Mayfair, Belgravia, and Bayswater | Page 4

demolished by the mob, which had stood since 1825.
In duelling days Hyde Park was a favourite battle-ground. Of many
encounters the following may be recorded:
1685. The Duke of Grafton and the Hon. John Talbot, the latter being
killed.
1712. The Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun, which took place near
Price's Lodge. Both died on the ground, and Lord Mohun's second,
General Macartney, was afterwards tried, on the accusation of Colonel
Hamilton, for stabbing the Duke when on the ground; he was, however,
acquitted.
1763. John Wilkes was wounded by Mr. Samuel Martin, M.P.
1770. Lord Thurlow and Mr. Andrew Stewart.
1777. Charles James Fox and Mr. William Adam, M.P.
1780. Colonel Fullarton, M.P., wounded the Earl of Shelburne.
After 1803 the practice of duelling fell gradually into disuse.
In troublous times military camps occupied the open ground, notably in
1649 under Lord Essex, in 1665 during the Plague, and in 1715 and
1722 to guard against Jacobite rebellion.
Reviews have been held at intervals from 1569 until 1876, but are now
of very rare occurrence.
Hyde Park has also been the scene of some serious riots, notably those

in 1821 on the occasion of the removal of Queen Caroline's body; in
1885 against the Sunday Trading Bill; and in 1862 the Garibaldi
disturbances. The most important riot, however, broke out in 1866,
when the Reform Leaguers forcibly entered the Park by pulling down
the railing. From the Reform League the Reformer's tree near the
reservoir took its name; though the original one has been felled, the
name is still applied to a neighbouring tree, and political
demonstrations, which have been declared legal since 1866, are still
held on the open space in the vicinity.
Oxford Street, which forms the northern boundary of the district, has
already been described in the book on "Marylebone," with which
district it is closely identified. It is only necessary here to mention some
of the notable houses on the south side which fall within our compass.
The first is Camelford House (Lord Hillingdon), an unpretentious
building in a courtyard, once the property of the Pitts, Earls of
Camelford. George Grenville occupied it in 1805, and subsequently
H.R.H. Princess Charlotte and her husband, afterwards Leopold I. of
Belgium. Adjoining it is Hereford Gardens, a row of handsome private
houses built in 1870 on the site of Hereford Street (1780).
At the corner of Lumley Street (south side) is the Royal Association in
Aid of the Deaf and Dumb. The building, erected in 1870 from designs
by Sir A. Blomfield, of red brick, contains a reading-room, lecture-hall,
and on the upper floor St. Saviour's Church, in early Pointed style.
From Dering Street, on the south side of Oxford Street, the garden of
Lord Carnarvon's house in Tenterden Street extended nearly to
Harewood Place. On the site are a noticeable stone-fronted house, now
a carriage warehouse, and the Royal Orthopædic Hospital, founded
1838 and removed here from Bloomsbury Square in 1856.
Park Lane, up to 1769 called Tyburn Lane, was in the reign of Queen
Anne a desolate by-road, but is now a favourite place of residence for
the fashionable persons in the Metropolis. It is open to Hyde Park as far
as Hamilton Place, whence it reaches Piccadilly by a narrow street. At
its junction with the former stands an ornamental fountain by

Thorneycroft, erected in 1875 at a cost of £5,000, the property of a lady
who died intestate and without heirs. At the base are the muses of
Tragedy, Comedy, and History in bronze, above Chaucer, Shakespeare
and Milton in marble, the whole being surmounted by a bronze statue
of Fame. The principal mansions in Park Lane are: Brook House, at the
north corner of Upper Brook Street, designed by T. H. Wyatt, and the
residence of the Earl of Tweedmouth, and next to it Dudley House.
Dorchester House (Captain Holford) was built by Vulliamy in 1852 on
the site of the town house of the Damers, Earls of Dorchester. The
building, which stands in its own grounds, is rectangular, and
constructed of Portland stone in Italian Renaissance style. On the
narrow front is a carriage portico. The reception rooms and marble
staircase have few rivals in London; they contain two libraries and a
collection of pictures by old and modern masters. Here died in 1842 the
Marquis of Hertford. Londonderry House, No. 18 (Marquis of
Londonderry), was built in 1850 by S. and J. Wyatt on the site of the
residence of the D'Arcys, Earls of Holdernesse. It contains a fine
gallery of pictures and sculpture. Other inhabitants: the Duke of
Somerset, in a house adjoining Camelford House, No. 35; Sir Moses
Montefiore, d. 1885; Park Lane Chambers, Earl Sondes, Lord
Monkbretton.
At the corner of Upper Grosvenor Street (then No. 1, Grosvenor