Lord Viscount St. John. This estate is land consisting of about 15 acres, situated in South Cerney in Gloucestershire, and produces a rental of £18 15s. per annum. 2. Thomas Ashness, in 1827, bequeathed £100 in trust for the use of the poor of this parish, to be distributed amongst them as the Vicar and Wardens shall think fit, and the dividend from this is £3 8s. 3. Anthony Francis Haldimand, by will of 1815, bequeathed £200 for the same purpose, the dividend of this sum is £3 12s. 8d. 4. Rebecca Wood, in 1596, bequeathed £200, the interest of which is to be distributed annually among 24 decayed families of the parish, the dividend from this is £6 4s. 9d. 5. Henry Smith, in 1626, bequeathed several pieces of land, situated in the parishes of Sevenoaks, Seal and Kensing, in the County of Kent, the profits thereof to be applied to the relief of the impotent and aged poor who have resided 5 years in one of the twelve parishes named in his will, to be distributed in apparel of one colour. The dividend received as the portion due to this parish is £17 1s. 6. John Conrad Rapp, in 1830, left £200, the interest to be divided at Christmas between four poor men and four poor women as the Vicar and Wardens in their discretion should think most necessitous and deserving of such relief. The amount from this benefaction is £6 9s. 4d. 7. John Parvin, in 1818, left £1,000, the interest to be laid out in coal, candles, broad and flannel and distributed among 40 poor 8. John Constable left £50 bequest in 1856 for the poor of this parish. The dividend from this now is £1 19s. 4d. 9. John Banks, in 1716 left by will to five poor men and five poor women 50s. each per annum, inhabitants of this parish. Candidates' names for recipients of this charity are forwarded by recommendation to the Haberdashers' Company of London who distribute this fund. 10. Henry Juer, in 1874, bequeathed the sum of £500, the dividend thereof to be distributed on the 6th February in each year to 12 needy parishioners of the age of 60 years and upwards. 11. John Edmunds, who in 1708 left £10 per annum for putting out boy-apprentices. The property bequeathed consisting of a small tenement in the City has increased in value, and so few applications of boys or masters are received at the Lammas Hall that the sum of £730 1s. 10d. is now on deposit to the credit of this charity. The Parish Officers issue a form to be filled in by all applicants and to be endorsed by a householder. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again."—Prov. xix. 17. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."—Matthew xxv. 40. The "Imperial Gazetteer," Vol. p. 130, states that Battersea has a free school with £160 and other charities with £121. Churchwardens.—Joseph William Hiscox, Altenburg Terrace, Lavender Hill; Edward Wood, 6, Shelgate Road, Battersea Rise. Overseers.—Andrew Cameron, 65, Salcott Road; William Daws, 49, High Street; Robert Steel, Sleaford Street; B. T. L. Thomson, 6, Crown Terrace, Lavender Hill. Vestry Clerk.—Thomas Harrap, Crown Terrace, Lavender Hill. The following is the List of Vestrymen and Auditors Elected under the provisions of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 1881. Vestrymen Ex-officio.—Rev. John Erskine Clarke, Vicar, 6, Altenburg Gardens; Joseph William Hiscox, 2, Altenburg Terrace, Lavender Hill; Edward Wood, 6, Shelgate Road, Battersea Rise. Ward No. 1. (Vestrymen who retire in 1882).—William Duce, 21, Ponton Road, Nine Elms; James Dulley, 85, Battersea Park Road; Rev. Thomas Lander, St. George's Vicarage, 33, Battersea Park Road; Samuel Lathey, 1, St. George's Road, New Road; Ward No. 2. (Vestrymen who retire in 1882).—George F. Burroughs, 1, Queen's Crescent, Queen's Road; John Merritt, 1, Prospect Cottages, Falcon Grove; John Merry, 237, Battersea Park Road; Thomas Poupart, 399, Battersea Park Road; Rev. S. G. Scott, St. Saviour's Parsonage, Battersea Park; George N. Street, 491, Battersea Park Road; Henry Walkley, 351, Battersea Park Road. (Vestrymen who retire in 1883).—Horace E. Bayfield, 1, Somers Villas, Lavender Hill; Wm. Jno. Folkard, 12, Rushill Terrace, Lavender Hill; Charles E. Gay, 41, Orkney Street, Battersea Park Road; Henry John Hansom, Grove End House, Falcon Lane; Charles Heine, 219, Battersea Park Road; B. T. L. Thomson, 6, Crown Terrace, Lavender Hill; George Ugle, 21, Acanthus Road, Lavender Hill. (Vestrymen who retire in 1884).—Charles Donaldson, 177, Battersea Park Road; John Elmslie, 241, Battersea Park Road; William Sangwin, 533, Battersea Park Road; Samuel Hancock, 339, Battersea Park Road; Samuel Bowker, 6, Crown Terrace, Lavender Hill; Frederick Aubin, 393, Battersea Park Road; Charles Spencer, 4, Wycliffe Terrace, Lavender Hill. Auditor.—George Fowler, 20, Queen's Square. Ward No. 3. (Vestrymen who retire in 1882).—James Chorley, 69, High Street; William Daws, 49, High Street; George Durrant, 22, Bridge Road West; William Gerrard, Lombard Road; William Hammond, 72, York Road; Henry May Soule, Mayfield, St. John's Hill; Horsley Woods, 38, Bridge Road West. (Vestrymen who retire in 1883).—Bernard Cotter, 228, York Road; George Thos. Dunning, 45, Winstanley Road; William Gosden, 3, Spencer Road; John Thos. Gurling, High Street; Joseph Oakman, The Priory, High Street; Rev. John Toone, St. Peter's Parsonage, Plough Lane; John Trott, 75, High Street. (Vestrymen who retire in 1884).—George Brocking, 27, High Street; William J. Bromley, 12, Olney Terrace, Plough Lane; John W. Denny 108, York Road; Thomas Gregory, Station Road; William Griffin 44, High Street; Joseph James Kilsby, 189, York Road; William Wingate, Sen., 1, High Street. Auditor.—Charles Earl Holmes, 80, Bridge Road. Ward No. 4. (Vestrymen who retire in 1882).—James Clarke, 2, Rushill Terrace, Lavender Hill; John Davis Hatch, Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth Common; Alfred Heaver, Homeland, Benerley Road; Joseph William Hiscox, 2, Altenburg Terrace, Lavender Hill. (Vestrymen who retire in 1883).—Andrew W. Cameron, 65, Salcott Road; John Cleave, Eaton Villa, Vardens Road; Horace Turnor, 63, Northcote Road; Edward Wood, 6, Shelgate Road. (Vestrymen Parish Clerk.—James Spice, Bridge Road West. Beadle.—William Edwards. Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.—William Griffin, High Street. District Surveyor of North Battersea.—H. J. Hansom, Grove-end House, Falcon Lane. A Parochial Assembly for conducting the affairs of a Parish, so called because its meetings were formerly held in the Vestry—a room appended to a Church in which the sacerdotal vestments and sacred utensils are kept. Vestrymen are a select number of persons in each parish elected for the management of its temporal concerns. The Vestry is the organ through which the Parish speaks, and in numerous matters relating to church rates, highways, baths and wash-houses and other sanitary matters, it has important functions to discharge and is a conspicuous feature of Parochial management. The Vicar is entitled to be chairman. It is the duty of the Churchwardens and Overseers to keep a book in which to enter the minutes of the Vestry. The Vestry appoints annually Churchwardens, nominates Overseers, etc. A Church rate can only be made by a Vestry, and if the majority choose, to make none. The Vestry Clerk is chosen by the Vestry; his duty is to give notice of Vestry meetings; to summon the Churchwardens and Overseers; to keep the minutes, accounts and Vestry books; recover the arrears of rates; make out the list of persons qualified to act as Jurymen, and to give notices for to vote for Members of Parliament. Churchwardens in England are Ecclesiastical officers appointed by the first Canon of the Synod of London in 1127. Overseers in every parish were also appointed by the same body, and they continue now as then established.—Johnson's Canons. Churchwardens, by the Canons of 1603, are to be chosen annually. The Common Law requires that there should be two Churchwardens, one of whom is appointed by the Incumbent and the other is chosen by the Parishioners in Vestry assembled. Their primary duty is to see that the fabric of the Church is kept in good repair, superintending the celebration of public worship, and to form and regulate other Parochial regulations. The appointment and election take place in Easter Week of each year. Overseers are officers who occupy an important position in all the parishes in England and Wales, they too are appointed annually. Their primary duty is to rate the inhabitants to the Poor rate, collect the same, and apply it towards relief of the poor, besides other miscellaneous duties, such as making out the list of voters for Members of Parliament. The list of persons in the Parish qualified to serve as Jurors, the list of persons qualified to serve as Parish Constables. They are bound to appoint persons to enforce the Vaccination Acts, etc., etc. When the birth of a child is registered, the registrar is to give notice of vaccination; and the child must be vaccinated within three months. Penalty for not bringing the child to be vaccinated 20s. If any registrar shall give information to a justice that he has reason to believe any child has not been successfully vaccinated, and that he has given notice thereof, which notice has been disregarded, the justice may order the child to appear before him, and he may make an order directing such child to be vaccinated within a certain time, and if at the expiration of such time the child shall not have been vaccinated, the parent or person upon whom the order has been served is liable to a penalty not exceeding 20s. Guardians of the poor, in the English parochial law are important functionaries elected by a parish or union of parishes; they have the management of the workhouse and the maintenance, clothing and relief of the poor, and in the regulations must comply with the orders of the Poor Law Board, a central authority, whose head is a member of Parliament, their duties are entirely regulated by these orders, and by statutes. Relieving Officers.—Mr. Murphy, Wye Street, York Road; Mr. Tugwell, 479, Battersea Park Road. Medical Officers.—Dr. Kempster, 247, Battersea Park Road; Dr. Oakman, The Priory, Battersea Square. Surveyor and Inspector of Nuisances.—Mr. Pilditch, Stone Yard, Battersea, to whom complaints should be made. Dust Contractor.—Applications to be addressed Board of Works, Battersea Rise. Turn-cock.—R. Gray, 24, Dickens Street; Assistant ditto. W. Moore, 24, Parkside Street. Collectors of Parochial Rates.—Mr. E. Stocker, 37, St. John's Hill Grove; Mr. G. Nichols, Pembroke Villa, Falcon Lane; Mr. G. J. Chadwin, Lombard Road; Mr. O. Shepherd, 15, Middleton Road, Battersea Rise. Collectors of Queen's Taxes.—Mr. A. G. Iago, Gatcombe Villa, Harbutt Road, Plough Lane, New Wandsworth; Mr. Lewis, Bridge Road. The Battersea Tradesmen's Club commenced October 1875, may be regarded as a local Institution. Its founder was Mr. Elmslie, the register contains the names of 200 elected members, having for their object the general interest, improvement and prosperity of the parish. The club has sustained a heavy loss by the sudden death of its respected Treasurer, Mr. Henry Kesterton, he was a guardian of the poor, a member of the vestry, and also of the board of works. His straightforwardness and generosity inspired much respect. Deep sympathy with his wife and family was manifested at his funeral, which was attended by a great number of the leading members of the club, and other parishioners. His mortal remains were interred at Norwood Cemetery. The following gentlemen form the Committee.— Mr. J. Pochin, 291, Battersea Park Road; J. Evans, 367, Battersea Park Road; Mr. W. Sangwin, 533, Battersea Park Road; Mr. T. Bowley, 535, Battersea Park Road; Mr. E. Evans, 287, Battersea Park Road; Mr. J. Douglas, W. L. Com. Bank; Mr. G. N. Street, 353, Battersea Park Road; Mr. H. Walkley, 351, Battersea Park Road; Mr. F. Sturges, Orkney Street; Mr. C. E. Gay, 21, Orkney Street; Mr. B. Hickman, 100, Gwynne Road; H. Winter, 52, Park Grove; W. Marsh, Battersea Park Road. Secretary.—Mr. Robert Gooch, 21, Queen's Square, Queen's Road. Any person wishing to have his name enrolled as a member of the Club, must subscribe 10s. yearly. The temporary Home for lost and starving Dogs, Battersea Park Road, (removed from Holloway.) Established October 2nd, 1860. The late Mrs. Tealby was the foundress and unwearied benefactress of this Institution. In 1875 more than 3,200 dogs were either restored to their former owners, or sent to new homes, being an increase of 1094, over the previous year. The home has been visited by many of the nobility and gentry, and by great kennel owners, and all have expressed themselves very much pleased with the cleanliness, and general good order, which they have observed. It is gratifying to know that of the many thousands of dogs which have been brought into the home there has been no case of hydrophobia. Every precaution is taken by the committee not to "I cannot understand that morality which excludes animals from human sympathy, or release man from the debt and obligation he owes to them."—Sir John Bowring. "He prayeth best, who loveth best; London, Chatham and Dover Railway—Battersea Park Station, Battersea Park Road, booking office to Victoria, Crystal Palace, main line and City trains, Blackheath Hill, for Greenwich. Station master, Mr. H. Lankman. York Road Station, Battersea Park—London, Brighton and South London Line. Station master, Mr. Henry Mead. West London Commercial Bank, Limited, Established 1866. Incorporated, under the Joint-Stock Companies' Act 1872. Head Office—34, Sloane Square, London, S.W. Battersea Park Branch, 1, Victoria Road. Manager, Mr. George Patrick McCourt. London and South Western Bank, Head office, 7, Fenchurch Street. Battersea Branch, Battersea Park Road, opposite Christ Church. Manager, Mr. J. Barr. Temperance and Band of Hope Meetings are held at St. George's Mission Room, New Road; Arthur Street, Mission Hall, Battersea Park Road; Grove School Room, York Road, Conductor Mr. G. Mansell; Temperance Hall, Tyneham Road, Shaftesbury Park Estate; The Institute, Mill Pond Bridge, Nine Elms Lane, every Tuesday, commencing at 8 p.m. President, George Howlett, Esq.; Vice-President, Mr. T. O. Shutter; Treasurer Mr. D. Greaves; Financial Secretary, Mr. H. Gitsham; Registrars, Mr. F. Clarke, Mr. W. R. Josslyn; Corresponding Secretary, Mr. R. Curson, 6, Horace Street, Wandsworth Road, S.W. SOUTH LONDON TRAMWAYS. In 1879 a Tram-way was constructed in Battersea Park Road. (Turner, Contractor, Chelsea). Tram cars first commenced running for the conveyance of passengers between Falcon Lane and the Rifleman January 6, 1881. The second portion of the South London Tramways Company's line from Nine Elms to Clapham Junction was opened for traffic on Saturday March 12th, 1881. The Queen's Road and Victoria Road Lines being now completed, in addition to those previously worked in Falcon Lane and Battersea Park Road and Nine Elms Lane, Cars are running as under:— every ten minutes throughout the day, from In Battersea Park Road the Cars run every 5 minutes between "Prince's Head" and Victoria Road (South End). Workmen's Cars will run as heretofore. On Sundays the Cars commence running about 10 a.m. and finish as on Weekdays. FARES.
N.B.—The Tickets are only available for a Single Journey upon the Car where issued. |
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