monasteries, King Henry VIII. became
possessed of the Westminster property; he took up the lease, granting
the lessee, Robert White, other lands in exchange, and added it to the
hunting-ground he purposed forming on the north and west of London. At
his death King Edward VI. inherited it, and leased it to Sir William
Paulet. In 1587 it was held by Lord Burghley. In 1599 it was sold to
Walter Cope.

Earl's Court or Kensington Manor we traced to the three sisters of the
last Earl. One of these died childless, the other two married
respectively John Nevill, Lord Latimer; and Sir Anthony Wingfield.
Family arrangements were made to prevent the division of the estate,
which passed to Lucy Nevill, Lord Latimer's third daughter. She married
Sir W. Cornwallis, and left one daughter, Anne, who married Archibald,
Earl of Argyll, who joined with her in selling the manor to Sir Walter
Cope in 1609. Sir Walter Cope had thus held at one time or another the
whole of Kensington. He now possessed Earl's Court, West Town, and
Abbot's Manor, having sold Notting Barns some time before. His daughter
and heiress married Sir Henry Rich, younger son of the first Earl of
Warwick. Further details are given in the account of Holland House (p.
76).

PERAMBULATION.--We will begin at the extreme easterly point of the
borough, the toe of the boot which the general outline resembles. We are
here in Knightsbridge. The derivation of this word has been much
disputed. Many old writers, including Faulkner, have identified it with
Kingsbridge--that is to say, the bridge over the Westbourne in the
King's high-road. The Westbourne formed the boundary of Chelsea, and
flowed across the road opposite Albert Gate. The real King's bridge,
however, was not here, but further eastward over the Tyburn, and as far
back as Henry I.'s reign it is referred to as Cnightebriga. Another
derivation for Knightsbridge is therefore necessary. The old topographer
Norden writes: "Kingsbridge, commonly called Stone bridge, near Hyde
Park Corner, where I wish no true man to walk too late without good
guard, as did Sir H. Knyvett, Kt., who valiantly defended himself, being
assaulted, and slew the master-thief with his own hands." This, of
course, has reference to the more westerly bridge mentioned above, but
it seems to have served as a suggestion to later topographers, who have
founded upon it the tradition that two knights on their way to Fulham to
be blessed by the Bishop of Lond