Transcribed from the 1856 J. Russell Smith edition by DavidPrice, . Many thanks to RoyalKensington Libraries for allowing their copy to be used for thistranscription.
THE
MEMORIALS OF THE HAMLET
OF
KNIGHTSBRIDGE.
With Notices of its ImmediateNeighbourhood.
BY THELATE
HENRY GEORGE DAVIS.
EDITEDBY
CHARLES DAVIS.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY J. RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO-SQUARE;
AND TO BEHAD OF MR. DAVIS, ST. PAUL’S SCHOOLS,KNIGHTSBRIDGE.
1859.
p. iiLONDON:
TAYLOR AND GREENING, PRINTERS,GRAYSTOKE-PLACE,
FETTER-LANE, HOLBORN.
p.iiiPREFACE.
In presenting the Memorials of Knightsbridge to the public,apology must be made for the delay in its appearance since theannouncement of its intended publication. This wasoccasioned by the sudden and protracted illness of its Editor:since his restoration, he has prosecuted the work with all thediligence which his time permitted.
The book is published in the hope that its critics may treatits Author kindly, since the brain that indited it is, alas! nomore. It is the result of great assiduity and perseveranceamidst peculiar difficulties, and was only completed just beforethe death of the compiler, who, towards its close, had labouredat it with greater energy than his weakened frame ought properlyto have borne.
The immediate motive for publication was the Editor’sregard, it might almost be termed veneration, for its writer,seconded by favourable opinions expressed by several literarygentlemen who perused the manuscript, and knowledge that manynotices by the same hand had already appeared in “Notes andQueries,” “The West Middlesex Advertiser,” andthe various local papers that have occasionally been published inthe neighbourhood.
The work was written from notes made at various times, somehaving been taken when its author was yet a boy. It maytherefore be described as the labour of his short and painfullife; and it was felt that so long as the result p. ivof hisapplication was laid aside, so long did the Editor’s dutyto his brother remain unperformed.
As some little notice of our historian may be desirable, thefollowing sketch is subjoined:—
Henry George Davis was born at 4, Mill’s Buildings, onAugust 14th, 1830. While an infant he had severeinflammation of the lungs, which afterwards became confirmedpleurisy. He was educated at the Philological School in theNew Road. Of this Institution he was to the last fond andproud. Having carried off many of its prizes, he alwaysfelt an identity with it. He was of a studi