Bushy House in its first form was built in 1663 by
William Samwell for
Edward Proger, at a cost of £4,000 (£ in ), as the lodge of the Keeper/Ranger of Bushy Park in what was at the time the North Park part. Proger had been made Ranger of Bushy Park to reward him for his loyalty to King
Charles II during his exile. It was rebuilt by
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax from 1714 to 1715 after he had bought the three parks from the
Duchess of Cleveland and was made ranger. Clarence continued living there with the FitzClarence children and later his wife Princess
Adelaide after they married in 1818. When at 6am on 26 June 1830 a messenger from London arrived at Bushy House with the news that King
George IV was dead and Clarence was now King William IV, he is said to have replied that he had 'always wished to sleep with a queen' and gone back to bed. As William had appointed her ranger in her own right upon his accession, after William's death in 1837, Bushy House became Adelaide's official residence until her death in 1849. In 1865, Queen Victoria offered Bushy House to the
Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours and other members of the exiled French royal family as they tried to restore the
House of Bourbon. After his return to France in 1871, he kept control of Bushy House until his death in 1896 in case he was forced to leave France again, and with Nemours not having children as heirs, the house became empty in 1897. In March 1902, the new National Physical Laboratory was opened at Bushy House by the Prince of Wales (later King
George V). ==Gallery==