Westminster | Page 9

It was the sort of place that took the sharpness off charity by covering it with a sheath of that dignity which is always to be found in antiquity.
By Lady Dacre's will there were to be twenty almspeople, and each of them was at liberty to bring up one child. It was, however, not until the year 1728 that a school was first established, for before that the funds had been insufficient.
In 1890 thirteen of the almshouses stood empty from failure of income, and subsequently it was resolved to demolish the almshouses and offer the present valuable site for building purposes. It is not the intention of the trustees to erect new almshouses. The charity will in future be entirely in money pensions known as Lady Dacre's pensions.
Caxton Street was originally called Chapel Street, but was renamed in honour of the great printer, who lived for some years at a house in the Almonry, now replaced by the Westminster Palace Hotel (see p. 34).
On the south side of the street is a curious little square brick building with the figure of a Bluecoat boy over the porch, and the inscription on a slab, "The Blue Coat School, built in the year 1709." On the back is a large painting of a similar boy and the date of foundation: "This School founded 1688." A small garden stretches out behind. The building itself contains simply one hall or classroom, which is decorated by an ornamental dental cornice, and has a curious inner portico with fluted columns over the doorway. It is supposed to have been built by the great Sir Christopher. The Master's house, covered with Virginia creeper, stands on one side of the main building.
The school was first established in Duck Lane, and was instituted by Thomas Jekyll, D.D., one of the chaplains of the Broadway Chapel. It is said to have been the first school in the Metropolis supported by voluntary contributions. It was at first for boys only, but in 1713 twenty girls were included in the scheme, but these were afterwards dispersed and only the boys retained. Westminster was exceptionally rich in these foundations of the charitable, both for the young and for the old.
Further eastward, on the north side of Caxton Street, is the Medical School in connection with Westminster Hospital. The Town Hall stands close by. The foundation-stone was laid by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. In the muniment-room there are preserved 3,400 records, etc., of exceptional interest. Here, also, are the St. Ermin's Mansions and Hotel, which derive their name from St. Ermin's Hill, evidently a corruption of Hermit's Hill, under which name the place is marked in some old maps.
Christ Church is of considerable size. It is of the last century (1843), and its stumpy tower, which is incomplete, gives it an odd appearance. The church is on the site of the Broadway Chapel, founded by Darrell, a Prebendary of the Abbey, who in 1631 left ￡400 for its erection. Various subscriptions were added to this sum, including one of ￡100 from Archbishop Laud. The churchyard had been consecrated in 1626. The chapel was opened 1642, and saw many vicissitudes of fortune. During the Civil War it was used as a stable for the soldiers' horses, and at other times as a council-room and a prison. In the churchyard Sir William Waller, the Parliamentary General, is buried.
York Street was named after Frederick, Duke of York, son of George II., who resided here temporarily. Previously it had been called Petty France, from the number of French refugees and merchants who inhabited it. Milton lived in No. 19, now destroyed. The house belonged to Jeremy Bentham, and was afterwards occupied by Hazlitt, who caused a tablet bearing the words "Sacred to Milton, Prince of Poets," to be placed on the outside wall in memory of his famous predecessor.
Milton came here in 1651, when turned out of chambers in Scotland Yard which had been allowed him as Latin Secretary to the Council. He still retained the office. He had lost the sight of one eye, and two years later was totally blind. He was obliged to have an assistant-secretary, a post occupied for some time by Andrew Marvell. His daughter Deborah was born here, and his wife died soon after. In Palmer's Passage, Palmer's Almshouses were first established, and in Little Chapel Street, Mr. Nicholas Butler's. Mr. Cornelius Vandon's (Van Dun) were in Petty France. "Cornelius Vandon was born at Breda in Brabant, Yeoman of the Guard and Usher to their Majesties Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Marie and Queen Elizabeth. He did give eight almshouses in Pettie France next to the end of James Street for the use of eight poor Women of the Parish. He did also give eight other Almshouses near St. Ermin's Hill by