CHAPTER XI 
THE PALACES OF KEW 
One of the most confusing terms in connection with the history of 
Kew is “ Kew Palace.” An examination of the fine series of illus- 
trations of old Kew in the No. III. Museum will show that the name 
“ Palace ” has been given to three separate and totally distinct build- 
ings. Two of them were originally built as country houses for wealthy 
Londoners ; the other was intended for Royal occupation, but was 
never finished. 
We have already seen in the early history of the Botanic Garden 
that a house in Kew, known as “ Kew House ” and “ White House,” 
Kew House came occu pi e d by Royalty in the person of Frederick, 
Prince of Wales, in the year 1730. It had previously 
been the residence successively of the families of Bennett, Capel, 
and Molyneux. From 1730 until his death in 1751, the Prince of 
Wales continued to occupy the house at intervals. It was then 
tenanted by his widow, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, and after 
her death in 1772 by her son, George III. It thus became, technically, 
at any rate, a “ Palace,” the first, indeed, of the Palaces of Kew. 
It continued to be a Royal residence until 1802, when it was 
demolished. The eastern extremity of its site is now marked by a 
sundial. The house itself was a long, low structure, of simple design, 
and was always more noteworthy for the gardens that surrounded 
it than for its own architectural features. Soon after it came into 
the Prince of Wales’s possession it was refaced and remodelled by 
Kent, the famous architect. But it never had much interest apart 
from the fact that its immediate surroundings formed the nucleus of 
the famous Kew Gardens of later times. Fanny Burney (Madame 
d’Arblay), who was in the service of Queen Charlotte from 1786 
to 1791, used to accompany the Royal Family on their visits to 
Kew, and on these occasions lived in this house. 
When, in 1802, George III. determined to pull down the old Kew 
House of the Bennetts and Capels, he decided to build a new and 
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