Owing to unavoidable circumstances it was not possible to include Charlton in the foregoing chapter on private gardens, but some account of this place of historic interest is necessary to complete this book. Further from the centres of fashion, on the eastern limits of London, it has not been the scene of such brilliant assemblies as Holland House on the west; yet its early days share that speculative fascination which gathers round the personality of Henry, Prince of Wales, who figures for such a short time on the pages of English history. Only two miles from Greenwich, in the hundred of Blackheath, lies the manor of Charlton, which was bestowed by William the Conqueror on his half-brother, Odo of Bayeux. Later on it passed by gift to the Priory of Bermondsey, and so remained until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it became crown land until James I. gave it to Sir Adam Newton, “who built a goodly brave house” thereon. Born in Scotland, Sir Adam had spent much of his life in France, and passing himself off as a priest, had taught Greek at St. Maixant in Poitou. On his return to Scotland in 1600, he was appointed tutor to Prince Henry, and was in attendance on him as secretary when the Prince grew up. In 1607 he commenced to build Charlton for him, Inigo Jones being the architect, and after the Prince’s death in 1612, the King granted Sir Adam the manor, in lieu of payment for the expenses he had incurred in building the house. The owner of Charlton continued to enjoy royal favour, became Treasurer of the Household to Prince Charles, was created a baronet in 1620, and married a daughter of Sir John Puckering, who had been Keeper of the Great Seal to Queen Elizabeth. His second son, Sir Henry Newton, who succeeded him at Charlton, and took the name of Puckering from estates inherited from his uncle, was an ardent supporter of Charles I. He sold the property to Sir William Ducie, Viscount Downe, at whose death it was again sold. The purchaser, Sir William Langhorne, was a wealthy East India merchant, who was, from 1670 to 1677, Governor of Madras. On his death it passed by entail to his cousin Mrs. Maryon, and eventually to her great-granddaughter, the wife of Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, in whose family Charlton still remains.