Destruction was brought on the whole community by the dissolute conduct of one of the priors, who was detected by the commissioners with a courtezan in his chamber, on a Friday particularly devoted to fasting, penance, and mortification of the flesh, at an early hour of the day; the visitors, highly shocked at this discovery of monastic incontinence, pocketed the bribe of thirty pounds proffered by the prior to secure secrecy; and immediately leaving the place, submitted the fact to Cromwell, the vicar-general. This hastened the final dissolution of monasteries, and this was surrendered in 1539.

The house was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Thomas Wyatt, who pulled it down, and built a mansion on the site. The church was afterwards converted into a carpenter's shop, and a tennis court. The friar's hall was used as a glass house, the first manufactory of that article in England; and as a complete destruction of the whole range of these buildings, they were reduced to ashes by a terrible fire in 1575, which consumed all but the boundary walls, which were of stone. On the site was erected the Navy Office, the business of which being subsequently removed to Somerset-house, it it was purchased by the EastIndia Company, who erected spacious warehouses for teas, &c. It is a regular oblong square of two hundred and fifty feet by one hundred and sixty, inclosing a court of one hundred and fifty feet by sixty, entered by an arched gateway.

A list of Aldermen of Aldgate Ward, from 1689 to the present time.

Sir Samuel Dashwood, elected in 1688; served the office of sheriff in 1684, and that of lord-mayor in 1703.

Sir Samuel Stanier, elected in 1705; served the office of sheriff in 1706, and that of lord-mayor in 1714.

Sir Francis Porten, elected in 1724; served the office of sheriff in 1726.

Micajah Perry, Esq. elected in 1728; served the office of sheriff in 1735, and that of lord-mayor in 1738, and resigned.

James Heywood, Esq. was chosen in 1746, and paid his fine of £500 to be excused the office.

Sir William Smith was elected in his stead in 1747, and served the office of sheriff in 1743.

Robert Scott, Esq. elected in 1753; served the office of sheriff in 1751.

Sir Thomas Challoner, elected in 1760; served the office of sheriff in 1763.

William Cracraft, Esq. elected in 1766.

John Shakespeare, Esq. elected in 1767; served the office of sheriff in 1766.

William Lee, Esq. elected in 1775; served the office of sheriff in 1773, and resigned.

John Burnell, Esq. elected in 1780; served the office of sheriff in 1778, and that of lord-mayor in 1787.

H. C. Combe. Esq. elected in 1790; served the office of sheriff in 1791, and that of lord-mayor in 1799, and resigned.

John Thomas Thorpe, Esq. elected in 1817; served the office of sheriff in 1815, and lord-mayor in 1820; is the present alderman of this ward.

END OF ALDGATE WARD.

Bassishaw Ward,

CORRUPTLY SO called from Basing's Haugh or Hall, is the smallest Ward in the City, being wholly comprised in the two precincts of Basinghall Street, and the streets and avenues leading from it. It is bounded on the east and south by Coleman Street Ward, on the west by Cripplegate and Cheap Wards, and on the north by Cripplegate Ward; and is governed by an alderman, four common councilmen, three constables, seventeen inquest men, and a ward beadle.

Basinghall Street extends from Cateaton Street on the south, to London Wall on the north, and in the centre stands the only church in this ward, called St. Michael's Bassishaw, a rectory in the patronage of the dean and chapter of St. Paul's. This church received its name from being dedicated to the archangel, St. Michael, and from its situation; it was founded about the year 1140, and was at that time in the gift of the prior and canons of St. Bartholomew Smithfield, though the register of London gives no name of a rector before Ralph de Waltham, who died in 1327, when the presentation belonged to Henry Bodyke, citizen of London, but about a century after it devolved to its present patrons, with whom it has ever since remained. The original church is recorded to have been very beautiful, but in the year 1460, having become ruinous, was pulled down and rebuilt. This

second church continued till the fire in 1666 entirely consumed it and all its monuments, and made way for the present structure, the walls of which are of brick, strengthened by rustic work at the corners, and the body is well enlightened by a single series of large windows; at the east end, where the top is terminated by an arch, are three windows, one of them lofty and perpendicular is bricked up; the two others are circular; the pillars are Corinthian. Here is also a good organ. The steeple is a tower crowned with a turret, from which rises a short spire. It was begun in 1676, and finished in 1679. The length of this church is 75 feet, the breadth 50, height 42, and the tower 75 feet. In the old church, (according to Stow) several lord mayors were buried, amongst whom was Sir Leonard Holyday, who was mayor at the time of the discovery of the Gunpowder Treason.

Amongst the modern monuments may be noticed that of John Kirkman, Esq. alderman of Cheap Ward, and sheriff elect of London in the year 1780. This gentleman, during the troublesome period alluded to, when the inflammatory harangues of lord George Gordon had kindled tumults and insurrection throughout the metropolis, and when the general panic prevented almost all from daring to do their duty, nobly stood forward at the head of a band of young citizens, afterwards known as the London Association, and eventually preserved this fine and opulent city from the destruction threatened by the infuriated insurgents. This patriotie gentleman unfortunately fell a victim to his indefatigable exertions, for a cold, caught whilst heading the city volunteers during several rainy nights, occasioned a brain fever, of which he died, to the unspeakable regret of his fellow citizens, who united in the sincerest testimonies of unfeigned sorrow at his loss, which was further demonstrated by a public funeral, attended by the greatest concourse of people almost ever known. At an early hour the streets were crowded to excess, and the procession having arrived at the Obelisk in St. George's Fields, was received by the horse and foot London association, and proceeded with all possible solemnity to Blackfriars Bridge, where they were joined by the associations of the different wards of the city, the lord mayor, aldermen, &c. &c. In this manner the cavalcade reached Ludgate Street, and having

slowly passed round St. Paul's, through Cheapside, King Street, to the end of Basinghall Street, the coffin was taken from the hearse, covered with a pall, ornamented with escutcheons, and the gorget, sash, and white wand laid upon it, while the London horse association dismounted, and some of them assisted as pall bearers. The lord mayor, &c. now alighted, and the whole of the procession proceeded on foot to the church of St. Michael, which they reached by six o'clock, and on the termination of the funeral service, three vollies were fired over the grave by the London foot association. In this church are recorded the names of several benefactors to the parish.

Basinghall Street derives its name from the mansion house of the family of the Basings, who were eminent merchants here during the 13th and 14th centuries. The edifice originally called Basinges or Basing's Haugh or Hall was ornamented with the arms of the family, carved and painted on many parts of it. From this family, who were owners also of the neighbouring ground, Stow supposes that the ward took its name, as Coleman Street Ward of Coleman, and Faringdon Ward of William and Nicholas Faringdon." Solomon Basing was mayor of London in 1216, and king Henry III. gave to his son, Adam Basing, the advowson of the church at Basing Haugh, and several liberties and privileges.

In the 36th year of Edward III. this house was inhabited by Mr. Thomas Bakewell, who gave it his name. It afterwards fell to the crown, and in 1367 was sold, with its gardens, two other houses and appurtenances in the adjoining parishes of St. Lawrence and St. Michael, to the lord mayor and commonalty of the city of London, for the trifling sum of fifty pounds. It was converted by the corporation into an exclusive market for the sale of woollen cloths, under the corrupted name of "Blackwell Hall," and its privileges secured by severe penalties.

This house falling gradually into decay was pulled down, and rebuilt in 1558, as a handsome and commodious storehouse, at an expense of two thousand five hundred pounds, the principal part of which was contributed by Richard May, merchant tailor, but 108 years afterwards it was destroyed by the fire of London, and again rebuilt in 1672.