In the latest in our A-Z series, volunteer archivist Cluny Wells shares stories of the Queens that are linked to Chiswick and some of its inhabitants. 

Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach

Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; (1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737) was Queen Consort of Great Britain and Ireland and Electress of Hanover from 11 June 1727 until her death in 1737. Her husband was King George II.

After Caroline was orphaned at a young age, she moved to the enlightened court of her guardians King Frederick and Queen Sophia Charlotte of Prussia. Caroline was much sought-after as a bride, but she chose to marry George Augustus, third in line to the English throne as her husband. He was also the heir to the Electorate of Hanover. They had eight children, with seven surviving to adulthood. They moved to Britain permanently in 1714 when George became the Prince of Wales.

William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain. (Book from V&A Exhibition on William Kent).

Caroline, as both princess and queen, surrounded herself with a talented and characterful circle of women, such as the Earl of Burlington’s wife, Lady Dorothy Boyle, Kent’s patroness. Naturally, she and the queen discussed architecture and gardens with each other, and the latter visited Chiswick. They also shared a love of music, including opera.

The quote above describes how the Queen had a connection with the residents of Chiswick which lasted until her death, despite Lady Burlington retiring from Court in 1735.
Caroline became friendly with Walpole, an opposition minister, from the time of the Prince of Wales falling out with his father, George I, until her death. On her deathbed, she said to Walpole:

I have nothing to say to you but to recommend the King, my children, and the kingdom to your care.

She helped to popularise the practice of immunisation, which had been witnessed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in Constantinople. At Caroline’s direction six condemned prisoners were offered the chance to undergo inoculation instead of execution: they all survived, as did six orphan children who were also given the same treatment. Convinced of its medical value, Caroline had her first three children Amelia, Caroline and Frederick inoculated against smallpox in the same manner. In praise Voltaire wrote of her

She has never lost an opportunity to learn or to manifest her generosity.

Caroline was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic gardener and employed both Charles Bridgeman and William Kent to devise improvements in Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, and St James’ Park as well as at Richmond Lodge. She allowed the palace gardens to be opened to the public when the Royal Family were at their country retreat at Richmond. William Kent, sponsored by the Earl of Burlington, also designed a new library for the Queen in 1737, in St James’ Palace overlooking Green Park. Unfortunately, while inspecting the work on the 9th November, that she felt very ill and had to return home.

She had been secretly suffering with an umbilical hernia caused from the time of the birth of her 11th and last child Princess Louisa back in 1724. Because of the very female nature of her condition, she had not let the doctors examine her for some time – only her husband knew the truth. When her illness deteriorated so much that she had to let the doctors try to help, it was really too late. Even with modern day treatment, it would have been hard to save the Queen by that stage in her illness. For the few days she had left she faced what must have been an agonising death, during which she showed great bravery and fortitude. Even when her doctors were trying to treat her, without any pain relief, she spoke in a kindly and almost lighthearted way to them. When the wig of one of the doctors caught fire, she asked Dr Ranby, the main surgeon, to wait a moment so she could laugh.

The King, her daughters and her ladies in waiting made sure she was not alone for the time leading to her death. It seems possible that Lady Boyle was one of those who sat with the Queen, even though she had officially retired from Court two years before, as she did make a death bed sketch of the Queen. When reflecting on Queen Caroline’s importance to Britain and the monarchy, it was stated by Ariel and Wilkinson in Van Der Kiste (1997) that:

Perhaps the greatest of her achievements, ….was her role in strengthening the Hanoverians’ somewhat precarious hold on the British throne…..her lofty ideals and pure life did much to counteract the unpopularity of her husband and father-in-law, and redeem the early Georgian era from utter grossness.

Queen Victoria, Queen in her own right. 

Queen Victoria, the granddaughter of George III, was born in 1819 and became Queen of England on the 20th June 1837, after the death of her uncle William IV. Her coronation was a year after, on the 28th June. Victoria married her German cousin Albert when she was twenty years of age, four years after they first met, and it was a love match from the beginning.

Less than a year after their marriage the Queen had their first child, also called Victoria, Vicky by the family, and she was at first very happy to be a mother for Albert’s sake, although a little distressed as it happened so soon after being married, and also as the number of children in her family quickly grew to nine. Victoria thought that children were not terribly interesting, “mere little plants for the first 6 months.”. At the same time she did feel pleasure as a mother and also gained for herself an appreciation of her own mother’s love and affection for her. As the Royal family grew Prince Albert became more involved with many of the Queen’s duties, thus sharing some of her burdens.
We have learnt from the Queen’s journals of her visits to Chiswick over the years – the first being on 19th June 1841 when she and her husband were invited to lunch by the 6th Duke of Devonshire, who had quite a few of his extended family present. Victoria described the house as being:

Beautiful and in the Italian style.

After a fine lunch and the rain having stopped, she goes on to say:

We all walked in the garden and pleasure grounds, which are very beautifully laid out. A Band was playing on the grass……….There are numbers of beautiful cedar trees ………Everything the Duke arranges is in such good taste.

The following year in May the Royal couple drove in their carriage to the Horticultural Society’s Show to see the flowers where they were met by the Duke who invited them again to take some lunch with him in the Villa – they were delighted to see the house again – “so cool and pleasant” As they were leaving the Duke gave the Queen a small Blenheim Spaniel called ‘Bony’, a son of the Duke’s own spaniel ‘Bony’. Two news items – from the Belfast News and the Hull Packet, and both dated 20th May 1842, mention this visit by the Queen and Prince Albert to the Horticultural Gardens and then taking a ‘dejeuner’ with the Duke of Devonshire.

The Queen did not accompany her husband to the fete held at Chiswick in honour of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia in 1844, perhaps as she was late on in her fourth pregnancy and it was a very hot day (her Journal 8th June 1844) she did however attend the Opera with the Emperor that evening.
The next time we hear of the Queen visiting Chiswick, as stated in her Journals, is on 7th July 1871, as a widow. Her son Edward, Prince of Wales and his family were living at Chiswick as tenants, and between 1871 and 1876 the Queen attended a garden party there each year.

When guests such as the Tsar of Russia, the Shah of Persia, Garibaldi and also the Queen visited Chiswick they would often plant a commemorative tree in the grounds.
The most famous garden party was held for the Shah of Persia in 1873. The painter Louis William Desanges depicted the scene in a large picture.

This Auto type with hand-colouring of the royal garden party at Chiswick shows a large group portrait of the royal family and guests attending a garden party in the gardens of Chiswick House, in 1873. Queen Victoria, seated, can be seen at the centre right of the scene. The portrait contains over 300 sitters, almost 200 of which are identified in a separate printed key. The auto type was made after a painting by Louis-William Desanges, which was completed in 1876 and destroyed by fire in 1879, leaving only one or two images of that scene.

There are no mentions of her visiting Chiswick again once the Prince’s tenancy ended in 1877. Queen Victoria lived on for another fifty four years, long enough to see the births of four of her great grandchildren.

Queen Mary, Queen Consort to King George V

Queen Mary, born 26th May 1867. As a girl, Queen Mary, then Princess May of Teck, was accustomed to visiting her cousins living at Chiswick, and playing with them. These cousins were the children of the Prince of Wales, and from quite a young age Princess May and Prince Edward were destined to marry by their families. Sadly Prince Edward (Eddy) died before the wedding day. After a suitable mourning time, Prince George, Eddy’s younger brother, was persuaded that he and the Princess should marry.

Before Queen Mary died she presented the Ministry of Works with a photo of a drawing of 1872 showing the children of the Prince of Wales playing in the grounds of Chiswick, including Princess Mary (later Queen) and her mother the Duchess of Teck.

Both King George and Queen Mary seemed to have held a soft spot for Chiswick House and Gardens, perhaps they had happy childhood memories of playing in the Grounds. When the estate was put up for sale by the Devonshire family in 1929, and although Middlesex County Council paid the bulk of the asking price of £81,000 other individuals and organisations also contributed, including the King.

By 1937 the deteriorating condition of the House and Grounds were the subject of a letter from the Queen’s Private Secretary to the Council. This did have the effect of the Office of Works arranging a survey of the House without charging the Council, which showed how much extensive and expensive work needed doing. The work began in 1939 and lasted for two years but was suspended for the rest of WWII.

Each Springtime, after the War was over, the Queen would visit Chiswick to look at the Camellias in the Conservatory and then she would walk across the Park to Staveley Road to see the cherry trees in full bloom. She was described, by Ann the daughter of Head Gardener Henry Barber, as being:

A tall and elegant lady”…with a “long dress and also a tall stylish hat, which was blue.

When Queen Mary died in March 1953 Henry Barber was asked to make a wreath with Camellias from the Conservatory, which the Queen had always admired, and he was requested to take the wreath to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Ann said her father was very emotional but proud that day.

All three of these Queens of England added an extra something to Chiswick House and Gardens either through their appreciation of the beauty and grace of the surroundings, or their friendship towards and support of those who lived and worked there.