Dover House is a Grade I-listed mansion in Whitehall

Whitehall

Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

, and the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 headquarters of the Scotland Office

Scotland Office

The Scotland Office is a United Kingdom government department headed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and responsible for Scottish affairs...

. It is on the western side of the street immediately south of Admiralty House

Admiralty House (London)

Admiralty House in London is a Grade I listedbuilding facing Whitehall, currently used for UK government functions and as ministerial flats. It was opened in 1788 and until 1964 was the official residence of First Lords of the Admiralty.-Description:...

. The rear facade faces Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.-History:...

.

History

Dover House was designed by James Paine for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh

Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, 1st Baronet

Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, 1st Baronet FRS pronounced "fan-shaw" was an English politician and landowner.He was the son of Matthew Fetherstonhaugh of Featherstone Castle, Northumberland. In 1746 he inherited the estates of a kinsman Sir Henry Fetherston but not Sir Henry's baronetcy which became...

, Bart.

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

, MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, in the 1750s and remodeled by Henry Flitcroft

Henry Flitcroft

Henry Flitcroft was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by trade. Working as a carpenter at Burlington House, he fell from a scaffold and broke his leg...

, as "Montagu House", for George Montagu, created 1st Duke of Montagu

George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu

George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, KG PC, FRS was a British peer.He was born George Brudenell in 1712 at Cardigan House, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in London, the son of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan and his wife, the former Lady Elizabeth Bruce...

, who had removed from Bloomsbury. It was refurbished once again, by Henry Holland

Henry Holland (architect)

Henry Holland was an architect to the English nobility. Born in Fulham, London, his father also Henry ran a building firm and he built several of Capability Brown's buildings, although Henry would have learnt a lot from his father about the practicalities of construction it was under Brown that he...

 for HRH The Prince Frederick, Duke of York

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...

, from 1788 to 1792. The building belonged to the Melbourne family

Viscount Melbourne

Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the Lamb family. This family descended from Matthew Lamb, who represented Stockbridge and Peterborough in the House of Commons. In 1755 he was created a Baronet, of Brocket Hall in the County of...

 from 1793 to 1830.

It has also been home to a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 ambassador and the romantic poet Lord Byron. Its most notable feature is an entrance hall in the form of a rotunda inserted into the former forecourt by Holland, which is a unique entrance to a London mansion. The last private owners were the family of the Whig politician George James Welbore Agar-Ellis

George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover

George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover PC FRS FSA was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831.-Background and education:...

, created (1831) Baron Dover, whose title it has retained.

Government use

The Agar-Ellis heirs owned Dover House from 1830 to 1885, when it became the Scottish Office

Scottish Office

The Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...

, the UK government department responsible for Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 affairs.

When Scotland acquired a devolved parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

, the responsibilities of the Scottish Office were reduced and, in 1999, was renamed the Scotland Office

Scotland Office

The Scotland Office is a United Kingdom government department headed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and responsible for Scottish affairs...

 with Dover House remaining as its chief London building. The Scotland Office also has a Scottish headquarters, on Melville Crescent in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

's New Town

New Town, Edinburgh

The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is often considered to be a masterpiece of city planning, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...

.

External links

• Dover House page from the Survey of London
  Survey of London
  The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of the former County of London. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts-and-Crafts architect and social thinker, and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's ancient monuments...
  
  
• Information about Dover House on the Scotland Office's website