Kingston-upon-Thames

Kingston-upon-Thames, a municipal borough and market-town of Surrey, 12 miles SW. of London, lies on the right bank of the Thames, here crossed by two bridges—one of stone completed 1828 and freed 1870, and the other an iron railway viaduct. Of late years, with its suburbs of Norbiton, Surbiton, and New Malden, it has rapidly increased in size, its easy access to London, coupled with its facilities for boating and the pleasant surroundings of the neighbourhood, notably Hampton Court, Bushy and Richmond Parks, having attracted large numbers of residents. Population of the parish, (1801) 4438; (1831) 7257; (1881) 35,829; (1891) 41,886, of whom 27,059 were within the municipal limits. The parish church, of which William Coxe the historian was once rector, has some fine monuments; the county council buildings, costing £36,000, were undertaken in 1890. In history, however, Kingston has figured somewhat conspicuously: in 838 it was the scene of a great council, convened by Egbert, king of Wessex, and his son Ethelwulf; seven of the Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned here, as recorded on the coronation-stone still standing near the market-place; King John, who granted the town its first charter, was a frequent visitor in 1204-15; in 1264, during the civil war with Simon de Montfort, Kingston Castle (of which no traces now remain) was captured by Henry III.; Fairfax made the town his headquarters in 1647; and a year later took place in the neighbourhood the last fight between the royalists and Round-heads, when Lord Holland and the Duke of Buckingham were defeated. At Ham Common lived Gay's 'Kitty,' Duchess of Queensberry. See Bident's History of Kingston-upon-Thames (1852).