[The name of a locality in London on the south bank of the Thames, where Vauxhall Gardens (see def.) were situated.] Used ellipt. for Vauxhall Gardens, a popular pleasure resort from the 17th to the middle of the 19th century; a place of resort or amusement resembling or imitating this.
Evelyn records in his memoirs under the date 2 July 1661, ‘I went to see the New Spring Garden at Lambeth, a pretty contriv’d plantation.’ The gardens were finally closed on 25 July 1859.
1769. Ann. Reg., Chron., 111. Sieur Torre opened his new Vauxhall, near St. Martin’s gate [in Paris], under the denomination of the Feasts of Tempe. Ibid. (1815), Chron., 50. Mr. Sadler appeared in Mr. Harper’s gardens, or the Vauxhall of this place [sc. Norwich], in the evening.
attrib. 1822. Lond. Lit. Gaz., 61/1. But the portions [of food] are of the Vauxhall order.
1892. Dobson, 18th Cent. Vignettes, 253. The popular legend that an expert Vauxhall waiter could cover the entire garden (about eleven acres) with slices from one ham.
Hence Vauxhallian a., Vauxhallify v. trans.
1815. Southey, Lett. (1856), II. 429. There is an illumination to-night in the Allée Vert, or Green Walk, which is to be Vauxhallified in honour of the Emperor.
1827. Westm. Rev., VIII. 353. Here follows a description of a very gay festival, much more Vauxhallian than Attic.
