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From around the mid-18thCentury this was one of the most exclusive areas of (what was to become) Greater London, attracting the “quality” who built large and imposing mansions, largely shielded from the outside world. One of these was Dover House, built in 1764 for George James Welbore Ellis, Lord Dover; it became home in 1801 to Robert Jenkinson, who soon after became Lord Hawkesbury and later still 2nd Earl of Liverpool, and Tory Prime Minister. Although it remained an enclave for the super rich, the age when it still had the pull to attract the nobility had long passed. By the following century Dover House had become the home of American financier, John Pierpoint Morgan, who occupied the house until his death in 1913. By 1914, clouds were on the horizon for the denizens of Putney Park. In January of that year The Times reported: “Some anxiety is felt among the owners of mansions in Putney Park at reports that the late Mr Pierpont Morgan’s property, Dover House, is in the market. It may fall into the hands of the speculative builder, in which case the amenities of the district will be damaged. Few people passing along the Upper Richmond-road have any idea that behind the main road houses there are estates of many acres, finely timbered, and with ornamental lakes, private cricket grounds, and landscape gardens.” Their concerns were well met. To their horror they discovered that the developer which had its eye on this prime landscape, that retained much of its great natural beauty, was the London County Council. It planned, not rows of large suburban homes for the growing middle class, but social housing – lots of it. They found an ally in the chairman of Wandsworth’s planning committee, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Archibald Davis Dawnay, who despite his best efforts failed to stop the much-needed housing development.
