RICHMOND, a parish in the first division of the hundred of KINGSTON, county of SURREY, 8 miles (W. S. W.) from London, containing 5994 inhabitants. This place, although not mentioned in Domesday-book, is noticed in a record of nearly the same date, under the name of Syenes, and it was afterwards called Shene, or Sheen; the manor became the property of the crown in the latter part of the reign of Edward I., who resided here, as also did his successors Edward II. and III., and the latter monarch either built a palace, or made very considerable additions to one already in existence, in which he ended his days; since this period it has belonged either to the crown or to some branch of the royal family, and has very frequently been the residence of the Sovereign. Queen Anne, wife of Richard II., dying here, it so affected that king, that he abandoned the palace, and allowed it to become ruinous; it was restored to its former splendour by Henry V., and, in 1492, was the scene of a grand tournament held by Henry VII.; and having been destroyed by fire in 1498, it was rebuilt by that, monarch, when he changed the name of the place to Richmond, after the town of that name in Yorkshire, from which he had received his title of earl. Philip I., King of Spain, having been driven on the English coast by a storm, was entertained here, in 1506, with great magnificence; and Henry VII. expired in this palace in 1509. Henry VIII. also held a tournament here; and the Emperor Charles V., of Germany, was lodged in the castle, on his visit to England, in 1523. The Princess Elizabeth was confined at Richmond by her sister Mary, and it became her favourite residence after her accession to the throne; she died here in 1603, in which year, and in 1625, the courts of justice were removed hither, on account of the plague. In 1605, Henry, Prince of Wales, resided here j and it was the occasional residence of Charles I., who here formed a large collection of pictures, and of his queen, on whom it was settled; in 1649 it was surveyed by order of parliament, and sold in 1650; but shortly after the Restoration it was delivered to the queen mother, though in a very dilapidated state: it was shortly afterwards pulled down, and private houses erected on the site, the owners of which hold on lease from the crown. A park appears to have been formed in the reign of Edward I., and in the time of Henry VIII. there were two parks, distiu- guished as the Great and the Little Park, the second being probably formed on the rebuilding of the palace by Henry V. or VII. These parks were afterwards united, and called the Old, or Little, Park, by way of distinction from the New, or Great, Park, formed by Charles I., which was made one of the articles of his impeachment. The Old Park, commencing near Kew bridge, extends along the banks of the Thames to Richmond, and comprises the beautiful and extensive royal gardens, and a dairy and grazing farm, which was cultivated under the immediate direction of George III., who occasionally resided here, and who directed the old lodge to be demolished, with a view to the erection of a palace in its place, for which the foundation was prepared, but the building was never executed. It was given to the lord mayor and citizens of London, during the Protectorate, but after the Restoration, it reverted to the crown. The Observatory is also in this park, and was built in 1769, by Sir William Chambers; it is furnished with excellent astronomical' instruments, apparatus for philosophical experiments, and some models, and until lately contained a collection of ores from the mines in the forest of Hartz, in Germany, which have been removed to the British Museum: on its summit is a moveable dome, containing' an equatorial instrument. The New, or Great, Park, enclosed by Charles I., is situated to the southward of Richmond, extending from the hill to the road from London to Kingston: it is eight miles in circumference, being encompassed with a br-ick wall, and comprises about two thousand two hundred and fifty-three acres. The village of Richmond, from the beauty of its situation and of the surrounding country, possesses attractions of a very rare character. The view from the summit of the hill, though not extensive, embraces every thing required to constitute a picturesque landscape, consisting of a fertile and richly-wooded plain, through which the Thames flows in a winding course, yith its banks ornamented by numerous mansions and villas, and bounded by hills in the distance. Its proximity to the metropolis, combined with the attractions of scenery which it possesses, and the facility of conveyance both by land and water, causes it to be much resorted to. It in all respects resembles a town, and has a neat and genteel appearance, containing some very good houses, with several inns of a superior description; also a neat theatre, which is opened three or four nights in the week during the summer season; the repair of the highways, paving, and watching, is, by act of parliament, under the control of thirty-one select vestry-men. The Thames, which is here nearly three hundred feet wide, is crossed by a handsome bridge of five arches, the centre one being twenty-five feet high from low water mark, and sixty wide j the first stone was laid on the 23rd of August, 1774, and.the structure was completed in December, 1777, at an expense of about £26,000. The living is a vicarage, consolidated with that of Kingston, by act of parliament, in 1760, in the archdeaconry of Surrey, and diocese of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, is a neat brick edifice, with a low square embattled tower, ornamented with buttresses, at its western end. Amongst other monuments is a brass tablet, erected by the Earl of Buchan, in 1792, to the memory of James Thomson, author of the Seasons, who died at Richmond, in 1748. The school was founded, in 1713, by contribution among several noblemen and gentlemen, and it was, in 1719, endowed by Lady Dorothy Capel, with part of the rental of an estate, from which it now receives £3?. 10.: there are also £3700 New South Sea Annuities, and £ 100 four per cents., in the possession of the trustees, being the produce of benefactions and contributions, the dividends of which are applied to the use of the school, which is supported, in addition to the above, by an annuity of £ 30, originally given by George L, and continued by his successors, by an annual subscription, and by a collection made after a sermon preached for its benefit. The school-house, in which the master and the mistress reside, is a neat building in good repair, and all the poor children of the parish may here be educated in reading, writing, and arithmetic, about sixty of them being also clothed. The charitable institutions for the relief of the poor are on a very liberal scale; they consist of almshouses, called Queen Elizabeth's, supposed to have been founded, in the year 1600, by Sir George Wright, and originally situated under Richmond hill; but the present building was erected by private subscription, in 1767, at a place called the Vineyard, on a piece of ground given by William Turner, Esq.: the present income is about £132 per annum, arising principally from the dividends on £3800 three per cent, reduced annuities, which was purchased with money given, or bequeathed, by different persons to the charity, and from a fee-farm rent of £8 per annum, assigned by John Michell: it affords lodging and maintenance to eight poor women. On the hill is an almshouse, founded and endowed by Bishop Duppa, in 1661, the present income of which, with some small additional benefactions, is £ 206 per annum, and in which ten poor widows of Richmond are lodged and supported. Michell's almshouses were founded, in 1696, by Humphry Michell, for ten poor old men, and augmented by John Michell and William Smither, Esqrs.: the tenements were rebuilt, in 1810, in the Vineyard, at an expense of £3014, derived from savings from the income, which is at present about £420 per annum. The income of almshouses founded, in 1757, by Rebecca Houblon, is now about £280 per annum'; nine poor women are supported in them. In addition to these charities, William Hickey, in 1727, bequeathed estates, which, with the interest of the accumulation of savings, now produces upwards of £700 per annum, and from which twenty pensioners receive £12 per annum" each; and, from the excess of income beyond the expenditure, the trustees contemplate an application to the court of Chancery, for leave to erect almshouses for the pensioners, and such further extension of the charity, as may be deemed expedient. There is also another valuable charity, called the Church Estate, under the management of trustees, for repairing the church, the present income of which is about £ 600 per annum; of this, £250 is appropriated to the support of deserving poor, at the discretion of the trustees, who have applied-also to the court of Chancery, for permission to build ten almshouses, for five poor men and five poor women, to which number they now allow weekly 5s. each, the surplus of the £250 being allowed to accumulate for building the almshouses. Lands in the manor of Richmond are holden by copy of court roll, and descend to the youngest son, or, in default of male issue, to the youngest daughter. A convent of Carthusians, called the House of Jesus of Bethlehem, was founded and richly endowed by Henry V., in 1414, at the hamlet of West Sheen, about a quarter of a mile from the palace; and, in 1416, a hermitage for a recluse was founded within this monastery: in the reign of Henry VII., Perkin Warbeck sought an asylum within its walls, when defeated by that monarch, and the body of James IV., King of Scotland, was brought hither, after his defeat and death at Flodden Field; at the time of its suppression, its revenue was estimated at £777. 12. 1. It was revived by Queen Mary, but finally suppressed at her death, a few months afterwards; an ancient gateway, the last remains of this priory, was taken down about sixty years since, and the hamlet of West Sheen was at the same time demolished, the site now forming a part of the royal enclosure. A convent of Carmelites had been previously founded here by Edward II., but it was removed to Oxford, at the expiration of two years from its foundation. Henry VII. is said to have founded a convent of Observant friars near the palace, in 1499, the suppression of which, in 1534, is recorded by Hollinshed. A mineral well, discovered here about 1680, appears to have attracted a great deal of company; it was in considerable repute for about half a century, but afterwards rapidly declined.