12 s. ii. AUG. 12, me.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
133
ST. LUKE'S, OLD STREET :
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
(12 S. i. 426.)
THERE is a very interesting and concise history of St. Luke's in that useful series of short histories known as ' The Fascination of London,' edited by Sir Walter Besant. St. Luke's occupies the second portion of a volume by G. E. Mitton, who devotes the first to Clerkenwell, the two parishes comprising the present Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. This book was published by Adam & Charles Black in 1906. A little later, practically the whole volume, with a few minor corrections and additions, was used in that great monument of Sir Walter's industry, ' The Survey of London ' ; this was a series of large quartos, the volumes not being numbered, but bearing sub-titles, the one containing the history of St. Luke's being known as ' North of the Thames.'
I have the good fortune to possess a copy of " the scarce and singular work," ' The History of Old Street,' described by MB. ALECK ABRAHAMS at the reference given above. This copy came to me from the library of my uncle, the late Dr. George Eugene Yarrow, who lived for a great many years in Old Street, being Medical Officer of Health for St. Luke's. In a few minor points my copy differs from MR. ABRAHAMS' s description e.g., mine has 3 pp. of preface and 12 pp. of text or matter; of these 6 pp. (viz. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8) are not numbered ; pp. 3 and 4 are numbered at the foot of the ornamental borders ; while pp. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are correctly numbered at the top right- hand corner of the page. Each leaf being printed on one side only, the book consists entirely of right-hand pages. Adams & King is given as the name of the firm alike on the title-page, the colophon, and throughout the book, with one exception only, that on the first page of the text, where it appears as Adams & Co. The address on the title-page is given as Goswell Street, and on the colophon as 30 Goswell Street. Three or four of the earlier pages of the text give the address as 118 Old Street, St. Luke's, or simply Old Street. This is explained in the preface as being due to the fact that
" the information was not always at hand when required, and when obtained, business and other matters would frequently prevent its being used, hence delay, and will account for some of the Leaves having thereon our old address."
The best clue to the date of publication is
to be found in the dedication :
" To the Rev. John Saunders, M. A., The Church wardens, Sidesmen, Overseers, Guardians, The Trustees of the various Charities, and John Parsons, Esq., Vestry Clerk of the Parish of Saint Luke, Old Street, &c.
According to Hennessy's edition (1898) of Newcourt's ' Novum Repertorium,' John Saunders, M.A., was appointed Rector of St. Luke's on Jan. 11, 1845, by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, and remained so until his decease on Dec. 22, 1873 (vide ' Registers of Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's/ vol. vii. folio 195). At the time of his preferment to St. Luke's he was Rector of St. Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street, B.C. He was a graduate of St. John's College, Cambridge: B.A. 1829, M.A. 1835. This edition of the 'Novum Repertorium ' has a few notes on the church itself, in which we are told that it was built in 1733 by Mr. James, a pupil of Wren; and that, the soil being marshy, it was necessary to build on piles. Miss Mitton, on the other hand, in her ' History of St. Luke's ' says that the church was built in 1732 by G. Dance, when the- parish was formed out of that of St. Giles, Cripplegate. Which is right ?
Like MR. ALECK ABRAHAMS, I deplore the absence of a monograph devoted to the history of the church, but I cannot help, reminding those interested that practically every general history or description or London and its churches gives some mention of St. Luke's, Old Street. There are also the- Vestry Minutes, and the Reports of the Medical Officer of Health, &c., containing much valuable information. I might also mention the large and valuable library attached to the French Hospital (or Hospice) in the Victoria Park Road, South Hackney. This hospital for poor French Protestants residing in Great Britain was founded in 1708 by M. de Gastigny, a French gentleman^ Master of the Hounds to King William III. when Prince of Orange. The society formerly had its head-quarters in Old Street, and has many papers, &c., in its library relating to the early history of the society. It is generally acknowledged to have the finest collection existent of works relating to Huguenot history.
Excellent short accounts of St. Agnes le Clair, Perilous Pond (Peerless Pool), the Artillery Ground, Tabernacle Walk, Finsbury Fields, and other places in St. Luke's or adjoining Old Street, will be found in. Wheatley's ' London, Past and Present.'
G. YARROW BALDOCK, Major.
