A Walk from London to FulhamCroker, Thomas Crofton
History
A Walk from London to Fulham
Croker, Thomas Crofton
London (England) -- Description and travel
“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.
[Picture: No. 8 Michael’s Place] 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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