History

Owners and Occupiers of Claremont

1709 – 1714 Sir John Vanbrugh – bought the estate and built the first house

1714 – 1769 The Duke of Newcastle – bought the house from Vanbrugh and commisioned him to enlarge it and create the gardens on a lavish scale, including building the Belvedere on the 'mount'.  As Prime Minister he entertained George II here.

1769 – 1774 Lord Clive – demolished the Duke’s house because it was on a damp site and old fashioned. Clive commissioned Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to build him the present house and remodel the park. His family kept the estate after his death until 1786.

1786 – 1787 Viscount Galway

1787 – 1802 The Earl and Countess of Tyrconnel

1802 – 1816 Charles Rose Ellis MP, later Baron Seaford

1816 – 1865 Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. On the occasion of their marriage in 1816 the Government granted Claremont to them for life which entitled Prince Leopold, later King of the Belgians, to retain it for his own use after the early death of the Princess in 1817. Leopold had an annual income of £50,000, much of which he spent on improvements to the house and estate.

1848 – 1866 Louis Philippe and his wife Marie-Amelie resided at Claremont, by invitation of Leopold, after Louis Philippe had been deposed as King of the French and had been forced to flee France with all his family.  He died at Claremont in 1850

1865 – 1901 Queen Victoria – her mother, the Duchess of Kent, was Leopold’s sister and they depended on him for financial support. As a child the Queen spent long periods at Claremont and continued her interest in the place for the whole of her life. After Leopold’s death the estate reverted to the Crown and Parliament granted it to the Queen for her life. Later she acquired personal ownership of it.

1879 – 1922 The Duke and Duchess of Albany.  Queen Victoria granted the house to the Duke, her youngest son, on his marriage to Princess Helena of Waldeck.  The Duke died aged 30 shortly before the birth of their son Charles.  Their daughter, Princess Alice, remained a well loved member of the Royal Family until her death in 1981.

1922 – 1926 Sir William Corry, Director of the Cunard Shipping Line – made many ‘improvements’ to the interior of the mansion and began to sell off the park for housing development.

1926 – 1930 Claremont Estates Ltd, a property development company – continued to sell off parts of the estate, leaving the mansion and a small area around it which were offered for sale.

1930 Claremont School – the Governors bought the mansion, and later acquired other areas including White Cottage and the walled garden, the top fields and the present playing fields. Claremont amalgamated with Fan Court, a boys' prep school, in 1978 to become Claremont Fan Court School.

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