In the last edition of our A-Z archive series for 2022, volunteer archivist Cluny Wells picks Fox for letter F. Here she explores, royal administrator, politician and courtier to King Charles II, Sir Stephen Fox’s links with Chiswick House. 

From humble beginnings to wealth and influence 

The youngest son of a yeoman farmer in Farley, Wiltshire, Sir Stephen Fox (1627–1716) rose from humble roots to become, as John P Ferris described as “the richest commoner in the three kingdoms”. His wealth was mainly derived from his position as the Paymaster-General of the Kings Forces, between 1661 and 1680. 

By the age of just 15, Fox gained a post in the household of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, helped by an introduction through his older brother, John Fox. From the recommendation of the Earl of Clarendon, Fox was subsequently appointed as manager of the Royal household, and accompanied King Charles II into exile.  

He managed the finances of the exiled court with great skill, where he was very highly thought of. After the Restoration the King established a new position for Stephen to fill – Paymaster-General of the Forces. Because of his abilities, people deemed him to be one of the financial wizards of his age, and he earned a reputation of honesty and reliability. He was knighted in 1665. 

Sir Fox and the Earl of Burlington become Chiswick neighbours 

Two years before becoming ‘Sir Fox’, Stephen had already acquired a house and some land which adjoined the Jacobean mansion at Chiswick. Twenty years later, in 1682, Fox started building a fine new house for himself to replace the original. This new property would come to be known as Moreton Hall. The 1st Earl of Burlington bought the next-door Jacobean mansion. 

So began the geographical closeness of the Fox and Burlington households. The Foxes and the Burlingtons were indeed close enough to have spoken over the garden wall, if they had so wished. Certainly, the stables of each household were close up to the garden walls. 

A ‘perfectly fine’ house, fit for a King 

Stephen used the architect Hugh May and a team of craftsmen including the well-known wood carver Grinling Gibbons to build his house. This house was described by prominent writer and journalist of the 1700’s, Daniel Defoe, as ’the flower of all the private gentlemen’s palaces in England.’ 

Defoe also wrote (in 1725) about the thoughts of the late King William on visiting Stephen Fox’s house and garden, ‘when (the King) who was an allowed judge of fine Buildings, and of Gardening also, had seen the House and Garden, he … said ‘This place is perfectly fine, I could live here for five days.’  

It seems that Fox enjoyed growing from seed and watching his plants grow and develop gradually, thus saving money as well as gaining pleasure from his efforts. 

Other notable buildings associated with Sir Stephen Fox 

• All Saints Church, Farley. 
• Fox’s Hospital, Farley – an almshouse with schoolroom created for six poor women, with a master and free school. 
• Manor Farm House, Chiswick – built in 1698, roughly where Edensor Gardens are today.  
• He also made a £13,000 contribution towards the building of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, designed by Wren. 

Stephen’s personal life 

Fox married twice – the first time aged 24 to Elizabeth Whittle. They had 10 children – seven sons and three daughters. Sadly all his sons and two of his daughters pre deceased him. After Elizabeth’s death, and at the age of 76, he married Christiana Hope, and they had two sons and two daughters. 

Sir Stephen Fox died in 1716 at his Chiswick home and was buried in the church he had rebuilt at Farley and his assets at death were valued at over £174,000. 

Another notable Fox

Charles James Fox, (1749–1806), Sir Stephen’s grandson, was a Whig politician who had a very close friendship with the Devonshires, particularly Georgiana. She and her sister Harriet, would canvass on his behalf before elections.  

Although he had a political career of forty years, he did not often hold office. He was far more interested in supporting liberal causes such as American Independence, the French Revolution, Catholic emancipation and the abolition of slavery. He had a weakness for women, gambling and alcohol, and died at age 57 heavily in debt. At the time of his in death, in 1806 – in the same year as Duchess Georgiana had died – he had been staying in the Villa at Chiswick at the invite of the Duke, her widower, when he died in The Bedchamber. He died just metres from Moreton Hall, home to his grandfather.

His friends were very sad when he died, and showed how much they cared for him by ‘crowd-funding’ on his behalf. They raised enough to pay off his debts, for his funeral, to provide a pension for his widow and have  £12,450 left over to pay for two statues to be sculpted in his memory – one statue in Bloomsbury Square, and one in Westminster Abbey. They were erected by 1816. He seemed to have been much loved by his friends. 

The last link in this story 

Six years after Charles James’ death, his grandfather’s estate next door to Chiswick Villa, was put up for sale and was bought by the 6th Duke of Devonshire. He demolished the house, and incorporated its grounds into his garden, which gave him some fine trees, many fruit trees and other plants. The list of trees included two mulberry trees, now considered to be Heritage Mulberries. These two mulberries are shown in the interactive map of Morus Londinium, which depicts London’s Heritage through trees.  One is in the Kitchen Garden, and the other has its roots in a private garden, and grows over the wall into the Grounds.  

Sir Stephen Fox’s land at Chiswick was reborn as the Conservatory, Italian Garden and the Kitchen Garden. The Kitchen Garden gate piers are the original ones from Moreton  Hall – Sir Stephen Fox’s ‘fine’ house.                     

Sources 

Quote by John P Ferris – author of a biography of Sir Stephen Fox, allegedly published within the ‘History of Parliament, House of Commons 1660-1690, edited by B.D.‘ Henning, 1983. 

Article ‘The Flower of all the Private Gentlemens Palaces in England’, by Sally Jeffery, 2004 in Garden History magazine. 

Wikipedia 

“Chiswick House and Gardens”, Gillian Clegg, 2011. 

Image of Sir Stephen Fox by John James Baker, before 1701. Wikimedia Commons. 

Depiction of his house in Chiswick, later known as Moreton Hall, unknown artist 1807. Public domain. 

Kitchen Garden gates, photo by Val Bott