The large room on the east side of Grove House, shown in the annexed sketch, was used as the drawing-room, and measured thirty-two feet by eighteen. It was built by Sir John Macpherson for the purpose of entertaining the Prince Regent.
Grove House was afterwards occupied by Mr. Wilberforce, who, in his diary of the 2nd of July, 1823, notes, "Took possession of our new house at Brompton."
Mr. Wilberforce remained there about a year, and his successor in the tenancy was Mr. Jerdan, the agreeable and well-known editor of the 'Literary Gazette' (1817-50). This house, pulled down in 1846, stood upon the ground which now forms the road entrance to Ovington Square.
A narrow lane, which ran down by the west side of Grove House, led to the Hermitage, a retreat of the much admired Madame Catalani during her sojourn this country, and subsequently converted into an asylum for insane persons. This building was pulled down in 1844, and Grove Place has been erected on its site.
In the house (No. 13 Brompton Grove) which stood a little way back from the road, between Grove House and the Grapes public-house, and which was taken down in December, 1844, and in the previous June, when sketched, occupied by a stone-mason, Mr. Banim lodged from May, 1822, to October, 1824. While residing here, he was engaged in contributing to and editing a short-lived weekly paper, entitled the 'Literary Register,' the first number of which appeared on the 6th of July, 1822, and which publication terminated with the forty-fourth, on the 3rd of May, 1823, when Banim devoted his attention to preparing the 'Tales of the O'Hara Family' for the press. It is a remarkable local coincidence, that Gerald Griffin, who
"To his own mind had lived a mystery,"
the contemporary rival of Banim, as an Irish novelist and dramatist, should have immediately succeeded him in the tenancy of "13 Brompton Grove," as this house was sometimes called.
"About this period (1825) he [Griffin] took quiet, retired lodgings, at a house at Brompton, now a stonemason's, close by Hermitage Lane, which separated it from the then residence of the editor of the 'Literary Gazette,' and a literary intercourse rather than a personal intimacy, though of a most agreeable nature, grew up between them." [48]
On the 10th of November, 1824, Griffin, writing to his brother, commences a letter full of literary gossip with,-
"Since my last I have visited Mr. J--- several times. The last time, he wished me to dine with him, which I happened not to be able to do; and was very sorry for it, for his acquaintance is to me a matter of great importance, not only from the engine he wields-and a formidable one it is, being the most widely-circulated journal in Europe-but, also, because he is acquainted with all the principal literary characters of the day, and a very pleasant kind of man."
To the honest support of the 'Literary Gazette' at this critical period in Griffin's life may be ascribed the struggle which he made for fame and fortune through the blind path of literary distinction. He came a raw Irish lad to the metropolis, with indistinct visions of celebrity floating through his poetical mind; or, as he candidly confesses himself,-
"A young gentleman, totally unknown, even to a single family in London, with a few pounds in one pocket and a brace of tragedies in the other, supposing that the one will set him up before the others are exhausted," which, he admits, "is not a very novel, but a very laughable, delusion."
Banim's kindness-his sympathy, indeed, for Griffin, deserves notice.
"I cannot tell you here," writes the latter, "the many, many instances in which Banim has shown his friendship since I wrote last; let it suffice to say, that he is the sincerest, heartiest, most disinterested being that breathes. His fireside is the only one where I enjoy anything like social life or home. I go out (to Brompton Grove) occasionally in an evening, and talk or read for some hours, or have a bed, and leave next day."
Again, in a letter dated 31st of March, 1824, Griffin says:-
"What would I have done if I had not found Banim? I should have instantly despaired on ****'s treatment of me. I should never be tired of talking about and thinking of Banim. Mark me! he is a man, the only one I have met since I left Ireland, almost. We walked over Hyde Park together on St. Patrick's Day, and renewed our home recollections by gathering shamrocks, and placing them in our hats, even under the eye of John Bull."
Michael's Place, on the same side of the way with the Bunch of Grapes, is railed off from the main Fulham Road, although a public footpath admits the passenger as far as No. 14. It consists of forty-four houses, and was a building speculation of Michael Novosielski, already mentioned, whose Christian name it retains, having been commenced by him in 1786. But the shells of his houses for many years remained unfinished, and in 1811, the two last houses (Nos. 43 and 44) of Michael's Place were not built. Novosielski died at Ramsgate, in 1795; and his widow, for some years after his death, occupied No. 13.
No. 8 Michael's Place, to be recognized by its bay-windows, was, for several years, the residence of the Rev. Dr. Croly, now rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, distinguished in the pulpit by his eloquence, admired as a writer in almost every walk of English literature, and respected and beloved by those who know him. Croly's fame must live and die with our language, which he has grasped with an unrivalled command.
Brompton Square is opposite to the commencement of Michael's Place, to which it will be necessary to return, after a visit to the square.
At No. 6 has lived Mr. John Baldwin Buckstone, the actor-author, or author-actor, so well known and esteemed by the public. And at No. 14 has resided Mr. Edward Fitzwilliam, the musical composer, who died on the 19th of January, 1857, at the early age of 33.
No. 21 was, between the years 1829 and 1833, the residence of Spagnoletti, the leader of the Opera band. He was succeeded in the tenancy by Mrs. Chatterly, a lively and accomplished actress, who continued to occupy the same house after her marriage with Mr. Francis Place.
At No. 22 (which now belongs to the well-known and much respected actor Mr. James Vining, and is at present tenanted by Mr. Shirley Brooks) George Colman the younger died on the 26th of October, 1836, at the age of 74, having removed to this house from No. 5 Melina Place, Kent Road. "He ceased to exist on the 17th of October, 1836," says his medical attendant, in a letter published in the memoirs of the Colman family. But this is an error, as on the 19th of October he appears to have written to Mr. Bunn. The last earthly struggle of George Colman has been thus described:-
"It has never fallen to my lot to witness in the hour of death so much serenity of mind, such perfect philosophy, or resignation more complete. Up to within an hour of his decease he was perfectly sensible of his danger, and bore excruciating pain with the utmost fortitude.
"At one period of his life a more popular man was not in existence," observes Mr. Bunn; "for the festive board of the prince or the peer was incomplete without Mr. Colman. He has left behind him a perpetuity of fame in his dramatic works; and much is it to be lamented that no chronicle has been preserved of his various and most extraordinary jeux-d'esprit. He has, moreover, left behind quite enough of renown, could he lay claim to none other, to be found in the following tribute from the pen of Lord Byron:-'I have met George Colman occasionally, and thought him extremely pleasant and convivial. Sheridan's humour, or rather wit, was always saturnine, and sometimes savage; he never laughed (at least that I saw and I have watched him), but Colman did. If I had to choose, and could not have both at a time, I should say, let me begin the evening with Sheridan, and finish it with Colman. Sheridan for dinner, Colman for supper. Sheridan for claret or port, but Colman for everything, from the madeira and champagne at dinner, the claret with a layer of port between the glasses, up to the punch of the night, and down to the grog or gin-and-water of daybreak. Sheridan was a grenadier company of life-guards, but Colman a whole regiment-of light infantry, to be sure, but still a regiment.'"
The sale of Colman's effects took place on the 29th of November, 1837; among the pictures sold was the well-known portrait of George Colman the elder, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which has been engraved; another by Gainsborough, also engraved; a third in crayons, by Rosalba; and a fourth by Zoffani, which formerly belonged to Garrick, a highly-finished miniature of Shakspeare, by Ozias Humphrey, executed in 1784 (a copy of which, made for the Duchess of Chandos, sold at her sale for £40); some watercolour drawings, by Emery, Mrs. Terry, and others; some engravings; more than 1,000 volumes of French and English books; and a collection of miscellanies, including the MSS. of the elder Colman's most admired productions, and several by George Colman the younger,-amounting in all to twenty-six pieces. John Reeve bought largely of the books; but before two months had elapsed Reeve himself was no more.
No. 23 Brompton Square is occupied by Mr. William Farren, who was for a long period the unrivalled...
