by its present appellation. King Edward VI. granted this ma it in the same year to Sir Ralph Sadler. This village possesses only a small claim on the page of the national historian. When the Duke of Gloucester and his friends repaired to arms for the purpose of opposing the injurious partiality shewn by King Richard II. to Robert de Vere, whom he had created Duke of Ireland, they stationed their troops in Hackney, and several other villages near London. From their head-quarters they sent Lord Lovell and the Archbishop of York to the King, who succeeded in obtaining a temporary accordance with their wishes. Hackney was a place of much fashion and consideration in the 16th and 17th centuries. The following persons, among others, appear from the parish books, and other authentic sources, to have been residents at different parts of those cen-turies:-Edward, Earl of Oxford, a brave soldier, and a poeti-. cal writer of some celebrity.* Sir Julius Cæsar, the eminent civilian (whose name again occurs at Tottenham) resided for some time at Hackney, and afterwards at Homerton, Robert Rich, second Earl of Warwick of that family. The Vyner family resided in an ancient house near the church. Sir Thomas Vyner, a citizen of London, who served the of fice of Lord Mayor, was the first knight made by Charles II. on his restoration, and was created a baronet in 1663. Sir Thomas died in this house, as did his son, Sir George Vyner, Bart. Daniel Defoe, conspicuous in his day as R 3 Vide Puttenham's Art of Poetry, p. 51. a political a political writer, and likely to be known many ages hence as the author of Robinson Crusoe, was an inhabitant of this pa rish for several years. Dr. Mandeville, author of the "Fable of the Bees," lived at Hackney for some time, and died here, in 1733. ** Early in the 18th century Hackney became the favourite resort of wealthy citizens; and it is said, in a work printed in the year 1761, that there were at that time, near a hundred coaches kept in the village.' The correctness of this assertion may reasonably be doubted, but it is certain that the place was then in a state of eminent prosperity. The progressive increase of inhabitants from the year 1640 to the periods noticed in the tables of Population, &c. prefixed to this account of Middlesex, is thus stated by Mr. Lysons :†→ In 1640, the number of householders was 334; in 1756, 983; in 1779, 1212; in 1789, about 1500; and in 1793, about 1600." Hackney occupies a flat site, and the buildings are too frequent to allow a préservation of rural character. The village (if considered independently of its hamlets) chiefly consists of four streets, termed Church Street, Mare (or Mere) Street, Grove Street, and Well Street. In these divisions occur many detached dwellings of a respectable class, and some of a superior kind. The most ancient building which we have noticed is near the entrance of the village on the side towards London, and is now occupied as The Gentleman's Tour through Great Britain ; a publication of dubious authority. It is familiarly said that Hackney, on account of its numerogs respectable inhabitants, was the first place near London provided with coaches of hire for the accommodation of families, and that thence arises the term "Hackney Coaches." This appears quite futile ;-the word Hackney, as applied to a hireling, is traced to a remote British origin, and was certainly used in its present sense long before the village under notice became conspicuous for wealth or population. + Environs of London, Vol. II. P. 315 as a boarding school, This appears to be only a small part of an edifice formerly of extensive proportions, and would seem to have been erected in the latter years of the 16th century. Different rooms have carved chimney pieces, recesses, and wainscotting, together with ceilings ornamented in stuccowork. But there is not any date or armorial allusion. Several houses of considerable antiquity in this village have been taken down within the last few years. The most conspicuous of these was the mansion called the Black-and-whitehouse, formerly inhabited by the Vyner family, which stood near the church, and was built by a citizen of London, in 1578. In several of the apartments were carved chim ney-pieces and door-cases.* The windows of an apartment termed the Brown-parlour contained some remains of arms, painted in glass, among which were those of the Duke of Holstein, brother of Anne of Denmark, who was in England soon after the accession of James I. and has been sup posed to have resided here. In Mare Street was a mansion usually known by the name of Barber's Baron, or Barber's Barn, which name it acquired from standing on a spot of ground termed Barbour Berns. The house was built about the year 1591, and was in the tenure of Colonel Okey at the time of his attainder as a regicide. A mansion in Well Street, called Templars' house, which would appear to have been erected early in the 17th century, is now nearly levelled with the ground, and the remains are hidden from the street by recent buildings. To the west of the old church stood a brick building, which was taken down at the same time with the church. On R 4 • Mr. T. Fisher, of Hoxton, has preserved accurate drawings of these, and, on his information, it may be observed that some of the carving was executed in rather a superior style. The same gentleman passerses drawings of every ancient building in Hackney that has been destroyed within the last twenty years. + Engravings of the Templars' house, and of Barber's Barn, are introduced in the European Magazine. On a stone, placed on the western front, was the following in scription :-Hac Domus Fuit Extructa Memorare Quatuor Christophero Urswick Rectore, 1520. Balmes-house (termed in old writings Bawmes, or Baulmes) was rebuilt on the site of an ancient structure by Sir George Whitmore, towards the middle of the 17th century. Sir George was an alderman of London, and a considerable sufferer from his loyal adherence to Charles I. This residence was sold by his family about the year 1680, and is now occupied as a receptacle for the insane, under the care of Mr. Warburton. A field near this building appears to have been former. ly used by the Artillery Company as a place of exercise; and the "Baumes March is said to have been a favourite exercise at arms."* The house was formerly surrounded by a moat, and it is observed by Mr. Ellis, in his History of Shoreditch, "that, no longer than 50 years since, the only entrance was over a drawbridge." John Ward, noted for great wealth and insatiable avarice, whom Pope, in his third moral Essay, has associated with "Waters, Chartres, and the Devil," resided at Hackney, in a large house, which is still remaining, and is known by the name of Ward's Corner. - The Old Parish Church of Hackney was taken down in 1798, with an exception of the tower, and a small chapel formerly attached to the south side of the chancel. The tower is square and composed of stone, with an embattled parapet and gradua ted buttresses. It would appear to have been erected in the 14th century, and constituted one of the most ancient parts of the edifice. The other portions of the old church had been rebuilt at different times, and the arms of Heron and Urswick, which occurred in several places, carved in stone, render it probable that Sir John Heron, master of the jewel-house to Henry VIII. and Christopher Urswick, sometime rector of this parish, were great benefactors to the work. * Vide Nichols's Edit. of the Tatler, Vol. V. p. 370, 371. The |