Canonbury was most pleasantly and conveniently situated. We can imagine the beautiful view they had from thence, standing, as it did, in the midst of the country, and surrounded by trees and orchards; in the far distance, in one direction, the silver Thames might be traced for miles; on the other, the old city lying quietly in its picturesque antiquity, and the tower of the Priory Church seen in advance of St. Paul’s, the intervening space not covered as now by buildings, and the atmosphere darkened by dense clouds of smoke. At the general dissolution of Abbeys and religious houses under Henry VIII., the Priory of St. Bartholomew, with the Manor of Canonbury, was surrendered to the King, Oct. 25, 1539. The Manor was, in 1539, bestowed on Thomas, Lord Cromwell, Lord Great Chamberlain of England, the chief instrument in dissolving the Monasteries and depressing the Clergy, Jan. 6th, 1539-40. Cromwell was created Earl of Essex, April 17th, 1540; committed to the Tower, July 9th; accused of high treason and heresy, July 19th; and beheaded, July 28th, when Canonbury reverted to the Crown. It was granted by Edward VI., 1547, in exchange for the site of the Priory of Tamworth, and in consideration of the sum of £1252 6s. 3d., to John Dudley of Warwick. This nobleman mortgaged it in 1549 to John Yorke, Esq., Citizen and Merchant Tailor of London, for £1660, but redeemed it in a very short time, and by deed of conveyance, dated July 18th, 4th of Edward VI., conveyed it back to the King, who after keeping it two years, restored it by a fresh grant to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; who in a few months was attainted and beheaded, August 22nd, 1553, under Queen Mary, who then granted it in 1557 to Thomas Lord Wentworth; who alienated it in 1570 to John, afterwards John Spenser, Knight and Baronet of Walsingfield, Suffolk, from his great wealth called rich Spenser; of whom is related the following anecdote:--In Queen Elizabeth’s time a pirate of Dunkirk laid a plot with twelve of his mates to carry off Sir John Spenser, which, if he had done, £50,000 had not redeemed him. He came over the seas in a shallop, with twelve musketeers, and in the night arrived at Barking Creek, leaving the shallop in custody of six of his men; with the other six he came as far as Islington, and there hid themselves in ditches near the path along which Sir John always came to his house; but by the providence of God, Sir John, upon some extraordinary occasion, was forced to stay in London that night, otherwise they had taken him away; and they, fearing they should be discovered, in the night-time returned to their shallop, and so came safe to Dunkirk again. He died at an advanced age, March 30th, 1609, and was buried at St. Helen’s, Bishopgate.