Two Centuries of Soho: its institutions, firms, and amusements. By the Clergy of St. Anne's, Soho, J. H. Cardwell ... H. B. Freeman ... G. C. Wilton ... assisted by other contributors, etc

Preface

BY SIR WALTER BESANT LONDON : TRUSLOVE and HANSON, 143 OXFORD STREET, W, RIORDEN, printer 5 POLAND STREET, OXFORD STREET LONDON, W. TO THOMAS F. BLACKWELL, Esq. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY THE CLERGY OF ST. ANNE'S, SOHO

PREFACE.

. I have been honoured with an invitation to contribute a Preface to this book. It is a book written by many hands, among which my own cannot be reckoned. It is not a book compiled or made in the usual way, because the contributions are not written by hirelings, but by volunteers, and by those who write about the things they know by personal experience. My own claim to any voice in the matter is simply that, by the courtesy of Messrs. A. and C. Black, I have enjoyed the use of a room at No. 4 Soho Square, looking out upon the garden in which I have passed three years of pleasantly laborious days. The Quarter known as Soho has attracted great at tention of late years as one of the most interesting districts of London. The great City has many Quarters which, like Soho, seem to stand apart and separate by themselves: having their own history : their own associations : and their own peculiar points of interest.

Kensington is such a Quarter : Islington is another : Whitechapel, another. In the case of Soho the interest is varied. It was once the home of Fashion : the number of distinguished persons who have lived in Soho from time to time is very great. The world of Fashion has long since left the place ; but the solid and beautiful houses yet remain. The interest which attaches to the Soho of the present, apart from its associations, lies in the extraordinary amount of Religious, Philanthropic and Charitable work carried on within the limits of the district. There is also the in terest, known to the fullest extent only by those who work in the place, that attaches to the vice and poverty of Soho, always present, against which these agencies are continually fighting. Little is said about the subject in these pages ; it should be sufficient to know that the Clergy of all denominations never cease in their efforts to beat down and expel the profligacy of which Soho is the modern centre. I have mentioned the Historical Associations of the Quarter. They are beautifully illustrated in the pages

PREFACE.

. which follow. If we take Soho Square alone, for instance, we find the Ouke of Monmouth living on the South Side; Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury ; Sir Cloudesley Shovel ; the Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham : the Earl of Carlisle ; Sir Joseph Banks ; Lord Bateman ; De Quincey, and many more. The Institutions which have their home in Soho are both numerous and important. There are Clubs of all kinds : clubs for men ; clubs for boys ; clubs for women ; clubs for gambling and dancing. There are Hospitals ; there are Houses of Charity; there are Missions; there are Foreign Workmen's Associations ; there are Working Men's Institutes; there are Anglican and Roman Catholic Schools ; there is all the machinery of modern organized parish work. There are again industries of a more varied and multitudinous kind, — in Miss Maude Stanley's Club there are represented, among the girls, actually 57 different trades.

If, lastly, this book should succeed in opening the eyes of the inhabitants to the many sides of the life that goes on around them; if it makes them realize the associations of the past which cling to their stately streets ; if it makes them more ready to take their share in the work that is going on in their midst ; if it makes them feel more keenly than before the responsibility of man for man — then this book will not have failed. I venture to prophesy that it will produce this effect, if only for the quiet, sober pre sentation of the facts, and the determination of all who have been concerned in the work to put down nothing in exaggeration. More than one book has of late been written on Soho. Each has taken its own line. The book before me seems likely to prove the most useful of all, if only we take into account its reticence, as well as its revelations. WALTER BESANT. From the Office of Messrs. A. & C. Black 4, 5, 6 Soho Square. January 18, 1898.