rrected to 1717) we
find marked "Mr. Franklin's House," not on the site of the present Row,
but opposite the north-western corner of Burton's Court, at the corner of
the present St. Leonard's Terrace and Smith Street. The name Franklin has
been long connected with Chelsea, for in 1790 we find John Franklin and
Mary Franklin bequeathing money to the poor of Chelsea. At the south end
is an old public-house, with overhanging story and red-tiled roof; it is
called the Royal Hospital, and contrasts quaintly with its towering
modern red-brick neighbours.

The entrance gates of the Royal Military Asylum, popularly known as the
Duke of York's School, open on to Franklin's Row just before it runs
into Cheltenham Terrace. The building itself stands back behind a great
space of green grass. It is of brick faced with Portland stone, and is of
very solid construction. Between the great elm-trees on the lawn can be
seen the immense portico, with the words "The Royal Military Asylum for
the Children of the Soldiers of the Regular Army" running across the
frieze.

The building is in three wings, enclosing at the back laundry, hospital,
Commandant's house, etc., and great playgrounds for the boys. Long low
dormitories, well ventilated, on the upper floors in the central building
contain forty beds apiece, while those in the two wings are smaller, with
thirteen beds each. Below the big dormitories are the dining-rooms, the
larger one decorated with devices of arms; these were brought from the
Tower and arranged by the boys themselves. There are 550 inmates,
admitted between the ages of nine and eleven, and kept until they are
fourteen or fifteen. The foundation was established by the Duke of York
in 1801, and was ready for occupation by 1803. It was designed to receive
700 boys and 300 girls, and there was an infant establishment connected
with it in the Isle of Wight. In 1823 the girls were removed elsewhere.
There are a number of boys at the sister establishment, the Hibernian
Asylum, in Ireland. The Commandant, Colonel G. A. W. Forrest, is allowed
6-1/2 d. per diem for the food of each boy, and the bill of fare is
extraordinarily good. Cocoa and bread-and-butter, or bread-and-jam, for
breakfast and tea; meat, pudding, vegetables, and bread, for dinner. Cake
on special fete-days as an extra. The boys do credit to their rations,
and show by their bright faces and energy their good health and spirits.
They are under strict military disc