My Talk on London Mansions...Part Three

Let's start today with Albany, a Piccadilly mansion altered and as famous today as it was when first built, perhaps even more so.

Above, Albany, or Melbourne House as it was then known, circa 1800. Built in  1771-76 by architect Sir William Chambers for Peniston Lamb, it was a three-story mansion, seven bays wide, with a pair of service wings flanking a front courtyard. Lamb (1745-1828) became the 2nd Baronet at age 23 in 1768 and was later named 1st Viscount Melbourne in peerage of Ireland and later as a baron in Britain.

This painting celebrates the marriage of Lord Melbourne with the 17-year-old Elizabeth Milbanke. Lady Melbourne became a leader of society in London and I find her one of the most fascinating of the characters of the era.

In 1792, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, brother of the Prince of Wales, traded Melbourne House for his residence on Whitehall. In 1802 the Duke in turn gave up the house and it was converted by Henry Holland into 69 bachelor apartments (known as "sets"). 

Holland's new buildings of 1802–3 flank a covered walkway supported on thin iron columns; most sets have their own entrances. I found a few pictures on the net of apartments in Albany, all very hush-hush – the rules do not allow for publicity or talk to the press about other residents. No idea whose these were/are.
      The sets at Albany, as it was known during most of the regency, were the homes of many distinguished men, including its architect Henry Holland, the poet Lord Byron, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the author of the phrase 'It was a dark and stormy night,' Henry Brougham, and George Canning, who became Prime Minister in 1827. Among the more modern residents, when women (perish the thought) were finally allowed, were author Georgette Heyer, Anthony Armstrong Jones, and actor Bill Nighy.

Above, Albany today in Piccadilly, London.
    When the Melbournes exchanged houses with the Duke of York in 1792, they moved from Piccadilly to York House in Whitehall, newly named Melbourne House and today known as Dover House. It is now the Scotland office right next to Horse Guards.

The portico opens onto the pavement of Whitehall and the rear of the house overlooks a small garden, once filled with roses, and the Horse Guards Parade.

In the 1750s, the house was built by architect James Paine for ​Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh (i.e. Fanshaw) and later  remodeled by Henry Flitcroft for the first Duke of Montagu. It was redone again by Henry Holland for the Duke of York, from 1788 to 1792. The house was owned by the Melbourne family 1793 to 1830. After purchase by Baron Dover, it became known as Dover House and in 1999, it became the Scotland Office.

Elizabeth Milbanke, Viscountess Melbourne, age 21, painted by Richard Cosway. ©Royal Collection Trust.
       Lady Melbourne was a leader of London's highest social set in the late 18th Century, politically influential, a friend and mistress of the rich and famous. She was a close confidante of  Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
      Here is the famous triple portrait of Lady Melbourne, Georgiana, and Anne Damer, Witches Round the Cauldron, the three witches in Macbeth painted in 1775 by Daniel Gardner, a commentary on their influence at court and in political circles in the late 18th century.

Lady Melbourne's eldest son was her husband’s child, but her other children probably were not. The Viscount apparently knew this but he was busy with his own mistresses. Below, left to right, Peniston Lamb II (1770-1805), eldest son; William Lamb (1779-1848), 2nd Viscount Melbourne, suspected to be the son of Lord Egremont; and Frederick Lamb (1782-1853), 3rd Lord Melbourne, a diplomat and probably also a by-blow of Egremont's. A fourth son, George Lamb (1784-1834), may have been the result of Lady Melbourne's affair with the Prince of Wales. Click on the images for larger versions.

Lady Melbourne's children were closely involved with the families of the Devonshires and Bessboroughs. William, after the death of his elder brother, was allowed to marry Lady Caroline Ponsonby (1785-1828) though she died before he succeeded to his title. Caroline, below, became notorious for her affairs, particularly with the poet Lord Byron (1788-1824). At the same time, Byron and Lady Melbourne carried on a long and often intimate correspondence. In 1815, Byron married Lady Melbourne's niece, Annabella Millbanke. That marriage lasted only a year. After their daughter Ada was born, Byron left England never to return.

Caro Lamb held many of her popular waltzing parties at Melbourne House in Whitehall. Today, the handsome Rotunda is still intact but not likely to be a venue for dancing. Elsewhere in the building, some remains of its former glory can be seen among the furnishings of a working government office. William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, became Prime Minister in 1834, again in 1835 until 1841, serving King William IV and the young Queen Victoria.

Throughout its two-hundred-fifty years, this building has maintained its quiet dignity and beautiful proportions. Unlike the Albany, it is no longer famous  and the home of distinguished personages. But here's to you, Scotland office, for 250 more years.