Nooks and Corners of English Life, Past and PresentTimbs, John
History
Nooks and Corners of English Life, Past and Present
Timbs, John
England -- Social life and customs
Among the memorials of the Bolingbrokes, in Battersea Church, is the
altar-window, filled with old stained glass, preserved from the former
church, and executed at the expense of the St. Johns. It includes
portraits of Henry VII., his grandmother, the Lady Margaret Beauchamp,
and Queen Elizabeth; together with numerous shields of arms, showing the
alliances of the family.
York House, at Battersea, the mansion of Booth, Archbishop of York, who
died in 1480, and bequeathed it to his successors in the See, was mostly
taken down some sixty years ago. Archbishop Holgate was one of the few
prelates who resided here; he was imprisoned and deprived by Queen Mary
for being a married man, and lost much property by illegal seizure. In
Strype's _Life of Cranmer_, p. 308, it is stated that the officers who
were employed to apprehend the Archbishop rifled his house at Battersea,
and took away from thence 300_l_. of gold coin; 1600 ounces of plate; a
mitre of fine gold, set with very fine diamonds, sapphires, and balists,
other good stones and pearls; some very valuable rings; and the
Archbishop's seal and signet.
There was long a tradition at Battersea that some ancient walls
remaining there were a portion of the residence of the father of Queen
Anne Boleyn. It appears from the monument to Queen Elizabeth, in
Battersea Church, that the Boleyns were related to the St. Johns. Upon
this Sir Richard Phillips contends that at York House, above named,
resided Wolsey, as Archbishop of York. "Here Henry VIII. first saw Anne
Boleyn; and here that scene took place which Shakspeare records in his
play of Henry VIII.; and which he described truly, because he wrote it
for Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, within fifty years of the
event, and must himself have known living witnesses of its verity. Hence
it becomes more than probable, that Sir Thomas Boleyn actually resided
in the vicinity, and that his daughter was accidentally among the guests
at that princely entertainment. I know it is contended that this
interview took place at York House, Whitehall; but Shakspeare makes the
King come by water; and York House, Battersea, was, beyond all doubt, a
residence of Wolsey, and is provided with a creek from the Thames, for
the evident purpose of facilitating in the course by water. Besides, the
owner informed me, that a few years since he had pulled down a superb
room, called 'the ball-room,' the panels of which were curiously
painted, and the divisions silvered. He also stated that the room had a
dome and a richly-ornamented ceiling, and that he once saw an ancient
print, representing the first interview of Henry VIII. with Anne Boleyn,
in which the room was portrayed exactly like the one that, in
modernizing his house, he had found it necessary to destroy."
FOOTNOTES:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account