The Washington herald., 1911-01-02
ONCE LONDON'S
FASHION CENTER

A large slice Of Great Queen street in
London disappeared when Kingsway was
formed, but there still remain a few
houses which were built in the time of
its glory; for this street, which formerly
connected Drury Lane with Iincoln's s
Inn Fields. in a line with Long Acre,
was SO named in honor Of Queen Eliza
beth. Few houses existed in the thor
oughfare at that time, and it was not
until after the Restoration, when a new
era Of building set in. that the houses
were finished on the south side of the
street., from the designs Of lingo Jones
and his pupil. Webbe. According to
one authority. lingo Jones built Queen
street at the cost of the Jesuits, design
ing it for a square, and leaving In the
middle a niche for the statue of Queen
Henrietta.
In the time of the Stuarts, Great Queen
street was, on the authority of Leigh
Hunt, one Of the grandest and most
fashionable parts Of the town. The IA
NOUS Lord Herbert of Cherbury died
there. Lord Bristol had house in 1t,
as also had Lord Chancellor Finch and
the Conway and Paulet families. The
Duke of Buckingham. the Earl of Lau-
derdale. Waller, the poet. and Col. Titus
(author Of killing No Murder'D We're
among the occupants in the latter part OF
the seventeenth century. In the eight
eenth century it was not quite such a
fashionable neighborhood, and became
rather a literary and artistic center.
The practice. of numbering the houses
was not in use until 1864. and before that
1: is difficult to identify the exact houses
where any of these famous people lived.
Sir Robert Strange. the eminent historical
engraver and adherent Of the young
pretender. occupied No. 80. and died
there in 1872. Another artist Of renown
who lived in the street about this time
was Opie. His popularity was then at
its highest In Opie's Memoirs we
get a glimpse of the condition Of Great
Queen street. when the roadway was
sometimes blocked up with the carriages
of his sitters. No. 5s. which is the house
| in which James Boswell dwelt, was al
one time occupied by James Hoole, the
| translator of Tasso. Melastasco, and
| Ariosto. who died in 1903.
This house. by the way, is the only one
in the street which retains its original
architectural features, the others which
remain having either been rebuilt or
modernized. 1t has had many distin-
gUished residents. Worledge, an artist
who was famous for his etchings in the
manner of Rembrandt. died in it in
17es. Richard Brinsley Sheridan lived
here for some years, and many of the
letters in Moore's Life are addressed
to him here.
The beautiful Perdita." Mrs. Robinson,
the unfortunate favorite of George ~,
appears to have lived in this same house
shortly after her marriage in 173- She
describes the house in her memoirs as
"a large. old-fashioned mansion, the
property Of the widow of Mr.. Worledge. =
Boswell probably lived in this house
between 17ss and 17so. The first was noea-
BILE as the year in which the journal OF
the Tour to the Hebrides'' was published
and for the announcement that the IA
nous Life was in preparation. Possibly
much Of it was written in this very house.
But during these years Boswell had many
distractions. He was called to the Eng
lish bar in Hilary term 1885, and two years
later obtained through Lord Lonsdale's
influence the recordership Of Carlisle. He
Is looking out for chambers in the Tenn
pie, but admits that he gets no practice.
He resolves to keep lowering as an
English lawyer" but he speaks of rough,
unpleasant company" on circuit and COZ A-
plains of the warning. bantering society"
His wife died in 17S9 Boswell posting
from Queen street to Auchinleck with
his boys in sixty-four hours and a quar-
ter only to find her dead. He was some
what comforted by the nineteen carriages
which followed her hearse: but his grief
was sincere and his position full of dis
comfort. He was mainly kept up by the
Life at which he was laboring when.
ever he could find time with the help OF
Malone, and of which he announced ir
February, 17ss. that II would be 'mor'
Of life than any work that has eve
vet appeared In 1870 Boswell published
| two specimens OF his work-Johnsons let
ter to Chesterfield and the conversation
with George III-at half a guinea apiece
perhaps to secure the copyright Th
trouble of writing made him. as he says
''often think of giving it up" He hat
nearly finished the rough draft in Janu
airy. 1853. but the revision and printin,
proceeded slowly. He had left the hous
in Great Queen street when the magnun
opus at last appeared in two volumes TO
two guineas. on May 16, 1871.
The literary world has a new sensation
in the shape Of a startling novel. writ
ten by Lady Angela Forbes. lady An
gela's novel is said to be rather sensa
tional-so much so that it has been ban
ned by four of the principal circulatfn,
| libraries.
How great an interest the incident i
creating in society may be gathered from
the fact that Lady Angela is not onl.
| a sister Of the Earl or Rosslyn and tn
late Countess Of Westmoreland, but als'
the half-sister of Lady Warwick ant
Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox. She i
a clever woman-a daring rider to hounds
noted bridge player. a first-rate whip
ana one of the best Of society actresses
At present Lady Angela is engaged fl
running a flower shop IN the aristocrati
purlieus Of Portman Square. Over tn
doorway Is the sign-board. MY Shop.
and the fair shopkeeper may be seel
within, personally attending to Gus
toners. Appropriately enough, her pref
ty daughter bears the uncommon fiowe
name Of Marigold.
Jem Mace, the world famous prize fight
| ar ubo died recepfly had signed an an