| c.1615 |
Estate
owned by John & Jane Vaux, vintners |
| 1643/4 |
Civil
War fortifications at Vauxhall |
| 1660 |
Restoration
of Charles II |
| 1661
|
2 July: John Evelyn's first visit to 'the New Spring Garden at Lambeth,
a pretty contrived plantation.' |
| 1662
|
29
May: First of many visits by Samuel Pepys |
| 1663 |
Balthazar
Monconys visit |
| 1688 |
Pontack's
superior 'ordinary' or eating house opened, Christ Church Passage
|
| 1694 |
Pre
3 September: 'Great Spring Garden' put up for sale by Mrs. Elizabeth
Plant |
| |
Date
on the old lead pump, with initials S. M. [?S. Masters] |
| 1702
|
16
April: Birth of Jonathan Tyers |
| |
Accession
of Queen Anne |
| 1707 |
Act
of Union between England, Wales and Scotland |
| 1710 |
Z.
C. von Uffenbach visit—'avenues and covered walks . . . and
green huts' |
| |
Completion
of the new St. Paul's Cathedral |
| |
Formation
of the English South Sea Trading Company |
| 1712
|
20
May: Spectator article on New Spring Gardens |
| 1717 |
Date
on leadwork of the proprietor's house, with initials PHH for Philemon
and Hannah Hill. [1859 drawings, Findlay & Barton, LMA Maps
& Prints] |
| 1722 |
Jonathan
Tyers marries Elizabeth Fermor |
| 1728 |
December, Frederick Louis (later Prince of Wales) arrives in England
|
| |
John
Gay's Beggar's Opera |
|
1729
Jonathan Tyers the
elder becomes Proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens
|
| 1729 |
17 March: Date on Jonathan Tyers's lease from Elizabeth Masters,
widow, at £250 p.a. for 30 years. Tyers was already in occupation
of the Old Spring Garden |
| 1729 |
Gardens
described by Pierre Jacques Fougeroux |
| 1730 |
Date on Hogarth's supper-box painting Night |
| 1731/2
|
12
March: Tyers's first known advertisement for brewers etc. |
| 1732
|
Wednesday
7 June: The Ridotto al' Fresco helt to re-launch the gardens |
|
21
June: Assembly Supper replaced by a second ridotto |
| 1734 |
Mr.
& Mrs. Tyers buy the Denbies estate, with 80 acres of land,
also lease 250 acres nearby |
| 1735 |
3
June: Orchestra building unveiled |
|
Hogarth's
Academy in St Martin's Lane founded. Rake's Progress |
|
25
June: Engravers'
Copyright Act passed |
| 1736 |
Season
runs from Wednesday 19 May to Saturday 21 August |
| |
Ordinary
tickets withdrawn, but one shilling entrance charge instituted (until
1792) doubling the previous charge |
| |
First
edition of the Vauxhall Fan by Moses Harris |
| 1737 |
Monday 2 May: Season opens |
| |
New
Organ Building installed behind orchestra unveiled |
| |
First
recorded issue of season tickets at 1 guinea |
| |
Second
edition of the Vauxhall Fan |
| 1738 |
Season
runs from Monday 1 May until Saturday 19 August |
|
26 April: Roubiliac's statue of Handel 'carried over the water,
to be put up in Vaux-Hall Gardens' |
| |
Third
edition of the Vauxhall Fan |
| 1739 |
1
May: Season opens |
| |
Scots
Magazine articles |
| |
Hayman's
Supper-box paintings mostly complete |
|
28
June: Wedding party at Denbies for four of Tyers's servants |
| |
Carillon
added to organ |
|
7
April: Execution
of Dick Turpin |
| |
Charter
of Foundling Hospital |
| |
War
of Jenkins' Ear |
|
November: Porto Bello captured by Admiral
Vernon |
| 1739-40 |
One
of the three coldest winters on record |
| 1740 |
Hayman
group portrait of Tyers family |
| |
Season
tickets cost £1. 5s. |
| |
Samuel
Richardson's Pamela |
| |
Arne
& Thomson's Rule Britannia |
| |
Handel's
Water Music |
| 1741/2 |
Turkish
Tent built in Grove |
| |
First
London stage appearance of David Garrick, in Richard III |
| 1742
|
5
April: Ranelagh Gardens opened in Chelsea |
| |
First
performance, in Dublin, of Handel's Messiah |
| 1743 |
Engravings after supper-box paintings published |
| |
First
notices in the Gentleman's Magazine of the early excavations at
Herculaneum |
| 1745 |
Hayman's
Shakespearean scenes installed in the Princes' Pavilion |
| |
Dr.
Arne appointed director of music |
| |
Vocal
music introduced as a regular part of the evening's programme |
| 1746 |
Prosperous
season at Vauxhall following the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden
(16 April) |
|
4 August: Duke of Newcastle's Ball |
| 1748 |
Season
open on (or by) 18 May |
| |
Season
Tickets cost 2 guineas |
| |
Rotunda
building completed |
| |
Treaty
of Aix-la-Chapelle—many soldiers return home to unemployment |
| 1749
|
21
April: Rehearsal of Handel's Fireworks Music atttended by
a huge cowd |
| |
Henry
Fielding's Tom Jones |
| |
John
Cleland's Fanny Hill |
| 1750 |
Pillared
Saloon built |
| |
1
and 2nd June, Musician's Strike ('The Reinhold Affair') |
| |
Horace Walpole first designs Strawberry Hill |
|
February/March:
Earthquakes in
London. In Lambeth, on 8 March, the roof of a pothouse is destroyed |
| |
William
Chambers' 'House of Confucius' at Kew |
| 1751 |
Extensive
Rebuilding |
| |
Monday
20 May: Season opens |
| |
Series
of topographical engravings of Vauxhall |
| |
John
Lockman, A Sketch of the Spring-Gardens, Vauxhall |
|
20
March: Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales |
| |
The
Gin Act restricts the sale of spirits |
| |
Hogarth's
Gin Lane and Beer Street |
| 1752 |
Jonathan
Tyers purchases half of the estate of Vauxhall Gardens from George
Dodington for £3,800 |
| |
The original 'Tin Cascade' is installed |
| |
The
Provisions of 25 Geo II, c.36 come into force, requiring the licensing
of all places of public entertainment within 20 miles of the City
and Westminster, in effect leaving Vauxhall, Ranelagh and Marylebone
Gardens with a virtual monopoly |
| |
The
'New Style' or Gregorian Calendar replaces the Julian: the year
now starts on 1 January rather than 25 March, and the period 3–13
September is omitted |
| |
Fielding's
Amelia |
| 1753 |
8
May: Season opens |
| 1754 |
"Mr.
Tyers has had the ruins of Palmyra painted in the manner of the
scenes so as to deceive the eye and appear buildings" [Mrs
Montague, 090-7-54]. Installed at the end of the Grand South Walk |
| |
Thomas
Chippendale's Director |
| |
Robert
Wood's Ruins of Palmyra |
| 1756 |
Black
Hole of Calcutta |
|
May:
Beginning of Seven
Years' War with France |
| 1757 |
Battle
of Plassey |
| |
English
harvest fails; bad weather until 1760 |
| 1758 |
The
new 'Gothick' orchestra unveiled |
| |
Robert
Adam commissioned to build a Temple of Venus at a cost of £5,000 |
| |
Tyers
completes the purchase of the copyhold lease from Mr. Atkins and
Mrs. Jennings |
| |
Foundation
of Magdalen Hospital for reformed prostitutes |
| 1759 |
Battle
of Minden, British and German allies under Lord George Sackville,
beat the French. September: the British
take Quebec |
| 1760
|
September:
British take Montreal |
| 1761 |
First of Hayman's paintings for the Pillared Saloon. |
|
11
September: Season closes |
| |
William
Chambers' Pagoda at Kew (1761/2) |
|
December:
Spain
declares war on Britain |
| 1762 |
Anon,
A Description of Vaux-Hall Gardens, published by S. Hooper |
| |
Ostenaco,
a Cherokee chief, and a group of American Indians, visit Vauxhall
with Henry Timberlake |
|
20
April: Sign
Painters Exhibition opened, Thornton's Chambers, Bow Street |
| 1763 |
Thursday
19 May: Season opens |
|
February:
Treaty of Paris
ends the Seven Years' War |
| 1764 |
Completion
of Hayman's four paintings for the Pillared Saloon |
| |
Tyers
fences the dark walks in an attempt to discourage immoral behaviour.
Following destruction of the fences (and other extensive vandalism),
he introduces lighting instead |
|
26
October: Death
of Hogarth |
| 1765 |
Thursday 29 August: Season concludes with a masquerade, attended
by up to 5,000 guests |
|
12
February: Almacks
Assembly Rooms, King Street, opens, with a 10 guinea subscription
to a ball and supper once a week for 12 weeks |
| 1766 |
Season
of bad weather opens by 19 May. Tyers makes a £3,000 loss
over the year |
| 1767
|
26
June: Death of Jonathan Tyers at Vauxhall |
| |
Royal Crescent built in Bath |
|
December:
Ice Fair on the
Thames |
|
1767
After death of Jonathan
Tyers the elder, the ownership of Vauxhall Gardens passes to Elizabeth,
his widow and management is passed to a family partnership with
Jonathan Tyers the younger in charge
|
| 1768
|
Friday
13 May: Season opens under the management of Jonathan Tyers jr. |
|
17
August: King Christian VII of Denmark visits Vauxhall |
| |
Vauxhall
Gardens on the market at £60,000 |
| 1769 |
Grand
refurbishment of the gardens, at a cost of £5,000, including
a canopy over the Grand walk (completed the year before) |
| |
10
May: Ridotto al Fresco |
| |
17 May: Season
opens
|
| |
Arkwright's
first textile factory at Nottingham |
|
1771 Death
of Elizabeth Tyers, leaving the gardens to her four children,
Thomas, Elizabeth,Margaret and Jonathan the younger. Management
stays with Jonathan the younger.
|
| 1771 |
17
May: Season opens |
| |
Smollett's
Humphry Clinker |
| 1772 |
James
Hook appointed principal keyboard player and composer |
| 1773
|
20
May: Season opens |
|
Friday, 23 July: The 'Vauxhall Affray' |
| 1775 |
American
War of Independence (to 1783) |
| 1776 |
4 July: American
Declaration of Independence |
| 1777 |
A
wet summer in London |
| 1778 |
Mrs.
Cornelys sets up her 'White House' with a colonnaded garden, supper
rooms, a music room and a library, near Vauxhall, aimed at 'people
of rank and fortune' |
|
June:
France declares
war on Britain |
| |
Fanny
Burney's Evelina |
| |
Closure
of Marylebone Gardens |
| 1779
|
17
May: Season opens Monday |
| 1780 |
Gordon
Riots in London |
| 1781 |
Season
Thursday 17 May–24 August |
|
25
June: Sailing match for the Duke of Cumberland's Cup. Duke and Duchess
dine afterwards at the gardens, attracting 11,000 visitors |
| 1783 |
13
May: Season opens |
| |
In
an attempt to avoid the usual Last Night riots and damage, the proprietors
close without notice in mid-August |
| 1784 |
Rowlandson's
watercolour of Vauxhall exhibited at the Royal Academy |
|
1785
Thomas Tyers, Margaret Rogers
and Bryant Barrett cede partnerhip to Jonathan Tyers the younger,
Bryant Barrett (his son -in-law) and Elizabeth Wood (Jonathan's
sister)
|
|
1785
|
19
May: Season opens |
| |
At this time, the Tyers/Rogers/Barrett family own over 45 acres
in Vauxhall, including the 11 acres of the Gardens themselves, and
up to ninety dwelling-houses, pubs and other buildings |
| 1786 |
Mon
29 May: Vauxhall Jubilee |
|
Tues
30 May: First military fete |
| |
Season
opens on 10 June and runs to Tuesday 29 August |
|
1786
Bryant Barrett becomes the
sole proprietor and manager of Vauxhall Gardens
|
| 1786 |
First
regular advertisements of the music programme |
| |
Construction
of a new entrance in Kennington Lane, sometimes called the 'Coach
Gate', with waiting rooms, cloakrooms etc. (first mentioned as an
entrance in 1762) |
| |
Poor
weather initially |
|
2
August: Margaret
Nicholson attempts to assassinate the King by stabbing him |
| |
Gainsborough's
Market Cart |
| |
Mozart's
Marriage of Figaro |
| |
Earliest
attempts at gas lighting in England |
| 1787 |
1
February: Thomas Tyers dies unmarried |
| |
18
May: Season opens with a Subscription Masquerade |
| |
Operating
licence granted on condition that the gardens close at midnight
on Saturday |
| |
Newly-decorated Balloon-rooms opened |
| 1788 |
Monday
9 June, 5 pm: Sailing cup race, Blackfriars Bridge to Putney and
return to Vauxhall Stairs |
| |
Sailing
transparency shown in the new Promenade Room |
| |
Friday
8 August: Rowing Match, (originally planned for Wednesday 9 July) |
| |
'The
Vauxhall Jubilee, or Harlequin in the Ball Room' performed at Astley's
Amphitheatre |
| 1789 |
Monday
31 August: Season closes |
|
14
July: Storming
of the Bastille, French Revolution |
| 1790 |
Season Tuesday 18 May–Thursday 26 August |
| 1791 |
Season
Tuesday 17 May–Thursday 25 August |
| |
New
Supper Room |
| |
By
12 August, a new Gothic Temple, decorated with coloured lamps in
perpetual motion ('The Moving Temple'), designed by Martinelli |
| 1792 |
21
March: Death of Jonathan Tyers the younger |
|
1792
Ownership of Vauxhall Gardens
passes to Bryant Barrett, manager and proprietor
|
| 1792 |
Season
Thursday 31 May–Monday 27 August |
| |
Prince's
Gallery (400 ft. long) and Ante-Room built |
|
4
June: Joseph Haydn visits Vauxhall |
| |
Admission
price raised to two shillings; profit of £5,000 for the season. |
| 1793 |
Season
Thursday 23 May–Thursday 15 August |
| |
Britain
declares war on revolutionary France |
| |
Proprietors
pay £1,000 'Admission fine' to the Duchy of Cornwall to continue
lease of the gardens |
| 1794 |
Decorated
Vauxhall Barge on the Thames. |
| |
Flockton's
'Drolleries' exhibited |
| 1795 |
Monday
6 June: Season opens |
| |
A
Season of bad weather. Tea and coffee discontinued because of high
cost |
| 1796 |
19
May: Gardens opened with a grand Ridotto al Fresco; large temporary
saloon for dancing; company in evening dress |
| 1797 |
Mr.
C. H. [Christopher] Simpson Master of Ceremonies (until his death
in 1835) |
| 1798 |
Fireworks
first exhibited as a regular feature |
| 1800 |
Wednesday
3 June: Season opens |
|
Sunday
June 29, 5.30 a.m.: Fire destroys part of the Prince's Gallery/Long
Room/Masquerade Room, which was being used as a lumber room and
scene painting studio. It was built entirely of wood, lath and canvas.
A lot of scenery lost, as well as thirty trees damaged, together
with the entrance portico and outside railings . £200 worth
of damage caused. |
| |
Triumphal
arches erected in the Grand Walk, decorated with emblematical transparencies
and coloured lamps, leading to a Grand Representation of a Magnificent
Hymeneal Temple |
|
July
24: First Oriental Gala |
| 1801 |
Season Thursday 4 June–Monday 31 August |
|
6 August: The
Splendid Gala, a Grand Oriental Car richly decorated with trophies
etc. drawn by elephants
|
| |
Successful
season |
| 1802 |
Monday
31 May: Season opens |
|
20
June: Grand Gala with an unmanned fire balloon with fireworks, by
Garnerin; attracts 6000 visitors. Balloon flight is followed by
firework display by Ruggieri |
| |
Mr.
Garnerin makes a balloon journey of 300 miles, starting from Vauxhall |
| |
'Among
the demonstrations of loyalty, in celebration of the peace concluded
between this country and France, none were more splendid than those
at Vauxhall Gardens, on the 26th of July, which were honoured by
the presence of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.' [W.T. Parke,Vol.
I, (1830), p.309] |
| 1803 |
Closure
of Ranelagh Gardens |
| 1804 |
3
September: Season closes |
| 1805 |
Grand Rural Festival, under the patronage of the Marchioness of
Hertford, with fireworks |
|
October:
Nelson defeats
French fleet at Trafalgar |
| 1807 |
Season
opened on 15 June: 'This charming place opened last night with restored
splendour, and such was the anxiety of the fashionable world to
again enjoy this terrestrial Paradise, that above 5000 persons of
the first fashion attended' [The Globe, June 16 1807] |
| 1808 |
Monday 6 June: Season opens |
| 1809 |
15
February: Death of Bryant Barrett |
| |
|
1809
On the death of Bryant Barrett, Vauxhall Gardens bequeathed to
his two sons, the Revd. Jonathan Tyers Barrett (1784–1851)
and George Rogers Barrett (1787– 1860)
|
| |
|
| 1810 |
Monday 4 June: Season opens |
| |
Rumours
of the demolition of Vauxhall [H.S.L. Dewar, ed, The Thomas Rackett
Papers. Dorset Record Soc. 1965, No.3, Bundle 104, Mrs. E. Pulteney
to Dorothea Rackett, November 19, 1810] |
| |
Covered
walks completely rebuilt with a new 'vaulted colonade' with about
200 cast iron pillars |
| |
11
June, a Grand Fete 'in compliment to the Persian ambassador', the
illuminations of which were 'truly superb'. [W.T. Parke, Vol. II,
(1830,) p.58] |
| 1812
|
26
August: Grand Masquerade in honour of the victories in the Peninsular
War - Outdoor transparency of a Chinese Temple. Illuminations; bands
of Turkish and military music. |
| 1813
|
20 July: Vittoria Fete celebrating the victories of Wellington |
| |
Foundation
stone of Vauxhall Bridge laid by Prince Charles, son of the Duke
of Brunswick |
| |
Jane
Austen, Pride and Prejudice |
| 1814 |
Season
15 June– Friday 26 August |
| |
Double
display of fireworks on the last night, by Mons. Bologna and Signor
D. Mortram |
| 1815
|
18
June: Battle
of Waterloo |
| 1816 |
Season
Monday 3 June–Friday 6 September |
| |
Rope-dancer
Madame Saqui's first appearance at Vauxhall |
| |
Vauxhall
Bridge open to foot passengers. 24 July also opened for horses and
carriages. |
| |
A season 'unprecedented for cold and rain' —the 'year without
summer' as a result of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia |
| |
Proprietors
lost at least £3,000 |
|
Wednesday
27 June: No paying visitors at all attended, due to bad weather |
| 1817
|
18
June: First fete to mark the anniversary of the victory at Waterloo
(1815) |
| 1818
|
G.
R. Barrett offers the gardens for sale, but no purchaser found |
| |
Monday
8 June: Season opens |
|
14
August: Fete for the Prince Regent's birthday, with Mme. Saqui among
fireworks |
| 1819 |
28
August: Season closes |
| 1820 |
Wednesday
30 August: Season closes |
| 1821 |
Season
Monday 11 June–Wednesday 29 August |
| |
|
1821
Gardens leased by Thomas Bish and Frederick Gye in March
|
| |
|
| 1821
|
13
July: First Juvenile Fete in modern times (then, initially, once
a year) |
| |
'Heptaplasiesoptron',
or Fancy Reflective Proscenium, installed, designed by Mr. Bradwell,
mechanist of Covent Garden Theatre. Replaced in 1823 with the Grand
Musical Temple costing £2,000 and 40 ft. high. |
| |
Completion
of John Nash's remodelling of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, for
the Prince Regent |
| |
Gas
Light Company being established for the Lambeth/Vauxhall area |
| 1822
|
12
March: Whole property offered for sale, including 118 Supper tables,
and paintings |
|
28
May: Designated 'The Royal Gardens, Vauxhall' by Royal Warrant |
| |
Season
Monday 3 June–Friday 30 August, 40 nights' profit —£79 |
| |
Total
of 137,279 visitors during the season (compared to 19,000 in 1820) |
| |
Royal
Arms over the colonnade designed and executed by Messrs. Coades
and Croggan |
| |
Emblematic Illuminations with 11,328 lamps by Robert Duffel |
| |
Licence
granted to the proprietors to allow dancing performances |
|
Saturday
15 July: Juvenile Fete |
|
16 August: Grand Military Fete for the Duke of York's birthday |
| |
New fountain; new cloak rooms added, 'with respectable female attendants' |
| |
Other
new features included the French (mechanical) Theatre and the Submarine
Cavern |
| 1823 |
Season,
9 May–12 September |
| |
Plan
of Vauxhall Gardens shows 118 supper-boxes |
| |
Grand
re-furbishment, including the building of a Ballet Stage (by Mr.
Saul) and the Moorish Tower, by Mr. Shaw (late of Covent Garden,
now head carpenter at Vauxhall Gardens) |
| |
Revolving
Star by Mr. Saul |
| |
First Ballet productions by Mons. Hullin |
| |
19 May: The first Vauxhall Observer published |
| |
A
profitable season for the new proprietors—receipts of £29,590,
from 133,279 visitors, including £3,665 for liquor sales.
The best attended evening was the King's Birthday on 12 August,
with 8,600 guests |
|
18 June: The Chinese Entrance opened for the first time; this could
easily be transformed into dining space for 200 people, if required
|
|
18
June: Grand Military Fete in honour of the victory of Waterloo |
| |
A
season of bad weather ('the most unfavourable weather ever remembered'—farewell
address at close of season, spoken by Mr. Mallinson), so the season
was extended beyond the end of August, when the weather improved |
| |
Over 53 evenings, the proprietors made a profit of £3,333 |
| 1824 |
Tuesday
1 June: Season opens |
| |
New
sounding board added to the orchestra, in the form of a large shell,
supported by lyres Work done by T. Lowe |
| |
The most profitable season on record (£26,957 income, £5,793
profit, from 43 open evenings) |
|
10
July: Juvenile Fete |
|
1825
March, Frederick Gye the elder & Richard Hughes raise a mortgage
of £22,000 from Mr Reynal et al. to buy the property outright
from Jonathan Tyers Barrett: Thomas Bish resigns the partnership
on 30 July
|
| 1825 |
Season
closes Friday 2 September after 44 nights, producing a profit of
£2,635 |
| 1826 |
Rotunda
altered for concerts, with boxes, stalls, pit, and gallery, capable
of holding an audience of 2,000 |
|
July: Charles Green makes his first balloon flights from the gardens |
| |
Annual
profit £2,546 |
| 1827
|
June
13: Charles Farley of Covent Garden produces the representation
of the Battle of Waterloo. Income of £2,203 for the night.
|
| |
First
vaudevilles at Vauxhall, written by William Thomas Moncrieff |
| |
It
is reckoned that, for a middling family of six, an evening at Vauxhall
could cost £2.14s. |
| |
Season 4 June to 31 August. £362 seasonal profit |
| 1828 |
5
September: Season closes |
| |
Lottery
Wheel introduced at Vauxhall by Gye and Hughes |
|
8
July: Spanish Fete in aid of Spanish and Italian refugees |
|
Monday
18 August:
Grand Military
Fete for the birthday of the Duke of York |
| 1829 |
Rainhill
Trials for steam locomotives, won by Stephenson's Rocket |
| 1830
|
28
April: Christie's sale of the pictures etc. of the late Jonathan
Tyers the younger |
| |
Henry
Rowley Bishop appointed Director of Music |
| |
The Grand Moving Hydropyric Panorama exhibited |
| |
Act
of Parliament to de-regulate beer sales. Beer duty abolished |
| 1831
|
8
September: Coronation day of William IV. The Government gives the
proprietors £750, to open free, and 40,000 visitors attended |
| 1832 |
Friday
7 September: Season closes |
| |
First
flower shows. Grand Floral Fete given by the Metropolitan Society
of Florists and amateurs—principally dahlias |
| |
Good
weather |
| |
First
gas works built at Vauxhall Gardens. |
| 1833 |
Season
of 49 nights, closing on Friday 27 September |
|
8
July: Benefit evening for the Polish Exiles |
|
15
July: Paganini performs at Vauxhall |
|
19
August: Simpson's Benefit Night |
|
Monday 26 August: Centenary Jubilee celebrated. Price reduced to
1s for the week (extended to Friday 6 September). 20,000
people attended on the first Wednesday |
| |
London
Gas Light Company formed, with the Vauxhall Gardens works, on the
east side of the gardens, and a new works on the west |
| 1834 |
The
Vauxhall 'company' —singers, musicians, fireworks & illuminations—
perform at the Sydney Gardens, Bath, when not required at Vauxhall |
| |
East
range of supper-boxes removed to make way for a semi-circular bar
for refreshments, in the mode of a Parisian Café |
|
21 July: A second benefit for Simpson |
| |
Representation of Captain Ross's Expedition to the North Pole |
| |
New
gasworks built on west side of Vauxhall, with a telescopic gas-holder |
| 1835
|
13 August: Daytime fete for the birthday of Queen Adelaide |
| |
September,
French 'aerial ship' first seen |
| |
The
'Fete of Versailles' repeated throughout the season |
|
25
December: Death
of C. H. Simpson |
| 1836 |
Dickens: 'Vauxhall by Day' in Sketches by Boz |
| |
Italian
Walk, 800 feet long, with 300 trees created from the old Druids'
Walk by George Stevens |
| |
Edward Fisher Longshawe takes on Simpson's role of Master of Ceremonies |
| |
Diorama
of the new Houses of Parliament, from Barry's designs, 48ft long
by 30ft high, painted by Cocks |
|
11 August: Daytime Horticultural Exhibition & Fete Champetre.
2 p.m. |
|
Friday
9 September: First ascent of Green's Vauxhall Royal Balloon, 80
feet high, made of 2000 yards of crimson and white Spitalfields
silk. Becomes known as the Nassau Balloon that autumn (7/8 November),
after an 18 hour record-breaking 500 mile flight to Weilburg in
Nassau, Germany; renamed the Royal Nassau Balloon with the patronage
of the Duke of Nassau in July 1838 |
| |
Darwin
returns from 'Beagle' voyage |
| 1837
|
5
June: L'Atelier de Canova presented for the first time, including
a Venus, a Murder of the Innocents, a Mars and
Venus, and a Three Graces by Canova, a Hercules and
Cacus by Bandinelli, and several antique groups, all illuminated
by the Phoshelioulamproteron. All the figures are living
men and women. Some of the groups were shown on revolving platforms. |
|
30 June–1 July: Fire destroys the Firework tower early on Saturday
morning. The fireworks back in operation by the following Monday |
|
24
July: Robert Cocking's fatal parachute descent |
| |
The
season of 82 nights and 16 day fetes produced an income of £12,626 |
| |
Queen
Victoria confirms the right to use the name 'The Royal Gardens' |
| 1838 |
Frederick
Gye the Younger, Director of Lighting, invents the hydro-oxygen
light for the living statues |
| 1838 |
13
June: Season opens |
| |
Gasworks
installed at the gardens for balloon ascents |
| |
One
shilling admission re-introduced. (One shilling and sixpence for
Balloon ascent evenings) |
| |
Neptune
Fountain installed at the end of the Grand Walk |
| |
A
'Balloon Hall' erected, to allow for the inflation of the Nassau
Balloon under cover, with an open proscenium in front, 200 feet
wide |
|
8
August: A Grand Naval Fete |
| |
73
'Entertainments' (days and evenings) produced £12,103. The
expenses for that year were £14,461, including £1,100
for the gasworks, producing a loss of well over £2,000. |
| |
Nine
Elms terminus of the London and Southampton Railway. |
| 1839 |
Mr.
Ducrow's Curriculum shown for the first time, on a new race
course '129 yards longer than the original at Rome' opposite the
balloon gallery. Visitors were admitted on horseback at 5s
instead of 1s 6d |
| |
Mr
Bloodworth opens the Vauxhall Tap, Concert and Assembly rooms, Vauxhall
Gardens |
|
12 August: Grand Masquerade, the first for 20 years. |
| |
Vauxhall
Gardens not open regularly during the season |
| |
F.
Gye the younger's last full-time employment at Vauxhall |
| |
Friday
6 September: Season closes after an extension of a week with five
Grand Galas |
| 1840 |
Gye & Hughes
declared bankrupt. Encumbrances on the property, including mortgages,
came to £23,000. Property offered for sale by the Assignees
of Messrs. Gye & Hughes whose management had ceased in 1839.
No Purchaser found.
|
|
26,
27, 28 May: Auction sales by Hoggart. (Furniture from the gardens,
stages , garden stuff). |
|
15,
16 June: Sale of Machinery, paintings, organ, statues, Hogarth,
Hayman pictures |
|
28, 29 July: Sale of Furniture, books, china, glass, linen, prints
etc.from the house |
| |
|
1841 The
whole property bought by Thomas Fowler, son-in-law of Thomas Bish
and leased to John Mitchell and John Andrews of Bond Street
|
| |
|
|
1841
|
June/July/August/September: Stage Manager Alfred Bunn, assisted
by Ducrow |
| |
Monday
5 July: Season opens |
| |
July
14 and 21: Juvenile Fetes |
|
31
August: First shilling night - 6,000 paying visitors |
|
Monday
September 6, billed as 'The last evening for ever', but season continued
until Wednesday 8 September |
| |
Very
wet month from 15 July (St. Swithun's day)—Second Juvenile
Fete washed out (the first had been very grey and threatening rain) |
| |
First
mention of the Hall of Mirrors (open for dinner parties) |
| |
Liefchild
sale, 9 September (the whole property and 11 Acre site). Public
Sale directed by the court of Review following bankruptcy of Gye
& Hughes. Bought by Mr. Reynal on behalf of Mr. Thomas Fowler,
Gent, at £20,200 plus £1,100 for the fixtures [Fowler
was son-in-law of Bish]. The vendors are the mortgagees, Mrs. Webb
and Mrs. Hughes, sisters of Thomas Bish Esq., MP. |
|
12
October: Ventom and Hughes sale. (Moveable Property, incl. the Temple
of the Arts, and 24 original paintings) |
| 1842 |
27
January: Death of Andrew Ducrow |
|
28
February: Explosion at D'Ernst's firework factory in Lambeth |
| |
Henry
Widdicomb appointed Master of Ceremonies |
| |
Opened
22 August, closed 19 Sept : Bad season, £3,000 loss |
|
26
August: Grand Summer Fete in honour of the birthday of H.R.H. Prince
Albert |
|
27
December: Death
of Thomas Bish |
| |
Frederick
Gye the younger mentions 'Railway' in his diary during a visit to
the gardens |
| |
|
1843
Under Thomas Fowler, George Stevens, head gardener, assumes control
as proprietor with Robert Wardell as lessee manager for the season.
From now on until their closure in 1859 a succession of more or
less successful managers run the gardens under Fowler's ownership
|
| |
|
| 1843 |
Gardens
closed all year; George Stevens moves into the gardens in September,
and stays in the Proprietor's House until October 1859 |
| |
Tivoli
Gardens open in Copenhagen |
| 1844 |
2,000
shares of £25 advertised in three classes, under Managing
Director, Mr. Brion |
| |
9
September: Gardens opened for one month to exhibit the Ioway Indians.
Sundays closed. |
|
11
October: Closed |
| 1845 |
Season
12 May–Wednesday 8 October |
| |
Gardens re-let to Robert Wardell for £850
p.a. |
| |
24
July: Musgrave and Gadsden sale, (11 acre site, Pavilion, Supper
Room, 118 supper tables, Orchestra & Organ, Rotunda, Picture
Room, Ballet Theatre, Firework Gallery). No buyer found. |
| |
Atrocious
weather during the season |
| |
Italian
Walk renovated |
| |
Golden
Temple of Honan, or Hall of the Celestial Kings, with fireworks
on the Waterloo Ground |
| |
New
scenery—Pirates' Cave with a Sea View, and a Panoramic Swiss
Landscape |
| |
Mr.
Breckell, late of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, becomes chief Machinist,
and re-models the Grand Orchestra, decorated 'in the most costly
style' by Mr. Hurwitz |
| |
London
Gas Light Company becomes a statutory company by Act of Parliament. |
| 1846 |
Open on Monday
1 June, then five days a week, not Saturdays or Sundays
|
| |
The
best season of weather for some years. Open for 85 nights. |
|
23
June: General Tom Thumb reviews his troops in the Rotunda, for a
Juvenile Fete. |
|
Friday 2 October: Wardell's Benefit night, 2s admission |
| 1847 |
Wilkie
Collins calls the gardens 'an awful wilderness of mud and rubbish;
the deserted dead body of Vauxhall Gardens mouldering in the open
air' [in No Name] |
| |
Thursday 23 September: Season closes |
| 1848 |
First
mention of The American Bowling Saloon, decorated with a Panorama
of America, and 'the only place in London where the Real American
Drinks are made' i.e. Mint Juleps, Cobblers etc. prepared entirely
by Americans |
|
12
June: First appearance of Juba at Vauxhall |
|
11
July: Vauxhall Station opens on the London and South Western Railway |
|
August:
Animal trainer, Isaac van Amburgh, appears with his lions |
| 1849 |
Monday
4 June: Season opens, under 'an entirely new proprietorship.' |
| |
Introduction of some electric lighting, on the Italian Walk |
| |
Shooting
Gallery constructed |
|
12 August: 'Asteroid Rockets' exhibited by Henry Mortram |
| |
Italian
Walk continued all around the garden |
| |
The
Bowling Saloon is enlarged to create the American Grand Saloon,
on the Italian Walk, with four bowling alleys, the largest in England |
| |
Bad
Season. £2,000 losses. |
| 1850 |
Vauxhall calls itself "The Only Public Aristocratic Suburban
Retreat in England!" |
| |
Vauxhall
is visited twelve times by the 'Nepaulese Princes' |
|
4
July: First Annual 'Grand American Fete', to celebrate 'the great
day of Independence' (then celebrated annually) |
| |
Tudor
Pageant and Tourney held |
| 1851 |
Vauxhall
posters begin to appear also in French |
| |
Many
improvements in preparation for the expected millions coming to
the World's Fair, but the scale of the gardens is reduced to just
6 acres |
| |
Rare
and exotic plants and shrubs planted on raised mounds and floral
slopes |
| |
The
Italian Walk becomes the Avenue of All Nations |
|
1
May: A Royal Box built at the Equestrian Arena. |
| |
Masqued
ball on the opening night, to coincide with the opening of the Crystal
Palace. Vauxhall opens at 7 p.m., following closure of Crystal Palace
at 6 p.m. |
|
18 June: The first competitive flower shows |
| |
Appearances of the Algerine Family, and the equestrian Mlle. Palmyra
Annato |
|
15
July: Scottish Fete and Highland Ball, for the relief of famine
in the West Highlands and Islands; including Highland Games |
| 1851/2 |
John Ruskin's Stones of Venice |
| 1852 |
Improvements
for the season include 'trelliced alcoves' on the approaches to
the Gardens, with groves of palm trees; new garlanded chandeliers
on the main walk, with illuminated floral displays; pilasters and
compartments of the Grand Walk decorated white and gold. |
| |
Two
new cafés erected: The Hall of the Golden Lilies, in Chinese
style, and The Vintage Bower in which chocolate, coffee, tea, ices,
jellies and confectionery are served. The Italian Walk further embellished
with classical statuary, floral decorations and 'Architectural Auxiliaries' |
| |
Equestrian
Arena transformed into a Ballet Theatre for an audience of 5,000.
Equestrians, rope dancers and clowns absent for a year. Rotunda
floored and turned into a ballroom |
| 1853 |
Diorama of
the Golden Temple of Guadma, the Great Pagoda of Dagon, Rangoon.
|
|
4–8
July: 'Entertainments and the Burmese Empire' |
| 1854 |
Summer of bad weather |
| |
Robert
Wardell closes the gardens after the magistrates ban the Italian
Brothers' balloon ascent |
|
Friday
2 June: Grand Ball of all Nations |
|
October:
The
Charge of the Light Brigade |
| 1855 |
The
Gardens re-open for six nights only (between 17-29 September) for
the Victory of Sebastopol, the last 3 nights at 6d., and
refreshments free—'No Go' according to Stevens; and on Monday
1 October for a Benefit Night for Robert Wardell |
| 1856
|
30
Juen–4 July: Cirque Imperial |
|
July
14: Robert Wardell's annual Benefit Night |
| |
Ascent
of Mr. Green in the Nassau Balloon |
|
Friday
26 September: Season closes |
| 1857 |
Closed
all year |
| |
Vauxhall
Iron Works opened (later to become Vauxhall Motors) |
| |
The
Art Treasures Exhibition at the Old Trafford Crystal Palace, Manchester. |
| 1858 |
'A New Leviathan Platform for Dancing! Erected on a Novel Principle
by Mr MACEY, of the Royal Alhambra Palace, Leicester Square' |
|
13
September: Grand Illumination Gala, for the benefit of Mr. Duffell |
| 1859 |
25 July: 'Positively The Last Night Forever', after a season of
six nights from 18 July |
|
Tuesday 26 July: Final demolition begins |
| |
Tennyson,
The Idylls of the King |
| |
November.
Darwin's On the Origin of Species
published |
|
22
August: Drivers' sale, (Fixtures, fittings and building materials,
incl the Orchestra, which sold for £99. A 1754 table sold
for 9s.) The remaining pictures were bought by Edward Tyrrell
Smith for the Banqueting Hall at Cremorne. Total receipts about
£800. |
|
29
August: Drivers' sale, (second portion of the building materials,
fixtures and fittings, furniture, china & glass, lamps, artworks) |
|
27
June: Edward, Prince of Wales lays the foundation stone for the
new Vauxhall School of Art.The site is laid out with over 300 building
plots for 'artisans' housing' |
| 1862 |
Goodwin,
Williams & Co., purchase lease on the property, and secure the
freehold |
| 1863 |
16 April: Foundation stone of St. Peter's Church, Kennington Lane
laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury |
| 1864 |
28
June: Church of St. Peter (by John Loughborough Pearson) consecrated.
Cost £7,800 to build |
| |
Monet,
The Breakwater at Honfleur. |
| 1865 |
According
to John Timbs (Walks and Talks about London, London: Lockwood
& Co., 1865, p.16), there is no trace of the gardens left on
site.
Population of Vauxhall at this time around 8,000 |
| 1888 |
June
7, 8 & 9: Vauxhall Revival at the 'Old Vauxhall Bazaar' in the
Horns Assembly Rooms, Kennington Park Road, by the Kennington Liberal
and Radical Association, and the Women's Liberal Association. Under
the patronage of Mrs. W.E. Gladstone, and sixteen other distinguished
ladies and gentlemen. The Handel statue, and some of the supper-box
pictures were shown |
| 1890
|
12
July: Vauxhall Park opened by the Prince of Wales, after a campaign
by Octavia Hill |
| 1896 |
Warwick Wroth's
The London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century published
by Macmillan.
|