Oh, bless: C18th cordwainer Sticking It To The Man

Jun 19, 2013 19:21


From today's ODNB Life of the Day, Timothy Bennett (1676/7-1756):
[R]emembered for his successful campaign to reopen a right of way across Bushy Park, a Tudor royal hunting ground and part of the Hampton Court Palace estate. The path, which ran for nearly 2 miles, was a popular route for local residents crossing the park between Hampton town and Hampton Wick.
....
The closing of the pathway in Bushy Park was the result of ambitious plans for Hampton Court Palace in the reign of William and Mary. One of these was an improved road which, from a grand new gateway (now the Lion Gate, Hampton Court Road), provided an entrance to the royal residence through the palace gardens. The new road, nearly a mile in length, was flanked by rows of trees from which it took its name, Chestnut Avenue..... Access to the new road, part of the royal route to London, was only permitted to those issued with tickets, and this excluded most of the local population.
....
In June 1900 the former lord chamberlain, Earl Carrington, unveiled a monument to Bennett adjacent to the public path that, since the eighteenth century, has been known as Cobbler's Walk.

And he was in his 70s at the time.

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odnb, royalty, protest, parks

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