Ann of Cleves, after her divorce from Henry VIII., appears to have resided in this manor house, where, it is said, she died in 1557, and was buried in Westminster.
Queen Elizabeth, in 1559, leased this manor to Ann, Duchess of Somerset, widow of the late Protector, for life. Her Majesty afterwards granted the manor to John Stanhope, Esq., vice-chamberlain of her household. On the accession of James I. he was created Lord Stanhope, of Harrington.
After several families had held the manor, we find it in possession of the Cheyne family.
Charles Cheyne, afterwards Viscount Newhaven, married Lady Jane, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Duke of Newcastle, with whom he obtained an immense fortune. This lady is celebrated for her excellent endowments, which she exhibited in a distinguished manner during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I., in her keeping the garrisoned house of her father, where she was left with one of her sisters, against the enemy, till, overpowered by their force, she was made prisoner, but, by the success of the royal arms, it was retaken. Her duty and piety to her exiled father, in making repeated remittances, which she effected by the sale of some rich jewels left her by her grandmother, the Lady Ogle, after the vain efforts she had made for his pardon, deserve to be remembered. Lord Cheyne, as we learn from the inscription on Lady Jane’s monument, purchased the manor of Chelsea with a part of the large dower she brought him on his marriage. His lordship very highly embellished the house and gardens, and they excited some curiosity at the time. Mr. Evelyn, in his Diary, thus notices them: “I made my Lord Cheyney a visit at Chelsea, and saw those ingenious water-works invented by Mr. Winstanley, in which were some things very surprising and extraordinary.” This Mr. Winstanley was the ingenious architect who built the Eddystone Lighthouse, and perished in it when blown down by the great storm in 1703. When Lord Cheyne died in 1698, he was succeeded by William, his son and successor.
Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., purchased the manor of William Lord Cheyne, the second and last Viscount Newhaven, in the year 1712. Sir Hans was descended from a family originally of Scotland, but settled in the north of Ireland, where he received his first education. At that early age he evinced a very strong inclination to study the works of Nature, which he pursued with uncommon application through the rest of his life. Being desirous of improving himself in the several branches of physic, to the profession of which he was ardently devoted, he came to London, and resided in a house adjoining to the laboratory of Apothecaries’ Hall. Here Mr. Sloane acquired a perfect knowledge of the preparations and uses of most chemical medicines; and at the same time prosecuted his favourite science of botany in the Apothecaries’ Gardens at Chelsea. He ultimately became President of the Royal College of Physicians, London, and associated and corresponded with most of the eminent men of his day. He had been previously Secretary to the Royal Society, which he held for 20 years without any salary, and was the intimate friend of Sir Isaac Newton. In the last sickness of Queen Anne he was called in to her assistance, as one of her physicians, as he had been on some former occasions. He was created a baronet by George I., an honour which had never before been conferred upon any physician in England. Upon purchasing the manor of Chelsea, he gave a portion of the ground of his garden to the Apothecaries’ Company, in order to perpetuate it for the improvement of botanical knowledge, and to communicate to others that instruction which he had himself received there. Besides the donation of so large and valuable a piece of ground, in a delightful situation on the banks of the Thames, and near the metropolis, he contributed largely towards building the stairs at the water-side gate, and an additional sum towards the expenses of the garden. When Sir Isaac Newton died, Sir Hans Sloane was chosen as President of the Royal Society, and continued in that high office for fourteen successive years. His decay was very gradual, and foretold that he would one day “drop like a fruit fully ripe.” He died in 1753, and was interred in the churchyard of Chelsea, in the same vault with his lady. His funeral was attended by many persons of distinction, and several Fellows of the Royal Society. He has been styled “the father of natural history in these realms.”