Carlisle House, Soho

Last updated

Carlisle House was the name of two late seventeenth-century mansions in Soho, London, on opposite sides of Soho Square. One, at the end of Carlisle Street, is sometimes incorrectly said to have been designed by Christopher Wren; it was destroyed in the Blitz. The other was the location of Madame Cornelys' entertainments in the eighteenth century and was demolished in 1791; part of the site was cleared in 1891 for the building of St. Patrick's church.

Contents

Carlisle House, Carlisle Street

This Carlisle House was on the west side of Soho Square, at the end of Carlisle Street. It was probably built between May 1685 and June 1687 by speculative builders, but is often incorrectly attributed to Christopher Wren in the 1660s for the Earls of Carlisle. [1] [2] [3] It was a three-storey house of brown brick with stone band-courses separating the storeys and a triangular pediment ornamented with egg-and-dart moulding below and leaf moulding above. The railings in front were probably a later addition, and fine plasterwork had been added in about 1740 to the staircase and one of the rooms on the first floor. [1]

The house's association with the Carlisles did not begin until 1717 or 1718, when the estranged wife of the third earl inherited it from her mother, the dowager Countess of Essex. Lady Carlisle rented it out from 1718 to 1724 to a James Vernon, possibly either the MP or his son, also an MP, and lived there herself from 1725 until she died in 1752. [1] Her daughter rented it to Thomas Robinson, probably the Secretary of State, and then to the second Baron Chedworth. [1]

In June 1756 the house was bought by John Delaval, later first Baron Delaval, and in March 1764, through a proxy, by Domenico Angelo, the Italian fencing and riding master. He built a riding school in the rear, took in pupils as boarders at 100 guineas (£105) a head, and made the house into London's pre-eminent school of arms and manners. [1] However, he apparently left the house in the early 1780s and after that it was divided between numerous tenants, mostly in the arts, including a wood carver, an art restorer and several prominent painters. A Masonic lodge met in the ballroom. [1] Charles Dickens is thought to have used the house as his model for the lodgings of Dr. Manette and his daughter Lucie in A Tale of Two Cities . [4] [5]

In 1860 it became a Home for Clerical, Medical and Law Students, managed by a Mrs. Whittaker, later known as Whittaker's Private Hotel. In 1873 it became an antique furniture warehouse. From 1899 onwards, a different antiques dealer leased it and redecorated much of the interior. [1] In 1936, it became the offices of the British Board of Film Censors. [6]

The house was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid on 10–11 May 1941, a full-moon night, killing the caretaker and his wife and the local air-raid warden, who had been having tea together. [7] The site of the house was occupied by offices at numbers 10–12 Carlisle Street, built in 1959–60, [1] until their replacement by the Nadler Soho hotel. [8] On the site of the garden and later of the riding academy is Film House, the former headquarters of British Pathé. [5]

Carlisle House, Soho Square

The other Carlisle House was a large mansion on the east side of Soho Square, at the south corner of Sutton Street, with rear buildings on Sutton Street and in Hog Lane, now Charing Cross Road. [9] This was the main house on the square. [10] The first definitely known occupant of this house, in 1685, was Edward Howard, second Earl of Carlisle. [9] While Lady Carlisle lived in the other Carlisle House, this one was the residence of her son, Lord Morpeth, who became the fourth Earl in 1738. [1] [9] There is rumoured to have been a tunnel between the two houses. [5] In 1753, he sold it to an upholstery business, which used the stables and coach house in Hog Lane as their workshop and rented the house to the envoy of the King of Naples, who lived there from 1754 to 1758. An outbuilding on Sutton Street was made into a Catholic chapel for him and his staff. [9] In summer 1759, three special Dutch envoys occupied the house. [9]

In April 1760 it was rented for £180 a year [11] to Teresa (or Theresa) Cornelys, an entertainer and courtesan born in either Vienna [9] or Venice [5] and mother of Casanova's daughter, [12] who had used her married name, Pompeati, in her previous stay in London as an opera singer, and now called herself Madame Cornelys from the first name of her Rotterdam lover, Cornelis de Rigerboos. [9] She made extensive renovations and extensions to the house, creating several sumptuously furnished rooms in the rear of the house along Sutton Street, in particular a concert-hall or ballroom 93 feet (28 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide with a supper-room underneath it 80 feet (24 m) long and 34 feet (10 m) wide and a "Chinese bridge" connecting the house proper to the new rooms. This may have been by Thomas Chippendale, who was one of her many creditors. [9] She used the house to host sensational balls and masquerades, [5] [9] [13] [14] [15] and beginning in 1771, also put on unlicensed operatic performances, for which she was fined. [9] She was eventually arrested, imprisoned and declared bankrupt in 1772, after spending £5,000 in the previous five years alone. The assignees and a group of creditors agreed to offer up the house and its furnishings at auction in its entirety and to jointly bid up to £15,000, but the quick auction did not attract any other bidders and their agents were able to purchase it for £10,200; the other creditors were unsuccessful in trying to have the proceedings nullified. [9] Until 1780, the owners attempted to revive the house's popularity for soirées, with some participation from Mrs. Cornelys but without success. They then announced an Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres, with instruction for foreigners in 'the language, constitution and customs of England' and a Wednesday evening debate series called the School of Eloquence. The rooms continued to be advertised for hire for events, and were popular on Sundays, when few other venues were open. [9]

By September 1783 the premises were advertised to let, and it was empty the following March. In June 1789 the music publisher Thomas Jefferys was occupying it, and the house was demolished in 1791. [9] Madame Cornelys' main assembly rooms in Sutton Street remained; her salon became a Catholic chapel. [13] [16] [17] The house itself was replaced by 1794 with two new houses facing the square; the southern one survives, but the northern was demolished in 1891 when St. Patrick's church was built. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho</span> District in London, England

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster in the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayfair</span> Area of central London, England

Mayfair is an area of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vanbrugh</span> English architect and dramatist

Sir John Vanbrugh was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697), which have become enduring stage favourites but originally occasioned much controversy. He was knighted in 1714.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strand, London</span> Major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, London, England

The Strand is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland, runs just over 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where it becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savile Row</span> Street in Mayfair, London, England

Savile Row is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society at 1 Savile Row, where significant British explorations to Africa and the South Pole were planned; and more recently, the Apple office of the Beatles at 3 Savile Row, where the band's final live performance was held on the roof of the building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho Square</span> Garden square in London, England

Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a de facto public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered statue of the monarch has stood in the square, with an extended interruption, since 1661, one year after the restoration of the monarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Holland (architect)</span> English architect

Henry Holland was an architect to the English nobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almack's</span> Social clubs in 18th-20th century London

Almack's was the name of a number of establishments and social clubs in London between the 18th and 20th centuries. Two of the social clubs would go on to fame as Brooks's and Boodle's. Almack's most famous establishment was based in assembly rooms on King Street, St James's, and was one of a limited number of upper-class mixed-sex public social venues in the British capital in an era when the most important venues for the hectic social season were the grand houses of the aristocracy. The site of the club, Almack's Assembly Rooms or Willis's Rooms, has become retrospectively interchangeable with the club, though for much of the club's lifetime, the rooms offered a variety of other entertainments with no connection to the club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dickens</span> Father of Charles Dickens, clerk in the Royal Navy Pay Office

John Dickens was the father of the famous English novelist Charles Dickens and was the model for Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brompton, London</span> Human settlement in England

Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered village made up mostly of market gardens in the county of Middlesex. It lay southeast of the village of Kensington, abutting the parish of St Margaret's, Westminster at the hamlet of Knightsbridge to the northeast, with Little Chelsea to the south. It was bisected by the Fulham Turnpike, the main road westward out of London to the ancient parish of Fulham and on to Putney and Surrey. It saw its first parish church, Holy Trinity Brompton, only in 1829. Today the village has been comprehensively eclipsed by segmentation due principally to railway development culminating in London Underground lines, and its imposition of station names, including Knightsbridge, South Kensington and Gloucester Road as the names of stops during accelerated urbanisation, but lacking any cogent reference to local history and usage or distinctions from neighbouring settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moll Davis</span> English singer, actress and royal mistress

Mary "Moll" Davis, also spelt Davies or Davys, was a courtesan and mistress of King Charles II of England. She was an actress and entertainer before and during her role as royal mistress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Square</span> Square in Soho, London

Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and south but it is centred 125 metres east of Regent Street and double that NNE of Piccadilly Circus. A small block south is retail/leisure street Brewer Street. The square and its buildings have featured in many works of literature and host many media, advertising and public relations companies that characterise its neighbourhood within Soho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshalsea</span> Former prison in Southwark, London

The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners—including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition—it became known, in particular, for its incarceration of the poorest of London's debtors. Over half of England's prisoners in the 18th century were in jail because of debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manor House, 21 Soho Square</span>

Manor House, 21 Soho Square is a Grade II listed building in the West End of London. It has 17th-century origins but the existing structure dates from 1838. It was originally built in 1678 as a townhouse but through its history has also been a notorious brothel, the headquarters of Crosse & Blackwell and is now an office building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of St Barnabas</span>

The House of St Barnabas, at 1 Greek Street, Soho, is a Grade I Listed Georgian building in London notable for its rococo plasterwork interiors and for other architectural features.

In London, the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the Industrious Classes (MAIDIC) was a Victorian-era, philanthropically-motivated model dwellings company. The association, established in 1841, was fore-runner of the modern housing association which sought to provide affordable housing for the working classes on a privately run basis, with a financial return for investors. Although not the first society to build such homes, the Association was the first to be founded expressly for this purpose. As such it was one of the earliest adopters of the principal of the five per cent philanthropy model, outlined in the Company's resolution: "that an association be formed for the purpose of providing the labouring man with an increase of the comforts and conveniences of life, with full return to the capitalist."

Teresa Cornelys was an operatic soprano and impresario who hosted fashionable gatherings at Carlisle House in Soho Square. She also had numerous lovers, including Casanova, who was the father of her daughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Burlington Street</span> Street in central London

New Burlington Street is a street in central London that is on land that was once part of the Burlington Estate. The current architecture of the street bears little resemblance to the original design of the street when first built in the early eighteenth century.

This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Soho, in the City of Westminster. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Soho viz. Oxford Street to the north, Charing Cross Road to the east, Shaftesbury Avenue to the south and Regent Street to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leicester House, Westminster</span> Aristocratic townhouse in Westminster, London

Leicester House was a large aristocratic townhouse in Westminster, London, to the north of where Leicester Square now is. Built by the Earl of Leicester and completed in 1635, it was later occupied by Elizabeth Stuart, a British princess and former Queen of Bohemia, and in the 1700s by the two successive Hanoverian princes of Wales.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 F.H.W. Sheppard, ed. Survey of London volume 33 The Parish of St. Anne, Soho (north of Shaftesbury Avenue), London County Council, London: University of London, 1966, pp. 143–48, online at British History Online.
  2. ↑ One example of the Wren attribution is Audrey Field, Picture Palace: A Social History of the Cinema, London: Gentry, 1974, ISBN   978-0-85614-029-7, p. 121.
  3. ↑ For its having been built for the Earls of Carlisle, see for example Augustus John Cuthbert Hare, Walks in London, volume 2, 6th ed. London: Allen/New York: Macmillan, 1896, p. 120: "the town-house of the Earls of Carlisle, built in the time of James II."
  4. ↑ Field, p. 122.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Tim Minogue with Robin Stummer, "Soho, farewell then?..." Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine , Cornerstone, The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 2009.
  6. ↑ Field, p. 121.
  7. ↑ Field, pp. 138–39.
  8. ↑ Find us, The Nadler Soho, retrieved 5 September 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 F.H.W. Sheppard, ed. Survey of London volume 33 The Parish of St. Anne, Soho (north of Shaftesbury Avenue), London County Council, London: University of London, 1966, pp. 73–79, online at British History Online.
  10. ↑ John Richardson, The Annals of London: A Year-by-Year Record of a Thousand Years of History, London: Cassell/Berkeley: University of California, 2000, ISBN   9780304354634/9780520227958, p. 161.
  11. ↑ Kate Chisholm, "Those other swinging Sixties", review of Judith Summers' The Empress of Pleasure, The Daily Telegraph 23 November 2003.
  12. ↑ Judith Summers, Casanova in Soho, The Museum of Soho.
  13. 1 2 Hare, p. 120.
  14. ↑ Charles Dickens, "Some London Clearings: Soho", All the Year Round 13 June 1885, pp. 309–12, p. 311.
  15. ↑ Roy Porter, London: A Social History, London: Hamilton, 1994, repr. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1995, ISBN   978-0-674-53838-2, p. 177.
  16. ↑ Dickens, p. 312.
  17. ↑ According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), volume 15, p. 593, in 1792.

51°30′54″N0°07′55″W / 51.515°N 0.132°W / 51.515; -0.132

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.