On Dec 26, !846, ‘The Times’ of London in ‘News in Brief’ reported that: ‘The Conde De Montemolin returned to town on Thursday evening from a visit to the Earl of Carnarvon at Highclare, his Lordship’s seat in Hampshire.’

The ‘Times’ thought it worthwhile recording that ‘in the course of this visit, the Conde de Montemolin ‘shot over the preserves of his noble host’ but, despite this mishap, the pa- per assures us that the Conde ‘enjoyed excellent sport’ and ‘was everywhere received with respect and enthusiasm.’ It is also reported that: ‘The Conde de Montemolin, after attending divine service yesterday, received and paid several visits. Amongst the visitors were the Earl of Londsdale, the Marquis de Barbencois, Lieutenant-Colonel J.S.North, Mr J.A.St.John, Mr.M.D Talbot & Etc..

Why James Augustus St.John should have paid a visit to a relic of the Bourbon Dynasty - and a claimant to the Spanish throne - is pure conjecture but, despite increasing blindess J.A.St John seems to have been mobile.

The ‘Court Circular’ section of the ‘Times’ - of April 17 1848 - mentions the last conversazione of the ‘Royal Society’ under the presidency of the Marquis of Northampton, which took place at his residency on the Terrace, Piccadilly.

This terrace might have been 144 Piccadilly which is opposite Green Park towards Aspley House. !44 Piccadilly seems also to have been the residence of Palmerston for a short time during the Crimean Way, but 144 Piccadilly achieved fame as a notorious ‘hippy squat’ in the 1960’s.

Among those attending the ‘Royal Society event in 1848 were (though the ‘Times’ uses the royal ‘‘we’ with it’s - ‘we saw’) many Earls, Viscounts, Lords and Bishops in that order - including Sir Edwin Landseer and the author Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Further down, after the ‘Rev’s’ ‘Dr’s’ and ‘Majors’, 

among the ‘Mr’s,’ appears the name of Mr J.A.St John.^[1]

On May 23, 1851, the ‘Times’ reported a similar event: ‘On the Wednesday evening Lord Londsborough gave a conversazione at his mansion in Piccadilly’ and the paper lists a similar attendance as that of the ‘Royal Society’ and, again, J.A. St John is included among the august crowd which is infused with a liberal sprinkling of ‘’BA’s and “RA”s. Wilkie Collins also attended.

The following year, the ‘Times’ of May 31, 1852, records another of Lord Londsboorough’s conversaziones, The event occurred on the Saturday evening at his mansion on the Terrace at Piccadilly and this time, the paper designates those who attended as: ‘the leading members of the scientific and learned societies of the metropolis. It was same mixture as before. W.E.Gladstone MP attended, as did Mr Decimus Burton - who had been one of the architects who constructed the terrace - E.Landseer and Mr J.A.St.John. Lord Londesborough had been an MP and his mansion in Piccadilly was ‘ 8 Carlton House Terrace’ which had been his home at that time. ‘Carlton House Terrace’ is to the right on the ‘Mall’ leading up to Buckingham Palace) Lord Londesborough had also been the first president of the British Archaeological Association (1843).

James Augustus St John seems to have been admitted into the company of what the succeeding century termed ‘The great and the good’ or, even later ‘the chattering classes’. One of the assembled guests, Landseer, had been a near neighbour of James Augustus St John when he lived in St John’s Wood.

Carlton House Terrace is now the home of the ‘Royal Society’ - it moved there in 1967 - but previous inhabitants had included Earl Grey, who lived at Number 13 from 1851-57, so James Augustus St John may have had occasion to visit the building on other matters. Lord Palmerston lived at Number 5 from 1840-46. At one time, William Crockford lived at no 11.