Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Who built it…who owns it
Designed by architects William Bruce and William Sandwell, Ham House was originally
built in 1610 for Thomas Vavasour, an advisor to James I. In 1626, King Charles I presen-
ted Ham House to William Murray, who owned the property until his death in 1665. Mur-
ray had been Prince Charles's whipping boy when they were children. Surviving that fate,
Murray remained a friend and advisor when Charles became King.
Murray remodeled Ham House between 1629 and 1637. Most of Murray's changes were
interior, including the addition of the great staircase and more fashionable rooms on the
first floor. After William Murray's death, Ham House and its title passed to Murray's eld-
est daughter Elizabeth who became the Duchess of Lauderdale. She lived there until her
death in 1698.
Ham House was given to the National Trust in 1948 by Sir Lyonel Tollemache, whose an-
cestors had been at Ham for 300 years.
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