The Duke of Buckingham built the house from which the present-day Buckingham Palace emerged. His heirs later sold the house to King George III for 21,000 pounds (a rather large sum at that time).
On this day the renowned Duke of Buckingham died. The famous Buckingham Palace in London – the residence of Britain’s kings and queens – was named after him. Why is the British royal palace called after an aristocrat? The reason is that the aforementioned Duke of Buckingham built the original house on that property, which became the core of today’s royal palace. This land and house became a part of the royal estates only in 1761, as much as 40 years after the duke’s death.
The birth name of the Duke of Buckingham was John Sheffield and he hailed from a prominent aristocratic family. His father had the title of Earl (the English equivalent of count), and died when young John was only 10 years old. John then inherited his father’s title, and was later awarded by the British kings with even higher titles. So, at the age of 46 he became the Marquess of Normanby, and nine years later the Duke of Buckingham. Namely, the ducal title was the highest in Great Britain, so from there on he had nowhere to advance.
Around 1705 the Duke of Buckingham built the house from which the present-day Buckingham Palace emerged. The house had three floors and two lower side wings for servants. The architect who designed the house was named William Winde. The Duke of Buckingham used this house as a London residence. The duke died on this day in 1721 and his heirs later sold the house to King George III for 21,000 pounds (a rather large sum at that time).
The king actually bought the house as a secondary residence and it was used mainly by his queen wife. Only Queen Victoria in 1837 started using the Buckingham Palace, meanwhile significantly expanded, as her principal place of residence.
