Barn Elms replaced the earlier one occupied by Sir Francis Walsingham, "Elizabeth's Spymaster". Queen Elizabeth I would visit Barn Elms to see her Spymaster. Barn Elms features in English literary history from the time the royalist poet Abraham Cowley moved to the house belonging to John Cartwright in 1663. In the 1660s Barn Elms became a fashionable destination for boating picnics. Samuel Pepys, who arranged many a Sunday afternoon or moonlit evening boating party to Barn Elms himself, recorded that on 26 May 1667: "I walked the length of the Elmes, and with great pleasure saw some gallant ladies and people come
Walsingham (1795 ship) were off the coast, but the surf prevented him from reaching them. He was able to reach "Walsingham", which the shore batteries had fired on the day before, and which was standing off the coast trying to ascertain what was happening. With Chamberlain's arrival and his report, "Walsingham" had its answer and she departed for Falmouth. In 1813 "Lloyd's Register" started to list the Falmouth packets. It showed "Walsingham" with Roberts, owner, changing to Bullock. Her owner was Captain and Co. On 11 February 1815, "Walsingham" was 100 miles to windward was on her way to Jamaica, and under the