ted, a very much superior boat, and much quicker; and a
start was made for a ider of a very primitive character at the Yorkshire
Grey stairs--merely two old coal barges with gangways from the shore, and
one from a landing stage. A company was then formed called the Chelsea
Steamboat Company, with four small wooden boats, and a pier was built.

The Wellesley Street tragedy (now called Upper Manor Street), occurred on
the left hand side about four or five doors from the top. The house was
kept by an old lady who let the best part to lodgers, and on one Sunday
evening about nine she had taken her supper beer from the potman at the
Wellesley Arms, who came round in those days at meal times with a tray
made for the purpose of carrying beer to be sold at the customers' doors;
and about eleven o'clock the people who occupied the upper part of the
house came home and opened the door, but did not find any light as they
expected, as it was usual for the old lady to leave a candle burning on
the ledge of the staircase window. They went to a neighbour to get a
light and returned and found the old lady at the foot of the stairs. She
appeared to have been stunned and then strangled. The jug with the beer
was standing on the stairs, the place had not been robbed, and nothing
had been disturbed. The people in the house had been recently married,
and it had been their practice to go away the whole of the Sunday and
spend it with their friends. There were several arrests, but there
appeared to be no clue, and the matter was never cleared up; the only
theory was that it was a contemplated robbery, someone knocking her down
and then strangling her, but got scared and took to flight without taking
any thing.

CHAPTER 13--Politics on Kennington Common.

There appears always to have been a radical element in Chelsea, for a
large contingent met on Chelsea Common and marched to Kennington Common
to give the Dorsetshire Labourers, Frost, Williams, and Jones, a grand
reception on their return from imprisonment. They were drawn by four
horses in a hackney carriage with outriders, and followed by a large
number of vehicles occupied by their admirers, and a large crowd, when a
meeting was held on Kennington Common, and violent speeches were made.
The crowd became very disorderly, some ugly rushes were made, and the few
police and constables who were there got very roughly handled, and in one
of the scrimmages a policeman's top hat w