The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-29 00:00:00

C.IMPDEN-HOUSE.

Although the pressure of the parliamentary sea-
son precluded any immediate notice, so interesting
a relic of former times as Campdenhouse, Kensing-
ton, cannot be permitted to pass away without our
devoting a small portion of space to its many his-
torical and personal associations. The readers of
our impression of last Monday' learnt that on the
morning of the previous day a fire broke out in that
ancient building, and in the course of a few hours
left nothing standing but the shattered walls ; but;
perhaps few were aware of the value which the old
house possessed in the eyes of antiquarians. Those
who are acquainted with the neighbourhood called
Campden- hill—a tract of undulating ground lying
between Kensington and Notting-hill, and dotted
about with comfortable mansions standing in a
wooded park, though somewhat spoiled of late years
by the inroad of smart new villas—must have ob-
erved the picturesque and venerable red brick
structure, which is now all but obliterated. With
its high and in some places ancient garden walls,
its trees; and its greensward, it looked like what it
was—a real old English country hall; for, at the
time it was built, it must have been in the close
proximity of fields. Two hundred and fifty years
have passed since Sir Baptist Hickes, a wealthy
silk mercer of Cheapside, founder of Hickes's Hall,
Clerkenwell, and afterwards created by James L
Viscount Campden, erected the mansion,which was
ultimately called after his title, for the date is said
to be about 1612. The Cam pdens in the civil war of
next reign sided with the----/cing,and the third Viscount
was obliged to compound with the commissioners of
sequestration appointed by the Commonwealth,
who for a time took the house for their official resi-
, however, after-
deuce. The chagrined nobleman
wards enjoyed what he as a royalist must have con-
sidered full compensation for his injuries; for, on
the Restoration, he had the nonour to entertain
Charles 11. at supper, when doubtless the walls
which are now but a line of rains echoed with a
roaring carouse, kingly wit, and courtly laughter.
The third Earl of Lindsay, one of the most truly
chivalrous and devoted followers of Charles 1., and
the father-in-law of the third Lord Campden, died
in the Kensington mansion, which in the next
generation was let to Princess, afterwards Queen
Anne. Here she resided for sometime with her
husband, Prince George of Denmark, and her poor
little sickly son the Duke of Gloucester, who, after
being first absurdly pampered and then treated
with ignorant severity by his weak-minded parents,
died of water on the brain. In the pampering days
he was allowed to command a regiment of boy soh
diers, duly equipped with all the instruments of
war, whom he would marshal on parade, riding at
their head on a pony, and whom he was empowered
to punish when they committed any breach of dis-
cipline, by setting them on a wooden horse. The
Princess made an addition to Campden 'house at the
western end, which is now regarded as a separate
dwelling, and was formerly called Little Campden-
House. It is at present known as the Elms, and is
occupied by Mr. Augustus Egg, R.A. This build-
ing also is of great size, and, with its substantial
old-fashioned look and surrounding leafiness, seems
a fit abode for an artist. It suffered to some ex-
tent in the late fire, but the flames were checked
before they seized on the main body.
Campden-house in the year 1704 came into the
possession of the Dowager Countess of Burlington,
and her son Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl—not
the great Boyle, but a man of intellect and taste.
The mansion was subsequently the property of the
Whig lawyer and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan-
caster, Lord Lechmere, who is now chiefly remem-
bered in connexion with a mock-heroic ballad, called
"Duke upon Duke," and attributed both to Gay and
Swift. In this ballad we read of " Campden.house
so high," and find many other pleasant memorials
of the neighbourhood. In time this " house so
high," the sometime residence of royal personages
of viscounts, countesses, and earls, came to be a
fashionable boarding-school for young ladies, and
used to be visited by witty George Selwyn, who
went there to see a girl in whom he took an inte-
rest, and who received a fortune from him and
another from the libertine Duke of Queensberry,
both of whom conceived they had a claim to be con-
sidered her father. The mansion was at one time
somewhat modernised, probably in the last century ;
but in the main it was the original structure of Sir
Baptist Hickes. Of late years it has come again
into notice, as the residence of the unenviably-
• famous Colonel Waugh, and as the scene of some
illustrious private theatricals, in which many lite-
rary celebrities of our day have acted for charitable
objects. In the garden there was once a remark-
able caper tree, which endured the open air of our
forbidding climate for nearly a century, and,
though unsupplied with artificial heat, produced
fruit every year. The house itself has now followed
the tree into extinction, and the lover of antiquity
has sustained a loss which he will not speedily cease
to regret.

THE FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE
NORTH FENT _RAILWAY.

The inquiry into the circumstances connected
with the fatal accident which occurred on the North
Kent line between Stroud and Gravesend, on the
afternoon of the 20th inst., whereby Geo. Waller,
the head guard of the train, was killed, was resumed
yesterday, at the Town-hall, Gravesend, before Mr.
E. Hilder, the borough coroner. Richard Grant,
the driver of the engine of the train to which the
accident occurred, said he did not feel any jerker
or unusual motion till the engine ran off the line.
They were travelling at less than 30 miles an hour.
As soon as the engine ran off he reversed the en-
gine and put her on her back gear. The engine
then ran down the bank on the left side into the
ditch. Charles Grant, fireman of the engine, said
he had time to give his break several turns, but had
not time to put it on very hard. Various persons
who had been passengers at the time of the acci-
dent confirmed the statement made by these wit-
nesses. Joseph Solomon, farmer, Shorne, said that
on hearing of the accident he went to the spot and
walked down the line to ascertain where the engine
first went off the line. After proceeding about 60
yards he noticed one of the rails lying on its side,
and on kicking the chairs he found that they had
just been broken. The engine, before turning over,
I had broken one of the rails with the off wheels, and
I the lurch threw it over into the ditch. Witness could
see no chairs lying about. He was under the im-
I pression that all the chairs had been broken by the
oscillation of the engine caused by the wet, and the
rail was then driven aside. The only portion of the
spot
chairs on
part on the left-hand side. Mr. Lewis Portch
chairs that appeared to be displaced was the outer
' Thursday, said the inside port
stationmaster at Gravesend, who
portions
ssi t
oe
fd tthhee
broken were sound, but he did not notice the keys.
others. '
' The trenails appeared to have been torn out, some
' being firmer than
Railway, said nothing
had been done
to that part of the line where the
accident occurred for a fortnight or three weeks.
North
employed on Robert Allen, gauger,
the Kent
Witness examined the line on the morning the
• accident happened and found it to be quite perfect.
The rails were keyed on the outside. There was a
bulge on the left side, and another on the right
side of the rail when he noticed it. This had caused
the chairs to be displaced and the trenails to give
way. The trenails shown to the coroner and jury
had been put in since the accident. The length of
the rail displaced was 15ft. It had six chairs and
four trenails. The trenails produced appeared to
have been in use ever since the formation of the line.
They were made by Messrs. Ransome and May.
After William Lipkott, inspector of the permanent
way, had been examined the jury remarked that it
appeared most extraordinary that they could not
ascertain who executed the repairs made on thet
permanent way on the night of the accident. Cap
t.
Tyler said he had been anxious to ascertainleCdtahtaot
' fact from the witnesses, but had hitherto fai
do so. Whyland Gardener, carriage
xious to get the
afterwards stated that he gave orders for the line
to be put in order, as he was an
carriages out of the ditch as quickly as possible.
t• Tyler he should ad_
•
The Coroner here stated that as it was then too late
to take the evidence of Cap
journ the inquiry until Tuesday next, which was
done accordingly.