The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

10 | HISTORY | The Cadogans
The 8th Earl Cadogan
Physic Garden today.
When Sloane retired from his
medical practice in 1742, he lived
in the Chelsea house that had
been built for Henry VIII until his
death in 1753 at the age of 92. He
was buried at Chelsea Old Church.
In his will, Sloane offered his vast
collection – more than 71,000 natural
history specimens, books, coins and
medals – to the nation for a fraction of its
estimated value. He wanted the collection
to stay together in London and be
used and enjoyed for learning, so he
would probably be delighted that it was
acquired by Parliament and used to
found the British Museum and later the
Natural History Museum.
When he died, Sloane’s property was
divided between his two daughters as
his wife, Elizabeth, had died 29 years
previously, in 1724.
The Cadogans
The name Cadogan comes from the
Gaelic word ‘Cadwgan’, which means
‘battle-keenness’, and the family can
trace its history back to Wales.
The spelling was anglicised in the
15th century.
The foundations for the Cadogan
Estate in Chelsea were laid when Charles
Cadogan married Elizabeth Sloane, the
younger daughter of Sir Hans Sloane, in
1717. Charles became the 2nd Baron
Oakley when his older brother William
died in 1726 and passed the title to him.
When Sloane died in 1753, his Chelsea
property was left to Elizabeth and her
sister, Sarah Stanley. The Manor of
Chelsea included 11 houses, 166 acres
and a selection of tenements, which
were split between the sisters.
The 2nd Baron started negotiations
with Henry Holland, son-in-law of
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown (whom the
2nd Baron had contracted to landscape
his estate at Caversham Park, near
Reading) for a lease on 90 acres of land
that would become Hans Town. The
development was postponed because of
the death of the 2nd Baron and the war
with America, but the
lease was granted by
Charles Sloane Cadogan,
the son of the 2nd Baron,
in 1777 (see Hans Town in Sights and
Streets).
Charles Sloane was made Viscount
Chelsea and Earl Cadogan in 1800
because he had been a supporter of
Pitt’s government, despite being a Whig
politician. His grandfather, William
Cadogan, had also held the title but this
was a new creation, so Charles became
in effect the second 1st Earl Cadogan.
He completed the agreement with Henry
General William Cadogan, the 1st Earl Cadogan
Holland and sold the Caversham estate.
Holland created Sloane Street, Hans
Place and Sloane Square, laying the
foundations for today’s Chelsea.
In 1821, the whole of the Manor of
Chelsea came under the ownership of
the Cadogan family because they were
the closest surviving relatives to the heirs
of Sarah Stanley, Sir Hans Sloane’s other
daughter.
The next stage of the Cadogan
Estate’s development was led by the 5th
Earl Cadogan, George Henry Cadogan
(1840-1915). He went to school with the
Prince of Wales and became lifelong
friends with the future King Edward VII.
The 5th Earl was Under Secretary of War
under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli,
Under Secretary for the Colonies, Lord
Privy Seal in Lord Salisbury’s cabinet and
the Viceroy of Ireland. He was also a
Chelsea councillor and its first Mayor.
He commissioned William Young to
build a new home for the family, and
Chelsea House was completed in 1874,
close to where the Jumeirah Carlton
Tower stands today.
As the leases on the buildings in Hans
Town came to an end, the Cadogan and
Hans Place Estate Co. pioneered the
‘Pont Street Dutch’ style when it redeveloped
the area. Most of the estate was
redeveloped between 1877 and 1900.
Holy Trinity Church was built with financial
assistance from the 5th Earl.
The 7th Earl was a military man, in the
tradition of the family, and the last Mayor
of Chelsea before it was incorporated
with the Royal Borough of Kensington.
He died in 1997, aged 83, when the title
passed to Charles Gerald John
Cadogan, the current Earl Cadogan.
Today the Earl Cadogan is Life
President of Cadogan Group Limited, the
holding company for the UK property
investment business of his family, which
is owned by both charitable and family
trusts.
The Cadogan family and Cadogan as
a company are active in keeping Chelsea
moving forward as well as preserving its
past, from building the shopping success
story Duke of York Square to providing
funding for a new organ at Holy Trinity
Church.