of the Bishops of London--and of one literary reminiscence--that of
Richardson--worthy to rank, if not in the very first class, yet
somewhere near it.

[Illustration: FULHAM DISTRICT.

Published by A. & C. Black, London.]

PUTNEY

BY J. C. GEIKIE.

The first mention made of Putney--styled "Putenhie" in the Conqueror's
Domesday Book, and "Puttenheth" in all subsequent records--is in
connection with the fishery and ferry which existed here at the time of
the Conquest. In 1663 the fishery was held for the three best salmon
caught in March, April, and May, but this rent was afterwards converted
to a money value. At the sale of Sir Theodore Janssen's estates the
fishery was let for L6 per annum. The rent was afterwards increased to
L8, and a lease upon those terms expired in 1780. Since 1786 this
fishery has been abandoned. Mention is also made that occasionally a
porpoise was caught here, and, as a matter of fact, two watermen shot
one here lately; but it was confiscated, and the men fined for
discharging firearms on the river. The ferry at the time of the Conquest
yielded 20s. a year to the Lord of the Manor, and Putney appears at all
times to have been a considerable thoroughfare, as it was usual formerly
for persons travelling from London to the West of England to come as far
as this by water. In Elizabeth's reign it was ordered that watermen
should pay a halfpenny for every stranger, and a farthing for every
inhabitant of Putney, to the ferry-owner, or be fined 2s. 6d. In 1629
the Lord of the Manor received 15s. per year for the ferry.

In 1726, the twelfth year of George I.'s reign, an Act of Parliament was
passed for building a wooden bridge from Putney to Fulham, which was
finished in the year 1729 at an expense of L23,975, and the ferry was
bought up, those interested in it being paid proportionately. The plan
for the bridge was drawn by the celebrated Mr. Cheselden, Surgeon of
Chelsea Hospital. The bridge was 789 feet long and 24 feet wide, with
openings for vessels to pass through, the largest of which, in the
centre, was named Walpole's Lock, in honour of Sir Robert Walpole, who
helped to procure the Act of Parliament to build the bridge. A toll of a
halfpenny was charged foot-passengers, and on Sundays this was doubled,
for the purpose of raising a fund of L62 a year, which was divided
annually between the widows and children of poor watermen belonging to
Putney and Fulham as a recompense to the