Mayfair, Belgravia, and Bayswater | Page 9

of Wales' Tavern, now demolished, David Williams started the Royal Literary Fund in 1772.
In this street lived: Duke of Wharton, 1725; Charles James Fox, b. here 1749; Boswell, 1772; Wilberforce, 1786; Delm�� Radcliffe, d. 1832; Balfe, composer; No. 36, Sir William Farquhar, physician to William Pitt; 37, George Canning, 1802-03, after him Dr. Elliotson (the house has since been rebuilt); 39, Sir Astley Cooper, surgeon, d. 1841.
Old and New Bond Street form a continuous thoroughfare, in which are situated some of the most fashionable shops in London. Though somewhat narrow, and architecturally uninteresting, it has always been a favourite society promenade, and when first built was "inhabited by the nobility and gentry" (Hatton). New Bond Street dates from about 1716, and occupies part of the site of Conduit Mead (twenty-seven acres), the property of the City of London. Of the houses the following are interesting:
No. 135, the Grosvenor Gallery, the chief of the many picture-galleries in Bond Street. The house was erected in 1877 for Sir Coutts Lindsey, Bart., and contains a lending library and until recently the Grosvenor Club (proprietary, social and non-political). The doorway, by Palladio, was brought from Venice, and the front is by Soames.
Nos. 15 and 16 are Long's Hotel, much frequented by Sir Walter Scott; it was rebuilt and enlarged in 1888.
At No. 18, now a jeweller's, was Steven's Hotel, fashionable during the Regency, and afterwards a haunt of Lord Byron's.
At No. 169, on the west side, was the Clarendon Hotel, formerly the town house of the Dukes of Grafton, and afterwards the residence, about 1741, of the elder Pitt. The hotel was closed in 1877, and replaced by a row of shops.
Inhabitants: Swift, 1727; Mrs. Delany, 1731; Lords Craven, Abergavenny, and Coventry, 1732; George Selwyn, 1751; Dr. Johnson, 1767; Thomson, the poet; No. 141, Lord Nelson, 1797; 146, Sir Thomas Picton, 1797-1800; 147, Mrs. and Miss Gunning, 1792; 148, Lord Camelford, 1803-04; 150, Lady Hamilton, 1813.
Old Bond Street, and the adjoining Stafford Street, Albemarle and Dover Streets, occupy the site of old Clarendon House, the grounds of which covered nearly 30 acres, granted to Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, by Charles II. The house, described by Evelyn as a noble pile, was erected in 1664, and after being leased, in 1670, to the Duke of Ormonde, was sold in 1675 to the second Duke of Albemarle, who parted with it to Sir Thomas Bond for ��20,000. The latter, in 1686, built Bond Street, the west side of which was first called Albemarle Buildings. Residents: 1708, Lords Coningsby, Abingdon, and Anglesea; 1725, the Duke of St. Albans, Countess of Gainsborough; 1741, Duke of Kingston; 1753, Countess of Macclesfield; at the present No. 41, in 1768, died Laurence Sterne; Pascal Paoli, 1761; Boswell, 1769; No. 24, 1791, Sir Thomas Lawrence, R.A., afterwards the offices of the Artists' Benevolent Institution, founded 1814, the Artists' Orphan Fund, and the Arundel Society for promoting the knowledge of Art, established 1848. These have now been removed.
Halfway down on the west side is the Royal Arcade, a short passage leading to Albemarle Street, containing shops, with a handsome entrance at each end. It was opened in 1883.
In 1820, on the east side, stood another arcade, communicating with the Burlington Arcade, and named the Western Exchange. It failed, and was closed.
In Stafford Street a stone let into the wall of a public-house had the inscription: "This is Stafford Street, 1686." At the corner of Albemarle Street, in 1852, was the Stafford Street Club, formed by Roman Catholics.
Albemarle Street, Grafton Street, and Dover Street contain handsome houses, the residences still of many of the aristocracy. The former was built in 1684-1708 by Sir Thomas Bond, and named after the Duke of Albemarle. Its chief houses are: No. 21, the Royal Institution, established by Count Rumford in 1799, for "diffusing the Knowledge and facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements," etc.; has a stone front, with a row of half engaged Corinthian columns, designed by Louis Vulliamy, and erected in 1837. It contains a lecture-theatre, reading-room, and library of 50,000 volumes. Members are elected by ballot, and courses of lectures are delivered on science, philosophy, literature and art. Eminent men connected with the Institution: Faraday, 1830; Murchison, Lyell, Sedgewick, Whewell, Tyndall, Huxley, Lord Rayleigh, Professor Dewar. The President of the Society is the Duke of Northumberland.
Opposite is St. George's (proprietary) Chapel, a plain building, celebrated for its musical services.
No. 7 is the Royal Thames Yacht Club, instituted in 1823 for the encouragement of yacht building and sailing on the river Thames. It was formerly Grillion's Hotel. Here Louis XVIII. lodged in 1814, and Grillion's Club, formed 1813, had its meetings. The Roxburghe Club dinners also took place here.
No. 13 is the Albemarle Club, established in 1875, admits both sexes as members. Messrs.