Somerset, who bought the estate of the manor. St. Thomas's Church is the
only object of note in the street; it was built by Hardwick, and
consecrated July 1, 1858.

In Lower Seymour Street is the Steinway Hall, used for concerts and
various entertainments. In Nos. 9, 11, 13 is the home of the Sisters of
St. Vincent de Paul. Two of these houses were formerly occupied by the
Samaritan Eye Hospital. A statue of our Lord stands over the central
doorway, and at His feet an inscription on stone announces that a
night-home for girls of good character was originally started here, and
was founded by public subscription in honour of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, and in memory of the pilgrimage made to Paray-le-Monial on
September 4, 1873, by the Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland. The
Home is now for destitute children, and is on the same lines as the
sister institution at Westminster. The noticeable feature of the Home is
that girls who have been placed out as dressmakers, teachers, etc., and
are earning their own living, may still return every evening. The
Sisters are also engaged in many other charitable works.

Manchester Square was begun in 1776 by the building of Manchester House
on the north side, but the house was not finished until 1788. It was
built for the Duke of Manchester, but was afterwards the residence of
the Spanish Ambassador. The Roman Catholic chapel in Spanish Place was
built during the Embassy from designs by Bonomi. It was restored in
1832, but has been replaced by a large church in the next street, and
its site is now covered by high red-brick flats. The French Embassy
succeeded the Spanish, but was withdrawn at the time of the last
Revolution. The Marquis of Hertford afterwards occupied the house, and
called it after himself. He was succeeded by Sir Richard Wallace, who
built immense picture galleries round the garden at the back, enclosing
it in a quadrangle. He almost rebuilt the house, and at his death left
his famous collection of pictures and curios, which were brought here
from the Bethnal Green Museum, to be eventually bequeathed to the
nation, which was done on the death of Lady Wallace.

North Street leads us into a network of small slums, and Paradise Street
opens into a public recreation ground, laid out with trees and shrubs,
where the children play among sombre altar-tombs of a past generation.
This was formerly a cemetery, consecrated in 1733, and the Marylebone
historian, Smith, says