CHAPTER 5

Brook-St., Holborn • November 30th, 1796, Wednesday morning

The place where we have alighted is the Corner of Brook-St. and Beauchamp-St., Holborn. The bustle hereabouts is due to it offering Entry to and Egress from Brook-Market, which has a Shambles, Stalls and a Market-House, and is well known for its Meat.

Imagine! Only a year or so ago, Mrs. Greensword would have come here—if not by Choice, then certainly Convenience—to buy Meats to roast, boil, braise, stew, salt, &c. &c., to serve to her Family for Dinner and perhaps for Tea as well. Our purpose today is not to inspect the Market, however; we have other Fish to fry.

When Mr. Strype updated old Mr. Stowe’s Survey of Holborn, he declared “Brook street is the Best, being a good Handsome long Street, with new Built Houses, well inhabited”.[1] I admit his Survey is a little out of date. The Houses on Brook-St. are not new built, although not nearly as old as the Hearsay Mr. Jesse & Mr. Thornbury drew upon to denigrate Fox-Ct.!

I beg your Pardon? Why, I refer to my Commentary during our Journey here. If you do not remember it, then never mind. Let us enjoy our Stroll along Brook-St. to High Holborn-Rd. We will pass the former Abode of Mr. & Mrs. Greensword on our way.

Fellow Pedestrian, it occurs to me you must be wondering how Brook-St. acquired its Name. I am pleased to be able to satisfy your Curiosity. I happened to mention your Holborn connexions at a recent Meeting of the Royal Society of Genealogists. The young Nephew of a Colleague piped up with Information on the Subject, stating that Brook “street and market derive their name from standing on the site of Brook House, the ancient Residence of Sir Fulk Grevil, Lord Brook”.[2] The name Grevil, now commonly spelled Greville in the modern French style, is commemorated by the Street of that Name, which runs off Brook-St. We are almost there.

You can see it on the Map, yes? No? Pass it here then, and I will shew you.

Figure 8. Brook-St., Fox-Ct. and St. Andrew’s Church, Holborn, shown on a detail from Cary’s New And Accurate Plan Of London And Westminster, 1795. N.B.  The Publisher of the Present Work bears no Responsibility whatsoever for the Appearance of Mr. Cary’s Map herein.

No. No. Really, no, not at all. It hardly matters the Map is defaced.

But let me say, there are several Inaccuracies in the Route you have drawn. Your red Stripes and dotted Lines mark neither the way we have come nor the way we will go. Once we reach the end of Brook-St., we will turn Left and walk straight along High-Holborn, passing Furnivall’s Inn (no. 41 on the Map) on our way to St. Andrew’s Church (no. 9). No, I rather doubt there will be time to “pop in” to Furnivall’s or to Robin-Hood-Yard, either. Come along.

I cannot say exactly when Mr. & Mrs. Greensword vacated Fox-Ct. for Brook-St., but I am able to lend a degree of Precision to my Estimate. It is true that Mr. Greensword paid Land Tax to Mr. Neave, Esq. on his Property in Fox-Ct. in 1782, but I have every reason to believe the Greensword Family removed from that Abode during the Summer of that year.

Our Protagonists’ next Child, his father’s Namesake, was christened on the 4th of August 1782. The Parish Register records Joseph’s parents’ Address as Brook-St. By 1783, Mr. Greensword’s Taxes were paid for a Property on the West Side of Brook-St. On the 8th of August 1784, St. Andrew’s records the Baptism of a fifth Greensword son, Charles.

It is not until 1785 that the Historical Record sees fit to disclose the Number of the House in which your Kin dwelt.

I ascertained this important fact from a Policy our Protagonist took out with the Sun Fire Insurance company.

According to the relevant documentation, Mr. Joseph Greensword, School-Master, purchased Insurance in 1785. The value of the insured Property was £200; its Location was no. 25, Brook-St., Holborn.[3] We are now mere yards away from this topographical Landmark in your Genealogy, my Friend!

In this house, Mistress Sarah bore three more children. Another boy was baptised John in February 1787, suggesting his older brother, John William, had gone to his Grave, not that I have found a Burial Record. Evidently named for Mr. Greensword’s father, the second John perished at the age of 4-months.

Benjamin Grace Greensword, Mr. & Mrs. Greensword’s eighth child, was christened on the 8th Day of April in 1790. There is no doubt that his second Name, Grace, is for his Mother’s family.

This is a Practice I commend to Clients desirous that some Clue be left by which their own existence might be discovered many Centuries hence. Should they have failed to do so when naming their own Progeny, they should not hesitate to make such recommendations to their Children, Grandchildren, impressionable Great-Grandchildren or, in the case of the childless, Nieces, Nephews or Cousins. Such Readers should not feel embarrassed or apologise for meddling. But I digress.

At long last, a second baby Girl arrives! Georgia Britannia Greensword, evidently named for King and Country, was baptised on the 26th of April 1791. I believe her to be the last of Joseph and Sarah’s offspring.

Your Relations were still living at no. 25, Brook-St. the following year, this being known from the Records of Sun Fire Insurance, although Mr. Greensword was no longer the holder of the Policy.

An Insurance Claim lodged on the 11th of May of 1792 names the Insurer as Mr. Thomas Sherrin, Butcher, and the Insured as Mr. Joseph Greensword, School-Master. I am presently unable to provide further Information as to the nature of the Claim because the Office of the Insurer impedes free access to its Records. I shall therefore refrain from Speculation—I can only hope that there is no connexion between a contemporaneous burial of a Greensword child, and the insurable Incident (see Fn. below).[4]

Stop! Yes, this House here, no. 39! It of some minor Historical Interest due to an Event that occurred on the 24th of August, 1770. In one of its attic rooms, a young Poet, newly come to the London from Bristol, took his life. Mr. Thomas Chatterton was only 17-years-old.

Figure 9. Chatterton’s House, Brook-Street, Holborn. Façade of the house in which he died. Wood-engraving with letterpress, 1857. British Museum.

Do not mistake my Purpose in drawing your attention to this Edifice!

I do so only because I have found no likeness of the House at no. 25, Brook-St. In spite of the birth and, I regret to tell you, death, of so many of Joseph and Sarah Greensword’s children there, no Artist, great or small, thought to record the Appearance of their House.

My esteemed Companion, do you think Mr. Chatterton’s House will suffice as a Representation of the Architecture of Brook-St., if not no. 25 specifically?[5] Hmm?

By 1794, Mr. Greensword was paying Land Taxes on the Property in Brook-St. and another in nearby Hatton-Wall. He rented the Hatton-Wall Premises the previous year, this being indicated by a recent Discovery of my Own.

I was relaxing with a Pot of Tea and a copy of the 1793 edition of Wakefield’s Merchant and Trades-man’s General Directory, procured at a Flea Market, when I spied a mention of your Ancestor! Mr. Greensword is listed as the Proprietor of an Academy in Hatton-Wall.[6]

I was naturally inspired to search previous and subsequent Editions of this Publication. I found no other mention of Mr. Greensword, but please be aware that the London Directories cannot be relied upon to include every Merchant and Tradesmen in Business at the Time of Publication.

It occurs to me that our School-Master may have been employed at an Academy prior to the Establishment of his School in Hatton-Wall, and perhaps before he took up his Appointment at the United Society’s School.

I do believe I have found a likely Candidate!

Mr. Neale’s Mathematical School is located in Hatton-Gardens, a mere 10th of a mile from Hatton-Wall! The Proximity is quite compelling, not to mention the consonance between Mr. Neale’s School and Mr. Greensword’s Expertise. According to Mrs. Jones, the School “was endowed by Joseph Neale in 1705 to provide instruction for lads attending … charity schools in the Art of Navigation, to make them fit for Sea Service, either on Men-of-War or Merchantmen. It was opened in 1715”.[7] I admit I have no Grounds upon which to build the Thesis that Mr. Greensword taught at Neale’s School. If nothing else, its existence testifies to the demand for Navigation and Mathematics education.

I regret to say that in April 1794, Mr. & Mrs. Greensword were beset by further Tragedy. Their 4th son, Joseph, died at the age of 12. Less than 12-months-later, his brother Benjamin Greensword, of St. Andrews, Holborn, aged 5, died and he was buried on the 30 January 1795.

I find no further Records of the School-Master and his family in the Parish after 1795. I can only assume that sometime during that year, if not earlier this year, viz. 1796, that the Family removed to Rotherhithe. Georgia Britannia? May I refer the Reader to Fn. 4.

This completes our Tour of Brook-St. With impeccable timing, if I do say so myself, we have arrived at Holborn-Hill-Rd. Here we turn left and need walk only as far as Shoe-Lane, upon which Corner stands the Church of St. Andrews—a Walk of about a ¼ of a mile.[8] This way if you please.

Come, come, there is no Time to Dilly-Dally! What stays your feet?

Most certainly not. There is no Time! We must go directly to the Church or my Surprise will be quite Spoiled. Perhaps afterward, then. I dare say you will want to see Hatton-Wall as well as Fox-Ct.

For now, let me draw your attention to that Vast Building to our Left. It is Furnivall’s Inn. That’s right, no. 41 on the Map. It is an Inn of the Chancellery attached to Lincoln Inn, one of the Inns of Court. Among other things, it has Offices and Accommodations for those that Train in the Legal Professions. Parts of it were built in the Middle Ages.

Sadly, I am led to believe it will be demolished in the not too distant Future;—shall I include an Engraving in the printed Account of our Tour? After all, Furnivall”s Inn would have been a familiar Sight for your Greensword Forebears.

§

Reader, I was relieved my Client agreed, for I had already been in touch with Mr. Ireland! His latest Composition, which includes picturesque Views of some Inns of Court, is underway. He was most flattered to receive my Request to reproduce the Etching below.

Mr. Ireland charged me no Fee, no doubt because his Reputation was recently besmirched by a Forgery Scandal involving Documents erroneously attributed to Wm. Shakespeare. His next Work has an anticipated Publication date of 1800, well before our own goes to Press.

Figure 10. Furnival’s Inn, Mr. Samuel Ireland, Picturesque Views, with an Historical Account of the Inns of Court, in London and Westminster, London, printed by Mr. C. Clarke, Northumberland-Ct., Strand, & published by Mr. R. Faulder, New Bond-St., and Mr. J. Egerton, Whitehall, 1800, p. 163. Etching and aquatint.

I must say, when the Tourist and I hurried past the Inn that day, there was considerably more Traffic than Mr. Ireland’s Etching indicates! The Fore-court and Street-front were quite congested with Carts, Carriages, Men on Horseback and Pedestrians.

I was rather grateful, for I can only imagine that it was as a Result of the grandeur of the Architecture and the liveliness of the Thoroughfare that my Client and I reached our Destination without further Complaint.

[1] Mr. John Strype, A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark: Containing the Original, Antiquity, Increase, Present State anyd Government of those Cities; Written at first in the year 1698, by John Stow Citizen and Native of London; Corrected, Improved, and very much Enlarged, in the year 1720, by John Strype, Native also of the Said City; The Survey and History brought down to the Present Time by Careful Hands; Illustrated with Exact Maps of the City and Suburbs and all of the Wards; and likewise, of the Out-Parishes of London and Westminster, and the Country ten Miles round London. Together with many Fair Draughts of the most Eminent Buildings; The Life of the Author, written by Mr. Strype is Prefixed. And, at the End is added, an Appendix; Of certain Tracts, Discourses, and Remarks on the State of the City of London, &c. &c. 6th edition, volume 1, book 3, chapter 12, London, printed for Mr. W. Innys and Mr. J. Richardson and Mr. P. Knapton, Mr. S. Birt, Mr. R. Ware, Messrs. T. and T. Longman, Mr. W. Meadows, Mr. J. Clarke, Mr. H. Whitridge, Mr. D. Browne, Mr. E. Wicksteed, Mr. J. Ward, and Mr.C. Bathurst, 1754–1755, p. 729.

[2] Mr. James Elmes, A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs, Containing Descriptive and Critical Accounts of All the Public and Private Buildings, Offices, Docks, Squares, Streets, Lanes, Wards, Liberties, Charitable Institutions, Commercial, Charitable, Scholastic and Other Establishments, with Lists of Their Officers, Patrons, Incumbents of Livings, &c. &c. &c. in the British Metropolis, Mr. Henry Bayliss, Johnson’s-Ct., Fleet-St., and Messrs. Whitaker, Treacher and Arnot, Ave-Maria-Lane, London, 1831, p. 93

[3] Unique Project ID 115659, Register Date/ Company/ Reference 1785 SUN 1 326 04\05\79 ML Policy Number 500195, Fire Insurance Registers: Fire Insurance Policy Register, 1777-1786, 1785, London Lives, https://www.londonlives.org/browse.jsp?foo=bar&path=fire/fire_1780_1785_537.xml&div=fire_1780_1785_537_115659  Reader, please excuse this gobbledygook. Goodness knows what the Type-Setter was thinking.

[4] On the 5th of April 1792, a Child named Geo. Greensword, of St. Andrew’s Holborn, is buried in the same Burial Ground in which Joseph’s and Sarah’s other deceased children are interred. Most astute, Reader! Mr. & Mrs. Greensword did indeed have a child named George. He was their second Son, but it seems unlikely it was he, since by 1792 he would have been 16-years-old. The Child in question was 2-years and 3-months old, a little too old to have been Georgia, unless her Christening was uncharacteristically delayed. In any case, I have no further News of either George or Georgia at this Time.

[5] “Thomas Chatterton’s House, Brook-Street, Holborn, London”, The Illustrated London News, 21st March 1857.

[6] Mr. Roger Wakefield, Wakefield’s Merchant and Tradesman’s General Directory for London: Westminster, Borough of Southwark and Twenty-two Miles Circular from St. Paul’s, for the Year, 1793. Containing an Accurate List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Merchants, Manufacturers, and Principal Tradesmen, London, printed by Mr. T. Davidson, 1794, p. 363.

[7] Mrs. Mary Gwladys Jones, The Charity School Movement: A Study of Eighteenth Century Puritanism in Action, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1938, p. 82.

[8] Mr. James Elmes, A Topographical Dictionary of London and Its Environs, etc, etc., 1831, p. 93.