CHELSEA,
In the Olden & Present Times.

BY GEORGE BRYAN.

“It is not given to all to have genius—it is given to all to have honesty of purpose; an ordinary writer may have this in common with the greatest—that he may compose his works with a sincere view of administering to knowledge.”—Bulwer Lytton.

Entered at Stationers’ Hall.

CHELSEA:
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR,
4, ALFRED COTTAGES, CAMERA SQUARE, KING’S ROAD.
MAY BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1869.

PREFACE.

There are circumstances in connection with the publication of this volume which I deem it necessary to mention.  Some persons probably have thought that such an undertaking should have devolved on an individual possessing greater literary attainments, and occupying a higher position in the parish than I do in it.  To this impression I willingly give my assent.  But this has not been the case; and the length of time (upwards of forty years) since the late Mr. Faulkner published his “History of Chelsea,” and the consequent difficulty of procuring a copy—independently of the fact that much contained in that work is now altogether devoid of interest, and also that, from the great improvements and alterations in the parish, there required many additions to be made to it—induced me, in the decline of life, to undertake the present task.

As an additional justification for the course I have pursued, it must not be forgotten that Chelsea is my native parish, and that I have possessed peculiar facilities for acquiring the necessary information; and, moreover, that in early life I composed in type a great portion of Mr. Faulkner’s first edition, and at a subsequent period was employed as the printing-office reader of his edition in two volumes.  This gave me frequent opportunities of seeing him, and witnessing his laborious exertions to produce a work as complete “as the utmost diligence, care, and patience enabled him to collect.”  I cannot but think that these considerations—combined with the fact of my having been, for many years since that period, connected with the press in London—will remove all impressions of assumption, on my part, for submitting the present volume to the impartial judgment of the parishioners and the public.

I have purposely avoided all dry details of parochial management, &c., as being foreign to the nature of the work and rendered now unnecessary in consequence of the voluminous Annual Vestry Reports, which may easily be obtained.  My object has rather been to make the volume interesting, as far as possible, without being guilty of “book-making.”

The work embodies all the essential and interesting information that could be obtained, with a great amount of original matter, and should the volume not appear so bulky as some might have expected, it is simply owing to the rejection of extraneous subjects.

That the intelligent working-man, and persons of limited means, might possess the work, I published a certain number of copies at a very great sacrifice, trusting that the motive would be rather an inducement than otherwise for others to purchase the volume.  Local histories, unlike other works, can only have a small circulation, and the price charged for them must be necessarily regulated by the probable number that will be sold.

In conclusion, I beg to offer my grateful acknowledgments for the kindness and assistance which I have received from several gentlemen, and now submit the result of my labours to the favourable criticism, and I trust remunerative patronage of the inhabitants and others interested in a parish which, in many points of view is unusually interesting and instructive.

August, 1869.

INDEX.

(The figures at the end of each line denote the page.  Notices of Distinguished Residents are interspersed throughout the volume.)

Alston House, 92

Aston, the Misses, 152

Ashburnham House, 55

Atterbury, Dr., 78

Arbuthnot, Dr. John, 80

Astell, Mrs. Mary, 183

Atkyns, Sir Robert, 219

Boundaries of Chelsea, 8

Bray, Lord, 5

Bell, The Ashburnham, 10

Bowes, Thomas, 15

Buckingham House, 35

Buckingham, First Duke of, 35

Buckingham, Second Duke of, 36

Bristol, Earl of, 36

Beaufort House,