I was born at No - The MAN & Other Families

22them which of course was eventually lost. He certainly had the "gift of the gab" and Ithink he really believed he was putting them on to a good thing. Anyhow he alwaysbelieved he would make a fortune for himself and his friends. I remember when walkingwith him and Aunt Mary to Church on Sundays, when passing the large palatial houseson Regent Park, he would say to Aunt Mary, "Mary my dear, one day you will live in oneof those houses". Aunt Mary never believed in any of his money-making schemes.He continued in this business for a good many years, always expecting to make a fortune,but eventually the whole business collapsed and when I came home from Burma for thefirst time in 1890 he was a nervous wreck and died in the following year. Both he andAunt Mary were fond of their food and the mid-day Sunday dinners were certainly atreat. Uncle Burney suffered somewhat from indigestion caused I expect from over-eatingand was constantly calling in the doctor (Dr. Neale). I remember on one occasion Dr.Neale had recommended his staying in bed for a few days and dieting. He took his adviceand went to bed. His bedroom was divided from the dining-room by folding doors. OneSunday he was in bed and Aunt Mary, Evelyn, Claud and I were having dinner. Therewas something for dinner very choice and savoury, I forget what, but anyhow UncleBurney could not resist it and got out of bed, put on his dressing-gown and sat downto eat. Suddenly one of us saw Dr. Neale's brougham drive up to the door, so UncleBurney jumped up, threw off his dressing-gown and got back into bed.London is very much changed from what it was then. There were no motor cars, but inthe fashionable West-end one would see beautiful two-horse vehicles with powderedcoachmen and footmen. Numbers of these would be seen in Oxford, Regent and BondStreets when the ladies went shopping and it was a fine sight to see these splendidlyhorsedcarriages driving around in the Row as also the horsemen and women riding there,all immaculately dressed. It was supposed to be the badge of respectability for every man(except working men) to wear a silk hat and morning coat and these I wore all the time Iwas in London.Park Lane was then one of the most, if not the most fashionable residential street inLondon and contained the residences of some of the most famous noble families. Thesehave mostly been pulled down now and large apartment blocks erected in their place.In the West-end fashionable Squares the windows in summer were decorated withwindow boxes with gaily colored flowers and one would see powdered footmen loungingabout the doors.The Prince of Wales (afterwards King Edward VII) was at the height of his popularity atthat time and London was very gay and bright. These were the days of Mrs. Langtry,Mrs. Cornwallis West, Lady Dudley, the Marchioness of Ormond and other beautifulsociety ladies, while the professional beauties among the actresses were Ellen Terry,Maud Branscombe, Violet Cameron, Florence St. John, Kate Vaughan, Connie Gilchrist,etc.During my two years residence in London I remember seeing the following plays: