Little Holland House was the

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish or Welsh estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house from the larger family h ...

Holland House Holland House, originally known as Cope Castle, was an early Jacobean country house in Kensington, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the parish of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was situated at the end of Nightingale Lane, now the back entrance to Holland Park and was demolished when Melbury Road was made. Number 14 Melbury Road marks its approximate location.

History

Hon. Caroline Fox (1767-1845)

HonMissFox ByJamesNorthcote 1810 RAMM Exeter

It was occupied from before 1802 until her death in 1845 by Hon. Caroline Fox (3 Nov 1767 - 12 Mar 1845) who died there unmarried in 1845 aged 78. She was the only daughter of

Stephen Fox, 2nd Baron Holland Stephen Fox, 2nd Baron Holland of Holland and 2nd Baron Holland of Foxley (20 February 1745 – 26 December 1774) of Holland House in Kensington, Middlesex, was a British peer. Biography Lord Holland was the eldest son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron ...

(1745-1774), of

, Kensington, (son of

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, PC (28 September 1705 – 1 July 1774), of Holland House in Kensington and of Holland House in Kingsgate, Kent, was a leading British politician. He identified primarily with the Whig faction. He held the posts o ...

(1705-1774) by his wife

Lady Caroline Lennox Georgiana Carolina Fox, 1st Baroness Holland, of Holland (27 March 1723 – 24 July 1774), known as Lady Caroline Lennox before 1744 and as Lady Caroline Fox from 1744 to 1762, was the eldest of the Lennox sisters. Family background The Lenno ...

(1723-1774)) by his wife Lady Mary FitzPatrick, a daughter of

John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory (1719 – 23 September 1758) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who lived in County Cork, Ireland. He was the son of Richard FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Gowran, and Anne ( Robinson) and educated at Queen's Coll ...

. Hon. Caroline Fox was the only sister of

Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley PC (21 November 1773 – 22 October 1840), was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry F ...

(1773-1840), of Holland House, who owned most of the land within the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of Kensington, and was a niece of the Whig statesman

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was the arch-riv ...

(1749-1806), who made Holland House a famous meeting place of prominent Whig politicians. Her brother bequeathed it to her and she called it ''Paradisino''. In 1842 she established a charity school (today

Fox Primary School Fox Primary School is a primary school in London for children between the ages of 4 and 11, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is located on Kensington Place, between Kensington Church Street and Notting Hill Gate. The school ha ...

) near the site, "for the education of children of the labouring, manufacturing and other poorer classes" of Kensington. Its original location was near her home of Little Holland House, on the west side of today's

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, to the west of today's number 14 Holland Park Road, a house built for the painter

Val Prinsep Valentine Cameron "Val" Prinsep (14 February 18384 November 1904) was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school. Early life Born in Calcutta, India, he was the second child of Henry Thoby Prinsep, a civil servant of the British Raj, and ...

on the Holland House estate, which is next to

Leighton House The Leighton House Museum is an art museum in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The building was the London home of painter Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896), who commi ...

(12 Holland Park Road) the house built for the painter Lord Leighton. In 1876 it was taken over by the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

, which moved it to a new site in Silver Street, today the northern end of Kensington Church Street. In 1877 the original site of the school in Holland Park Road was sold by auction for £2,650, and in its place was built the present Nos. 20–30 (even) Holland Park Road, a group of six two-storey studio residences arranged around a courtyard with an arched entrance, originally called "The Studios". The school moved a third time in 1937 to its present site on Kensington Place.

Charles Richard Fox (1796-1873)

A large new house completed in 1827 and named for a while "Little Holland House" was first occupied by

Charles Richard Fox General Charles Richard Fox (6 November 1796 – 13 April 1873) was a British army general, and later a politician. Background Fox was born at Brompton, the illegitimate son of Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, through a liaison wit ...

(1796-1873) (the illegitimate son of

Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley PC (21 November 1773 – 22 October 1840), was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry F ...

, through a liaison with Lady Webster, whom Lord Holland later married) and his wife

Lady Mary Fox Lady Mary Fox (née FitzClarence; 19 December 1798 – 13 July 1864) was an illegitimate daughter of King William IV of the United Kingdom by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. In later life she became a writer. Marriage Mary FitzClarence wa ...

, illegitimate daughter of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

. However this was actually at Number 1 Addison Road, at the north-eastern boundary of the Holland House estate, and it is probable he was persuaded to buy the freehold from his father in order to attract other high society occupants to the new development. He also purchased from his father much land surrounding the house. After his death in 1873 Number 1 Addison Road was mostly demolished and built upon, but part of the house survives as the club-house of Holland Park Tennis Club.

Prinsep family

In 1850

Henry Thoby Prinsep Henry Thoby Prinsep (15 July 1793 – 11 February 1878) was an English official of the Indian Civil Service, and historian of India. In later life he entered politics, and was a significant figure of the cultural circles of London. Early life Pr ...

(1792–1878), a director of

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, obtained a 21-year lease on it from

Henry Fox, 4th Baron Holland Henry Edward Fox, 4th Baron Holland of Holland, 4th Baron Holland of Foxley (7 May 1802 – 18 December 1859) was briefly a British Whig politician and later an ambassador. Early life Fox was born at Holland House, London, the eldest legitim ...

(1802-1859), of Holland House, thanks to the painter

George Frederic Watts George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...

(1817-1904), a friend of both the Hollands and the Prinseps. Watts, the Prinseps and Henry's sisters-in-law such as

Julia Margaret Cameron Julia Margaret Cameron (''née'' Pattle; 11 June 1815 – 26 January 1879) was a British photographer who is considered one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century. She is known for her soft-focus close-ups of famous Victorian m ...

lived, worked and entertained here for 21 years, making it the centre of their

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

. When the lease expired in 1871, the Prinseps moved out and the Hollands demolished the building. Thoby Prinsep then leased a large plot of land on Melbury Road (abutting the leasehold plot of

Lord Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjec ...

) from

Henry Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester PC (13 February 1847 – 6 December 1905), known as Henry Fox-Strangways until 1865, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms ...

(the heir of the 4th Baron Holland), part of which he gave to Watts. On his plot, Watts commissioned Frederick Cockerell to build a new house which he named ''New Little Holland House'', and in which he lived from 1876 until his death in 1904. The house was demolished in 1964 after failed attempts by the London County Council to place a building preservation order on it. In its place was built a block of flats designed by Austin Blomfield, named Kingfisher House, which continues to occupy the site.

Notes

{{George Frederic Watts Former houses in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Country houses in London Demolished buildings and structures in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1964 Dower houses