ed to William Jephson in 1687 for
sixty-one years. Some years later the lease was passed on to Edward
Harley, Earl of Oxford, who lived here in 1707. Apparently he assigned it
to Sir Richard Gough, who paid the rent from 1714 to 1719. In 1723 Sir
Robert Walpole, the great statesman who virtually ruled England for more
than twenty years, became the lessee. He had had some connection with the
Hospital since 1714, when he had been made Paymaster-General, and had
held a seat on the Board of Commissioners by virtue of his office. His
influence in the reign of George II. still continued, and while the King
was absent on the Continent, Walpole House was the seat of power in the
kingdom. Here came office-seekers and busy flatterers. L'Estrange says
"it was thought remarkably convenient that state documents should only
have to travel from Chelsea to Kensington Palace."

The grottos, which, according to the fashion of the time, were built in
the garden, and richly decorated, must have seen some interesting sights.
One in which Queen Caroline was royally entertained in 1729 was taken
down in 1795. The entertainment was extremely sumptuous. The last of
these grottos disappeared only when the Embankment was being made. In
1741 the Minister retired with the title of Earl of Orford, which
afterwards descended to his well-known son, Horace, and a pension of
L4,000 a year.

The house afterwards passed through the hands of John, Earl of Dunmore,
and George Aufrere, and we find it in 1796 assigned to Charles, Lord
Yarborough, who was living here in 1808. The building being then required
by the Hospital, he consented to give up the remainder of his lease, a
period of seventeen years, upon compensation being paid to the amount of
L4,775 15s. Sir John Soane, the architect, who had all through been
strongly in favour of adding on to Walpole House instead of purchasing
new ground, designed the necessary additions. The building, like the
Hospital itself, consists of two wings, east and west, abutting out from
a connecting flank, with a vestibule in the front. The eastern wing is
Walpole House. The room which was originally the dining-room is now one
of the wards, and contains eight beds. It is strange to see the worn,
homely faces of the infirm pensioners, in contrast with the magnificent
white marble mantelpiece and the finely moulded ceiling. The connecting
wing holds the Matron's room in addition to the wards. The patients
suffer from the c