Place Name
Named in honour of William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, (November 15, 1708 – May 11, 1778) who lived and died at his Bromley estate, Hayes Place, a former house on whose grounds the road was built. Pitt, who served twice served as Prime Minister, bought the 15thCentury property in 1754 and quickly set about rebuilding it. The mansion was the birthplace of his son, Pitt the Younger in 1759. The house was sold in 1785 and by 1880 was in the hands of Everard Hambro, from a family of well-known bankers. Following Everard’s death in 1925, his son Eric decided to dispose of the estate for building, although the need for an improved infrastructure for this rural area meant delays. The area was eventually developed as the Hayes Place Estate by Henry Boot, a Sheffield-based company. Roads such as Chatham Avenue and Hambro Avenue were named after figures associated with the house’s history. The house survived until 1933.
