Maria Bicknell met the painter John Constable in 1809 when on holiday in Suffolk and he determinedly pursued her until they were married 02/10/1816. Her father seriously disapproved of the match. Following the death of his wife he had rented and then bought a cottage hereabouts as a summer home particularly for his daughters. It lookedg across Telegraph Road to the cricket field.. JC wrote to Maria on 28/06/1815 from the home of an aunt he was visiting in Chelsea to arrange a meeting on Putney bridge for the following Monday morning. There is a drawing by him of Earl Spencer's Wimbledon Park dated to their visit that day. The letter also tells of how his aunt was 'almost shaken to pieces with anxiety for relations in the late dreadful battle', i.e., Waterloo. They visited the cottage annually between 1817 and 1828 when Maria died (on 23/11). There are sketches by JC which appear to be from scenes in these environs including Fulham church, Richmond bridge, the windmill at Barnes and the Admiralty telegraph. The cottage was inherited by Maria's sister Louisa.

O/S Co-ords:2318.7370
Source(s):

The Wandsworth Historian