A hunting lodge was built for James I of England (James VI of Scotland) and extended by William III. The lodge estate was acquired by James Butler, Duke of Ormonde who transformed it into a fine ducal home. His support of the jacobite cause led his banishment and his brother sold the estate to George, Prince of Wales (later George II), who renamed the house Richmond Lodge. George's wife Lady Caroline particularly favoured this residence. The Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, supported Lady Caroline's expansion and enhancement of the estate with public money. Charles Bridgman and William Kent were employed in these enhancements. The expansion of the estate included the purchase of: the Dutch House (founded on the structure built for the Dukes of Suffolk when they settled there to be close to their cousin Henry VII); and the two houses on Kew Green which had been developed on the site of the old Kew Farm.

Kew Farm provides a circuitous link. It had once been home to Elizabeth Stuart, the sister of Henry, Prince of Wales, two of the children of James VI of England. Elizabeth was the mother of Sophia of Brunswick (1630-1714) who was the Prince's grandmother and the link of the Hanoverians to the British throne. The Dutch House became the nursery for Caroline's children, then for her grandson and finally for his children. The grandson was resident there until his accession as George III when he moved to the adjacent White House which his father had rebuilt from Kew Park Lodge and which he turned into the first Kew Palace. Following that extension of the White House and the death of his mother George III had Richmond Lodge pulled down. This allowed the extension of the gardens which became the present Kew Gardens.

O/S Co-ords:1804.7680
Source(s):

Kew Past