George Egerton

chancery lane1 — Chancery Lane, Victorian Google Map

Using online resources such as the Charles Booth Online Archive and British Histories I was able to find out a few key characteristics about the historic road that is Chancery Lane. Chancery lane, located on the south end of Fleet Street, was once home of the Domus Conversorum. The Domus Conversum was the home and chapel of “forced” converted Jews around 1233. These Jews were forced to convert to Christianity at this time due to the terrible anti-semetic actions that were common in London at this point in time (Thornburry, Fleet Street).

As time passed on and the Domus Conversorum was broken up Chancery Lane became the home to London’s “inns of court”(Thornburry, Holborn). The “inns of court” are the four institutions where all lawyers are trained and are members of. Some included in the article specifically on Chancery Lane were the Lincoln’s Inn and the Gray’s Inn (Holborn).

Because of the roads location (west end of London) and the profession associated with the lane, it was considered a well off neighborhood.

According to the map above from the Charles Booth Archive, Chancery Lane was home to the middle-class and well to do of his time period. This was again due to it’s location in London and the predominant profession associated with that lane, Law.

In “A Lost Masterpiece” by George Egerton, Chancery Lane is where the narrator has been interrupted. The narrator at this point thinks they have an idea for a piece that would change the literary world forever. However when a fast paced woman is walking by their bus they are distracted by her and continue to blame the woman for making the narrator lose their track of thought. Knowing where this woman is walking, Chancery Lane, helps the reader really picture the woman. If the woman was on that street where the middle class stayed mostly, she would look the part. The narrator becomes obsessed as well with how fast she is moving, keeping up with their bus. This could one be a symbol of how fast paced the profession of Law is. The narrator also makes a direct connection with the history of the Lane as well;

“Is she a feminine presentment of the wandering Jew, a living
embodiment of the ghoul-like spirit that haunts the city and
murders fancy? (Egerton)”

The narrator knows about this dark time in the city of London and the horrific treatment of Jews back then. Maybe the narrator sees the sins of London, such as the treatment of Jews, keeping London from becoming as wonderful and bright as it could be. The woman or the “presentmant of the wandering Jew” is that sin come to life to interrupt London in it’s growth.

Egerton, George [Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright]. “A Lost Masterpiece.” The Yellow Book 1 (Apr. 1894): 189-96.The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2010. Web. [Date of access]. http://www.1890s.ca/HTML.aspx?s=YBV1_egerton_masterpiece.html

Thornbury, Walter. ‘Fleet Street: Northern tributaries – Chancery Lane.’ Old and New London: Volume 1. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878. 76-92. British History Online. Web. 10 September 2015. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol1/pp76-92.

Thornbury, Walter. ‘Holborn: Inns of Court and Chancery.’ Old and New London: Volume 2. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878. 553-576. British History Online. Web. 10 September 2015. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol2/pp553-576.

The bridges of London are crossroads of international commerce and markets but they are also a place for crime especially during the Victorian Era. There was everything from pocket picking to assaults. One case I found in the Old Bailey Proceedings that occurred in the summer of 1894 documents a case in which a bargeman pulled a gun and fired at a group of boys that were noted to have been seen throwing stones at boats from the London Bridge (. Not much else is noted about the individual who was injured and brought charges against the bargeman but modern readers can almost picture such a bustling waterway full of commerce and life but also conflict.

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/architecture/feist/30.html

London Bridge was an especially busy place with a very rich history. In Old and New London¸ writer Walter Thornbury states that London Bridge “was a battle-field and a place of religious worship, a resort of traders and a show-place for traitors’ heads.” During the Tudor reign, it was regularly used to showcase the heads of those convicted of treason. It has a dark history its transformation into one of the main trade centers in London makes it a perfect place to examine in the context of “A Lost Masterpiece.” London was still advancing technologically and socially before the turn of the century when this short story takes place. The movement of time as well as modern movement is important to understand Victorian texts.

The narrator in “A Lost Masterpiece,” states that she “boarded a river steamer bound for London Bridge.” There is a theme of social mobility present in London society at this time which is why so many people came in from the countryside for the opportunities London had. The narrator herself establishes this by stating she had come in from the countryside because she was bored with life there and missed the excitement of London and all the inspiring material it presented for her literary endeavors. Physical mobility is also represented by the steamer the narrator boards at Chelsea and London Bridge. The travel from West to East along the Thames could be a symbol for the migration of individuals from the country to the city. It also represents the movement occurring within London itself, which the narrator observes as she simultaneously acknowledges her role in the scheme of things. She declares, “I was simply an interested spectator of a varied panorama.” As the keen observer, she is capturing images of several different kinds of Londoners as she herself becomes part of this inner city movement. The language she uses to describe her thoughts are also tied to movement, she is “touching a hundred vagrant things with the magic of imagination, making a running comment on the scenes we passed.” By transitioning to using the word ‘we’ instead of the word ‘I’ as she frequently does in the beginning, the narrator has moved from an outsider in London to part of the London dwellers she describes. Additionally, she describes her thoughts as ‘running’, which further reinforces the theme of movement.

Works Cited

Egerton, George. “A Lost Masterpiece.” The Yellow Nineties Online. The Yellow Nineties Online, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 05 September 2015), July 1894, trial of WILLIAM BAVINGTON (50) (t18940723-626).

Walter Thornbury, ‘London Bridge’, in Old and New London: Volume 2 (London, 1878), pp. 9-17 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol2/pp9-17 [accessed 1 September 2015].

“Victorian Google Maps.” Victorian Google Maps. Google, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/architecture/feist/30.html

Virtually London: Literature and Laptops

SUNY New Paltz, ENG 493

Chancery Lane- “A Lost Masterpiece”

London Bridge in “A Lost Masterpiece”