KEW, a village and parish in the county of Surrey, England. The village is pleasantly situated on the south bank of the Thames, 6 miles by road west-south-west of Hyde Park corner. It has communication with London by steamer and by several railway routes. By a stone bridge of seven arches, erected in 1789, it is connected with Brentford on the other side of the river. The village consists chiefly of a row of houses with gardens attached, situated on the north side of a green, to the south of which is the church and churchyard, and at the west the principal entrance to Kew gardens. In the vicinity there are many fine villas. From remains found in the bed of the river near Kew bridge it has been conjectured that the village is an old British settlement. The name first occurs in a document of the reign of Henry VII., where it is spelt Kayhough. The free school originally endowed by Lady Capel in 1721 received special benefactions from George IV., and the title of “the king’s free school.”
The estate of Kew House about the end of the 17th century came into the possession of Lord Capel of Tewkesbury, and in 1721 of Samuel Molyneux, secretary to the prince of Wales, afterwards George II. After his death it was leased by Frederick, prince of Wales, son of George II., and it continued to be the residence of members of the royal family until the estate was purchased about 1789 by George III., who devoted his chief leisure to its improvement. The old house was pulled down in 1802. Dutch House, adjoining Kew House, afterwards sold by Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, to Sir Hugh Portman, a Dutch merchant, was purchased by George III. as a nursery for the royal children. It is a plain brick structure, and is now known as Kew Palace. The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew originated in the exotic garden formed by Lord Capel and greatly extended by the princess dowager, widow of Frederick, prince of Wales, and by George III., aided by the skill of the Aitons and of Sir Joseph Banks. In 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national establishment, and transferred to the department of woods and forests. The gardens proper, which originally contained only about 11 acres, have been increased to 75 acres, and the pleasure grounds or arboretum adjoining extend to 270 acres.
A catalogue of the plants in the exotic garden of Kew was published by Dr Hill in 1768, 2d ed. 1769; and in 1789 William Aiton published Hortus Kewensis, in 3 vols. 8vo. See Oliver’s Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Pleasure Grounds, Kew, 26th edition, 1881.
KEW-KEANG FOO, a prefecture and prefectural city in the province of Keang-se, China. The city, which is situated on the south bank of the Yang-tsze Keang, 15 miles above the point where the Kan Keang flows into that river from the Po-yang lake, stands in 29° 42′ N. lat. and 116° 8′ E. long. The north face of the city is separated from the river by only the width of a roadway, and two large lakes lie on its west and south fronts. The walls are from 5 to 6 miles in circumference, and are more than usually strong and broad. As is generally the case with old cities in China, Kew-Keang has repeatedly changed its name. Under the Tsin dynasty (265–420 a.d.) it was known as Sin-Yang, under the Leang dynasty (502–557) as Keang Chow, under the Suy dynasty (589–618) as Kew-Keang, under the Sung dynasty (960–1127) as Ting-Keang, and under the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) it assumed the name it at present bears. Kew-Keang has played its part in the history of the empire, and has been repeatedly besieged and sometimes taken. The last time this worst fate overtook it was in February 1853, when the Tai-ping rebels gained possession of the city. After their manner they looted and utterly destroyed it, leaving only the remains of a single street to represent the once flourishing town. The position of Kew-Keang on the Yang-tsze Keang and its proximity to the channels of internal communication through the Po-yang lake, more especially to those leading to the green-tea-producing districts of the provinces of Keang-se and Gan-hwuy, induced Lord Elgin to choose it as one of the treaty ports to be opened under the terms of his treaty (1861). Unfortunately, however, it stands above instead of below the outlet of the Po-yang lake, and the 15 miles which separate it from that channel form one of the swiftest parts of the lower Yang-tsze Keang. This has proved to be a decided drawback to its success as a commercial port, but nevertheless the customs returns show a steady annual increase in the trade carried on. The immediate effect of opening the town to foreign trade was to raise the population in one year from 10,000 to 40,000, and at the present time the census declares it to be peopled by 48,000 souls. The foreign settlement extends westward from the city, along the bank of the Yang-tsze Keang, and is bounded on its extreme west by the P’un river, which there runs into the Yang-tsze. The bund, which is 500 yards long, was erected by the foreign community at a cost of 1700 taels. The climate is considered to be good, and though hot in the summer months is invariably cold and bracing in the winter. According to the latest customs returns the value of foreign imports into Kew-Keang in 1878 was 2,514,302 taels as against 2,954,286 in 1880; during the same period native imports showed an increase from 649,109 taels to 962,364 taels; and the value of exports declined from 8,924,436 taels to 8,824,966 taels. 1653 piculs of opium were imported in 1878, and 2290 in 1880, and the revenue returns show that while the duties levied in 1872 amounted to 585,883 taels, in 1880 the sum received from the same source was 764,571 taels.
KEY WEST (Spanish, Cayo Hueso, Bone Reef), a coral island, 7 miles long, from 1 to 2 miles broad, and 11 feet above sea-level, lies 60 miles south of Cape Sable, the most southerly point of the mainland of Florida. It belongs to Monroe county, Florida, and forms one of the Florida Keys. The soil is thin, but supports a tolerably dense tropical vegetation, including various fruits. In the absence of fresh springs, the water supply is derived from rain and distillation. The healthy climate attracts an annually increasing number of invalids from the north. The inhabitants are chiefly of Cuban and Bahaman extraction, and speak a Spanish patois.
