The Island Opposite Boyle's Farm (aka: The Island, Boyle's Farm The Upper Thames)

Francis Seymour Haden

This island, Boyle Farm Island, is the second largest of three islands in the Thames River. It contains a single house, home to just one family. It is directly opposite the historic mansion of Boyle Farm, which is now known as the Home of Compassion in Thames Ditton in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England.

There had been a mansion house on the Boyle Farm spot from at least the reign of James the first, but little, if anything, of it remains. The land was transferred to Robert Hatton in 1611 and soon after a mansion, which became "Fords", soon appeared, and Hatton's descendants continued to own for the next one hundred and fifty years. In 1664 the house was the second largest in Thames Ditton.

In March 1783, after having lived in the house for a year, and having decided she liked it, Mrs. Boyle Walsingham persuaded the then owner Stephen Digby to sell her the the estate. To effect a complete breach with the past, the new mansion was even baptized with a new name - "Boyle Farm." Included in the purchase were the islands in the river, and several other pieces of land in Thames Ditton. The islands were sometimes used to set off fireworks during large parties.

It is quite likely Haden stayed here and fished in the Thames from this spot.