The Westminster Palace Hotel was a luxury hotel in London, located in the heart of the political district. Opened in 1860, the hotel was the scene of many significant meetings, including the

London Conference of 1866 The London Conference was held in London, in the United Kingdom, in 1866. It was the third and final in a series of conferences that led to Canadian Confederation in 1867. Sixteen delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunsw ...

which finalised the details for the

confederation of Canada Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of ...

. It also served as the office building of the

India Office The India Office was a British government department established in London in 1858 to oversee the administration, through a Viceroy and other officials, of the Provinces of India. These territories comprised most of the modern-day nations of I ...

of the British government for several years in the 1860s. It was demolished in 1974.

Opening

The hotel opened in 1860 on Victoria Street, directly opposite

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and close to the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

, the meeting place for the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. It had all the latest technology, including being the first hotel in London with hydraulic lifts, advertised as able to "convey the occupant of the highest floor to his resting place with as little fatigue as if he were located on the first floor".Antonia Moon, "Victorian office moves"
British Library Untold Lives Blog, 19 January 2015.

India Office

Shortly after the hotel was built, the newly constituted

was looking for office space. In 1860, the India Office leased a 140-room wing at the rear of the building, at a rate of £6,000 per year. Since the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governor ...

met at the India Office, it meant that India was being governed from the hotel. The India Office remained there for seven years, until it moved to its permanent new offices in Whitehall in 1867

Confederation of Canada: London Conference, 1866

In 1866, the hotel was the location for the London Conference, the third and final conference leading to the

Confederation of Canada Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of ...

in 1867.G.P. Browne, ''Documents on the Confederation of British North America'' (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1969; reprinted Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009), p. 201. Some contemporary accounts referred to the conference as the Westminster Palace Hotel Conference.D.G. Creighton, ''The Road to Confederation'' (Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2012 (original edition published 1964), p. 407. Conférence de Londres

Sixteen delegates from the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

, :Nova Scotia and :New Brunswick met in London at the end of 1866 to agree upon the final details for Confederation. The delegates from the Province of Canada stayed at the hotel, while the Maritimers stayed at the Alexandra Hotel. The meetings were held in the Conference Chamber of the Westminster Palace Hotel. Based on the agreement reached at the Conference on Christmas Eve, 1866, the Colonial Secretary, the

Earl of Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' hav ...

, introduced the ''

British North America Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

'' in Parliament. The bill passed and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 29 March 1867, coming into force on 1 July 1867.

Gandhi

In 1909,

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

stayed at the hotel. He occupied the room which had been the office of Sir Richard Vivian, a former military commander in Madras, as well as a member of the

. It is not known if Gandhi was aware of the former use of the Hotel by the India Office.

Closing and demolition

The hotel was converted to offices in the 1920s and demolished in 1974. The site is now occupied by a branch of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

References