Green’s Dictionary of Slang

St John’s Wood, London NW8.

1873		Sl. Dict.
1879		London Life 31 May 2/2: [T]hey [i.e. ‘girls arrayed in paint and powder’] turn again / [...] / In the direction of the shady groves / Of the evangelist, where naughty loves / Are looked upon with charity sublime.
1889–90		Barrère & Leland Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 14 Sept. 6/2: Belle [...] was previously enviable for [...] her luxuriously furnished nest in the grove of the Evangelist, and her skill in driving a tandem through the crowded streets of London.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.