The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.,
&c., &c.

Sir,

Knowing the great and arduous duties you have to perform I regret being obliged to call your attention to a very small affair, but the case is urgent, and in a few months buildings will be placed upon a portion of the ground.

Primrose Hill Park is very much used by boys as a cricket or foot-ball ground, and on Saturdays there is not enough space. Even to-day, with the ground wet and weather not inviting, it was full, and in the summer months boys go away because there is not room to play.

It may, therefore, be worthy of your consideration whether the Government should not purchase the Eton and Middlesex Cricket Ground, which adjoins, and consists of about twelve acres. This is a private ground, and, I believe, does not pay. There is another plot of about six acres which will be immediately built upon unless the Government at once secure it.This would make a splendid addition to the park, and, perhaps, £20,000 would purchase the whole.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,
William Ray Smee.

Regent’s Park North,
5th April, 1873.

William Ray Smee, Esq.,

Sir,

Mr. Gladstone desires me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
J. A. Godley.

10, Downing Street, Whitehall,
8th April, 1873.

Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.,
&c., &c.

Sir,

I am obliged to trouble you again respecting the purchase by the Government of about eighteen acres of land adjoining Primrose Hill Park, for upon a portion of it the turf is now being rapidly taken away, and the land is to be built upon unless something is at once decided.

There is a necessity for adding this ground to the Park. The population is rapidly increasing. Every small open space is closed. Boys and youths who cannot afford to pay have no place for cricket except on public property. On Saturdays, the young of more than half a million of people come to Primrose Hill, or would come if there were space. This afternoon there were between 2,000 and 3,000, and if the day had been finer there would have been many more.

I showed to a gentleman well conversant with the district the ground I thought ought to be purchased, and he assured me in five years’ time, with the addition, space would be wanting, and strongly urged the publication of the suggestion. That, however, I am very unwilling to do so long as there is a prospect of the Government acting in this business, and I therefore venture respectfully to ask your decision.

Assume that the cost will be £20,000, it is only part of the interest on that amount the Government can lose. The State is equally rich whether the property is in money or land. The eighteen acres will make excellent sheep land, and must yield something, and the strength and health given to many thousand youths must speedily add to the national revenue far more than the remainder.The financial side of the question is really quite insignificant, but the moral good done will be of the highest importance.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
William Ray Smee.

Regent’s Park North,
26th April, 1873.

Before this letter was answered the following was sent:—

Mr. William Ray Smee presents his respects to Mr. Gladstone, and, in reference to his communication of Saturday, wishes to say, as showing the importance of taking into consideration the rapid increase of population; that some years ago, when there was a field walk, but little frequented on weekdays, from Primrose Hill to Hampstead, he proposed to Lord Palmerston to purchase sufficient ground and make a road from the top of Portland Place, through Regent’s Park, and round Primrose Hill straight to Hampstead Heath.

This road along its whole length was to have been Park-like, to be used by carriages, cabs, and persons on horseback, would have added to the beauty of the West of London, and if the Government had thought it desirable, might have been made to repay its cost by the surplus land between Primrose Hill and Hampstead that might have been sold for villas.

Such a road was much wanted, and private enterprise has already made two-thirds of it, and placed houses on both sides. Nevertheless it is altogether different from what the State would have done. It is neither broad nor straight. It does not add to, but takes from the beauty of the neighbourhood. In the meantime Hampstead Heath has become public property, and the opportunity to make a direct approach thereto from Regent Street in a way, which foreign visitors to London would have greatly admired, is permanently lost.

Mr. Smee mentions this, as it may still be worthy of consideration, whether Regent’s Park might not be opened at Portland Place, and whether anything can now be accomplished in the unmade portion of the road between Primrose Hill and Hampstead Heath.

To the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.,
&c., &c.,

Regent’s Park North,
2nd May, 1873.

On the 6th May the letter of the 26th April was acknowledged:—

To William Ray Smee, Esq.,

Sir,

Mr. Gladstone desires me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, on a matter which seems to belong to the province of the Metropolitan Board of Works.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
J. A. Godley.

10, Downing Street,
8th May, 1873.

Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.,

Sir,

I believe with this letter, I have done all that a gentleman in a private station can with propriety do to urge upon the Government the purchase of two plots of land, one of six acres and the other of twelve, adjoining Primrose Hill, to be used by boys and youths for foot-ball and cricket. In a very short time buildings will be commenced upon the smaller plot, and the opportunity will be lost.

How much this ground is now wanted was apparent in the numbers playing cricket this afternoon in the Regent’s Park. In the portion allotted to boys the wickets were placed in many cases only eight yards apart; perhaps there were 1000 boys playing, and only those clubs were allowed that previously had obtained permission.

The same applies to the ground for youths and men. There were, perhaps, 800 playing; one set of wickets was close to another on all sides, and it was marvellous the game could go on without serious accidents. A sergeant of police that happened to be passing told me it looked most dangerous, and nothing would induce him to join; but a youth, who was playing, said the accidents were very few,—although at first he was much frightened, yet the danger was not so great as it appeared.

The purchase of the eighteen acres would relieve this ground, enable some of the clubs to go to Primrose Hill, and cricket could be properly and joyfully played, and space would be given for many who now very much wish to play but cannot.

I have only to add, that should next Saturday afternoon prove fine, any gentleman, about five o’clock in the afternoon, may ascertain how painful to witness is the present over-crowded cricket ground of the Regent’s Park.

I have the honour to be, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
William Ray Smee.

Regent’s Park North,
10th May, 1873.

William Ray Smee, Esq.,

Sir,

Mr. Gladstone desires me to inform you that your letter of the 10th inst. should have been addressed to the First Commissioner of Works.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
W. E. Gurdon.

10, Downing Street,
15th May, 1873.

This closes the correspondence, and upon reflection it will be apparent that a great nation can find no better and no more economical use for a little mite of surplus revenue than its judicious employment in providing space for healthy, innocent, and cheap out-door amusement. The money so spent on behalf of the population of this gigantic capital will double itself over and over again. It is the active and the healthy that make a nation progress. It is good sound sense, united with a vigorous frame, that enables the man, advantageously to himself, to augment the receipts of the British exchequer.

London: Printed by Shaw & Sons, Fetter Lane.