n of
Edward III., and acquired its present name under his successor, Richard
II."

About half of the Lane falls within the district, being in the parish of
St. Andrew, Holborn. In it at the present time there is nothing worthy
of remark, except the gateway of Lincoln's Inn, mentioned elsewhere.
Offices, flats, and chambers in the solid modern style rise above shops.
Near the north end is the Chancery Lane Safe Deposit. On the opposite
side the old buildings of Lincoln's Inn frown defiance. Chancery Lane
has for long been the chief connection between the Strand and Holborn,
but will soon be superseded by Kingsway further west.

Near the north end are Southampton Buildings, rigidly modern, containing
the Birkbeck Bank and Chambers. They are built on the site once covered
by Southampton House, which came to William, Lord Russell, by his
marriage with the daughter and heiress of the last Lord Southampton. It
is difficult to realize now the scene thus described by J. Wykeham
Archer: "It was in passing this house, the scene of his domestic
happiness, on his way to the scaffold in Lincoln's Inn Fields, that the
fortitude of the martyr for a moment forsook him; but, overmastering his
emotion, he said, 'The bitterness of death is now past.'"

Cursitor Street was in the eighteenth century noted for its
sponging-houses, and many a reference is made to it in contemporary
literature. We are now in the Liberties of the Rolls, a parish in
itself.

The Cursitors' Office was built by Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal,
and adjoined the site of a palace of the Bishop of Chichester; and this
adjoined the Domus Conversorum, or House of Converts, wherein the rolls
of Chancery were kept, now replaced by the magnificent building of the
new Record Office. Southward is Serjeants' Inn--the building still
stands; also Clifford's Inn, once pertaining to the Inner Temple. The
hall of Clifford's Inn was converted into a court for the adjustment of
boundaries after the Fire of London.

On the west side of Chancery Lane, a few doors above Fleet Street, Izaak
Walton kept a draper's shop. These details about the southern part of
Chancery Lane are mentioned for the sake of continuity, for they do not
come within the Holborn District.

Chancery Lane was the birthplace of Lord Strafford, the residence of
Chief Justice Hyde, of the Lord Keeper Guildford, and of Jacob Tonson.

Passing on into Holborn and turning eastward, we soon perceive a row of