This was part of the property of Sir Thomas More, and is called, in old deeds, the “Sand Hills;” was originally open fields, with a footpath across to Little Chelsea. The whole was enclosed with a brick wall, in 1625, by the Lord Treasurer, Cranfield, and converted into a park, which name it has retained ever since, but the walls have gradually given way to the erection of buildings. The park originally consisted of 32 acres, situated north of the King’s Road, between Park and Upper Church Street. { 71}
In 1721 a patent was obtained for a manufactory of raw silk, and this park was taken for the purpose, and planted with mulberry trees. It attracted a considerable share of public attention at the time, but proved unsuccessful. The premises of the Raw Silk Company were rated in the parish books at £200.
In Walpole’s Catalogue of Engravers, it is stated that James Christopher le Blon, in 1734, set up a project for copying the cartoons in tapestry, and made some fine drawings for the purpose. Houses were built, and looms erected, on the above mulberry ground, but either the expense was too great, or the contributions did not arrive fast enough. The bubble burst, several suffered, and Le Blon was heard of no more.
INTERESTING PARTICULARS OF SIR HENRY AND LADY WILSON. On the northern border of the old park, just described, is a capital mansion in which Sir Henry Wright Wilson resided for many years, the entrance to it being in the Fulham Road, and which is still designated as Chelsea Park. The pleasure grounds attached to it were some years since much more extensive than they are at present. Sir Henry married a daughter of the Earl of Aylesbury, who was left a valuable estate in Hampshire, said to be worth about £3000 a year, under the most singular circumstances. Lady Frances Wilson was informed in the year 1824, while at breakfast, that an eccentric person named Wright, who had died a few days previously at an obscure lodging in Pimlico, had appointed her and Mr. C. Abbot his executors, and after some legacies had bequeathed to Lady Frances the residue of his property by a will dated as far back as 1800. As Lady Frances declared herself unacquainted with the name of the testator, she at first concluded that there was some mistake. After further explanation, the person of Mr. Wright was described to her, and Lady Frances recollected that the description answered that of a gentleman she had remembered as a constant frequenter at the Opera many years previously. To satisfy herself of the identity she went to Mr. Wright’s late lodgings, and saw him in his coffin, when she recognised the features as those of the person whose eyes had so often persecuted her when she was Lady Frances Bruce, but who had never spoken to her, and of whom she had no knowledge whatever. { 72} Lady Francis was never considered by her friends to be beautiful, and the general opinion at the time was that the legacy was intended for a lady who occupied a box next to that in which Lady Frances sat when at the Opera. Sir Henry was in Parliament when the above estate came into his wife’s possession, but he afterwards had to contest his seat, and lost it.