Nathan Henry he must surely have been influenced by the Vauxhall Gardens, only a few minutes' walk away from the end of his street. Although it closed in 1840, shortly after Henry's family arrived, when its owners suffered bankrupcy, the Gardens re-opened the following year, and continued until 1859.
David Coke, the principle historian of the Gardens, has drawn attention to the role of Vauxhall Gardens in promoting monarchy, patriotism, and a new sense of "Britishness". But also, "its military emphasis, which encouraged young men to fight for their country" (see below).
It was popular with the army and navy (recall the scenes in Thackeray's Vanity Fair), and widely associated with amorous adventures. The Gardens had become somewhat notorious during the period of Henry's childhood. (As a visitor once told an owner, he would "be a better Customer of her Garden, if there were more Nightingales, and fewer Strumpets.")
Vauxhall closed in 1840, when its owners suffered bankruptcy, but re-opened in 1841. It changed hands in 1842, and was permanently closed in 1859.
For further information, see e.g. Vauxhall Gardens:
Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century.
Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being made by Samuel Pepys in 1662.
The Gardens consisted of several acres of trees and shrubs with attractive walks. Initially, entrance was free with food and drink being sold to support the venture.
The site became Vauxhall Gardens in 1785 and admission was charged to gain its many attractions. The Gardens drew all manner of men and supported enormous crowds, with its paths being noted for romantic assignations. Tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks provided amusement.
The rococo "Turkish tent" became one of the Gardens' structures, the interior of the Rotunda became one of Vauxhall's most viewed attractions, and the chinoiserie style was a feature of several buildings.
A statue depicting George Frederic Handel was erected in the Gardens, which later found its way to Westminster Abbey. In 1817, the Battle of Waterloo was re-enacted with 1, 000 soldiers participating.
Vauxhall was closed in 1840 after its owners suffered bankruptcy, but re-opened in 1841. It changed hands in 1842, and was permanently closed in 1859.
Vauxhall Gardens was located in Kennington on the south bank of the River Thames, which was not part of the built-up area of the metropolis until towards the end of the Gardens' existence. Part of the site is now a small public park called Spring Gardens.
[PB: Below, I have cut and pasted in some extracts of David Coke's "Vauxhall Gardens: Patriotism and Pleasure", History Today, Volume 62 Issue 5, 2012. These may be suggestive if any further work is done.
Of course these date from the middle of the eighteenth century, and I don't know how much this continued, or developed, in the nineteenth century - though I have read that in 1817 [or thereabouts] there was enormous re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo in the Gardens. Did this continue into the time that Nathan Henry might have visited?
Cook's major study of the gardens, (co-authored with Alan Borg?), is Vauxhall Gardens: A History, Yale University Press, 2011. His website is very useful: http://www.vauxhallgardens.com/index.html.
David Coke has drawn attention to the role of Vauxhall Gardens in promoting monarchy, patriotism, and a new sense of "Britishness". But also, "its military emphasis, which encouraged young men to fight for their country":
Tyers [the founder] always endeavoured to maintain a harmony of message throughout the gardens and the music performed there often reflected the subjects seen in the paintings. Monamy's work, with its military emphasis, is echoed in songs like Thomas Arne's rousing 'Contest between Love and Glory' (1745), which encouraged young men to fight for their country, even though ties of love might tend to keep them at home, a very popular theme in Vauxhall songs over a long period:
I go where Glory leads me
And points the Dang'rous way;
Tho' Coward Love upbraids me,
Yet Honour bids obey;
But Honour's boasting Story
Too plain those tears reprove,
And whisper Fame, Wealth, Glory,
Ah! What are they to Love?
Then think where e'er I wander,
The sport of Seas and Wind,
No distance Hearts can sunder,
Whom mutual truth has Join'd:
Kind Heav'n the brave requiting,
Shall safe thy Swain restore,
And raptures Crown the meeting,
Which Love ne'er felt before.
[PB: Arne is the composer of "Rule Britannia", of course.]
Vauxhall's music was all written and performed by British (or at least London-based) composers and musicians and the songs were sung in English by British performers.
...
The motivation behind Hayman's final commission from Jonathan Tyers is not altogether clear; it diverges entirely from previous projects that might be described as merely pro-British and takes a more seriously nationalistic and propagandistic turn. By the 1760s, when these paintings were completed, Tyers must have been confident that a patriotic element in the decorations of the gardens was good for business - his constant driving force.
Hayman's last group of works celebrated British victories in the Seven Years' War and two of the four huge (3.6 by 4.5 metres) canvases were intended to show the magnanimity in victory of British military leaders. It is entirely possible that the idea for this came from Hayman, who had completed three designs for engravings in a series called 'English History Delineated' between 1750 and 1752.
The Vauxhall series, using similar compositional techniques, brought the subject right up to date, with depictions of battles that had happened only months earlier and were still fresh in the public mind from press reports.
Hayman's paintings, of which one appeared at the gardens each year from 1760 to 1763 (though, like the Shakespearean scenes, none survive today), would have been of enormous interest to Tyers' visitors with their portrayals of well-known people in modern dress set in the actual battlegrounds in North America and in India. H
Hayman's earlier series of engravings was the first to show visual representations of important episodes from British history of the distant past; his Vauxhall paintings were the first history paintings exhibited to the public that depicted important events from the very recent past.
[Source: David Coke, "Vauxhall Gardens: Patriotism and Pleasure", History Today, Volume 62 Issue 5, 2012. www.historytoday.com/david-coke/vauxhall-gardens-patriotism-and-pleasure (accessed 16.11.2013). Also see his website: [?] ]
In its last years, Vauxhall Gardens had grown seedy. Charles Dickens wrote of a daylight visit to Vauxhall Gardens, in Sketches by Boz, published in 1836 (three years before Nathan Henry and his family moved to the area):
"We paid our shilling at the gate, and then we saw for the first time, that the entrance, if there had been any magic about it at all, was now decidedly disenchanted, being, in fact, nothing more nor less than a combination of very roughly-painted boards and sawdust. We glanced at the orchestra and supper-room as we hurried past - we just recognised them, and that was all.
We bent our steps to the firework-ground; there, at least, we should not be disappointed. We reached it, and stood rooted to the spot with mortification and astonishment.
That the Moorish tower - that wooden shed with a door in the centre, and daubs of crimson and yellow all round, like a gigantic watch-case! That the place where night after night we had beheld the undaunted Mr. Blackmore make his terrific ascent, surrounded by flames of fire, and peals of artillery, and where the white garments of Madame Somebody (we forget even her name now), who nobly devoted her life to the manufacture of fireworks, had so often been seen fluttering in the wind, as she called up a red, blue, or party-coloured light to illumine her temple!"
There is an enormous amount of information available about Vauxhall Gardens at www.vauxhallgardens.com.