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Illustrated London News, Jan.-June, 1851

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The gardens were large and well laid out; some of the grand old trees had been left standing, and afforded pleasant relief to the town eyes which had been staring all day at brick and stucco, while their murmuring rustle was pleasant to the ears aching with the echo of city traffic. There were plenty of amusements - a circular dancing platform, with a capital band in a large kiosk in the middle; a lot of jeux innocens, such as you find at a French fair; once a week a balloon ascent, and a very good firework display. The admission-fee was one shilling; there was a hot dinner for half a crown, a cold supper for the same money ; and it was not considered necessary, as at Vauxhall, to go in for expense; on the contrary, beer flowed freely and it was about this time, I think, and at Cremorne, that the insidious "long" drinks - soda and "something"  - now so popular, first made their appearance. Occasionally there were big banquets organized by certain "swells," and held there, when there would be heavy drinking, and sometimes a row - on Derby night, once, when there was a free fight, which lasted for hours, involving the complete smash of everything smashable; and I mind me of another occasion, when a gigantic Irishman, now a popular M.P., sent scores of waiters flying by the force of his own unaided fists. But, on the whole, the place was well and quietly conducted, and five minutes after the belt for closing rang - just before midnight - the gardens were deserted. There was a general rush for the omnibuses and cabs, which were in great demand, and for one or two seasons there was a steamboat which left the adjacent Cadogan pier at the close of the entertainment, and carried passengers to Hungerford Bridge, and which was very popular. 

The Garden at Cremorne. It might seem rather late in the day to argue, on the grounds of its entertaining prostitutes among others, against the most beautiful public garden London can boast for the amusement of her people, and which, like many others of its kind, has taken, despite of strong objections, a position among the faits accomplis of the age. The union of Terpsichore and Melpomene, long forbidden by puritanism, has now for some time been sanctioned by the magistracy; large capital has been invested in providing local habitations for the young couple, and these are frequented without risk of more than nominal damage by great crowds of both sexes, all ranks, and all ages. No less than fifteen thousand people have been known to be present at Cremorne, on the occasion of the manager's benefit, and the nightly visitors during the fine season amount to between 1,500 and 2,000. As my present business, however, is with the demeanour of London prostitution, I must Unwillingly limit myself to the consideration of public out-door amusements with reference to that common feature only, and state some impressions of travel on a pleasant July evening from Charing Cross to Chelsea.
    As calico and merry respectability tailed off eastward by penny steamers, the setting sun brought westward hansoms freighted with demure immorality in silk and fine linen. By about ten o'clock, age and innocence, of whom there had been much in the place that day, had seemingly all retired, weary with a long and paid bill of amusements, leaving the massive elms, the grass-plots, and the geranium- beds, the kiosks, temples, 'monster platforms', and 'crystal circle' of Cremorne to flicker in the thousand gas-lights there for the gratification of the dancing public only. On and around that platform waltzed, strolled, and fed some thousand souls - perhaps seven hundred of them men of the upper and middle class, the remainder prostitutes more or less prononcées. I suppose that a hundred couples (partly old acquaintances, partly improvised) were engaged in dancing and other amusements, and the rest of the society, myself included, circulated listlessly about the garden, and enjoyed in a grim kind of way the selection' from some favourite opera and the cool night-breeze from the river.
    The extent of disillusion he has purchased in this world comes forcibly home to the middle-aged man who in such a scene attempts to fathom former faith and ancient joys, and perhaps even vainly to fancy he might by some possibility begin again. I saw scores, nay hundreds, about me in the same position as myself. We were there - and some of us, I feel sure, hardly knew why - but being there, and it being obviously impossible to enjoy the place after the manner of youth, it was necessary, I suppose, to chew the cud of sweet and bitter fancies; and then so little pleasure came, that the Britannic solidity waxed solider than ever even in a garden full of music and dancing, and so an almost mute procession, not of joyous revellers, but thoughtful, care-worn men and women, paced round and round the platform as on a horizontal treadmill. There was now and then a bare recognition between passers-by - they seemed to touch and go, like ants in the hurry of business. I do not imagine for a moment they could have been aware that a self-appointed inspector was among them, but had they known it never so well, the intercourse of the sexes could hardly have been more reserved - as a general rule, be it always understood. For my part, I was occupied, when the first chill of change was shaken off, in quest of noise, disorder, debauchery, and bad manners. Hopeless task! The picnic at Burnham Beeches, that showed no more life and merriment than Cremorne on the night and time above-mentioned, would be a failure indeed, unless the company were antiquarians or undertakers. A jolly burst of laughter now and then came bounding through the crowd that fringed the dancing-floor and roved about the adjacent sheds in search of company; but that gone by, you heard very plainly the sigh of the poplar, the surging gossip of the tulip-tree, and the plash of the little embowered fountain that served two plaster children for an endless shower-bath. The gratus puellae risus [pleasing laughter of a girl] was put in a corner with a vengeance, under a colder shade than that of chastity itself, and the function of the very band appeared to be to drown not noise, but stillness.
    The younger portion of the company formed the dances, and enjoyed themselves after the manner of youth, but I may fairly say, without offence to the most fastidious eye or ear. ... The officiating member of the executive, Policeman T., had taken up an amiably discreet position, where his presence could in no way appear symptomatic of pressure, and the chances seemed to be, that had he stood so posed until his interference was necessary on behalf of public order, he might have been there to this day.
    Lemonade and sherry seemed to please the dancers, and the loungers indulged the waiters' importunity with a rare order for bitter-beer. A strongish party of undergraduates in drinking - all males - were deepening their native dullness in a corner with bottled stout, and more seasoned vessels struggled against depression with hot grog. In front of the liquor-bar, called, in the language of the billographer, the 'gastronomic department', two rosy capitalists (their wives at Brighton or elsewhere) were pouring, for mere distraction's sake, libations of fictitious Möet, to the memory of auld lang syne with some fat old dames de maison, possibly extinct planets of the Georgian era. There was no drunkenness here to take hold of. As I have before recorded, there was among the general company barely vivacity, much less boisterous disorder. Let me try the assembly for immodest, brazen-faced solicitation by women. I declare my belief that I never saw the notoriously anti-sociable habit of English people more rigorously adhered to. Of the character of the female visitors - let me always say with some exceptions - I could have little moral doubt, but it was clear enough that self-proclamation by any great number of them was out of the question. It was open to the male visitors to invite attention and solicit acquaintance. No gentlemanly proposition of the kind would have been rebuffed, no courteous offer of refreshment, possibly, declined, but I am firmly of opinion, that had the most eligible men present tarried in hopes of overtures from the other side, they might have been there yet, with Policeman T.
    As to the costumes of the company I have little more to say, than that pretty and quiet dressing was almost universal, and painted cheeks a rarity; but one or two physical characteristics seem worth mentioning. I saw many an etiolated eye and blanched chlorotic complexion, due to want of sun and air, and general defibrinization, but not more noticeable here than in Mayfair. There was here and there a deplorable hectic flush, distinguishable enough from carmine; and I noticed a great prevalence of sunken eyes, drawn features, and thin lips, resulting from that absorption of the cellular tissue which leaves mere threads of muscle stretched upon the skull. Inasmuch as within my recollection women of the town had a well- known tendency to stoutness, and they now live no worse than heretofore, I am inclined to attribute these symptoms not so much (as is the vulgar error) to the practice of prostitution, as to the dancing mania, which has been the only remarkable change of late years in their mode of life, superadded in many instances to the action of early privations, and perhaps hard work in domestic service and millinery factories, upon naturally delicate or defective organizations.
    There are other pleasure gardens in or about the London district, such as the gardens at North Woolwich, Highbury Barn, and Rosherville, but they do not call for any special notice, as, except that their frequenters are drawn chiefly from a lower class, they differ in no material respect from Cremorne.

William Acton, Prostitution, Considered in its Moral, Social and Sanitary Aspects, 2nd edition 1870

NOCTURNAL REVELS - We are informed that a deputation of parochial authorities and inhabitants of the suburbs in which Highbury Barn, Cremorne, and other places of nocturnal amusement are situate, have waited upon the Commissioner of Police to state the great annoyance caused by the permission given to these places to keep open until unduly late hours; and we understand that in future there will be no extension of time granted beyond the usual hour of closing at one o'clock.

Penny Illustrated Paper, 12 March, 1870

CREMORNE GARDENS

A vigorous attempt is to be made this year to revive the somewhat faded glories of Cremorne. The welcome outburst of vegetation which has astonished us during the past six days has added a soft aspect of newness and life to the gardens, such as the highest art could not rival; but it will be when, further into the summer, the richly furnished flower beds reveal their treasures, that Cremorne will be able to boast of its highest charm. The new lessee is Mr. John Baum, for many years a director of the Alhambra Company. He has entered upon his serious venture in a spirit of radical reform. Amongst the abuses he has swept away, the public will welcome, as chief, the abolition of the many extra charges by which they were aforetime vexed. Many amusements once unattainable on account of objectionable prohibitory tariffs, are for the future to be managed on a free-trade principle. The old circus has been turned into a handsome theatre, which will comfortably accommodate 3000 persons. Two prominent features of the remodelled hotel department are a half-crown supper, and a three-and-six penny dinner, which includes a pint of claret. A steam-circus, and one or two other popular sources of enjoyment, have been provided for children. The levelling and turfing of the space recently devoted to the hapless pursuits of the Great Balloon Company, and the carting away of the railway model, have added to the space and beauty of the grounds, and enabled the management to place the Long-walk at the disposal of promenaders. Dancing visitors will find no lack of opportunity, both in the open and under cover, for engaging in their favourite amusement. The gardens are occupied by a perfect army of waiters, and officials in uniforms of gorgeous pattern and hue, in evident imitation of the servitors at the Alhambra. There was an inaugural fete on Saturday, preceded by a dinner, over which Mr. Stanley Vickers, M.P., presided. A ballet, which it is not too much to say is one of the prettiest in London, was subsequently performed in the new theatre.

Penny Illustrated Paper, 6 May, 1870

Cremorne Gardens, Chelsea - Landscape paintings, on an immense scale, in the gardens; concerts, &c. Admission 1s. Open at three. 

Routledge's Popular Guide to London, [c.1873]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES

Sir, I must respectfully decline to be dragged into a controversy with Mr. John Baum, lessee of Cremorne Gardens, whose "private character, name and reputation" I do not mean to canvass; but as he has chosen to make your columns a vehicle for suggestion that the opposition to his establishment "was the result of malice," I deem it due to myself and to my friends to give the most unqualified denial to such an unblushing misrepresentation. I have had to perform a most disagreeable public duty, for which I have, however, received the hearty thanks of many of the most respectable persons in the parish of Chelsea; while, on the other hand, I have been made the object of some of the coarsest ribaldry I ever read. I thought threatening letters had been confided to Ireland, but I have received from a gentleman styling himself "Chief of the Secret Society," a warning "to beware of dark lanterns and sharp daggers, especially on the 5th November, for that the United Brotherhood of Chelsea have sworn (I will not transcribe the oath) to riddle me "with duck shot" and to set my "castle in flames". I would merely inform this gentleman, through the medium of your columns, that I shall hope to escape from his horrible machinations by using ordinary precautions and by requesting the police to keep an eye upon him and the "united brotherhood." Such is the plan adopted for deterring individuals from daring to utter a complaint against Cremorne, and many persons have through fear of the consequences declined to come forward as witnesses, though they assured me that they thoroughly approved the opposition made. Mr. John Baum omits to mention that, though the formal petition lodged by me in compliance with the requirements of the law contained only 13 signatures, another petition, started some days after his petition, received the signatures of 410 householders, including tradesmen, mechanics, ministers of religion and professional men; that this petition was also signed by 33 vestrymen of Chelsea, and that the Board of Guardians passed a special resolution in support of the petition, and forwarded it by their clerk direct to the magistrates. Are all these persons to be accused of "malice" against Mr. John Baum? His counsel, Mr. Digby Seymour, availed himself of a technical plea which prevented this petition to the Court, but the fact of its existence was nevertheless brought out during my examination, and was perfectly well known to Mr. Seymour's client, and yet he and his friends are now trying to make it appear that no one opposes his Gardens except a small knot of persons actuated by "malice". Your readers will see on which side the "malice" exists. The general character of Cremorne I must decline to discuss with Mr. John Baum; but I can assure the public that the evidence adduced before the Bench of magistrates was not a tithe of that which might be produced. For example, the desecration of Sunday was not mentioned in court, but the condition of the King's-road is so bad on Sunday nights that I am authorized by one of my neighbours, Mr. Henry Veltch, to state that he cannot return home with his family from church along that road, and is compelled to go out of his way to reach his own door. I beg to point out to Mr. Baum that I have never confessed "that there was no more noise during last season that formerly." I stated the direct contrary and his own counsel strengthened my case when he informed the Bench that 300,000 persons had last season visited Cremorne, whereas only 200,000 has been present in the preceding season. Did not this statement imply that the annoyances of which we complained must, in all probability, have increased in like proportion? 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
JOHN G. CROMWELL

Sir, - You have with much consideration and justice admitted into your columns a statement by Mr. Baum of the grievance and monetary loss occasioned by him by the refusal of his licence as lessee of Cremorne-gardens, but as there may be the gain of the one at the expense of the many, it is right that the other side of the question should not be lost sight of. I have known Chelsea for upwards of a quarter of a century, and remember it as an agreeable suburb before the gardens in question had marred the future which the development of its building capabilities promised. Let anyone now view in daylight he neighbourhood of Cremorne and its degraded aspect and the gardens themselves at night (say on the evening of a Derby-day) observing the conduct and demeanour of the visitors, and then judge whether Cremorne has contributed to, or has not powerfully retarded, the material and social well-being of the important parish of Chelsea. I remember, also, Cremorne-gardens when they were a place of innocent amusement and recreation. Mr. Baum does not venture to characterize them now as such, and, apart from the questions of noise and discomfort necessarily incidental to such an establishment, with its fire-works, its Derby-day festivities, and its bal masques, I am not interpreting the feeling of my fellow parishioners too strongly when I describe the Cremorne-gardens as the blight of the quarter in which they are situated. I have seen it said that, granting the noise and discomfort, such an establishment is an inevitable appendage to a metropolis; if so, I say that the ratepayers and residents of Chelsea have borne the incubus long enough, and that other districts and parishes may not take their turn for the assumed well-being of London. Let me suggest Lincoln's-inn-fields or Leicester-square as appropriate, both rivalling Cremorne in point of rusticity. Mr. Baum's pecuniary loss may be heavy, but he should remember that the profits of his predecessors and himself have been the cause of preponderating injury to others, and he must not suppose that the interests of a private speculation can be allowed to outweigh the public good. As to this, however, I have little doubt that if the proprietors of Cremorne (for I believe Mr. Baum is tenant only) would be content to surrender the making of profits at a cost beyond estimate, because not measured in coin, they would find in the application of the ground for erections fit for the pure homes, whether of the merchant or mechanic, ample compensation within a reasonable time for the present sacrifice they are called on to submit to. 
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
A RESIDENT HOUSEHOLDER 
Chelsea, Oct. 19

the Times, Oct 20 1871

PLEASURE-GARDENS of the German Volksgarten type have yet to be acclimatised in this country. That these rational recreation-grounds would soon become popular among us, if established upon a liberal scale, and with a firm resolve to encourage the family rather than the fast element, will be clear to any one who will journey to the Willesden People's Garden on Whit Monday, and (weather permitting) see croquet, dancing and various other healthy pastimes being indulged in with a propriety, and at the same time a zest, which conclusively prove how keenly such Family Pleasure-Gardens would be appreciated by the public at large, were they to be opened in more accessible parts of the suburbs. To early visitors Cremorne is unobjectionable enough, whatever the Chelsea [?Mabille?] may be when the popping of champagne corks resounds from the al-fresco cabinets looking on the gas-lit promenade, and syrens in silk circulate round the "crystal platform" devoted to automaton (or are they human?) dancers, and the fireworks burst forth in meteor-like showers to the illumination of Chelsea. The recent rains have made the lawns of Cremorne alluringly green, and tinted the fine trees and shrubs till their fresh leaves glisten like so many emeralds. To the natural charms of the gardens the manager has added a host of indoor attractions which should afford abundant amusement for Whit Monday afternoon. Down the river, at North Woolwich Gardens, Mr. William Holland successfully vies with Cremorne. His favourite holiday haunt is as different to Cremorne as the East End is to the West End. The stiffness peculiar to those who trip it on toes anything but light and fantastic at Cremorne (as who should say "we're nigh the marble 'alls of the haristocracy, and so much dance accordingly") is not observable at North Woolwich. Quadrille, polka, schottische, and galop are really danced on Mr. Holland's platforms, albeit some of the gallant waltzers do occasionally rotate a leetle monotonously and betray a curious fondness for thrusting their noses (slightly curly) into their fair partner's cheeks. On a popular night in the season North Woolwich Gardens are brilliant in the extreme. Stepping from the hotel into the gardens, one is dazzled by the glow of coloured lamps and the sparkle of the innumerable gas jets which illuminate the long avenue leading to the centre of attraction, the platform whereon couples twirl and dance to the inspiriting music of a capital band, conducted by Mr. S. Davis, whilst a skilful master of the ceremonies, ever on the alert, preserves strict order. No use to run down to North Woolwich if you would see the can-can a la Valentino (you should have joined the Bessemer trial trip for that: "in the interest of science, my dear"); but North Woolwich is the place for thoroughly hearty and vigorous dancing, and impropriety withal. And the refreshments! Piles of wholesome, substantial sandwiches (no Vauxhall veneer, not a bit of it) and plenty of cheap and homely refreshments, are provided by the experienced "People's Caterer," who must have been the innocent means of promoting many and many a match in his time, thanks to the facilities offered for open and honest courtship at his riverside garden, and who, animated with a sense of poetical justice, maybe, yet further encouraged the matrimonial tie a few years ago by the institution of Baby Shows. Holidaymakers can also "go in" for the dizzying delights of the swing, or pursue their wild career on the merry-go-round, or display their skill as marksmen, or, for a change, watch the agile movements of the corps de ballet, and hear a song or so in the Music Hall, till the final shower of fireworks warns them it is time to catch the train back to town.

Penny Illustrated Paper, 15 May, 1875

AT WESTMINSTER, JOHN ROBERT GORRALL, tailor, of 39, Blantyre-street, Chelsea, was summoned by Mr. John Baum, proprietor of Cremorne-gardens, for wilfully and maliciously publishing a defamatory libel concerning the said John Baum. Mr. John Evans (Evans and Eagles), John-street, conducted the prosecution, and Mr. P.J.Gordon appeared for the defence. Mr. Evans said he had to lay before the magistrate a libel of a very gross, scandalous, and wicked character, from which he read extracts and produced a copy in print, which had been largely circulated in Chelsea. This, no doubt, related to Mr. John Baum, the proprietor of Cremorne-gardens. He would, before he handed the libel to the Bench, submit that it, in fact, charged Mr. Baum with the most heinous offences a man could commit. It charged him with keeping open his premises (apparently respectable) for the purposes of the grossest immorality. It charge him with keeping the place open for the ruin of servant girls. It charged him with inducing clerks and cashiers to rob their employers. It alleged that he induced husbands to attend his gardens and neglect their wives, who became widows, for their husbands committed suicide. It alleged that three sons had been ruined, and the persons who attended there had danced "Satan's hornpipe." Evidence was then given of the defendant having gone to a newspaper office in the King's-road, Chelsea - the Chelsea News - and attempt to get the alleged libel inserted and it appeared that the defendant said he and Mr. Baum were well known, and that Mr. Baum owed him £3 10s. and he mentioned that he had published something when Mr. Baum was the manager of the Alhambra. The matter was submitted to the editor, who declined to publish it. The alleged libel was then put in. It was in doggerel rhyme and was headed "The Trial of John Fox or Fox John, or the Horrors of Cr*m*rne." Mr. John Baum said he had been proprietor of Cremorne-gardens for seven years at a rental of £3,000. His licence had been opposed four years up to this year, and then unopposed and granted unanimously. He had not doubt the pamphlet referred to him, but it was quite untrue; the gardens were kept select and the charges were false. In cross-examination the witness said he did not know the prisoner and he owed the prisoner nothing. Mr. Gordon asked further questions as to the truth of certain parts of the pamphlet, and producing a newspaper asked Mr. Baum whether he had ever heard of a person committing suicide through going to the gardens. Mr. Baum said certainly not. Mr. Arnold asked whether the defence would be that the libel was true, and under Lord Campbell's Act, that it was published for the public benefit. Mr. Gordon contented that it was not published with a malicious intent. The defendant certainly had delivered the pamphlet, but not maliciously. He asked whether the magistrate considered it a libel. Mr. Arnold considered that there was a case to go to a jury. After further remarks, Mr. Arnold sent the prisoner for trial to the Old Bailey, required two sureties in £50 each for his appearance, Mr. Evans pressing for good bail with notice. Prisoner was sent to Newgate in default.

October 28, 1876

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT, Dec. 12

OLD COURT
(Before the RECORDER)

    John Robert Gornald, a tailor, was indicted for a libel on Mr. Baum, the proprietor of Cremorne Gardens.
    The defendent pleaded "Not guilty."
    Mr. Poland, with whom was Mr. Horace Avory, appeared for the prosecution; Mr. Straight for the defence.
The alleged libel had assumed the shape of a series of doggerel verses attributing to the prosecutor a certain amount of responsibility for the alleged immoralities said to be associated in the public mind with Cremorne Gardens. The production in question was entitled "The Trial of John Fox or Fox John, or the Horrors of Cr-m-rne" - that being a pun upon his Christian name and on the motives assumed by the writer to actuate him in conducting his establishment at Cremorne.
    Edwin Andrew Armour, having been called as a witness for the prosecution, deposed that in October last, witness being then manager of the Chelsea News, publishing twice a week, the defendant brought a pamphlet to the office and asked if it could be inserted in the paper, adding that he and Mr. Baum were well known to each other, that he, the defendant, was the author, and that 10,000 copies had been printed and circulated in Chelsea with the view of closing the gardens. The defendant then left, saying he would call again. Witness in the meanwhile gave the pamphlet to the editor. The defendant called afterwards, and appeared disappointed at the pamphlet not having appeared in the paper. He left seven or eight other copies of it at the office with witness, who afterwards handed them to Mr. Richard Russell, the editor.
Mr. John Baum, being called as a witness, said he was the proprietor of Cremorne Gardens, and had a music, dancing and dramatic licence in connexion with them. He paid a rent of £3,000 a year and had expended £12,000 in improving the premises. In 1874 and 1875 there was an opposition to the gardens, and the matter was discussed at the Sessions. In October last no opposition was made to the gardens, and the music and dancing licences were continued as usual. The suspension of his music and dancing licences in 1873 and 1874 caused him very serious loss, and he had to compound with his creditors. During the last season nearly 300,000 persons of all classes, and especially of the middle class, had visited the gardens. Policemen were always in the gardens to maintain order.
    By Mr. STRAIGHT - Husbands and wives, with their daughters and other members of their families, visited the gardens in great numbers. Towards 10 o'clock he had lately increased the price, with the view of discouraging the attendance of women of the town. More people, in his opinion, could be seen at the Crystal Palace after 10 o'clock at night than in his gardens. He had not seen, between 12 and half-past 12 at night, hundreds of women of the town leaving his gardens with men. His licence was once refused by the magistrates. In 1874 his music licence was restored; the gardens were then much more popular, and still more after he got the dancing licence. The Rev. Canon Cromwell had complained of the fireworks - not of the music or dancing. People who behaved themselves properly were invariably admitted to the grounds. He did not know, indeed, that he had power to exclude any one. When the licence was renewed it was at the largest meeting of the magistrates that had assembled in the district.
    Mr. POLAND then reviewed the evidence for the prosecution, and submitted that he had proved his case.
    Mr. STRAIGHT, for the defence, submitted that the alleged libel, if it could be called such, was within the scope of reasonable and proper criticism, and that its object was to purge the town and society, so far as that was practicable, from courses which led to vice and immorality. The defendant's case, continued Mr. Straight, was that the alleged libels were published without malice, and that he took the course he did with the view to put down what was regarded as a pest in the whole neighbourhood. It was, after all, only a miserable piece of doggerel verse, such as the jury might over and again have read in the comic papers. The defendant, moreover, believed at the same time that it was a righteous crusade upon which he had entered; and, that being so, were jury going to fix the stigma of a conviction on him for such doggerel? What his client had done he did in the belief that it was to the public interest, and he did it without the remotest possible ill-feeling towards Mr. Baum. He submitted that this was not a case in which the jury would allow the criminal law to be strained.
    The RECORDER, in summing up the case to the jury, said the question was whether this was a defamatory libel, impugning the character of Mr. Baum, and whether it was written without lawful excuse. If so the defendant would be liable. He had not put on record that it was for the public interest that it should be published, and the jury had to say whether or not it was a defamatory libel and affected the character of the person mentioned in it by the name of John Fox - to determine the question whether the contents of the libel were such as that any person would be led to believe that "John Fox" meant "John Baum." One of the great difficulties in this country was provide reasonable and rational amusement for the people. If licences were granted for admission to places like the one in question, admission to them of persons who might go there for improper purposes could not for an obvious reason be denied; but the question for the jury was, Did the alleged libel amount to that reasonable and proper criticism applicable to such cases? The Recorder had no doubt that places in question was much abused by many persons who went there, but was Mr. Baum accountable for that? He did not understand why the name of Canon Cromwell should have been introduced into the matter, seeing that the objection of Canon Cromwell was not to the dancing, but to the noise of the fireworks and what was called the "bombardment." He thought it was a great pity that the Canon's name should have been introduced into the affair; but however that might be, if the jury thought that the criticism was not fair and reasonable, they would say so by their verdict.
    The jury, in the result, returned a verdict of Guilty; upon which the RECORDER said he would take time to consider what sentence he should pass.

The Times, December 13, 1876

FOURTH COURT

(Before the RECORDER)

    John Robert Gorrall, a journeyman tailor, who was yesterday found guilty of unlawfully and maliciously publishing a false and defamatory libel of and concerning Mr. John Baum, the proprietor of Cremorne-gardens, was brought up for judgment, and was sentenced by the learned RECORDER to one calendar month's imprisonment without hard labour

The Times, December 14, 1876

Cremorne in those days was a delightful resort, with an excellent band, and frequented by the most exalted of men and the most beautiful of women. Here might be seen nightly during his stay in London a late ruling monarch (then Crown Prince) whose moustache the ladies insisted on twirling; here, too, occasionally big rows took place, affairs that originated in some trifle, such as the irritation of an excitable blood on seeing a harmless shop-boy dancing in the ring. King-Harman probably was the principal originator of these encounters. Naturally of an amiable but plethoric disposition, a sight such as the above was like a red rag to a bull, and in no time the fight became universal and furious. Gas was turned off, the ringleaders bolted, pursued by police. A run as far as Chelsea Hospital with a "bobby" in full cry was by no means an uncommon occurrence.
    ... Cremorne on a Derby night baffles description; progress round the dancing platform was almost impossible. The "Hermit's Cave" and the "Fairy Bower" were filled to repletion, and to pass the private boxes was to run the gauntlet of a quartern loaf or dish of cutlets at one's head. Fun fast and furious reigned supreme, during which the smaller fry of shop-boys and hired dancers pirouetted within the ring with their various partners. But as time advanced, and the wine circulated, the advent of detachments of roysterers bespoke a not-distant row.

'One of the Old Brigade' (Donald Shaw), London in the Sixties, 1908 

    They were about twelve acres, to which must be added, from 1850, the grounds of Ashburnham House on the west, in which flower-shows and other exhibitions were held.  . . .  The grand entrance was in the King's Road, where a big star illuminated the pay-box. On a summer evening, if you did not mind the slow progress of the threepenny steamer from the City to Cremorne Pier, you entered by the river gate at the south-east corner of the gardens. The grounds were well lit, but on entering there was not that sudden blaze of light that was the visitors great sensation when he came through the dark pay-entrance into the garden of Vauxhall. The most conspicuous feature was the orchestra to the south-west of the gardens - a 'monster pagoda', brilliantly lighted with hundreds of coloured lamps, and surrounded by a circular platform, prepared, it is said, to accommodate 4,000 dancers. Here the dancing took place from 8.30 till 11 or later. There was always a dignified master of the ceremonies . . .  but little introduction was required in that easy-going place. There was a good band of fifty, for some years under Laurent, of the Adelaide Gallery Casino in the Strand. In the early part of the evening - any any rate in the seventies - the dancing was left to the shop-girls and their friends : the gilded youth and the 'smart' female set of Cremorne began their waltzing later on, after the fireworks.
The gardens had a tendency to become congested with side-shows, flaring stalls and shooting galleries, too much suggesting a fair; but unlike Earl's Court and the later Vauxhall, Cremorne remained a garden. There was still the encircling fringe of ancient trees, and an avenue on the west stretching from north to south; on the east side was the broad lawn from which the balloon ascents took place.
Cremorne had the usual pleasure-garden equipment of fountains and statuary; refreshment-bars, boxes and tables were placed at every coign of vantage, though the right place to go was the Cremorne House (or Hotel) dining-room, or the upper and lower tiers of supper-boxes in the south and south-western corner. Here there was a half-crown supper, and, if you aspired no higher, the Cremorne sherry, that fine old wine 'free from acidity and highly recommended to invalids'. In the centre of the grounds was an American bowling-saloon, which made its appearance, together with American drinks, in '48 or '49.
    On the west side was the circus; the theatre was in the south of the garden. A smaller theatre, north of the lawn, was appropriated to a troupe of marionettes, introduced by Simpson in 1852. There were great favourites of the public and of the proprietor, who liked 'the little beggars who never came to the treasury on Saturday.' Besides this there was a maze and (as Vauxhall had its hermit) a gipsy's tent and a 'double-sighted youth'. The admission to the gardens was one shilling, and the season tickets cost one guinea or two guineas.
Simpson's management (ie. till 1861) provided some special diversions, of which the most curious perhaps was an Aquatic Tournament or Naval Fete (1851), About eleven at night a fortress (either St. Jean d'Acre or Gibralter) on the river esplanade was vigorously attacked by a squadron consisting of fourteen steamers of the Citizen Company (whose 'entire fleet' was embarked in the enterprise), seconded by the hull of a retired Citizen steamer, which was laden with combustibles. To this attack, the land battery - its necessary smoke, fire and noise supplied by Mortram and Duffell, the Cremorne fireworkers - made a suitable reply and eventually the old hull was blown to pieces amid the cheers of the spectators.
    The Italian Salamander 'Cristoforo Buono Core' was, later on, in 1858, another attraction of a fiery kind. Like Chabert, the more famous Salamander oif 1826, this man entered a burning furnace with apparent concern . . . 
In the balloon ascents of Cremorne (as already remarked) there was often a dangerous element, usually a parachute descent.
    In September of the same year [1852], Madame Poitevin 'in the character of Europa' ascended from Cremorne on the back of a heifer which was attached to her balloon. This was nothing new to her or to the sight-seers of Paris . . .  A pony ascent had been made by Green at Vauxhall in 1850, but the English magistrates drew the line at a heifer, and Simpson and his Europa were fined at the Ilford Sessions on September 7 1852, for cruelty to animals . . . 
    The programme of the theatre and the concert-room was less exciting. The Cremorne theatricals never aimed much higher than the farce and the vaudeville, but there were some good ballets in which (circa 1847-1851) the Deulins took part. Under Simpson some of the old favourite comic singers were engaged - Sam Cowell in 1846, Robert Glindon in 1847 and 1850. Herr Von Joel, who appeared in 1848, was 'a peculiar old German' who had made a sensation - which became a bore - at Vauxhall Gardens. His business was to appear at unexpected moments and in unsuspected parts of the gardens, to yodel Swiss ditties, and to give imitations, on his walking-stick, of birds and feathered fowl. In his later days, he was a familiar figure at Evan's Supper-Rooms, where he used to retail dubious cigars, and dispose of tickets for benefits which never came off. J.W.Sharp ('Jack Sharp') who sang at Cremorne in 1850, was at one time the rage of the town, and his comic songs were in demand at Vauxhall and at such places as Evans's and the Mogul in Drury Lane. But he took to dissipated ways, lost his engagements, and died in the Dover Workhouse at the age of thirty-eight. . . .
     It was not, for one thing, a place that ladies (in the strick sense of the word) were in the habit of visiting, unlesss, perhaps (as Mr. Sala puts it) 'in disguise and on the sly', or, at any rate, under the safe conduct of a husband or brother. Ladies of some sort were, no doubt, considerably in evidence there, though we are not to think of Cremorne as so entirely given over to 'drink, dancing and devilry' as its sterner critics declared. If it was a place for the man about town, it also attracted a number of worthy citizens who went there for an evening's pleasure with their wives and daughters and were 'not particular'. . . . 
    In 1857 the Chelsea Vestry had presented the first of many annual peititions against the renewal of the licence, setting forth the inconvenice of the late hours of Cremorne, the immoral character of its female frequenters, and its detrimental influence generally on the morals (and house property) of the neighbourhood. . . . 
    Simpson retired in 1861 and on July 30 there was a new manager, Edward Tyrrell Smith . . .  an interesting man, of boundless energy and resource, and a lucky, if wayward, speculator, who was everything by turns and nothing long. . . .  In 1850 we find him landlord of a tavern in Red Lion Street, Holborn, attracting custom by dressing barmaids in bloomer costume. From about this date his speculative genius turned to the management of London theatres. He took the Marylebone, then Drury Lane, where he made quite a lengthy stay, and even plunged into opera at Her Majesty's. . . .  He was lessee of the Lyceum, of the Surrey, of Astley's (when Ada Menken appeared as Mazeppa) and he took Highbury Barn for one season. He also founded the Alhambra in Leicester Square, making short work, for his purpose, of its instructive predecessor, the Panopticon.
    He effected another transformation by turning Crockford's gaming-house into the Wellington Restaurant, and opened a second restaurant - but this was a dismal failure - in the vaults of the Royal Exchange. . . .  He financed Baron Nicholson at the Coal Hole, became proprietor of the Sunday Times, and finally settled down in the metal trade. If Smith had little money of his own, he had a marvellous talent for extracting it from others, for, with some managerial humbug in his doings, he was a good-natured man, with plenty of friends who believed in his speculative flair. . . . He retired from Cremorne in 1869.
. . . Smith began his enterprise with a startling novelty - a 'female Blondin' who undertook to cross the Thames. . . .  She was a delicate-looking little woman, who called herself Madame Genvieve. Her real name was Selina Young, and she was the granddaughter of James Bishop, the showman. . . . Another sensation, though void of peril, of Smith's management was the Cremorne tournament, which began on Wednesday, July 8, 1863, and lasted two or three days. It was suggested by the famous Eglinton tournament of August, 1839. . . . Among the minor entertainments of Smith's management was the exhibition, in 1867, of Natator, the man-frog. This human frog was a young man of twenty, who was to be seen through the plate-glass front of a huge tank filled with 6 feet of water. He imitated the motions of fish, stood on his head, ate a sponge-cake, or smoked a pipe. A more rational exhibition was the appearance of the Beckwith family in 1869. *(*Some other entertainments during Smith's management were: 1861, the graceful gymnast Leotard on five trapezes, in the Ashburnham Hall. March 1863, dog-show in the Ashburnham Hall. This hall was also used for trotting matches and for wrestling and sports on Good Friday, 1865. 1868, Madame Pereira, gymnast. . . . 
    John Baum, who became lessee in 1870, had not the character of his predecessors, nor a hand strong enough to restrain the vagaries of his more troublesome clients. But he was by no means incapable as an entertainment manager, and when the gardens were opened they were found to be much improved, and a new theatre was built. He developed the stage amusements, and produced some good ballets, such as Giselle in 1870. In 1875 there was a comic ballet by the Lauri family, and Offenbach's Rose of Auvergne, with a ballet of 100, was given. Auber's Fra Diavolo was presented before a Bank Holiday audience in 1877. The orchestra was a capable one under Jules Rivere. In 1872 the licence for dancing, the great attraction of Cremorne, was refused, but in 1874 the waltzing on the 'crystal platform' was again as lively as ever.
The one great but melancholy sensation of Baum's management was the episode of 'Monsieur de Groof, the flying man.' Vincent de Groof was a Belgian who had constructed a flying machine on which he made some ascents with doubtful success in his native land. He came to England in 1874 and with some difficulty persuaded Baum to let him go through his dangerous performance at Cremorne. Certainly the flying man made a good advertisement, and on the evening of June 29, 1874, there was a great concourse in the gardens. The machine was suspended from a rope, 30 feet long, from the car of Simmons's 'Czar' balloon, and while the tedious process of inflation was going on the spectators had time to inspect a flying apparatus strange and wonderful. It was constructed of cane and waterproof silk, and was made 'in imitation of the bat's wing and peacock's tail.' . . . His wings were 37 feet long from tip to top, and his tail 18 feet long. In the centre was fixed an upright wooden stand about 12 feet high, in which de Groof placed himself, working the wings and tail by means of three levers. He ascended from Cremorne about eight, and as the balloon rose seemed like a big bird perched in his net framework. He was meant to descend in the gardens, but the wind carried the balloon away to Brandon in Essex, where he made a perilous descent from the balloon, almost unseen, but apparently without injury. The Cremorne habitué felt that he was cheated of a sight, and on July 9 the experiment had to be repeated. At about half-past seven the machine was once more taken up by Simmons's balloon, and this time there was no changing of the venue. The balloon soared to a great height, but for fully half an hour continued to hover over the gardens. Then the wind bore it rapidly away in the direction St. Luke's Church, Chelsea, till the machine was perilously near the church tower. No one quite knew what happened at this moment. Simmons seems to have called out 'I must cut you loose,' and de Groof to have responded, 'Yes and I can fall in the churchyard.' Suddenly the rope was severed, the machine, without resistance to the air, was seen to collapse, and wind round and round in its descent, till it fell with a heavy thud near the kerbstone in Robert Street. A great crowd had collected, and De Groof was picked up in a terrible state, and taken into the Chelsea Infirmary to die. . . . 
    But we are nearing the last days of Cremorne. At no period could the gardens be described as a place of quiet family resort, and under Smith in the sixties we begin to hear of rows and cases in the police courts. In 1863, for instance, there was a 'riot' on the night of the Oaks day, and a number of men, apparently of decent position, stormed and wrecked one of the bars. . . . These things were relatively trifles, and it was really not till the seventies - under Baum - that Cremorne became an impossible place. The Westminster Police Court was now hardly ever without its drunk and disorderly case from the gardens. Even the normal evenings at Cremorne were fairly fertile in incident, but a big crop followed the abnormal evenings - the night of some great event, the Derby, the Oaks, the return of the Prince from India, or - a new institution - the Bank Holiday. At such times extra late hours were always granted, and they were those occasions when champagne is said to 'flow like water'. It was half-past ten, half-past eleven, twelve and still the theatres and music-halls were sending down fresh visitors, and the cabs came rattling down the King's high road. The bars and boxes were so many hives of drinking mortals - men who had lost and men who had won, and the drinking quickly led to an almost indiscriminate pugnacity. . . .
    The efforts of the Chelsea Vestry of 1857 were renewed with more vigour (and with more justification) from 1870 onwards, and they had a valuable ally in Canon Cromwell, the principal of St. Mark's Training College, which stood almost opposite the entrance of Cremorne. One of the many unedifying illustrated papers of the seventies, the Day's Doings, portrays the Canon in cap and gown ejecting two flashily dressed females from the gardens, and he and his docile students for the next six years are said to have given Mr. Baum a very rough time. . . .
The end came rather suddenly and in a curious way. Towards the close of 1876 there was distributed in Chelsea a pamphlet in verse, entitled The Trial of John Fox, or Fox John, or the Horrors of Cremorne. It was signed 'A.B.Chelsea' but the author was soon discovered to be Mr. Alfred Brandon, a worthy and evidently courageous man, who had long been known as minister of the Chelsea Baptist Chapel. By trade Mr. Brandon was a tailor, and no doubt his coats were better than his poetry, which is, indeed, sad doggerel. This pamphlet was an indictment of Cremorne as the 'nursery of every kind of vice' and of its callous money-grubbing manager John Fox. . . .Mr.Baum is said to have been 'stung by these cutting remarks' - 'remarks' which, whether they stung or cut, constituted from the legal point of view a highly defamatory libel. He doubtless went unwillingly into court but in May 1877 the libel action of Baum v Brandon was heard in the Queen's Bench . . . The jury found for Baum, but awarded him a farthing damages, and each side had to pay its own costs.
    At this time Baum was greatly in debt and for the new few months was too ill to superintend his gardens personally. None the less, preparations were made for the licensing day in October. Petitions were prepared and counsel on both sides were engaged. October 5, 1877, arrived and the Cremorne case was called on. To the astonishment of London, Baum's counsel quietly announced that the lessee had withdrawn his application . . .
    The owner of the land, Mrs. Simpson, lost no time in letting it in building plots, and most of the present rows of small houses made their appearance in the next year or two.

Warwick Wroth, Cremorne and the later London Gardens, 1907

Victorian London - Publications - History - Views of the Pleasure Gardens of London, by H.A.Rogers, 1896

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Cremorne Gardens

(1836-1877)

NICHOLSON'S
1000 GUINEA FETE!!!
CREMORNE HOUSE,
KING'S ROAD, CHELSEA.

MR. NICHOLSON, of the "Garrick's Head" Hotel, Bow Street,
LORD CHIEF BARON
OF THE JUDGE AND JURY SOCIETY,
And Editor of the
ILLUSTRATED LONDON LIFE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER,
Has the honour to announce to his best Friends, the Public, that he will offer to their patronage a
THREE DAYS' FETE!
On a Scale of UNMATCHED SPLENDOUR,
in the Park and Grounds attached to the above-named
NOBLE MANSION, on
MONDAY, TUESDAY, & WEDNESDAY,
July 31st & August 1st & 2nd.

Amongst the Thousand and One Entertainments provided by MR. NICHOLSON, are a
MOCK TOURNAMENT!
RACING, OLD ENGLISH SPORTS,
MINSTRELSY, MUSIC, DANCING,
Embracing the attractive Impersonations of more than ioo Eminent Pantomimic and Comic Actors, Posturers, Dancers, Conjurors, &c., with Graphic Delineations, in Song and Dance, of the far-famed
TOM MATHEWS,
The Immortal Clown, the Joey Grimaldi of Modern Times.
MR. GREEN, THE CELEBRATED AERONAUT,
Will ascend from the Lawn, in his
MAJESTIC BALLOON.
Taking up with him, and liberating experimentally, an extensive
AERIAL TRANSIT SHIP.

MR. ALEXANDER BURKE'S
CELEBRATED PONEY, "BOBBY,
Will trot seven miles and a half in 30 minutes,
WITH A MONKEY ON HIS BACK,
Attired à la CHIFNEY, in Jockey Cap, Jacket, Top Boots and Spurs, and carrying a Whip in his hand.

The Amusements of each Day to conclude with a
GRAND BALL & CONCERT
In the Illuminated Gardens.

ADMISSION ONLY ONE SHILLING.

~ Cremorne House can be reached from any part of the Metropolis by Omnibus, for 6d., and by Steam Boat for 4d.

CROKER, PRINTER, 199 STRAND.

(1843.)

THE FETE FOR THE MILLION!
ROYAL GARDENS, CREMORNE.

ELLIS'S NIGHT,

Monday, July 29th 1861.

~ Be it remembered, MR. JAMES ELLIS was the Original Projector of these delightful Gardens, which now stand confessedly the noblest among all the public places of resort in England, on the Continent, or in any part of the habitable world.

THE DAY AND NIGHT
Entertainments on this occasion will have the additional aid of many novelties too numerous to be specified in the programme, but particular attention is called to the following important arrangements. The brilliant, matchless, and unparalleled performances of 

THE WONDROUS LEOTARD.

MR. D'ALBERTE,
The English Rope-Walker, and Blondin's Challenger, who will go through his extra ordinary and incredible performances on the 
ILLUMINATED ROPE
(By the kind permission of E. Macnamara, Esq., of the Royal Pavilion Gardens, North Woolwich).

MISS HARRIET COVENEY
(By the same kind permission) will appear in her novel Characteristic Entertainment, consisting of New and Original Songs, written expressly for her by W. BROUGH, ESQ.

THE INSTRUMENTAL CONCERT, 
Al Fresco, by the Great Cremorne Band, M. RIVIERE, Conductor, will be followed by 
A VOCAL CONCERT.
The New Grand Ballet Pantomime, in Six Tableaux, entitled
FORTUNATUS.

Performance of MR. HENRY CooKE's celebrated Circus Troupe of
EDUCATED DOGS AND MONKEYS.

The Celebrated Company of SWISS FEMALE SINGERS.
Grand Equestrian Performances in the Great 
CIRQUE ORIENTAL!

SIGNOR BUONO CORE,
The Italian Salamander, or Fire King.

GRAND DISPLAY OF FIREWORKS!

ONE SHILLING.

NASSAU STEAM PRESS, 60, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C.