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Drapers for their erection and endowment. He was an officer of the lord mayor's court, and died in 1729 worth £80,000, all of which he is said to have obtained by harsh acts of justice in his capacity as a city officer. Bancroft was a most eccentric charac ter, and desired that the lid of his coffin should have a square of glass in it, that it should not be fastened down, and that it should remain above ground. This was conformed to, a conditional bequest being attached to the fulfilment of it. He lies in Saint Helen's Church, Great Saint Helen's, Bishopsgate Street.

WARDS.

Though I cannot ascertain the time, says Maitland, when this city (London) was at first divided into wards; yet I am of opinion that the first division thereof was not on account of the government, but rather that London, like other cities and towns of the kingdom, was anciently held of the Saxon kings and nobility in demean, and whose several properties therein, being so many sokes or liberties, were under the immediate dominion of their respective lords, who were the governors or wardens thereof; whence, I imagine, arose the Saxon appellation ward, which signifies a quarter or district: this opinion is not only corroborated by the wards of Baynard's Castle, Farringdon, Coleman Street, and Basinghall or Bassishaw's, still retaining the names of their ancient proprietors, but also by the other wards of the city being alienable; which, upon alienation, the purchaser or purchasers became the proprietor or proprietors thereof, with the additional epithets of alderman or aldermen.

ALDGATE WARD.

One of the twenty-six wards of London, and so called from Aldgate, a gate or postern in the city wall, towards the east.

When the Saxons first possessed themselves of this city, they found this gate sorely decayed, and more ruinous than any of the rest, therefore they imposed the epithet of eald, or ald, upon it; i.e., old.

QUEENHITHE WARD.

The original name of Queenhithe was Edrid's hithe, or harbour. In Henry the Third's time it fell to the crown, and was called Ripa Regina, or the Queen's Wharf. It was probably part of her majesty's pin-money, by the attention paid to her interest.

CHEAP WARD.

Cheap Ward, derives its name from the Saxon word chepe, a market, once applied to our Cheapside, which was formerly called West Cheap, in order to distinguish it from East Cheap.

VINTRY WARD.

Vintry Ward comprises a part of the north bank of the Thames, where the merchants of Bordeaux formerly bonded and sold their wines the word vintry, is derived from vine-tree.

BILLINGSGATE WARD.

Billingsgate, which "the ladies of the British Fishery" (as Addison has humorously designated them) have rendered of such notoriety, boasts of having had for an alderman the patriotic Beckford, a great scolder! The derivation of Billingsgate is very ancient, being from Belin, King of Britain, about 400 years before Christ, who built a gate, and named it Belin's Gate, after himself.

BISHOPSGATE WARD.

A modern author conjectures this ward, says Maitland, to have derived its appellation from Erkenwald, Bishop of London, who first erected it, about anno 675; but I suppose it to have been so called, out of compliment to that excellent bishop, William Norman, who seems to have delighted in nothing more than doing good to the citizens.

CRIPPLEGATE WARD.

Westward from Moorgate stood Cripplegate, from whence this word takes its name. It was so denominated from the number of cripples who anciently begged there.

ALDERSGATE WARD.

The name of this ward is derived from the gate which stood here. Stow, speaking of this gate, says: " Ældresgate, or Aldersgate, so called, not of Aldrich or of Elders, that is to say, ancient men builders thereof; nor of Eldarne trees growing there more abundantly than in other places, as some have fabled; but from the very antiquity of the gate itself, as being one of the first four gates of the city, and serving for the northern parts, as Aldgate for the east; which two gates being both old gates, are, for difference sake, called the one Ealdegate, and the other Aldersgate."

FARRINGDON WARDS.

These aldermanries, i. e., Farringdon Within and Farringdon Without, were formerly but one; and which was conveyed by John le Fenere, for an equivalent, to William Farringdon, citizen and goldsmith, in the year 1281, in whose possession, and that of his son, it continued about eighty years; and whose enjoyment

thereof by name (although now divided into two), is like to be coeval with time. Farringdon Without is by far the largest Ward, and so called from its being without the walls.

BREAD STREET WARD.

Bread Street, which gives denomination to the ward, was so called from a Bread market, anciently held there, during which time the city bakers were not permitted to sell bread at home, but were obliged to dispose thereof in this market.

LANGBOURNE WARD.

So denominated from a brook, or bourne, which ran through this locality, and which, being of some length, was called Longbourne, now corruptly Lang-bourne.

DOWGATE WARD.

This ward derives its name from a dock or water gate, called Downegate, "so called," says Stow, "of that down-going or descending thereunto."

PORTSOKEN WARD.

Maitland says, the Ward of Portsoken, about the year 967, was given by king Edgar to certain military knights for their gallant deportment in the service of their country; and Edgar having constituted the said knights a body politick and corporate, their lands or district was thereby converted into a jurisdiction, soke, or liberty; which, from its vicinity to Aldgate, received the appellation of Portsoke, or the Gate Liberty; which liberty, ward, or parish, together with the church thereof, was in the year 1115, by the proprietors, the descendants of the said knights, given to the priors and canons of the Trinity convent within Aldgate.

CASTLE-BAYNARD WARD.

This ward derives its name from Baynard castle (formerly the residence of William Baynard, a soldier of fortune); the site of which is now partly occupied by a wharf. In the reign of king John, it was the residence of Sir Reginald of Bayeux, and was famed for the jousts and tournaments that were held there.

CANDLEWICK WARD.

So called from the number of candle-makers that at one period resided in it.

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CORDWAINERS' WARD.

This ancient ward receives its name from that part of its locality called Bow Lane, being principally inhabited by shoemakers, who were originally called Cordwainers.

BROAD STREET WARD.

So denominated, because Broad Street originally was the broadest street in the city.

LIME STREET WARD.

On this spot formerly, were several Lime yards, and it was here that the lime was prepared for the rebuilding of the city, after the great fire of 1666. This is the only ward of London without a church of its own.

BASSISHAW WARD.

This is a corruption from Basing-hall ward, a property that formerly belonged to the family of the Basings.

COLEMAN STREET WARD.

This ward was thus denominated from the street of that name, which was called after one Coleman, the first builder and owner.

BRIDGE AND TOWER WARDS.

So called from their contiguity to the Bridge and Tower.

INNS OF COURT.

Though the antiquity of the Inns of Court be not ascertained, yet it may be presumed that they owe their origin to Henry III., who having, in the year 1225, confirmed the charters granted by John, his father, removed the Courts of Justice from his palace into Westminster hall. About this time, the lawyers, or practitioners in those courts, began to form themselves into a society (supposed at Thaivie's Inn, in Holborn), in a collegiate manner; hence their place of residence was denominated an Inn, or House of Court. But according to others (though with less probability), from their being inns, or nurseries for the education of the young nobility and gentry. Be that as it will, such places seem in some measure to have been appropriated for students of the law, seeing Henry III., by his mandate, directed to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London, about the year 1244, strictly enjoined them to make

proclamation throughout the city, that no person whatsoever should presume to set up a school, or schools therein, for teaching

of law.

CLEMENT'S INN.

This Inn of Court derives its name from Clement the Dane, whose place of interment is said to be on the site of St. Clement Dane's Church, and which circumstance gave a name to that place of worship. The Hall was built in 1715.

LINCOLN'S INN.

This Inn of Court derives its name from Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who erected a stately mansion here in 1229, and which still retains his name. It is also said, that some time before his death (anno 1312), he introduced here the study of the law.

GRAY'S INN.

This house, which is situate on the north side of Holborn, and is one of the four Inns of Court, is thus denominated from its being the residence of the ancient and noble family of Gray of Wilton, who, in the reign of Edward III., demised the same to divers students of the law. A writer says, it was rebuilt in 1687; prior to which it was so incommodious, that, according to the old records, the ancients of this house were obliged to lodge double; for at a pension held there on the 9th July, in the 21st year of Henry VIII.,John Hales, then one of the Barons of the Exchequer, produced a letter directed to him from Sir Thomas Neville, which was to request him to acquaint the Society, that he would accept of Mr. Attorney-general to be his bed-fellow in his chamber in the Inn, and that entry might be made thereof in the book of their rules.

STAPLE'S INN.

This Inn is said to have been anciently a Hall for the accommodation of Wool-staplers, from whom it is denominated. Be that as it will, it appears to have been an Inn of Chancery in the year 1415, but how long before is unknown. The new building was erected in 1843.

THAIVIE'S INN.

This Inn appears to have been of great antiquity, by its having belonged to John Thaivie (from whom it is denominated) in the reign of Edward III., by whose will it appears to have been then an Inn for Students at Law; some of whom, about the year 1347, had the New Temple demised to them by the Knights' Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, for a yearly rent of ten pounds;

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