In the 1790’s it was occupied by Mrs Fitzherbert, mistress of George IV, then Prince of Wales, and in the nineteenth century it was the home of General Peel, the brother of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel.

In 1887, Christies auctioned the entire contents of Marble Hill House on site and the following year both the house and the estate were advertised for sale. It stood empty for ten years, before being purchased by the Cunard family who saw its potential to be developed into suburban housing. Local residents of Richmond and Twickenham mounted an opposition campaign to protect the view from Richmond Hill, which included saving the estate with the house at its centre.

In 1902 an Act of Parliament was passed to protect the view. The Cunard family were persuaded to sell the estate. It was bought for the public by local council donations and private subscriptions, and in 1903 the park opened.

Marble Hill Park came under the care of the London County Council, then the Greater London Council and in 1986 English Heritage took over. They have re-furnished the house to recreate the period when the house was first built, and recovered the original paintings in the Great Room by Giovanni Panini. The Society has been able to help in the purchase of chairs, new drapes for the Great Room, a painting by Gawen Hamilton of the Montague Family, a mirror and four books that were in her library, all from fund raising activities. These are now on display in the house. The house also has a fine collection of British paintings of the early Georgian era, including portraits of members of Mrs Howard's circle.

Designs for the House, by Colen Campbell, 1723 & 1725

Jonathan Peel, by S. W. Reynolds, 1825

Mrs Fitzherbert, engraving after Richard Cosway, 1792

Horace Walopole, by Joh Giles Eccardt, c.1754

In 18th Century England, Twickenham was a small village on the north bank of the river Thames, a mile west of Richmond. Here, in the meadows and market gardens beside the river, it became fashionable to build expensive villas, upstream from the stench and hurly burly of London. Marble Hill House was one of these villas.

It was built between 1724 and 1729 for Henrietta Howard, mistress of George II and later Countess of Suffolk. The initial design for the house was probably produced by Colen Campbell, and built by Roger Morris. Mrs Howard’s fashionable friends included Alexander Pope, who had already built himself a villa by the Thames a mile away, Jonathan Swift and playwright John Gay. Henrietta would invite them to Marble Hill House, and in this idyllic retreat far from the obligations of Court life, we may still imagine the connoisseurs, poets, playwrights and former politicians charming their learned hostess and creating a centre of literary wit.

 

One of the Society's members has recently made an exciting discovery. Henrietta Howard's birth date had always been thought to be about the year 1688, but on looking though some information from an interested friend, our member discovered that the Countess was born on 11 May 1689 and baptised at St Martins in the Fields on 20 May 1689. This has been verified by consulting the church records. Also. we have established that she is buried in the Berkeley family vault in Berkeley Parish Church near her second husband, George Berkeley, 4th son of the 2nd Earl of Berkeley. This was in accordance with her wishes expressed in her will.

At the end of her life she became close friends with Horace Walpole who was building the amazing Gothic revival villa, Strawberry Hill, the other side of Twickenham. She died in 1767 aged seventy-nine. After some time the house was let. One of its most famous tenants was Mrs Fitzherbert, mistress of George 1V, then Prince of Wales, and in the nineteenth century it was the home of General Peel, the brother of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel.

Henrietta Howard, by Charles Jervas, c.1724