The village of Isleworth, situated on the banks of the Thames. In this parish there are nearly 506 acres of land occupied by the market gardeners, who cultivate their ground chiefly for for. Some of them raise great quantities of raspberries, which are sold to the distillers and conveyed to town in swing carts; fruit for the table is carried on the head by women who come principally from Shropshire. They gather the fruit very early in the morning, 12 women being employed to gather a load, which is twelve gallons (of three pints each) one of the gatherers carries the load to Covent Garden market, a distance of about 10 miles, for which she has 3s. 6d. They generally go at the rate of five miles an hour.

ISLEWORTH is a large parish on the left bank of the Thames, 9 miles from Hyde Park Comer, with a station on the London and South Western railway, in the hundred of the same name, Brentford division of the county, Brentford petty sessional division, union and county court district, and in the rural deanery of Ealing, archdeaconry of Middlesex and diocese of London: it is a place of considerable antiquity, being mentioned in Domesday Book as “Gistelworde;” it was afterwards called “Yhistelworth,” “Istelworth” and, in Queen Elizabeth’s reign, “Thistleworth,” but for the last two centuries it has been spelt Isleworth. The civil parishes of Isleworth and Heston, which includes the town of Hounslow, were formed into a Local Board District by 38 and 39 Vict. c. 74, but under the provisions of the “Local Government Act, 1894” (56 and 57 Vict. c. 73), an Urban District Council of 20 members is now the governing authority for the district; the Council sits at Hounslow, where the names of the members and officers are given.

The river Cran or Crane, which rises near Harrow, falls into the Thames here.

The parish is lighted with gas from works at Brentford, the property of the Brentford Gas Company, and supplied with water by the Grand Junction Water Works Company.

The parish church of All Saints, with its beautifully ivy-mantled tower, forms a picturesque and conspicuous object from the river, and is a building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave of six bays, aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower with crocketed pinnacles, containing a clock and 8 bells: the body of the church was rebuilt in 1705, partly from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren, and in 1866 the church was restored and a large chancel added, which is richly embellished with mural paintings; the pews were also removed and open seats substituted: on the floor of the nave near the south side of the chancel arch are two beautifully executed brasses in good preservation, the first representing a nun of Syon House in the costume of her order and bearing the following inscription in old English characters: “Here lyeth ye Bodye of Margaret Dely, a Sister professed in Syon who deceased in ye month of Octr. 1561. On whose sowle sweet Jesus have mercy;” the second is to “Catherine Cox, wife of Richard Cox, merchant taylor, who died in June, 1598, and left behind 2 sons and 2 daughters unto the said Richd. Cox, late deceased, a servant of God:” there is also a monument, with bust, to Sir Orlando Gee kt. registrar of the Admiralty, d. 1705; others to Helena Magdalen, Countess de Randwick, a Dutch refugee, d. 1797; and George Keate F.R.S., F.S.A, poet, d. 27 June, 1797; and mural tablets to Col. Sir Richard Downton kt. 1711; and to Anne (Newton), wife successively of Henry Sesson, John Tolson, and Joseph Dash, merchant; she was a great benefactress to the parish and died in 1750, aged 89: here also was buried Richard Blyke, auditor of the Imprests and topographical editor for Herefordshire, d. 1775: there are about 800 sittings. The register dates from 1566 and contains the entry, in 1617, of the baptism of Dorothy Sydney, daughter of Sir Robert Sydney K.B. 2nd Earl of Leicester, and sister of the famous patriot Algernon Sydney; she was courted unsuccessfully by the poet Edmund Waller, who celebrated her as “Sacharissa,” and eventually married Henry, Earl of Sunderland: at this church were married, 27 March, 1679, Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, and Lady Elizabeth Percy, only surviving child and heiress of Joceline, 11th and last Earl of Northumberland and at Syon House, as recorded in the register, 8 June, 1775, Lord Algernon Percy, afterwards 2nd Lord Lovaine, was married to the Hon. Isabella Susannah (Burrell) sister of Lord Gwydyr. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £330, and residence, in the gift of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, and held since 1892 by the Rev. Thomas Frederick Bigg M.A. of Caius College, Cambridge, who resides at Roseneath, Spring Grove. Nicholas Byfield, a famous Puritan, was vicar here 1615—20; and Dr. William Cave, author of “Lives of the Fathers,” was vicar 1690—1713, John Hall, martyr, 1534, and William Drake, scholar and antiquary, d. 1801, were also vicars here.

St. John the Baptist’s is an ecclesiastical parish, formed Feb. 6, 1857, from All Saints: the church, in St. John’s road, near the railway station, erected by subscription in 1857, on a site given by the late John Farnell esq. is an edifice in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays and aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower containing one bell: a sum of £2,000 towards the building of the church was left by a former Duke of Northumberland: all the windows are stained: in 1893 the church was renovated and re-decorated throughout, at a cost of £500: there are about 650 sittings, of which 150 are free. The register dates from the year 1856. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £300, with residence, built at the cost of the late John Farnell esq. in the gift of the vicar of Isleworth, and held since 1890 by the Rev. George Bellamy-Gordon Stokes M.A. of Queen’s College, Oxford. The population of the ecclesiastical parish in 1891 was 1,789.

All Souls’, St. Margaret’s-on-Thames, is an ecclesiastical parish, formed May 19th, 1898, from All Saints. The church, erected in 1896—7, and consecrated in 1898, at a cost of £4,97,2, is an edifice of Ted brick in the Gothic style, and consists of temporary chancel, nave, aisles, baptistery, and a turret at the north-east angle of the nave, containing one bell: there are 600 sittings, of which 300 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy, net yearly value £300, in the gift of the Bishop of London, and held since 1898 by the Rev. Ernest Arundell Morgan M.A. of Cambridge University, who resides at Holly Lodge, St. Margaret’s, Twickenham.

The iron church in the Northcote road is now a Sunday school, belonging to All Souls’.

There is also a Catholic chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and St. Bridget, seating 250 persons. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels and a Meeting House for the Society of Friends, built in 1785.

The cemetery, in Park road, is about 6 acres in extent, and has 2 chapels in the Early English style and a mortuary; the Church of England chapel contains a stained east window presented by Mrs. Farnell Watson: the cemetery is under the control of a burial board of 9 members.

The Brentford Union Workhouse and Infirmary, on the Twickenham road, is in this parish.

The Public Hall, in South street, built in 1888, is used for entertainments &c. and will hold 300 persons; one room is set apart as a subscription reading room and library, the latter containing about 2,500 volumes; there is also a vestry hall for parochial purposes.

Richmond, Heston and Isleworth Joint Isolation Hospital in Mogden lane, is a building of yellow brick, opened in 1898, and has 58 beds.

A two days’ pleasure fair is held in the square, commencing on the first Monday in July, but has greatly declined.

Isleworth is celebrated for the quantity and quality of the fruit which it produces, a large portion of the land being cultivated as market gardens and nurseries.

The large flour mill of Messrs. S. Kidd and Co. Limited, is worked partly by steam and partly by water power derived from an artificial cut from the Crane brook brought to Isleworth by the abbots of Syon for the use of their corn mill.

The Isleworth brewery, belonging to a limited company, is a very extensive and complete establishment.

The extensive soap works of Messrs. A. and F. Pears Limited, are also here.

There are several almshouses, viz.: Mrs. Sermon’s, founded in 1849 by Mrs. Sarah Sermon, of Isleworth, for six women, each of whom receives £20 annually; Mrs. Tolson’s, founded in 1756 and rebuilt in 1861 for six men and six women, each of whom receives 8s. weekly; Ingram’s, founded in 1664 by Sir Thomas Ingram kt for six women; Mrs. Mary Bell’s, for five women; and two for married couples, in addition to those built by Mr. Farnell, in 1860, for six men and six women; two almshouses were also erected and endowed in 1858 by Miss Elizabeth Butler, of Isleworth, for two aged couples.

Among the distinguished persons who have at various times resided here may be mentioned Sir George Calvert kt. 1st Baron Baltimore, the original grantee of Maryland, d. 15 April, 1632; Sir Ralph Winwood kt. B.C.L. and ambassador to Holland, d. 27 Oct. 1617; William Noy, attorney-general and originator of the “Ship Money” tax, d. Aug. 1634; Rev. Samuel Clarke M.A. biographer, and some time incumbent of St. Benet Fink, London, d. 25 Dec. 1682; Charles (Talbot), 1st and only Duke of Shrewsbury and Marquess of Alton K.G. lord chamberlain and treasurer, and viceroy of Ireland, d. 1 Feb. 1718; Erengard Melosine (de Schulenberg), Duchess of Munster and Kendal, d. May, 1743; William (Pulteney), Earl of Bath, the opponent of Sir Robert Walpole, d. 8 July, 1764; and the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan M.P., P.C. d. 7 July, 1816.

Syon House, the magnificent seat of Earl Percy P.C., V.D., F.S.A, was granted by Queen Elizabeth, together with the manor of Isleworth, to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland K.G. and has descended through heiresses to the present family: it is situated in the eastern part of the parish and stands on the site of the Bridgetine convent of St. Saviour, St. Mary and St. Bride, founded in 1415 by King Henry V. the dedication stone having been laid by the king in Feb. 1416; the foundation consisted of 60 nuns, 13 priests, 4 deacons and various other inmates of both sexes: Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, was buried in this monastery in 1522: in 1532 it was suppressed, its revenues then being estimated at a sum equivalent in the present day to about £20,000: Agnes Jordan, the last abbess, was buried in 1545 at Denham, Bucks: on his death in 1547, the body of Henry VIII. was rested here on its way to Windsor Castle: and here, in 1541, Katherine Howard was detained previous to her trial and execution: Edward VI. gave it to the Lord Protector Somerset, on whose attainder, and subsequently that of the Duke of Northumberland, it reverted to the Crown, when Queen Mary restored those nuns who survived and were unmarried, but Elizabeth suppressed the nunnery a second time and granted it as stated above, upon which the society in 1594 transferred itself to Portugal and founded a new house on the banks of the Tagus, at Lisbon, where the nunnery still remains, although in 1861 the 12 English nuns of the community were received into a modern establishment at Spettisbury in Dorsetshire. Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland K.G. thoroughly restored the structure, the work being carried out, it is said, under the direction of Inigo Jones: in 1665 Charles II. held his council here, on account of the Great Plague, and in 1692 the mansion was the residence of the Princess of Denmark (afterwards Queen Anne): William IV. visited it July 31, 1832, and again in June, 1833, when he was accompanied by Queen Adelaide. Syon House, as now existing, is much the same as it was left by the Protector Somerset, and forms a stately quadrangular pile, three storeys in height, with embattled parapets and square battlemented towers at the angles, the whole being faced with Bath stone and inclosing a garden court about 80 feet square: the principal front has a colonnade extending along the lower storey and in the centre a projecting bay rising to the full height of the house and forming the entrance. The great hall is a spacious apartment, 66 by 31 feet, paved with black and white marble and richly ceiled in stucco: adjoining the hall is a fine vestibule, 34 by 30 feet, supported by twelve columns of “verde antique” marble, each of which cost £1,000: in the dining room, 62 by 21 feet, are many family portraits by Reynolds and Lawrence, and other rooms contain examples of Vandyke, Lely and Kneller, some Dutch and Flemish paintings by Van Eyck and others, one of which, “The Raising of Lazarus,” is especially curious; there is also a portrait by Albert Durer and works by other early German masters: a gallery, 134 by 14 feet, extends along the whole river front and contains many objects of art: in the centre of this front, on a raised pedestal, is now placed the famous lion which for so many years surmounted the front of Northumberland House at Charing Cross, pulled down in 1874: the mansion is surrounded by extensive pleasure grounds, 75 acres in extent and partly skirting the Thames; they were laid out by Lancelot (“Capability”) Brown and contain some very ancient mulberry trees, one of which bears the date 1546, and a double avenue of limes, fine cedars and groups of cypress and acacia: the late Duke of Northumberland entirely remodelled the grounds, constructed an artificial rockery for the cultivation of Alpine plants, and built, from a design of Mr. Richard Forrest, a great range of plant houses, 400 feet in length, with a central dome 65 feet high: in the kitchen garden, covering about 4 acres, are fruit houses of equal size; and speaking generally, the gardens of Syon may be regarded as among the finest in the kingdom.

Gordon House, also on the river, is now a girls’ Home, maintained by the London School Board.

There also are many handsome houses and villa residences in Isleworth.

Earl Percy P.O., V.D., F.S.A is lord of the manor of Isleworth Syon and the principal landowner.

The St. Margaret’s Estate is in this parish, but as it is within the Twickenham postal delivery, it is for the sake of convenience given under that head.

The soil is chiefly a light loam; subsoil, clay.

The area is 3,091 acres of land, 53 of water, 28 of tidal water and 14 of foreshore; the population in 1871 was 11,498 and in 1891, 15,884, including part of Hounslow and Spring Grove, and 18 officers and 456 inmates in Brentford Workhouse, and 56 in Wyke House Private Asylum. The population attached to the parish church in 1891 was 6,818.

Places of Worship, with times of services

All Saints’ Church, Rev. Thomas Frederick Bigg M.A. vicar; Rev. Charles Hurst Muspratt A.K.C. curate; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 10 a.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.; holy communion, every Sunday, 8 a.m.; 1st & 3rd Sundays at 11 a.m.; saints days, matins, 10 a.m.

St. John the Baptist Church, St. John’s road, Rev. George Bellamy-Gordon Stokes M.A. vicar; 11 a.m. 3 & 6.30 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m.; celebration of holy communion 8 a.m. on all Sundays except 3rd Sundays when it is at midday; saints days, holy communion at 8 a.m.

All Souls’ Church, Rev. Ernest Arundel Morgan M.A. incumbent; 11 a.m. & 7 p.m.; holy communion, every Sunday, 8 a.m.; saints days, holy communion at 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.

All Saints’ Mission House, Hartland road, Rev. Thomas Frederick Bigg M.A. treasurer.

Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception & St. Bridget, Shrewsbury place, Rev. Thomas. F. Gorman & Rev. Arthur Day, priests; mass, 8.30 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; holidays of obligation, mass 7 & 9 a.m.; daily mass, 9 a.m. in church.

Congregational, Twickenham road, Rev. William Steen, 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.45 p.m.

Wesleyan, North street (Brentford Circuit ministers); 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Society of Frieads’ Meeting House, Lendon road; 11 a.m.

Schools

The County High School, in St. John’s road, opened in 1897, for 150 boys, is under the direction of the British & Foreign School Society, the Middlesex County Council & the Governors of the Isleworth Blue Coat School. The buildings include a workshop & laboratory; there are now (1898) about 100 boys.

A School Board of 9 members was formed here July, 3, 1893, Isleworth returning 3 & Hounslow 6 members; J. T. Reeve, Clare lodge, Spring grove, clerk to the board; Joseph McGrowran, Midsummer avenue.

Board School, Worpole road, erected in 1896, for 280 infants; average attendance, 100.

Blue, Lower square, for 300 boys; average attendance, 249.

Green, Church street, endowed by Charlotte Florencia, wife of Hugh, 2nd Duke of Northumberland, for go girls, of whom 40 are clothed; average attendance, 51.

St. Mary’s Convent (day school) (middle class), built in 1893, for 170 girls; average attendance, 83.

St. Mary’s Elementary, built in 1893, for 100 girls. & 132 infants; average attendance, girls, 86; infants, 130.

National, North street (girls & infants), for 500 children; average attendance, 180 girls & 190 infants.

St. John’s National (infants), St. John’s road, erected about 1860 at the cost of the late John Famell esq. for 120 children; average attendance, 68.

Brentford District, Twickenham road, erected in 1883, at a cost of £20,000, from designs by Mr. Edward Mon-son, architect, are of yellow brick & consist of a central block, with dock tower & north & south wings, connected by a covered arcade, & have recreation grounds adjoining; they will hold 254 children.

St. Mary’s Catholic, Shrewsbury place, for 100 boys; average attendance, 55.

Holme Court Truant School, established in 1891 by the Chiswick & Heston School Boards, & certified to receive 65 boys.