Page:The George Inn, Southwark.djvu/51

The fire was stopped by the substantial building of St. Thomas's Hospital, then recently erected; and in commemoration of the event, there is a tablet placed on the great staircase, over the door of the hall or courtroom, with the following inscription:—

"LAUS DEO.

Upon the 26th of May, 1676, and in the 28th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the Second, about three of the clock in the morning, over against St. Margaret's Hill, in the Borough of Southwark, there happened a most dreadful and lamentable fire, which, before ten of the clock, consumed about five hundred houses. But, in the midst of judgment God remembered mercy, and by his goodness in considering the poor and distressed, put a stop to the fire at this home, after it had been touched several times therewith, by which, in all probability, all this side of the Borough was preserved. This tablet is here put, that whoso readeth it may give thanks to the Almighty God, to whom alone is due the honour and praise. Amen."

Although the present building of "The George Inn" is not older than the end of the seventeenth century, it seems to have been rebuilt, after the fire, upon the old plan, and it still preserves the character of the ancient English inns, having open wooden galleries leading to the chambers on each side of the inn yard.

In the year 1739, "The George Inn" was the property of Thomas Aynescomb, Esq., of Charterhouse Square, whose will is dated 11th May in that year, from whom it descended to his grand-daughter, Valentina Aynescomb, who married Lillie Smith, Esq.

In 30th George II., an Act of Parliament was passed for vesting the settled estates of Lillie Smith, Esq., and Valentina, his wife in trustees, to be sold. And in 1785, "The George Inn," with considerable other property, was sold and conveyed to Lillie Smith Aynescomb, Esq., of Thames Street, London, merchant; and within a few years past, it has been purchased by the trustees of Guy's Hospital, to which it adjoins.

In the conveyance of 1785, the inn is described as