The lodge is first mentioned in 1754, when it was a one-roomed cottage occupied by a molecatcher. He was employed to eradicate molehills that were impeding the sport of deer hunting. The cottage was enlarged to become a house with four principal rooms and was renamed Hill Lodge.[2]
In 1847, Queen Victoria granted the lodge to Lord John Russell,[5] then Prime Minister, who conducted much government business there and entertained Queen Victoria, foreign royalty, aristocrats, writers (Dickens, Thackeray, Longfellow, Tennyson) and other notable people of the time, including Garibaldi. Lord John was much taken with the Lodge– "an asset that could hardly be equalled, certainly not surpassed in England". Earl Russell (as he had become) died there on 28 May 1878; Fanny, his second wife, in 1898. Their daughter Lady Agatha Russell left the inscribed memorial stone that stands in the rose garden:
Pembroke Lodge 1847–1902— In loving memory of my Father and Mother, Lord and Lady Russell and of our supremely happy home at Pembroke Lodge
Lord John Russell's grandson, Bertrand Russell, the philosopher, widely quoted source of popular witticisms and mathematician, grew up there between 1876 and 1894. At Pembroke Lodge, he wrote, "I grew accustomed to wide horizons and to an unimpeded view of the sunset".[6]
From 1903, until her death there in February 1929,[7] Pembroke Lodge was tenanted by Georgina, Dowager Countess of Dudley, a close friend of Queen Alexandra.[8] There is a headstone in Pembroke Lodge's gardens to the grave of her dog, Boy, who died in 1907.[9]
Now in private hands and restored to its former architectural glory,[14] Pembroke Lodge is open to the public for refreshments, weddings and conferences.[15] Pembroke Lodge is also the home of The Hearsum Collection, a registered charity[16] that collects and preserves the heritage of Richmond Park and is seeking to build a new purpose-built heritage centre to provide full public access to its holdings.[17][18][19][20]
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